Tuesday morning we awoke at 5:30 am to the sound of the alarm. It was time to get ready for our crossing back to Florida. After almost 4 months in the Bahamas we were ready to return to the Land of Plenty!

We left the marina at 6:30am with Auriga (Rick and Tanya) and Smiles (Jim and Betsy). We passed under the bridge and hoisted our sails. We were about to head out the west end when a cruise ship appeared so we had to wait until it had passed.

Finally we were on our way with predictions of 10 - 15 knot winds from the south to southeast. Sounded good to us! Quickly we realized that it was not going to be quite that nice. The winds picked up, a squall appeared and the seas were building.

We quickly dropped our sails and prepared for the squall to pass. The winds picked up and the rain came. It passed over us quite quickly and we really didn't get too wet or blown around too much. But with the winds from behind us we decided to to with just the jib.

Then for hour after hour we had large seas from behind us and lots of wind. We made really good time even if we were being tossed around like a green salad. We were sailing in the Tongue of the Ocean with depths over 6000 feet. Just before entering the Bahama Banks the depth climbs up to 500 ft and then 300 ft and then 20 feet. It kind of freaked me out thinking about it. But it was a piece of cake passing over it and once that was out of the way I relaxed.

But we still had a lot of water to cover before we would reach Florida. We prepared everything we could think of before nightfall. Everything stowed where it was supposed to be, flashlights in pockets, life jackets on and aft cabin prepared for naps. Darkness always comes too fast for me and always lasts too long. I hate the night at sea. I love light!

We took 1 hour watches. Our autopilot had given up the ghost on our sail to Georgetown weeks earlier and we knew this would be a hand-steering night. (Even if we had our autopilot I think we would have had to hand steer with the following seas that we had) We would take turns going below to the aft cabin - taking the 1 hour timer with us! You don't get much sleep that way - especially when the boat is rolling and rocking.

Finally dawn broke through! But the seas did not set down so we had a rough, rolly day that was not fun at all. At 1:30 pm on Wednesday we entered the Lake Worth entrance and were "Back in the U.S. of A.! We had endured a long night and were thrilled to be back. 31 hours is all it took us so it was a good trip! We made great time.

We are anchored in Lake Worth north anchorage and tomorrow morning Kirby and Rick will get on the bus and find Customs and Immigration and check in. Then it will be SHOPPING and maybe a nice draft beer! We will be heading north -er soon.

Stay tuned for updates on the trip NORTH!