We were up before dawn, made coffee and watched as Freed Spirit pulled out ahead of us under search light. We were not far behind them as we hoisted the anchor and made our way out at 0609. The first leg of the trip was up to the Northwest Channel light where we would cross onto the banks. The wind was light and behind us on the starboard quarter. We pulled out the jib and began our long journey. We managed to cover the 14nm to the light in good time passing by the "light" around 0845. Just past the light Mint Julep passed us. We heard them and Freed Spirit on the radio several times during the day. They were stopping in Bimini and Freed Spirit was having some issues with their AIS.
We were lucky on the Banks they were calm and with the wind behind us at less than 10 we moved along nicely. Its 85nm across the banks to the point where we cross into the Florida Straits. The chart plotter had us making our destination by 6:30 AM but that would change in the course of our travels. There were quite a lot of boats out there, most traveling in the same direction as us. Several of the mini cruise ships went by pulling their massive dinghies. Some close enough to cause significant wakes. UGH We passed Mackie Shoal mid afternoon with 36 more miles of banks ahead of us. We took turns on the helm letting each other rest while we had daylight hours. About 1700 hrs Scott filled the fuel tank while we were still on the calm banks. That gave us enough fuel to get to Ft Lauderdale.
I had made sandwiches for us to have for dinner, we usually eat very lightly on a passage. While neither one of us is prone to mal de mar we both do suffer from it on occasion. As we approached Bimini the sun sank below the horizon. We thought we were going to see a green flash but clouds obscured the horizon just as the sun dropped. We were both consigned to the fact that part of this trip would be at night but neither of us was excited about that. I felt a sense of sadness watching the sunset. We had good light for a bit and Scott rested while I manned the helm. I could see Bimini's lights off our port side and watched the waters for traffic. No sooner had Scott gotten comfortable that I spotted an AIS target that merited tracking. It was a cargo ship that was headed for Bimini. I hailed the captain to find out how he wanted to pass. We decided on port to port and both of us watched keeping our eyes his lights.

At 2120 we passed by the Moselle Banks and into the Florida Straits. The seas were on our starboard quarter and lumpy. The boat was taking them well but it wasn't the most pleasant ride but at least the period of the waves was tolerable. The fetch with a south wind was the source of the lumpy seas. That and our direction of travel. As we looked into the northern sky we could see lightening in the distance. Scott was resting and I was watching the AIS traffic. There were a lot of boats out there mostly freighters. Commercial boats are required to have AIS, it's optional for recreational boats. Those are the ones that worry me most because you can't see them. We only had a sliver of moon, not getting much help from moonlight. We do have radar with which you can sometimes pick them up as targets but not always.
After discussing the lightening we decided to pull in the sail. If we hit a squall we were concerned it might destroy it. We need to take it in for repairs when we get back to a dock. The leach is looking tattered where the sunbrella has separated from the sail. We weren't getting much of a boost out of it anyway.
The amount of traffic continued to be a concern and I had one particular vessel another freighter, that looked like he was going to be very close. I checked his CPA and TCPA and sure enough he looked to be headed right our way. I got Scott up and he told me to hail them. I did so and we discussed our heading and his. He claimed he would miss us by a nm but as he approached it didn't look at all like he would. I hailed them again and asked if he was passing us across the bow or stern. He should have passed us on the stern but he claimed bow. Crap he was really getting too close for our comfort so Scott changed our course altogether and we let him pass. Which he did very slowly. I think he was messing with us, Scott thought they were sleeping.
Being it was dark there was a bit of confusion getting us back on course but we figured it out. By now we were in the thick of the Gulf Stream and we were screaming along at nearly 6 knots. At this rate we may have to actually slow down to reach the Ft Lauderdale inlet in the daylight. Scott was wide awake after our close encounter of the freighter kind so I took the opportunity to rest. I managed to fall asleep for a couple of hours. We had been letting the autopilot and the chartplotter do the driving which is much easier on the body. On the trip over this worked like a champ, not so much on the way back. The stream was pushing us north of our target and the autohelm wasn't keeping up. We had to readjust the course several times. In retrospect we might have been better off aiming for Lake Worth inlet. That would have given us a better angle on the stream. We were too perpendicular to it heading to Lauderdale. The amount we were pushed added some mileage to the trip as we fought the current.
Both of us were glad to see the sun come up but we still had a couple of hours before we would reach the inlet. This was our first approach to Ft Lauderdale from the west and there was some confusion over the landmarks. Previously we had come from the South. The geography heading north from the inlet looks quite different approaching from the west. After getting the Captain reoriented and assured that yes we really were coming into Ft. Lauderdale we set our sights on that goal. The seas had continued to build through the night and while we were now out of the Gulf Stream they were no smaller. We were also bucking the tide and tired. We managed the inlet just fine and it we were both relieved to get out of the rolling seas. With fingers crossed we approached the Las Olas mooring field hoping to find an open ball. Our angels were with us, there were two balls open with good pennants. We snagged the ball got our lines on, time 0923 27 hours and change from when we left Chub. We had made it back on our own. A significant achievement for us. Scott called Customs and cleared us in while I straightened the boat. Time for some rest.
The picture is of Chub Cay.