It may not have really sunk in that we were selling our much loved home of the last ten years, until we docked right next to it on our new home. We are extremely grateful to the marina here at Brunswick Landing in getting these two catamarans right across the dock from each other. It is a bittersweet move for certain.
How did we get to this point? Well, we had dragged our feet just enough in the Bahamas to attend the lovely wedding of dear friends Cameron and Amanda.
It was so beautiful and we were fortunate to have been passing through at the right time so that we could share this special day with them… happy knowing we’ll soon be back to visit again.
After the nuptials, the weather cooperated with our plans to point the bows west and north to head back the the States.
As a bonus, Leslie and Dave (Texas Two Step) were in the vicinity as well and we shared a car, wonderful meals, adventures swimming in the shrimp hole, where we can attest that the cool waters are refreshing for a hangover, and finally a sail to Calabash Bay for staging.
Our port engine alternator belt had gotten loose, so Mark went down in the hole to tighten it. The engines are situated well forward in the large stern compartment ~ good for keeping it compartmentalized and dry, but a challenge to reach the business end of the thing! The scenery epitomizes one of many, of the next generation of “boat repairs in paradise".
Then it was off to happy hour and another unhappy farewell to our cruising friends... when you never know when the next encounter may be…sigh.
Our next sail took us to Black Point in the Exumas to wait for our upcoming four day weather window.
In another example of perfect timing, our friends on Magic were heading north and staging here as well.
So we had another fond reunion and farewell... until next time.
The ESE winds that we were waiting for arrived, starting out around 15-20 knots and over the next few days tracked SE in the mid-teens. This was just right for more speedy downwind sailing. In fact, as we turned north off the coast of Florida we ended up wing-on-wing again with the wind almost becoming south.
Our sail took us up the outer edge of the Gulf Stream, helped by 3 knots of current.
The highest speeds we saw over ground was 14.8 knots and at one point maintained 11-12 knots steady for a day or more.
For reference, our ship is in the white circle off the coast of Cape Canaveral in this screenshot.
We traveled from Long Island, BS around the lower right hand corner to Brunswick, GA in the upper left hand corner of this chart.
Arriving back to the Golden Isles, we passed the last of the steady stream of cargo traffic exiting the major ports along the Florida coast. Why does it always seem like when there are two ships in the ocean, that you’ll inevitably be passing within a few feet of each other‽‽
In fact, off the Fernandina inlet around 4 AM, we had a close encounter with a virtually unlit boat (!) with no navigation lights that we wouldn’t have been able to avoid if it weren’t for radar. Since we transmit our position on AIS, this vessel obviously had zero watch-standing and its overall lack of seamanship was quite appalling. Even as more and more boats use AIS (automatic identification system), I still prefer and rely on radar for watch keeping at night.
After leaving Black Point Exuma on Friday morning, we arrived in Brunswick Georgia on Monday morning, squeezing through a dredge boat and passing the shrimp boats on the way in. This will be home for a while.
Our move from the Manta catamaran is underway… we even booked a storage unit to make sense of it all.
We love the Manta and can’t stop admiring her gorgeous lines… but a funny thing happened after we arrived. It was now clear that somewhere along the way in the last three months, the Dolphin became “home”.
