Stuck again Bob

Well we finally made it to the USA. The Bahamas was everything I had heard. Some areas a bit tooooo busy for my liking, but pretty all the same. I was told I would get stuck, well we did. Only 7 times. Some more dramatic than others. Fortunately we managed to get stuck at low tides, so there was never a real problem. We left Walkers Cay to come across to Florida early on Sunday morning. I had considered leaving on Saturday evening and sailing through the night as the charts had been so accurate I had few concerns, BUT as it was, it was a good thing we did NOT as a few shallow banks appeared right on our path. About 3 hours after leaving, I was making a grand cup of tea and cup cakes. I thought I should take a quick look outside. Good thing I did as there was this bank. We turned hard left and had to go about 1/2 mile to go round it. Then after another 3 miles there was another. Where the chart showed a good 3m depth. The second bank took some paint from our keel as I thought we were clear, but when I turned the bottom came up to meet us. We thought we were in a 4 x 4 as we bumped along over it under full power.   Then we had to cross over the Gulf Stream which I heard much about. Well this bloody current is something to sail across. We sailed best we could in a westerly direction, but for some of the time I thought we would be lucky to hit the coast anywhere south of New York City. We did. As we got across the current, we managed to get some west in our northerly path. It seemed like the God's were conspiring against us for some of the time, as the wind had gone westerly. So we had the wind straight on the nose the whole way. Poor little engine ran for 30 hours straight at full power. Not bad for a 1969 rebuilt VW diesel engine with gammy fan belts and an oil leak.   Finally arriving in Ft. Pierce, now late, we had to contend with an outgoing tide to enter the ICW (Inter Coastal Waterway). The tidal flow almost prevented us from entering. It took 2 hours to cover the 2 miles of the entrance. We then motored up the ICW 12 miles to Vero Beach where our friends John and Dotty Noble have a house and a mooring.   Just coming off the ICW to their dock we got stuck again. REAL WELL. With the assistance of Gerda, Alex and James in the dingy hauling on an extended halyard, full sails, engine full ahead, and the wake of a passing boat, we managed to scrape our way in to the canal over the sand bar. Once again, Low Tide. When we leave here in a week or so it will be on the High tide for sure.   We are now pretty good at getting un-stuck. The keel has no growth, but also no paint, and the engine has blackened the side of the boat with diesel exhaust smoke. But we made it......  :)   Rob

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