(This post is the second of three chronicling our trip from the USVI to Ft. Lauderdale, FL during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. Part 1, covering the first three days, can be found here.) Day 4 (Monday, April 27, 2020) (Karen) We see three ships on Day 4. Two show up on our chart in…
Big Passage Home: Part 1
Recently we completed our biggest sailing adventure yet: A 1200-mile, 9-day-long ocean passage from the U.S. Virgin Islands to Miami., FL. I posted a few brief updates on Facebook as we went, but we also both kept notes about the trip. We’d done overnight sails before, but nothing on this scale. We hadn’t planned on…
St. John In Photos: Caribbean Catch Up Posts, Part 2
We recently left the USVI to make our way back to the mainland of the U.S., but before we left we had a few adventures on the magnificent island of St. John. We did not exhaust all the possibilities, because of COVID shutdowns, but we did get a nice little sampling of hiking, snorkeling, and…
We interrupt this series of posts….
(Written jointly this time) Karen: I know we said we’d next be giving you Part 2 of our Caribbean Catch Up posts. And we will! I’ve already started pulling all the photos together and editing them for blog-fitness. But we have a current update on our travels that we thought important to share. We’re leaving…
Caribbean Catch Up Posts, Installment 1: The BVI
Hi friends! Below is an account I wrote of our week sailing in the British Virgin Islands, in early March of 2020. This was, of course, before the Coronavirus crisis had really changed much in this part of the world. The BVI has now closed its borders to all foreigners until at least September 1,…
Cruising During Corona
Hi friends and family! We’ve been quiet here lately. It’s been hard to know what to say that would not just add to all the noise out there right now. But today I had an idea for a post that I hope will increase our general sense of connection with one another. So I present…
More Than One Way to Catch a Fish: Exploring Saba
We finally – finally! – pulled out of Simpson Bay in St. Maarten in early February 2020, after over a month there making boat repairs and upgrades. What a joy it was to sail again! We had 15 knot winds on the beam (hitting our sail at a right angle, which propels the boat nicely)…
Awesome Anguilla
We have had some boat projects that have kept us in St. Maarten for several weeks. I haven’t really minded – I really like St. Maarten, and I would stop here again. But after almost a month at the marina, we were getting itchy sails. So we decided, since it would be another week before…
Fun Gratitude Artwork
At Velociteach, we have a tradition where all the employees draw a name for a Secret Santa each Christmas. The only real rule is that you are not supposed to spend any more than $15 on the person whose name you draw. That keeps the playing field more or less level. This year, I was…
One Year In…
We transplanted our lives to live aboard Gratitude 365 days ago today. It’s hard to believe. We would not trade this year for anything. Having a catamaran is like having a condominium that you can take just about anywhere there is ocean. There is incredible freedom. Don’t like where you are? Pull up the anchor,…