It was worth waiting for the weather before crossing the Gulf Stream as we had a smooth crossing, light winds and no thunderstorms. We were looking forward to good sailing wind from Thursday evening per the forecast but unfortunately the wind was mostly under 10 knots and dead downwind, which meant our boat speed was less than 5 knots under sail alone so we ended up motor-sailing most of the way (engine was on for about 19.5 out of a total trip time of 22 hours but only just above tick-over). Our attempts to catch fish for supper were sadly unsuccessful. But we did have the company of a cruise ship, Disney Fantasy, most of the way as it was only doing a couple more knots of speed than we were and was also heading for Port Canaveral. When we finally docked, we found we were directly across the port from Disney Fanstasy.
The approach to Port Canaveral was straight-forward, the channel wide and deep (thanks to the cruise liners) and the docks at the Port Canaveral Yacht Club excellent. In fact, we were very pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome we received from the yacht club. The dock master (also a live aboard) was there to guide us in and take our lines and had enlisted some help from a Canadian couple who were transients (like us) on the T-dock with us. We signed up to have dinner that evening in the clubhouse and found everyone to be very welcoming. The Canadian couple lent us their bikes so we could ride to the Border Protection building where we had to check back into the US (again, a much simpler process than we had anticipated). The club is having a membership drive so we were definitely encouraged to think about joining …. tempting but no point in doing so at this stage of our wanderings. One of the club members cuts hair on the side, which we both took advantage of and I especially much appreciated as it has been about twice as long as I usually go between hair cuts.
The Canadian couple were living on the catamaran in the photo, which is a one design, designed by himself (with help from a naval architect). It is a fascinating machine with a stay-less rotating mast. He’s only been working out the kinks for the past 30-some years (and still working on them).
Saw the Ghost Busters vehicle on our way to check in …. an unexpected treat!