Sunday, April 10, 2011

Back in The USA

Not sure what's happening; but I can't get my pics to transfer to the blog..... so I guess I'll just give ya'all an update. We left Green Turtle at 1000 on Wednesday, April 7th with "Last Tango", It's About Time, and "Argonauta". The forecast was good; albeit very light winds after Wednesday. The winds were great that day though, and the armada all sailed the 50+ miles to set the anchors for the night at Great Sale Cay. Next morning we all decided to "go the distance" and leave the Bahamas for northern FL; even though the wind would be light and we would have to use the motor alot. We figured that it would take about 50 hours. On Thursday we motored past Mantanilla Shoal off the Bahama Banks by 1800, and said good-bye to the beautiful waters. We continued on to pick up the Gulf Stream and ride the current North. We did sail that night until the noise of the sails, etc. became too uncomfortable. Very little sleep that night (maybe an hour or two). Friday was a beautiful day on the stream - we said good-bye to "Last Tango" who were going to continue on to Charleston SC. We did sail some on Friday, while "IAT" and "Argonauta" did some fishing - caught Amberjack and Mahi. Our autopilot went bonkers and we thought it was unrepairable; until the captain was able to diagnose the problem and fixed it by evening. (Hooray!) We wanted to arrive in Fernandina by early Saturday morning, and that worked perfectly! We also were able get a few more hours of sleep Friday night (about 5 hours in total). The whole trip took 48 hours - we cleared customs and set the anchor in Fernandina Harbor at 0930. Had a celebratory cocktail and dinghied into shore for a couple of hours until all of us thought that a good sleep was in order. Today we will explore the Fort and town and then have fish dinner aboard "Argonauta".

1 comment:

Dick & Anne Anderson said...

Hey,

Glad the trip was safe but sad to see you MIA in the Bahamas.

We still anticipate a late April/early May crossing. We just don't want to leave!!!