Nov 15-16

Monday, Tuesday

We left Daytona Beach mid-morning Monday heading to Ponce de Leon Inlet to go offshore.  The seas were subsiding and the wind forecast is favorable to 2 or 3 days outside.

As we get outside, we find the wind very light, and sometimes none at all.  It looks like it's going to a good motor/sail to at least Ft. Pierce and maybe even beyond.

On this leg we go around Cape Canaveral and pass the Kennedy Space Center.  We are able to see the Vehicle Assembly Building and Space Shuttle at the Space Center all day long.  Around sunset we are passing the Space Center and planning for a pleasant evening. 

We have found the weather forecast generally be useful for only one thing - and that is that the forecasters predict there will be weather.  That's about all.  The wind speed and direction have never been right - and tonight, the forecasters have maintained their 100% record of being wrong.  They are calling for late night increase of wind to 10 to 15 mph out of the Southwest, and dieing down by morning.

Around 9 pm the winds do start to pick up - straight on the nose - about the time we pass the Cape. 

I laid down to take a brief nap and when I woke up around 10:15, the winds are howling, running 15 to 20 knots right on the nose.  The seas are building and it is getting very uncomfortable, with the nose of the boat diving into the waves.  We're having a hard time making 3 knots motoring into the waves and prospects don't look favorable for another 8 hours of beating into the wind.  We can't even use the sails to help stabilize the motion.

We take our bearings and see that we are about 10 miles offshore from Port Canaveral and decide that we should probably head there.  One of the most worrisome things is coming into an unknown port in the dark, but the charts show a well marked channel and our phone GPS systems have been operating flawlessly.

After we make the turn back to the Northwest, the ride becomes much more comfortable.  We make contact with Tow Boat US (FYI,  Tow Boat US called us this morning to see if everything was alright - that's good customer service)  for local knowledge and he suggests that we plan to tie up at Port Marina's fuel dock when we get in and settle up with them in the morning. 

We make it to the marina around 12:30 am.  We had no problems navigating in.  We did observe a major blob of light coming out as we were heading in.  Port Canaveral is the embarkation point for several cruise ships.  They are an imposing site at night on the sea.

Tuesday morning we check the weather and find that the prediction of winds has once again been wrong, keeping up the 100 % record.  They were supposed to swing more Westerly and drop off, however, they are out of the South (our intended direction) and running 15 - 25 knots.

So we decide that we will once again get on the ICW.  It was interesting leaving Port Canaveral.  There is a canal going inland and you have to actually go through locks that raise and lower the water level 3 to 4 feet. 

We motor sailed all day down the ICW with winds running 15 to 20 knots. 

Tonight (Tuesday) we are anchored  near the Sabistian Inlet.  It has been a very pleasant evening with very comfortable temperatures.  I'm beginning to feel like we're getting far enough South to begin feeling good again.  The area we're in reminds me a lot of the Florida keys - really whetting my appetite to get down there.

We again hope to be able to get outside tomorrow for a 2-3 day run South, but we are flexible.