The sailing adventures of SV Meriwether and her crew
Returning from the BVI trip took more than 36 hours of ferries, taxis, planes, and airports. We were already exhausted from the week at play, but after the travel back we were just zombies. I knew I would need multiple days to recover, mentally and physically, but life would put me right back to work once we arrived back in...
During the week long grind of life in the BVIs there were some happenings that stood out as highlights. I know. I know. The whole trip was one big highlight, but within that bigger picture there are a few memories that will stand out and I wanted to share those with greater detail.
My days in the BVIs were generally spent waking before the sunrise to start the every important infusion of caffeine while sitting in the boat’s cockpit enjoying the view, and a little peace and quiet. Others would wake, rise, and join me over the course of the next hour or so. Even Kerri would rise at a reasonable hour, but...
Even those fortunate enough to live a nomadic life, like us, need a vacation from the daily grind. An extreme change of scenery and days without the normal work schedule to refresh the soul from time to time – right? When a plan to charter a boat in the BVIs for a week was plopped in our lap we went...
Before leaving Bellingham at the end of May – literally, the day before – we finally got our solar install finished on Meriwether. It took so long as we waited to have a frame built for the panels to be mounted on to. It was something that I was originally going to do myself, but once I started dropping a...
After spending the work week at James Island, we left to return to our home port of Bellingham. The weather would do little to assist on our day of travel. With only a slight breeze from the South, we were – once again – left with no choice but to motor. On the plus side, the tides were flooding in...
Of course, this has been our luck lately; two days of winds too strong, followed by a day of no wind at all. It was that day – before the start of the work week – that we had to get to our next destination. So once again we motored. This has become the norm since we sailed to the...
Forced to move after three days on the ball (damn rules) we used up an evening to make the one hour motor into the embrace of Orcas Island. Half way up East Sound – a peninsula of water surrounded by the land of Orcas on three sides – is a ritzy resort that Kerri chose for a few nights. Rosario...
After making it through Deception Pass with our lives intact we completed the day of sailing (of mostly motoring) to get up to Shaw Island in the center of the San Juan National Monument. Our target was Blind Bay – on the north side of Shaw Island – where we arrived just fine. We poked around looking for a spot...
Ah, how the weather has changed. Just two weeks ago the summer season was still alive and kicking. In Everett we hunkered down to avoid a big one-day storm which brought thunder and lightning. It sprinkled the entire sail up to Oak Harbor. In Oak Harbor we hunkered down to avoid a day of 30+ knot winds – which we...
