How did I end up sailing a 50 foot Catamaran down the East Coast in the middle of winter??? Well, I was at work flying with a captain who loves sailing. I love sailing. So guess what we talked about for the 5 hour flight across the ocean… ;) Turns out he just bought a new sailboat on the East Coast and wanted to bring it home to Hawaii. First question: “Can I come?” Second question: “How are you getting that much time off??”
The answer to the first question was easy: “Please do, I’d love the help.”
The second seemed plausible, as long as we could sync up our work schedules.
So here’s the plan:
Move the boat in 4 segments. Sail a segment during a block of time off, leave the boat somewhere safe, then work to save another block of time off to sail the next segment.
1) Maryland to Bahamas
2) Bahamas to Nicaragua through the Panama Canal
3) Nicaragua to Mexico
4) Mexico to Hawaii
This page describes the first leg from Georgetown, Maryland to Old Bahama Bay, Bahamas in December, 2017. It is going to be freezing cold dodging winter storms and generally unpleasant. I can’t WAIT!
The Boat:
Ka Lani Kai, Chris’s Catana 50 Sailing Cat.
The Crew:
Chris and Cheryl are Captain/Co-Captain. They are husband and wife, he’s an airline pilot in my company and she is a flight attendant at another company.
Gary and Patty are able crew. Patty works with Cheryl as a flight attendant and Gary is able to conduct work from the Sat phone while underway. They own a 60′ yawl together.
Adam is stow/away and helm helper. I work with Chris as a First Officer and own my own Cal 39 sailboat.
We were all able to get the time off at the same time and have a good combination of sailing experience among us.
[Update: What an amazing group! Perfect crew compatibility, fun to be with, hard working. I’d love to do another leg with y’all!]
The Route:
Georgetown Yacht Basin, MD to The Bahamas, Caribbean.