Hey Mon…..stay in the Bahamas….

SeaMorr decided she wanted to head back to the US so she would be available for a new family to love. We packed up everything and set the autopilot to 288 degrees west at 7:30am from Bimini. The trip was uneventful as the waves were less than 2', the Gulf Stream was pretty much non-existent (less than 1.5 knots heading north) and there was a slight wind from the south east. We had an extremely easy crossing that non-eventful and non-stressful.

SeaMorr heading west at 288 degrees. 

SeaMorr generating a two foot wake as we headed west.

The one thing we learned from our trip south, was to NEVER-EVER-EVER travel in Miami or Fort Lauderdale on a weekend. Friday, Saturday or Sunday are days of the week that should not be involved with moving a boat in the southern part of Florida. If you think that grey haired snowbirds have a problem driving a vehicle, you should see testosterone filled individuals who have no regard for COLREGs or the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972.

VIOLATION: COLREG #6 requires that: "Every vessel shall at all times proceed at a safe speed...". The Rule describes the factors which should be taken into account in determining safe speed. 

This vessel was being towed on a Saturday in Fort Lauderdale…NOTE: Remember the part about individuals who should NOT be in command of a vessel? This captain was good, it was everyone else around him that made him be a tax on the American Medical System.

Remember the high levels of urine at that pool in Key Largo? We weren't able to test the levels of e.coli or urea here, however, after spending several months in pristine aqua blue waters, we would not have spent anytime on this "Sandbar of Scum".

As we headed toward the marina, we had the "Jungle Queen" traveling so closely, that when we looked in the review mirror, it said "Objects are WAY CLOSER than you think…". We spoke to the captain of the Jungle Queen (again, someone with high levels of testosterone) and allowed him to pass us on one of the narrow stretches of canal.

"This is Captain of the Jungle Queen….please lift the bridge as I am really, really, really close and need it opened now!"

 SeaMorr now has 1000 hours on her main engine! We started our trip at 524 hours in Marlboro, New York in September and have put over 476 hours on her and traveled 3,307 miles. We burned on average 3.5 gallons per hour with an average speed of 7.5 knots. It was an uneventful trip as we didn't have any issues - that 440hp Yanmar Turbo diesel is probably the most solid and best piece of technology around!

SeaMorr now with 1,000 hours on her main engine.