Gulf Stream, Fort Pierce Inlet and Vero Beach, FL
Our smooth
ride ended as we crossed the Gulf Stream.
The wind was from the north at less than 10 miles per hour which was
enough to make for a pretty lumpy ride. We
are well aware of the advice to never cross the Gulf Stream if the wind is from
the north. However, we figured with the light wind there wouldn’t be much in
the manner of waves. The waves we
encountered weren’t really high but they really rocked the boat. The moonlit water in the middle of the Gulf
Stream looked like a mogul field on a ski slope. There was little we could do to alter course
to mitigate the rocking as we needed to maintain our 270 degrees True to both
get out of the Stream via the shortest distance and not overshoot the Fort
Pierce Inlet. At the mid-point of our
Gulf crossing, our course over ground was 310 degrees True while maintaining
our 270 degree True heading. We had a
drift of 40 degrees and were moving north faster than we were east. We had no choice but to “go with the flow”.
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| Full Moon - Leaving the Gulf Stream |
At about 3 in the morning, Dwayne noticed the running lights of a sailboat approaching us. She was being tossed around just like Foreign Affair and it looked like a really rough ride. It became apparent we were on a near collision course. Dwayne could clearly see the green starboard running light on the other vessel and held his course having right of way. The other boat began to alter course and lit up the side of their white hull with a bright light to make certain of being seen. Dwayne hailed them on the radio to let them know he had them in sight and was going to maintain course.
He also
asked if they were headed to the Bahamas.
If they were, the Gulf Stream would give them a worse ride than they
were currently experiencing and they would miss the Bahamas by many miles due
to the strong current which would carry them north. They replied that they were heading to North
Carolina and intended to use the Gulf Stream to speed them on their way hoping
to make their destination before the bad weather forecast for later in the week
disrupted their plans. Dwayne wished
them well knowing Effie had a long
way to go in unpleasant sea conditions.
The closer we got to shore, the smoother our ride became. We would have rather traded a knot of speed
for a smoother ride and kept along shore if we had a choice. Apparently, Effie’s captain and crew felt speed was more important than
comfort.
Eventually,
we left the Gulf Stream behind us and found ourselves, once again, in very
calm, smooth seas. The full moon
glistened off the water’s surface and it was an amazing sight. Photos do not capture the beauty of the moon
on the water. Equally beautiful, was the
sight of the urban lights along shore creating the illusion of a sunrise. This is something we never saw in the
sparsely inhabited Bahama islands. The
brighter the lights became the closer we were to land and our destination. We arrived at the Fort Pierce inlet at dawn
and were moored at Vero Beach by 10 a.m.
It was a
long night and a longer day awaited. We
went ashore for showers and picked up a rental car which we drove to the St.
Lucie County Airport to clear customs/immigration. From there we proceeded to dinner at
Sauder’s Landing Restaurant which is located at the Nettles Island Marina in
Jensen Beach. We both ordered filet
mignon.
While at
dinner, we learned from Dwayne’s sister-in-law that her mother, Carol, was
leaving for Boston in the morning. We
had items stored at her house which we didn’t need in the Bahamas. We called Carol to see if we could drop by
get what she had of ours before she departed for Boston. She indicated that would be fine. So, we were on our way to West Palm Beach to recover
what we left behind with Carol. We had a
nice visit before loading everything into the car and heading back to Vero
Beach to get some much needed sleep.
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