We say goodbye to Ft Lauderdale at 7.00 am heading out of the New River and into the Atlantic for the next stage of our journey north.

Not being an early riser I was grateful for William taking the first watch - not that it made much difference!! Breakfast was still a necessity and I cooked up eggs, bacon, tomato, fried bread and coffee by 8 am - it tasted fantastic. Nothing like a good ol' British fry-up, eaten in a bracing 16 knots to get the day going...

It was a good wind from the south, blowing between 10k/18k as we headed north and we were pleased to find our old friend, the gulf stream current, only 8 miles offshore allowing us to top Alexia's previous record of 8.5k on our recent Bahamas crossing. We watch our speed over ground reach 10k and then 11.1k - can this be real? Our chunky 28,000lb boat is absolutely cruising at her best - both sails are up and the gulf stream remains with us for several hours.

The journey is fairly uneventful - and as darkness engulfs us we become aware of just how many tankers are in the vicintiy. Travelling in excess of 20 miles an hour a distant light can soon be threateningly close. All container ships now have radar and, with luck, we will be showing on their screens long before we are in their line of sight.

By early morning of the next day our course begins to angle us in toward the coast although our destination at the Ponce de Leon inlet, south of St Augustine, is still a half-day away. The first glimmers of daylight and sun begin to loom across the sea and burn away the light fog which has been with us for several hours and we see the first dolphins of the day alongside.

By the time we reach the outer sea buoy of the channel leading into Port Canaveral the early morning water traffic is already underway - tugs, cruise ships and fishermen are heading out in all directions. A large tug ahead of us appears to be towing a submarine which must be at least 800 feet long.

We wait our turn to safely cross this channel and before long we are in just 35ft feet of water and about 500 yards offshore. Still heading north but at a slower pace.

The endless beach crusts the coast - the land beyond is flat and fairly bleak. We pass the huge Canaveral rocket launching station based on Merritt Island with its own 34 miles coastline and, though no longer launching man into space, it is now a major national wildlife refuge. Several miles further on we spy some early morning bathers splashing in the shallows - their trucks parked on the beaches and small tents erected nearby.

At last our inlet is in sight and 194 miles and 35 hours after leaving Ft Lauderdale we are pleased to be setting our anchor for the night in Rockhouse Creek, FL.