Well, it has been over two years now since I last posted here. Hard to believe how quickly time flies, and how many things change over time. Caitlin and I have gone our separate ways, but Chili and I are still very tight. After our Bahamas cruise, the marital bliss was gone. I spent about three months ashore before deciding to move back onboard Tranquility with Chili. That winter, I earned a USCG OUPV-6 Captain's License. I also took a job with the Charleston Maritime center to hold me over until I could complete the messy process of getting divorced. It was painful and expensive, but such is life. My plans are to keep working my current job until I can upgrade my license to a 100-ton Master and get a job driving/delivering boats for a living. In the meantime, I am adding to my days at sea whenever I get the chance. I have also continued to maintain and upgrade the boat, with an eye on cruising down-island again at some point in the (hopefully near) future. Since returning from the Bahamas, I have added a new genoa, a fabulous new windlass (1500W Lofrans windlass/capstan), 175' of G4 chain, two 65-watt solar panels and had the interior settee cushions reupholstered. I had all of the Isinglass windows in the dodger replaced, and I also had her hauled out and got the bottom repainted. In addition to that, I replaced the Walker Bay 8' dinghy and 2.3hp outboard with a 9' Caribe RIB and a new 6hp Yamaha 4-stroke outboard. With the exception of the exterior teak needing to be redone, Tranquility is more ready and capable of cruising than she has ever been.
In mid-June of 2010, I took my first solo cruise. I was limited to two weeks, so I decided I would stay close to home. I thought about sailing up north of Charleston, but in the end I decided on sailing down to St. Simons, Georgia and Cumberland Island. We had stopped in both St. Simons and Fernandina Beach on our Bahamas cruise, so I was familiar with the area. Instead of going down the ICW like I had last time, Chili and I essentially made the entire trip there and back offshore. I find ocean sailing to be much more gratifying than motoring down the ditch (go figure!).
We left Charleston around noon, and were soon beating into light and variable winds. We got about 30 miles offshore, and began tacking on a rhumbline for the inlet at St. Simons. Around 3am the winds had increased to over 20kts and were still right on the nose. By the next morning I was exhausted, so we went into Port Royal Sound with the intention of getting some much-needed sleep. By the time I actually got into the ICW there, I had gotten a second wind (funny how a steady stream of Coca Cola can do that to you). I motored about 25 miles down the waterway and anchored up behind Skidaway Island. The next morning, we continued down the ICW and then went back offshore out of Ossabaw Sound. The 50+ mile sail down to St. Simons Sound was uneventful, and I arrived at the inlet at about sunset. I anchored up behind the island, and spent the next several days either swinging on the hook or docked at Golden Isles Marina. The heat was absolutely oppressive, reaching 95 degrees inside the main cabin during the days. The temperatures at night weren't much better. What's even crazier is that I caught a nasty cold during all that heat, which only served to double my misery. During that time, I went down and spent some time at anchor behind Cumberland Island, within sight of the buildings at Fernandina Beach. After several days of gunk-holing around that area, I went back offshore and sailed back up to Charleston in a straight shot. I got back with enough vacation left to rest for a couple of days before going back to work. I had a nice time, but the solo sailing and the cold took a lot out of me. I am looking very much forward to doing some extended cruising soon, be it solo or with crew. I have some ideas about it, but I'm keeping quiet for now! Anyway, thanks for reading. It's good to be back playing with the blog again.
