After 64 days chugging along the ICW, 2.5 months exploring the Bahamas and 18 days coming back…we are home! New Jersey is on fire though, the biggest wildfire in over 20 years right next to the Barnegat bay. Whirlwind of an experience; from learning Sweet Rain to navigating all types of conditions. Troubleshooting issues, you name it. Looking back, the first week; dropping anchor for the first time worried every inch we moved to sailing 3 days offshore. So much growth and still so much to learn. The hard days were rewarded by remote empty surf breaks. The wonderful people. Exploring the water as our backyard and endless insane sunsets. It was such a treat to experience. We’re excited to dial more into sweet rain and ourselves these coming months. For now, we’re enjoying civilization and land life. Bahamas, thanks for the best first crushing experience!!

First time single handed. Cape may to Barnegat light. Winds were SSW all day! Around 10-12 knots. Had to gybe a few times to stay close before the wind shifted west around 730. But it was good. A massive wild fire broke out in NJ yesterday, it kept growing as I got closer and closer to LBI. The smoke was thick and ashes ended up getting on the boat all night long.

What went wrong did ❌Ran out of propane right as we left ❌Two cars on our main broke ❌Blower motor burned out ❌Blew our electric fuse for charging our phones ❌Water leak The forecast never came to fruition despite having a great first 80 miles. Beautiful sunset followed by a sky full of stars. It was pleasant sea state. Shit hit the fan at 1am til 10am. Our west wind clocked NNW and picked up. The swell became 4’ and we were slamming in it. Some slams made me question if we were going to buckle by the sound of the wood! Pete was a champ and manned the night watch. He ended up tacking 6 times 😅 Once daylight broke the wind died. We motor sailed waiting for the west wind that never came. Gas levels became a problem. The last few miles Clark towed us into cape may. And boy were we happy! Sweet rain makes it to her home state!! Taking the weekend to rest. 16 days from Bahamas to NJ ‼️

First half of the day had nice wind and slamming some miles. We had a few bridge schedules and a lock to contend with and luckily squeaked by! The wind one then nose hard the last half of the day with some gusts stopping us right in our tracks. Made it on a free dock just before the last glimpse of sunlight! Another big day for the sweet rain crew 😊

Through the pungo river > pungo canal > alligator river > albemarle sound! It was a big ask to get through this today and the conditions provided! Massive ICW day for us 👏 SW winds made for a drastic contrast on the albemarle from last time. A treat on the way back!

Had a great pit stop at oriental and even meandered through their boat show. we resupplied, fueled up and made our way first thing in the morning. We knew wed have to sail up wind a good amount today, which proved to be a challenge. But we got some decent hours of sailing in between the bashing. Our blower failed as we got to anchor so now we’re jigging one up 😅 Aiming for a big day tomorrow!

Another slog but happy we made the push! Winds strong on the nose and had some current with us. Overall, very slow and chilly.

Dealt with all of the elements! Winds were Forecasted to be very windy but reality proved otherwise. Winds faded out on us mid afternoon really slowly us down Got caught in our worst storm yet. Sort of hove to with engine during it. Wind gusts were 50 knots and lots of lightening. The grand finale was getting into the inlet against a 2 knot current at 1030 pm making a 2 mile trip turn to two hours lol But we made it!

Rode the current up the cape fear river first thing this morning. Wind at our nose all day definitely hurts our progress. Potentially doing an overnight to Beaufort? We will see!