If you read my updates throughout the trip, things were going fantastic. I was moving quick, good weather, little rolly seas but manageable, 100’s of dolphins surrounding the boat, gorgeous sunsets and sunrises. Then finally I have the harbour in sight, that famous charleston bridge can be seen from a few miles out. It quickly became hidden through dark stormy clouds, I suddenly was caught in 4-5fts at short intervals. I got behind the jetty and was relieved, I swallowed the lump in my throat and carried on thinking the harbour would protect me. I see the storm slowly moving south and then bam I get hit with building winds. 16, 22, 25, 27, 33, 36, and rising! I clocked 46 kts before my wind reader shut off. Eventually found out someone clocked 52 kts but likely even higher. As this wind came through it churned up the water and i had waves breaking over the boat with water coming up over my dodger, soaking the inside of the boat through the closed hatches (they do leak a little but only under intense rain). The wind blew off our flexible panels and was using them basically as a kite in the air. BENDING THE SUNTOWER, this was insane to turn around and see the dinghy dipping into the water and the metal poles arching. It was all I could do to just keep the boat turned to port not the get pushed up on the beach or rocks. I truly thought that I could lose the boat. I stayed relatively calm 😅 I fought the storm for what felt like forever but was probably about 20 mins. I ended up getting a marina slip for the night, where I spent the evening just trying to dry the boat out. Also clean all the fuel off deck, the waves crashed so hard and high over that it flipped my tied down fuel cans and spilled them. it also rolled in over the hatches on the dodger, let that sink in… that’s well over 6ft high on the boat. Today I learned that Sadie cannot handle storms of any sort and will definitely never risk that again. Coming into the marina was chaos with vessels thrown up in the marsh, sails ripped to shreds, and other boats on top of each other. I’m just glad to have made it safely and been close to shore. 😴

Back to Sadie! 3 weeks too long. Left Green Cove Springs Marina today where she sat on a mooring ball. I got in late last night around midnight after a long travel day and boy was the boat in rough shape. Hot & smelly- i immediately opened all the hatches and turned the fans off. I couldn’t be bothered with cleaning up the mess (that i made last week when i came to drop all my stuff off before taking my van to NC) so i just went to sleep and dealt with it this morning. Turns out there was water all in the back bedroom, under the bed in the battery bank area, and filling the float tank…. all of the bedding and pillows were covered in mold and ruined plus the walls too. I noticed this half way through the trip today so i took everything out of the room and then cleaned up all the water once I got docked. today was pretty uneventful, no wind, & 95 degree weather which meant motoring the entire way and sweating terribly. I made it to the YMCA dock in downtown jacksonville where you can dock for free and get a free guest pass to the YMCA which is so nice. I went and signed in, showered and then went 5 mins down the road to get some CAVA for dinner. Sadie drove great today and had no issues! Day 1 of who knows how many to get to NC !

Not a goodbye, a see you later. Storing Sadie at a Marina for a while to do a couple projects & go see family…. then it’s time for a new adventure. i’ll catch yall up then. xoxo Official end to The Bahamas season. I’m very emo right now and can’t recap but it was the time of my life 🩵

Left our “private dock” this morning and continued down the river. I haven’t spent much time on rivers so this is really interesting to me. Cruised under bridges, by cruise ships, downtown jacksonville, crazy strong currents, and the most dolphins i’ve ever seen! The wind was weird but picked up enough I decided to sail, it felt so weird to be sailing through a river but it was so cool. Honestly crazy to see how far i’ve come- i barely wanted to put sails out (honestly had no clue how) the entire first half of this season and now look at me sailing through a river. Disclaimer: i still have no clue what i’m doing lol. IT IS HOT, we are definitely back in Florida. I’m desperately missing that pretty blue non alligator infested water right about now 😅 After another long day we made it to an anchorage near a boat ramp where I will be able to pull my dinghy out for repairs and within walking distance to parts stores, gas stations, and food! We are so close to the end… i don’t want it to be over 🥲

anddd we’re off. I’m so sad, we are leaving the trio. Said bye to Alfred this morning, we have spent basically everyday together since we met in georgetown (aka 3 months) and it’s officially the end to this amazing season. Luckily I still have Reagan for a few more days because we are heading to the same place. We all had a blast in St. Augustine! We ran the outside for one last time today, with no engine troubles for either of us woo woo! (the troubles aren’t fixed but “band aided” enough hopefully to get us to our next destination) It was Reagan’s last day on the ocean, he’s selling his boat in the next couple weeks to go start a big boy job in Atlanta! I spent the entire day reminiscing on the past 7 months… from the refit, maiden voyage having not a clue what I was doing, to the bahamas & meeting some of my best friends. I’m emotional. LOL. I’m so happy to have this app to document everything and treat it like my personal diary 🤣🫶🏻 We made it in the St.John’s river and boy I was not expecting that current! I was flying!! We ended up at a boat ramp dock (that we definitely weren’t supposed to stay at .. oops) The tide dropped 5.5ft here 🤯 soo we couldn’t leave, i was loosely touching bottom and reagan was hard aground sideways. We have just been having a week 😅 but we made the best of it and enjoyed the security of the dock at least. Tomorrow we will continue up the river!

Left the marina this morning and transited under the bridge to the anchorage. Only stayed on a mooring one night, it was a good spot right downtown! The anchorage is just outside the mooring balls on the north side of the bridge. The current is very strong through this area and switches dramatically. Once I set the anchor I didn’t move all week. A storm came through with 25-30 kt winds and a power boat that was anchored did drag through the anchorage. It’s also just outside the no wake zone and by the inlet so it does get pretty rocky. However you are right next to municipal marina with direct access to downtown! Marina passes are pricey at $15 a day to dock the dinghy but you also get access to all marina amenities. The boys and I had a fantastic time here, although extremely overwhelming after being in the bahamas for 4 months! While in St. Augustine we ate at local restaurants, and chilis 🤣, checked out happy hours, went grocery shopping, went to a Bailey Zimmerman concert and so much more.

Woo. Another rough day. Decided to leave New Smyrna asap, currents were strong and sandbars were busy! We stopped here after our crossing, I ran aground coming in the inlet because I was so delusional from no sleep and couldn’t see anything. lol rough night. We found an auto store to try to fix our engines (Reagan and I) we topped off on fluids hoping that would be good enough to make it to St. Augustine. We were wrong… I made it to the entrance of the inlet where my boat just decided to shut off. I dropped anchor in probably the worst spot possible to keep from drifting into the jetty. Eventually was able to get it back running and had Reagan cruising right next to me out of the inlet just in case it happened again. i made it through with no issues after that. We decided to run the outside just in case we had anymore issues so we wouldn’t have to deal with strong current, bridges and weekend boaters. Wind was so shifty and current was so strong my auto pilot could not stay on course. Which made for an extremely long day. I steered and monitored the engine for 10+ hours 🥲 i know this sounds dramatic but I am not used to having to be at the helm every minute. whooo that’s tiring. Eventually we made it about 16 miles out and Reagan’s engine died and he had run out of fluids. The wind was terrible but he decided to sail for another 5 miles which took forever. Then we decided for me to tow him the last 11 miles. He towed my dinghy and then I towed him. Seatow should hire me!!! This was stressful because I’ve obviously never had to tow a boat bigger than mine plus just all the stress from this morning and a long trip all day, but I was super glad to be able to help him. I’m not sure what we would have done without each other the past few days, not only for mechanical support but mental support lol I probably would’ve gone crazy. We eventually made it into St. Augustine and fueled up at the marina, got free fresh water (wooohooo), a mooring ball, showers, laundry, all the things. Plus finally got back with the trio- Alfred made a straight shot to St. Augustine instead of stopping in New Smyrna. Now it’s time to explore the town thanks to my grandpa Mr. Ponce DeLeon- (no i’m not kidding… he’s actually my great great great x 11 grandpa) isn’t that pretty cool?!

So sad to be leaving this spot! Although we had a rough time coming in and a super rolly night of sleep- the views topped all of that by 100000x. I’m a sucker for bright blue water and a pretty sandbar and that’s exactly what double breasted is. I think it’s even worse knowing that we are heading to what will likely be on of our last stops before heading back to the US 🥲. This was a quick sail (motor sail) up to Grand Cay, coming around the bend into the anchorage there was some strong current but short and nothing you can’t push through while motoring. Once in this bay it’s extremely calm and protected from most angles. The bay is super open so even if you drug a little there’s nothing to hit unless you anchor close to the rocks. It took a minute for anchor to set but once it did it lasted for days. The beach here is fantastic for fires as you’ll see when you visit- there are several fire rings, homemade tiki bars, big smokers, grills and unfortunately also a lot of trash. We did see wild pigs and dogs roaming the beach so beware. However they were pretty skiddish. Sunsets are beautiful here, mosquitoes not so much. Very buggy on the beach but not too bad at the boat but I would recommend closing up before bed. We fished on the heads and reefs all around the outside of the bay and it was hit or miss but we were able to stock up the freezer and have dinner every night. This was a great spot to spend our last few days! Super quiet- we were the only ones here most the time with the occasional 1-2 others passing through for a night to continue on to FL

Left allan’s cay to head to Double breasted with the boys. I’ve heard a lot of mixed reviews about anchoring at double breasted but I’ve also heard how insanely gorgeous it is. After a super long day of motor sailing mainly motoring we made it. I was very on edge anchoring because of the strong current and tide shift. Dropped anchor and backed down on it hard- well in doing so my “floating” tow line ended up well… not floating 😅 It got wrapped around the prop and shut the whole engine down. I immediately called Reagan and Alfred for back up- unbeknownst to me Reagan had just done the exact same thing at the exact same time. So weird!! Luckily the came over to help and I jumped in, cut the rope and was able to take her for a spin to make sure everything was okay. Not going to lie I was very panicked in the moment because i thought I had done more serious damage to prop or worse. But everything was fine and so was reagan’s! We anchored here for a night and had no issues with the current or tide and dragging, however we had a very rough and rolly night with the wind and swell coming in which made for an uneasy night of sleep. The views though are definitely worth it. We went to the sandbar i the next day and OMG it was stunning. Found sea biscuits, sand dollars, conch, and so much more. We met up with other friends, chatted, soaked up the sun and what will probably be our last views of this beautiful bright blue water for the remainder of this bahamas season. It’s such a bittersweet time. I’m so grateful to this app for bringing me these friends- they have helped me SO much and it’s been the most amazing season exploring gorgeous places like this with them. I probably would’ve chickened out on this spot because of the reviews if I hadn’t been with the boys. So glad I didn’t even though getting here and anchored was stressful!

Leaving Powell Cay today was the saddest i’ve been of anywhere in the Abacos. I loved the little island around the corner from the anchorage. Didn’t have much wind so motorsailed up to Allan’s to meet up with Alfred and Reagan!! Super excited to be back buddying with them. I had to rent a car from here and go to marsh harbour for a vet appt at Phoenix vet. I rented from a local guy and it was great

Not me! Sailed off anchor, and the entire way to powell. Wind was super shifty. It was such a good learning day. Played around with the sails a lot, figured out how Sadie likes to ride in certain situations. I’m loving this. Did a little wing on wing action- first time ever!! so proud of myself for figuring that out. I also had to do multiple tacks which was super fun. Normally if we have to do that we would just turn the motor on LOL. Also i’m obsessed with this anchorage. Weather has been great, and around the corner is the most beautiful sandbar and island i’ve seen in all the Abacos so far. So many sea biscuits and amazing shells.

woohoooo, I successfully sailed off anchor. I’ve only done this one other time so this was exciting. I did have the motor on and used it to turn slightly but that’s it. I then shut er down and sailed the rest of the way, I also sailed onto anchor which was my first time ever doing that… FUN!!! I don’t love this anchorage it’s a little rolly so hopefully one night here then keep on moving! Days like today keep spirits high after a rough couple weeks!!

I had a really cool experience and a really scary one today. (read to the end for a plot twist) I had a guy message me and ask how the anchorage I was at was for protection. (he saw my live location) i warned him that it was not protected at all and super rolly. He thanked me and we discussed our plans for the cut. He offered to buddy boat across the passage with me and even go through the cut first and radio to me the conditions after…. and isn’t that so nice?! Anyways we met up and cruised together in calm conditions about 2 hours after an insane squall came through. The cut was no big deal and super calm, we realized we both were continuing the same way. Off in the distance all of the sudden the skies were grey and i smelt the rain coming (florida girl core). I was cruising at 5.5 kts and as soon as the storm hit us i immediately dropped to 0.6kts!!! The winds were blowing against us, swell picked up and had several crashes over the bow, pelting rain, thunder and the worst… lighting all around. The storm lasted for what felt like forever but was probably 30-45 mins. I was glad to have Paul there with me, we stayed super close to each other and just rode it out. Although we were both solo it felt like we had someone else with us and made it feel a little bit safer. Now here’s the crazy part…. I was about a mile from the anchorage i was heading towards, the storm had just started letting up but still coming down and all the sudden i see a DINGHY coming across our bow. I began filming and thinking what in the heck is this person doing out in these conditions…. As the dinghy got closer and closer a million thoughts are going through my head and then i realize ITS MY FRIEND ALFRED. This psycho saw my live track on the app where I was getting spun around and barely moving and came out to check on me🫶🏻. Although i’m solo right now I feel very blessed to have people who care and check in (even in absolutely crazy ways😅) and super thankful for this app on bringing sailors together ⛵️🙌🏼🩷

oof. a tough one. I left marsh harbour with the goal of sailing to green turtle. The first hour or so of the trip was great. just sails ups, cruising bout 3.5 kts… not getting there fast but getting there! Then the squalls hit… wind was coming from every direction, pouring rain. no biggy, i turned on the motor and kept cruising. As I got to Don’t rock passage the swell picked up and was going to make for a rough but doable cross over the sandbar… that was until 7ft, 6ft,5ft,4ft,3ft… luckily I draft less than that so no issue, however with the swell i was concerned of hitting bottom while bouncing around so i made the tough decision to turn around. This brought its own set of challenges now going head into the swell which sadie didn’t love. On top of that we have been having an issue where our sail is getting caught and wrapped around the bottom of the furler with the only way of untangling is completely pulling out all the lines and rerunning them which is obviously terrible while the winds blowing and underway. The last two times this has happened i’ve been able to pull it tight enough to stay until i got anchored. This time though… not so lucky the wind caught it and started flapping all around getting tangled even more. I put on auto pilot and went to the bow to handle this situation, the autopilot couldn’t keep up and sadie was getting pushed sideways, I ran to the back of the boat to steer and realized we had been pushed so far sideways we were about to be on a wreck and another sandbar. I quickly steered us away and just wrapped limes around the sail to hold it down. I’m suprised it survived the 30kt gusts but it did until I was able to get into the nearest anchorage.. that had zero protection. To add onto all the stress of the day already- as i was pulling into the anchorage the engine died 3 times. I’m sure I would’ve handled this better with more experience or with the help of someone else but i’m proud of myself for staying calm (i didn’t even cry once.. 🤣🤣) and figuring it out.

Back to Marsh, LAST TIME! The convenience is great but I swear if I have to come back here one more time 😅😅 okay that’s a little dramatic but i’m ready to keep heading north and hopefully get somewhere with some pretty water ASAP. These squalls and mucky water are not hitting.

Motor to Marsh for fuel and water then going to carry on north.. hopefully 😅 this back and forth is getting old. Got anchored no issues, couldn’t get fuel because the tide was so low. Will retry in the morning.

hop and a skip back over to hope town, fishing in the Elbow Reef Classic tournament tomorrow morning! Easy motor and anchor back in front of the lighthouse! Gosh these views don’t get old

Left Hatchet Bay after a loud night in the anchorage.. I slept like a rock (as usual) but poor Grace was kept up til 3am by the local bar blaring music. The protection in this bay is fantastic but other than that I don’t really see the appeal of this anchorage. Anywhoooo, we departed to head to queens bath and then to hit current cut on the outgoing tide. However when we got to the glass bridge anchorage it was super calm so we decided to spend the night instead of rushing to see everything in just an hour. We had such a fun day here and were able to anchor super close to shore. We just paddled into shore, went over to queens bath, then walked to the glass bridge and then impulsively decided to hitch hike all the way to the sapphire blue hole. We ate at trees bbq, a random backyard bbq station in the trees.. of someone’s literal backyard but boyyyy was it delicious and such good prices. We then popped into a local bar for a kalik and to eat our food, from there we hitchhiked all the way back. We are really leaning into everything each settlement has to offer and having more fun everyday!

Quick trip to hatchet bay after a nice relaxing stay in governors harbor. After all the hustle and bustle of the Exumas it was a welcomed change of pace in Eleuthera! My phone, computer and watch all broke so that’s quite the bummer, we spent the morning with a local police man turned electronic repair man on his day off trying to fix them but with no success. Now I’ll really be remote lol. The trip was a straight shot and extremely smooth, although not a lick of wind…. no really, maybe 3 kts of gust every now and then & boy was it toasty. Threw out a couple lines to troll over the banks and caught a tasty cero mackerel and a not so tasty barracuda, it was quite the thrill. We will probably hang out here for a day or two so I can get over to surfers beach and finally put this board to use 🏄‍♀️🏄‍♀️