I’m not sure I ever imagined myself voluntarily heading out into the Atlantic Ocean at 3 a.m. on a 43’ sailboat. But that’s exactly where I found myself on January 4 and I was pumped. Our first destination was Carolina Beach, NC. We planned to sail approximately 65 miles in the ocean and then tuck […]
Three Offshore Hops to Florida Read More »
After traveling for five straight days, we decided to take a few days off to enjoy Beaufort, NC. This is one of my favorite spots along the ICW. There are palm trees lining the ICW, tourists in the streets and dolphins in the river. It is the first place where it feels like we have
We finally left Deltaville for the season on Friday, December 20. We were still waiting on the delivery of our life raft but we decided that we couldn’t wait in Deltaville any longer. We had a good weather window, despite the cold and we decided to take it. Our plan was to try to get south
Beaufort By Christmas Read More »
After we pulled into Safe Harbor Stingray Point on Sunday, April 14, we had one full day to prep before our haul-out appointment on Tuesday. It was a very busy day and it also happened to be the hottest day since we left Florida. Our goal was to strip everything possible off the deck to
Leaving Our Girl for the Summer Read More »
Wowza! It is hard to believe our first sailing season is officially over. I thought it would be fun to share some of our season statistics. Dates: July 17, 2023 – April 16, 2024 (273 calendar days)Total Miles Traveled: 3,908 nautical miles (4,497 statutory miles)Total Traveling Days: 101 Average Miles Traveled Per Moving Day: 38.69
By the Numbers: Season #1 Read More »
Once our friends headed home, it was back to business. We left St. Augustine on Monday, March 25. We had 37 days to get Alaya tucked away safely in the Chesapeake and get our butts to an island in northern Michigan. A big ask but we hoped it was doable. We sped through (at 7
Partial Eclipse of the Heart Read More »
The very next day we headed north from Titusville. We learned the hard way that St. Patrick’s Day is a major boating holiday in Florida. We originally planned to go all the way to Daytona Beach in one long day but we opted for a spot in New Smyrna Beach, 10 miles south, due to
Laughing Until I Cried in St. Augustine Read More »
Once we arrived in Vero Beach, we prepped the boat for our next visitor, Craig. We, of course, picked the hottest day of the week to reorganize Alaya’s storage areas. Nothing like guests coming to motivate you to clean up your house. Craig joined us later that evening. We started Craig’s indoctrination into cruising the
You know that feeling of dread you experience at the end of a vacation? For the first time in our lives, we didn’t experience that feeling as we made our way home to Alaya from the Bahamas. We were very excited to get back to the boat and to eventually start heading north again. Once
Starting Our Journey North Read More »
After we made the tough decision to keep Alaya on the mainland this year, we shared the news with our friends on SV Pokey and SV Victoria. They had crossed the Gulf Stream a few days prior and were getting into the swing of sailing in the Bahamas. While they understood our decision, they were
We Totally Cheated! Bahamas 2024 Read More »