For once the weather was pretty much as predicted. Saturday, May 29 was beyond awful. Heavy, heavy rain and big NE winds with gusts up to 35! Glad to be in port. To top it off, it was cold — high in the 50s though the damp windy conditions made it feel colder. Despite growing Read more…
We woke up bright and early on May 23 anxious to set sail for the Berries and enjoy our last night (or two) before heading for Grand Bahama where we would re-provision, refuel and wait for our weather window. On a hunch, Jill suggested to Zack that we reach out to Read more…
Just for the record, we are not marina people! We much prefer to drop a hook or pick up a mooring. Besides the stress that often comes with docking, being at a marina vs. on a mooring ball or anchored is like the difference between living in an apartment building vs a Read more…
When we left off in our last blog post we had just cleared Bahamas customs and immigration and were looking forward to exploring the islands. We didn’t have a care in the world until Zack checked on our engine. Our friend and skipper who joined us on our passage down to St. Read more…
We really enjoyed our short but memorable visit to Turks and Caicos. The beaches were pristine and so magnificent (hopefully you had a chance to see the pictures we posted on Instagram or, better yet, you’ve had a chance to visit Turks & Caicos yourself) and it will be hard to Read more…
We left Ocean World Marina in the Dominican Republic, as planned, on April 28. We got off to a slow start because of a disadvantageous wind direction but within a few hours we had a nice easterly breeze that allowed us to sail on a nice beam or broad beam reach Read more…
We left Puerto Bahia Marina on April 24 as planned. Fortunately, we had a lovely window of light wind and, though the tight channel hadn’t gotten any wider during our stay, it was much easier to maneuver without wind gusts. There were high fives all around on Che Figata when we departed Read more…
We arrived — tired but safe — in Samana Bay in the Dominican Republic on April 21 after our first, solo, overnight sail. When we left off last time we were anchored off Isla Caja de Muertos. Per our now published itinerary, we left the next morning (Day 5 of the sail Read more…
It’s official. We left Sapphire Beach Marina as planned on April 15. We got our second dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine on April 9 and, thereafter, spent the next 6 days finalizing our sail plan, provisioning, pre-paring some meals and generally getting S/V Che Figata ready for the journey to New Read more…
Hard to believe that we have been in the USVI for 5 months. (One day shy of a full 5 months as of the date of this post.) Though we didn’t get to sail the Caribbean as we hoped (too many COVID hurdles) we found plenty to do in the USVI and Read more…
It’s been about three weeks since our last post and when we hit the two week mark our oldest son — the one who said no one would read our blog — asked if we were still alive and happy. Apparently, despite our frequent phone calls, our blog has become his Read more…
Outside of hurricane season, Easterly winds in the 10-15 knot range are a pleasant constant in the USVI. Of course, there are exceptions and one is the “Christmas winds” that tend to arrive in December and January when a high-pressure area to the northeast of the islands produces winds in the Read more…
The seas have settled from the Northerly swells so it was time to leave the marina for our next adventure. While Jill really wanted to get back to St. Croix to snorkel the famous pier in Frederiksted (and try that vegan restaurant), the wind direction wasn’t favorable for a sail to Read more…
We finally did it! We left the dock at Sapphire Beach Marina. As you know, we arrived at the marina on November 12. Jill was still working, however, through November 30 so we needed to stay where we were confident we would have good connectivity for her Webex meetings and Read more…
We covered a lot of ground in the six weeks since our last post. We have now sailed around St. John 5 times — three with just the two of us and twice with different visitors. We already have favorite locations to pick up a mooring (Lameshur Bay and Salt Read more…
[This first blog post is adapted from the daily updates Jill sent to our worried families as we made our first blue water passage — qualifying us for the Ocean Cruising Club — from Annapolis to St. Thomas, USVI.] Day #1 update Greetings from S/V Che Figata on Day 1 Read more…