Fort Lauderdale to Jensen Beach

 Cruising with the HISC from Fort Lauderdale to Jensen Beach Florida

Ok, we're loaded up. Boat is prepped, Water tanks full, Fuel Full - Two more 5 gallons tanks ready to put onboard, 10 gallons of gasoline for the outboard and Generator, Fridges - both Full, Wine, Rum, Whisky, Meals for 5 days and more. Bedding, Towels, and more, all on the boat and stowed. New item- The Ice Maker is on board, but not plugged in, it makes Ice in 7 minutes so just plug it in when needed. We even stored our Tower of Bricks game for the Rendezvous on Saturday. The Navigation electronics are in place and tested. 

We both have our 'Bags' packed, toiletries too, Meds ready to pack first thing in the morning. Did we forget anything??? Of course but we won't find out until we need it.

Plan to leave the house at 05:45 to arrive at the dock at 06:15, close enough. We arrived at the dock at about 06:35.

That's a good start.

Unusually quickly,  we put the fuel cans on the stbd deck,opened all the through hulls and got the engine running.  I prepped the dock lines while Peggy prepped for leaving the dock. We were off the dock before 6:55. WooHoo

We had a minor issue en-route to Atlantic Bridge. Pegs thought we had picked up a bag on the prop but we were OK. Running the prop in reverse at highest rpmdid the trick. We did have some smoke coming out of the exhaust. But I put that down to unburnt fuel. It cleared by the time we arrived at the bridge.  Then easily on to 14th street bridge and around the corner to the HI Inlet.  Summer Wind arrived at the same time. Once out of the inlet we turned NE,  heading 3nm offshore for a pump out. That's when the 2nd issue appeared. We planned to do a pump out before arriving at Lake Worth. However,  gremlins snuck into the black water tank and into the Macerator pump.

I keep a spare onboard but did not relish replacing it with the tank half full. As I thought about it,  I noticed there was a slot on the end of the pump driveshaft. A few turns and try the pump again..... Another score for the day. 

It was an awkward sail, wind around 15° which caused us to take some long tacks and that before the forecasted pm storms.  Chris was about a mile ahead of us, gotta love AIS. We both agreed via #68 that it was best to motor the rest of the way to Lake Worth. I set an Auto Guidance route on our chart plotter and set the Autopilot on the bearing of the first leg. The Garmin will control the Raymarine AP, but not if the track is from auto Guidance.

It was a long, but uncomplicated run up to Lake Worth. 

I did splurge for this trip. Introducing my new Tilley Airflow Broard rim hat. It already has a story.

As we approached the lake Worth Inlet,  Peggy turned us into wind while I lowered the mainsail. Of course, my new Tilly hat decided to go for a swim. $87! Hat overboard !!! Peggy turned the boat hard to stbd while keeping the hat in sight. Great time to practice our MOB action. Pegs turned past the hat and headed back up to wind with the victim just off the stbd bow. The hat was easily reached with the boat hook and retrieved ,wet but no worse for wear.One of the features of the Tilleyhats is that they float. Cross that test off the list.

Chris, on Summer Wind, reached the mooring field a few minutes before us so we stayed out of his way as he picked up their mooring,then Peggy turned us towards our designated mooring and we caught it first time despite the fast flowing current.  We'll done Pegs ,good job at the helm.

A quick chat with Chris about the trip and the plan for the morning, then it was time for a break to cool down,  I heard a whiskey and ginger calling me and a glass of wine for Pegs. 

We ran the AC on battery for a couple of hours and we both had a hot shower,  the benefit of running the engine earlier.

Dinner was a meal Peggy had prepared at home, Shrimp Fetucini followed with Mango bread and some dark chocolate. 

As Luke on the sailing brothers YouTube channel says.... DELICIOUS. 

Chris and I texted about the lack of 'weather' tomorrow, Friday. Looks like we'll motor most of the way up to Port St Lucie. 

Time to clean up the galley and secure the boat for the expected rains this evening.