Heavy Traffic Night and Getting Close
18 May 2012 | Exiting NW Providence Channel
Jeff
Yesterday's 24 hour run was 113 nautical miles. We were powering and occasionally motor sailing when the wind came up enough. When there was wind it never got above eight knots from a southerly direction. When we got a breeze we could move along at five to six knots but our average was a little under five. As we expected we had heavy shipping traffic in NW Providence Channel last night. We passed several cruise ships and numerous cargo vessels. Fortunately we were powering so we had our laptop up all night to keep track of all of the AIS shipping traffic. We also had one small squall pass near us, we were able to see it coming using the radar and were able to avoid a direct hit from it. We got a little bit of rain and no increase in wind. Currently we are exiting Northwest Providence Channel heading at 300 degrees for a waypoint south of Lake Worth Inlet. We are steering south of the inlet knowing the the northward flowing current of the Gulf Stream will push us north. If all goes well and we can maintain our current five knot average speed we hope to arrive at the inlet around 0300 hours. From there we will head up the ICW to North Palm Beach Marina. Wish us luck and no problems for what should be our final night at sea and Pam's and my final offshore passage.