In just two-and-a-half-days Illusion sailed from Great Sale Cay in the Abacos to Hilton Head Island, SC, the same distance that it took us a month to travel (mainly motor) via the ICW last December. This means that Brian and I are quite literally back where this whole thing started. But even though our departure [...]
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Everyday this week scores of sailboats and windsurfers from around the world skirted past Illusion on their way across Biscayne Bay to the International Sailing Federation’s (ISAF) Sailing World Cup 2010-2011 Olympic qualifier, the Rolex Miami OCR. I’ve never paid much attention to sailing as a sport before, but watching them sail by us each [...] The truth about cruising south down the eastern coast of the United States is that, unless you go offshore, there isn’t much room for sailing. Not that you need much room if the wind is blowing in the right direction, but traveling south along the serpentine ICW means motoring – alot. There are many cruisers [...] Illusion rocked and rolled as we approached Cape Romain on our offshore, down-wind run to Charleston – and I mean literally of course. The sugar canister launched off the table, spewing its sweet crystals onto the floor; a solar lantern flew from its perch, shattering; and saltwater from a breaking wave rocketed into the cabin, [...] After a final farewell dinner with our anchorage neighbors on Sunday, we drove to a bus stop in Baltimore to pick up our third crew member. We found our friend Michael Kayton, a San Franciscan musician and photographer, picking strings on his guitar with cold fingers at the deserted stop. With news from New York [...] Illusion covered the coast of South Carolina in just two full days of offshore sailing, and had conditions been a little more favorable, we could have probably made the trip in less time. In contrast, it took us a couple weeks to cover the coastline of North Carolina on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Partly [...] Hilton Head Island, SC, to Wilmington, NC, Offshore. Continued from Cape Fear, NC, or a Cape to Fear… The engine had been running for quite some time as we motor-sailed into the wind, so Brian turned it off to top up the oil and keep things running smoothly. As we bobbed about the ocean, we were visited [...] Hilton Head Island, SC, to Wilmington, NC, Offshore. It was a dark and stormy night (and oh was it ever!), but it did not start out that way. Brian will claim that I exaggerate, but I can’t squelch the creative writing degree in me. In either case, I will let you be the judge of this [...] We finally left Palmetto Bay Marina, but what we hoped would be the beginning of our southward sail turned into a sea trial when the engine overheated, the GPS stopped receiving, and we discovered that our rigging was, well, a bit off. Remember that we hadn’t sailed her since last March! Both Brian and I [...] |
   
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