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Mar 30, 2007: Welcome in Miami

25°C / 77°F

Position:25° 75' N-80° 19' W

Wind: 10km/h

After another leg of 1'400 nautical miles, we reached Miami on March 29, 2007 at 3.30 pm. We were welcomed and guided by the Miami Yacht Club people to our privileged docking place

Although we started very early in morning of March 28, 2007 a gentle couple - two of our fan community of yesterday - came to the boat to bid their farewell. From the channel we saw the burlesque architecture of the booming Bahamian tourist palaces - or have you already seen by any chance a skyscraper with baroque turrets? On the ocean a swarm of sailboats and yachts were floating with us - so soon we were given the ideal conditions for the crossing to Florida that others have waited for during up to fourteen days. The surprise grew even more impressive around noon: We found ourselves surrounded by the calm, flat sea under a mildly smiling sun. After the rough period with strong winds and hard hitting sea we were prepared to face a tough challenge in crossing the final part of the open sea - and now that.

We are leaving with a heavy heart the Creole islands. The more we came to the North the more we returned to our "Western" world, and the majority of the black people we encountered here were in serving positions - different from the encounters we had before on the smaller islands. The prominent black man of letters and politician, Aimé Césaire, Deputy Mayor in Martinique, let speak the black protagonist Caliban to the white master and landowner Prospero in a drama following "The Storm" of Shakespeare (1st act, 2nd scene):

"My mother…the Earth… You believe that is Earth is a dead thing… One disfigures her, one soils her, one stamp on her with the foot of the conqueror. I, for my part, respect her…She lives… Snake! Rain! Lightening! I encounter her everywhere: In the eye of the sea tide that looks at me".

The last nostalgic sight back to the far horizon - we had it at the entrance of Miami harbor. The wind goddesses were in favor of us and smiled at us for the last good-bye. The feared Gulf Stream crossing was pleasant for our catamaran. Thanks to that we arrived already at 3.30 pm at the harbor entrance and were welcomed and guided by the Miami Yacht Club people to our privileged docking place. And again a friend we haven’t seen so far and who has already organized prestigious opportunities waited for us at the gate, John Vanleer. We spent the whole evening together - we got to know each other and planned our stay. We had also several interviews with the media, among them two live shows with Radio BBC World Service.

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