Now getting to Florida was becoming a problem. It is all very well to talk about beating to weather in heavy air, but with a deeply reefed cruising genoa and a confused sea state you just can not do it. We could only broad reach Sunday with about 40% of the genoa. The irregular sea state and 20 foot waves overwhelmed the auto pilot so we alternated watches every 2 hours hand steering. It was all very tiring. By Monday we were able to raise the second reef and get closer to the wind which was clocking NE. With set and drift the best heading we could make was 125M. We were headed straight for Cuba. By Monday midnight we were closer to Cuba than Florida. My worst fear was being swept into the Gulf Stream and on past the USA.
We tacked back north and retraced 30 n. miles. The move paid off as the wind clocked to east and by Tuesday dawn the norther had blown itself out. We were sailing slowly to the NE.
By Wed. am we were within the radius of our remaining fuel supply. On went the motor, and it did not stop until we were safely tied up at the Galleon Marina in Key West. There was a bit of a hiccup finding the Galleon in the pitch black. The Garmin was wonderful keeping White Pepper in the deep water during all of the confusion.
We had a 'tired and emotional' moment at midnight on Duval Street. I had the first burger in 18 months. It was devine. We collapsed asleep with no worries for the first time in days.
Our friends, Pam and Bill Carrothers, on Wave Dancer, and our new friends, Lynn and Susan on Susan II, gave us welcoming reception with popcorn, cheese & crackers and rum punches.
We started the long, slow process of recovery by exploring the half weird, half familiar surroundings of Key West.
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