Not the 2 hour downwind sail we planned on having sailing from Jost to Normans today 🙂‍↔️ As we got towards Thatch Island Cut we were going to bring in our head sail to get a better angle and go through the cut but noooope after 2 wraps the head sail furling line was jammed 🫠 Andrew undid the entire line multiple times but it still kept jamming, so eventually we just jibed through the cut and figured we would deal with it later. From Thatch to Normans Andrew went back and forth trying to fix it on the bow then eventually pulled it in by hand on the bow and we got it in. Not sure why it happened but fingers crossed it doesn’t happen again when we sail tomorrow 🤞🏼 Anyway, now we’re spending the day at Willy T 🏴‍☠️ (and I’m not getting the tattoo this time 😅😂)

Checked in at West End (because we had to check Isla in there) then headed to Jost for a night or two! We got engaged 2 years ago today and we’ve been together for 4 years this month 😌 Started off our first day at Jost with a floating spa massage 💆🏻‍♀️ & then heading over to Soggy Dollar & Foxy’s Not sure if we’ll stay here a few nights or hop around other spots in the BVI before heading back to STT Monday. Drop a suggestion of where we should stop!!

Our group had their dream charter booked for NYE in the BVI for 5 nights and while their first captain cancelled because the generator wasn’t working and the boat had no AC, then the 2nd captain they had canceled the day before their trip 😳 Our friend saw on a Facebook page that they were desperate for a captain and mate so she called us and asked if we could get to the BVI within the next 24 hours to run their trip. Within an hour we got Isla to the vet for her health certificate, packed up our boat, left it on a mooring in Red Hook STT and took the ferry over to Tortola the next day. Had to work with the group to get provisions on such short notice but we made it over and were able to give them the best New Years trip ever!! Had so much fun showing them around the BVI and of course, they loved Isla. Got lucky and had the best group with the best attitude & spent the last 5 nights on a cruise around the islands 🇻🇬 Oh, and I happened to run into my cousins at Bitter End on NYE 😂🤯

Stop 1 on our surprise date day.. Cruz Bay St John 🥰 We haven’t been over to St. John since we sailed over and this island is what made us fall in love with the Virgin Islands almost 2 years ago! Took us a while to get back but so excited to explore again Still don’t know about stop #2 and where we’ll be sleeping tonight 🤔

Moved around from Water Island to Sapphire beach because some friends told us about a full moon party over here tonight Anyone else usually show up to a party with their entire home? 😂

Finally made our way to St Thomas, we visited St Thomas/St John 2 years ago (right before we got engaged) and didn’t want to ever leave. We looked into moving here but it didn’t work out and months later we bought Afterglow and talked about one day sailing here. Hooked up to a mooring on water island for a few days & can’t wait to explore where we’ll be living and working for a bit (with sailing trips to the other islands from time to time). If anyone knows of some charter boats hiring let us know! We’ll be freelancing to make some $$ to continue funding this cruising life

Spent the night anchored at Culebrita before heading back to Vieques for a few nights to hang with friends before we sail off to the USVI for a while Finally had the perfect sail we’ve been waiting for for months 🤌🏼 12-15kts of wind going downwind cruising at 6-8kts.. chefs kiss sailing

Our friends that live on Vieques have work the next few days so we decided to hop over to Culebra for a couple of nights in the meantime Had to motor to the corner of Vieques at 3-4kts but once we got around the island we were able to sail a beam reach and go 7-8 knots💨 Pretty rough ride over with mostly 6-8ft seas but feels gooooood to sail again after a season of sailing into the wind Caught 6 barracuda on the sail and nothing else so no fish for dinner for us 😐

Mona passage was definitely on our list of trips we were unsure/nervous about but we made it through without any issues 🙌🏼 We were debating between 2 routes, straight offshore then south closer to Puerto Rico or hug the coast of the DR until south of hourglass shoal and cross right above Mona Island, and we decided on the latter. We picked a pretty good weather window (even though it was 15/20kts instead of the forecasted 5kts) and didn’t see any crazy waves until the south coast of Puerto Rico. Had to motor the entire time, but towards the end we put out our head sail when the wind shifted to gain a knot or 2 💨 As always, Isla did a 10/10 job being stuck on a moving boat for 2+ days and don’t worry… she had lots of treats 🤪 Excited to be in Vieques & the Spanish VI to explore for a bit before we head over to the USVI to work and make some money🤙🏼🌴🇵🇷

We had a beautiful 11 mile dinghy ride across the Bahia de Samaná and saw some caves and natural pools at the eco resort The way back was pretty rough trucking through 4ft seas in the dinghy 🫠 Worth the trip over in Samana… the pictures speak for themselves

First overnight sail of the season! (Well… motor). We chose a weather window with no wind since we would be dead into it the whole time so we had a lonnng slow motor across the DR. Tons of squalls through the night but never got too rough or too much lightening 👌🏼 Soooooo excited to be moving out on the water again, but staying at Puerto Bahia in Samaná for a week or until we have a weather window for the Mona Passage to cross over to Puerto Rico 🇵🇷

We madeee it!! Not easily but happy to be in a safe hurricane hole for the rest of the season. We left at 6pm in hopes of getting to the harbour entrance at an ideal time (ha) and sailed through the night, perfect seas and good wind to sail (other than 30 minutes of the wind dying so we motored for under an hour). We left with our buddy boat, Viva, and were on our way. Day 2 was smooth sailing and when the sun started to go down the wind picked up and the seas got bigger. We had 20-25kts of wind, 6-8ft seas with occasional 10s but were cruising at a steady speed of 5-6 kts which is pretty avg for us. We were forced to sail more south than east so we planned on getting to the coast near the DR/Haiti border and motoring along the coast towards Luperon. I woke up the next morning to the incredible mountains of the Dominican Republic & so excited to get there mid afternoon. When we hit the coast we were about 30 miles away. We went to turn the engine on andddddd nope. Out of fuel. 🥴 When we left Little Inagua we looked at the tank and estimated it was around 20% full, but we don’t have anything that shows us how much we actually have. We had 1 5 gallon Jerry can on board left and that was it. We decided we have to save that for coming into the harbour so we tacked back and forth racing the sunset. When we were around 10 miles out the sun was going down so we added the fuel and motored through pretty nasty seas towards Luperon. Our buddy boat got in around noon so our friend on Viva told us he would meet us outside of the harbour with a 5gal Jerry can around 8pm and guide us in (in the dark). He hopped onboard and we dodged fishing nets they put outside of the harbour at night and made it to a mooring safely. Pretty proud of us for sailing (almost) the whole way on an unfavorable path (is this considered part of the thorny path?) Excited to spend the next 2-3 months in the DR, have some cerveza to celebrate, and meet all of the cruisers from all over that came here for hurricane season 🤙🏼🍻⛰️🇩🇴

Last night in the Bahamas with new friends 🔥 we’re heading out today on our longest sail yet! We’re buddy boating to Luperon, DR with SV Viva! Heading east for the first leg towards West Caicos then southeast to catch a better wind angle. Should take around 36 hours & we’re ready to be out there for a couple of days. Moon is still bright, wind should be calming down, hoping for a perfect sail 🤙🏼 but as we all know, things are never that easy 😂

Within 30 minutes of anchoring 🤌🏼

We made it to our last anchorage in the Bahamas 😭 we’re going to miss this country so much. We’ll be staying here a few days and then cross over to Luperon with a new buddy boat we met at Hogsty. Dominican Republic here we comeeee 🇩🇴

Our plan when we first left Clarence Town was to sail to either Crooked or Acklins Islands, but ultimately decided to go 70 miles to Acklins. We sailed over Diana Bank hoping for some Tuna or Wahoo but ended up catching 3 barracuda 🥲 The next day we were planning on sailing to Hogsty Reef but when we were 10 miles from Acklins our auto pilot started randomly working again (after 12hr of hand steering) so we decided to just keep going through the night. Left Clarence Town at 4am and got to Hogsty 4am the next day. We had .5ft seas and 0-2kts of wind so we had to motor the whole time but it’s the perfect condition to visit this Atoll. The anchorage is rolllllly as hell here but worth it to see this place

Long & slow sail from conception island to Clarence Town, half of the time we were going 3kt and half 7kts 😅 the wind died a few hours in and we were fighting the current, not sure if the wind was all over the place from Ernesto getting closer. Made it before sunset and the last few hours cruised in at 7kts 👌🏼

Not sure if it was the rough seas or too much wine & rum last night (probably both) but this sail was miserable 🥴 we had to take turns driving while the other was getting sick off the side of the boat. At least we ended up at the most increddddible island and were the only ones here 🤗

Waiting around Calabash Bay to see what potential “Ernesto” ends up doing 👀 Hoping it turns NE into the Atlantic & doesn’t slam into the Bahamas. In the meantime we’ll be spearfishing & doing donuts around our boat 😂

It’s been an incredible 2 months sailing through the Exumas but it’s time to start making our way to get to a safe spot for hurricane season 🌀 made it to Calabash today and will spend a few days lobstering & exploring (can’t wait to see this water in the daylight). We had flat calm conditions with 8-10kts and had the most relaxing sail we’ve had in a looong time

Had to go out and catch some lobster before the storms come through the next few days 🤙🏼 caught 4 and headed over to a lazy river to float around for a bit

Few squalls on the way down but finally made it & staying for a couple of weeks. Having a friend fly in to bring a part for our generator & solar before heading to Long Island & other southern islands on the way to the Dominican Republic 🇩🇴

Planned on sailing around 40 miles south to George Town but stopped to tuck in for the night. Had 8ft seas in Farmers Cut and 6-8ft seas all the way down to where we are now. Tomorrows forecast looks much better & we would’ve been getting into GT in the dark so anchoring for the night before we go the rest of the way 🤷🏻‍♀️

First time I have been at the helm going up to a mooring, usually I’m grabbing the ball but decided to switch it up today 🤷🏻‍♀️ Back at Staniel for a night or 2 to provision, fuel up, and head south!

Slow motor from Hawksbill to Warderick Wells. We’ll stay here a night or two on a mooring ball to check out boo boo hill and a few other things in the area. Then stopping by Staniel one last time for a few provisions and finally getting south!

Uneventful sail up to Shroud. Spending a few days in the land and sea park then heading down to Blackpoint & famers

Left Norman’s and planned on sailing to Compass to wait out some high winds coming this week but decided last second to stop in the land and sea park for the night. We’re going to spend some time in compass and sail back up to the park when the weather is nicer so we can enjoy it more. Stopped at Hawksbill because the wind was much more than forecasted so picked up a mooring for the night & heading out tomorrow 🤷🏻‍♀️

Little jump over to Norman’s after a week anchored by Highbourne. Excited to check out McDuffs & the marina aaand of course dive the plane wreck!! Went through spirit cut right after high tide and waves were still pretty gnarly & the inlet was narrow but we’re happy to be on this side of the islands again.

Decided to skip anchoring at the lighthouse in south Eleuthera again and go straight to Highbourne Cay. Absolutely no wind the entire day and motored along to get anchored before sunset. Caught a barracuda and cero mackerel (accidentally stole its eye) and went to the beach for sunset. So excited to explore the Exumas, this is the place I’ve been looking forward to seeing the past 6 months!!

Decided to head to little San Salvador before heading to the Exumas because we heard about how amazing the trolling was… first tuna (and second and third) on the boat!! Eating good tonight 🎣🍣

Staying at a friends house in Eleuthera for a few days before heading to the southern tip of Eleuthera and crossing to the Exumas. Stopped in Governors harbour for a few hours but everything was closed (we’re guessing either a holiday or just slow season). Wind is supposed to pick up for a day or 2 so keeping our boat in a little protected anchorage

After a few days in one of the most beautiful anchorages yet were slowly making our way south before the wind picks up this weekend & on our way to visit a friend living in South Eleuthera (where we’ll be staying at a house with air conditioning, a pool, and laundry for a few days)😍😍😍

Perfect conditions going through current cut and when we got around the corner we were finally able to sail for the first time in over a week 👏🏻👏🏻

We aren’t taking our sailboat to Harbour Island so long dinghy trip over it is🤷🏻‍♀️ Chose a flat calm day & Isla was mad at us for passing so many beaches on the way

We had max 5kts of wind so we spent the day motoring 60nm from little harbour to Spanish wells Eleuthera. Flat calm seas in 14,000 feet of water and a beautiful day!! Went to sandbar for dinner and watched our first sunset here with our boat in the background

Motor sailed to our last stop in the Abacos before we sail down to Eleuthera! Stopping at Pete’s Pub for a night or two before we unfortunately motor 60 miles to Eleuthera since we won’t have any wind for days. We refueled and filled water in Hope Town so all set to check out the next area of the Bahamas!

Did our first freediving this trip at Man O War then headed over to Hope Town & tied up to a mooring ball. We did not know it was going to be so hard to find one that wasn’t privately owned or too close to other boats 😅 staying here a few nights drop any recs for the area if you have one!!

Short sail from Marsh Harbour to Man O War to spend the night. Got to explore the coolest little quiet town

The shortest sail we’ve had since leaving Key West & it felt like it took 20 minutes 😂 anchored in Marsh Harbour for the weekend for an event & to see some friends!