There are two ways south for boats traveling along the East Coast – the ICW or outside (aka the Atlantic Ocean). If desired, a sailboat like Alaya (<65ft mast, <7ft draft) could make it to Miami via the ICW but lots of sailboats opt to take the outside route at least part of the way
Dolphins in Da Moonlight Read More »
After 10 days in the ICW, Lucas and I were getting a little grumpy. We had been struggling to balance the desire to make progress south with the desire to explore the various places along the way. With this struggle in mind, we decided to stay in Beaufort, NC for the Thanksgiving Holiday. This decision
Dolphins & Thanksgiving in Beaufort Read More »
The intercoastal waterway (ICW) is a 3,000 mile system of man made canals, rivers, sounds and lakes along nearly the entire eastern coast of the US. Mile 0 of the ICW is just south of Norfolk and that’s where we started our ICW journey in early November. Right off the bat, we were faced with
November in the ICW Read More »
After a few weeks in the same spot, Lucas and I were both itching to get moving again. We left Rocky and Aaris’ dock just after Halloween, making our way south through the Chesapeake Bay. We planned to meet back up with our new friends, Sean and Anna, on SV Pokey near Solomons Island. It
“No, Emily, Look Left” Read More »
The adrenaline crash that we knew was coming after the past month of travel hit us on Monday after the boat show. We had originally planned to anchor nearby for a night before heading south, but by the time we provisioned and finished laundry, we were just too tired. Lucky for us, we had a
Cruising the Wye With Pablo Read More »
Going to sleep in Annapolis on Thursday, October 12 was surreal. We had met another one of our crazy deadlines and we were now in the sailing capital of the world. Our guests had arrived a few hours after us and we all hit the bunks to rest up for our big weekend. The surrealness
Talking Toilets and Water Making in Annapolis Read More »
The first rule of cruising: You can sail to a specific destination or a set schedule, never both. Number of times we have broken this rule: 2 (so far) Results: Stress, anxiety, questioning of life’s choices, lack of sleep, meeting some awesome people in sweet places!! The next leg of our journey was going to
The First Rule of Cruising Read More »
We woke up in our rolly but beautiful anchorage, just north of the George Washington Bridge. It was a bright sunny day. After a bit of excitement trying to pull our anchor up while the wind was pulling us in the opposite direction of the current, we were on our way. We pointed Alaya south,
Meeting Lady Liberty Read More »
We crossed into the Hudson River on a rainy Saturday morning, finally tackling our last lock, the Troy Federal Lock, in a rainstorm. Once on the other side of the lock, we were officially in tidal waters – a whole new adventure for us! Fun fact about the Hudson River: it is actually a tidal
The Hudson River Valley: Land of Tides, Fog and Cruise Ships Read More »
As excited as we were to pull into the Buffalo Harbor, there was no rest for the weary. We immediately had to prepare for our first set of lift bridges and our first lock, the Black Rock Lock (we had to practice that tongue twister a few times before hailing them on the radio). We
Another 15 Miles on the Erie Canal Read More »