I was up at 4:45 with thoughts racing through my mind on what I had to do before leaving dock. I left Ted to sleep till 06:00 since we would be going overnight I wanted him to get the extra sleep. By 07:10 we were underway for our overnight cruise down the Atlantic Coast to West Palm Beach, Florida. Although it is near high tide we are still fighting the current coming into the St. Mary’s River Inlet. Past the break wall Ted commented on something in the channel up ahead that looks like it had a cross on top. Minutes later we realized it was a submarine partially submerged. The announcement on the radio was brief and left us unsure if it was the same sub that we were looking at. I checked the chart for safe water and started to move further over to the side of the channel away from the sub. Within minutes we spotted a small orange Coast Guard boat coming up the channel at full speed. When it crossed the channel and started coming towards us we noticed that there was a machine gun mounted on the bow manned by someone who was prepared to use it. I went out to the top deck making no sudden movements as they came along side us. I waved but received no smiles and no warm greetings for their friendly northern neighbours. They opened the side door and with a megaphone they ordered us to head south out of the channel away from the sub. I went back into the flybridge to navigate Ted through the area. Ted asked if I took pictures of our visitors but I think that was definately out of the question. Our friends in arms did not leave us right away but rather stayed alongside us to escort us out of the area. No waves or friendly goodbyes. They just turned quickly to pursue their next victim. I guess that they do not want to announce the arrival of a military submarine on the VHF radio in advance. The excitement never ends.
Once the drama ended we settled onto our waypoint and headed south. We opened the side windows, donned our bathing suits, slathered on the sunscreen and settled in for wonderful relaxing cruise. The sun shining on the waves looked like fireflies dancing on the water. I was surprised (and excited) when I managed to capture this with my camera.
Sunlight beaming on the water
To pass the time I often read to Ted while we are cruising to pass the time. During the course of the day, as I was reading aloud Ted would interrupt to point something on the water. We spotted at three turtles who popped their heads up to check us out and then quickly dove under water. We also saw schools of fish jumping a foot out of the water. Obviously there was something chasing under the water that we could not see. It was interesting to see hundreds of fish doing backflips around us. And ofcourse our faithful dolphins joined us for playtime on our bullnose throughout the day. Although the camera was ready I did not get pictures of the turtles or the jumping fish so you will have to trust me on this.
We watched the sunset and at around eight pm we watched the full moon rise. Within five minutes it had peeked up from east over the ocean and was quickly visible in all of its glory. The moon and stars would light the sky for the duration of the night guiding our way. There were few boats on the water tonight so very little chatter on the VHF radio. We heard one sailboat calling the Coast Guard to ask a question about clearance around Cape Canaveral. I was tempted to radio them just to make contact with another boat letting them know that they were not alone.
The winds were from the east and were expected to shift to Southeast. The wind clocking around would flatten the swells however the wind did not clock as forecasted (oh what a surprise) so we were forced to tolerate the easterly swells all night which made for uncomfortable sleeping. We took 2 hour shifts most of the night.
Ted & I switched places at 05:45 to give him the opportunity to do the sunrise shift. As the day progressed the ocean swells settled and we observed the colour of the water changing to rich shades of deep aqua blue. How exciting, it was diffidently a sign that we were approaching the Bahamas and the Gulf Stream. By 16:00 we were at anchored in crystal clear water in Lake Worth surrounded by condos, waterfront villas and palm trees. We reported in with our shore friends whom we had filed a float plan to let them know we were at anchor. We keep a watch for manatees in the area, perhaps in the next few days we will see a few. At our most southerly US destination 1728 nautical miles from Toronto we prepare for our crossing of the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. After a 266 mile run down the coast in 33 hours we enjoyed dinner on the boat and then a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow we will launch the dinghy and join our friends Anne & Paul at their condo in Delray Beach a few miles away to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner (again).
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