Sunday, April 14, 2013

Back In The U.S. of A!!

Sunrise in Florida this morning

Well....we made it! It's so hard to believe we're back in Florida. Our crossing from the Bahamas was a little rough. Sometimes, no matter how many weather reports you look at things just don't unfold as predicted. The wind was exactly as we expected...12-18knots from the east..(which is great cuz' we're headed west). The waves however, were totally unorganized. They hit us from all directions which causes the boat to roll dramatically from side to side. I have one word...NAUSEOUS!!! Ugh. Scott did fine. He seems immune to sea sickness. I was sick for 10 out of 20 hours. Jib was a nervous wreck. Poor baby.

Bye Bye Bahamas. Things were nice & calm when we set sail for America.

After our 20 hour journey we were pretty excited to see all the high rises of the Florida coastline. Land Ho!! Our excitement was quickly zapped as we realized the inlet we needed to go through (Ft. Pierce) looked "kinda rough" .We knew from friends that this inlet could be tricky & we timed our trip accordingly with the tides. Didn't matter. I was looking with the binoculars & told Scott to go for it. I judged wrong. Way wrong. Oops. We basically ended up in a washing machine. That inlet is crazy!! All of a sudden, 10-12 ft waves with rock walls on each side of the channel. OMG! It was all I could do not to burst into tears. Scott said it was the most scared he's ever felt on the boat. I wish I had pictures to show you but Scott may have thrown me off the boat if I reached for the camera at that point. :) Obviously, we made it. We spent the past couple days recovering in Ft Pierce reuniting with some good friends. Today we motor sailed 50 miles up the intra coastal waterway (ICW) to Eau Gallie, Florida. Thunderstorms started about 30 minutes before our arrival to the anchorage. As soon as we dropped the anchor tornado warnings started blaring over the radio. Tornados. In Florida. Seriously? Grrr.....

Caught a small (small is relative..he did weigh 10 pounds) Mahi Mahi during the crossing. He was delicious.

So our trek home to Arizona is now in full force. We'll be making our way up the Florida coast for another week or so to Green Cove Springs where we will keep Malaika for hurricane season. Then a couple more weeks cleaning her up & prepping her for standing alone without us for a few months. After that's all done, cross country drive to Arizona. Whew! Still quite a journey ahead of us!

Love & Miss you !!!

Michelle, Scott & Jib

 

2 comments:

Unknown said...

12 foot waves sound really scary. Do you drag a fishing line while you sail?

Scott , Michelle Jesse, & Jib said...

It was SUPER scary! Horrible way to end a 20 hr journey. And yes...we have 2 lines out usually when we're sailing. Thanks for joining our blog! :)