A blog about boats and big dreams
Storms swept through the northeast this week keeping people grounded on airport runways and trapping others indoors. We learned that every state in the nation but Florida reported snow. The forecast predicted 25-35 mph winds from Friday night through Tuesday in the Bahamas, so on Friday morning we headed up island to Paradise Beach. The north end of the island has been developed by Hilton into “Resort World,” and the beach Chris’…
I’m hurriedly trying to publish a few posts and catch you up on what’s been happening because we are leaving for the Bahamas at 4 am tomorrow morning. Greg is snoring beside me after watching a few last YouTube videos about what the crossing will be like. We had a less than ideal day at sea today, transitting from No Name to Pumpkin Key. The wind was on our nose…
Today was a flurry of activity. Greg’s BFF, Mike, came out to the boat with his two boys. Not long after that our friends Chris and Gabe from Alaska arrived. Though they landed in Miami close to midnight the night before, they ended up staying at a hotel for the night, so they were well-rested. It was a day of fun, with the boys jumping off the boat and playing…
After a day in No Name Harbor off Key Biscayne, we learned several new anchoring techniques from the power-boating locals. For the uninitiated, the standard for anchoring is to drop your anchor until it hits bottom and then let out at least seven times that length. You then ideally put your boat in reverse to secure the holding. The idea is to use leverage to dig the anchor in. (For a better overview,…
New Year’s Eve was exhausting. While most people were planning what to wear, we were slogging it out against a headwind in 2-4 foot seas. But the adventure really began early that morning when Greg heard our anchor line rubbing up against the bow. I had just started to make coffee because we knew this would be a long day – our longest yet – with at least 40 miles…
We left West Palm before 8 am, along with a fleet of sport-fisher boats lined up like ducks along the inside of the Intracoastal. As if on cue, as soon as we got out to open water the wind kicked up and we let out all our sails. If our first day at sea had felt a bit “off,” today we were playing catch-up. Our bodies started to adjust to…
It’s a few hours after sunset. We’re anchored at the entrance to the inlet at West Palm, a place that seems to sum up current American values to me. Nothing here is old or authentic. Bling is always better. Guys who were bullies in high school are now driving sport fisher boats, leaving massive wakes behind them and not caring one iota about how their actions affect everyone else. We watched as one boat…