We left No Name Harbor at 4 am in utter darkness. Ed lifted the anchor fairly easily and we made our way out to the channel.

I realized I needed the spotlight when Ed told me some of the markers were not lit. Uh oh. So I got it and went up to sit on the bow with the spotlight.

We passed several markers and another frigging BALL I spotted with the light before we got too close. I felt like I was on a drug-running vessel spotlighting the path ahead.

Then “Oh f…” Not words I wanted to hear.

“The GPS went out.” We were in the channel at night with no navigation.

I couldn’t leave my post or we would run into something so we kept on going, slowly.

Everything was turned off but the battery was low. The GPS came back shortly thereafter

We went through this exercise a couple more times before we finally started to see daybreak around 6:30 and the last channel marker.

We had made it to the ocean, now it was time for the infamous Gulf Stream.

You can tell when you get there because the water becomes a metallic blue. But it was fairly smooth, not much swell or waves.

Our GPS was holding now, we were getting solar and wind energy and the batteries were looking good.

We motor sailed all day and were almost out of the Gulf Stream when the starboard engine quit.

What? This was our new engine. Ed checked and saw seaweed on the motor. He cleaned it off.

The motor quit a couple more times. Then the last 2 hours were fine.

Ed thought later the intake might have gotten clogged, he will check that out.

We got to Blue Water Resort, using the latter word loosely, and pulled into the slip. This was Hemingway’s fishing haunt.

I had been looking for my shampoo all day from our outdoor solar shower the previous night.

Guess where it was? On the step leading down to the water on the stern. That bottle rode on the steps all the way across the Gulf Stream through waves and a couple of strong
wakes from other boats!

That’s what I call a miracle.