Start of our sailing adventure

We’ve finally done it! Welcome to our new home on the water, her name is Muti. We purchased Muti in Hampton VA on 1st December 2021. She is well equipped to make her self sufficient with lots of solar, a lithium battery bank, and water maker. As a backup when the sun doesn’t shine for several days she has a seemingly large generator. Our ‘car’  is an 11 Ft inflatable with 20hp outboard; plenty of space and power to get us around comfortably.




The goal for this spring/early summer is to spend time in the Bahamas doing our shake down cruising but first we have to get some boat maintenance done in Florida. We spent time cleaning and provisioning before heading south.





Passages to Fort Lauderdale:


> Fri Jan 7th 2022 - Left Virginia just before midnight, excited to leave the freezing cold. Gerda was a ‘little’ seasick along the way (30 hrs?)😟



> Sun Jan 9th 2022 - First stop was Beaufort NC, the trip was about 30 hours around Hatteras which is known to be quite treacherous. It was definitely a very sporty beginning but the forecasters predicted improving weather. Fortunately for us we buddied up with another catamaran which provided some much needed comfort and humor along the way. Thanks John, James and Jeff for all you patience and allowing us to ‘slip stream’ your cat down south. Gerda’s sea legs kicked in, so we both felt much better. 



> Thu Jan 13th 2022 - Next stop was Brunswick GA after +/- 50 hours on the water alongside our boat buddies, John and Jeff. We had a good weather window so made the most of it and we were able to bypass Charleston SC and Savannah GA. Close to Florida, so much warmer here. We did some walking/cycling around scenic St Simons island.


> Sat Jan 15th 2022 - Next stop was the quaint town of St Augustine FL. This was our favorite stop so far.  The trip took about 14 hours give or take, by now we are used to following our boat buddies so will miss them going forward but hope to meet up with them at some point in the Bahamas. It was our first real test of docking ‘skills’ with a 3 knot following current. The captain of the multimillion $ power yacht we parked next to must have been spooked, we certainly were. Our first lesson learned: if uncomfortable don’t do it. Hunkered down to wait out a storm coming through and doing some boat maintenance and provisioning before moving on. We had a special encounter with a blocked head, nice! 


> Thu Jan 20th 2022 - Next stop was Fort Pierce, about a 24 hour trip which included passing Cape Canaveral. A busy stop, our first attempt at anchoring. Weather turned coolish again, very strange for Florida. Saw some dolphins along the way.



> Mon Jan 24th 2022 - Next stop was Lake Worth, only a 7 hour trip. Very crowded, boats anchoring a little too close to us for our comfort which resulted in some sleepless nights. Our first experience of a cat ‘sailing’ on anchor, 1+ knots! But definitely much warmer which was great! 



> Wed Jan 28th 2022 - Final stop in US before heading to the Bahamas is Fort Lauderdale. Stalled here waiting for boat work to be done, so flew home to Austin for a while.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Heading home through Ábacos

Image
  Mon 1st Apr 2024 - There was a mass exit of +/- 30 boats leaving the staging area anchorage before sunrise this morning, we’re all heading to the Abacos. Exciting times! We hosted our Code Zero sail to begin our journey but eventually the wind disappeared and we resorted to engines. There was a bottle neck as all 30 vessels transited the first cut into the Abacos Bay, who needs that? We continued on for a few more hours north and entered the bay via Tilloo cut, closer to Marsh Harbor. Fishing was a little more productive today, Rob at least hooked a huge marlin which he involuntarily ‘released’ after several seconds 🎣 We know it was a marlin as we both watched it tail walk in spectacular fashion, probably just to taunt us. 🐟 What an adrenaline rush, too bad Rob was not able to land it but he said it was too big for our fishing gear anyway. 🤷‍♀️ Marlin are a catch and release fish,     never dinner. Once we were in the bay we anchored in the southern part of Elbow Cay...
Read more

Virginia for Hurricane season

Image
  Sun May 29th 2022   (130 nm) - Arrived at Southport NC. Quaint little town with a very southern flair. We were presented with a perfect weather window so left the next morning. Tue May 31st 2022   (110 nm) - Arrived in Beaufort NC for our final stop before Virginia. Shortly after arrival and after checking the weather forecast, we realized we needed to set sail asap to catch a good weather window to Virginia or wait up to a week for the next one. Decided to leave without spending the night. Stopped by the marina restaurant, gobbled down a blackened Mahi sandwich and fries (oh yeah!) and then jumped on board to start the last long passage for the season around Hatteras to Hampton, Virginia. No green flash! Does it exist? Water water everywhere……. Thu Jun 2nd 2022 ( 230 nm)   - Oooooo, first hurricane of the season down south. We needed to hustle, don’t want to be caught with our pants down, so to speak! Forecast was for bad weather to arrive in a couple of days so w...
Read more

Return to the Exumas

Image
  Thu 1st Feb 2024 - Gorgeous day on anchor! Surrounded by shimmering turquoise ocean we are reminded how tranquil it is to be on anchor.     We dinghy’ed to the beach with Mike and Doralyn and took a long walk into town for some lunch. And rum punches! And then, bummer, we had to walk back, lost our way resulting in an all afternoon excursion.🍹🤷‍♀️ Another super pretty dusk reminded us how fortunate we are, Mike snapped a picture of our boat with our anchor light on to reinforce the memory. Did we mention how nice it is to be on anchor again? 😁 Fri 2nd Feb 2024 - Happy Groundhog Day! A peaceful morning, a little more cloudy than yesterday but flat water. Said adios to Mike and Doralyn and headed back to Staniel Cay to pick up our long awaited water maker. Dropped the anchor and received a friendly welcome from a local shark, I guess they are fed by the tourists? Strolled through the town after collecting our package, followed by a reunion with boating friends, Nancy a...
Read more