These are just some shots that I thought had to be shared, the captions for the picture are immediately below them. At the bottom of this post are some pictures of the guys I went with.
Fort Lauderdale from the plane as we left... 
One great shot of the Miami Skyline from Biscayne Bay
Nightime view of boats in the new river
Taking in the sunrise and all of its glory
Jeff
Paul
Captain Rick
Wow, what a trip! I am now sitting back at my desk in lovely Tulsa trying to stop the world from moving. I cannot believe how much it feels like I am still at sea. I actually had to brace mysefl in the shower this morning to keep from falling over... lol
As promised, here is a better shot of the sunrise from yesterday morning...
I have about a billion pictures to sort through, but will be posting them as I get them organized. All in all, it was an amazing vacation and a wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing it with me!
Thankfully, I get to pick up my dogs this afternoon, and get back to church tonight. Travelling is wonderful, but coming home is so very sweet. By the way, it sure is cold here!
I have two hours left, and getting in everything I can. This is Ft Lauderdale beach. So beautiful! I could sit here for days... But I must move on, its 4 miles walking to get back to the boat.
Ill be home soon!
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Rick offered to close up the boat himself so that I could explore fort lauderdale, and I stumbled upon this quaint little Crepe shop... Oh my I love french food so I had to indulge. Here you see Café Au Lait with a fresh seafood crepe and hot crusty french bread. This was such an unexpected treat and I even got to practice my French! Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
I have sought out a sunrise most mornings of this vacation, and ice seen some beautiful ones. This morning however, I went up top to drink my coffee and there it was, a picture postcard of a sunrise. I don't think the camera phone does it justice, the real shot will be uploaded when I get home. None the less, I wanted to try and share it while its still in front of me.
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What an amazing trip this has been! Of course it was nothing like I had envisioned it to be, but who cares... It was awesome. I met so many new people, all with their own story to tell. Through them, I was constantly pleased to see how well received a smile or handshake would always be, no matter if we spoke the same language or not. They seemed to jump at the chance to share their culture, to show what makes them who they are. It was neat.
Secondly, I got to spend a ton of time with my boss and two other guys from our building, and I couldn't have dreamt that it would have ever gone so good. Yes, a 45 foot sailboat is big, but with four grown men inside, elbow room is a commodity. I think we camw out of this trip knowing each other much better than before, and perhaps deepening and strengthening the bonds.
Thirdly, I really got to engage into the power of the wind and ocean. Whether we were riding waves on an 11' dingy, or harnessing the wind to fly through waves that are taller than the boat itself, the unbelievable power was amazing to hook into. Today is clean up day, and as usual I can't sleep past 5:30 am. There is no where to walk to for breakfast, as we are now at the dock where the boat is kept most of the time. We are leaving Fort Lauderdale in just about 11 hours, and I am ready to come home. I miss my dogs, my friends, my church and my family. I am one lucky man to have something so amazing to miss and come home to.
Thank you God for Ana amazing vacation, and thank you for Ana amazing group to go home to. See you all soon!
Scott
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Wow, what a day. Not only did we have mechanical issue, the weather also proceeded to pummel Rick and myself with rain and a constant rolling of the boat 40 degrees one way and then 40 degrees the other way, for nearly five hours straight! Twelve and one half hours it took for us to get back, and I must confess that I am happy to be off of the ocean. Now we just have to get through those draw bridges again!
Heading home tomorrow, and I'm ready.
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Three hours into a twelve hour sail, we were trucking along at a swift 7 knots, the wind was blowing a hard 20 out of the East, and the sea was swelling 2 to 4 feet. Suddenly a loud pop interrupted the screaming wind and a support cable went flying at the bridge. A lower shroud had just snapped. The boat was already heeling over 15 to 20 degrees, with half of the jib and most of the main sails out, but now we had to pull those sails in, so as to not lose our mast. Rick explained to me how to get in the correct position to pull down the main, while he turned the boat into the wind. We manned the winches and cranked them with the fire of an Americas cup team... Within five minutes we had the sails all put away, and the boat regained its upright position. Rick turned the motor on, and with that transition, Echo became a motor boat. We have about eight hours left and we had already decided to round the outside of the protected reefs. This means big seas, strong winds, and now no sail. I love adventure! Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
It is just beautiful out here, here is another shot of my view from the sailboat. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
We left Marina Del Mar this morning at sunrise, headed back up the coast to fort lauderdale. Ill send pictures as they come along. Man, sailing is awesome! Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
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