Captain's View

Overall the departure went fairly smoothly. We left the dock and managed NOT to snag the dingy or the other stuff hanging on the aft end of the boat on one of the pilings. Great Start! We also made it to the anchorage, still with everything on the aft end intact. Great Success!

Yes, the hue on our faces had changed to a lighter shade of green for a while in the morning, but we made it to our anchorage in 24 hours. (not that we are in a hurry). We did witness an amazing sun set. The kind you can only get out as sea.

Sailing through the night is tiring; and the boat looks like a hurricane blew through it when you're done. When the sea gets rough, no one wants to spend too much time below, so things get tossed in the cabin. By the end of the leg, stuff is everywhere.

There is one place on board that is the most comfortable spot to be when the waves kick up. The exact center of the boat moves the least, both forward and aft and side to side. Doug found this spot and spent the night with his pillow on the hard salon floor, another obstical to get around on the way to the head!

First Mate's View

After a heartfelt farewell at "C" dock, a tearful wave to the Luby Family at the Dunlawton Bridge, and a heart wrenching goodbye to Andrew in Ponce Inlet, we set sail in the Atlantic for Port St. Lucie (at Mike's insistence). After only 30 minutes, Doug hooked a 22 inch Spanish Mackerel! It was rough sailing and by morning everyone was green, so the decision was made "unanimously" to head in to Ft. Pierce. (Don't worry it was a bonding experience.) We happily motored down the ditch the rest of the way. It made anchoring out seem like a luxury! We set the hook at Peck Lake in Hobe Sound for the night. The next afternoon we went to see Steve and Martine (brother and sister-in-law). This was an adventure in itself. In order to meet them we had to bring the dinghy to Peck Lake Park and meet them there. We did, but we had to hike 3 miles to the parking lot through the swampland on a boardwalk/paths etc... to reach them. This was very hot and buggy, but funny. More humorous, in fact, was the trip back to the Adamo. The park closed at sundown...so in the dark with a "shake to light" flashlight in covert style we hopped the fence and hiked through the dark paths back to the ICW where we ever so quietly (well, there we a few giggles) unlocked the dingy from the underside of the gazebo where we hid it. Upon our return to the Adamo we discovered that our generator was not working properly (our first clue was the loud knocking sound, duh!). So Mike worked on it...and the next day...Mike worked on it more with help from factory reps...to no avail. Since we had to pick up our life raft in Ft. Lauderdale we figured we would have it repaired there. We anchored in Lake Worth and the small "lake" in Boca Raton and now we are docked at the Coral Ridge Yacht Club in Ft. Lauderdale. Great Club and Location (close to the Galleria Mall....and much more) and guess what? they have water galore here so I can do laundry (not to mention taking a long hot shower). Life is good!
By the way, motoring down the ICW gives you a whole new view of the world.. There are incredible mansions and the "backyard" boats are 80 ft. long and the mega yachts are too many to count. WOW. We have seen this many times before, but this time the boat show is here so it is exaggerated!

Sue