T-12 Hours and Counting

The weather has calmed down at last. The past five days the winds have been blowing so strong that NOAA has released small craft warnings. "Small Craft" meaning vessels less than 70' in length. That's us. We had planned to go over to the fuel dock today but it was gusting to 40mph. The bay was covered with large whitecaps. The only vessels that passed through the narrows were commercial boats. There has not been a single sailboat in nearly a week.
 Tomorrow the forecast calls for 5-10 knot winds. Perfect for the start of our voyage. The crew will be getting up early in the morning to get all the loose items stowed. After breakfast we will fill the fuel tanks and signal the bridge tender for one last opening of the Knapps Narrows Bridge.Then we sail out the Choptank River into the Chesapeake and plot out course South. Our first leg will be to Norfolk, VA. We should be there by 02:00 Monday morning. Then it's through the Bay Bridge tunnel channel and SE toward the Gulf Stream.
Our weather window is one that should find us with NW winds following at 15-25 knots. By Friday we expect to be off Miami and begin the passage skirting the outside of the Keys Westward to the Dry Tortugas and Ft. Jefferson our first landfall. The crew will then spend a couple days resting and relaxing before the final leg North to Ft Myers. If all goes well we should be there for Julianna's birthday on the 13th. We will update the blog again on arrival in Ft Myers. Keep us in your prayers this week.

Fair Winds

Scott