Southbound 2012...We R OUT

Year #2...off to explore the BAHAMAS some more.
We did it! We left the docks on time!

OMG...why it so much work preparing to depart on a sailboat for a winter cruise of 8 months to the Bahamas? It seems like it should be no more effort than simply packing your bags for a two week vacation, but it is NOT, it is much more!

Imagine trying to buy almost all the food, paper products, cereals, canned goods, snacks, drinks and wine you plan to consume for the next 8 months. ..."We need these ....."..."We need to fix this"....."We need to buy more...   "Remember to bring".....and so on. Next thing you know, you are stuck in this endless loop feeling locked to the dock. You feel as if you can't possibly be ready, you will never be ready, you have too much to do. This loop needs to be BROKEN by simply setting a date for departure and then busting your tail to get it all done and get off the dock. JUST LEAVE, get going, you can almost always fix it later or buy it down the road.

A well stored boat. 10+ dock carts of stuff all
stored and put away. Island Packets hold a lot!

Well, that is what we did. Our boat was in the parking lot just 10 days ago. Within 24 hours after launching, we had guests for 3 days. Lucky for us, they are great friends and helped us get the boat ready for our sail. Provisions were bought and stowed, oil and fuel filters changed, systems all checked and the boat washed and cleaned up. We made a final run to home to check in with a few doctors and our house sitter, then back to the boat for departure. This process is hectic, stressful, and a ton of work, but it is so incredibly rewarding once you are under way!

The TRIP LOG is reset to ZERO
last year we logged 3,514+ nautical miles!

Underway on a coastal cruising sailboat can be very easy. Each person stands a one hour watch driving and watching the waterway. While off watch, you are free to read, write, and surf the web, pay bills, watch the stock market, send emails and write blog posts like this. Our normal transit day is 8-10 hours of running at 6 knots. This will push the boat about 50 miles. Do this for 20 days and you cover 1,000 miles, or Maryland to Florida. Along the way on this coastal trip, you anchor in some beautiful towns and walk, and explore the area. Again, life on a cruising sailboat doing coastal trips is really fun. It simply takes time and we have the time!

So, we are off the dock and we welcome you along for the ride. We will try to post reflections and insights and photos of the trip, sharing with you the life we are so lucky to be living. We are thankful for our health and our contentment....

Here are some photos of the start of our trip...you know I love to take photos...

We had a fun rendezvous with the "CALIFORNIA KIDS," friends we
met in Miami and sailed to the Bahamas with last year,
Cary and Tom of IP 37 Dragon's Toy.

Departing our HOME...the Chesapeake Bay Bridge
near Annapolis, MD

Sailing into Annapolis, we passed WOODWIND,
the mightly wooden schooner of Annapolis

Radeen arrives shore via OUR CAR....the inflatable boat down in the water.
This is our vehicle for the next 8 months. It is how we get to shore.

Patricia and Radeen. We enjoyed dinner with our boat buddies
Eric and Pat of IP-460 Cutter Loose. Like Dragon's Toy, they are Caribbean bound!

Eric and Hayden sharing dinner at the Boatyard Grille's
Full Moon Party in Eastport, MD.

The best way to WINTERIZE your boat....HEAD SOUTH
at 180 degrees and southbound we are for the next month+

Nothing like arriving Solomons and having the Wm. B. Tennison pass by
on a tour from the Calvert Marine Museum. 

SO....welcome to our travels south back into the Abacos and maybe into the Exumas. Thank you again for following along.

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