Leaving the Islands. We want to go back!

We left the Islands at 07:00 Wednesday morning and bid a fond farewell to the Islands we so love. We traveled out into the Bahama Banks for ten hours and then dropped the hook in the middle of the banks. Nothing but blue water as far as the eye could see. When we were cruising I noticed that the port engine (Mildred) was running about 5 to 7 degrees hotter than normal. Once we got settled into our anchorage (big anchorage! about eighty miles big.) I went down into the "hot" engine room and cleaned out the sea strainer. Not the cause of the high temp. Next I took off the cover of the raw water impeller. It had only about 20% of its fins left. (Don't even want to be crossing on one engine) A boater always has extra of everything, so I got out a new impeller, pulled the dead one, and installed the new one. About a two hour job, (in 110 degree engine room) but we are good to go in the morning. As I left the engine room, I did what Ron Owens always told me to do. Look back and tell the ladies, "don't make me come down there!" Time for a shower and a sunset drink and dinner on the fly bridge. (man it's beautiful out here!) The next morning we raised the anchor at 04:30 and traveled for the first two hours in the dark with a fingernail moon and bright beautiful stars. Our crossing back to the states was going to be about 13 hours plus time stopped to reel in the fish, so we let Brianne sleep until we came off the banks and into the ocean. We had just gotten into deep water and Brianne had a fish on. She put her pole harness on and reeled in her first of three fish, a bar jack and two dolphin. She was thrilled to catch them, but not to touch them. After about eleven and one half hours of cruising the ocean blue we could see land (something we hadn't seen for two days) and Brianne started looking for bars on her cell phone so she could call her boyfriend John. Brianne did really well and she is a great little cruiser. It has been great fun having her aboard. (I don't think she's tired of us yet) I wish I could say we are all happy to be back in the US, but we wish we were back in the Islands. The insurance man says we need to be North of the Florida line before July first, so we had to start heading back. It doesn't mean we are going to stop exploring and cruising. We have lots to do and see before we go back to the Islands next year. We have places like Cocoa Beach and the space center, St. Augustine and other places to show Brianne while she cruises with us, then a whole lot in between before we go back to the Keys next winter, then back to the Islands Mon.

September Song (missing the Islands) out
Bob


Brianne watching the dolphins play around our bow.

Brianne passing the time reading on our first ten hour leg out into the Bahamas Banks.

Sunrise on our second leg. We headed out at 0:430 in the dark and the stars were shining

This is what we saw for two days. Nothing but beautiful blue water as far as you can see.