Christmas Day

Madelyn woke up excitedly at 6:45am, and immediately remembered that this was Christmas Morning! She asked me “Mommy! Did Santa find out boat?” She walked into the salon (aka living/dining room) and shrieked “There are PRESENTS here!!!” After Brian and I each had a cup of strong coffee, we joined both Madelyn and Katja for a special time together. It was a fun morning with opening cards and little gifts. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, Omi, Aunt Vera and Aunt Renee for sending little treasures and notes… It was great to also have a chance to “Skype” our families and see their smiling faces!!!!

We didn’t have a lot of time to just relax because check-out time from the dock was 11:00am. We talked with the couple from Indianapolis on a catamaran named “Private Island” to see if they planned to leave West Palm Beach tonight as well, but they had to wait for family members to fly in the next day before they could sail to the Bahamas. We exchanged email addresses, and hopefully we will meet up soon. It’s a small world! They live on Geist Reservoir in Indy and now plan to cruise on their sailboat for months, maybe chartering their boat to guests along the way.

We left the dock without a problem, and then passed through the Flagler Bridge as it opened on schedule. I took a picture because I felt nostalgic; this would be the last bridge for us for a long time.

We found a new place to anchor farther north in Lake Worth by Peanut Island. For the rest of the day we continued to make preparations to cross the Gulf Stream that night. We took naps, made dinner, secured the dinghy on davits and the outboard engine on our deck, and made sure to tie all lines and sails tightly. We checked the weather again and our course again. The winds were predicted to come from the west/northwest at 10-15 knots, with seas 3-5 feet, and we would be heading more or less due east from Palm Beach.

We both were feeling apprehensive about this crossing, but we knew it was time to go. The weather was the best it could be. We had been waiting 2 weeks in Palm Beach, now 2 months since we flew down to start this trip, and over 4 years since we first dreamed of this and started budgeting to make this happen. We had made so many upgrades to our boat for this passage, with a lot of personal time and financial sacrifice. Can you ever be fully ready for a big change in your life? That is a question that is difficult to answer. There have been many times when we have been faced with this: deciding to have children, change jobs, move to a new place, try to move on after a huge loss, etc… I have to trust in God, myself, and the things I can plan for reasonably, and try to make the best decision possible. We also asked ourselves, “If we don’t do this Gulf Stream crossing, will we always regret it?” The answer was yes. We came this far, all the way from New England, we couldn’t hold back now.

So we left! We analyzed the weather again, and it was going to clock around from the north later the next day and become stronger, so we left 3 hours ahead of schedule, at 9:00pm on Christmas Day.

It was a dark, bumpy night with a lot of rolling and pitching. The seas were coming from our port (left) side almost at our backs, so we could feel (but not see) the waves behind us, then under us, then in front of us. The wind was also behind us. I took Dramamine before we left, which helped immensely. Poor Madelyn got sick at the beginning, but then slept on the starboard settee with her lee-cloth secured to steady her, for the rest of the trip. Katja slept the entire way. I put 2 big pillows on either side of each little girl, which prevented them from rolling around in their beds and kept them from waking up. Here are some photos of the lee-cloth and pillow arrangements:

Brian and I had a hard time sleeping when we took turns. Once as I tried to sleep in the cockpit, I rolled off when a big wave came and caught myself just before my head hit the companionway hatch.

The Gulf Stream pushed us north a bit as it flowed north about 2-3 knots speed. We were able to compensate for this and made great time. We were headed east and saw the sunrise directly ahead of us, arriving at the marina exactly at 7:00am as the office was opening for the day. The green and red navigational lights marking the channel were such a welcome sight! I kept thinking “We DID it!” “We DID it!”

As always, when we entered the harbor, the waters calmed down to a flat surface and we felt better. We hailed the dockmaster on the VHF radio and she directed us to come in to the slip with our fenders and lines on our port side. As we entered, we could see it was tight spot! We came in, then had to come back out again to try again. Brian did a great job at the helm, trying to make up for the gusty winds and the momentum of the boat. There were 3 people on the dock ready to help with our lines, and I was so grateful. The docks here have large pilings instead of cleats, which is unfamiliar. Also it was low tide so I would have had a difficult time quickly climbing the ladder onto the dock and trying to slow the boat down to tie the lines all by myself.

We did it! Now it was early in the day, about 8:00am, and we were exhausted. We made it across the Gulf Stream and docked in a tight harbor, and we needed to check in with Customs, and get a lot of sleep. Around 8:30am our girls woke up excited to start a new day and see a new place. It is a challenge to travel with two energetic toddlers!