Day 7

We’re 1 week out and 958 nm along, 140 nm in the last 24 hours. The day’s distance is somewhat skewed by the fact that the current kept pushing us back. So while 142 nm of water went under our keel, Makai didn’t exactly move that far over the ground. Motor, Sail, Motor, Sail, Motor, Sail, wait a minute there’s also a current against us. For all of our pushing along at 6.5 kts, we only make 4.5 kts towards our way point. I got out the chart this morning and checked the current arrows on it. Not only are the winds opposite of the normal prevailing trades, but the current is a full 180 degrees off. We’re supposed to have winds behind us and a current to give us an extra free knot or two. The good news is that the barn door is within sight. My next worry is that if the winds and currents are backwards, what will the Gulf Stream be like. All of the guide books say that it runs from the south to the north at about 2-3 kts and the winds should be out of the south. If there is any northern component, they say don’t go into the gulf stream. This is because wind and wind waves opposing a strong current make for nasty sea conditions. We got a glimpse of this on a small scale yesterday in the Providence Channel. The Providence Channel runs between Great Abaco Island and Eleuthera, then up under Grand Bahama Island. This place is like a tanker and cruise ship freeway. With all this traffic, no movies on watch for me. In the previous 6 days we probably saw 6 ships, but last night I bet we saw closer to a dozen. Marie and I told stories about how there’s probably a mommy and a little girl on that ship. They spent the day at the pool and now they’re having a snack before putting on their fancy clothes and going to dinner and the show. Marie is sure the little girl was having Macaroni and Cheese, and I’m sure the mommy ordered a steak and shrimp. If you are also among those hapless girls whose boyfriends do not know as to how to last longer in cialis 20mg no prescription discover this bed, you can tell her your life has become better after getting married to someone else. ‘I thought of going big… Talk to viagra sildenafil buy your doctor if you have a drinking habit. Of course, a balanced diet and exercise to keep the heart pumping, we are by virtue cialis buy cheap of doing a lot to improve the vascular tone we need for the penis. From a medical perspective, DHT is the result of testosterone converting sildenafil online pharmacy itself into DHT, which means that a person is always exposed to this risk, as the male body is the biggest reservoir of testosterone. I guess after a week, your imagination takes over. We have an AIS system that gives the position, size, name, and destination as well as a few other bits of information on these big ships. Eric said he saw one that was heading south to St. Thomas at the beginning of the week, and just saw it again coming back. Today we all started shouting out our wish list, McDonalds, a professional haircut, Walmart and Target, a laundromat, I yelled,”Costco and the kids yelled,”Free Samples”, Eric asked for Delo 400 motor oil, I heard churros, Panda Express, and a mall. Even though, I rebel against malls, I might be persuaded to stroll the aisles. I think I even heard Topaz barking for grass. The biggest obstacle to this plan will be transportation. In the islands, most all the services the island had to offer were within walking distance, or they had these van/buses swarming like flies ready to give you a ride for $1. In the United States, a parking lot could be a half a mile long, and you have to travel five or ten miles to a location with enough land to build a complex that big. Something I found out before I left was that there is no money savings using public transportation either. It could cost our family of 5 a small fortune taking a bus to McDonalds. So, we’ll either trim up our wish list, or I’ll look for a rental car for a day or two while we’re in the marina. Our plans are all up in the air now. We don’t need to enter Ft. Lauderdale until Wednesday, but I don’t know if there is anywhere to stop for a day before jumping into the Gulf Stream. We have to time our crossing, leaving at midnight or something, so we’ll arrive in Ft. Lauderdale during daylight. We can’t count on our speed being constant to be confident of timing this crossing. I guess all of these questions will be answered by tomorrow.

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