Breeze On

We are leaving Beaufort sometime tomorrow morning. We are waiting for the seas to settle down a bit before we depart. Although I am relieved to not be leaving tonight, I am aware that the longer we wait the less sailing—and more motoring—we will do. The wind is forecast to drop significantly sometime tomorrow night. We have a total of 80 gallons of fuel; 40 gallons in the tank and 40 gallons in jerry jugs. That should be more than enough to get us to the Bahamas. Our fuel gauge is not especially accurate. It read 99% when we left home but we have no idea how much fuel was actually in the tank. The other day the gauge read 100% but George was able to add nearly another 10 gallons and we still aren’t sure if it is completely full.  Yesterday and today I made new meals for our passage since we have eaten most of the ones I prepared at home. Yesterday I made a chicken and broccoli casserole, today I made macaroni and cheese in the Instant Pot.  Picture of the promenade from yesterday’s wal

Although we aren’t yet sure if we are heading out tomorrow evening or Sunday morning, we decided to get started on the documentation the Bahamas requires for us to enter the country. In prior years we did not have to submit any documents prior to our arrival. We would just arrive in a port of entry, hoist our quarantine flag, meet with someone from the Customs and Immigration office, show our documents and fill out a few forms, pay the fee for a cruising permit in cash, and that would be it. The whole process took about 1/2 hour. Two things have changed since we last visited the Bahamas: 1–The Covid pandemic. Since the onset of the pandemic, the Bahamas has taken several measures to prevent the spread throughout the country. Currently the country requires visitors to obtain a Travel Health Visa before entering. Visitors who are vaccinated must submit proof of vaccination plus proof of a negative PCR or rapid Covid test. The application and documents are submitted electronically and wit

Today we spent an hour touring around the Beaufort Harbor on Captain John’s Water Bug tour. There are several boat tours operating in Beaufort. We had seen them coming and going during our other visits here. This time I thought it might be nice to get a guided tour and learn a few things about the area. Captain John first focused on the islands that make up the Rachel Carson Estuarine Sanctuary. We saw wild horses—a mare and her colt—on Horse Island as well as egrets, an osprey, and a blue heron. Captain John pointed out the live oyster beds in the creek at several points. The beds seemed so shallow and we seemed so close that George and I were afraid he was doing to go aground. He did not, as he apparently knew what he was doing. On the return to town Captain John pointed out historic houses and places of interest. He gave us some details about the 165’ sailboat that is docked at Beaufort Docks. The mast is 195’ tall and the boat draws 24’. We certainly won’t be seeing that boat in th

We have been spending our time in Beaufort by walking through town, chatting with other cruisers, and chipping away at our list of boat chores. One item on the chore list was fixing the “Where is Breeze On” link on this blog. After much trial and error George was able to figure it out and the link now works. Another task was to spend time calculating our mileage. After checking the figures we decided we definitely need more jerry cans of diesel for the next leg of our trip. Yesterday morning we borrowed one of the marina’s courtesy cars and drove to a hardware store to buy two jerry cans. While we were out and about we stopped at the nearby Piggly Wiggly for a few groceries. Next, George checked the steering system and greased the steering sprockets. We had heard some squeaking noises coming from the steering on our trip to Beaufort. After discovering a badly frayed steering cable two years ago we are very sensitive to any noises coming from the steering system. Everything looked good

We arrived at the Homer Smith Docks and Marina at 2:30 pm., just over 52 hours after leaving home. Since we did so much motoring, the first item on our agenda was to buy diesel. After filling the tank we pulled into our slip where we may stay a week or so while waiting for a weather window to go to the Bahamas.  It wasn’t a bad passage, as far as passages go. Night sailing is definitely not my favorite thing to do but at least it doesn’t terrify me like it did in the past. Since the wind was light most of the time the seas were relatively calm, making it easier to move around on the boat. We motored or motor-sailed 48 hours straight until we finally had enough wind to turn the engine off and sail for three hours this morning. That part was delightful. The calmer conditions meant that we could sleep in the v-berth instead of the salon. Also, the engine serves as a white noise machine for me, allowing me to fall asleep more easily. When we are sailing there are always creaks and groans t

We left home at 10:15 this morning and are now almost the to mouth of the Choptank River. The wind was right on our nose so we have been motoring. We recently put the sails up but still need to keep the motor running in order to travel at 6 knots and arrive in Beaufort, NC by Sunday afternoon. After Sunday afternoon the wind shifts to the South and becomes adverse. If we didn’t take this opportunity to get around Cape Hatteras we would have to wait at least another week. As it is, we will most likely be waiting in Beaufort for a week before we sail on to the Bahamas, but at least we will be past Hatteras.  Our friend and neighbor, Brad, alerted us to the fact that the “Where is Breeze On” link on the blog is not working. George cobbled together a temporary fix which you can use until we get to port and fix the other link.  https://maps.findmespot.com/s/H0NY/9F#live/assets Once you open the link, select 7d at the top to view our track. 

We are going to the Bahamas again. I think we are both more excited about this trip than we have ever been before. George is excited about living on the boat for nearly six months. I am excited about having variety in my life. It was challenging to reduce the monotony in my days last winter when we stayed home due to Covid. Each day seemed like the last. I love my home but I am looking forward to sailing to different places on Breeze On.  Last week we had Breeze On pulled out of the water for a short haul. The bottom was power washed while she sat in the slings. This week we spent a day-and-a-half loading all but the cold food on the boat while recording the locations on the inventory. I have been doing a lot of cooking and freezing the leftovers to heat in the oven during passages. Our freezer has just enough space for a few ice cube trays so the frozen food slowly thaws in the refrigerator. If we have to wait more than two weeks for a weather window to go to the Bahamas we will have