Crossing the Gulf Stream

After our lonely night anchored where the Mackie Shoal beacon should have been we set off again at dawn. We spent two nights in Bimini enjoying our last swimming and beach time in the Bahamas. There was virtually no road traffic on the island, only dirt roads and rows of charming wooden houses. It was a favoured stopping point for US sports fishing boats. We went into the Compleat Angler bar to see mementos of Ernest Hemingway.

It was about 56 miles to Fort Lauderdale. We would be crossing the Gulf Stream which runs North at about 4 knots. The advice was to head due west towards Miami before crossing the swift northerly current closer to land. Almost before we lost sight of the Bimini Islands over the transom we picked up the massive skyscrapers of Miami.

The water version of a conveyor belt took us up to Lauderdale 20 miles north. By lining up the four red and white smoke stacks of Port Everglades, we were able to make our way into one of the busiest ports in the USA.

Fort Lauderdale

We entered the Stranahan River stowing sails while we waited for the double bascule bridge over East 17th Street to open at half past the hour. Memories of our two weeks boat hunting here in March 1980 flooded back. After turning to starboard and passing all the glitzy marinas we went into the free anchorage near Las Olas boulevard. It was July 4th. Jethro thought the firework display had been laid on to welcome us to the USA!

Oliver was thrilled at so many things to point out. There were plenty of light aircraft, some towing advertising messages. Forty foot powerboats each with two massive outboards whizzed past causing so much wash we had to close the windows and portholes over their bunks in the saloon. There seemed to be no speed limits on the water. Even the water police wore guns, but we did not see them stopping anyone.

The waterfront houses were ostentatiously opulent and impressive Ferraris and Maseratis roared past on the road above our heads. Olly recognised a Trans Am like Jethro’s torch car and grabbed Jethro’s arm:

“Sheffro – look at dat!” Whenever he saw wash coming Olly would yell “Squash coming, Daddy!”

Clearing in the following morning we were granted a six month cruising permit. The Customs Officer told us “If you are offering your boat for sale in the US you have to pay 3.3% import duty. “

That would be over $2000 dollars… out of the question. We could pay that only once we had a buyer waiting to sign on the dotted line.

Jon said, “ Okay, sir. We will remove any for sale signs and think again.”

Besides, Camelot was looking very tired after our long journey. We would need to fettle her up before getting the best possible price. And we still had a thousand miles to go to the Chesapeake Bay. During the few days in that anchorage we met some interesting characters on other boats.

History Lessons

One such character was an elderly bearded warrior from New England travelling in the opposite direction down the Intra Coastal Waterway towards Texas. His boat was a lovely Alden schooner. He and his wife came on board to inspect our boat drawn by the red ensign we were flying. We soon found out he was a history professor. Jon asked him about the origins of this magnificent feat of engineering. Simon sucked on his pipe and raised his eyebrows,

“Well it’s all your fault, you British.” he said with a twinkle.

“What do you mean, our fault?” I demanded.

“The bloody overbearing British were blockading the East Coast of the USA, even having the audacity to press-gang Americans into the British Navy!”

“When was this?”

“President Madison declared war on the British in 1812. Your naval bases were in Bermuda and York in Canada – which is now Toronto. We had been skirmishing with you lot over territory north of the Great Lakes. Back then you had naval supremacy.”

We shrugged in ignorance. This was historical information that had not been part of our school curriculum. Simon went on,

“ Did you know you lot sent an army in to burn down Washington in 1814?”

We did not. So he told us:

“Napolean had abdicated by then so the British could spare more army and navy to pester us! Your General Ross marched into Washington with thousands of marines and set fire to our Capitol Building, the House of Representatives, the Senate House, the Arsenal, the Dockyard and the President’s Mansion as the White House was called then.”

We were suitably contrite.

“Would you like a cup of tea?” I asked, before remembering he might have something to say about the Boston Tea Party

“Oh yes please, that would be lovely,” his charming wife replied.

Trying to change the subject and really wanting to know, Jon asked, “The waterway system itself, though, when did that come about?”

More pipe sucking. “Well bearing those facts in mind, it was decided a continuous navigable channel from Boston to Texas was feasible to avoid blockades in times of war. That was confirmed when Germans submarines started sinking Merchant ships.”

He took a moment to stir sugar into his mug of tea, and declined the offer of a ginger-nut biscuit from Oliver.

“Congress authorised the creation of the Atlantic section of the Intra Coastal Waterway in 1919 but it wasn’t completed until,1940.”

“Here endeth the history lesson,” said his wife kindly, and changed the subject to talk about travelling with young children.

“Did you know the word bascule for our opening bridges comes from the French for seesaw?” were Simon’s parting words as they left in their dinghy.