Great Harbour Cay was a retreat for the “Who’s Who” list of celebrities in the ’60s and ’70s, but hurricanes, poor planning/management, and the drug cartel presence on Cistern Cay in the 80’s lead to the decline of high-end tourism on the island. The 18 hole golf course, 9 holes of which are still maintained […]
Our sail to Great Harbour was one of our best so far on Windara. I got some practice hand-steering her in a beam sea, and it’s amazing how responsive and manageable she is. We started later than we’d hoped, but it was a quick sail, and we got within 2 miles of Island Dream who […]
Our overnight passage to The Bahamas was perfect. We had to motor pretty much the whole way into a bit of leftover swell, but the Gulf Stream was kind to us and it felt SO good to know we were Bahamas-bound once again. The sky was clear, and we could see so many stars once […]
We were lucky to have another nice, easy passage to West Palm Beach, and I was looking forward to checking out another new port, especially since I was off for the holidays starting Tuesday. Neither of us was sure what exactly we expected West Palm Beach to be like, but neither of us expected it […]
Port Canaveral may not be the most picturesque port, but it’s super well-protected, and the Ocean Club Marina was a great spot to spend a couple weeks. The slips are easy access, the staff is great, and there are several ships’ stores within easy walking distance. Unfortunately there’s not much else that’s walkable besides some […]
I’ll admit that our last passage rattled me enough that I was dreading our next one. I was so busy right up to departure that I didn’t have time to dwell on it (thankfully), but as we waited for the Bridge of Lions, I had a knot in my stomach. Conditions were predicted to be […]
Saint Augustine was a hard-earned destination. The passage itself was fine – no worse than anything else we’ve experienced. But St. Mary’s Inlet was legitimately terrifying. While the forecasts called for 10-15kts, we saw 20-25 with gusts up to 30 and we had wind against current. There were nasty, short period waves rolling through the […]
We loved our time at Cumberland Island, but the wind was forecast to build and the anchorage would be choppy, so we decided to head over to a mooring at Fernandina Beach. Of course, we got the only mooring they had open, which was sketchy – someone had run a huge line through the eye […]
Ask a cruiser about their favorite stops along the southern migration route, and no doubt you’ll hear Cumberland Island among them. We heard mention of the island often enough in conversation that we had to come see for ourselves. Cumberland Island lies just north of the Georgia/Florida border at St. Mary’s Inlet and belongs to […]
Not our easiest passage… although I feel like I’m saying that a lot lately. After tropical depression Nicole moved on, it was time for us to do the same. We left into a SW breeze, which was exactly the direction we needed to go. We spent a lot of time beating, and the starboard tacks […]