The cold front did come down faster than expected and instead of having a nearly wind free day while sailing towards Ft. Lauderdale, it blew 25 knots from the North East and it kept doing so for the remainder of the day. And what happens when it blows from that direction; it changes the current in the Old Bahama Channel, from one that goes with us, to one that goes against us. So instead of getting a free push of .05 to 0.75 in the back, we got it against us now, which makes a difference of 1.5 knots. Over 24 hours that is a nice bit of fuel that could have been saved.

Still the positive part of it all was that it pushed a band of rain clouds away from where we were. All the rain went over Cuba so they experienced a tropical downpour there. We had clear skies and a cool day to enjoy.  Today the “lifeboat committee” finished their inspection work and delivered their report. As expected they did not have much to report apart from the obvious. The davits could do with a bit of painting. We know that and it is our one big frustration

Due to the telescopic in/out movement of the davit arms when extending the boats or pulling them in, part of the arm is always in a holder.  That should protect it partially but of course the sea-air it still gets in and thus rust will form. We can maintain the parts that are not in the holder but the rest is very difficult.  So we ensure that in the dry-docks the davit arms get a very good base coating, a thick primer layer, which will protect the steel for most of the period between dry- docks.  But due to the moving in & out of the arms, there are always some areas where the paint gets damaged and rust will form.

As we know that this happens we keep a close eye on it but normally it is only superficial and can easily wait until the next dry dock. So we were very pleased with the report and when the yearly inspection starts tomorrow, we know that the Inspectors will be pleased as well.

By late afternoon when we exited the Old Bahama Channel we finally found some following current; but not with the velocity that we had hoped for. It will mean that we will have to keep running on four engines all the way to Fort Lauderdale. Arriving a little bit later to bring the average speed down will not work either as we have to arrive at the time approved by the harbor master.

Some of the terminals in the port are still under refurbishment and that means that the three cruise ships scheduled for tomorrow will have to go where there is room, and not to where they are used to.  I will have the additional challenge to back up into the Intra coastal Waterway and having to pass the Celebrity Eclipse at the same time. She will be at Pier 26, which is the largest one available at the moment; the Zuiderdam will go to four, the next biggest one and we are going to 29, which is halfway down to Denia.

I will have to sail past the Eclipse as she is coming in at 04.30, an ETA that I cannot make. She has to be that early as with 3,000 guests on board, you are looking at 6,000 suitcases to process. Thus the pecking order has been established by the harbor Master; 03.40 for the Eclipse, 05.30 for the Statendam and 06.00 for the Zuiderdam. Breezy weather is expected, so it might be an interesting arrival.