The Pub at the BEYC

We’re here! Nearly a year after casting off the dock lines to ‘sail IN the Caribbean for a year’ we are finally done ‘sailing TO the Caribbean’.

We had a wonderful and quick passage from Bermuda to Virgin Gorda. Not too much broke and we got plenty of sleep thanks to our awesome third crew Smitty.

An update to the blog seemed necessary to let everyone know we are here, we are happy, and we are safe. A more comprehensive update will follow once the effects of the copious quantities of Painkillers consumed at yesterdays arrival party wear off.

The Atlantic

After nearly two months of our Bermuda take over, it looks like today is going to be the day our reign comes to an end. The weather looks promising for a reasonably smooth trip south. Yesterday we spent the day battling the rain filling up the tanks, doing laundry, and getting provisions for the passage. Stella Blue is ready to gooooo (Bermuda accent required for that o).

Most importantly though, we are excited to get moving. Gone is the intense fear of the ocean we had when we arrived in Bermuda. Perhaps its because of the wonderful people and the hospitality they showed us. Maybe there’s something in the water. More likely though its that sufficient time has passed. What is it, time heals all wounds? Time makes us fools again? Time booze and snooze again sailing we choose?

However you slice it, Caribbean here we come!

Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…..

That’s the sound the macerator pump makes as it relieves our holding tank of its contents. Last night it continued on for much longer than usual. So we flipped off the switch and then noticed in horror as the TankWatch reported the holding tank was still at capacity. Oh, shit. Not again. It’ll have to wait until the morning.

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We are on our way north to meet our fellow Salty Dawgs! Our Spot should track our passage – we are headed to Beaufort, NC out in the Atlantic, then we will take the ICW up the rest of the way. Here we go again!!!

Gillian, Stella and I have been itching to get moving for a while. We’ve been trying to make it south and east to the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico, but so far the thorny path has won. So we are going to try a different path. Tomorrow (9/4/2013) we will pull up the anchor for our first multi-day passage.

We’re headed to Charleston, South Carolina. How we decided on that is a bit of a mystery even to us. Once we get there we will find out if the voices in our heads were right once again or if we really have lost it. History tells us it should be the former. Fingers crossed.

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We’ve settled comfortably into life here in Georgetown. It’s a wonderful place abound with supplies, beautiful water and beaches, and great people (both the locals and the cruisers). Since we arrived a week ago we have, as usual, done A LOT. Sunday night I woke up about three in the morning with NASCAR brain. I couldn’t slow her down so I put together The List — a boat project to do list.

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Bimini to Bird Cay

Since our last post in Bimini we have done a ton. We left early early Tuesday morning from Bimini en route for Bird Cay. We had 90 miles to go and we weren’t gonna get much help from the wind. It was a very long uneventful sail. At the end of it we arrived at Bird Cay dropped the hook, ate some dinner, played some Phase 10, and laid down for a looong deep deep sleep.

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Logan and Gillian in the Cockpit

Small World Pt. 1

Last week we had a rap on the hull. I came out and said hello and met our new friend Josh Knox on S/V Kuhela. Josh is a young Australian guy who flew over in February to buy a boat and take it back home. He came over to us because he couldn’t believe his eyes when he entered Boot Key Harbor and saw SB’s memorable blue grey hull. He had been in contact with Baxter and Molly to buy Stella Blue at the same time we were! Josh is on a 3-5 year trip back to Australia in his Downeaster 38. This is his first boat too and we have been able to regale each other with tales (read mistakes) of our first two months of boat ownership. Hopefully we’ll run into him again some time in the future…it really is a small world as we’ve found out.

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Things are going great here in Boot Key Harbor. We’re just a few days away from leaving the country. Yesterday we said good bye to our first visitors, Gillian’s parents. We all had a blast. Here’s one of many highlights from their stay. More to come soon.

The cold is gone and the heat is on!

We ended up spending a couple extra days in Fort Meyers Beach. It’s a great little beach town. Spring Break must still be going on because the beach was packed with people. We made our way to all the local spots that were recommended to us: SOBs (Shrimp Oyster Brewery), The Cottage, and Petey’s Upper Deck at the Matanzas Inn. All of them were great. We also made it to the Friday FMB Farmers Market. Not a huge event, but some great produce at fair prices and Gillian picked up some some spicy pickles. Our last day there, we went out to the Capt Ron’s favorite Colombian place with him and Ken and Joanne from the boat yard. The five of us shared some authentic Colombian cuisine and swapped sailing stories. We said our final goodbye to Captain Ron – we will miss him a lot, but hope to meet up with him later this season in the BVIs.

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