The Passage is Over

Wednesday January 21, 2009
The only thing I can remember about Wednesday is sitting in the cockpit having a discussion with my husband hearing another north wind weather report for the next four or five days and wondering how I would survive more disappointment. You take a deep breath and search down deep in your soul and discover no I really would have to revert to laying in bed for a whole day with the cover over my head and that is when your two acquaintances dinghy over and report we are good to go tomorrow, heading out in the morning the window is opening for Friday night and we are two days from Lake Worth the jump off point. The long awaited and anticipated and feared and dreaded moment is arriving in just two day. We have no bread or milk, we need more groceries, I have to mail some birthday cards, get money oh no here we go. We took off to the fuel dock to load up with diesel, gasoline, pump out and fresh water so we would be ready for an early start. When we got back to Radical Jack there was a skippers meeting and not much else was discussed about the trip but a lot of celebrating.
Thursday January 22, 2009
We headed out down the ICW to a place called Peck Lake where we anchored for the night. We were the only ones with our dinghy down so we made a tour of the anchorage. There is another boat by the name of Agapi (George and Georgia Saoulli from Toronto )who want to cross with us on Friday night. We had a brief visit with them on board their boat. Back on Grace C tensions are building for the big event. The engine is a constant concern and the availability of help (outside the US) is diminishing.
Friday January 23, 2009
Not a good start to the day. Captain woke up with a migraine headache complete with throwing up. Our deadline is closing in fast and we need to get to Lake Worth with everyone and get some groceries and then get to the anchorage at the inlet so we are ready to go. The earlier we get there the sooner we can go to sleep so we can stay awake for the crossing. Stress is incredible. Summon some inner reserve of intestinal fortitude and just keep moving forward. Getting to Lake Worth is like passing through seven bridges and having to time them. We feel like we are running out of time so we just head to the inlet. We are exhausted and make a miscalculation on the entrance to anchorage. We hit bottom twice.
Finally figure out the navigation lights and drop anchor. The impeller is not working right and Captain has to drag himself exhausted and sick through yet another engine maze. I tried to lay down but the situation is way out of my control. I keep thinking what are we doing we should just not leave even though that would mean we would be here indefinitely. Then the engine grief starts again. What comfort is there at a time like this. Actually I thought of all the b loggers comments and their prayers for a safe passage. So I deducted “Maybe this is it, maybe this is His timing.” Alright on with the show.
Peace, of God is back. At this point Dick puts the engine door back in and we are good to go.
It is now 5:30 pm we have time to call our kids and parents and eat something and just relax and try to rest up for the exodus. We have five boats leaving, Radical Jack an hour early and four others. The wind has died down and the sunset is incredible. Wind will be on the east and very light and the waves are only 1-2 feet. Our etd is 9:00 pm at 10 to we hall anchor.
The passage was incredible. The lights on the Florida Shore are brilliant. The Fort Lauderdale/Miami end can be seen all the way across. We had agreed to monitor 72 so every hour or so the airwaves were broken with boater bantering. Then after we were off shore a ways the heavens were aglow with millions and trillions of stars. If that were not enough once in the golf stream we noticed the lights of some creatures off the stern wave. The water has its own lights. The sky was sparking and the waters were glowing. Sometime around 5:30 am I went below to get some sleep and when I woke up the sun was just breaking forth over West End, Grand Bahama Island. The sky was peach colour and the moon was periwinkle (new moon). The sun rise looked like a vat of coral lava. We are here, two years of planning, giving up my house, my car, my job, my cheese grater so we can sail to the Bahamas and here is the moment we all waited for.
So powerful, so enormous, so excited and yes it is worth it.
Saturday January 24, 2009
Back to Reality
Our plan was to clear customs at West End , Grand Bahama and head out to an anchorage for a few days of rest and relaxation. The impeller was not sending water out our exhaust so after we had cleared customs we ended up drifting at the mouth of the harbour just at the time that Peter and Heather were coming in. They were more that helpful at towing us in and offering some support in terms of telling us to get to bed and get some sleep you are making irrational decisions.!!!!!!! After you spend the money and have access it is hard not to want to enjoy the resort. Another Ericson owner came by and offered us some moral support and some extra parts if we need them. Dick spent the afternoon working on the impeller and finally we have water coming out our exhaust again. This of course is a brand new part we had purchase in Palm Coast and now it is already leaking in the seals. Can anybody make anything that works any more?
P. S. Note to Shirley, nice to hear you got the card I sent and send me an email so I can have your email address I cannot respond to you off the blog. :) We just got to the Bahama and will be here for a while then head home in March or April or ???? Just kidding.