Goodland, FL To Bermuda

is ca 1200 miles by sea. In the trade winds I would expect that to take me ca 10 days, but this passage will take me out of the trades for the third time (the previous two being the passages to New Zealand and South Africa), so the direction and speed of the wind is less certain. Don't worry if you don't hear from me in 15 days. Leaving the comforting consistency of the trades for the more fickle weather of higher latitudes continues to make me a bit nervous. It's a trade-off:  the chance of hurricanes grows but the chance of gales in higher latitudes is smaller the later one waits and vice-versa. Anyway, I'm looking forward to hundreds of miles of deep, open water (once I pass through The Straits Of Florida). The first hundred miles from Goodland (Marco Island) to The Florida Keys are littered with shoals and shipwrecks. I have decided to follow the same route (via Boca Grande Channel by Marquesas Keys) from The Gulf Of Mexico to The Atlantic Ocean.
     I'm aiming for a early afternoon departure (today Mary 28) to time the passage up The Marco River with high tide and slack water.
     Some photos from Goodland.