50-hour Offshore run to North Palm Beach

December 10-12, 2017 —  The next two days Windy had the winds building up further offshore, but relative calm along the coast, so we plotted a course hugging the coast by no more than 10 nautical miles.  The resulting smooth ride was well worth the extra distance travelled as we arrived Old Port Cove by mid-afternoon on the third day having left day three.  We took advantage of the long offshore runs to test the water maker (not a good idea to run the water maker in a silty marina or anchorage).  This long last leg was uneventful except that the close-shore run took us through fishing areas which made for greater vigilance to navigate around small trawling craft.  Having been cleaned up by Tony and Thach in Charleston, the engine room was ready for inspection by the YachtTech boys.  The coolant that had been sloshing in the main engine oil pan was no more, replaced with pristine “diapers” (the ubiquitous 3M oil absorbent white synthetic pads) and the hard-working generator had been topped up and wiped down.

At OPC we were met by Christine and Tom, Thach’s sister and brother-in-law, just back from the art shows in Miami, and Jim and Margaret Andreassi (the original inspiration for this retirement adventure), who took us out to a great (and cheap!) Peruvian fish joint.  Dropping off our long to do list with the YachtTech crew, we flew back to New Haven for Christmas with the kids.