Alone At Last!

SHIP'S LOG:

I am all alone tonight. All the boats, except for Brad's, have departed the anchorage and now it is just me. The wind and cold night temperatures have driven everyone away. Not really, but they have all gone and now the wind has finally stopped. And it is supposed to get seasonably warm tomorrow, day and night

The owner of the Nauticat 44 showed up with crew and took off about mid-afternoon. He had some problems with his anchor. He couldn't get it up. He had been anchored in the same spot for almost a month and the anchor was good an buried and wanted to stay that way. In addition, his windlass wasn't working. He had to run the anchor rode to a winch on the mast and crank it up by hand . Even then he didn't get it all the way up and proceeded out with the anchor itself still in the water. One of the crew recognized the problem and in got corrected but it did give me pause to reflect: I wonder where he is going now in such a rush? And is he/they ready for the trip? It just sort of seemed that he was moving because he probably got a call from the state police inquiring about the boat. Well I hope he/they get wherever it is they are going safely.

Looks like it will be Wednesday for the next trip for me. Monday will be nice and I will help Brad one last time to get the cable run. Tuesday is supposed to crap out and get rainy, so Wednesday seems to be the day to go. Looking over the charts, it looks a simple run and there seems to be plenty of place to drop the hook but I won't know until I get there, wherever there happens to be. That, by the way, is the hidden anxiety of the cruising sailor, will there be a place to drop the hook? Will it be hospitable or will the stories of Florida prove true. So far none have. I have been in Fort Pierce for lots longer than the 96 hour limit so perhaps the stories are over blown. The only way to know for sure is to go find out. And that is what I will do. Miami Here I Come!