Author: Gwyn Wagschal

After 27 days on the water, we arrived in Annapolis June 27th around 3:30 in the afternoon. We would have arrived about 12 hours sooner, but had to find safe harbour from a storm on our last night of sailing, so put up the Q flag and headed for the nearest bay. Safe harbour took us 2 hours off route, that‘s a drag. Speaking of a drag, as we arrived to “safe harbour” we put down the anchor only minutes before the driving rain hit, and had to start the motors back up as we watched our anchor app tell us we had dragged 80 meters. Once the initial storm passed over I headed back to the bow, pulled up the anchor and reset it. Again more rain and more dragging. Arghhh. The rain was not letting up and darkness was falling, so I headed out in the rain. Three times and finally got it set good and proper. No sooner had we done that and the storm completely stopped and we sat in the calmest of water. No way to get through all the crab traps in the dark, so we were forced to sleep until morning. What a treat to have a solid 7 hours of sleep after 6  days and nights of solid sailing.

We arrived in Annapolis and had more fun (not) getting ourselves tied to a mooring ball so that we could clear in. We called in to customs only to find out that the internet was wrong in stating that you could clear in at the city dock. We now have to rent a car and drive to Baltimore (an hour away) to go through immigration and the clear customs. Both of these have to be done in two separate locations. Given our arrival time this will be done on Friday. We’ve secured a rental car and will head ashore with our paperwork shortly.

Looking forward to getting this done so we can buy some fresh produce. Enough of the canned tomatoes and sauerkraut. We celebrate the fact that we sailed from the BVI to here, just the two of us. We did it. Does that mean we are now doners? Yes siree, it does. We’ve gone from dreamers, to doers, to doners. And you better belive that we’ll be doing it again as soon as hurricane season is past. For now we will ready ourselves to return to Canada so P can finish his job and provide knowledge transfer to his replacement. Then we head to Burlington NC to  visit Paul’s mom and help her settle into a new assisted living apartment. Somewhere in all of this Gwyn will drive the car to get Charlie and bring the rest of our gear to the boat. We’ll figure out what to do with the car after that.

We started the passage on June 20th in the afternoon. The gulf stream gave us some nice push. Last night there was little wind and a fighting current, so we motored all night. Nice to have the sails up again today.

Just rounded Capr Hatteras off North Carolina and found we have internet access. We are still another 2+ days away from the marina in Maryland, where Blue Sky will stay forthe next few months while we get her set for more open ocean. We‘ve missed having radar and some other things that can help with a safe passage. So far we‘ve experienced some thunder storms, luckily without the lightening being too close. Believe me I pray those bolts stay away from us each time I see them. So far so good. Tomorrow we”ll be getting to the mouth of the Chesapeake. Night sailing isn’t too bad. We do three hour shifts. I am looking forward to my next full 8 hour sleep.

I hope to update the rest of the passage in more detail along with some pictures when we get settled in the marina.

 

We are still making our way through the beautiful islands in the Bahamas. We could leave tomorrow and be in Fort Lauderdale by Friday, but we do want to visit two more islands along the way. So maybe we‘ll leave on Friday   or Sunday. That‘s how it is when you are out here. Decisions are made when they feel right, and when the winds and weather dictate it is a good time. Meanwhile we are exploring, swimming, snorkling, and reading. Today we secured some internet for the rest of our time in the Bahamas. The people we meet are fantastic. While on Cat Island a woman and her 3 kids offered us a ride from the store back to our dinghy. Given it was well over a mile in 33 degre heat, we accepted. The girls were near the ages of our grandaughters, 9 and 13. We showed them pics of the girls and then their shyness went away. How fun is that.  Today a guy in a golf cart offered us a ride. We declined as we wanted to see more of thw island and stretch our legs. Main mode of transport here in Spanish Banks is via golf cart. Everyone waves to you too. Never waved so much in all my life.

We just came back from town where we went to Customs and Immigration, paid our $5.21 departure tax and got our paperwork to go to the USVI with an arrival of June 1^st.  The customs officer was the same one that checked us in on our arrival.  He remembered us and was super nice. We leave the marina shortly for a quick sail over to Norman Island, which will give us a quiet night and we can sail straight in to USVI from there in the morning.

I want to say a special thank you to Anthony, Laura and all the other staff here at BVI Yacht Charters.  They have made us feel so welcome and have been extremely helpful in helping us sort out the needs on board in preparation for our trip.

We hope to revisit the BVI next winter as long as we can bring Charlie. If anyone is looking for a Caribbean holiday, check out BVI.  If you are into sailing, BVI Yacht Charters will treat you right.

 

Chickens can run. I witnessed it myself today. A marine mate threw a half loaf of bread out and the chickens and their chicks ran, like a 50 yard dash towards the reward.

What a joy to see his expression and happiness in feeding the birds.  Acknowledging the experience with the chickens.

In my life, I have witnessed a lot of running. My brother, Gord, of Gords Running Store, runs nearly every day in Calgary. I have run myself in pursuit of saying I did a 5k, 10k and a ½ marathon.  He has done ultramarathons.  This I don’t personally need, but I have enjoyed running and still do to a degree.

We all run.  For example, you probably don’t think that cows run, but I’ve actually witnessed that they do. Several years ago, 2011 November, we landed a plane in an unexpected location. The cows ran from the plane at the latest possible moment.

Dogs too love to run. If they don’t they simply aren’t living fully.  The dog I’m missing the most right now, encourages running. Charlie and I play chase. I throw the ball and he retrieves it, only to be chased by me in hopes of him giving it up. He does give it up when he sees that I;ve run enough.  Dogs are smart that way.

Tonight I heard someone tell me that their legs seized up in the night because they hadn’t run in a week. Maybe there is something to that. All I know is that running is a part of our being. That said, perhaps I should run sometime soon, before I set sail. Or maybe not. My response to the legs seizing up, “there are enough steps on board that you can do step-ups enough that you will not experience cramps of any kind in the near future.  Not only that, but I’ve walked miles this past few days provisioning the boat. It’s amazing how much you can haul when you need to.

Running is good. Ultimately, if you are moving your body, you are moving in the right direction. While I won’t be running any distances over the next little while aboard Blue Sky, I hope to be running a little more when I have Charlie back to play chase in July.