December 7

Today was offshore from Lake Worth to Port Everglades at Fort Lauderdale. We left at sunrise to motor to our rendezvous point with Eagle's Wings at the inlet. They were ahead of us because they had started about a half hour closer to the inlet. We motorsailed with all sails up and the motor set around 2200 rpms for most of the trip. We caught up with them about halfway to Fort Lauderdale and then matched their speed for a while. As the wind increased, Annette wanted to shorten the time we were out there. I went back to our original speed and began to open a gap.

Port Everglades is a major port for cruise ships and there were plenty there. Also there was this cruise ship full of young Americans enjoying a cruise on the taxpayers. There is now a security zone around all such ships and also for the cruise ships when they are in port. This naval vessel had a helicopter overhead and a small boat between it and traffic. We squeezed in along the opposite side of the channel. Because we took our time coming in as we waited for Walt and Pat and because I hadn't checked, we missed the bridge opening and had to wait for a half hour for an opening. Eagle's Wings was happy to go by us with her shorter mast that easily went under the bridge clearance.

The way to Sylvia Lake is lined with more beautiful homes. This is one for sale that we thought daughter Amy would like as it had all these columns.