As we left St. Augustine, we had a strong ebb running against 5′ ocean rollers, making the inlet a sloppy, slammy mess. The only other boat we saw as we left was a Coast Guard small boat, and they were either doing a training exercise or they followed us idiot sailors out because once they […]
We weren’t able to extend our slip at Marker 8, and the Municipal Marina couldn’t take us until Sunday, so we anchored out Saturday night. With the help of our friends, we left just before low slack. Our original thought was to anchor over by the Vilano Bridge, but the anchorage was pretty busy, and […]
This week, I’ve been really stressing about getting everything ready to go. Our original plan was to leave as soon as Chris got back from New York. Normally I would have been ok with this, even though we’d be cutting it close to sunset and the ebb (outgoing) current would be running decently. But we’ve […]
Our trip from Cumberland Island to St. Augustine was much more civilized this year than last – it started out rainy and raw, but St. Mary’s Inlet was relatively calm (still bouncy, but short-period 2-3′ waves rather than short period breaking 10’s!) and it was so calm on open water that we didn’t even bother […]
We got in relatively early in the day and found a perfect spot to anchor off the Sea Camp dock. The current runs hard through much of Georgia, and it’s typical for boats to hang into the flow of the current rather than into the wind. In places where this is the case, like at […]
In frustration last week, I started this post with the working title “Sometimes Boat Life Sucks.” (And sometimes, it DOES suck.) I still want to share some of those thoughts here, because the reality is that life, boat or land-based, isn’t always sunshine and roses. I’m struggling a bit with this – I want to […]
Our time in Charleston was awesome, but we were looking forward to continuing our progress south. The one thing we were NOT looking forward to was our dock departure. We were on one of the finger piers in the litter box with monohulls in front of and behind us, and two catamarans on the next […]
I’m always excited to get to Charleston – it’s one of our favorite cities and it feels like real progress to get here. We’re staying at the Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina, as we always do when we come through. The marina staff is friendly and competent (and the dock master knows his stuff), and […]
When every move you make is dictated by weather, what do you do when the models and actual conditions disagree? We check all the weather models available to us through Predict Wind, NOAA coastal forecasts, tropical activity, actual conditions reported by various weather stations, wave heights, rain and CAPE (convective available potential energy – an […]
Something told the wild geeseIt was time to go,Though the fields lay goldenSomething whispered, “snow.” Leaves were green and stirring,Berries, luster-glossed,But beneath warm feathersSomething cautioned, “frost.” All the sagging orchardsSteamed with amber spice,But each wild breast stiffenedAt remembered ice. Something told the wild geeseIt was time to fly,Summer sun was on their wings,Winter in their […]