The boat is gone - 3 cheers!!!

We've just returned from an uneventful trip across the channel to Florida. Dulcinea has been delivered to her new owner - I wonder if she'll give him as much trouble as she gave us. I was pretty much convinced the boat was possessed she threw so many roadblocks in the way of being sold. She was determined not to leave her comfy safe dock for the unknown.

With her engine repaired, yet again, we set off for Florida. We needed to leave at high tide so we took off earlier than usual. Winds averaged between 15 - 18 knots and waves about 1.5 meters - a piece of cake compared to the last time we did this. Was a relatively fast trip across (using only the jib - because once again the main roller furling was jammed, and sometimes we ran the engine), so we arrived in the wee hours of the morning.  We've never approached Fort Lauderdale in the dark and the lights on the channel markers are quite difficult to pick out since the city is always lit up like a christmas tree. We managed to find our way in amongst the buildings, only running aground once (for about 10 seconds). At that precise moment in time I was discussing with the captain the fact that I could not see the markers that showed the main channel (we had to make a turn somewhere), but since I was at the helm I suppose it was my fault. Fortunately I had just throttled down not wanting to charge full speed ahead into the dark unknown, when we hit a sandbar so it was quite easy to get off. Captain took the wheel and I was ordered up front with a flashlight to find those elusive markers. Was great fun shouting out orders to the captain "turn to port - but just a little;" "no, too far, go to starboard, no to port" and so on till finally we got to where the lights weren't obscuring the markers and I took the helm again. I managed to not hit any boats, nor sandbars and successfully completed a few circles without hitting a docked cruise ship while waiting for the lift bridge. We decided to wait until daybreak before heading for the marina (tricky dockage) and ventured into a mooring field. The last few minutes of the trip were the most stressful - trying to catch a mooring ball without a boat hook in amongst a flotilla of sailboats smaller than us. I thought for sure we'd bounce into at least one - the current and winds were playing havoc with the boat but competent Captain Gerry managed it by steering one minute and leaping down the ladder the next to grab the ball.

We got a few hours sleep, motored under the next lift bridge and smoothly (despite wind, current and no dock master to help) glided into the slip where I gracefully (not) jumped off and made fast the bow line leaving the stern for the captain to deal with. And there we sat, waiting for the trio of New Zealanders to show up and claim the boat. And they are another story............

PS: A few hours after our arrival a freak storm rushed in spewing forth at least 2 tornados in the Miami-Dade area. We were so glad we weren't out at sea as we might have been had we left later or not traveled so fast.

PPS: I've decided to say nothing about the buyer - Mother always said "wenn du nichts Nettes zu sagen, sage nicht, uberhaupt etwas" (if you've got nothing nice to say don't say anything at all). Someone should wish them luck, they're going to need it.

The end dock looks too empty - the search for
a new boat has begun.