After 2 years on land... wow, has it been that long!

Slowly getting reacclimatized to life on land has been a painful process. We now have 15 monthly bills, two cars, a house and three kids in high school. If you had told me that this would be the case three years ago I would have called you mad.

How did this happen?... I'm not really sure. We may have succumbed to peer pressure or maybe the kids just wanted a normal life (they regret it now though), or maybe being human we just wanted what we didn't have. I think it was simply the 3 year itch... I curse my humanness.

Having come to my senses though Odessa is beginning her second major refit... in preparation for a new adventure. When we purchased Odessa we did the mechanical refit and now I'm doing her pretty stuff and more livability luxuries.

We spent a few days this month cleaning her up and offloading all of the stuff that you collect while traveling... she's looking really swanky. But the paint is very old and she's in need of some updates.

I think that one year will be long enough to get everything done... that depends on how crazy we go. Looking at all of the luxury multi million dollar yachts of today, there are some really cool styling updates that we can do.

An indoor shower - for the girls.
Air conditioning when at a dock - for the girls.
Hot water - for everyone.
Steps down the transom - I'll miss the slide but we'll be able to land fish more easily.
Custom paint job - now she's going to be load with big graphics.
New hatches all round
New Bimini
New Dodger
New cushions everywhere

The schedule is to launch Odessa next spring, do some sailing around the US east coast, and then run down to St Maarten in the fall.

Now the difficult work begins again... shedding all of the stuff we've collected living on land, rebuilding freelance work, and the most difficult is escaping all of the trappings of living in a modern society.

Wish us luck... wait, didn't we do this once before!

STUCK IN JACKSONVILLE

We're stuck again... while sailing up from Palm Beach and during the night, the radio was buzzing with other boats caught in storms off the north Florida coast. Fortunately, we only had one squall off Cape Canaveral and tacked back and forth between shallower water and a freighter for an hour or so until it moved out easterly across the ocean. 30 nautical miles to our north east we could see a huge storm constantly flashing with lightning and with so much energy it wasn't going to dissipate in the same way as the smaller squalls. We had lucked out by staying on the western edge of the gulf stream as opposed to the conventional thinking of getting into it to gain the speed of the north flowing currents.

Entering a new and unknown port is always nerve racking, but Jacksonville is several miles up a very wide river with lot's of deep water and well marked channels. We motored up three miles and turned into Clapboard Anchorage. We found it with Google Earth (our new tool to find out where everyone anchors). To our surprise Periplous (a sailboat that we briefly met in Palm Beach) was anchored and we felt confident again. Gordon and Pam live on Periplous and have sailed further than most have dreamed, they are in their 70's and have more life and spirit than many landlubbers we know who are half their age.

There aren't any facilities near the anchorage, but we did find Clapboard Creek Fish Camp just under the bridge and David the manager. It's so nice to be in the real south... David could provide ice and immediately offered to drive us up to the supermarket a few miles away.

The anchorage was lovely... quiet and serene, I can recommend it as a safe, deep and secure place to stop for a day or two.

We have become very good friends with Gordon and Pam aboard Periplous, learn't a lot and when they suggested that we come with them up river to downtown Jacksonville for a few days while we waited for the bad weather to pass. we jumped at the opportunity. We can take on fuel and water and of course food and services are readily available downtown, the kids might actually find something to do and it provides some good shelter.

The bridges are spectacular and we enjoyed a night of calm water and a barrage of questions from the tourists enjoying their time on River Walk.

The forecasted storms and wind arrived this morning, so the once calm dock is now pitching and it's a bit sloppy onboard. It's a mad dash to do laundry and get supplies so that we can move back down river a couple of miles to a small protected anchorage or back to Clapboard Creek to wait until the weekend when the weather is forecast to turn in our favor allowing us to run up to Charleston, South Carolina.

NY seems a long way with over 1000 nautical miles left to go, but the allure of Long Island Sound, the big city and a home for the summer is compelling. Sailing and living aboard in the USA is very different than the Caribbean Islands... far more difficult and lonely with very few cruisers attempting to run the full length of the east coast. Ah... but if it wasn't a challenge then it wouldn't be worth doing.

ST LUCIA DREAM

It really does feel like a dream... 12 months ago we were enjoying life to its fullest sailing amongst the beautiful islands of the windwards. This is the sail from Rodney Bay. St Lucia to the Deux Pitons in the south of the island.

Isabel hooking in to a spanish mackerel. 

This fish gave Isabel a good fight, but in the end he made an excellent fish curry thanks to Devon's cooking skills.

Our first look at the Pitons.

After grabbing a mooring ball. It was all fun and games.

Just beautiful. Captain Allan relaxes. 

A nice shower after our snorkel feels wonderful. 

So lovely. 

The colors. 

I would go again.

St. Lucia, I Miss You

On all of our travels I have to say, the Wild Wrights never go back to a place a second time. But St. Lucia was just one of those magical places that we had to return to.
The genuine kindness of the people and their love for outdoor adventure is what made this island a two time visit for us.

Sailing from Dominica to St. Lucia was a little sloppy.

The kids felt every wave and sea sickness came over them.

Land, Our first look from sea.

Big ships like this are scary when they get to close.

Our first islander came as soon as we anchored.

The fruit man.

Nice fresh fruit.

Our first morning was a delight with fresh banana pancakes.

Simon spends his day fishing.

We take a hike on Pigeon Island.

Fort Rodney

This is one island that you wouldn't mind being stuck on.

AGROUND AGAIN... & AGAIN... & AGAIN

We're getting tired of Florida... It's too hot and way too shallow, so much so, that we can't fit on any dock. We did finally get a spot at The Circle Yacht Club but again,we can't fit into the slip and have to tie stern-too at the end of the fixed dock. This puts us in a precarious position right on the very edge of the channel and the deeper water that we need.

The EXO isn't happy... we had a tug and barge go by pushing against the 7kt outgoing tide and it's wake nudged us just enough to get Odessa's keel stuck on top of the edge of the channel. Ten minutes later I heard "why are we leaning"... it took a little investigation (the rain had finally abated) and from outside it looked quite dramatic. Well... the tide was going out in a big way, as it had for a couple of days with a full moon, and we have a couple of feet left to go and about 8 hrs before we'd be floated back on the rising tide.

It took two dinks and the boom swung way out to port to nudge the keel about 12 inches and off the ledge. It was a relief to see Odessa slide back to vertical and settle in her normal position, even if she does look odd sort of sticking out into the channel, with her butt tied to the last post of the dock.

Unfortunately, if it happens once, so it can happen again. As a sailor you must act in these situations and the next hour was spent rigging a third anchor to go off the bow and restrict it from going to starboard and sliding our keel back up on the ledge.

Blu had the right idea, lay as low as possible and hope know body tells you to pull a line.

We're sitting as pretty as we can for now and dreaming of heading north to cooler weather and deeper water. The trip north may be more harrowing than sailing out in the open Caribbean. Longer runs because we can't get into most of the ports up the eastern seaboard, dealing with bad weather shooting off the mainland as we realize how unpredictable coastal sailing can be. And of course there's the gulf stream with it tendency to amplify the weathers effect on the ocean.

All of these factors are unpredictable... and that's what makes it challenging and exciting, and much more fun than driving up the I95 to New York.

Odessa Makes it Home

This was our best sail ever! We sailed from Cayman Islands to Key West in 3 days (633 Nautical Miles, averaging 8.5 knots).

It was a gratifying and pleasurable sail, with perfect weather, and perfect company....

We were blessed with everything, from perfect sun sets to wind that offered speed. And best of all, my favorite, calm seas with low swells across the Gulf Stream. We even had dolphins greeting us back to the United States, "WOW!!" is all I  can say.