When we last left you, we had just reinstalled our mainsail and were looking forward to using it to head south, towards Eleuthera. I am happy to report that the main is working great! So far, at least. We rose early to leave Little Harbor early on Friday morning, January 21. Alas, about 45 minutes…
Ups and Downs: Cruising The Abacos
“You are now free to wander aimlessly about the Abacos.” This is the sign-off we hear daily from Will, who co-moderates the Abacos VHF Radio Net on Channel 68 at 8:15 a.m. Wandering aimlessly seems to me an excellent description of cruising in these northern Bahamian islands. Like the British Virgin Islands, the Abacos lie…
Changes in Attitudes…
In about a month, Andy and I will celebrate our three-year anniversary of setting sail on Gratitude. There are many, many things we could NEVER have predicted about this chapter of our lives, but one thing we knew when we set out: This adventure would change us. We knew that there was no way we…
One Way Tickets
Our summer was spent easing back into land life while making regular trips back to Charleston to do boat projects and check on things. We also experienced the unexpected loss of our dear friend, Lendy, to Covid, and Andy’s friend, Ryan, to colon cancer. We were friends with Lendy (and Glen) from church, and she…
The Steering Committee
A Joint Post by Andy and Karen (Karen) Hello friends! After a summer of hurricane-avoiding land-lubbing, Andy and I are preparing to return to the pirate life. Gratitude has been docked in Charleston for a few months now, and we’ve been busy fixing things. Like you do. We had our jib (foresail) taken down and…
Waiting Out (Another) Hurricane Season
Ok… It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? We glided into Charleston Harbor in mid May to wait out hurricane season. Charleston is not completely immune to hurricanes, but we’re in a reasonably-protected spot, and it makes our insurance happy, so it’ll have to do. Since then, we’ve been back and forth between home and the…
Crossing State Lines
After leaving Katy and Story in West Palm, Andy and I continued to make our way up the coast of Florida. We anchored in Ft. Pierce for one night and were again unimpressed. I think if you live in Ft. Pierce and own a fishing boat, it’s probably perfect. But if you live on a…
Poetry in Motion
On April 7 we boarded a plane for Ft. Lauderdale and got upgraded at the very last minute to First Class! (Score!) We were headed back to Gratitude to begin this year’s journey out of the Hurricane Belt. For weeks there had been much discussion of where we wanted to take Gratitude for hurricane season…
Hell and heaven: from Key West to Ft. Lauderdale
Since it’s been a minute since our last update, here’s a recap. Karen and I had to rush home recently to help coordinate care for my dad, which meant leaving Gratitude hanging on a mooring ball in Key West. This was far from optimal for several reasons, but we didn’t have a host of great…
Teaching an Old(er) Dog a New Trick
After living at sea for a couple of years, around Halloween 2020, I decided to step a bit out of my comfort zone and pursue my US Coast Guard Captain’s license. It strikes me as a bit odd that you can buy a large boat, climb aboard, and go more or less anywhere in the…