May 18. Flagler Beach, Daytona, Fl

May 18. Flagler Beach, Fl.

This is an invitation for friends and family to enjoy and follow our voyage from a distance. Mark, the owner of Sayonara II is taking his 64’ Sunseeker (Manhattan) from Miami Beach, Florida to Chicago, IL via the Atlantic route.

Mark has asked me, Ximena (the only full time crew member for the entire journey) to join him on Sayonara II’s first North Atlantic journey. I gladly accepted. Mark is expecting to stop in lots of cool places and to enjoy the journey.

He is going to have his girlfriend, Burcu, his family and friends jump on and off of the boat at different times and different ports. This blog will be the cruise Log; the stories are to be told. Some of you will join us along the way and hopefully drop a few lines on this Log regarding your thoughts. I expect everybody will participate and tell a bit of the story in order to complete the full picture. Let’s see how it goes:

This is Sayonara II:

Mark and his brother Brett started the voyage on Wednesday, May 16th, 2007 from Sunset Harbor at Miami Beach. The wind was blowing hard at 25 Knots so the run only lasted 30 miles where they looked for shelter in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. This also was a good place to stop to fix the bow thruster which gave out as they departed Sunset Harbor.

The next day they made their way to Cocoa Beach, FL. Meanwhile, Ximena was trying to catch a flight from Bogotá, Colombia to meet Sayonara II and her crew. Bad fortune came about for Ximena when she realized that her passport had been stolen; thankfully, it was replaced the same day. Nonetheless she was a bit late flying into Miami, FL on later Thursday night.

The next day Mark and Brett took the Sayonara II in on the ICW (Intercoastal Way) to Flagler Beach (in the Daytona, FL area) where Mark’s family lives.

Meanwhile, back in Miami, FL Ximena rented a car and began to race Sayonara II to greet her and her crew. She drove 200 miles in 3 hours and 15 minutes Ximena stopped along the way and picked up provisions - basics (beer etc.) for the “road” and joined Sayonara II at the newly built Hammock Beach Yacht Club. From here the log begins….

Flagler Beach: It’s a cozy little surf town - and very friendly.

www.cityofflaglerbeach.com/

www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc17687.php

www.flaglerchamber.org/flaglerbeachchamber/

We are to spend a couple of days (our weekend) in Flagler to get the boat in ready shape for the journey. It was also a nice opportunity for Mark to see his family and recuperate his thoughts after tough winds and having to jump into the ICW. It was also his birthday week and he had a chance to be with his family at the “Blue”.

Sunday was a really long day: Ximena, with a deserving hangover, washed Sayonara II, uncovered her for Mark’s family, made room – repacked and got prepped for a family BBQ. We took grandma and Mom for a ride in the new tender, had our cookout, returned the rental, covered the boat, put stuff away, dropped Mark's PDA in the water, changed the fuel filters, cleaned the strainers, unloaded the bikes, loaded them back up.....GOT READY FOR CRUISING!

Marine Forecast says that the winds are still going to be tough, 9’ to 12’ waves out to sea, We have never heard of such a thing ‘til now! That said looks like we will have to run up the ICW for maybe 80 miles to Amelia Island. Funny – outside looks flat like a mirror...

:)