Lightening hit en route to Fort Lauderdale

Where do I start? Yesterday started out splendidly as we left our anchorage at Rodriguez Key, but quickly began to deteriorate at the point when a weather alert came on the radio, warning of severe thunderstorms with hail, frequent lightning strikes, 50-70 knot winds, possible waterspouts, and three inches of rain per hour.

Wayne and Dennis had decided to skip our planned stop at No Name Harbor, 44 nautical miles from Rodriguez Key, and continue on to Fort Lauderdale, about 70 nm. Dennis was understandably anxious to get his auto pilot taken care of, and Wayne thought we might have a weather window favorable for crossing to the Bahamas on Sunday rather than Monday. Moving on to Fort Lauderdale would give us options.

As the sky became darker and the warnings more ominous, I became scared and desperate to head for the relative safety of No Name Harbor. Wayne and I "discussed" it at length, but the captain overruled me and tried to be reassuring.

I like to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, so I scurried about the cabin, securing everything in sight, grabbed all of the portable electronic devices and stashed them in the microwave to protect them from lightning, helped Wayne put up extra sections of our cockpit enclosure, and whatever else needed to be done. I then hunkered down in the aft cabin with Emma to wait out the storm and buried myself in a book in an effort to distract myself from what was happening outside.

Some time later Wayne stormed into the cabin and said, "Call Shirla! I've been trying to hail Aurora on the radio and Dennis on his cell phone, but they don't answer! I want to make sure they're okay."

I called Shirla but got her voicemail.

When I joined Wayne in the cockpit, I was relieved to see that the storm had passed and the rain had mostly stopped. Wayne had been watching the radar carefully and turned to the southeast, away from the storm, when it appeared that we were headed right into the worst of it.

A little while later, Dennis finally called us on his portable radio. Aurora had sustained a lightning strike that had damaged their electronics, including the VHF radio, but he and Shirla were fine. Thank goodness!

Aurora, approaching Fort Lauderdale later in the day

Yes, that's a cruise ship - Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas -
yes, she's moving, and yes, we're directly in her path.

Shirla took this photo of us (that's us on the left)

We had decided early in the day to skip Lake Sylvia and spend two nights instead of one at Las Olas Marina in Fort Lauderdale. We made the 5:30 bridge opening, Wayne and I stopped for fuel, and we docked at 6:15.

The dockmaster gave us a slip right next to a beautiful yacht. She was custom built for Tiger Woods in 1997, according to the two guys who had been hired to detail the engine room.

We were all exhausted, but famished and not excited about cooking, so we walked over to Bubba Gumps for dinner.

Dennis has been taking inventory of the boat, trying to determine what's working and what isn't. I'm not clear on that, so I won't attempt to give details. What I know for sure is that the antenna at the top of their mast is gone and in its place is a black blob and lots of things don't work. The insurance adjuster won't be out until tomorrow, so Dennis and Shirla will wait and take it from there. One thing is clear: they won't be crossing to the Bahamas with us tomorrow. We hate to leave them behind, but there's nothing we can do to help. I feel so bad for them. After months of preparation and provisioning, it's a huge disappointment, but their attitude is amazing. They are amazing. So positive and matter-of-fact. On the plus side, they have no time constraints, so we are still hopeful that they will get their repairs done and join us in the Abacos in a week or two.

Our friends on Chatty Cat and Broadwater II who are docked at the yacht club, took the trolley over and joined us for dinner at Coconuts this evening. Tomorrow morning they, Toucana, and Chat-Eau will join us to make the 4:30 a.m. bridge opening and head across the gulf stream to the Bahamas. Mary and Rich onboard Change and Ginny and Chris onboard Ginny C. (trawlers) crossed yesterday, apparently also under less than desirable conditions. Ginny's email to me this morning said, "We got battered way too much yesterday. Lots of bruises and broken stuff. Poor Ginny C is boasting her first duct tape."

Things can only get better, right?

Mary, if you are reading this, Happy Birthday! You did it! YAY! I hope you had a fabulous time celebrating both events in the Abacos. See you soon.