Provo, Turks and Caicos to Vieques, SVI, Puerto Rico

On Thursday, 1/5/12 we went to a BBQ at a local marina on Provo, and met other cruisers anchored with us in Sopadilla Bay. The next day we set sail early to cross the Caicos bank, dodging coral heads the whole way. The banks of the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos are littered with uncharted coral heads, and a vigilant watch is needed to avoid these dangerous hazards, which show as a black area in the water- they may be in otherwise 20ft of water and are only a couple of feet below the surface. We anchored at Big Ambergris island, along with Ken and Cindy from Brunswick, Georgia- a nice couple we met on Provo. They sail on their beautiful catamaran "Meant to Be". On Saturday morning we dinghied over to visit with them, and then went to explore Big Ambergris. We snorkeled on some reefs right in our anchorage area, and then sailed to Cockburn Harbor, South Caicos. Here, we met some new friends from Germany, Tom and Martin. They joined us for a BBQ on an island behind our anchorage. On Monday, 1/9/12 we jerried water and diesel to the boat and checked out of customs. The customs officials are very disorganized here; we had great difficulty with fees and communication. We sailed overnight, arriving at Luperon, Dominican Republic around 10:00 am. We were guided in by locals and directed to a mooring for the equivalent of US $2.00 a day(76 pesos). Customs here was again an adventure- every department seemed to need an additional fee- nothing concrete written on paper. Total cost was $103.00 arriving, and then another $20.00 for departure clearance. They searched the boat upon arrival and departure. On Wednesday, 1/11/12 our German friends arrived, aboard Tom's boat "Hoppetossa". We spent 8 days in Luperon, doing chores, getting provisions and more fuel, and checking out the DR. On Tuesday, 1/17/12 we rented a car with Martin and drove to Puerto Plata. We stopped at a fruit stand, had a cafeteria-style lunch, shopped at a large, all purpose store and went to the beach for coffee. After a rainy weather front moved through, we got a weather window and departed Luperon around 5:00pm on Wednesday, 1/18/12. We motor-sailed in high seas through the night and all day Thursday along the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. On Friday we had a great beam-reach sail south through the Mona Passage. Conditions became rough in the afternoon- 10ft seas and then we encountered lightning storms in the evening. We continued around the southwest corner of Puerto Rico and along the south side, until we arrived in daylight at Ponce, Puerto Rico around 8:30 am Saturday, 1/21/12. Total trip was 307 miles, 64 hours- averaging 4.8 Knots. On Sunday we took a long walk to Ponce. There are a lot of old, american-made vehicles here, Chevy and Ford. We walked to the Observation Cross- a replica of a mast used to hoist the flag of the nationality of ship entering the harbor, so merchants would know when their goods have arrived. On Monday we left before sunrise and motor-sailed east to Salinas, famous for their cockfights. Walking through town, you can see all the cocks penned up at private homes. On Tuesday we departed Salinas around 11:00 am motored east for 5 hours, anchoring at Puerto Patillas. Today we had a hard, wet beat for 9 hours, and we only went 30 miles. We are excited to arrive at our destination goal of St. Thomas during my parent's visit there. We are currently anchored on the Spanish Virgin island of Vieques. Next stop, St.Thomas! As I sit here writing this blog, Leiby is talking to old Sam, a fellow cruiser who happened to have buddy-boated with our German friends about a week before we met them. The cruising community is a very fluid web of personalities who run into the same people, looking out for each other and often reconnect down the road. Pictured: Gazebo in Sopadilla Bay; On a wreck in Sopadilla Bay; Underwater coral head; Posers on Big Ambergris; Funny pink bird; Cookout with Tom and Martin; Leiby at the grill; Main St., Luperon; Statue of General Gregorio Luperon; Martin and Leiby at the fruit stand; Posers at the beach in Puerto Plata; Abolition statue in Ponce, PR; Old Nova; Observation Cross, Ponce.

Fresh Creek, Andros, Bahamas to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

We stayed at Fresh Creek on Friday, 12/23/11- in the evening Ralph and Wendy on their boat "Altona" showed up at the marina. We had met Ralph and Wendy at Morgan's Bluff. They are also headed for the Caribbean, and we are following them on their blog. We had a beautiful sail on Saturday in the Tongue of the Ocean south to Gibson Cay, Middle Bight. On Christmas we explored Gibson Cay and were happy to talk to family back home for the holiday. On Monday, we dinghied into Moxeytown for some fuel, then left our anchorage around noon. We anchored at Green Cay- our most remote anchorage ever- it's on the eastern wall of the Tongue of the Ocean. It's an uninhabitat island and no other boats were anchored there. On Tuesday we sailed across the bank and anchored at Piper Cay. Our next stop was Little Farmer's Cay, and then Georgetown, Great Exuma. We got a weather window on New year's eve day and travelled through two nights, arriving at Sopadilla Bay, Provo, Turks and Caicos on Monday. We met Jim and Sue of  "Blackthorn"- good friends Rich and Barb of "Aquila". Pictured: docked at FreshCreek; Exploring Gibson Cay on Christmas day; Sunrise over Green Cay; dolphin fish catch on NY eve; Scooter to explore Provo; Jim and Sue of "Blackthorn"

Miami, FL to Fresh Creek, Andros, Bahamas

On Sunday, 12/12/11 we dinghied to Miami Marina to get some engine parts, and saw a mama and baby manatee right from the marina dock. Stayed at our South Beach anchorage on Tuesday and Wednesday, then moved to Marine Stadium anchorage on Thursday. The Marine Stadium was built in the early sixties, and big name concerts would play there- Jimmy Buffet and the Grateful Dead, etc. You could sail your boat in and listen to the show right from your boat at the anchorage. It closed in the eighties, and now skateboarders use the roof to skateboard. We finally got a forecast of settled weather and left for the Bahamas on Friday, 12/16/11 at sunset- motored into the wind and across the gulf stream. We passed the north side of Bimini at sunrise. We continued to motor SE across the bank toward Andros, anchoring on the bank on Saturday night. Motor-sailed to Andros the next day and went through customs at Morgan's Bluff. We took a long land excursion on Monday to check out Nicholls Town. On Tuesday morning we went to see Uncle Charlie's Blue Hole. Andros island is full  of blue holes, which are vertical caves filled with water, hundreds of feet deep. That evening, Leiby received a call from Pop with the tragic news of his older brother Steve's sudden death. The next two days were spent trying to make arrangements to get back for the funeral. Besides the weather being against us to get to Nassau for a flight, we discovered all the marinas in Nassau were booked solid through the holidays- we literally could not find a place to leave the boat. We regret that it is not possible to get back in time for the funeral tomorrow. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this difficult time. Yesterday, we motor-sailed on a port tack south through the Tongue of the Ocean to Fresh Creek, Andros. Pictured: the manatee and her baby; the Marine Stadium; Trilogy anchored in Miami; sunrise entering the Bahamas with Bimini on the right; Captain Hard-ass, who helped us secure our boat to go through customs; Conch salad; Uncle Charlie's Blue Hole.

St. Augustine,FL to Miami, FL

On Tuesday, 11/29/11 we departed Rivers Edge Marina in St. Augustine, FL- fueled up and got an 11:00 AM opening of the Bridge of Lions. Headed out St. Augustine inlet and travelled south on a beam reach, 15K wind with a double-reefed main and the cutter sail- a wet ride- sailed through the night. We continued under sail on Wednesday on a starboard tack until the wind swung to the north and then died at around 5:00 PM. Motor-sailed until around 1:00 AM Thursday when the wind picked up again- NW 10-15K, starboard tack with just the jib, until we reached the gulf stream current close to shore- had to motor-sail again to maintain 5K of speed. We entered Lake Worth inlet (Palm Beach area) around 8:00 AM. Took a bus ride to West Palm Beach and a long walk around. On Friday 12/2/11 Leiby rented a car and drove Glen back to our car in St. Augustine. We almost had a head-on collision on Saturday in the rental car when a car being driven with the hood up and chased by the police came straight toward us, the wrong way in traffic. It certainly is scarier on land than at sea! On Saturday night we saw an elaborate, lighted Christmas boat parade. We stayed in Palm Beach, waiting for the weather to settle until Tuesday 12/6/11. We took a couple of walks around the perimeter of Peanut Island- a nice park walkway. We left Tuesday night around 5:00 PM and sailed on a port tack until the wind died and then motor-sailed through the night. On Wednesday, 12/7/11 we anchored next to the Venetian Causeway in Miami around 11:30AM. We have been enjoying our time in Miami- getting repairs to our dinghy engine, doing other boat maintenance, provisioning and having a package delivered from home. We are waiting for a weather window to cross the gulf stream to go to the Bahamas. Pictured: Glen and Leiby offshore; approach to Palm Beach; approach to Miami and me in front of the hotel Jer and I stayed at 2 years ago in South Beach.

Home

We spent most of the month of November circmnavigating the outer banks and spending time with family over the Thanksgiving holiday. We were on our way to help Captain Keith deliver his boat, MAJJIK III to the BVI when weather conditions and mechanical difficulties caused the trip to be cancelled- we ran out of time and wouldn't have been able to make our scheduled flight back. We did circumnavigate the outer banks- went offshore overnight in a gale (from tropical storm Sean) and entered the ICW at Beaufort, NC, travelling north and returning the boat to Worton Creek, MD. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Jerica's house which included a nice mix of both Jerica and Brian's relatives. Yesterday we drove our car to St. Augustine. Glen accompanied us- he will spend a week with us on Trilogy and then drive our car back north. Pictured: Captain Keith and the Leibensperger girls with the turkey.

Baltimore, MD to St. Augustine, FL

We left Anchorage Marina around 1:00pm on Sunday, 10/16/11 with a SW wind. Sailed out of the Potapsco River and tacked down the Bay. Anchored on the Magothy River around 6:15pm. Our new crew on this leg of our journey is Iris, the cat. The next day we sailed and then motor-sailed to the Solomons. Saw many other migrating "snowbird" sailboats cruising their way southbound. On Tuesday, we sailed, then motor-sailed, then motored, then sailed down the Bay to just off the Piankatank River-Milford Haven, a nice private anchorage through the swing bridge just south of Gwynn's Island. The next day we mostly motored to the Poquoson River and found another private anchorage in Chisman Creek. We stayed there through Thursday to let a cold front pass and to prepare the boat for an offshore passage. On Friday, 10/21/11 we had a nice broad reach, starboard tack sail to the end of the Chesapake Bay. We encountered a warship leaving the Bay and a submarine entering the Bay passing each other. We hove-to just north of the Bay-Bridge Tunnel to let them both pass. We sailed south in the ocean down the coast of the outer banks. Wind was 5-10 K variable all night. The wind picked up around 6:00am Saturday- 10-15 K around Cape Hatteras. Sailed directly downwind- wind increased 15-25 K with 3-5 ft waves which were very close together. We had a double reef in the main which was pancaked to the spreaders by 6:00pm. Overnight wind increased and we were dealing with 5-7 ft. waves on our stern- a crazy ride all night and into Sunday. At around noon, the wind decreased to 10-15 K from the NE, but the waves were still close together- about 3 second intervals. We had a lot of porpoises running with Trilogy that day. Conditions calmed after 9pm- started the engine to keep up 5-6 K speed. On Monday 10/24/11, the wind picked up again around 3:00 am and we were able to turn the engine off and sail comfortably on a starboard tack with just the mainsail until morning. The wind shifted to the N and then NW, 10-15 K with 2-4 ft. seas- a truly beautiful and most enjoyable sail. It was a bright , clear sunny day and our wind generator was working away. We are also pleased with our autopilot since we refined it. We decided to keep sailing until we could hit a class A inlet in the morning- St. Simon's Sound, which leads into Brunswick, GA. We sailed, then motor-sailed SW to Georgia with a N wind. On Tuesday, 10/25/11 we arrived at our anchorage south of the marina on St. Simon's Island at around 10:30am. Stayed here two nights- dingying into the marina and a public dock to go to town. We decided to leave on Thursday morning but had S wind, so we motored down the ICW into Florida, anchoring at Fernandina Harbor. We left early the next morning and motored again- good speed, mostly with the current- all the way to St. Augustine and anchored by the Castillo de San Marcos fort. Yesterday morning was rainy (we hear it was snowing back home!) We requested an 11:00am bridge opening- the Bridge of Lions. We motored south, then up the San Sabastian River to the River's Edge Marina, St. Augustine. What a great marina- close to town, well protected, deep water and a very friendly and helpful dockmaster. We rode marina bikes into town this morning. Trilogy will spend a month here while we rent a car to travel home to be close to my father, who is having surgery tomorrow, to help our good friend Captain Keith deliver his boat to the BVI and to spend Thanksgiving with family. Pictured: the stone wall built by Leiby, Uncle Dan and me while Trilogy was in Baltimore; Iris on the boat; the submarine and warship in the Chesapeake Bay; at sea, Cape Hatteras light in the background; helmswoman at sea; doing dishes; starting a night watch; Poirpose video; derelict boat in Fernandina Harbor (good thing he's got his anchor down!); ashore in Fernandina Harbor; Trilogy anchored at Fernandina; at the Castillo de San Marcos fort; me, stopping traffic on the bridge; Sunday morning bike ride.   

Long Island, NY to Baltimore, MD

After waiting out Hurricane Irene in Three Mile Harbor, Long Island, we had a nice sail wing and wing to Montauk on Monday, 8/29/11. We did run aground on our way through the shallow channel, but we were able to get off ourselves. On Tuesday, 8/30/11 we departed Montauk at 9:00 AM and motored all day and through the night toward Cape May. We arrived in Cape May on Wednesday evening and anchored by the Coast Guard station. On Thursday, 9/1/11 we motored through the Cape May Canal, up the Delaware Bay and through the C & D Canal, anchoring on the Bohemia River- an 80 mile day. On Friday, 9/2/11 we reached our current location of Baltimore, MD. Trilogy will spend at least the month September in her home waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Pictured: Trilogy in her slip during Hurricane Irene; Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean; Atlantic City as seen from the ocean.