Avid readers will remember that setting deadlines is strongly discouraged in the sailing world, we’ve made that mistake before. Unfortunately, deadlines are sometimes unavoidable. Our latest deadline was May 1, the day we needed to start work on Mackinac Island. Over the winter, we had been offered our same jobs at the park and we […]
Making the Most of Our Last Week in the Bahamas Read More »
Hosting visitors to Alaya is a special treat that requires planning, flexibility, creativity and a little luck. So, we were thrilled when Nellie, Lucas’ cousin and Paul, Lucas’ middle brother, expressed interest in visiting us while in the Bahamas. Once we crossed the Gulf Stream, we started scheming to get them here. Nellie’s logistics were
Snorkeling, Sunning and Laughing: A Week With Paul and Nellie Read More »
Towards the end of February, we decided to venture out to a nearby island. One of the few downsides to Hope Town Harbor is the water inside the harbor. The water is very murky, not the bright blue clear water we had grown accustomed to in other anchorages. The reasons for this are many and
Elbow Cay We have now arrived at our time on Elbow Cay. When we pulled in on Monday, February 10, we knew we had arrived in a cool place. We had no idea that we would spend nearly the rest of our time in the Bahamas in and around this wonderful island. But before I
Bahamas Day…Ok, We’ve Stopped Counting Read More »
The Whale and Guana Cay The next morning started out perfectly, we awoke to bright sunshine and light winds. It was time for the Whale. We hauled anchor and started east. We double checked that everything below was stowed for sea and donned our life jackets. The water started out very calm but as we
No Name Cay After four wonderful nights at Powell Cay, we hauled up the anchor on Saturday, February 8, taking advantage of the light winds to practice sailing off anchor. What does this mean exactly? During our normal anchoring procedure, Lucas is at the helm with the engine on and I’m on the bow running
Powell Cay Powell Cay was another six miles west of Manjack Cay. We were really loving these short hops, this is what I thought cruising would be all the time. We’ve had so many 50-mile days on the ICW, that I wasn’t sure island hopping was real. Turns out it is, we just had to
Manjack/Crab/Nunjack Cay Back in Florida, when we were planning out our Gulf Stream passage, we thought we would want a week at a dock to mentally recover once we arrived in the Bahamas. There was also a low-pressure system forecasted with some high winds the day after we planned to arrive. With this in mind,
Great Sale Cay and Green Turtle Cay After our long Gulf Stream passage, we both slept like rocks on that first night. We awoke to a flat calm anchorage just in time to watch the sunrise. I went to the bow to start hauling up the anchor. Anchoring in the Bahamas is so different than
Bahamas Day 2 and 3 Read More »
Alaya spent about 10 days in St. Augustine. Lucas stayed with Alaya, while I flew home for an unplanned visit. While I was gone, Lucas enjoyed the slightly warmer temperatures and worked on some boat projects. This was his longest stretch alone on the boat. It was weird leaving him but I’m really glad I