Destinations
Posts about places we’ve sailed to.
The Yasawas, Fiji
After the Lau group, we made our way to western Fiji in late July, and settled in for a week at Musket Cove in the Mamanucas. From there, we headed north into the Yasawas.
Fiji's Lau Group
After a week or two in the wonderful Nawi Island marina in Savusavu, Scout was back out on the water.
To Minerva Reef and Fiji
After six months in New Zealand, we said farewell to Opua and the Bay of Islands, and pointed Scout north into the autumn South Pacific. Ahead of us was an 833 mile passage to Minerva Reef, and then on to Fiji.
Landfall in New Zealand
From Minerva Reef we set off south on the last passage of the season, to New Zealand. In the last days of a long passage, it’s just us and the endless seas.
Tonga
After our week or so in Samoa, we had a great sail south to the Kingdom of Tonga, and arrived in the main northern archipelago, known as Vava’u. Another new flag!
Samoa
After a seven-night sail from Penrhyn, and a feisty finish, we tucked into Apia, Samoa. A new country, a new flag, and at least a week to explore it!
A Cook Islands Detour
After saying goodbye to Bora Bora, we headed west to our last stop in French Polynesia, the remote atoll of Maupiha’a. One day we were just snorkeling the reef there when we heard… the distant sound of distant relatives!
The Tuamotus Again, and Bora Bora
Back on board after three weeks away, and with Jex joining us as crew for this leg, we pointed Scout north from Tahiti. We were going back into the Tuamotus, but this time to some of the atolls we’d missed on the way through. First stop: Makatea.
Three Weeks off Scout
From Tahanea we sailed west to Tahiti, where we would be leaving Scout for a few weeks. Our final passage from Tahanea was a relaxing one.
The Tuamotus: Amanu, Makemo and Tahanea
After more than a month in the Marquesas, it was time to set Scout up for another passage. This time we were heading south east from Nuku Hiva to somewhere even more remote: the atolls of the Tuamotus.
The Marquesas: Ua Pou and Nuku Hiva
After three weeks exploring the southern Marquesas, we pointed Scout north to Ua Pou and Nuku Hiva.
The Marquesas: Hiva Oa, Tahuata and Fatu Hiva
After 24 days at sea, we had made landfall on Hiva Oa in the Marquesas, and we were now in French Polynesia. Once we had cleared in and restocked the fridge, it was time to explore. It didn’t take us long to discover that the sunsets in French Polynesia are pretty great.
24 Days Across the Pacific
From the Galápagos to the Marquesas is 3,321 nautical miles, and it took us 24 days. Here’s how it went, more or less.
The Galápagos
After nine days at sea, and our first crossing of the equator, Scout had arrived in the Galápagos. But before we could explore, we needed to check in, and checking a sailboat in to the Galápagos is a (big but friendly) team sport!
Into the Pacific: Panama to the Galápagos
It’s 850 miles from Panama to the Galápagos, straight through the doldrums. In February, this was always going to be a light wind affair.
Las Perlas
Now that Scout was through the canal and in the Pacific, we spent some time hiding out in Las Perlas, a beautiful archipelago south of Panama City.
Hauled Out and Through the Panama Canal
One week we were anchored off uninhabited islands in Bocas del Toro, and the next, Scout was sitting in Bahía Limón, surrounded by container ships all queuing for the Panama Canal. We weren’t transiting for another month, but the Pacific was suddenly very close.
Bocas del Toro
After our time in the San Blas islands, we headed west along the coast of Panama to Bocas del Toro. It was a gentle beam reach most of the way.
Recommissioning and the San Blas
Four months is a long time to leave a boat sitting in the tropics. Scout had waited out hurricane season in Cartagena, and before we could point her towards the Pacific, there was some recommissioning to be done.
A Hurricane Season in Cartagena
With Scout safely in Cartagena for the hurricane season, the plan for the next few months was to stay put. But we didn’t stay entirely still, and one outing was a week in the Islas del Rosario, just south of the city.
Sailing East to Cartagena
In early May we said our farewells to San Pedro, Belize, and pointed Scout’s bow into light headwinds, with no firm idea of where we’d end up. We’d let the wind sort out the details.
Belize: The Old Stomping Ground
From the Bay Islands of Honduras we sailed north to Belize. We don’t go hungry on passage! Beef chili, avocado, sour cream and plantain chips at sunset.
Honduras and the Bay Islands
After our time in the Cayman Islands, it was time to head further west to a new country. We had a relaxing downwind passage from Grand Cayman to Guanaja, the most easterly of the Bay Islands of Honduras.
The Cayman Islands
In 1503, on his fourth voyage, Christopher Columbus came across a pair of low islands swarming with turtles, and named them Las Tortugas. We arrived in Grand Cayman some 521 years later - though with GPS, PredictWind, and a father in Devon watching our every move, we had rather less excuse for getting lost than he did.
Jamaica: Port Antonio, Nanny Falls and Blue Mountain Coffee
Our last blog post left us raising the courtesy flag as we approached Port Antonio, on the north eastern side of Jamaica. But before we arrived, there was one more thing to report from the passage from Bonaire.
Grenada to Jamaica
Since June, Scout had been sitting out the 2023 hurricane season in Grenada, but by the end of September (and once Jayne was back on board) it was time to set off on our sails again. Our plan was to sail further south, and to the north east coast of a new continent - South America, specifically Guyana. But first we wanted to stop off in Tobago and experience the sights and sounds of the annual carnival in Scarborough.
A Hurricane Season Hiatus for Scout
Since our last blog update in June, Scout has been sitting out the hurricane season down in Grenada.
The Windward Islands - And the End of a Chapter
After enjoying our final few days in Îles des Saintes, Guadeloupe, we pushed south. It was a brisk sail - at least until we reached the swirly and confused winds at the northern end of Dominica.
The Leeward Islands
Our overnight sail from the Virgin Islands led us down towards Saba, a remote volcanic island of famously precipitous towns and livelihoods. As dawn rose, we could see it to the west off to our starboard side.
The Virgin Islands
After our enjoyable month in Puerto Rico, it was time to start the final three parts of our journey: the Virgin, then Leeward, then Windward Islands.
Puerto Rico
Scout’s arrival to the west side of Puerto Rico via the ominous Mona Passage could not have been more contrary to its reputation. We had a comfortable motor sail in becalmed water. A magical full moon and breaching humpback whales guided us in to the town of Puerto Real, just north of Boqueron.
The Dominican Republic
After our pleasant overnight sail from the South Caicos, the lush smell of tropical mountainsides reached us just before sun rose. And when it did, we were treated to a dramatic welcome to our next stop, the Dominican Republic.
The Bahamas to the Turks & Caicos
Going south east from The Exumas Islands in The Bahamas is considered a big, transitional step for many sailor cruisers. Beyond the relative safety of The Exumas lie the Out Islands of The Bahamas, and this also means some true, bluewater Atlantic sailing.
The Bahamas, Part 2
Apart from the painfully early, pre-dawn start, the sail from Little Harbour in the southern Abacos to the north of Eleuthera was perfect with a broad reach all of the way. We realized early on that Scout was part of a flotilla of sailboats also making the most of the early start to Eleuthera.
The Bahamas, Part 1
Thanksgiving over and done with, it was time to wait for that elusive weather window that would let us leave the USA and comfortably cross the Gulf Stream to The Bahamas.
Charleston to Florida
Once tropical storm Nicole had passed through Charleston, it was time to get going again. We were on a mission to get to the Bahamas by December, and that meant West Palm Beach in Florida for Thanksgiving.
MD to SC via the Three Capes
Scout’s presence in Annapolis was dominated by one event - the annual Annapolis Sail Boat Show, and Scout was a display boat, no less. The 5-day show was a frenzy of everything nautical, and it didn’t disappoint.
New York to Annapolis
Timing the currents carefully, our next chapter started by navigating our way through the one and only New York City. From Port Washington, we headed through Hell Gate, and down the East River, before popping out by the Statue Of Liberty.
Sailing Cape Cod and the Sound
We spent a few days in Plymouth reprovisioning, and being what most visitors are - a tourist. A tour of the reconstructed Mayflower mark II gave visitors a flavor of what it must have been like for the first pilgrims to sail from England to the New World in 1620. With 132 passengers and crew on board, plus various domestic animals and cattle, it must have made those 10 weeks at sea fly by!
Back "Up" from Maine
Bar Harbor proved to be our most easterly destination. While we had teased ourselves with the idea of heading a little further on towards Canada, it was mid-August, and the weather seemed to be changing. We decided to start heading south towards New York, where we needed to be by September.
Belfast to Bar Harbor, Maine
I have joked that every day of sailing comes with some sort of drama that offers us a challenge—thankfully normally minor!— to overcome. Our departure out of Belfast brought the first such drama to deal with.
Belfast, Maine
Jayne had to leave Scout to head back to California, leaving James on a mooring ball in Belfast for a week - enough time to address the boat’s growing to-do list!
Peaceful Penobscot Bay
There’s a storm approaching! Our PredictWind app was forecasting gusts of 35 knots in the Penobscot Bay area of Maine. With this info, we decided this would be a good time to seek out a protective hurricane hole and sit it out for a few days. The place we had in mind was beautiful - yet remote - Seal Bay, which was accessed via a meandering channel on the east side of Vinalhaven Island.
Portland to Hurricane Island
After several weeks of anchoring, we needed to come into a marina in Portland to pick up some items and fix a few things before swinging east towards Penobscot Bay, and into ever more beautiful terrain.
Port(smouth) to Port(land)
After a few days in lovely New Castle and Portsmouth, it was time to head north into Maine. We were doing this route the slow way, looking for fun little places along the way - and hoping for fun day-sail blasts down the coast.
MA to NH via Witches and Lighthouses
Farewell Boston! It was fun while it lasted, but we were itching to spread our sail wings and ultimately head down to Maine as locals say, meaning downwind sailing. Our plan was to hop along the coast for reasonably short day sails from 12 to 25 miles a time. This stretch of the coastline from Boston, Massachusetts to Portsmouth, New Hampshire would have us stopping off for the night at Salem, Gloucester and Rockport.
Scout's Boston Layover
Now that Scout was safely docked in Boston, the only thing missing from her interior was us. Once jobs, graduations and homes were dealt with, we promptly took the red-eye from the west to east coast of the US. In what we hope will be the last of the large luggage for a while, we found not one but three of those over-rated inflatable travel neck pillows. I already have a purge pile as I practice living minimally.
Propless in Seattle
I recently took advantage of a wonderful opportunity to spend 9 nights with Mahina Expeditions sailing a 2015 v1 Garcia 45 North of Seattle in the Pacific Northwest. During this time expedition leaders Amanda and John of Mahina, plus 6 other crew members including myself got to experience a diversity of sailing conditions and locations. The trip involved cruising the beautiful San Juan islands, some night-time sailing in the choppy waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a further passage out into the Pacific, and the loss of our propeller at midnight as we sailed into a reasonably unknown anchorage…more on that later.