I have no idea where to begin..... After we purchased Bruadar we needed to bring her home. This would be a great adventure! Ebeth (the Admiral/Cook) and I (the Skipper/Engineer) decided to make this our babymoon as well. Ebeth was pregnant with our third swab and this would be a great vacation before our new child's arrival. On several occasions I suggested looking for volunteers to help crew. This was not the Admiral's idea of a romantic trip so I agreed, it was to be a exclusive and romantic voyage. It is funny how plans work out!
This ended up being nothing but a Shakedown Cruise. After leaving Ft. Lauderdale we planned to plot a course for Beaufort, NC. To keep our speed up the Skipper would head for the Gulf Stream. Our weather forecast called for light northerly winds.
Reality sets in and our first snag came the morning we planned to leave. The 'new' depth sounder had died the night before and we needed to return our rental car. Because of my (the Engineer's) attempts to make some last minute repairs we ended up returning the rental car the following morning. Since we needed to leave on the incoming tide this set us back 12 hours. We waited for the tide and left around 7 pm with daunting task of hitting each of the four bridge openings and making it to the Seabreeze Blvd. bridge for its 'on the hour' opening. I have to admit to being nervous but in the end it all worked out just fine. We were now in the Atlantic Ocean headed north.
As we settled into our 'four hour on four our off' watch routine the Admiral told me that she was feeling a little off. We chalked this up to nerves and motion of the ocean and decided to wait and see how she felt in the morning. The Engineer got the first watch and he/I had to calibrate the new autopilot. No rest for the weary! Oh did I forget to mention the depth sounder was still not functioning?
Enjoy our first sunrise.....more to follow...
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