Back on the Grid

We haven't had cell phone service since shortly after leaving Marco Island yesterday morning, so you'll see that I've added a couple of posts and edited the first one. We are approaching the Seven Mile Bridge and our ETA at Marathon is 2:30.

Wednesday, April 10: It is such a pleasure to awaken to quiet as opposed to the rude awakening of the generator starting up! Our house batteries have never been up to par, and Wayne finally replaced them this winter. That means we don't need to use the generator to charge them enough to make coffee in the morning, and we no longer have "power" struggles over my need to use power and Wayne's need to conserve it. I can use the inverter and don't have to worry about discovering that Wayne has turned it off when I thought it was charging my cell phone or computer battery. To further reduce power consumption, Wayne swapped out the halogen bulbs for LEDs in the main cabin. This has the added benefit of not giving off the heat of halogens, which is considerable when there are nine bulbs.

Today the group is dividing up. The three catamarans—Chat-Eau, Chatty Cat, and Broadwater II—are able to take a short cut inside the Keys because they have shallower drafts. We mono hulls—Lena Bea, Aurora, Valhalla, and North Star—must take a longer route through the Hawk Channel to avoid shallow water. Lena Bea draws 5 feet. We may meet up with the cats—as well as a couple of trawlers that cut through the Okeechobee—in Fort Lauderdale. If not, we'll see them in the Bahamas.

We are sailing today with ESE winds, 15-20 knot winds, and 1-2 foot waves.