With a short weather window to get to Saint Augustine, we were up well before dawn and hauled anchor just after 5am. As the sun came up, we popped the chute and took off. With 8-10kts of breeze, Windara ate it up, and it was fun to see how she performed under spinnaker and main […]
The day started with a muted but beautiful sunrise, and we hauled anchor around 0830. We had a warm, sunny day but barely any wind so we found ourselves motoring most of the way up the Sea of Abaco. I would have loved to be able to stop at Allans-Pensacola or Powell Cay, but there […]
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 […]
We left Beaufort on Saturday evening as the blow that had been hanging around started to move off. We were sad to say goodbye to Lori and Paul, who came by to help with our lines, but that’s part of cruising life (and we’re pretty sure they’ll catch us in Charleston). Departure was easy and […]
We enjoyed our time in Portsmouth/Norfolk, and it felt SO good to finally be cruising again. We took a day off to explore, but being a Monday, EVERYTHING was closed. Even still, we had fun walking around, grabbing lunch at Grain and stopping in at Prince Books. The rest of the week flew by, and […]
With final weather checks completed, a float plan filed and confirmation that the Iridium GO! was working, we cast off the lines around 2230. A friend we’d met the night before happened to be walking down the dock and gave us a hand with our lines and waved us off. Slipping away in the dead […]
I slept better than I expected I would, but I’d be lying if I claimed not to be nervous. The Gulf Stream can be a true beast if conditions aren’t good, and even in settled conditions I had no idea what to expect. Besides, I’m always nervous before an offshore passage, even though I’ve now […]
After three or four days of sustained 20kt winds with 25kt gusts, yesterday was finally settled enough for us to depart mid-afternoon. While I was a little sad to leave Deltaville behind, I was happy to finally move on. Periods of rain and drizzle mixed with sunny skies, creating amazingly dramatic skies, including a few […]
It was a gray morning when we hauled anchor, but as we got under way, the sun started to break through the clouds. It felt so strange to be leaving our home waters of the past eight years – pulling out into the Sound and seeing Execution for the last time, passing Stepping Stones and City […]