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Trip Start May 07, 2007 Previous
Entry Trip End Jun 15, 2007 Next
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  The Atlantic, Florida, United States
Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Monday's on time departure was a big lift for everyone.  After Dave's knee-jerk withdrawal, lots of maintenance/repairs and 5 days of weather delays, it was good to see this part come off without a hitch.  Everyone was told to meet in the Port Everglades turning basin at 1500.  Getting 9 boats moving and meeting at a pre-arranged time is not too hard.  But in the case of MedBound, it also included getting nine boats organized into rows and relative position.  Why?  Our leader Milt, who is one of the most organized people we have ever seen, has also set up a aerial photo-op with a small helicopter.  In doing so, each boat will be aligned in pre-determined order for a semi-staged set of pictures.   Some of the pics will go on the Nordhavn website and each captain/crew will get a DVD.  
 
It's a nice idea, but it took a lot of planning and radio work to get all the boats down into the turning basin and lined up for a choreographed departure.  There are two or three bridges to confront before getting down there and few if any of the boats will not have to wait for an open.  This took time.  We in New Frontier (NF), were one of the first to arrive in the turning basin just after a large foreign flagged tanker was turned and docked with the aid of two muscular looking tug boats.  The clearance was small but they made it.  Jerry (our skipper) held back in a nearby open place until the harbor cops came by with lights flashing.  It seems we were in the security zone established around the cruise ship.  After we moved, the lights went out on the police launch and they appeared to resume their search for a nautical donut shop.
 
Finally all boats were in position for our staged exit of the Port Everglades jetty, but now we were advised on the radio that another large cruise ship was due in enter the jetty in about 10 minutes.  This might have been a bit tight for my taste, but Milt ordered all vessels to "move out" and out we went.  Somehow, there was enough room for this 700' ship to pass our fleet of small (relatively) yachts and we moved out the jetty and toward the Ft Lauderdale sea buoy some ten miles offshore. 
 
Sue and I kept a close eye on the Nordhavn 40- "Beso" as it moved into position with the fleet.  While we are proud of our own N-40 "First Forty", it surely is the 'junior model' compared to the fine fleet of 47s, 50s, 55s, and 62s.  We cheered Beso every time she came near and felt like her crew of 2 were pretty gutsy to do the trip to Bermuda/Newport.  Of course, they had brought the boat to the east coast from Southern California via the Panama Canal, so both boat and owners are well seasoned.  Actually, we saw Beso in Virginia last fall but did not get a chance to meet her owners until now.  N40's a very sea worthy, but it is still a long trip for just a crew of two.  We look forward to seeing how they do but we were glad we had our berth in a 62.
 
So here comes the chopper taking pictures of the fleet.  This is a tiny little helo that seemed to hover 20' off water line a bird.  We gasp as downdrafts appeared to push it toward a bad ending with the 4-6 seas but the whole thing came off without a hitch.  So as the helo returned to its pad, our fleet turned northward toward our first way-point.  Seas we lumpy as we had been warned. 
 
We both got settled for our watch assignment.  Jerry has us on dual watches so both Sue and I will stand the same 3 hour watch twice a day.   With our crew, that means we have 6 hours off between watches for sleeping, eating, chores and other rest etc.  As it happened, we pulled the 12-3 slot the first day so we headed before for some shut eye.
 
Once offshore, we our vessel settled in to its assigned position in the "inverted vee" Milt directed us to form.   We watch the radar to make sure we are about a mile off Milt's N-47 Bluewater.   Milt is good at this stuff and everyone knows it.  No one questions his competency.  A man likely in his 70s, he is a seasoned yachtsman with professional judgment and eloquent communications skills.  Rumor has it that he was a captain on a US Navy destroyer.  I guess that would hone your skills at organizing boats and events.  At fist many of us thought his organization was a bit over the top, but later we concluded he did a great job and this event would not have happened without him.  His vessel, Bluewater, is the flagship and all of the others follow in a pre-organized manner. 
 
As we motored north, we enjoyed a good meal as the sun set over the Florida coast.  We left in the late afternoon, because the Gulf Stream generally settles down at night.  All vessels are rigged for 7/24 ops so this is no big deal.  Each carries radar (mostly 2), auto pilot, GPS plotters, nav computers (often networked), Sat TV, Sat Phones and more.   My guess is that most would carry over $50k in electronics and some double or even triple that.   Beso (the runt as we affectionately call our boat), is much simpler and likely has a single radar, one plotter and no onboard computer. 
 
Being exposed to all of this often makes me have to hold back my "wow" from where I come from on my own vessel.  TVs and internet connectivity is an example.  While most of these boats have exotic TV domes that allow them to watch American Idol while offshore, TV connectivity on our boat is closer to hanging rabbit ears out the window when we anchor.   It works...kind of.  So all these electronics and luxuries are a bit over the top for me.  I really don't want to watch TV while driving my boat.  I still miss the wind-in-the-face feeling of being under sail.  But I do enjoy the longer passages I can only do in this type of vessel. 

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