Overnight

“It’s 3 am, I must be lonely” goes the Matchbox 20 song, but I’m not lonely. Tania’s in a cabin sleeping and I’m on watch. I think there is something neat about being on a boat in the Atlantic and looking across moonlit water, especially with a full moon and calm seas.

Sea Biscuit just turned the corner, 12 miles off the coast of Cape Canaveral, headed directly toward Ponce Inlet. We plan to enter there around 1100 am. High tide is at 1117, so we should enter with the current and be able to navigate the shallow inlet water with no issues. From there the Halifax River will lead us north to Daytona Beach where we will stay home for a couple weeks before pressing north to Virginia. 

This trip, Key West to Daytona Beach, has been different for us. It’s the first time we have completed a trip remaining offshore. In the past we have used the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) at least some of the time, actually we have used it the majority of the time. The weather forecast made this trip offshore pretty relaxing and less work than steering the boat up the ICW river, stopping to wait for draw bridges to open, and having jet skis whizzing around. 

Two nights ago we did an overnight passage. We began that day raising the anchor in Key Largo. We stopped at Fowler Rocks to snorkel for about an hour, stopped briefly in the craziness of Miami, just long enough to grab a bag of ice and refuel our diesel and water tanks. Leaving Miami an hour or so before sunset, we were able to watch a total eclipse of the moon from the boat. Truly beautiful. 

So tonight makes two of the last three nights we have spent offshore all night. It has been a really nice night. After arriving yesterday morning around 6:45 am, we left West Palm Beach this morning at 7:15. The ocean has acted more like a lake. The waves are generally less than a foot high. The downside, if you can call it that, is that there hasn’t been much wind. Which is why the ocean is so flat. I think most sailors wouldn’t like the lack of wind, but we would rather run the engines and have the smooth ride than be sailing with a much rougher ride. I’m not sure we are even sailors. I think we are just two people on a sailboat. 

Sunrise is always welcoming.