Nathan left Shake-a-Leg Marina yesterday around 4:00 pm with a wonderful send-off. KYC friends Melodie and John were on hand to push Nathan off the dock and take pictures, as were a group of school children who were very interested in Nathan’s adventure. Before leaving, Nathan spent some time answering the students’ questions. As Nathan did his final preparations, the students left for their next activity, swimming. Nathan didn’t realize it at the time, but the students were headed out to a sand bar that he would sail past as he left the harbour. As he sailed by, the students shouted “Good Luck Nathan, you can do it!”. Nathan’s sails were filled by these positive words of encouragement from the young voices long before the wind filled in.

The port of Miami was very busy yesterday afternoon and last night with five container (freighter) ships and their accompanying tugs, making it necessary for Nathan to pay close attention to where everyone was and in which direction they were headed. This is something that can be particularly challenging at night.

As of 6:00 Thursday morning, Nathan had been unable to have his first cup of coffee yet. The six foot swells made turning on the “stove” challenging. The wind was blowing 20kts and he turned the corner towards Hole in the Wall, his first ocean way-point overnight.

All systems are working well and Nathan is looking forward to a good day of sailing ahead.

Here is Nathan’s latest position. Click on it to see him on google maps. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=25.849,-79.8952&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1