Day 22 – Ft. Lauderdale

Kite arrived at Las Olas Marina in Ft. Lauderdale three days ago, Monday, bone tired and covered in salt after a difficult day on a rough ocean. She motored out Lake Worth Inlet around 08:30, into rolling three foot seas and 10 knots of easterly wind, and then about one mile offshore, turned south after hoisting her sails. Normally, such conditions are ideal for ocean sailing, but this day they were not. I guess the Gulf Stream was in close, as we seemed to be fighting about 1 knot of current. In addition the direction of the waves made for a much rougher ride than we had anticipated. The wind was on the beam, the fastest point of sail, but we could barely keep our boat speed over 5 knots. Frustrating! But we were sailing, at last, enjoying the silence, feeling the wet sting of occasional salt spray on our cheeks and listening to Kite’s hull breaking through each wave.

We were on a mission to get to Ft. Lauderdale this day to pick up Kevin, our deck monkey for the next two weeks; a fifty nautical mile trip. Kevin was flying into Miami Airport (from Alaska) and would land around 4:30 pm, and we had given him the address of Las Olas Marina in Ft. Lauderdale as the place where we could meet. Ringle was following Kite, and we noted that she was flying only her jib sail for about an hour, and then they furled it and were motoring only. The minutes passed into hours as both boats slogged their ways through the bumpy seas and the coastline inched by. Around noon the wind dropped to under 6 knots, and we started Kite’s engine. As Lyn went below to get our sandwiches for lunch, she noticed that some water was coming from the engine room. Investigating further, she discovered a plastic hose that was steadily leaking water. I shut down the engine and Lyn took over the helm as I investigated and saw that a vented line from our PSS dripless packing was letting in water as every wave passed over the stern. I found a tapered wooden plug that we keep for such emergencies, and plugged this line, stopping the leak. Then I bailed out the engine room sump. We were reluctant to restart the engine while still in rough seas for fear of dislodging the plug. As we neared the Port Everglades inlet to Ft. Lauderdale, Ringle speeded up and overtook Kite. They let us know that they were tired of this infernal sea and wanted to get into smoother waters. They also informed us that they had taken in their headsail because Vince noticed that the forestay looked very loose, and he did not want to risk losing the whole rig. As it turned out, Ringle wouldn’t sail and Kite wouldn’t motor while we were at sea, the slowest possible combination of our two boats.

At about 5:00 pm we got a text message from Kevin informing us that he had landed in Miami and was getting on the Tri-Rail to travel to Ft. Lauderdale. We were still pounding through the ocean at that time, approaching the Port Everglades inlet. We texted back that we would likely arrive by 6:00 pm and he should wait for us at the marina. Kevin replied that he thought that he would arrive a bit later than 6:00. Kite furled her sails upon reaching the inlet, and motored through the inlet and on to the marina. We did indeed arrive at Las Olas Marina a bit before 6:00 pm, and were secured in our slip before Ringle could pass through the drawbridge that separated our respective docks. Lyn and I helped Ringle back into her slip and tie up, and then Kevin showed up at the marina gate. It had all transpired as if it were planned that way, which was far from the truth. After introducing Kevin to Vince and Eveline, we all retired to our respective boats to rest and have dinner. Lyn and I ended up talking with Kevin until 11:00pm (we NEVER stay up that late). We had already decided that we were too tired to try to go further south on the next day, so that we would stay at least 2 nights at Las Olas Marina.

Yesterday, the sky was a bit hazy in the morning but no threat of rain. Lyn looked up toward the sun and noticed two rainbow rings (known as 22° halos) around the sun. I tried to photograph this, but the colors in the photo are not as vivid as they actually were.

22° halo around sun

I decided to go the Ace Hardware to get a permanent plug for the line that had leaked yesterday, and Kevin accompanied me there and then went on by himself to get a haircut and do some grocery shopping. I quickly found the plug I needed and returned to Kite and installed this permanent fix before noon. Lyn and I ate lunch before Kevin returned with the groceries. In the afternoon we got together with Ringle and all five of us walked 2 blocks to the beach at Ft. Lauderdale. Although the temperature was above 80°, the constant breeze from the sea cooled us and it felt comfortable.

Lyn, Peter and Eveline, Vince at Ft. Lauderdale

Lyn, Peter and Kevin at Ft. Lauderdale

We walked a couple of blocks down the beach to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and had adult beverages before returning to the marina. Lyn had invited everyone to Kite for hors d’oeuvres at 5:30 pm and we barely got back on time. While we were all together, we discussed the plan for going forward. The weather for today looked iffy, and the winds would remain 15-20 knots tomorrow, so Vince suggested we stay in Las Olas until Friday. We favored leaving today, but after reviewing the wind forecast decided to leave tomorrow, Thursday. We agreed that Ringle could catch up with Kite at Marathon or Key West. With that plan decided, we went to our respective boats for the rest of the evening. With Kevin, Lyn and I discussed what we could do today in Ft. Lauderdale. Somehow the subject of Starbuck’s coffee came up and we jokingly planned a walking coffee bar-hop to the various Starbucks nearby. But first we would stop at a French pastry shop that we had spotted near the marina for croissants and a beverage.

After a light breakfast this morning, Lyn, Kevin and I set out on our planned coffee bar hop. The Nanou French Bakery, operated by real French natives (from Provence), served pain chocolat that was marvelous with a nice espresso. We walked the ¾ mile to the first Starbucks, in the Westin Beach Club, and I enjoyed my first Starbucks café mocha since leaving Jacksonville three weeks ago. We sat on an open patio facing the beach for an hour and enjoyed the breezes and delightful weather as we sipped our coffees. Our next Starbucks destination was a mile south at the Marriott Hotel. Again, the hotel was on the beach with a choice of indoor or outdoor seating. We checked out the hotel and talked to the concierge about nearby shopping opportunities, and then decided to forego the coffee and begin our walk back to Kite, stopping at a convenient venue for lunch. It had started raining lightly, but was not enough for us to seek shelter. When we got to Nanou, Lyn remembered that they also served salads, and we stopped there for lunch, too. It was nutritious and tasty, as most French dishes are.

The rain today was not forecast, so we thought that maybe the weather pattern was changing and we had better check for changes in the forecast. It was a change for the worse, with stronger winds and higher waves tomorrow and tomorrow night. We had delayed one day to avoid the stronger winds at night, so now we were obliged to delay our departure one more day, until Friday. We will be moving on with Ringle after all.