Part II - Summer before we Sail
From Staniel Cay we had a long sail day to New Providence and arrived in time for the girls to swim. We avoided the crazy of Nassau and had a 4am wake up time to get to Bimini the next day. We let the girls sleep in and crept out of anchorage in the dark. A first for me and I tried to keep watch for buoys. We hit 1000nm here.
From Bimini we made it stateside in West Palm Beach. Customs was a breeze as it is accomplished online. We docked at in a marina to find a repair for our auto pilot, provision and rejoice in making the long journey. Nate was able to find a machinist to make a custom sprocket to match the chain for our new auto pilot drive. The new drive had been sent ahead to the marina. The girls decided to head back to Oklahoma, but first we had a fancy dinner in Miami to celebrate. We all tried cooked grasshoppers!
We quickly missed Addy and Sydney as we set sail for Annapolis. It was be another 1,000 nm for just the two of us and we had a July 1st deadline. This meant at times we were sailing for 36 hours straight and sharing the shifts. However, having an autopilot made these LONG days much more doable. We left West Palm Beach and immediately at our first night shift. I was not prepared for the anxiety that was activated once I put on my inflatable life preserver, man over board watch and the sun set. I suddenly felt seasick, got hot flashes and had an upset stomach. My greatest fear was waking up for my shift and having Nate be gone. I slept on the sofa on the deck so I could be close to where Nate was at the helm. Nate and I used our sea sickness patches for the first time on the trip. Nate was definitely more confident - note his smile below.
We arrived in St Augustine to a mooring ball where we could have a good night’s sleep. The historic town also allowed for walking, a popsicle, trip to boat store and I got to visit Castillo de San Marcus National Monument. I loved seeing No Worries from the roof of the fort (see picture below).
From St Augustine we made it to Queens Island, Georgia where we would have loved to swim but couldn’t do to gators. From Georgia we sailed to Skull Creek Marina (pictured below) where we docked for fuel, had hot shower and took a long walk into Hilton Head to pick up more seasickness patches and get groceries. It was HOT and our 24 year anniversary (see our picture the summer we got married). We lived it up by ordering Pizza on the boat.
As we left Skull Creek a gator swam by and then we passed a pod of dolphins so close that we could hear their blowholes. The next overnight passage was much better with a calmer ocean, bright moon and we did two hour shifts which allowed for more sleep between watches.
