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5.5kts

Last update: Jul 20, 2025 4:46 PM

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Sadie

Anna Maria Island, FL

Howdy! I’m a newbie sailor that just completed my first season in The Bahamas, after a refit Sadie ⛵️ this past winter ‘24-‘25. Im learning everyday and have BIG dreams of circumnavigation in the near future! I am an ex-full time vanlifer and traveler- I have been all over the US, Canada and Mexico in the van with my pup Hadley Mae and now we’re ready to tackle the sea!

Lexi DeLeon
Saint Johns River, Jacksonville, Duval County, FL, USAJul 20, 2025

Distance

2.1nm

Avg. speed

6.8kts

Duration

19m

Morning trip
Lexi DeLeon
Fanning Island, Jacksonville, Duval County, FL, USAJul 8, 2025

Distance

43.4nm

Avg. speed

7.3kts

Duration

5h 56m

See ya later St. Augustine! 🥲

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!

Lexi DeLeon
Matanzas River, St. Augustine, St. Johns County, FL, USAJul 8, 2025

Distance

63.8nm

Avg. speed

5kts

Duration

12h 49m

New smyrna-> St. Augustine 😅😴

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?!

Lexi DeLeon
New Smyrna Beach, Volusia County, FL, USAJun 14, 2025

Distance

192nm

Avg. speed

4.1kts

Duration

1d 23h 2m

Evening trip
Lexi DeLeon
BahamasJul 8, 2025

Distance

5.7nm

Avg. speed

4.3kts

Duration

1h 20m

Double breasted to Grand Cay 🏝️

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

Lexi DeLeon
BahamasJul 8, 2025

Distance

40.8nm

Avg. speed

4.7kts

Duration

8h 36m

Rope in the prop 🥲

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!

Lexi DeLeon
Green Turtle Cay, BahamasJun 2, 2025

Distance

11.6nm

Avg. speed

3.6kts

Duration

3h 11m

Stormy sail ⛈️⛈️ (solo)

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 ⛵️🙌🏼🩷

Lexi DeLeon
BahamasJun 1, 2025

Distance

19nm

Avg. speed

4.2kts

Duration

4h 31m

Toughest trip yet. (Solo)

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.

Lexi DeLeon
Governor’s Harbour, BahamasMay 7, 2025

Distance

59nm

Avg. speed

4kts

Duration

14h 37m

Exuma to Eleuthera 😴🇧🇸🐠⛵️

wooooo, what a day! Started with a 3:15 am wake up call to make it to Wax Cay Cut at slack. It was pretty sketchy navigating through the rocks and rolly waves to get to the cut, then once in it boy was it rough. x10000 because we couldn’t see where the waves were coming from and were just getting thrown all around. Once we made it through there we motored for a couple hours til sunlight through some pretty rolly swells 3-5 ft 2-3 secs i would guess. Wind angle wasn’t entirely favorable so we were pretty much sideways against the waves making it even worse, but we put up the sails and it felt a lot better. I went to take a nap and was awaken by Grace frantically telling me that “somethings going on with the fishing pole there’s almost no line left on the reel” LOL i jumped up so fast- initially worried i left the bail open. Began reeling that in for the next 30 mins with a mahi on the end! We were SO stoked, this was our first one of the trip! We manifested this crossing would be when we caught one and we did! We sailed for id say 3/4 of the trip which is super great for us as we are still learning. We made it into Governors Harbor just before sunset, got anchored and ready for a long night of sleep and an easy going day tomorrow, along with our fish tacos for dinner tomorrow night 🤤🤤. (last pic is fish blood on my face blending in with my freckles 🤣🤣)

Lexi DeLeon
Calabash Bay, BahamasApr 11, 2025

Distance

29.2nm

Avg. speed

4.4kts

Duration

6h 35m

First SOLO SAIL 🙌🏼⛵️🎉🌸🌊🏝️

Today was a day i’ll remember forever!! Woke up to a text from my friend Reagan asking if i wanted to buddy boat over to Long Island. Of course I said yes and immediately started getting the boat ready to go, after being anchored in Georgetown for 1.5 weeks it was a process lol. Grace my boat buddy had to fly out for a couple weeks so i’ve been on my own but haven’t sailed up until this point because my mom was visiting and weather wasn’t great. I motored out of the harbour and once out over the ledge I dropped in two lines trolling a couple different loud squids hoping to heighten the stoke and land something big… spoiler alert I caught nothing again.. 🥲 I put up the main sail which was a little stressful to do alone for the first time but I got it up and sailed away! The halyard on the jib snapped on our last sail and we haven’t climbed up to fix it so the main is all I had for this trip. I was getting 2.5-3kts in about 6-10 kts of wind.. not sure if that’s “good” or not but I felt like a million bucks 🙌🏼 As I was sailing along just looking out in the deep blue Bahamian waters it was such a surreal moment that I was out there doing it. This trip has lit the fire for me, this may have been my first sail but it definitely won’t be my last. I have SO much to learn but i’m so excited to continue on this journey- this is just the beginning ⛵️ Once I arrived to Long Island, I was in awe at how beautiful the water is. I’d say the most beautiful i’ve seen so far. There’s big cliffs just around the cove, great coral heads, lots of big fish, tons of marine life, tasty conch fritters at the local happy hour, lots of flats (hopefully some bonefish👀), and fantastic weather so far. Excited to see what else this trip brings 🌊🩷🏄‍♀️🌸

Lexi DeLeon
BahamasApr 6, 2025

Distance

17.6nm

Avg. speed

6.3kts

Duration

2h 48m

Evening trip
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