We enjoyed our stay in Beaufort, NC. A bit of boat maintenance, cooking, and restocking interspersed with walks in this neat seaside village. Anita also did laundry behind the General Store, and got a haircut by Beverly; who gave her a great cut last fall. We had a delicious dinner at Aqua to celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary; we were at sea on the 17th.Yes, you see three mini desserts: creme brûlée, chocolate cherry torte, and banana custard. All were fantastic!

On the first day of the long Memorial Day weekend; Saturday, May 25, we motored down the busy channel and out to sea. We had a good forecast for the next 3-5 days. Although we were directed to stay coastal in case something developed after 3 days. Winds were light until 4PM. Then we had fair winds and following seas to round Cape Hatteras! We enjoyed a steady 8-9 knots during the overnight hours. The first days 24 hour run was 151 nautical miles, the way life should be!

The next day, the wind became lighter so we motor-sailed. On our third night out, we were surprised by a sudden windy squall with lightning and a brief light shower at 3AM. Anita took the sails down in 30 knot winds and noticed the jib would have to be repaired in the morning. The trailing edge of a batten pocket was shredded from chaffing on the radar dome. We had lost a short batten. Anita applied two stick on patches to the area and hand stitched them to help keep them in place.

That same evening our weather router told us we should pull in on the New Jersey shore no later than noon tomorrow. We chose to head for Atlantic City. We had to motor-sail the last 17 hours in light winds. With light winds and near shore we were invaded by biting flies and other little insects.

The wind picked up as we entered the inlet and the skies were looking mighty dark. Tom had a hard time lowering the mainsail as one of the plastic slides had broken and was wedged in the sail track. Somehow, he managed to muscle it down. We found a snug and secure anchorage in a good size creek on the eastern shore, just around Rum Point. We arrived here at 10AM on Tuesday, May 28 and plan to stay a few days until the weather settles down. Look at the progression of the weather in this series of photos.

SunriseApproaching Atlantic City At our anchorageOur statistics for this passage: 370 nautical miles, 71 hours total passage time, engine on for 38 hours.

We took the time to catch up on sleep, fix the main sail slide, and inspect and retune the mast.

One night a nearby single-hander had come by for a visit at sundown. He was only aboard about 10 minutes when a big thunderstorm came up with lots of wind and rain. There was also a tornado watch. He raced back to his boat. We were anchored directly in front of him and suddenly we were dragging our anchor. The wind shift happened so fast it plucked our anchor out of the mud. We started the engine and held ourselves into the wind with the engine in gear while raising the anchor. We reset it in our original spot, and put out lots more anchor chain. Eric came back aboard the next day for a visit before heading up the ICW toward New England. Hope to see him again this summer.

We had an extra week to prepare for our voyage from the northern Bahamas, known as the Abacos, back to the U.S. We had attempted to leave Thursday, May 9th, but realized that morning that the weather window was closing. Although we were already underway, we didn’t feel comfortable committing to a three day-500 mile passage to arrive in Beaufort, NC at the beginning of a gale. Four days for that length of passage is more predictable in our boat. So we anchored at Great Guana Cay and the next day moved on to Green Turtle Cay.

We continued to make the boat better for the ocean passage ahead. Tom took the time to scrub the bottom on two different occasions. He ran out of sunlight the first time. A smooth surface under water will improve our speed, especially in light winds! Anita spent her time cooking and baking, filling the freezer with vacuum sealed meals and treats to make meal preparation super easy at sea. We caught up on laundry and house cleaning, recharged batteries on a bunch of items like handheld radios, spot light, and battery jump packs. We also reviewed and organized ditch bags and medical supplies.

The Bluff Point Cay anchorage on Green Turtle Cay was a beautiful, secluded location with a few birds twittering and only a few houses occupied at this time of year. We were the only boat at anchor in the harbor for four days.

Our last night in the Bahamas some local swimmers out for their morning exercise invited us to dinner at one of the houses on shore. A group of 9 or 10 guys were sharing the house at the time. They even picked us up on board as we had folded up our dinghy in preparation for our passage. Delicious marinated chicken and rice, great fellowship and swapping of stories. They took some drone pictures of our boat in the harbor and measured the height of our mast, so cool!We gave them some dehydrated peanut butter as a thank you gift, something we still had in stock and they had never tried.

We prefer ocean passages to inland waterways for several reasons. Fewer obstacles is a given. Amazing night sky especially now with a full moon (though the stars and Milky Way are beautiful when there is no moon). This time of year, nights are relatively short, even shorter as we head north. The rhythm of the four hour watch system is easy for us to adapt to. We have the same watches each and every day forming a pattern.

We left our lovely anchorage at 7AM on Thursday, May 16 and sailed nonstop to Beaufort, NC in just over four days; arriving at 1PM on Monday, May 20. We anchored across from Beaufort Docks; the same place we left from last November.

The passage was super easy! The full moon made it very easy to see at night.We had one bedraggled bird sleep on our lifeline all night. He flew away at dawn and was a long way from land!Fun to see a pod of dolphin play with us in the Gulf Stream.

We enjoyed great weather the whole trip. Very few clouds, light winds, no rain. Beautiful sunrises and sunsets. We actually would have preferred a bit more wind. The highest we had was around 12-14 knots right behind us. We ended up motoring almost one third of the time: 29 hours of 102. We steered with the electric auto pilot exclusively on this passage, rather than the wind vane. There was not enough apparent wind for the wind vane to work well.

In contrast, the entry into the Beaufort inlet was sporting with following seas and a contrary current of a knot and a half. There was also a large dredge blocking off the entire deep water entrance channel at one point. The real entertainment began when we started the engine as we needed to turn up wind and weren’t sure if we could still sail. The alternator belt broke almost immediately. No time to fix it now! We sailed the last 2 miles up winding narrow channels, against the tidal current, and with a variety of small pleasure craft. There was a large motor yacht passing us at the last turn as we were sailing too slow (4-5 knots) at the same time that a larger fishing vessel was coming the other way. It’s understood they didn’t know our engine was out of commission. Fortunately, we never had to turn fully into the wind so were able to steer flawlessly! A sailboat stops when it points closer than 45-50 degrees (360 degrees on a compass) either side of where the wind is coming from. The same large motor yacht chose to block the entire channel right in front of the anchorage by spinning his boat around in preparation for docking. We managed to steer past his bow and avoid other anchored boats. Then we turned upwind into the narrow anchorage across from Beaufort Docks. Tom dropped the jib and after the boat stopped; lowered the anchor. Meanwhile, Anita dropped the main. Once we were sure the anchor was not dragging and the nearby boat was far enough away, Tom dove into the engine room to replace the alternator belt while Anita covered sails and stowed sailing gear. Once the engine was available, we re-anchored a little further from the channel and nearby boat and ensured the anchor was set by backing down with the engine. Exciting finish to an easy and relaxing passage. John, from the neighboring boat stopped by to chat in the evening and congratulated us on a well executed anchoring under sail. On our first cruise 30 years ago we had plenty of practice sailing on and off anchor. Good to know we still have the skills to make our floating home safe and secure.

Incidentally, we believe the underlying engine problem is a small amount of rust on one of the pulleys that chafes the belt. Tom has sanded/smoothed this area and we have been able to continue using the engine as evidenced by the twenty nine engine hours on this passage alone. We have a brand new higher output alternator, pulleys and serpentine belt waiting for us in CT. It will be the first of many new projects on Lone Star.

Check-in with U.S. Customs was a breeze with the CBP ROAM application (Yes, there’s an app for that.)

The weather is unsettled for the remainder of the week so we plan to stay near town for awhile. Perhaps do some walking, browsing and chores. Not to mention restocking on ice cream, chocolate, chips and brownie mix. Things we never bought in the five and a half months in the Bahamas. We hope to find another weather window soon to continue our passage north offshore.

We set out from Beaufort, NC at 6:30AM November 29th. Motoring out the inlet into the rising sun with many dolphin and sea birds playing along side us with clear skies and cold: air temperature – 31 degrees Fahrenheit, sea temperature – 61. Once clear of land, with sails and auto pilot set, we both took out our phones to text or call farewell to family members before we lost the signal. Thank you all for your positivity!! We know we scare you sometimes with our ocean adventure, but we are thankful for your support and understanding. We promise to keep in touch often.

Offshore we both wear an inflatable life vest and harness. We tether ourselves to a jack line that runs fore and aft on the boat whenever we leave the enclosed cockpit. That only happens for sail changes or deck checks. Not often! We alternate who is on watch every four hours and try to ensure the off-watch person does not contribute to meal making or cleanup as they should be resting. Our freezer and fridge were topped up and included some homemade meals that were easy to use.

By 2:00PM the same day we were in the Gulf Stream as evidenced by the change to sea and air temperature (on left in picture)

Our heading was not directly south (180) as it is best to cross the northeast flowing stream at a right angle to get to the other side as fast as possible. It was after dark, around 8:00 PM when we reached the far side and turned straight south.

By the end of the second day, the wind changed from light and behind us to moderate (10-15 knots) right in front of us. So rather than heading straight south we had to steer southeast further out into the Atlantic.

We timed our watches so that Tom would be on watch for the 7:30AM and 5:00PM SSB checkin with Chris Parker at Marine Weather Center. He would give the weather for our location and projected location 12 and 24 hours out.

There was one time we needed to go about 50 miles further south to avoid bad weather. We just didn’t make it in time. Just before sunset we elected to stop our forward progress into the ever building seas and attempted to heave-to (bows into the seas, slow drift backwards). We did not have the right sail combination so ended up dropping all sail and laying sideways to the seas. We are not sure how big the seas got as it was a very dark night. We estimate 12 foot seas. They would occasionally break over the deck and shove us side ways hard. It was an elevator ride! Winds were gusting around 30. By morning it had calmed down enough so we raised the jib and motor-sailed for the next 5 hours or so, until we could raise more sail and cut the engine. We were joined by a large school of playful dolphin at this time again very uplifting to have them play around Lone Star.

We sustained steering system damage during this blow. The boat is more difficult to steer. Thankfully, the auto pilot can still handle the boat. Tom checked the internal steering system under the aft bunk and all appears normal. Best guess is that the steering quadrant slipped on the ruddernn shaft. We have approximately 300 miles to go to our preferred destination of Georgetown on Great Exuma.

The seas steadily diminished and we were making progress southeasterly once again. At this point we were heading for the Dominican Republic and wondering if we’d ever get to lay our course southwest to the Bahamas? We made short tacks to the west on three occasions to avoid going too far to the east.

Yes, we have made it to southern waters! Here’s proof: flying fish that land on deck at night.

A large cold front covering the entire east coast of the US finally gave us the winds we needed. Well the right direction anyway, of course a bit strong (25-30 knots). We reduced sail to just the jib and sailed the last two days nearly dead down wind in 8-10 foot following seas. Well not quite following: as we were at the bottom end of the front the winds were clocking around from NW-N-NE. So of course the seas were coming from multiple directions as well. Another elevator ride!

The last night at sea:

The helmsman seat is on an arm and held in place by a stainless-steel pin. Unfortunately, the pin sheared in these big seas. Tom was able to make a temporary repair, but this will require some metal work to fix it properly. It’s a boat, maintenance is expected.

The downwind sleigh ride continued right into Conch Cay Cut where we needed to make a sharp left turn. So relieved to get past the first few islands and behind the bigger ones to get away from the rollers.

We anchored across from Georgetown off of Stocking Island at 9:30AM Friday, December 7. Amazingly three dolphin jumped over our anchor line as Tom was paying out the line!

We made it to the Bahamas after nine nights at sea. We think we sailed almost a thousand miles, 300 more than if we’d been able to sail straight south. We arrived exhausted, but oh so happy to have escaped winter and made it to these beautiful islands.

The day flew by as we covered the sails and stowed some gear. It took a while to get our phones connected. Then we informed family we arrived safely. After grabbing a bite to eat, Anita collapsed for a nap. Tom researched how to check in to Customs and Immigration. However, it was too late in the day to go once he finished with his nap. We will stay aboard until Monday when the offices open again.

Our cruising neighbors have stopped by in their dinghies to welcome us and we were welcomed on the morning VHF net so have learned a lot about the great cruising community here. We look forward to checking in tomorrow and joining in the fun soon!

Picture: Lone Star at the end of the rainbow while still on her mooring at SYC just minutes before heading south for the winter.

Our last day at Shennecossett Yacht Club (SYC) was a busy one!  We had a nice visit from our son and his girlfriend as well as a godson and his visitor from Germany.  Delivery of homemade chocolate chip cookies from Tom’s sister were much appreciated and are still being enjoyed!  We had a lot left to do before we could leave:  clean out our car, take it to the car wash, (we intend to sell it – anyone want a 2015 VW Passat TDI with under 15,000 miles? contact us by phone or email please!), pickup last mail at P.O., last grocery stop for fresh stuff, stow lots of gear, get ocean passage safety gear out and setup e.g. jacklines, life vests with integrated harnesses, and tethers to stay hooked to the boat; put on winter mooring, bring summer mooring to shore, put folding dinghy on deck, disassemble and stow it and the gear in it; finally, stop at fuel dock for fuel and water then head out to sea for two days.  Consequently, we left at 3:35 PM on Saturday, September 22, 2018.

We knew we had a small weather window to make the 225 nautical mile offshore passage to begin our journey south for the winter.  We had North winds from a front that just passed and another storm was coming to the shores off Cape May and along the New Jersey shore on Monday.  As long as we left by 4PM and maintained 5 knots of speed, we expected a good passage.  We each started with a 2 hour watch as we both still had things we wanted to complete when we were off-watch.  For example, Anita made up snack boxes for night watches.  We do not like opening wrappers at night, the crinkling noise can be bothersome and cumbersome.  Ours included dried fruit, nuts, fig bars, and an unwrapped dove chocolate in our snack box.  At 8:00 PM Saturday, we began alternating 4-hour watches.  The person on watch is making sure we are on course, at a safe speed, and avoiding all obstacles; floating, moving or stationary.

We had a good cell signal all the way out to Montauk so were able to send a few updates to family and friends.  We enjoyed steady downwind breezes and the quartering seas were far enough apart to be a gentle rolling motion.  Downwind is an easy point of sail on a multihull, because they do not heel or wallow.  Surfing down waves is a thrilling acceleration and a gentle up and down motion.  We were two days from the full moon, however it was mostly cloudy.  We each saw peaks of the moon a few times.  There were very few boats on the water; some commercial fishing vessels and a few big ships around the shipping channel entrances to major cities like New York and Atlantic City.

It was around Atlantic City that the wind started to build and stay above 20 knots, gusts were higher.  The electric auto pilot was having a real hard time steering Lone Star at 9 knots.  On Tom’s watch, around 1:30 AM on Monday, we decided to drop the main.  That improved our comfort, allowed Auto to continue steering, and we were still sailing above 7 knots under small jib alone.  We arrived at the Delaware Bay entrance at daybreak to a VHF (radio) weather forecast of small craft warnings for winds, rain showers, and 6-8 foot seas.  No, we didn’t beat the storm, but we have weathered storms before and we were prepared for this one.  They say Delaware Bay can be a nasty place and this time it was.  When the current turned against us in the afternoon we pulled out of the channel and headed for the nearest cove on the windward side (NJ coast) of the bay.  Nantuxent Cove near Money Island was a welcome and empty place to drop our anchor, enjoy a hot dinner, hot showers, a few quick calls or texts, and a good long snooze.  We are so appreciative of a safe passage, each other, and the partnership we have in handling the boat.