It's all about the people (and the food!)

The title says it all! In my old life, a tough day at work was always balanced by getting to work through the challenges with some pretty awesome people. Now that we're traveling all the time I can say that it still holds true--the best memories, whether they be made on pristine beaches, in a hot engine compartment, or in a crazy storm, are usually all great memories because of the people. But then there's the other travel joy...THE FOOD! And when those two glorious things come together, that's when the real magic happens.

And that's what we have here in Great Harbour Cay. Two years ago we had our first conch salad of our cruising lives (and the Skipper's first ever) at Brown's Garden. Ronnie Brown served up his specialty with a smile and a good dose of stories about the island. We visited him a few times that week, even celebrating our 15th anniversary with his conch salads served in plastic bowls with plastic spoons and cold Kalik beers. That conch salad became the one we compared all others to! We were back again last year, in the midst of COVID, and while things were definitely slower on the island, Ronnie was still in good spirits and we chatted quite a bit over Kaliks. This year, things still aren't quite back to how they were the first year, new family members are working with him, but his spirit at that great conch salad are still there!

Conch salad (background), scorch conch (foreground), and a cold Kalik!

Based on a conversation we had last year, we had a little gift for Ronnie from the states...a culinary treat that is a little hard to come by on the island. Last night the three of us headed to an early dinner at Brown's so we could deliver and Ronnie was so surprised! He has brought us so many smiles over the years and it was great to give him a little joy in return. Hugs and shots were shared, and when it was time to get dinner going, Ronnie took Trent down to the water with him to learn more about conch. We gather and clean our own conch onboard, but here Trent was getting to learn from a real master! Ronnie told him all about how to get the conch out and let him do one, taught him all about the conch anatomy, showed him how to clean it, then gave us a peek at his salad technique. And we ate and chatted and smiled and left with full bellies and hearts. 

Cheers to good friends!

Ronnie's "office" is stunning! And he and Trent had way too much fun cleaning those conch!

Ronnie sporting a big smile while making that conch salad...you can't help but smile back!

I love learning about a culture through its food. Eat the exotic stuff, hear the stories, and appreciate the work that went into the food!

~Jo, 1st Mate

Travel—why solo and why now?

Kaliméra! As I’m waiting to board a ferry in Greece I figured it’s a good time to explain what the heck I am doing here—now—and why I am alone.

Why solo?

Is my marriage failing? I don’t think so! Am I having a midlife crisis? Perhaps! Do I miss solo trips like I used to go on when I was working? YES!!! And was my husband’s passport getting renewed when I decided to do this? Yes. :)

Look, I love my family and if you’ve been reading this blog for a hot minute you know we love traveling together A LOT. But if you spend almost every waking moment concerned about the needs and wants of others you are probably neglecting yourself to a degree. And while I’m mostly talking to the parents and partners here, single folks can get wrapped into the care and concern of others, too. 

Back when Frank and I were working we both traveled as part of our jobs. For about a two year stretch one of us was gone for at least a week every month, and sometimes one of us would be gone for several weeks at a time. The “away” team member would check in with the “home” team, but really they only had to care about their own needs for the most part. Work trips became a mini-recharge for me as a wife and mother. What does everyone want to eat? Not my problem! Want to wake up early and see the sunrise? There’s no one to have to crawl over or worry about waking up! Want to just lie in bed for an hour and do nothing? Go for it! I’m not saying my family stops me from any of that when I’m home, but rather I do! I stop myself. I don’t want to bother anyone, I don’t want anyone else to have to worry about anything that I can take care of, and I sure as heck don’t want to slack on stuff around the house by lying in bed.

And I would also take weekends to see my girlfriends and he would take hiking trips with his buddy. At the end of any of these trips, no matter which side I was on, it was great to talk about our unique experiences and learn about new places from one another. And yeah, maybe distance did make the heart grow fonder! 

So I am solo in Greece! Frank does want to come someday so I’m considering this a recon trip, but I am definitely enjoying a little bit of traveling on my own agenda.

Why now?

There is a Level 4 “Do not travel” advisory for Greece from the CDC due to COVID right now so I get that my decision might not make sense to everyone. But I am vaccinated and readily wear a mask when asked or when I feel like a space or crowd requires it. And between my desire for some solo travel (it’s been over two years since my last true solo) and wanting a distraction as my daughter leaves us for 10 months (and Frank’s passport being “in the mail”), now seemed right! I was actually looking at a trip to Spain when I stumbled upon a good deal on a flight to Greece that departed from the same airport the Katreina was leaving from within an hour of her flight—this would allow me to be with her just a little bit longer! And I found a great place to stay in Athens that was affordable, in a great neighborhood, and close to transit. So…Greece, now!

This trip is two and a half weeks long. While even a few days alone in the mountains would have given me the recharge I need right now, this long trip to a completely new place is also helping me learn a bit about myself…what really makes me happy, what causes me to be anxious, and what do I really want out of the next few years. And I can’t wait to share my experiences with the home team!

The marina in the Port of Aegina, Saronic Islands

(the end of my ferry journey!)

~Jo, 1st Mate

Travel amid COVID, civil unrest, and wildfires

Marina life continues on here in Maryland as we've undertaken a repair/reinforcement of the deck (more to follow on that!) in the midst of a heat wave and have begun to lay in spares and provisions for the winter cruising season. Oh, and we are about a week out from sending the Second Mate to France for the school year! 

Here's the deal--the U.S. State Department has issued a "Level 4--Do Not Travel" advisory for France due to COVID-19, terrorism, and civil unrest. And here we are, sending our daughter there in nine days and a wake up. Are we crazy? Should we pull her from the program? You may think we are crazy, but we have no plans to pull her from the program. We have done all we can to mitigate the COVID-19 risks and she is one very cautious kid when she's out in the community. As for the terrorism and civil unrest, it's a threat in Paris and mostly on the weekends. People are upset and are protesting...it's like that in many places around the world right now. She will be in Paris, but only briefly and during the week...she will be in a chaperoned group...and honestly, she has been raised in a home where we talk about risk (weather, public unrest, sports...) openly. From Paris, she will travel to join a family that faces all of these risks with their two kids in their home in Tours. Her risk, in our opinion, is comparable to what she faces here in her own country and therefore we are moving forward.

She's not alone...I will be traveling to a "Level 4--Do Not Travel" country (due to COVID-19 and wildfires) as well on the same day. I'm monitoring https://travel.state.gov/ for both of our locations daily, we are ready to meet the COVID requirements, I am in contact with my Airbnb host for "on the ground" conditions, and we will flex if we need to. This is the state of travel right now and as a traveling family, we accept it!

The intrepid travelers are sweating the heat wave and clogged a/c lines more than the travel requirements!

~Jo, 1st Mate

Upcoming crew change

If you've been following our crew's story you know that our daughter has been working to study abroad in France next year. What is normally a fairly involved application process both with a school and an embassy was certainly complicated by a global pandemic, but we can finally report that she has met all the requirements to leave in August! She has been accepted, matched to a family, her visa was approved, and she has a plane ticket!

APPROVED in only a week!

Celebrating with her cousin (and French pastries!)

How did we get here? After researching a bunch of programs and reading reviews and sending inquiries, we decided to use Nacel to coordinate her program. This was a gamble as we didn't have any friends with first-hand experience with them, but we went for it. We were assigned a coordinator, Céline, who guided us through the entire application process, kept us informed as Katreina was matched to a school and family, and who guided us through the visa application process. She also answered literally any question we had along the way and really kept us informed as the COVID situation changed in France. Nacel is who works to match the student to a family, enrolls them in school, provides in-country orientation and transportation, and helps should any issues arise during the program. They also offer some intense French language training before the program. So far we are happy with the program we chose.

Katreina will spend the entire school year (her "Lycée Seconde") in Tours, France with a family that has two daughters and a dog--she is wildly excited! Her program starts in a month and we are enjoying our final weeks with her.  

Back home! (sort of!)

After a few days of dodging storms the Captain and kid crew met me at our dock for the next MONTH! That's right, we paid for a whole month. Why? We have some boat projects that would greatly benefit from access to shore power and water, we have some big deliveries to get ready for (a new "car!"), we have some shipments to prep (boo, shipping the girl to France!), and this spot put us in reach of all of that and friends and family. So where the heck are we? Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland (a.k.a. NAS Pax River)!

There are two military marinas in the area that are priced the same, but this one was much nicer and deeper. Getting to use these military marinas is a huge financial win for us. The transient rate for our vessel is about $350 per month here, including power, water, and wifi. We would get 3-4 nights at our old marina in Herring Bay for that same amount. While the amenities aren't quite the same as those found at our old resort marina, and we have to drive about an hour to see friends, it's still a win. We have our car so this really made the decision for us. After a week here I can say that this was a good decision. While the dock we are at only has single 30-amp service at each slip, the slip next to us is vacant so we can fully power up and run the air conditioners (not a big deal if we can't as the solar panels provide what we need for house usage). The marina staff is super friendly and extremely competent, which has not always been our experience on bases. We have close access to a decent bathhouse with a washer and dryer ($2.50 for a complete load), easy parking, a commissary (our grocery store) nearby, a pool we can use as a retiree family, and plenty of safe, walkable roads for exercise. There is even an easy-to-access pump-out here! The only thing that's missing? Fuel, but everyone just goes across the river to Solomons Island for that. And our neighbors have been super nice and inviting. So...we like it!

How have we spent our time during this first week? The kids got their second COVID jab, we found a great skatepark a mile away, we hit the base pool, Katreina and I made some sweet new pillows for the cockpit, we visited friends in Rose Haven, all four of us knocked out our dental exams, Katreina and I got some "girl time" with local friends, the guys hit one of their favorite paintball parks with friends, I deep cleaned the port side of the salon and treated the wood, we started cleaning up the old dinghy (to sell it!), I began a "refresh" of the composting head, and we found amazing Thai food. Busy, fun, and productive week! 

2nd jab...DONE! Let's travel!

Our peaceful marina and some of our pool and marina fun.

K helped me make some fluffy new pillows for the cockpit.

Cleaning cabinets and bulkheads and refreshing the forward head (yep, that's a toilet seat that I'm spray painting!)

Thai food! I have a friend who has a love affair with Khao Soi, but says it's tough to find in the U.S. so when I saw it on the menu I just had to try it! Soooo good!

~Jo, 1st Mate

Are we medical tourists?

We have doctor appointments coming up in northern Florida so we took advantage of some good weather to make a run outside to Fort Pierce Inlet. We had a great visit from some dolphins and when the wind finally filled in from the west we had some fantastic sailing! Arriving there on a Sunday afternoon was...exciting, but we made it all the way to Vero Beach and took a mooring at the City Marina. It's our first time here!

Beautiful day offshore!

I've made no secret of the fact that I am ready to be vaccinated and we had appointments set for our first shot next week, but...a quick check of the CVS website revealed that we could get rolling with our first shot right here in Vero the day after we arrived! The location was about 6 miles from the marina, but Vero Beach has a pretty awesome free bus service that, given enough time, could get us there for free. And since the forecast was for stormy weather, a bus would be great!

So that's what we did. We started our three-bus trek to CVS only to discover that the final bus of the journey wasn't running (thanks for updating your website, GoLine RT!) and no Uber/Lyft was in the area. Great day for a workout, right? With a 35-minute power walk we made it to our appointment only five minutes late. Check-in, shots, waiting for a reaction, and a little shopping took less than a half hour...easy process. We decided that if we were going to have to hoof it back we might as well grab some lunch (margaritas, Negro Modelo, and Mexican food!) first. It may have taken us two hours each way in crappy weather to take care of this, but I'm so glad we did. Does this make us medical tourists? Visiting Vero Beach to get a shot (and some protection from weather)? Maybe!

Two buses and a walk each way...in the rain!

Tomorrow we will get groceries delivered to the marina, do laundry, do school, and check the weather for options to continue north. There is a crewed SpaceX launch Thursday morning that we admittedly would love to be around Titusville for. Hope it works out! Oh, and Vero Beach is alright! Even though we didn’t get to explore too much and the weather has been super soggy, the marina facilities and staff are very nice and we could certainly imagine returning.

~Jo, 1st Mate

We are back...hello, Florida!

I'm never super excited to leave the Bahamas, but I had a little incentive this time...I'm out of good olive oil and I am super excited to get a COVID vaccine! So yes, I am moderately happy to be back in the U.S.A.

Our crossing was a decent mix of sailing, motoring, and motor-sailing. We did one overnight from Spanish Wells, Eleuthera to West Palm Beach, Florida. The worst seas were probably on my reveille watch (0400-0800) as the wind went right on the nose and I struggled to try to keep sailing. We opted to motor into the westerlies for a bit, then point more northerly as we got into the Gulf Stream for our push to the Lake Worth Inlet. We managed to drop the hook just before sunset and checked in smoothly via the Customs and Border Patrol ROAM app. 

Officially checked back in...time to take down the Bahamas flag and put down some Bahamas drinks!

The big news of this transit is that the kids fully entered the watch rotation! We decided to forego school this week and focus on navigation. While Katreina mostly ran the show, Trent was up there to help out, fetch stuff, and keep her entertained. She did great and even negotiated some tight CPA's with merchant vessels. We were always nearby in case they needed anything and usually one of us was awake anyway, but it was nice to be able to tune out a little and recharge. We kept the kids on daylight watches and worked to our strengths (Frank is not a morning person!)--it worked so well that I can't wait to try it again! So our watch rotation looked like:

0000-0400 Frank
0400-0800 Jo
0800-1200 Katreina & Trent
1200-1600 Frank
1600-2000 Katreina & Trent (until sunset, ~1935)

2000-2400 Jo

Watchstanding MVP!

This year I tried to keep our track up-to-date on NoForeignLand.com. I didn't adjust the track to stay out over water, but here is a nice snapshot of our three-month stay in the Bahamas.

Today is a "down" day. It's not a great day to make a run offshore and we avoid transiting the ICW on weekends if at all possible due to the insane amount of boat traffic. We are happy to watch the excitement from the comfort of our cockpit while anchored!

~Jo, 1st Mate

Hatchet Bay, Take 2 (we get off the boat!)

Once the wind chilled out a little we were able to goof off on a nearby sandbar have a relaxing Easter. 

Happy Easter!

We started the next day by shifting our anchorage to southern Alabaster Bay and taking a morning walk over to the abandoned Navy base. After those days on the boat we were ready for a nice, long walk! The beach was just as glorious as we remember from last year!

We LOVE the beach at the old base!

Lehe Paine looking good in Alabaster Bay

That night we headed to Hatchet Bay, our COVID quarantine spot from last year! That was the last place that Frank went ashore last year (we were minimizing our contact by only sending one person in) before the lockdowns started. We spent weeks there, just on our boat, so this visit was a bit of a re-do!

The narrow (but deep!) entrance to Hatchet Bay Pond

We got up early Tuesday morning for a big breakfast and a 1-hour walk along Queen's Highway to the Hatchet Bay Cave. This is the most extensive cave system on Eleuthera, extending about 1100 feet underground with over a mile of twisting passages. The crew was starting to lose their sense of humor when we finally made it to the access road. Then we just had to survive a 5-minute walk through some guard and stray dogs to get to the access steps at the "front" of the cave. Shortly after entering our world went completely dark and we descended a ladder to the next level of the cave. The air was warm and water dripped from the forming stalagmites. And no bats that we could see! And a thin string ran through most of the cave...just in case your light goes out! And there is graffiti pretty much all throughout the cave, some dating back to the 1800's. At the "back" of the cave is a square cut out of the overhead rock with a rope ladder to climb out. While it was a haul to get there on foot, we liked it! We spent the afternoon recovering, doing school, and getting a few groceries in town.

Very cool cave!

The next day, we hit the road again! This time, the walk was only about 40-minutes each way to Sweetings Pond! This inland lagoon is believed to have been closed off from the sea for 6000 years. Seawater seeps in through the limestone, but there is little-to-no recruitment of animals from the outside. The result is a unique, yet fragile, environment that is known for its seahorses! While we did end up seeing one pregnant male seahorse, we saw so much more! Harry Clinging Crabs, a Striped Burrfish, Brittle Stars, Red Fireclams, Fringeback Dondice, needlefish, mussels, barnacles...tons of life! Visibility was 10-15' and we were pretty cold after about an hour in the pond, but it was such a great experience!

Tons of life in Sweetings Pond

We hit the store on our way back to check out their fresh produce delivery (awesome!) and were excited to see S/V Yemaya anchored in the harbor when we got back to the dock! We immediately ditched our plan to get underway and stayed another night. I met Ian when we were both stationed in Washington, D.C. and now we are both retired and cruising. The adults shared a lovely evening and sundowners on Yemaya...such a great way to close out our return to Hatchet Bay!

A fabulous spot to wait for our take-away lunch in town.

Frank, Jo, and Ian together again after over a year! 

COVID UPDATE: If you haven't figured it out by now, given the new COVID orders that apply to travel from Eleuthera to any other island, we have decided that we will slowly enjoy Eleuthera and close out our cruising season here. While we again feel like COVID has robbed us of our visit to the Abacos we are thoroughly enjoying taking our time here in Eleuthera. We will get to the Abacos someday!

Change of Plans?

We knew there was a possibility of changing COVID requirements when we made our jump to the Bahamas and the first of those to impact us directly is here. 

We have been in Eleuthera for four days and last night the OPM released this new guidance. What does that mean for us? Maybe nothing.

We currently have 21 days left on our cruising permit in the Bahamas and we need to check out at a Port of Entry on our way out. Prior to this notice we were planning to hunker down for a front this weekend then either:

1. Head to the Abacos (new to us, not as much time as we would like to spend perhaps helping out, shallow for our draft in many places, puts us in a great spot to cross back to northern FL); 

2. Explore some more of Eleuthera, then head to the Berrys (love it, easy check out, shorter hops); or

3. Stay in Eleuthera for the duration of our permit (pretty much how we left last year, but this time we are allowed on island).

In all honesty the new COVID order hasn’t changed much for us. It would mean that we would have to find a place to test here in Eleuthera and in the Abacos or Berrys if we go there and stay for more than 5 days, and incur testing expenses, but otherwise our options are unchanged. So we will move the boat today to get set up for this blow and talk about our options as a family! (All weather-dependent, of course!)

Also, having been in the Bahamas at the start of this pandemic and back again a year later we continue to be impressed with the communication and adaptability of this small, geographically dispersed nation. Their online health visa tools are easy to use and make allowances for gaps in connectivity and weather delays. Their rules cover locals and visitors, and generally have clarification for travelers via plane vs boat. Are there some kinks? Sure. But are they proactively trying to keep their people safe? Absolutely.

How can we get to the Bahamas during a pandemic???

With the COVID pandemic upending travel plans across the globe many have debated whether it’s even worth it to try to travel and cruise right now. Well, we opted to go for it! Having been in the Bahamas at the start of the pandemic and seeing first-hand how they handled it then and over the past few months, we felt comfortable with returning. How did we do it? 

The Bahamas publishes very clear instructions for travelers to follow. Our starting point was the website, travel.bs.gov. As of our crossing the requirements were:

- must have proof of a negative PCR COVID test taken within 5 days of arrival 

- must have a Bahamas Health Visa ($60) approved before arrival

- must take a rapid COVID test on day 5 of your trip if staying more than 5 days (included in price of health visa)

- must take an online health survey for the first 14 days of your trip

- follow all mandatory COVID protocols and curfews for the area you are in

Easy, right? First we had to line up a potential weather window. With the requirement to clear in within 5 days of the test (test day=day 0), this can be a challenge if you are awaiting results and the window is narrow. Fortunately, the authorities added an allowance in the COVID orders that allows boaters to arrive outside of the 5 days so long as they can prove they didn’t go to any other port between their test and checking in. 

We also had to figure out how/where to get our tests. Florida has some free testing sites, but the turnaround on results isn’t guaranteed. Labs that promise results in 24 hours are available, but run $150-250 per test. As we needed four tests and aren’t on a serious schedule, we decided to try the free route first! A decent weather window was opening Thursday-Saturday. With free testing sites closed on Monday due to the MLK holiday, we had to target a Tuesday test. We had to rent a car to reach any of the free sites near West Palm Beach so we decided to use the drive-up clinic as no appointments were required. With the testing site open 8-4 we arrived at 7:40 am and found ourselves 1/2 mile from the entrance in a huge line of cars! Stress! At 8 am the queue started moving along as we all entered a maze of cones. The site was doing both rapid antigen and PCR tests so we just had to state that we wanted PCR and were sent to those lanes. They give you a sheet telling you to make an online account and enter all sorts of info—tough to do as you are driving, but we did it for ALL FOUR OF US only to never get asked to provide the handy, personalized barcode that process yielded. Instead, we were also given a little slip of paper to enter our info on, which was then hand-jammed into a laptop. Our test packets were hooked under the windshield wiper and we were off to the testing tent! That actually wasn’t horrible. Trent ended up having a sneezing fit from getting swabbed, but after a few brain tickles we were on our way at 9 am. The whole ordeal took less than an hour and a half and they said we should have results in two-five days. We were hoping for two!

The local “free” testing options. The signs just terrify you, and the barcode was apparently useless!

And then we waited. While we waited I created our travel visa accounts on the Bahamas website—one account for each adult, the kids were listed under an adult. With all of our passport info in the system we just had to wait for our test results! And wait. And wait. Tuesday wasn’t bad since we had just gotten the test and had errands to run. Wednesday was ok as we could fill water and monitor the forecast. Thursday, one of our options for leaving, was just dreadful! Late in the afternoon I think we had given up hope on getting results that day when we both got text messages—our results were in as of 4:08pm—55 hours after we had been tested. Woo hoo! It was super easy to see that we had all tested negative, but establishing accounts in yet another system to download our results as pdf’s was less so. 

Once we finally tackled that I uploaded our results and submitted our health visas for approval. We had heard that this was a swift part of the process so we raised the dinghy, discussed crossing options, and prepped for dinner. Within an hour, we received notification that our health travel visas had been approved and were pending payment. Online payment was a breeze and we were “green” to depart by 6pm.

Major milestones! Negative tests, travel visas (love the online system) and printing EVERYTHING twice!

Our options:

a) leave Thursday night for a Friday morning arrival at West End

b) leave Thursday night for a Friday afternoon arrival at Lucaya (on a rising tide to avoid a shoal)

c) leave early Friday morning for a Friday afternoon arrival at West End

As we also needed to get somewhere to pick up a WiFi service for our cruising season, we went with plan “b”—that put us in a reasonably-priced marina that was walking distance to an Aliv cell phone retailer. We had dinner and pulled the anchor just after 7pm!

Last Florida sunset for a bit!

We had a decent crossing, though we were only able to sail a few hours of it. Seas got a little lumpy mid-Gulf Stream but it was way better than last year’s crossing! We actually made good time and decided to come into Bell Channel in Lucaya at mid-tide. We didn’t see less than 8.5 feet—plenty of water! We tied up at the Grand Bahamas Yacht Club fuel dock (doubles as the Customs/Immigration dock), presented all of our COVID and normal cruising documents, and were cleared in! It was all very smooth and only took about a half hour. We payed for a night at the marina and shifted over to a slip. Easy peasy!

From quarantine flag to courtesy flag, and the crew ties up the boat!

Bahamas essentials—Ricardo rum, WiFi, coconut bread, and Goombay punch.

R&R for the crew after a whirlwind night/day!

We only have one hurdle left—the 5th day COVID test. We are en route to the Berry Islands now and will request our test there. All the testing sites are listed on the Bahamas website. I expect that part of this process to go just as smoothly as check-in did.

As the Bahamas has rolled out new requirements, any ambiguity is swiftly dealt with. While the system may have shortcomings, we are impressed with how they are trying to reinvigorate their main industry while protecting their citizens at the same time. We only spent $240 more to cruise this year than last (4x$60 health visa)—I’m not counting the rental car as we would have done that anyway for propane and provisioning. We are excited to spend the next three months visiting these beautiful islands and people!

10 nights moored in St. Augustine

We managed to secure a reservation for a mooring in the St. Augustine Municipal Marina mooring field for 10 days over the Christmas holiday! Moorings are cheap (<$25/day), the facilities are nice, mobile pump-out is easy, and it’s a fantastic location in the heart of downtown! This time of year it’s also all lit up for “Nights of Lights.” While we still thoroughly enjoyed the historic charm of the “Oldest City,” it was really crowded in the afternoons and evenings with holiday travelers. It would have been a little crowded for my taste during normal times, and given the global pandemic we chose to retreat to the quieter streets or the boat to keep some distance at times. 

On the “fun” side of things, we visited the iconic lighthouse (holy crowded!), the Oldest House (good history lesson), and the distillery (we couldn’t pass up this favorite). We walked/jogged the streets and alleys, took in the lights from sea and land, ate lots of great take-out, and celebrated Christmas from our cozy home. We enjoyed the ease of Amazon Prime/Whole Foods delivery of our provisions, and Trent spend hours hanging with me in the laundry room/lounge so he could fully update his Xbox using the marina WiFi.

Lighthouse (left) and Oldest House (right)

Around town

Nights of Lights (and our contribution to the display!)

Merry Christmas!

On the “not-so-fun” side, we were beam-on to a 40+ knot blow on Christmas Eve which caused a few minutes of “discomfort.” We had some blissfully warm days, but also had to have the heater on a few times! We also suffered a propane leak (on Christmas Day, of course!) which required a long hike with a heavy propane tank to get it refilled and two hikes through throngs of tourists to get to the hardware store for parts. In the end, the Chief Engineer simplified our propane system a bit as part of the fix. He also recommissioned the water maker! Ok, that wasn’t so bad, but it was “work!”

A pesky propane leak resulted in lots of exercise, but the water maker is also back in business!

Time to get this party rolling south into the new year!

Southbound!

 It's November so it's time we got serious about pointing this boat south! We have been enjoying dockside living in Cambridge, Maryland for almost a week, but with temps in the 50's and hours of daylight dwindling, we are ready to move along. Leaving the Bay will always be tough for us as we have so many friends and family here and we love the cruising! 

We are also considering a trip to see our Midwest family. Between weather and COVID we go back and forth as to whether or not this is even a good idea, but for now we are going to keep moving the car down the coast with us so that we have the option to drive inland should we decide to go for it. It's 2020. Nothing seems to be easy.

So, what's the plan? Gale warnings are in the forecast tonight through tomorrow night so we will be staying put! After that, we will start working our way down the Bay to Norfolk where we will hopefully snag a slip for about a week to visit some more family before we continue on. A bridge on the ICW had been damaged earlier this week, but it was repaired last night so cruisers can make their way to North Carolina via the inside route again. Outside around Cape Hatteras can be sketchy, so it's good to have the inside option.

We're only a little behind where we were last year. Some cruisers religiously leave by a certain date each year, but we're a little more flexible. In this type of life, I think you need to be. I guess we'll see if this was a bad move or not as we keep moving along.

1st Cruising Anniversary!

366 days ago we brought all the lines in and left our home marina in Maryland for the full-time cruising life! That day was emotional for some of our crew, but what followed was a year of new places, new friends, new experiences, and great memories. Was it always easy? No. We had plenty of weather challenges, a few “joys of living in tight spaces,” and of course COVID-19 to contend with. We were somewhat fortunate on the COVID front as we were already homeschooling, able to isolate for long periods of time, and already used to living non-stop with just our family unit.

Just for fun, the Skipper ran the numbers to see how we spent that first year (yes, he keeps thorough logs)!

Total distance traveled: 4926nm (5669 statute miles)

# days underway: 166 (44%)

# overnight passages: 14 (4%)

# nights at anchor: 187 (51%)

# nights on a mooring ball: 80 (22%)

# nights docked: 77 (21%)

# nights on the hard (in a boatyard): 8 (2%)

It was interesting to see how many days we spent on the move! I think another fun breakdown would be looking at how many nights we spent docked where we didn’t have power/water—I would bet at least a dozen nights were docks where we didn’t have services.

Last October we also started slapping stickers on the cowl of our dinghy engine. It’s partly an anti-theft measure, partly memory collector. We didn’t get stickers everywhere we stopped, but this is what she looks like after a year!

As we sit in Cambridge, MD getting drenched by the remnants of Hurricane Zeta (wow, 2020!!!), we are chatting with other cruisers and planning the next year of cruising. 

Safe sailing, everyone! ⛵️

Lehe Paine gets interviewed by Poppin' Smoke!

I forget exactly how this came about, but I'm pretty sure Stephanie at Poppin' Smoke posted a question on her Facebook page asking about any regrets RVer's had after downsizing and hitting the road. I chimed in with my take on the shift to a sailboat and that piqued her interest! We did some remote interviews with her and the result was a 2-part interview! Poppin' Smoke is a great resource for military retirees to learn about using their travel benefits. It was fun to add "traveling via boat" to the list of topics. And Stephanie is a way better writer than I am. Check out her interviews with us here!

Part 1--Living on a Sailboat With Kids: This Family Loves Life on the Water

Part 2--This Full-Time Sailing Family is Making the Most of Their Kids' Pre-College Years

A pandemic, a tropical storm, and a walk down memory lane—Newport

As Navy veterans, and specifically as former Surface Warfare Officers, we are no strangers to the delights of Newport, RI! But this visit offered a few new twists—visiting via water, during a pandemic, and in the path of a tropical storm. Tropical Storm Fay just pushed us to extend our stay on our mooring and smartly plan shore excursions. The pandemic? Other than closing the Navy marina to transients and closing the showers at the town wharf, it had very little impact on our stay. Masks were required in town—an easy rule to comply with—and stores and trails asked folks to maintain physical distancing.

We used this stop to do laundry, grab some provisions, top off water, explore a bit, and watch movies when the weather was crummy. It was awesome! We are rested and ready to move on!

Getting the latest on TS Fay at the mariner’s center.

Haven’t seen $5/wash since Bahamas! 

Obligatory stop for lobster rolls.

The have this great little float just for water fills!

We walked all the way around Fort Adams.

Cleaning and marking the chain for deeper anchorages!

St. Augustine, Take 2

I’ll apologize up front if this reads like a love letter, but St. Augustine just works for me. Our first visit here was during the tourist-crazy week of Thanksgiving. This visit, during a pandemic lockdown, was a stark contrast. And yet, my love for the town hasn’t changed.

We spent 10 days on a mooring ball at the municipal marina this time, taking full advantage of their laundry and clean showers. The staff employed extra cleaning practices and boaters gave each other a wide berth on the piers and in the lounge. The morning cruisers net gave us a chance to chat with fellow boaters and I truly looked forward to it every day!

This was a working port! We rented a car to pick up our mail in Green Cove Springs, filled propane, fuel, and water, pumped out our holding tanks (awesome service included with the mooring!), did lots of laundry, installed some of the parts we had ordered, did winch maintenance, and even managed to wax the upper hull and topsides of the boat! We also loaded up on groceries again with an Instacart delivery right to the marina.

Ok, we managed a little fun, too. This was the first place we could easily make it to shore for some walking and without the throngs of tourists it was lovely and peaceful. It’s also a town with great food and while some places we closed, many were trying to keep going and we tried to support them! While Chinese takeout was the first dining out experience we had there, here are a few stand-outs:

     - The Floridian. A friend recommended this place on our last visit and we just didn’t make it there. But this time...we had it TWICE! It was that good! They have this awesome “Supper Club” menu that includes an entree and three sides (which can be dessert!) for two people for $22-$26. The first time we ordered we were blown away by the quality, quantity, and superb flavor of all our dishes. The blackened tofu was a hit with the vegetarian crew! We couldn’t believe we had such a great meal for under $50 for the whole family. The second time we ordered we added a cocktail jar—it was amazing, too! We will definitely be back.

     - Maple Street Biscuit Company. I know what you’re thinking...biscuits! But that’s not actually what I got the first time we stopped there! Their “community pantry” sign caught my eye...toilet paper, fruit, pasta, flour, meat...and we needed TP! I grabbed some essentials and their large mimosa kit (bottle of Prosecco and fresh-squeezed OJ). We finally did try the biscuits on Sunday morning when they have a great brunch deal on yummy biscuits and gravy. Thankfully we left a few days later or you’d be reading my “how to lose biscuit weight” posts.

     - St. Augustine Distillery. The liquor locker was pretty bare so we stocked up on these fine local spirits and mixers. They were also giving away a little bottle of hand sanitizer with each purchase, and you could buy a 32oz refill bottle. We needed some if we were going to do even the little bit of shopping we had planned, so this was a great find. 

     - Kilwin’s. This is for the kids! It had been 3 months since they last had ice cream so they were very excited when they saw Kilwin’s was open. The shop had clear physical distancing guidance posted and we enjoyed some fresh, delicious ice cream!

This town is just the complete package for me. Good marine services, walkable sights, great food, history, and a fun, active cruisers net. This may just become our FL base! Next time maybe we will hit it somewhere between tourist-crazy and locked-down. Until then, stay safe, sailors!