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Last Updated:
1130 EST / 8-23-09
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Abaco, Bahamas to Charleston, SC '09 - May 13 through June 6,
2009 |
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Date/Route/Crew/Time |
Position |
5-13-09
Matt Lowes Cay, Abaco-Charleston, SC
Crew: Gregg, Jen, Quinn
0825 - underway |
26°33.675'N,
77°01.091'W |
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0905 (completed
compass swing) |
26°34.882'N,
77°01.753'W |
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1505 |
26°53.780'N,
77°19.828'W |
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2100 |
27°19.680'N,
77°44.771'W |
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0310/5-14 |
27°46.114'N,
78°08.807'W |
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0910 |
28°10.432'N,
78°32.100'W |
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1515 |
28°35.252'N,
79°00.810'W |
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2115 |
29°01.144'N,
79°30.091'W |
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0300/5-15 |
29°39.101'N,
79°34.720'W |
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0900 |
30°22.560'N,
79°37.691'W |
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1305 |
30°52.900'N,
79°39.796'W |
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2100 |
31°41.802'N,
79°43.579'W |
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0330/5-16 |
32°17.373'N,
79°45.918'W |
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1000 (docked @
Charleston Maritime Center) |
32°47.317'N,
79°55.448'W |
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Total Time: 3
days 90 minutes (including compass swing), Total Dist:
approx 428.3 nm |
5-17-09: We got into Charleston around 10 AM
yesterday and it ended up being perfect timing for docking
(tide & current). We were glad for the good timing as
Charleston Maritime Center's docks can be a bit of fun when
the tide is running. It was our longest passage yet with
just the three of us on board and we were very pleased how
well we managed it. There are a lot of balls in the air
while we're at sea with a 3 year old and only two crew, but
as the third day at sea drew to an end we were both settling
into a groove. Norfolk was another 400 nm north and we were
tempted to just keep on going. If Charleston wasn't one of
our favorite ports we probably would have done just that.
We started out motoring so we could keep our speed down
while going through the "tuna road" area off the coast of
the Abacos. It was a beam reach and keeping Mirasol under 5
knots in 15 knots of wind is more work than fun so we just
kept the sails furled and tried to catch some fish. Yes,
tried. No joy on tuna road, much to our disappointment.
After our little detour to tuna road we settled into
"passage mode" and pointed Mirasol towards the Gulf Stream
and Charleston. It wasn't long after losing sight of Great
Guana Cay that we started having problems with our
autopilot's compass. After some gymnastics with our nav
system we decided to keep going and deal with the
aggravation of the faulty hardware rather than turn back. It
was a bit of a nuisance, but easily managed. Check out our
blog for more on this.
As we left the Abacos in our wake we enjoyed gentle 8'
rollers on our stern quarter. As we moved out into the
Atlantic, the rollers from the SE started mixing with larger
10' rollers from the NE. These were from a system hundreds
of miles away. The mix generated a pretty lumpy and
uncomfortable sea. Gregg found the seas fun to watch, but
made reading a little queasy... which is unusual. Jen tucked
into some Stugeron and happily didn't have any significant
worries with mal de mer. Quinn claimed sickness, but it was
obvious he just wanted crackers... "I'm sick... can I have
some crackers?" Meanwhile he was running around the boat and
playing with Legos. Little fibber.
The seas from the SW eased off and we rode gentle 10'-12'
rollers from the NE for much of the rest of the way. The
winds stayed under 15 knots and died off to under 10 knots
once we were in the Gulf Stream. We motor-sailed whenever we
couldn't maintain 5 knots (about half the time), and fished
the whole way during daylight hours. We caught a Mahi and
had a tasty dinner that night and froze the rest.
Approaching Charleston was short on wind and long on ship
traffic. Gregg decided he wanted an AIS receiver after
dancing with a couple of large cargo ships. We arrived
shortly after daybreak, tucked into our slip at Charleston
Maritime Center, did our little dance (read the
superstitions blog), and Jen whipped up some tasty bloody
marys while we waited for the customs officer to clear us
in.
We all settled into a nice comfy nap in preparation for some
tasty ribs we'd been looking forward to. Mmmmm... ribs...
5-24-09:
We still really like Charleston. We got a grown-up afternoon
and evening thanks to Grandma & Grandpa. We actually saw a
movie in a theater for the first time in ??? Then we went
out for tapas afterwards. So, two recommendations. First, we
saw Angels & Demons. It was good, but read the book first -
the book was much better. Second, if you find yourself in
Charleston, Chai's Lounge and Tapas had excellent food,
drink and service.
5-29-09:
Mirasol is famous! Ok, not really, but she was on Charleston
local news this morning. They were shooting at Charleston
Maritime Center because the tall ship docked here is
participating in the Charleston to Bermuda Race and because
the race started just off the marina here. Mirasol was in
the footage at the docks.
Our plans are to stay in Charleston for another week. We are
enjoying the town quite a bit and we're also getting a lot
of things done. We may or may not stop in Norfolk, but Quinn
is already asking to go to the Children's Museum there so we
may make a brief stop.
6-5-09:
Our plans are to depart Charleston on Sunday. We have a
decent, not great, but decent weather window to get around
Cape Hatteras and back up to Norfolk. This should be our
last long sail for a while as the Chesapeake really lends
itself only to daysailing - can't see the crab pots at
night. We have a reservation at the same marina we were at
last fall (www.watersidemarina.com) for up to three nights
at this point. Definitely a GREAT spot - right in downtown
Norfolk (near shopping & restaurants) and a short ferry ride
to Portsmouth for a day at the Children's Museum. We rented
a car yesterday and picked up Quinn's birthday present a
little early - he got his first two wheeler bicycle, with
training wheels, of course. He's got it down already and
he's quite fast on that little bike. We were able to find a
good home for Quinn's old tricycle with the dockmaster
(actually with his nephew) here in Charleston. Got a lot of
other business taken care of while we had the car too.
Bought new rugs, some bigger fenders, a folding bike for
Gregg, a wetsuit for Jen, and a new cooler for the bounty of
fish we're going to catch ;)
6-6-09:
Spent the day doing some last minute provisioning and
getting the boat ready for the sail. We plan to be off
the dock by around 8:30 tomorrow morning and hopefully in
Norfolk by 2:00 pm on Wednesday... or not. |
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