Cat Cay to Ft. Lauderdale

"There's no place like home."  Dorothy

Up before dawn, our little crew departed Cat Cay Marina and passed gently through the passage just north of the island into the Straits of Florida.  The sun rose just behind a long standing lighthouse as we sailed west of it. 

Wind speed was perfect and just from the right angle to provide over 8 knots of propullsion almost all the way across, a record for Llyrical.  Cat Cay remained in sight for about two hours before it was only us and the deep blue sea.

Just before noon, we sighted Florida and called Homeland Security with our "local boater numbers" allowung us to clear customs and immigration from the water.  How lovely! 

Just after lunch, we approached the inlet for Ft. Lauderdale.  We made our way, via a series of canels off the ICW, to one of the municipal marinas.  We would pay there for a week what it would cost us for only one night in an ICW premier marina.  We also wanted the shelter that the municipal marina brought.  Llyrical would be there for up to a week awaiting our hired Captain and passage to Chesapeake Bay where she would go into brokerage.

After tying up, we took a cab to the airport to secure the largest one-way rental vehicle possible as we would spend all of the following day packing and largely emptying our beloved boat. 

We had dinner at an off the beaten path Spanish restaurant and spent our last night aboard.  All of the next day, and a bit of the following, we emptied what amounted to a small house.  Our drive to Tallahassee, ending the adventure of a lifetime, was uneventful.  sandra