S/V Halley

32 23.679n 80 40.676w “Kan det jävlas så ska det jävlas”, a favorite statement of Kjell, my late father. It’s pretty much Murphy’s Law; if anything can go wrong, it will. Chris is now on a flight back to Cinci. He lost his driver’s license months ago and mine expired a few weeks ago. Turns out that you cannot rent a car even if your driver’s license is only a “little bit” expired. Chris will renew his license in Cinci, then come back on Monday to Halley, Lucy and me in Beaufort, South Carolina. It will be an epically expensive and time-consuming endeavor all for the purpose of getting Lucy with us back to Cinci. (Can’t fly dogs in the US this time of year - or really any time of year these days.). So once Chris is back with a precious driver’s license, we can rent a car, pack up and head back to Cinci to see the kids, other family and friends. After 6 months away it will be lots of fun. But we are on a somewhat tight schedule; we’ll also be busy packing up the apartment, putting thi...

31 49.068n 81 09.169w After four days on the move, we have the anchor down and are enjoying sundowners in complete stillness and quiet. We are surrounded by water and grasslands - not a soul around for miles - a stunning landscape in the evening sun. The area is teeming with wildlife - lots of birds and several sightings of dolphins as we made our way to the anchorage from the ocean inlet.  We’ll catch up on sleep tonight and tomorrow we’ll continue the last stretch to Beaufort on the Intercostal Waterway. Should be a pretty trip as the waterway snakes its way through the Lowcountry. A fun change of scenery from the open ocean of the past few days.

30 12.383n 81 10.831w Florida is a long state… our third day on the water is coming to an end and we are still 30 nm south of the Georgia border. But we are plowing along nicely and should be approaching Beaufort, South Carolina, by tomorrow night. We have a spot reserved at a marina near Beaufort and will leave Halley there for a month and a half while we spend time in Cincinnati and Montana. This is our longest non-stop passage yet. We’ve had better wind than expected and have sailed a good ¾ of the trip so far. The wind is predicted to die down over night, so the engines have to come back on, but we should be back to sailing again tomorrow if the forecast holds true. Right now, as the sun is setting, we have 10 knots from the east and are making 4-5 knots with a full main and the light wind screecher sail. Another night and another day is no problem under these conditions; Halley is comfortable, the breeze is warm and gentle and the seas are calm.

26 50.551n 79 58.241w It’s been over a month, but now Halley is sailing again. We are heading north from Ft. Lauderdale with the next stop TBD by wind and weather. The sun is setting over the Florida coastline, the wind is gentle off the beam and the Gulf Stream is helping us along with an extra 2 knots of speed. Soon we’ll settle into the night shift routine where Chris and I take 3-4 hour turns at the helm and Lucy keeps the off-shift person company in bed. And Halley is looking better than ever. While I spent May in Sweden with my mother, Chris oversaw a number of improvements and repairs at Just Catamarans in Dania Beach, Ft. Lauderdale. He was also busy with his own boat projects. Little to no mentioning of this during the phone calls to Sweden, but now I see many things fixed, cleaned and tweaked - nice surprises for sure. The biggest ticket items were the addition of 5 large and powerful solar panels, a new, heavy-duty chrome rack to hold them and an upgrade to lithium batteries...

26 06.202n 80 06.727w  We crossed the Florida straits from Bimini back to the US today. Our heading was due west the entire day towards Miami, but since we were catching a ride on the Gulf stream conveyor belt, we landed - as planned - in Ft. Lauderdale, 15 nm north of Miami, We had beautiful conditions with the wind from behind at 14-18 kt. Sailed most of the day with the genoa and the screecher wing-on-wing, i.e. one sail out to port, the other to starboard. It made for a pretty picture in the early morning when the sun rose behind us and colored the sail in rose hues. As we approached the US, it was time to take down the Bahamas flag, the foreign courtesy flag that flies on the starboard side of the mast. It had fared pretty well in the past five months with only some fraying. This unlike my Swedish “house” flag that flies on the port side of the mast. It had taken a real beating and will be replaced at first opportunity.  Then, out of the blue, as we entered the Ft. Lauder...

25 32.767n 79 16.755w We crossed the Great Bahama Bank yesterday for the second time. Last time was early December last year going east, now we are headed back west towards the US. Logged 80 nautical miles and had a great sail. Started in Chub Cay in the Berry islands before sunrise and ended on North Cat Cay in Bimini in time for sunset with a sun-downer and a cigar. 

25 24.513n 77 54.571w   This past week, we said good-bye to the Abaco island chain and sailed to the Berry Islands. We had just welcomed our good friends Rick Rauh and Jason Golden onboard. They got one night at anchor in calm conditions followed by a sunny and delicious lunch stop at the Abaco Inn on Elbow Cay. After that, time to amp up the action and head off into the deep blue waters for an overnight sail to the Berries.  We exited the North Bar Channel cut into the open ocean and had choppy conditions for a few hours. I haven’t felt anything other than a momentary twinge of seasickness for the past 4+ months, but this evening it was more than that. Quick, quick to eat and keep the stomach full, then off to bed before my night shift started. By the time I got back up, I thankfully felt fine again.  Seasickness is a finicky thing. The saltiest of sailors can go years without feeling anything and then, boom, there it is. Or, for some people it’s a constant concern. As a...

26 32.807n 77 03.614w In the past week, we visited lovely Green Turtle Cay, hung out for a few days and also toured the island by golf cart. It felt odd to be transported at speed over pavement on four wheels after months only on foot or on water. A steep downhill had me seriously considering bailing the cart - who knows when those brakes were last serviced in the land of Hakuna Matata? Chris and Lucy stayed cool, however, and Lucy definitely had nothing to complain about; she got the front passenger seat while I was bumping along in the back - typical. Over the weekend, we continued further north to Powell Cay and were astonished by the cool temps. For the first time in 4 months, we had long sleeved shirts and wind jackets on. It’s all relative, but 70F (21C) with a north head wind feels outright chilly after so long in a warm climate. Powell Cay offered up a cross island hike like so many we’ve enjoyed in the Bahamas: We anchor on the western lee side of the island, dinghy to the...

26 47.311n 77 20.327w A beautiful lightning show this evening. Thankfully at a distance. We have a 62 foot mast and are anchored by Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos, highest elevation 50 some feet. There are no other sail boats or tall structures around. Our Halley was struck by lightning once already with the previous owner. What are the chances?

26 41.175n 77 09.280w Time flies when you are having fun. It's been over a month since my last post - time to break the radio silence. Since early March, we’ve sailed 230 nautical miles and left the Exumas behind. We made a quick stop-over in Nassau and then landed in the Abaco islands, all still in the Bahamas. To see our track on a map, check out this link . Along the way, Chris has been busy maintaining the boat and wrapping up a few straggling cases and assorted legal work. On my end, I have been hammering away at the keyboard to keep up with my full-time job; Great American Insurance is unfortunately not yet on island time. But that said, there’s still plenty of time for exploring and fun on the way, just as I was hoping as we started out. We have also had Justus and Eva for a week of spring break (awesome) and just said goodbye to our dear friends Stan and Wendy Mambort who spent a long weekend with us. And what a surreal and fun moment it is to welcome old friends like Stan...