01 April 2009

Florida!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009
April Fool's Day!

No, this is not an April Fool's joke...we're back stateside on Whisper, trading in the sunny, dry Caribbean for cool and rainy Florida. ugh!

We sailed from Nassau to Cape Canaveral a week ago, leaving Nassau on Wednesday afternoon and arriving in Canaveral on Friday morning, 288 nautical miles. Overnight we averaged almost 9 knots in the Gulf Stream! Full Speed Ahead! As soon as we entered the Canaveral inlet, the water color changed from blue to brown and we knew we were back on the ICW. We're currently in Fernandina Beach, Florida, enjoying the hospitality of our friend Dave (from s/v Shannon Glynn) and catching up on internet, email, laundry and hot showers. It's been fun slowly making our way up the ICW, watching houses go by and then snaking our way through marshland. At anchor the other night we saw osprey, two bald eagles, a loon and sandpipers on the mud flats.

Great Isaac Light, the western-most lighthouse on the Grand Bahamas Banks. Goodbye Bahamas!


Tell us Hans...how do you really feel about being back in the US on Whisper? (approaching Cape Canaveral)

Our first anchorage in the States. How scenic.

It's a small world: the other day we had the VHF radio tuned to channel 09, the channel the bridge tenders monitor, and we heard the boat "Free Spirit." Our friend Jerry from MA is on the boat Free Spirit...so we hailed Free Spirit on channel 16 and sure enough, it was Jerry! He is on his way north for the summer and we just happened to be in the same place at the same time. We had a fun night catching up and sharing stories.

One of the many bridges we'll encounter on the trip north, this one is in Titusville, FL. The bridges are a pain, but the friendly bridge tenders make up for the hassle. They almost always are cheery and wish you a good voyage.



Hey, aren't there miles upon miles of really nice beaches in Florida? Instead, this group choses to camp and sunbathe on the muddy ICW just a few feet from the highway. charming.


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