5-1-10
Lady Bug stayed another night at Islamorada, while Lily Pad and White Swan continued their trek north. We had our sails up as soon as we left the anchorage and we were able to sail most of the day. FABULOUS!
Just as White Swan was about to enter a narrow channel near Card Bank, we were attacked by the wakes of a bizillion (seemed like it anyway) “cigarette boats” involved in a Poker Run. Fortunately, we had not entered the channel when they swarmed upon us, and we were able to maneuver White Swan to the side of the waterway, thereby avoiding, to a certain extent, the fury of the wakes caused from their huge outboard motors. Since Lily Pad was in the lead, and already in the channel, she had no alternative but to hold her course and get pounded by the onslaught of power boat wake activity. A helicopter was following the race, filming their “fun”. As it flew by, Gary gave the film crew a “California howdy”. Rightfully so…
After the fiasco with the cigarette boats, we motored on to Pumpkin Key where we anchored for the night. There, we met a couple who was also owners of a Gemini catamaran. We talked to them for a while about their experiences while going to the Bahamas. Their trip over to the Bahamas was horrendous, as they chose a day when the seas were extremely rough. Their tale sounded like my worst nightmare. We won’t be following their example (not deliberately). We’ve been warned numerous times to wait for calm seas to make the crossing across the Gulf Stream, and that is what we intend to do.