April to May 2025

We only spent a few days in Turks & Caicos (TCI), but we will definitely be back. The South Bank Marina on Providenciales was great – it’s small – only about 10 transient slips, but they helped coordinate everything including customs. The customs agent came right to the marina and processed all our paperwork for entry and exit. We rented a van (which they delivered to us) and shared it with our friends on SV Critical Path which allowed us to drop Danny at the airport for his flight back home, run errands and visit several beaches and restaurants. TCI Highlights included a visit to Sapodilla Beach, Easter Sunday Mass (just Cathy and me) at Our Lady of Divine Providence which was packed with visitors and locals and sunset cocktails at the Ricky’s Flamingo Cafe, a beach bar where Bobby made great friends with the waitress (of course). So much more to see so we will be back for sure!

Next stop was the Bahamas. We made the 245+ mile passage to Georgetown Exumas to pick up Beth & Steve. Having set the anchor in Georgetown harbor, we headed in to clear customs. Town was bustling and soon we realized it was the start of their big regatta weekend. That meant that most business had closed for the weekend celebration, and the customs door was locked. We tried knocking and finally an agent came to the door and while he didn’t seem too thrilled, he did check us in. Our next problem was that immigration (a separate department) was at another location and they were closed and gone for the day, so we had to quickly jump in a cab with our friends from SV Critical Path and go to customs at the airport. We “cleared in” just moments before Beth & Steve were arriving on their flight and the office closed for the day. Phew!

As Beth & Steve arrived, it was time for Bobby to depart as he had to get home and work on his own boat! He’d been with us for just two weeks and we’d traveled almost 800 miles together – making great memories and catching a few fish :).

Beth & Steve were excited to explore the Bahamas and we were able to make several fun stops in the Exumas. We anchored at Little Bay by a perfect sand beach ; we stopped at Staniel Cay where we celebrated Billy’s birthday at the Yacht Club; we snorkeled the “Aquarium” which was teaming with fish on our way to Warderick Wells and Highbourne Cay. We made the nerve racking crossing over the “Great Bahama Bank” where you really have to watch out for coral heads. With sun overhead you can see the dark shadows of the coral, so it’s doable, but tiring. We arrived at Spanish Wells, Eleuthera where our nephew Christopher (Beth’s son) had spent time during his sailing adventure a few years ago.

We left Spanish Wells and sailed up to the Abacos which would be our northernmost stop in the Bahamas and where we would launch from to reach the US East Coast. We entered into the Sea of Abaco and made our way up to Hope Town on Elbow Cay with its iconic lighthouse. Sadly, it has been a very dry winter and Great Abaco which was just a few miles to the west of us, was literally on fire. We could see the massive smoke plumes as we approached and at night you could actually see the fires burning. They only have a volunteer fire department and were struggling to keep it under control. As Beth and Steve left for the airport in Marsh Harbor the next day the fire was very close by, but they managed to get out. Note: within a few weeks the fires were under control, but we were able to see and smell the smoke the entire time we were there.

Nea and Karl Hoyt were next to arrive – Karl was going to help us sail back to the US and Nea came for the week – which was such fun as she had never been to the Bahamas. We explored Elbow Cay again, this time walking a bit further down the cay to enjoy the beach bars. It was a good long walk and several people stopped to offer us a ride in their golf carts! Scott V arrived (our 4th crew for the passage home) back at Marsh Harbor so we picked him up and headed to Great Guana Cay. We paid a visit to two “famous” hot spots – Grabbers and Neckers and had a great snorkel off the north shore beach – it was wonderful to see the coral coming back – bright purple and coral colored fans – a good sign for the Bahamas.

Nea was due to fly out on the 9th but the weather wasn’t good for our passage so she stayed a few extra days and we were able to get further west to Green Turtle Cay. We rented a couple of golf carts from some friendly locals and were able to swim with the sting rays and turtles (Billy really does have a high pitched scream!). While the roads were quite rough we made it all the way to the northern most point which is so remote – we couldn’t imagine that people actually live there, but they must come and go by boat.

With the “thumbs up” from Chris Parker’s weather service we headed out of Marsh Harbor on the morning of Wednesday May 14th (5 days later than we’d hoped). As we left, we found ourselves in a pack of about 6 boats – everyone heading north. We were with our friends on Zephyr for a bit – but they are faster and took off into the horizon. The initial part of the passage was painfully slow. We were only averaging 4 knots (half speed) fighting an opposing current. A couple of Salty Dawg boats (SV Sol Y Viento (means Sun and Wind in Spanish) and SV Brenna) were with us the whole way. The winds finally picked up and we all arrived to Beaufort NC on the morning of Saturday May 17th.

While we have stopped here each year on our way home and really love the coastal town, this time we decided to take a tour boat out to Shackleford Bank to see the wild horses who have been on the bank for over 400 years! It was a wild and windy day but the locals don’t seem to let that slow them down. We had our friends from SV Brenna (Ian & Betsey) join us and we took a pontoon boat out through the reefs to the bank which they run right up onto the beach (same for picking us up). While the horses are super skinny due to the lack of nutrition on the scarce sandy island, they survive year after year. We followed the tour with a visit to a local pub (of course!) where some musicians were having a drop-in jam session and we were treated to a little “southern” education – which we greatly enjoyed!

After a couple of days we had another weather window to get around Cape Hatteras which can be treacherous, so weather routing is super important. We had a pretty easy journey – with light winds, motor sailing at first and then sailing up and into the Chesapeake Bay and into Hampton harbor. The Nor’easter that hit New England Memorial Day weekend passed by us on Wednesday and we waited it out then headed north on Friday morning behind the weather system. The storm really took the wind with it so for the first part of our passage there was little wind and we just had to motor. We finally caught some wind and realized as we passed south of Block Island on Sunday morning that we could make it all the way home that day. Hitting speeds as high as 11.5 knots (which is a little TOO fast) we easily got through the canal as the tide changed in the early afternoon and made it to Pleon Dock by 11 pm on Sunday – just in time for the Maddies crew to come by and welcome us home!

What a Season! With amazing weather, (mostly) fair winds and wonderful guests and crew, we had a great time and are already talking about next season! That said, we are happy to be home – enjoying the apartment life (well, at least I am) and being land based for a time.

Enjoy your summer!