cruising
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Pine Island
Sitting in the cockpit, as the sun was rising, enjoying my first cup of coffee, I heard a sharp exhale of air, like someone or something breathing. As I glanced across the anchorage at Pine Island, I noticed several dolphins swimming around the boat. This was going to be our first longer term anchorage along Continue reading
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Close quarters are scarier than the open ocean!
Transiting the IntraCoastal Waterway (ICW) has some advantages over going out into the open ocean. Weather conditions matter, but not as much. You’ve got easier access to marinas and docks if you need them. Getting help is relatively easy. It also has some disadvantages…like bridges. It’s pretty well known that for most of the ICW Continue reading
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Overnight Passages
Even being three miles off the coast, the quiet, the stars to the east of the boat. Not seeing anything else out there, save a freighter or a cruise ship on the horizon, it’s magical. There’s a peace that comes with sitting at the helm on a calm night with the disconnection from everything except Continue reading
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We are underway!
Leaving the dock at Green Cove Springs was always about timing. I always planned departures and arrivals based on the tide. I didn’t want to fight the tide there and used to my advantage, to either get off the dock or get pushed on the dock. So when we left for the last time, it Continue reading
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Departure Update
On Facebook, when I published last week’s post, I wrote that we were hoping to leave for St. Augustine the next day. I later posted that it was not a full blog post, but that we didn’t get to depart. The more I’ve thought about it, there really is a story there that I think Continue reading
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Everything breaks…all the time…it’s a boat!
When we first made the decision to sell everything and buy a boat for travel, my grandmother said, “Don’t do it. Your grandfather was always fixing something on his boat. Everything was always breaking. You’ll always be working on it.” I thought to myself, well, I’m always fixing something in the house, how can it Continue reading
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Spending a week away from the dock at Julington Creek.
As we got ready to leave Green Cove for a little while, we knew we wanted to stay on the St. Johns River. It’s still hurricane season. We’ve weathered three hurricanes now in Green Cove and have done pretty well, though Helene was really rough even though we were just on the outer edges of Continue reading
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Storm prep…Hurricane is coming!
As I am writing this, Hurricane Helene is barreling toward the big bend of Florida. The track looks like it’s going to take it right over Tallahassee, or nearby there. The width of the storm is over 400 miles and we will catch the outer edges of the storm sometime later in the evening. Daily, Continue reading
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Knowing there’s always more to learn!
When I was writing last week’s post about the trip that ended (for me) in Key West, I had a few people ask me, “What made that trip worthwhile?” I tried to answer that question . .while I was writing about the importance of keeping up with the weather. It became too much and too Continue reading
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We found out how good our anchor is!
One night, on our second time at anchor, we discovered the significance of being able to anchor properly and have good ground tackle. Dark had just settled in, and I noticed the wind picking up. The stars were no longer as visible as the clouds rolled in and the boat began to shudder as the thunder clapped Continue reading
The Great Wander 