Crossing the Gulf Stream this season felt much less daunting than last: we knew what to expect having crossed twice last year (to and from the Bahamas). After spending about a month making our way around Florida, we sat in Key Largo waiting on a weather window to cross over to the Bahamas. We had…
Refitting Salty Tails
Before casting off in November for our current cruising season, we spent four months at our marina in Punta Gorda refitting the boat. Four months of nonstop work, from sunup to sundown. We loved every minute of it. Blood, sweat, and tears were shed, but there’s something hugely rewarding in spending our waking hours getting…
“Welcome back to Florida,” says Lightning Strike
We arrived at our marina on a Wednesday. On Thursday, less than 24 hours later, we were struck by lightning…well, not us, the mast. Before the storm, we had had a great 24 hours! We scarfed down amazing dinner at Scotty’s Brewhouse. Spicy BBQ chicken wrap with pineapple, mmmmmm. We found and bought our summer…
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The Marathon
It was time to say goodbye to the Bahamas and get on our way back to the states. Over the next 11 days, we traveled 411 nautical miles from Devil’s Cay in the Berry Islands all the way back to Punta Gorda, on the west coast of Florida. We flew back, especially considering this included…
From Nassau to the Berry Islands
We pulled into our slip at Palm Cay Marina just in time before an afternoon thunderstorm began. We were happy to see the familiar faces of SV Elysian and thankful that they were willing to catch lines for us as we docked. I don’t think any sailors turn down extra hands for catching lines when…
Home stretch in the Land and Sea Park…Hawksbill and Shroud Cays
After Warderick Wells, we headed north to Hawksbill Cay. We were anticipating winds out of the west, but nothing too strong…we’d take another mooring and ride it out. “Ride it out”, we said… “It’ll be fun”, we said. WRONG. The afternoon we arrived, it was calm and peaceful, just as it had been our first…
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Cambridge Cay and Warderick Wells
Just 14 miles north of Staniel Cay is the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. Waiting for us there are restful nights of sleep because, well…mooring balls. We made the short hop to Cambridge Cay. On our way, I pulled lines out of the lazarette and set them up on deck so we were ready…
Staniel Cay and Thunderball Grotto
Our sail north from Black Point to Big Majors was easy breezy…with a following sea on a nice beam reach. As we pulled into Big Majors for the second time, we sailed in further to the anchorage before firing up the engine and pulling in the sails. We weaved our way to the front of…
Cruising comforts we couldn’t live without…
We’ve come to the end of our first season cruising the Bahamas and after five months have come to realize which items we couldn’t live without. These things are not absolute necessities, and anyone could go without them, but they make our lives a whole lot easier and more comfortable while living aboard. Cockpit enclosure…
Little Farmers and Black Point Round 2
We arrived back at Little Farmer’s Cay after motor-sailing north from George Town. Seas were fairly calm with extremely light winds…it wasn’t as hot as our trip down, so we were thankful for that. After roughly seven hours, we anchored in the same spot as last…strong current, but excellent holding in between Little Farmers Cay…
