(see http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/winlink.cgi?KG4EYP for latest position)

Well, that was interesting. I was adjusting the sails - we've been sailing, YAY, since about 1:20 am, although we're not making great speed and will probably have to go back to motoring soon - and I noticed the nav lights of a ship behind us and to our starboard side. I went below to check the radar and AIS, and was a little perplexed, because the blips on my screens seemed like couldn't be the same ones. Then I heard on the VHF radio: "Vessel in our spotlight, this is the US Coast Guard, channel
16." I looked up into the cockpit...and yep, they were talking to us.

The guy was perfectly polite and had the Standard Coast Guard Voice that everybody who sails US waters is familiar with. (I think they must either clone their officers, or replace their voice boxes with a standard model, or something!) He asked for the spelling of the boat name, the document number, our names, where we'd come from, and where we were going. And of course, how many people on board and whether we are all US citizens.

Then he told me to stand by on 16 and he'd call if they needed anything else, and they stayed just behind us for another ten minutes. (I'm guessing they looked up our particulars in the database to verify our claimed identity.) I was a little worried they'd want to board us (hi! we're SAILING and it's the middle of the NIGHT, and my husband is asleep, please leave us alone!) but I can see their blip on the radar now, steadily motoring away from us. Yay for intelligent people who work for Homeland
Security who can figure out that terrorists are unlikely to be in a small sailboat.

Meanwhile, it's a beautiful starry night, and we're starting to feel the northward boost of the Gulf Stream. Good thing, because the wind is dying off, and I'm putting off turning the motor back on just because the silence is lovely. But I guess I'd better get to it - we've got 72 miles to go to the inlet, and another 15 or so to Vero Beach, our planned destination.
- posted by S/V Windom @ 6/11/2007 [link]