Sunday March 23, 2014
The plan was to head back to Florida at 03:00 hrs but the winds were to strong the day before and we knew that the seas would not be settled yet, so we decided to stay and check things out in the morning when we got up. We took a walk down to the beach after checking two weather sites looked at the seas they looked good and we decided to go for it. We got back to the boat got ready said goodbye to our Lucaya family untied the dock lines and by 10:00 hrs we were pulling away from the dock and making our way out to Bell Channel. The first 8 hrs went by fast the seas were great and the weather was amazing. Just minutes after the sunset and before it got dark the seas started to pick up and our speed dropped from 6.8 knots to 4.9 knots, we were in the dreaded Gulf Stream for the first few hours the seas weren't bad then we started to get into some bigger rollers right on our stern, Not comfortable at all, well the last few hours in the lumpy seas seemed like it took forever, then finally about 4-5 miles off shore the seas calmed down our speed picked up to 6.7 knots and we were on the home stretch.
When we arrived at the Inlet just inside the jetties Customs & Immigration boarded us and checked our paperwork out and our passports. All was good within a half hour they were off the boat and we made our way into the anchorage found the best spot we could at that time of the night in the dark and dropped the hook. We each had a stiff drink and went to bed with the plan of getting into customs at 08:00 hrs. We got up at 06:00 hrs got ready and Todd dropped the dinghy and we put the dinghy motor on, with paperwork and passports in hand I climb into the dinghy, it won't stay running, Todd pulls, it starts, then it stops, he starts it again, it stops this goes for at least four more tries won't run, I get out of the dinghy and Todd takes the carb.apart cleans it puts it back together we get back in the dinghy with tools and paperwork in hand and yippy off we go, it runs like a charm. We spend 3 hours in customs waiting to get in, once it was our turn we find out we had to pre check in, so we do 45 minutes later we give the customs officer our pre check in number along with our valid cruising permit, passport and boat registration, he comes back says the boat registration is a photo copy ( it was original) and he wasn't going to give us a cruising permit after telling him numerous times that the registration was original and then saying that we didn't need a cruising permit as our was still valid we just needed to check in he looks at us and says oh I can do that. Now we leave, get outside and it's pouring rain so I thought hmm umbrella pull it out of my back pack open it up it's broken so off we go in the rain walk around 6 blocks to the dinghy make our way back to the boat ( dinghy still running great) hoping we don't run out of fuel get back to the boat only to find out the hatches were left opened, so I go below deck close the hatches clean up the water on the floor soak up most of the water on both settees and then figure out how I'm going to dry my P.J's out and the bed before night time. Todd comes below decks from tying up the dinghy and tries to dry out.
We hoist anchor or at least try the switch is not working on the windlass, now I'm soaked again, Todd goes into the v-berth fixes the switch I try again, I get 10' up it stops again Todd goes back below deck the switch on the windlass starts to work again I get the anchor up and off we go to lake worth (soaked again). It stops raining, we get to Lake Worth as soon as I go out to drop anchor it starts to rain again hoping it works the first time incase the switch for the windlass doesn't want to work, were in first attempt, whoop whoop. We dry off and have a sundowner. Now we feel like we're on the home stretch.