Yesterday morning we left Fort Pierce (where we'd anchored the night before) and let me tell you the INLET there was horrendous. I have never been in such rough waters. For half an hour, Delphinus's bow rose into the air about 20 feet and then dropped (crashed is a better word: it wasn't any kind of gentle descent down the crest of a wave, or even a rough descent as such - it was simply dropping, falling, crashing down so we were almost weightless for a nano-second or two) 20 feet, submerging the bowsprit into the water before rearing out of the water again another 20 feet. The waves were almost on top of each other - even Phillip said it was rough, and he NEVER agrees with me about this sort of thing. It lasted about 40 minutes until we were out of the channel - I hung on for dear life, I couldn't let go of the rails for even a second, or else I'd have been tossed around the cockpit like, well, like an idiot on a boat in very rough seas. Worst seas I've ever been in for sure.
We arrived in Fort Lauderdale and anchored in Lake Sylvia (by Port Everglades) at 4 pm this afternoon, exactly four weeks after leaving Annapolis. It was the most wonderful sailing day today - the best I've ever experienced - light winds, gentle seas, the sun shining, a wonderful breeze - just tinged with the slightest melancholy because it means our trip has drawn to a close. This trip, anyway. It was bitter sweet, seeing the familiar coastline, our condo, the restaurant where we met (Sea Watch), our friend Ree's condo, Fort Lauderdale Beach etc. then turning into Port Everglades and seeing the intracoastal waterway, the New River, all our old "stomping grounds", and then finally anchoring in Lake Sylvia. Who knows whether we'll stay in Florida for a while or if we'll be setting sail to foreign lands again, only time will tell.
To be continued......
