Our recent visit to Vizcaya Museum south of Miami.

I sometimes wonder whether we’ll to sail the high seas or not. Crossing to the Bahamas would get us close to that. Maybe crossing the Gulf of Mexico last November counted also. I’m seeing a weather window opening up Tuesday and Wednesday April 12 and 13. It’s about time. It’s 2 to 3 foot waves, which should be fine. I’d prefer “less than 2” because forecasts can be a bit off and the waves a foot or so higher, but 2 to 3 will do. It’s an east wind, so we’ll hit the worst of the waves and see how they are right off. I prefer that to a west wind, where we might start out fine and flat near the coast and come into rougher water as we get way out. We’ll keep watching that window.

From the dinghy in the cruise port. The world’s largest cruise ship enters the channel outward.

Star Gazer was supposed to be ready last Wednesday but was finally ready today (Friday). With the weather window currently shut we took a side trip St. Augustine. Sue did not want to miss seeing it again, and I’m planning a high seas voyage, weather permitting, up the coast “on the outside” after our stay in the Bahamas. We would leave from the Bahamas and plan to come in at Savannah or Charleston. That would be a longer trip than to the Bahamas, but we could stay near enough to the coast to maintain radio and perhaps cell phone contact along the way.

It would be nice to go outside with the Gulf stream at our back, and we may do that as we start up Florida. The Gulf Stream comes within 10 miles of the coast where we would start northward. By Charleston SC it is 50 miles out. That’s too far offshore for us, so we’d have to chug along at our 10 mph cruise speed. In two days and one overnight we could probably reach Savannah, and if we could not there is a good inlet at Brunswick GA which we would easily reach. With another overnight and day we would go much further, perhaps to Cape Fear in NC. I would not want to go more than that outside. That would slice a lot of time off an ICW area we have already traversed 3 times and make up for our late start north (due to our late start getting to the Bahamas).

Here we sit at Cable Marine East. This has got to stop.

We’ll drive back tomorrow and be ready for that window even if it moves earlier.