After our, shall we say adventurous, first night on the Bay, we decided to spend Friday in Deltaville, VA to let the winds die down before we headed offshore. We were all a little edgy and needed some downtime to recover from the night before. And to triple check the weather to make sure we were staying clear of any more of that crap. Just getting into the marina in Deltaville was an adventure, with a narrow corkscrew channel that had us just a few feet away from a sandbar on one side and the beach on the other. Not a big deal for a little fishing boat to navigate, but a giant catamaran that’s 52′ long and nearly 30′ wide? Adventurous. We all held our breath and silently hoped we wouldn’t run aground. We spent the day de-icing the boat and managed to find a pizza shop in town that was actually open. Winning.

The forecast was looking good, so we headed out early the next morning. We all were thankful that the weather had improved and we settled into our roles aboard with ease. Chris navigated, Mischelle painted, I read, and Matt…. Well, unfortunately Matt wasn’t feeling too well. Must have been the extreme change in temps coming from FL to MD. Or the Deltaville pizza.

We stayed within 2 miles of the shoreline so we could get cell service to stream the Ravens playoff game on Chris’s phone. I’ll be honest, it was pretty cool hanging back, eating spaghetti and watching the game all while sailing a boat out in the Atlantic. Too bad they lost in the final seconds of the game. This trip is definitely providing us with some pretty cool moments so far. In fact, we even have a theme song for the trip: ‘I’m on a Boat’ by Lonely Island. It’s pretty fitting.

The reason for all of the tape and table coverings is to protect the boat. God forbid that a $1.4M yacht get dinged up by the lowly delivery crew. However, we did tear up the microwave making bacon bowls one morning. Probably the best As Seen on TV product ever. Because, let’s be honest here, EVERYTHING’S better in a bacon bowl. I think Chris is their unofficial spokesperson, seeing that he had at least four of them. Don’t worry, after a little Windex and some light scrubbing, the microwave is good as new again. It’ll be our little secret.

Sunday was a beautiful day on the water, and the temps finally started to warm up as we headed south for Charleston where we would spend Monday night.
Coming into Charleston was pretty neat because the whole city was enclosed in a big thick blanket of fog. I guess this is pretty typical for Charleston in the wintertime. It was a little unnerving not being able to see more than a quarter mile in front of you… Thank God for AIS and radar.
First thing on the “to-do” list after we docked and refueled was to dry out the bilges so the damn high water alarm would stop going off every time the slightest splash of water would hit the sensor. It seemed like that thing was going off every 10 minutes the night before, and it was getting really annoying, really quickly. Bilge = Blue Job = Boys.
Another Blue Job? Adjusting the rigging for the mainsail. He looks pretty comfy up there, no?
In Charleston, we met up with Jack and Tyler, who are with Annapolis Yacht Sales as well, and happened to be en route delivering a boat from Annapolis to FL too. It was a mini AYS rendezvous! I must admit, our ride is much nicer than theirs. Maybe I’m partial because ours is a catamaran. A magnificent 52′ catamaran that’s well stocked with delicious food and a fun crew. Sorry, guys. You’re missing out.

We headed out early this morning for another two days offshore, with Jack and Tyler following us in a large powerboat down the coast. The fog is still pretty thick, but we’re hoping to get at least another nice day on the water before we land in Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday. This trip has been so much fun, I almost hate to see it end. It’s been great for us to not only connect with some good friends that we’ve really been missing, but also to get us excited for the next leg of our journey – Bahamas, baby! However, I’m thinking it may be a bit hard going back to our boat after livin’ large on a boat this grand for the past week. I could totally get used to this! Talk about a condomaran! Even with everything taped up and basically looking like a construction zone, this boat was NICE.

When we arrived to Lauderdale we spent the next day cleaning the boat and making it presentable again. It’ll be featured at the Miami Boat Show in mid February which is really cool. We definitely had a lot of stuff onboard to clear off. I don’t know how many trips from the boat to the rental car with a dock cart we did. Dozens.

It was a very adventurous trip – a bit scary at a few times – but we were soooo happy to get one last offshore experience in before we crossed over to the Bahamas on our own boat. Lesson learned – check the weather and then check it again!

And the art that Mischelle was working on earlier in the week? She used the picture of Chris adjusting the rigging as inspiration for her latest watercolor. Wow. I swear, she has more talent in her little finger than the rest of us combined.