Back to Florida

Everyone rose early to get a dawn start on the crossing back to Florida.  Mother Ocean, At Last, and The Office II were all headed almost directly across the Gulfstream to the original departure point at Palm Beach, while Pipe Dream and Chutay were taking the much longer route back north to Ft. Pierce inlet to try to save almost a full day of travel on their way back to home port in Jacksonville.

The forecast called for 10-15-knot winds out of the west-southwest with seas around 2'.  We left the breakwaters at Old Bahama Bay marina into somewhat sloppy 2-3' seas on the bow - with at least 15 knots of wind.  Oh well, at least it wasn't on the beam - like the crossing over!

Over the next couple hours, the two northbound boats got farther and farther away from us as they eventually went out of sight.  It felt a little odd to be such a small group after traveling together as a group of five for the past two weeks, but it actually wasn't too bad a ride.  There was a lot of chatter on the "Great Harbour Group Channel" (14), but that slowly dwindled as we continued east.

A little more than halfway across, the winds died and the seas went almost flat calm.  It was a beautiful ride and a fitting end to a wonderful trip.  Of course, we got the obligatory massive rain shower to wash all the salt off the boats about five miles from the inlet, but otherwise we had sunshine and fair seas for the remainder of the trip.

Just before 3pm the three Great Harbours cruised into Lake Worth inlet and, as suddenly as it began, the great 2022 Great Harbour Owners' Cruise to the Bahamas was over.  Mother Ocean headed into Sailfish Marina to dock for a few days while Dennis and Jan take care of some business obligations. The Office II continued north a few miles to a berth at Old Port Cove Marina and At Last...  Hey Lee and Karen, where did you head to this evening?  Lol.  We were so busy getting Mother Ocean tucked into a very difficult slip at Sailfish (lots of wind and current), that I never bothered to ask!

On my drive home to Gainesville I spoke to the Chutay crew.  Seems they and Pipe Dream entered Ft. Pierce inlet about 5:30pm during a blinding thunderstorm with lightning striking all around them!  They survived the onslaught and headed to Ft. Pierce Municipal Marina for the night, celebrating their successful crossing with a nice dinner at Cobb Landing.

So, tomorrow I will post the final blog entry with a few personal thoughts about the trip, the group, and the Abacos in particular.  It's been a whirlwind two weeks, but were back!