Preparations...

There is so much preparation for sailing overseas for months at a time! We began last fall, leaving Ashling on the hard at Cape Charles, VA while we went land touring out west. The boat yard's work order was to strip the old bottom paint and start over with epoxy barrier coats, followed by antifouling coats.

In late November we returned and splashed Ashling in anticipation of a sail south to Florida, only to immediately have a delay for family reasons.

We finally left the Chesapeake Bay on Jan 2nd, heading out the bay to Beaufort NC. Very few other boats were out, and the wind rose to 37kn with 2-5 ft waves before gradually subsiding. We arrived after dark and anchored in Town Creek.

After weather delays we resumed travel south on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) in 30 kn winds. We spent nights in Carolina Beach and Myrtle Beach and then made an emergency stop in Georgetown SC to fix a broken steering part. We limped in with a hose clamp holding things together! After the usual waiting for shipping, and tours of the local museums, we left on Jan 20th to Charleston via the ICW

We only spent one night (actually, part of one night) and left at 3am in order to arrive in Savannah during daylight. We proceeded down the Ashley River in about 25kn. But as soon as we cleared the Battery and joined the Cooper River, I felt the wind and waves pick up. I looked at the instruments and read wind of 45kn! I wasn't about to tackle an entrance, even one as large as Charleston's in the dark with that kind of wind. It was also 28 degrees out. I started preparing to turn back, and checked the wind again - it was 55kn! We docked as quickly as possible and were back in bed by 5am.

Our second try was at 7:30 am, with winds down to 15kn, and temp down to 23F. We got outside to the ocean and winds did pick up again, as high as 42kn. We went up the Savannah River and then took the UCW cuts to reach Thunderbolt GA, where we docked.

Now we could complete our preparations with home support, including a car. The car eventually became another delay, though, when it developed ignition shorts.

So we spent January getting from Virginia to Savannah! That month sure went by quickly.Read more