What a difference a day makes!

After a great cruising day on Friday (it was dead calm) we headed out of Cat Cay early for Islamorada. We had broken the golden rule of cruising by crossing one day too soon on our return from Bimini in January from our Wahoo trip. This time it appeared we were about to break it again by crossing one day too late, but the next few days looked even worse and there was no stopping CJM. There was a front that passed through during the night and there were to be some winds for the day out of the northeast, the worst possible direction. This was a new route for us. We decided to take a little more southern route with a stopover at Cat Cay, a little south of Bimini to shave off 15 or 20 miles from the trip from Nassau. We were headed nearly due west to Angelfish Cut which cuts into the intercoastal waterway a little north of Key Largo. It was 52 miles to cross the Gulfstream.

I'm not going to tell you it was worse than January, but it was a close second. I added to the rough ride by keeping the throttle in Feeding Frenzy. We were cruising at nearly 22 knots with steady 4 to 6 feet swells with an occasional "Big One" or two. It is incredible the force of the Gulfstream, the wind, and the waves can have on a 35 feet long boat that weighs 25,000 pounds and is powered by nearly 1000 horsepower. I saw as much as 21.5 knots and as little as 14.5 knots on the odometer without touching the throttle. The boat was yawing and pitching and rolling much like I expect a bucking bronco or bull rider might experience. I kept thinking of the Tim McGraw song about going 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu, except in our case it was more like 2.7 hours on the Atlantic Ocean. We entered Angelfish Cut on the ebb tide. The current was unbelievable. It had to be running 4 or 5 knots. How has someone not figured out how to harness these tide flows? It happens four times a day and is free. The intercoastal waterway was a beautiful sight. A couple more hours and we were in Islamorada.

This was the 20th time we have crossed the Gulfstream. As I sat at the helm I felt the shear strength of our boat as we powered through some waves and then felt like I was in our dinghy as the waves took over at times. There were rarely any boats in sight until we got closer to the Florida coast, but it always seemed as though when I did see one it was coming right toward us. At one point I was quite sure I saw the Titanic cruising by. I guess it was just a big freighter, but your imagination kind of takes over in the middle of the ocean. Of course we were in the Bermuda Triangle and anything can happen. But what do you know...another safe crossing!

Not sure when the next one will be. Maybe this winter, maybe next summer and maybe not for a year or two. But one thing's for sure, I will cross again. The lure of the ocean and what it holds, be it the tastiest little Yellowtail Snapper or the behemoth Blue Marlin or just the most beautiful water and beaches you will ever see, it gets in your blood. Maybe it just runs in the family. But as the saying goes, "It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that really matters in the end."

Captain T Morgan