Rob recently pointed out that for a sailing blog, I write very little about actually sailing. This is a fair point, but it is true what they say—sailing is boredom punctuated by terror. Most of the time we are just staring off at the vast seas and occasionally trimming the sails. But it doesn’t take much–a rogue wave, a squall, an engine pitch change, a pod of dolphins, a fish on the line—and things get exciting fast.
Tag: Fishing
Stuck in Gorgeous Martinique
While we were replacing our rigging in Martinique, it wasn’t all work and no play. We did pull ourselves away from the boat to explore this beautiful island we never planned on visiting.
Fort-de-France
Four Engineers on a Boat and Our First Taste of France
At 10:00am on Nov 19th, the Simpson Bay bridge opened and we entered the Lagoon in St Martin. We had just sailed the Anegada Passage without any issues. We were exhausted, but excited to welcome aboard our first overnight guests, Michelle and Steve. Checking in was a breeze and customs didn’t even ask about the pups. We had finally made it! Now it was time to meet up with our friends and start exploring this new island.
Passage to the Dominican Republic
Rob is 30! Finally! He would often remind me of our age difference, but now his jokes won’t have the same effect since we are both in our early 30’s. We pulled away from Providenciales in the early hours of Captain Rob’s birthday (April 14th). The wind was nonexistent and the water was very calm; almost like glass. We always want to sail, but without wind, we had to motor across the Caicos Banks. The calm conditions and blue still water reminded us of our trip across the Great Bahama Banks.
Staniel Cay and Black Point Settlement
Our first stop after exiting the Exumas Cay Land and Sea Park was Staniel Cay. As we neared the island, it was obvious that Staniel Cay was going to be a very different atmosphere than the solitude we just left behind. Surrounded by all of these mega-mega yachts, we instantly felt a stroke of jealousy. I wish our boat had a 3 story slide into the water, jet skis at our disposal, and cool vintage Italian speed boats to zip around on.
Crossing the Gulf Stream
Well the good news is…WE ARE IN THE BAHAMAS! The bad news is…wait, there is no bad news! We are in The Bahamas and nothing broke. I’m so used to taking the good with the bad while cruising, that even as we were tightening our dock lines at the marina, I was sure the engine would crap out. Or the dinghy would fly off the davits. Or our bilge pump would break. But none of these things happened. The weather turned out to be just as nice or even milder than predicted. We made great time despite fighting the easterly winds and found ourselves in Bimini in just 9.5 hours. All in all, it was a rather boring day. When it comes to sailing, I’m 100% in favor of boring.