Fullll circle indeed! Two seasons of WB-USVI complete. Felt pretty wild bringing Bella back in the inlet to Wrightsville today. And with 3 other young crew with me! Also multiple dolphin visits this morning!! We made incredible time for the first 36 hours - beautiful 18kt winds that pushed us along at 8-10kts. Thennn it died, but the glassy calm ocean was beautiful in its own way. Ate good food, played lots of hangman, slapped each other with tortillas, and journaled a lot. Gotta have a good mix of laughs and introspection out there. I also got to explore some new spots in the Bahamas this time around - the beautiful Abacos! Our final anchorage before this leg was my favorite for sure. Moraine Cay was definitely the best way to end my island season.

Easy sail over to our snorkel spot! One last stop before we head home! During this sail I made little key lime pies!

Very excited to jump in the water and check out this reef! Got the place all to ourselves :)

Motor-sailed up to Powell Cay after our little pit stop in Hope Town. So so so beautiful here. Going to enjoy this one last night on anchor before starting the trek up to NC! Also excited to wake up and see this anchorage in the daylight :) Repped our Goombay punch shirts 😎 we scored (free) at the regatta in Georgetown. Just lookin like a bunch of goons

Got an earlyyy start north to Warderick Wells for a nice hike before our long sail! Just as gorgeous as I remember. Then we spent the day sailing up and across the banks. Made it past the shallows/rocks before dark and thennnn our autopilot went completely dark. Lost depth, AIS, and wind speed too. Not so great for nighttime sailing in the Bahamas! We fiddled with some wires (which we had found seemed to be causing the autopilot to go dark momentarily whenever we hit a big wave and then kick back on) for a while with no luck. So hand steering it was! At least it was just one night with 4 people. I slept like a rock all cozy on the floor of the helm! Morning came aaaand just like that, it all came back on! Caroline says it was afraid of the dark. Now we’re anchored safely in Hope Town and it’s time to investigate further. Also idk why the track stopped and made it look like I sailed over an island…

New crew! Day sail from Georgetown to Staniel Cay. 2/4 crew were feeling seasick, but it was a good sail and nice to arrive at the beautiful Staniel Cay with good daylight left.

Stocking Island to Staniel Cay! Beautiful day! Perfect wind and lots of flying fish! Missed the storms that were all around us! Yummy Lima beans for lunch!

Staniel Cay to Hope Town! With a stop at wardwick wells to hike. (I probably spelled that wrong) Great wind and weather. Barracuda count is at 3. All fun until the autopilot that has been finicky when crashing on big waves went out right before nightfall and this time I couldn’t bring it back to life. (Im autopilot cpr certified) Nothing I haven’t done before :/ hand steering! The autopilot decide to come back on and act like nothing happened around 8:30am this morning. Always an adventure aboard SV Bella! Oh and as we were coming into hope town we passed by a sport fisher in the inlet which was BB a sport fish from wrightsville beach… small small world!

Sailed under the Caicos Bank and up to the Crooked Islands. Found an epic anchorage that we had all to ourselves (except for a couple sharks). Oh and a pair of dolphins guided us in the cut, right to where we dropped anchor! We explored for a day and just enjoyed the solitude in nature. Next stop was the north end of Long Island, Calabash Bay. Just a little pit stop for some calm water, banana pancakes, and a swim before making the final stretch across to Georgetown. A good mix of sailing and stopping over the past few days!

400nm on the dot! Found a sandy little spit of land to tuck behind last night at 2am for some good sleep and a nice morning swim/shower. It’s been quite windy and swelly out there - taking waves over the deck and covering ourselves and Bella in salt. Planning to cross the bottom bit of the Caicos Bank today and then head into the Bahamas!

Came to the realization this morning that today is my last day in St John! Crazy to think I’ll be leaving these islands in just a few short days. Much love to STJ and all the beautiful spots I’ve called home this season!

Very bittersweet to be making this final lap around STJ… I do love lameshure!

Hit two snorkel spots between a couple slow and easy sails. Even accidentally power napped for about 15 min! (not while sailing)

A beautiful day for some cave snorkeling and hiking!

A wee motor to our next stop on charter! More SES gear in action :)

Got the whole crew working for this one! Braden and I went into instructor mode teaching our parents.

This one is bittersweet for sure. Closing out the season with a nostalgic group of family and friends (we all bareboated in SVIs together 8 years ago).

Woke up and bopped over to the Indians before breakfast. Snorkeled and munched, then sailed over to hurricane hole to snorkel the mangroves. Beautiful and peaceful as always! Then cruised the south side of STJ to Caneel for the night. A rainbow followed us most of the way! And the squalls it came from barely touched us :)

Nice little downwinder to Norman for snorkeling and hiking! Very fun to have someone else driving the boat for a change!

Just cruised over from Virgin Gorda to Marina Cay.

Made it to Saba! Lol not quite but still had a great evening at Bitter End and Saba Rock.

Definitely not the best weather for it, but we gave it a shot! First the starboard lazy jack snapped, then the port engine stopped. Two strikes and I wasn’t about to have a third. Tacked and sailed north to Virgin Gorda. Got the generator charging the batteries and the port engine started right up after we sat on anchor a couple hours. Change of plans, but it all worked out for the better. Now enjoying BVI for a few days. I’ll get to the real Saba one day!

Secretly baked an almond flour bday cake for one of my gf guests while everyone was swimming. Anna had the bright idea to hide it up top to cool :))

Girls are fully acclimated to boat life now. Waited out the rain at Francis, then snorkeled Waterlemon, had lunch and sailed back towards town to the tune of good ol 2016 vibes

Sailed to Solomon Bay/Cruz Bay to grab some things from town. Then the girls just enjoyed the sun while Anna and I set new personal bests freediving :)) I also landed square on top of the dinghy line when jumping in…

Repping some Sea Earth Sail merch :)) Loaded up 4 gals onboard (plus Anna and I) and headed east! Started the charter with a nice evening snorkel at Christmas cove.

After some yummy pancakes on Xander’s boat and a good scrub on Bella (in prep for charter pick up), we buddy sailed over to the ledges for a nice freedive. Then scooped another friend from Red Hook and continued on our way back to STT. Ended the evening with the most lovely Greek dinner party - homemade tofu pita, hummus, cucumber salad, lentil soup, and pasta salad! Also including a flick from the next morning’s dinghy ride to yoga with the same crew (in the rain..)

Sailed over to St John to meet up with some friends for dinner in town and of course a skinny dip after :)

Another flat calm day out there. Just anchored back at the home base and dropped charter. Now to devour the best veggie burgers on the island!! Gotta stick to my little post-charter tradition 😎

Started our day with a nice hike up the mountain from Cinnamon Bay. Then got underway with light winds, but had a gentle little squall come through that gave us a good push!

Veryyyy little wind all day but I tried sailing anyways. Went a whopping 2kts in 4-5kts of wind :) but the calm water has been great for freediving! Also Anna chopped my hair off a little bit.

After this morning’s 20-25kt wind out of absolutely nowhere, this was a nice calm one.

Spring break is definitely causing some traffic around here! So many moorings full! Had to change up the plans a bit, but it all worked out. Snorkeled Booby Rock - sooo pretty with fun rock formations for freediving! Then the wind picked up to 20-25kts! From nothing! Coral Bay had whitecaps!

Starting off another charter! First had to get the anchor untangled from an old mooring (wasn’t me that anchored there…) but that little dive/freedive mission was eventually a success and we got on our way.

Nice little downwind and jibe around to Cruz Bay for hike + lunch!

Always nervous flying my drone but I had some good crew and lighter winds today, so we went for it! Catching it under sail was a struggle to say the least.. put up quite a fight with the return to home but we got her back!

Teaching some upwind sailing today. Gotta love catamaran tacking angles..😒 But such a beautiful day for it!!

Quite a day! Ended with a nice little breathwork flow by Meg 🫶

Easy little sail, Sofia shot some photos. Got anchored and zipped over to pick up a new dinghy!! A very exciting day indeed!

Taking some hitchhikers over to STJ ;)

Impatiently waiting for next week when the wind is supposed to calm down.

So we were just cozily eating chickpea pasta when a friend texted me saying not to get washed away… Realized there was a potential tsunami making its way towards us and we should either go up the mountain or out to sea! We picked up anchor and went out, along with a couple other boats in the harbor. But it seemed like a lot of people didn’t know ?? Got a couple calls from other captains here that we’re evacuating up the mountain. The warning ended up getting cancelled while we were out, but definitely better safe than sorry! Kinda wild.

Cruised along St. John looking at houses, pizza lunch and snorkeling at Christmas cove, then back to STT! Now for a few days off!

Today’s weather was gnarly. Sun came out at just the right times for a mangrove snorkel and tacos at Lime Out, but all the sailing was grossss! Wet and windy! Sofia and I have gone through many cups of tea.

Cruised back over to STJ after another full day of snorkeling 🤿🪸

Highly focused on snorkeling this charter - been hitting 3 spots a day! Perfect guests to have with Sofia working on shooting with her big ol underwater housing. This girl is hard at work let me tell you. Goes from being underwater to editing in about 20 minutes.

Heading east is really never much fun, and today was no different untillll I saw a whale breach! He didn’t come up again sadly, but it was very very cool.

Off to a good start! Left the dock around 10:30, headed to Little St James for a snorkel, then stopped for lunch at Lovango. Finished the day with another snorkel at Waterlemon and practiced diving with Sofía’s underwater housing!!

Forgot to end the track so this includes my drive to the airport hehe oopsies

I have my family onboard this week and it’s been quite a trip! Aunt got food poisoning. Mom got weird unknown sickness. I sliced my back on a rock yesterday, then on this sail noticed I was tracking blood around from an unknown cut on my toe ?? Idk what’s up. But at least I didn’t crash my drone while practicing flying it!

Gustyyyy today!! Wind keeps shooting down the mountain. 20-30kts consistent. First picked up a ball at Salt Pond but decided the swell looked too uninviting for snorkeling, so kept going and tucked in around the corner at Lameshure.

Cruised back from BVI to STJ. Anchored up in the beautiful Hansen Bay :)

One last sail back to Hassel island 🫶 raced a tanker (they won)

Sail to buck island for some freediving and lunch :)

Enjoyed the big breeze today and cruised around from Maho to get to Lovango for lunch!

Thought twice about stopping in Newfound for a snorkel since it was a bit too choppy. Decided to tuck in at Waterlemon for the night. Beautiful sail as always!

Cruised over to Coral Bay from Salt Pond after a fun day on charter snorkeling and hiking! Saw the sunset and the moonrise. Under full sail the whole way!

Started the morning with the watermaker not working. Did some diagnostics and got her happy enough but also got a new part ordered and on the way. All while the guests were hiking the petroglyphs at Reef Bay! Then sailed all the way back go Charlotte Amalie and dropped them ashore for shops/dinner. Evelyn and I can’t wait for our 8pm bedtime

Very swelly today! Hit 10kts for a bit but the swell slowed us down :/

Let my 2nd mate (a kid on this weeks charter) steer his first ever tack 🫡 he’s hired!

Heading back to the home turf

Changing it up and taking this week’s charter west to the SVI. Very excited to be exploring some different spots than usual.

Forgot to start tracking right away but had a nice little downwind cruise back to town

Nice breeze, quick little sail over to our next stop on charter. Day 4! More hiking and snorkeling today :)

Had our fun in beautiful St John, now back to work/chores for a couple days

Sailed a couple friends over to Christmas Cove to swim and eat Pizza Pi! Anchored there for the entire afternoon and cruised back before sunset. Then had a blissful little sunset swim with everyone before going to dinner/drinks in Cruz Bay. Incredible day! Finished with a lime in da coconut at Woodys 😉

What a trip! Back in the Virgin Islands for season two! First charter starts in a week 👀 Tomorrow will consist of a good swim and shower, a big boat clean, then Thanksgiving dinner with some friends on land. Very very happy to be here! This passage was so smooth. We had great wind, 15-25 kts and always aft of the beam until the last two days. Only one day becalmed and only one day/night that was rainy and rough. Caught 5 fish. Crew was amazing (autopilot included). 10/10 trip

Turned around 120nm out.. autopilot stopped working and AIS got weird, one of three crew was seasick and only 2 people hand steering for 10 days sounded pretty rough. I think it was the right decision to go back while we still could, but boy that was not a fun decision to make.

Liveaboard day 4 was a beautifully smooth sail back up to WB. Everyone took naps, zero swell and a consistent 5-6kts boat speed. Oh and came home to the most incredible sunset!!

Venturing a little further south on the ICW for this one! Heading back north oceanside the next two days.

Teaching some students the ways of offshore sailing! Had big wind, big swells, and big seasickness unfortunately. But we made it!

Lil charter today :)

First liveaboard course on Bella here in WB! Two amazing students and four beautiful days.

Somehow avoided the bad storms all around us and successfully got ourselves docked downtown Wilmington! First river cruise charter in the books 🫡

A very close hauled motor-sail up the ICW and another pass under the bridge🫣 Charter day 2 of 2 🫡Chilllly once again but a beautiful day indeed! I’m an island gal through and through it appears…

First overnight charter back in NC 😎 sailing down the ICW, made it under the bridge at Snow’s Cut easy peasy!

Quite a memorable sail in so many ways! First, my 2 crew were first time passage makers - one is my closest friend and the other a 16yo who has decided he wants to sail around the world. The first day, we crossed the Great Bahama Bank in gorgeous weather. Then our autopilot stopped working on the very first night watch. After much struggling and even a phone call to Raymarine, we gave up hope and hand steered the rest of the way. Got very good at foot steering too! Beautiful, easy, and speedy Gulf Stream sailing until the last 3 hours…then we had the most spectacular lightning storm. Strikes all around us but did not get hit thankfully. Really just threw in some excitement right at the end! Now safe and sound, right back at Bella’s home dock where I was 6 months ago. A bit surreal to be home..

Left at sunrise from Shroud Cay and flew on up to Nassau in beautiful wind! Little crew change and recoup before the next leg of my passage north.

Still moving north towards home, but taking my time and enjoying every minute of these islands on the way :)

Quick little hop over to the Exumas from Long Island! The absolute brightest stars!!

What a bittersweet sail! I’m heading north to Wrightsville Beach after an amazing first season in the USVI. Running captain-only charters in a new place on a new (to me) boat! An incredible learning experience and one I am so very grateful for. Now for the sail home… This first leg of the sail was absolutely beautiful - great wind, held a nice 6-10kts boat speed the whole way, and even flew the spin (a bit jury rigged since it’s not for this boat) on the first day. Only a teeny bit of rain. This happy little stopover in the Bahamas is a great treat - After a crew change and a couple days in these blue blue waters, I’ll be on to the second half of the trip. See you soon WB!!

Quick little motor-sail over to Waterlemon! Managed to sneak in between the rain showers, but didn’t have as much wind as I’d hoped…Bit of glassy water towards the end :( Tomorrow should bring a better breeze!