S/V Halley

36 26.171 N 75 28.460 W After a week in lovely Cape May, New Jersey, a weather window finally opened up for another long haul south. We are currently underway to Beaufort, North Carolina, a passage of 470 some nautical miles (870 km or 540 miles). The weather is cool, but we have good wind with sun shine here and there. At night, it’s all dark around us; no full moon this time, only a sliver that occasionally peeks out between clouds. This leg takes us around Cape Hatteras. It’s infamous among sailors for being subject to tough conditions. Constantly shifting shoals extend out from the cape for miles and two major currents, the Gulf and the Labrador current, converge on the cape, making for confused and rough waters, especially in high winds. The latest forecast is for winds to remain moderate and steady from the west, good conditions to round the cape in about 12-15 hours. In the meantime, we are cruising along nicely with a full main sail and head sail up. Chris took the early night ...

39 01.723 N 74 35.428 W A full moon on the open ocean is crazy bright. It has been our companion for two nights now as we are making our way to Cape May from Block Island. Last night it set in the west into its own reflection, a spectacular pool of molten lava, Tonight, it’s still up as we are closing in on Cape May.

  41 22.033 N 71 27.606 W We think that is what they call sun. Feels like a novelty after 5 days of rain, wind and clouds on anchor. But now we are happy. The parachute sail is hoisted and we are heading to Block Island in calm, beautiful conditions. We’ll spend a day or two there, then use it as a convenient jump-off spot into the Atlantic for our journey south.

41 19.605 N 71 57.597 W We’ve been bouncing around on anchor in Newport, Rhode Island, for the last several days. White caps in the harbor, rain, chilly and gusts up to 35 knots (18 m/s). It’s a classic New England Nor’easter. We’ve been mostly stuck on the boat; too choppy and rainy to make a dinghy ride to shore any fun + plenty of vessels around to keep an eye on in case they (or we) drag anchor.  So instead, cozy onboard with candles lit. Indoor projects for Chris from the never-ending list and regular work days for me. But, we have snuck out for a few walks and really enjoy Newport. Lively atmosphere and charming old houses. The harbor is large and full with sailboats of all kinds and sizes. Definitely a sailing Mecca. We also had dinner with a Rhode Island couple that we met in the Bahamas last season. Fun to reconnect and trade stories. Now we are obsessively following the PredictWind models to see when a weather window opens up to head south. We are hoping tomorrow, but wil...

41 01.963N 73 30.650W Radio silence for a while, but Halley has been sailing since the beginning of August. We took a break starting in early June to move out of our apartment in Cincinnati and put stuff into storage. We also got Eva and Axel situated in a charming old apartment that they are now sharing near University of Cincinnati where they both study. Chris pulled the load of much of that work while I was spending precious time with my mother in Sweden. My mother passed away peacefully on July 11 while I was still there - a great lady whose time had come and whom we will miss a lot. Chris and I got back to the boat at the end of July. Halley had been docked at Port Royal in Beaufort, South Carolina, and was no worse for wear, other than a rusty water line. We headed north to get away from the heat and the hurricanes and to see friends and family up north. We trucked along for several 3-day/2-night passages and additional day trips - the US east coast is long - and finally arrived ...

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.