All alone at sea
Belhaven - West Palm Beach (29th November - 12th December)
Leaving Belhaven, we had about two weeks left to leave the country: 600 nautical miles to go. As we had only managed 400 miles sailing long days on the Bay and the ICW in the two weeks before, something had to change. We decided to ready Buena Onda for the ocean and make a run for it, or a few runs actually. Morehead City provided us with all the remaining inventory we were still missing. But with bad weather ahead, we had to postpone our sea-outings for a few more days. This was kind of a blessing though, because we would never have seen as many dolphins had we headed our straight away. Family after family nosed around our ship inquisitively, and some decided to tag along for a bit. We have been trying to communicate: “gigigniflepnuugigig”, but we do not seem to have mastered dolphin yet. The brown pelicans were pretty cool too, flying in perfect formation as if trained by the US Navy itself.
Finally, in Surf City NC, the stars were aligned and the wind blowing steadily from the North-West. It was friggin’ cold, as this air came straight from Canada, but it was perfect for making our miles. It is hard to describe the amazing sensation of holding my first watch alone, accompanied by a steady breeze and an incredible sunset. We took 4 hour turns in waking over the ship and our progress, waking each other in case of maneuvers or when changing our sails. The first watch was always fun, the second darn cold and the third one we just wanted it all to end. We did three overnighters this way, ranging between 29 and 36 hours, and covered the 600 NM in under 10 days. We saw a whale surface, a shark chilling out and on occasion a couple of dolphins, happy to show their acrobatic skills when we were making good speed. And we definitely made good speed, 7 – 9 knots on average and a new record of 14 knots surfing down a wave.
Charleston SC was a really fun stop. A beautiful historical town dating back to English colonialism and a significant stronghold in the slave-related battles of the American Civil War. We picked up our awesome new emergency life-raft and went dancing for the first time in months. We met an intriguing bloke from Australia, who showed once more how many options you really have in life (he had set up, owned and held several own businesses in completely different fields of expertise, it seems it can be so easy if you have a solid idea!).
Daytona Beach FL was even better, although we had our coldest days ever there. A really sympathetic American sold us the outboard engine we so desperately needed, with a 80% discount and a free hard bottom dinghy. We use it every day, it had been one of the best upgrades of our trip. In West Palm Beach we added solar panels to our transom. It is surprising they produce just about enough to keep us topped up (although this will change if we ever manage to fix the refrigerator).
It is kind of a shame that we haven’t been able to experience much of the beauties of the South Carolina, Georgia and Florida coasts. However, the temperatures wouldn’t have made it much fun anyway on a boat missing a heater. And even so, I think we have seen many incredible parts of the USA that we would never have visited without embarking on this voyage. We may just sail back North some day…
Leaving Belhaven, we had about two weeks left to leave the country: 600 nautical miles to go. As we had only managed 400 miles sailing long days on the Bay and the ICW in the two weeks before, something had to change. We decided to ready Buena Onda for the ocean and make a run for it, or a few runs actually. Morehead City provided us with all the remaining inventory we were still missing. But with bad weather ahead, we had to postpone our sea-outings for a few more days. This was kind of a blessing though, because we would never have seen as many dolphins had we headed our straight away. Family after family nosed around our ship inquisitively, and some decided to tag along for a bit. We have been trying to communicate: “gigigniflepnuugigig”, but we do not seem to have mastered dolphin yet. The brown pelicans were pretty cool too, flying in perfect formation as if trained by the US Navy itself.
Finally, in Surf City NC, the stars were aligned and the wind blowing steadily from the North-West. It was friggin’ cold, as this air came straight from Canada, but it was perfect for making our miles. It is hard to describe the amazing sensation of holding my first watch alone, accompanied by a steady breeze and an incredible sunset. We took 4 hour turns in waking over the ship and our progress, waking each other in case of maneuvers or when changing our sails. The first watch was always fun, the second darn cold and the third one we just wanted it all to end. We did three overnighters this way, ranging between 29 and 36 hours, and covered the 600 NM in under 10 days. We saw a whale surface, a shark chilling out and on occasion a couple of dolphins, happy to show their acrobatic skills when we were making good speed. And we definitely made good speed, 7 – 9 knots on average and a new record of 14 knots surfing down a wave.
Charleston SC was a really fun stop. A beautiful historical town dating back to English colonialism and a significant stronghold in the slave-related battles of the American Civil War. We picked up our awesome new emergency life-raft and went dancing for the first time in months. We met an intriguing bloke from Australia, who showed once more how many options you really have in life (he had set up, owned and held several own businesses in completely different fields of expertise, it seems it can be so easy if you have a solid idea!).
Daytona Beach FL was even better, although we had our coldest days ever there. A really sympathetic American sold us the outboard engine we so desperately needed, with a 80% discount and a free hard bottom dinghy. We use it every day, it had been one of the best upgrades of our trip. In West Palm Beach we added solar panels to our transom. It is surprising they produce just about enough to keep us topped up (although this will change if we ever manage to fix the refrigerator).
It is kind of a shame that we haven’t been able to experience much of the beauties of the South Carolina, Georgia and Florida coasts. However, the temperatures wouldn’t have made it much fun anyway on a boat missing a heater. And even so, I think we have seen many incredible parts of the USA that we would never have visited without embarking on this voyage. We may just sail back North some day…