(This blog update was written yesterday morning, but not posted until today. Since I wrote this, I unsuccessfully tried to install a new alternator, had dinner with Gordon Barnett - a former co-worker, and flew back home to my wife and boys for the holidays)

Ten and a half weeks ago, I dropped the mooring lines in Hingham to set out on the a planned seven and a half month cruise. Yesterday, I brought Grace into a slip at the Las Olas Marina in Ft Lauderdale - mile 1065 on the ICW, completing the first phase of this trip. We made it! Grace and I have come over 1700 miles since I left Hingham. Grace shows a few signs of the travel - the bent pulpit from Galesville, a few dents in the rubrail from rafting up, and a new scratch in the gelcoat from the anchoring incident in St Mary's. I don't have any dents or anything, but this has been an experience for me, and hard to sum up.

Since my last blog post -

While the Rally group left for the next anchorage, I stayed an extra day in Vero Beach. It's important to set your own pace, and not be a slave to a schedule or itinerary. I was rafted up to Dave Pelkey on Alley Yukon, and we had a nice walk to the beach where his dog Sparky could dash into the breaking waves - getting tumbled around, then coming up and continuing to swim into the waves, barking all the while. Dave and I shared dinner and drinks that evening, and talked about future trips.

The next day I motored to Peck Lake to rejoin the group. Peck Lake is a very nice anchorage, with a short dinghy ride to a barrier island with the ocean on the other side. In the evening I could hear the waves breaking on the beach. Due to time, I didn't go to the beach and so will have to stop there in the spring on my way north. Jim and Rhonda on Morningside had everyone over for a pasta dinner that evening. The next morning, a front with thunderstorms, pouring rain and high winds passed through as we were anchored - everyone let out more anchor line to prepare for it. We got a late start after the storm passed, and progressed to Latana - basically just a place to spend the night. I used the evening to prepare for the next day's run - to Ft Lauderdale and my last run on the ICW. Part of this preparation was to write down every opening bridge I'd have to pass through.

That night, at 3:00am, I realized that where I'd planned to leave Grace while I went north for Christmas wasn't where I thought it would be (where the charts had it). Don Curtis, who ran the place, told me he needed to call and schedule a bridge opening - and from my chart review that evening, I saw that that bridge was past where I thought his marina was - and right next to a bridge with only 40' of clearance. Grace needs 50'! I couldn't get to his marina! So I made a list of every possible marina I could stay at - and worried if any of them would have a place for me at this late notice.

I set out at 5:00am - in a dark, moonless night for a fast run through the 17 draw bridges I thought I'd have to clear. At 8:00 I called the first marina - no answer. At 8:05 I called again, and they answered, and said they had a slip. Las Olas Marina in Ft Lauderdale, and probably the best location to leave the boat. Whew! Tension faded away.

And that is where I am now - in a slip next to the Las Olas Blvd draw bridge and a short walk from Ft Lauderdale beach. Tomorrow, I'll fly back home for my mother's 90th birthday and Christmas, and then come back to commence the next phase of my cruise.

Reflections on my journey so far -

This cruise so far has been like a long, long, long road trip. Interesting places along the way that you don't spend enough time in (or pass by entirely), and a constant urge to keep moving - with lots, lots of motoring. An adventure - but in a different way from how we typically think of adventures. I had no idea in September what this trip would be like, and there were times in the beginning where I wasn't certain I'd make it to Florida, make it to the Bahamas, and complete this journey.

I woke up at 3:00 am this morning and looked around the cabin. Lying there, I felt a sense of accomplishment, and of contentment. We made it. A lot of challenges, but each one passed. In three weeks, I'll get up one day and cross over to the Bahamas. In three months, I'll come back to the US. In five months, I'll motor into Hingham and pick up the same mooring lines I cast off this past September.