Destinations

Posts about places we’ve sailed to.

A Hurricane Season Hiatus for Scout

Oct 25th, 2023 Jayne Destinations

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

Jun 10th, 2023 James Destinations

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

May 15th, 2023 James Destinations

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

Apr 30th, 2023 James Destinations

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

Apr 20th, 2023 Jayne Destinations

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

Mar 8th, 2023 James Destinations

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

Mar 1st, 2023 Jayne Destinations

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

Feb 12th, 2023 Jayne Destinations

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

Jan 6th, 2023 James Destinations

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

Nov 26th, 2022 James Destinations

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

Nov 20th, 2022 Jayne Destinations

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

Nov 11th, 2022 James Destinations, Sailing

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

Oct 25th, 2022 Jayne Destinations, Sailing, Food & Drink

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

Oct 14th, 2022 James Destinations, Sailing

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

Sep 13th, 2022 Jayne Destinations

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

Sep 8th, 2022 James Destinations

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

Aug 14th, 2022 Jayne Destinations, Sailing, Food & Drink

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

Aug 5th, 2022 James Destinations, Sailing

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)

Jul 22nd, 2022 James Destinations, Sailing

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

Jul 3rd, 2022 Jayne Destinations, Sailing

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

Jun 22nd, 2022 Jayne Destinations, Sailing

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

Jun 1st, 2021 jayne Destinations

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.