3/18 – This morning got off to a quick start with Connie making bread and washing a load of clothes before 10 AM. Then she took off and went grocery shopping with Runaway and Mystic (Runaway has some friends down here with a car). Doug spent the time putting things away on the boat and taking care of some internet and phone stuff. After that it was a lazy afternoon and a barbequed steak for supper. We had some left from when we first took off. Our purchase of the Engel freezer turned out to be a very good thing. It holds much more than the installed freezer and holds its temperature better. We are thinking of replacing the refrigerator with an Engel.

3/17 – After leaving the banks, we set a course of 255 degrees magnetic, well south of our actual bearing to Miami. This was to compensate for the effects of the current. We normally assume the Gulf Stream will be about 25 miles wide and moving north at 3 knots in the center. This time we found it to be almost 40 miles wide and felt the effect until we were only 3 miles offshore of Florida. The course of 250 degrees needed to be altered a little too about 245 degrees, but the result was that we ended up almost exactly on the Miami entrance. The crossing was quite uncomfortable due to the light winds from astern so we couldn’t keep the sails up for stability and the 3 foot swells that caused a lot of rolling, but it was only 7 hours from the Bahama banks to Government Cut, Miami. We had to slow down for about a half hour as we approached the inlet as we wanted to wait for daylight to make the entrance. Just as we headed in the channel, a large container ship also headed in, so we moved outside the channel and let him go by. Just as he passed us there was another ship coming out so had to let him pass also. Once we were inside the inlet we had to deal with a lot of boat traffic from fishing boats, tugs with barges, ferries, etc. Once we got through the commercial area and turned south on the ICW to Biscayne Bay, the boat traffic petered out. We came into the Crandon Park Marina and got fuel and water and then went out to a mooring. Connie made a great breakfast of bacon, eggs and homemade toast while Doug got on the phone and cleared Customs and Immigration. Our new (last fall) Local Boaters Option speeded up the process (although it was still a lengthy phone call) and allowed us to complete the check in by phone and not have to report to Immigration physically. Then it was crash time for a few hours. Later in the day we spent some time cleaning up the boat. After an early cocktail hour on Runaway, we barbequed a couple of hamburgers and then hit the sack.

3/16 – We left the anchorage about 8 AM and headed northwest with a light wind from the east and a 2 to 3 foot swell from the northeast – somewhat lumpy conditions. These lasted until we got in the protection of the Berry Islands and that cut down the rolling. About the same time the wind filled a little and we had a fast and easy motor sail across the banks. We got on the banks at about 2:30 PM and left the banks at North Rock about 11:30 PM. Along the way we saw a great green flash, and the rising of the almost full moon. In addition, both of us got a couple of hours of sleep while the sailing was smooth. When we left the banks and headed out into the Gulf Stream, we were surprised to find that we were experiencing a strong northerly current almost as soon as we left the banks.