At 1805, we finally got to depart Lauderdale Marine Center for the last time! Down the New River one last time!

Wil navigated our way down the river without incident. There were lots of people partying along the river on a Saturday evening.

We exited the inlet at Port Everglades at about 2100 and had to pull over and let a cruise ship go by. Just outside the inlet, I got on the cell phone with Bob Rodgers (KC4TVO), so he could help get more ham frequencies set up on the SSB. We discovered that it's already got several dialed in. We also did a trial run, and he could hear my signal loud & clear.

Once past the inlet we set a course for 30 degrees and watched the lights of the FL coastline gradually (very gradually) fall away.

Wil had the helm first while we all took some time to settle in for the night. Bill (Wil's landscape partner) sacked out quite easily in his cabin. Ben (Bill's 21-year old son) stayed in the cockpit all night on standby for any help needed. We triple reefed the main and had 2/3 jib out, so all would hopefully be calm through the night.

However, we lost the starboard engine again! At about 2210 the engine sound changed just like on the Sarasota trip. I immediately turned off the engine, but let everyone continue sleeping. Later, I tried to re-start the engine, but got nothing. Maybe a gunked up fuel filter from the bumpy inlet. For the time being we power down everything and enjoy the sailing.

Thanks to being on a catamaran, our greenhorns are handling their first introduction to the ocean beautifully!