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!

Winds were wonky today and forecasted to be very light. We made a risky decision to go outside with the light winds to avoid current against us. We did luck out and get a south wind for an hour that was our saving grace. It was unexpected and if quickly clocked East. We inched along and prayed for gusts. Can’t believe we made it🤣

Winds were gusting to 40 holding consistent 17knots but our Forrest tunnel was super protected. Almost too protected😅 Slower speeds fighting the current by progress is progress. Love this stretch of South Carolina. Mostly sunny but a surprise thunderstorm crept up on us forcing us to pull in early as the last bridge wasn’t going to open with the winds.

Some stronger winds outside today so we figured we could make a decent run inside the ICW! Back to hand steering and shallow water🤣 But we got so lucky meeting Greg in Charleston yesterday. He hooked us up with a shower and a grocery run. We’re fully stocked, cleaned our clothes and ready to keep pushing on. 550 ish miles to go!

Luckily the lightening hung in the sky mostly and didn’t make its way down to the water last night with the exception of 2 bolts. Some thunder and a rolly evening but overall, manageable. We picked up the anchor and continued toward west end under a little sail. The wind was meant to stay SW most of the day. After 3 miles, the current fighting us and seaweed got wrapped around the plop stopping us in our tracks. Pete freed this and we waited out a little longer to let the current ease up. About 2 miles from west end, our engine cut and we were in the ocean. We were taking the seas on the beam and getting pushed back and forth. We turned away from west end under sail. We considered crossing then since we couldn’t make it into west end under these conditions. We tried switching fuel tanks and managed to get the engine back on. We jibbed and changed direction. We had to tack a few times to make the approach under sail into the entrance. The entrance was super tight and the seas were not making it easier. Luckily we made it in safely! Phew. These last 2+ days have been a doozy. Desperate need of shower and some good sleep!!

We had the full range today. Slow, steady and squally with a side of thunderstorms. We stopped at mangrove cay to reassess and decided to press onward to west end. With 7 miles left to go, we decided to anchor out in the little bahama bank. Shallow and variable winds made sneaking between rocks feel way too sketchy. Hopefully tomorrow allows us to head into west end 🤞weather isn’t too bad tn

We had lots of options leaving green turtle today. Strong winds ranging 15-20; gusting 24knots SE. One option was to sail over night, past great sale; aiming for crossing the gulf mid morning. As we approached Great Sale, our game plan was to throw the dinghy on deck at sunset. But with dwindling light and stronger winds picking up, it would have been a nightmare messing with the dinghy. We decided to anchor inside great sale. Tacked inside and dropped the hook around 8:15. Overall, eventful day today. Stronger winds forced us to get our reef points dialed in as we weren’t doing it correctly before. One sail changed ripped skin off my finger pretty aggressively🤣 Felt like our Bimini experience all over again. Hopefully anchor is set in clean sand!

Calm waters and nice conditions around the whale. Two other New Jersey sail boats making their way as well!

Prepping to go around the whale these next few days. Exploring the northern islands along the way! Pretty uneventful sail. Some rollers but overall soft light hitting the sea and a nice breeze

Had an awesome time with Shannon on sweet rain! Now, sailed her back to marsh harbor for her flight back home. Had slow winds to start and filled in a bit more as we continued on. Gonna miss my bff but home soon enough 🥹🫡

Hunkered down in man of war waiting out the blow. Left first thing this morning back to Hope town for some waves! Winds didn’t come this morning, so we picked motoring 3.5 nm over 8.5 to guana

Happy day light savings! Quick trip to Man of War harbor for upcoming winds tomorrow night. Excited to check this calm place out.

Prepping for some wind heading into the week which means errands! Groceries, water and gas. Prob bouncing between the ancorages these next few days

Peaceful morning which we broke up from a pit stop for Pete to dive this barge that was full of fish!! Sadly I had work🥲😅 we continued on to anchor middle of elbow cay to check it out.

Back to our first to leave last to arrive status 😂 the 10-15 knot wind never arrived and we were stuck bouncing around all day. Swells were tame with the odd one every so often. Net struck our prop and Pete braved the 12,000 depths while we bobbed a measly 1.3 knots and cut us loose. The foot of our main has a nice 8 inch tear that came about today. Likely with the constant back and forth of the boom and now on our to do list. Stunning and calm anchorage greeted us at sunset and we had cobia swimming under our hull. Time for some grub and some rest!!

Waited out the gale to pass before pointing north east. Winds were up 50 knots! Rain cleared and blue skies emerged two hours into the sail. Slow to start with some motor sailing before winds filled the sails around 2pm. Seas were 4-6ft right on the beam until we got behind egg island. We’re dead down wind most of the day before it shifted North West. Tucked behind egg island with one other boat with calm water. The night before last was quite the active anchorage. Sad to see Pete’s parents off but had some nice R&R in Nassau🫶

Fastest sail yet for us! Seeing 7 knots multiple times today was🤯🙂‍↔️ Wind cranked all day and picked up at the tail end. Seas were confused at the beginning then filled in once we cleared Eleuthera. Mostly good chop on the beam before we angled into Nassau a bit more when we started surfing. Thick cloud coverage through the day. Even put on pants with the cold front coming from the north 😂 engine dethrolling again entering into Nassau. Anchoring was a bit of an excitement and took a bit of finagling before we settled behind Athole island. Sadly can’t get further in with these conditions but planning on moving early morning and spending time with Pete and Cindy🫶🍸

Windy sail 20-25 knots, for about two hours we were doing hull speed with two reefs in the main. And a bit of jib out.

Sad to leave governor’s harbor but excited to see more! Could write a whole post alone on govs; the people we met, the surf we caught and the amazing food we ate. Can’t wait to go back🫶 Really lovely sail today. Sailed the whole way. Blue skies, bluer water and no swell. Completed a full work day as if I were on land😂 Also a treat to sail on and off anchor today. Learning each day as we go!

Ideal sailing conditions for governors harbour! Consistent wind, full sails, cruising at 5.5-6knots! Slightly cloudy and a few boats out there on the same course. Can’t wait to explore more of this quaint town🙌

A bit of exploration in a different way. We searched around a bit and found some surf!

Woohoo!! The engine didn’t stop the party. Pete tinkered and resolved the issue (for now). Nothing stops Pirate Pete🤣 The wind filled our sails for a solid 7 hours. 78 and sunny with 6 knots was a definite contrast to yesterday! The wind slowly died throughout the day leaving us motoring the last bit. They weren’t kidding about the entrance to hatchet bay. Only a 100 feet wide (if that). It was hard to even spot until we were nearly there. What an entrance to this bay. Calm waters and a beautiful sunset🥹

Venturing to hatchet bay, Eleuthera when we got 6 miles out the engine started to throttle down. RPMs were dancing all over the place. Thought it was our coil, so we enchanted it out but still happening. Decided to turn back to Nassau to investigate further. Could be more electrical issue getting power into the engine 😔 To tinkering we go! ((Any atomic4 engine experts reading this? Any insight is useful!))

Friday night was a rocky evening at the anchorage. Low key got seasick 😆 Winds continuing to pick up all through Saturday until late afternoon when they settled. This morning we were getting tossed in 5-6ft swells coming at us every 3 seconds. We were second guessing leaving🤣 Once we were about 12 miles from Nassau it started to calm down. Had an adventure getting gas today. Going in was exciting with hitting the pilings then leaving bending our anchoring reversing kept things interesting. Nothing a pina colada can’t fix🤣

Hopped here to wait out things coming this weekend!

Spent two days in bullock harbor exploring via dingy! Beautiful anchorage with 9+ boats. Enjoyed the sunsets and being engulfed by the limestone We got an early 5am start as we knew the winds were going to be questionable. We ran down with most of the morning until the winds shifted NE, making it annoying and close hauled. Also tinkered with our rigging and tuning up wind as the creaking noise was getting more frequent We tacked our way along making slow but some progress and the winds shifted more east. Tucked away at anchor near a private island in calm waters! Ended the evening with sea turtles swimming around the boat (Pics are from bullock harbor and our trip today)

We motored until 7pm and dropped the hook a mile and a half off the path to nap for a few hours before heading back out. The waters were pretty calm and we were able to relax for a bit and give the engine a break. We saw a sailboat in the distance coming our way. We saw they had their sos signal on and were coming right towards us. The must have thought we were in trouble and were gonna help us out. We turned on our running lights and our engine and went on. They changed course when the realized we were just anchored out. A few moments later, we put the sail out and cut the engine. We went full sails for the rest of the way! It was truly Champaign sailing. Full moon, light beaming off the water. Flying fish and calm swells. I took watch until 230am and then slept from 230-530 and watched the sun rise Pete took 15 min breaks until we were both up. Boats were making their way around the islands but way far from us. The morning the swell picked up slightly. We put the main up to balance us and sailed right for land. He caught an unexpected barracuda! Pete sailed to anchor around 930 as I was taking a work call. Situated near the bullock harbor, excited to explore!

Beautiful day heading out of Bimini. Had some nice winds pushing us along until we turned east and had the light wind at our nose. Anchored out in the bahama bank, hoping we get some good winds to push us along tomorrow!

Successful 3rd overnight and first passage without land insight for 45 miles!

Started off thinking we missed our window so we figured to sail to Miami and stage there. We hit a squall and storm our first five miles and were indecisive on whether to keep going or not. Turned around two times and eventually kept going. Around 1 things really calmed down, the wind shifted and we made it to the Miami inlet around 3. Pete was obsessively checking all the reports and being out there, things were looking right. We decided to not turn into Miami and head for Bimini instead. If things were to be wild, we could always turn around. The first 5 miles of the Gulf Stream were the same conditions of our day. We had a SW wind and 3 ft swells, not bad. As we progressed further into the Gulf Stream the swell did pick up, 4-6 ft. Still not terrible with the wind SW. the wind did eventually shift NW presenting more rolly conditions. Things got sporty the last 10 miles, winds picked up gusting to 20 from the north kicking up the waves. We were bouncing on some bigger waves. We dropped the hook a mile off of Bimini in Nixon harbor. Wahoo!!!

Will report back tn. Charging phone but made it after an absurd amount of bridges and a tight anchorage!

***MONTH 2*** 17 bridges later and we finally made it to a decent anchorage right at dark in delray! Still dealing with a few engine issues that came up throughout the day luckily had wind and current in our favor. Beautiful day aside from all the stop and go. A few manatee sightings as well! 20 miles to Fort Lauderdale where I think we’ll jump from🤞

Waited a few days for parts that finally came at 1145 am! Just enough time to shove off and make my noon call! Nice wind behind us and we got further that originally planned with such a late start. Anchored off Jupiter island in hopes to making it either to or just past west palm. Waiting for the window to cross the Gulf Stream. In the meantime, we’ll just keep moving south for a shorter crossing! Z

Our first overnight sail was an overall success! Bioluminescent and a stary night, mostly. Squeezed between two rain storms and some dense fog. But had consistent west winds on the lighter side. Swells were 2-3ft and not very rolly We switched on two hour watches after a bit but mostly we were up together. The next day we enter beautiful blue waters and Pete caught a Spanish mackerel which we had for a late breakfast :) Happy new years!!!

Beautiful warm day down the ICW! Met fellow SeaPeople, sea dragon on the drag! Felt good to feel the sun and left the fog behind us (for now) Tricky anchoring with low depths, lots of big boats and minimal space. Hopefully things hold up over the night 🤞

Made it to st Augustine! Here for a few days :)

Merry Christmas 🎄🍾🎅!! Really cool remote way to Jacksonville. Chopping out sail to st Augustine into two and pushed a little more today for a shorter jump tomorrow.

Merry Christmas Eve! We made it to Florida 🥂🍾🎄 And a bonus, it was outside! We had 6 foot seas and light winds on the beam for half the day. Foggy / grey morning to start and turned to blue skis and 4-5ft seas and the wind died down. We had the main and Jib up most of the day until we were prepping for the inlet approach. We had the autopilot going and settled it. 54 degrees and sunny most of the day. We’ll take it!

After we picked up the anchor a few moments later the engine started to really act up. Luckily, we had wind behind us and we carried out looking for a quick hop to see if we can trouble shoot. About an hour later, we sailed to anchor and Pete started to trouble shoot. We did compression tests on each cylinder and replaced the spark plugs. An hour and a half later, she rebooted! We really need to investigate further the root issue but for now we kept going as we’re in a very remote part of Georgia. It got nasty pretty nasty throughout the day with rain and some wind. But we hit 1k nm today !!

Inching along Georgia! Gave the engine a much needed break and sailed for 4 hours today. Lots of twists and turns but beautiful open scenery. Definitely has the remote feeling in this stretch. Two boats passed us today, oddly the same boat both named Gaviidae?? lol

Decisions decisions We were contemplating making today our first overnight but with the latest forecast, we didn’t love the building wind. So, we moved onward! We were able to sail most of the day, which was nice. We stopped off at daufuski island at their free dock to pull up our dingy (in prep for offshore). Really cool island and lots of dolphins. Although we didn’t push overnight, we hit another state! Georgia!

Beautiful morning enjoying our coffee as we watching the monkeys play on the beach in the trees. Only fought the fog a little this morning. Short, warm day! Time to explore Beaufort SC

Started out in semi dense fog for a bit of the morning. Finally lifted and the sun was shining! Warmed up to low 70s. We saw deer stuck in the fog! Fought the current a here and there today. Instead of shooting stream to Beaufort, we did a side quest to monkey island. Anchoring at the observatory beach and listening for monkeys. Hopefully only light rain tonight. Calling for a thunderstorm but we’ll see!

Today was a doozy 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 it started when pulling up the anchor I went to put us in forward and the lever came right out lol I screwed it back in and managed to get us back in neutral. The eventfulness just begun … More fog rolled in this morning but was clear enough by 730. Warm morning to start and we were hitting our stride. Except, one oversight. The swing bridge. Around 5 miles out from Charleston we hailed the bridge which we arrive by 8:30. It won’t start opening until 9:30… frustrating we accepted defeat and thought to anchor and wait or get gas. We went back to the nearest marina, decided to hail that we were coming in 5 ish minutes to realize they only sell diesel. So we went .7 miles to the next marina, hailed them and couldn’t find their gas dock. Despite this failed attempt and annoying fussing around, it killed enough time to make our way back to the swing bridge. Just a few minutes to kill and we were through. Another 2 hours goes by and we’re enjoying the cruise in short sleeves!! It was sunny and warm and things were looking up. Until our engine abruptly shut off. We had 1.5 knots of current with us and weirdly a marina was on our left on what felt like a desolate stretch. No one answered the hail but we drifted toward in while Pete went through process of elimination. The engine wouldn’t turn over. Electrical problem. We got our voltage meter out to see where it wasn’t getting power. We thought it could be a damaged coil from the old alternator. A few hundred feet away, as I was preparing the dock lines she did start up. We tied up anyway to do some more analysis and regroup. We carried on in the on again off again rain and fog. And anchored in this beautiful marshy spot to prep for tomorrow’s watts cut, which needs to be timed right due to depths and currents.

After surfing and hanging with new friends on IOP we headed out to anchor in Charleston. We had good current, good wind & were able to sail!! Warmest day on the trip so far too✅

Today was a push! We weren’t sure if we’d make it to isle of palms and we barely did. We had a great current all day with the exception where a few inlets intersected. We let out the jib all day and hit hull speed a few times 😱 We were racing to get in before dark and it was questionable all day. But we wanted to try anyway. As we had most of the sail up and the current with an hour left we noticed darkness behind us and to our right. We didn’t see rain in the forecast? But definitely was a storm cloud in the distance. The knots kept picking up and we decided to pull in the jib significantly to avoid hitting a squall. Minutes later, that’s exactly what happened and we were so relieved we pulled in. It got darker and it started to drizzle and we had about 3 miles to go. With the jib mostly in we were still going to 6 knots As we pulled to the dock we had the wind at our back and the current. So Pete turned the boat to switch our approach and slow us down. Deck hands helped us out and tucked right in. Barely a sliver of light left, we just made it🥹 Hopefully surf tomorrow!!

Highlight was sailing through the Waccamaw River. Deep wide river that was lined with cypress trees. Really nice stretch after the twists and turns. I worked down below most of today but did pop out and enjoyed the stretch!

We waited out the gale in south port, which had amazing food and cute homes decked out for Christmas. A great stop to tuck away while the winds whipped through us. Max gust we saw was 45. Weather dipped today making the morning tough to leave with it being 30 degrees. We wanted to go offshore but the wind didn’t shift in time so we continued on the ICW We hit Lockwood folly inlet at dead low which was really low and not ideal to pass through. The current ran with us against us until we got to the border of North Carolina and South Carolina then switched back in our favor. Palm trees were abundant on this stretch and sadly no gators! Beautiful day with tons of homes lining both sides that of the water which really felt like the southern coast! State 6! SOUTH CAROLINA

I’m off by a day but today marks our month departing from our home slip! We got killed with current at cape fear but luckily, we didn’t have to battle the winds/gnarly swell that can kick up in bad weather. Had a soggy morning to kick us off but made it through and another day closer! Docked here to wait out the approaching gale heading for us Wednesday. Hopefully we can time our currents right for the next two days!

Today was a game of tide swings. We fought the tide most of the day almost missing the first critical swing bridge opening. The tide then turned in our favor for the next bridge opening which also was on the hour 4 miles away. Anchored at the busiest spot yet. Beautiful Wrightsville beach, lined with home. Dolphins swimming along the anchored was a treat!

Short day to wait out unfavorable tides. Got a little held up at the swing bridge other than that a chilly but straightforward day. Hoping tomorrows SW winds aren’t too aggressive and we can make our next stop at Wrightsville beach 🤞

Quickish trip to swansboro. Hopefully last night of freezing temps. Beaufort was such a cute and vibrant little town. We had nasty Gail force winds wedsnesday evening into Thursday morning. Around noon Thursday it calmed down. Today was tight and shoaling channels. Slightly tricky getting out with the wind and current but with some help we managed! We had light winds with slight jib out. Sunny but very chilly with the high of 41. Lots of dolphins and pelicans joining us today!