Alulquoy

It is still dark and we are standing watch. As winds become more south than north, it is making our sailing more difficult and driving us inland toward the coast. We have been sailing approx 6 to 10 miles offshore to avoid commercial traffic and maintain our final destination. Ideally, we should be 20-40 miles offshore to reach our final destination and eliminate some of this traffic. Interesting, there hasn't been much traffic on the ocean or intracoastal. Certainly, much less than I had anticipated.

As the winds become on our nose, we must elimate sail and fire up the engine. The seas are rocky and the ride is like being on a roller coaster standing up. I am not exaggerating. It is quite an experience but is not fun after prolonged periods of time. The rocky seas are throwing us from side to side while the boat is twisting and pounding through the waves. BAM-POUND-BOOM goes the boat. It is extremely difficult to walk, sit, sleep or simply rest. Our physical and mental capabilities are being challenged and drained. This is when we experience deprevation and must rely upon each other to charge our batteries. Simple things like making a sandwich or cup of coffee for each other temporarily recharge our batteries. It is no time to be an individualist.

At 5:05AM, Daytona Beach arises on the horizon. Then Cape Canaveral about 8AM. It is awesome to see the large Canaveral launching pads arise from many miles offshore. To bad we won't see a launch. But we do see For Sale signs...just kidding.

As we BAM-POUND-BOOM past Canaveral we experience some temporary navigation problems but soon recover. We must alter course to avoid large shoaling. Another learning experience from which we relied upon each other to resolve. Having several people on board has enabled us to have a checks-and-balance system.

We are very tired and stink as we enter the Canaveral inlet at about 6PM. We hug the outer edge of the channel as these large cruise ships pass. Again, how small we feel. The marina is very close and we are looking forward to showers, food and SLEEP. We don't really stink but realize how spoiled we are when we miss a shower for two days.

We are parked at Cape Marina which is directly across from the cruise ship(s) embarkation area. Wow! We walk several blocks to a waterway restaurant for dinner and are pretty tired and quiet. Back to the boat to collapse and rest for the evening. A daily rum ration or two and off to snooze.

By the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIC! Can you think of a better way to spend a birthday than being beat up in a boat on rocky seas for 30 hours. What a learning experience. 244 miles in 34 hours.