The US of A

    Well everybody, White Seal is back in the States. I have had a few very long days and am rather worn out, but everything has gone very well.
     On Saturday we left Manjack Cay in the Abacos and sailed 52 nautical miles to Great Sale Cay. It was a really hot, muggy day, but jumping overboard when we anchored did wonders for my mood. We moved to another more protected anchorage on Sunday and spent another night there waiting out bad weather. The sky was pretty dark and there were water spouts, which are mild, short-lived tornadoes that often form in unsettled weather. I spent a lot of time in the water, savoring the magnificent, clear Bahamian water. We explored the island for a while, but the vegetation was thick and venturing inland was quite a challenge.
     That night we had dinner on another boat and chatted about the upcoming crossing with a bunch of other cruisers. Boaters get really worked up about that sort of thing and always make a point to discuss their past near-death crossing experiences over cocktails with whomever will listen. I found it rather dull, but hey- there was good food.
     The next morning we pulled up anchor and sailed away along with a dozen other boats. We fired up the motor and cruised along the banks, trying to avoid the squalls that you could see dumping rain off to the south. I watched Great Sale Cay sink below the horizon, then West End, then Mangrove Cay. We got to the GPS waypoint by Memory Rock then headed off of the Bahama Banks and into the Straits of Florida. Memory Rock is just a nondescript chunk of rock in the middle of nowhere, but I watched it until it disappeared behind us. Memory Rock was the last of the Bahamas that we would see.
     Leaving was sad. I have had wonderful experiences there that I will never forget as long as I live. Fortunately, I didn't have much time to become a sentimental mess. We had to cross the Gulf Stream.
     It got dark shortly after and the temperature dropped to a much more comfortable level. My mom took a nap while my dad and I steered west. The water in the Gulf Stream is much more choppy than your typical stretch of deep water so I took a motion sickness pill as a precautionary measure. It was very effective, though it made me rather tired. I slept from about 9:00 until midnight, at which time a particularly large swell tossed me out of my bunk and onto the floor.
     I steered from midnight until about 3:30. My mom slept the whole time, but my poor dad probably only got about 5 minutes of shut-eye. Every time he'd lay down and things would be going uneventfully, I'd see a ship coming towards us and he'd want to stay up until it was safely by us. I handed the tiller back to him and fell asleep for another hour or so.
     Crossing the Gulf Stream is pretty awesome. The whole concept that it is basically a huge river plopped in the middle of the ocean fascinates me. The route we took was only about 60 miles, but 20 of those are provided by the strong current. Plus you just feel really accomplished when you  and your little boat go from one country to another in one day.
     Luckily for us, we were traveling with friends on another sailboat who had all the gadgetry that helps make encounters with ships as easy and safe as possible. With their handy-dandy AIS, we could see nearby any large ship's name, location, speed, and course. Their radar also helped us locate any other vessels that the AIS missed. Using this, we managed to effectively avoid getting obliterated by several massive ships that came nearby during the night. I made some snide remarks to my dad about our boat's lack of such equipment, but I'm sure we would have been fine even without access to such information.
     We drifted outside of the entrance to the channel for a while to wait for daylight. As the sun rose we motored in the cut and into the ICW. Everything seemed so oversized in Florida. So well-developed. So manicured. After spending a winter in a more primitive country, Florida overwhelmed me. (This also might have been due to my extreme exhaustion at this point.)
     The first thing that really stood out to me was that America smelled funky. It seems like a stupid thing to say, but it's really true. The Bahamas are made of rock and sand and always smell like a beach. As we came closer to the US I smelled the strong smell of soil, which is something largely nonexistent in the Bahamas. There was also a faint but definitely noticeable odor of exhaust fumes.
     We anchored by the Harbor View Marina. My mom fell asleep, but I was still functioning pretty well so I cleaned up. It's amazing how gross a boat can get after a passage. Everything gets tossed around the cabin and I spent a good half hour picking up miscellaneous items off of the floor and stowing them away. My mom had spilled coffee all over the galley and I tackled the onerous task of scraping the coffee grounds off of the stovetop.
     We got a cab and went to the airport mid-morning to clear Customs. Our Customs guy was very friendly and made the process of re-entry quick and painless. The whole ordeal lasted about 10 minutes. We zipped on back to the boat and left for Vero Beach.
     After a pleasant 15 mile sail to Vero, we got a mooring and went in to the marina to shower. During the Gulf Stream crossing I had gotten encrusted with a layer of salt so standing under a stream of hot, fresh water was fantastic. After we were all squeaky-clean, my mother laundered everything launder-able on the boat. I went back to the boat and crashed, content and cozy in my fresh sheets.
    I was revived this morning after a good night's rest. This morning we got on the bus and headed into town to do some errands. My dad did some chores at West Marine while my mom and I went to AT&T to activate my phone. I forgot how much I love having a phone, it certainly makes communication with friends so much easier. My mom and I split a five dollar foot long sub at Subway. It was then that I really knew we were in America.
     This afternoon I'll be lounging around the boat reading and doing some schoolwork. Tomorrow we'll head north towards Titusville, but the likelihood that we'll actually make it there tomorrow is pretty slim. Our trip north is going to go a lot faster than the trip south did, but hopefully there will still be some time to explore on shore a bit.
     Here's a picture of my parents looking super cute in Hopetown, Abaco. I'll try to upload some more later if the Internet is faster.