Every year, Liberty is faced with the exciting task of sailing to the US Virgin Islands to begin another sailing charter season in Red Hook, St. Thomas. This year was no different, except for the route we took. Liberty, with Captain and crew started by sailing down the Chesapeake Bay to Hampton, Virginia.

After a day or two of gorgeous sailing and picturesque anchorages, she made it to the start of the Caribbean 1500 Rally in Hampton, VA where the Chesapeake Bay meets up with the mighty Atlantic. There were about 100 boats in the rally this year, and it was nice to see so many from both Maryland and around the world. While it is a race and there were some racing class boats, most folks sail in the rally for the camaraderie and feeling of safety in numbers. There are workshops and safety checks and parties as the boats all gear up to hit the high seas.

This year’s trip was set to begin on Monday November 7, but Tropical Storm Sean got in the way, and the vessels’ departure was delayed until Friday the 11th. 11-11-11 sounded like a good way to begin (When Liberty left Baltimore in the Chesapeake Bay, it was 11-01-11, too). So on the morning of the 11th, everyone took off. Liberty waited a couple of hours after most of the other boats in order to let some of the Sean seas calm down. Starting a voyage in choppy seas can be a daunting way to start, and we’re a cruising boat, not a race boat! Soon enough though, Liberty was under way and sailing out in into the Atlantic towards the Gulf Stream.

I let the captain go with an able crew and stayed with family on shore where I could track the fleet’s progress online. I’ve done the trip before, so I didn’t feel the need to accomplish any such goals, and I knew our young children would rather play in their grandparents’ backyards for such a period of time. When they’re older they’ll appreciate a trip like that.

As I watched the fleet, I noticed that some were heading more southerly and others were heading more easterly. Pretty soon, those easterly boats were really tracking east. As it turned out, the boats that tracked east got completely skunked on the wind, while those heading more south picked up a nice bit of wind and started making great time. Liberty, unfortunately, was in the easterly pack and was blowing through a fair amount of fuel. As a result, Liberty and others decided to divert to Bermuda to refuel before continuing on.  And that’s where this particular post leaves off. There is another storm system going through, and hopefully they will be able to leave this Friday to continue down to St. Thomas. I’m in the islands with the kids, eagerly awaiting the arrival of our family home.

Well, it’s been an exciting week for a couple of sailors! It started out last Tuesday with a surprise visit from Davis Murray to help celebrate the captain’s birthday. We bummed around Fells Point and did a little maintenance on Liberty to get ready for the Caribbean sailing season. It’s always nice to be around good friends who happen to be great sailors, too.

I continued to stitch some nautical purses and bags with this great new nautical toile I found. I also got a line on a large quantity of remnant kevlar racing sail cloth. Not only is it exactly what I need, but it’s also a nice way to recycle. An Annapolis sailmaker was closing their shop and had some of this great material left over from an America’s Cup sailboat they were making sails for. A friend at the marina snagged it and the rest is about to become history.

Next, it was time to head to Annapolis to the Annapolis Boat Show. What an event! Sailors and everyone who’s anyone in the sailing business all converge on our nation’s sailing capital to wheel and deal and have a good time. Liberty opted for a Severn River anchorage the first night since the Naval Academy area was jam-packed with sailboats of every shape, size, and hailing port. Later, we moved her back to downtown Annapolis and were able to grab the most primo mooring spot in the anchorage! It was a short dinghy ride in to the show, and it was also a great location for watching all the boats leave on the last day. I’m hoping to have a booth next year so I can more easily connect with people and sell my wares.

Now we’re sailing back to Baltimore on a cloudy but very pleasant day. Just after going under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and before making the turn towards Baltimore, I heard the joyous and familiar call of "fish on!!" Yay!  I thought we were going kind of fast to catch rockfish (aka striped bass), but sure enough, there he was, wiggling on the line. Before I caught full sight of him, my thoughts quickly turned to dinner, but he was only about 12 inches, so the captain reeled him in and promptly threw him back where he belonged. Maybe next time….

It looks like another good weekend for Chesapeake Bay sailing! Even though the official date for autumn is still a few days away, the hot summer days seem to be behind us, and with 50 degree nights and 60 degree days, it’s time to don my Annapolis sweatshirt and head out onto the Bay for some day sailing.

When we’re in St. Thomas, we spend nearly all of our time sailing and snorkeling. There is nothing like a Caribbean sunset from the deck of our sailboat. We have one spot where there are huge starfish on the sandy bottom, and it’s not uncommon to snorkel alongside graceful Southern Rays.Swimming and snorkeling with turtles is one of my all-time favorite thing to do as I’m a big turtle fan. We see a lot of them in the St. John National Parks. I keep a little distance from them and follow behind as I swim. They are so powerful and graceful as they move through the water…

Yes, we are really looking forward to spending the winter in St. Thomas and St. John! We are lucky to have our mooring placed closer than nearly every other one to land, so it’s a really short (and very calm) dinghy ride to Liberty. In order to get Liberty from Baltimore to the Virgin Islands, the Captain is in the process for signing up for his first Caribbean 1500 Rally. I can’t wait to go to the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay with Liberty to hear the seminars, enjoy the bands, and join in the revelry that surrounds the kick-off of this time honored sailing race to Tortola in the BVIs. They leave in November, but we already have all of our safety gear and equipment ready to go as if we were leaving tomorrow. 

I’ll stay behind with the kids and fly down, which is sad– I’d really like to do the trip aboard– but it’s too long a trip to take them when they’re toddlers, we feel, and it’s too long to leave them with family. It’s no problem finding people who want to do this trip in my place, and I’ll follow along online with a connection to Liberty’s transponder.  Having sailed from Baltimore to the Virgin Islands before, I can attest that it is a life-changing experience. It helped build my confidence as a long-distance passage maker, which in turn helped build confidence in other areas of my life. I’m not much of an athletic, tough gal, believe me. I’m quite girly, in fact. But I’m pretty good at not letting fear or a lack of experience hold me back when I want to do something. Having sailed for a couple weeks straight without seeing land is a life experience no one can take away from me. I look forward to our girls growing up and being able to do these longer passages with us so that they, too, can incorporate that sense of adventure into other aspects of their being in a positive way. Being open and fearless does not have to mean you take silly risks or make bad decisions. It means you have the confidence to make the right decisions when challenged and not be afraid of the unknown.

It seems that we’ve timed things well, because we missed the terrible heat of Maryland this summer, it’s been a mere 80 degrees or so the last few weeks here, and after tomorrow it’s supposed to cool down even more– perfect for fall sailing in the Chesapeake Bay!

There’s something quite special, I dare say magical, about sailing in the Chesapeake Bay area in the late summer and early fall. The other morning, I woke up to the first chilly weather, and my first thought was Annapolis. It felt like we were anchored off of the Naval Academy on a glorious fall day. We have so many pleasant memories of sailing between Baltimore and Annapolis during this time of year. It’ll be great to relive some of those fantastic anchorages and sailing experiences and create some new memories as well. We’re looking forward to chartering during the Fells Point Festival in Baltimore and the US Boat Show in Annapolis.

I’ve been sewing some nice bags and purses as well for the Boat Show. I use a combination of beautiful designer fabric along with authentic racing sail fabric in my "Comfy Mumfy" creations. Until we have our online store open, you can view them via my twitter account: www.twitter.com/SailWithLiberty  In fact, please become a follower if you’re interested in what it’s like to live, cruise, and sail on our boat. I post lots of pictures and updates.

As promised, here’s the Irene update. As mentioned before, we hauled Liberty out in New Jersey at Liberty Landing Marina to be extra secure. The flooding was minimal, and we were lucky to have secured a spot in the best section of the boatyard. The ground where we were wasn’t muddy, so there wasn’t much danger of sinking. While Irene ran through New York and New Jersey that Sunday, we watched its progress from the comfort of my parents’ house in Baltimore, surrounded by my large family and updated by the ever-present Jim Cantore, who was reporting from The Battery. Ryan had taken all of the canvas off, and he even removed the outdoor speakers. Everything was securely stowed below, so the high winds had no effect on the boat.

Assured that the 79th St Boat Basin was OK and everything was fine with Liberty, Ryan headed back on Monday afternoon to get the boat ready for the girls and Yoda and me. Our plan was to head up to New York Wednesday morning with his Dad. We would have a good weekend of Labor Day charters and then head back to Baltimore to avoid Katia and the inevitable succession of storms heading for the east coast. Well then I looked at the forecast, and they were calling for rain all weekend in New York. As much as I didn’t feel like staying around in town on land, I had to suck it up and face the reality that it made more sense for Ryan to bring back Liberty to Baltimore with a buddy while I hung out with the girls at my parents’ house. They aren’t in need of doing a lot of overnight passages, so we took the opportunity for the girls to visit with their grandparents.

It’s now the Sunday after Irene, and the family is reunited on Liberty. Ryan has his old gig back playing a jazz brunch in Fells Point, and the girls have reacquainted themselves with the nearby playground. While we miss our friends in New York, it’s nice to be in our home waters of the Chesapeake Bay. We’re really looking forward to sailing in Annapolis and Baltimore and everywhere in between!  It’s going to be a beautiful fall.

It’s never easy predicting the pathway of a hurricane, and Irene is no exception. Tuesday morning, I stood just outside the cockpit, catching lines– and my breath– as I choked up with tears. We were saying good-bye to some of our New York friends, while others would just have to get a phone call. It was beautiful weather and a nice window of opportunity to head to the Chesapeake to avoid Hurricane Irene, which was due to head up the eastern coast of the US later that weekend. We had to go while the tide was favorable, so we took the opportunity while it presented itself.

Just as we reached the Verazzano Bridge though, our naval weather expert in North Carolina let us know the pathway was predicting to be worse in the Chesapeake Bay than in New York. I was relieved to turn around and head back to our slip at the 79th St. Boat Basin in Manhattan. Our buddies were smiling as they caught our lines and welcomed us back. We made a reservation to stay Sunday night at Liberty Landing, just across the river in Jersey City. It’s a much more protected marina and it’s just what you do around here for big weather. Big weather like this is unusual, but it does happen from time to time. This is predicted to be one of the biggest storms New York has seen in many years, but it’s still too early to tell.

As it turns out, tracking models now show we should have continued on to the Chesapeake as Irene is now supposed to be heading more easterly. You do what you have to do with the information you have at the time, though. Ignoring weather or pretending things won’t be very bad is not responsible behavior. We always plan for the worst so that we’re relieved rather than sorry. We now have a reservation to haul the boat out that same NJ marina. We’ve had a few offers of places to stay with the kids, too, in New York, and we are grateful for the kindness of friends like Kevin and Serge for that. The plan now is to take the sails off, haul out, and drive down to stay with family in Maryland to spend a nice, safe weekend away from the weather drama.

I’ll be posting more on the results of Hurricane Irene and saying a prayer for all the other boaters in our area.

So we’re settling into Manhattan for the season. We’ve been here a few weeks now and like it more and more as we spend more time here. We’ve gotten used to the dramatic tide differentiation which makes the boat either sit high next to the pier or very low, making it more challenging to get on and off. Ryan and I have a good system of helping get the kids on and off when the tide is low. One hands the other one down and says "got her!" once she is securely in our arms. Halina is still great about wearing her life jacket when walking on the decks or the pier, which is great. It’s just a part of her life, and she’s used to it. We’re also used to the sometimes strong wakes that come through this marina. Ryan and I are the only ones who really notice. The girls just roll with the boat and adjust their bodies without even thinking about it. Maybe they’ll grow up to be yogis with the excellent balance they are developing!

The charters have been slow but steady, and we’re looking forward to sailing more with guests as our web site is being overhauled and optimized so that more people can find us. Everyone we’ve taken out this year– both in Baltimore and in New York have just been super-nice and a pleasure to have on board. In fact, we’re always pleasantly surprised at how extremely friendly and helpful and open the people in New York have been. Part of my routine has been going to one of the many playgrounds in Riverside Park, and I always meet great parents with well-mannered children who like to share and make friends– pretty much on a daily basis. Ryan goes out to hear a lot of music and get connected to the jazz scene here, and everyone has been really helpful and welcoming to him as well. Maybe New York hasn’t always been such a friendly city, but it sure seems to be now. Everyone at the marina helps each other dock and get off the pier, and that’s something I just haven’t seen at other marinas. Let’s hear it for the good people at the 79th Street Boat Basin!

We’ve been fortunate to find crew to do most of the charters with Ryan. It’s cheaper than paying a good babysitter on the Upper West Side I tell you, and it allows me to still be mommy. For example, last Sunday we got a last-minute charter and so I took the girls to the playground and out for a frozen yogurt while Ryan and his buddy Serge went sailing. I do miss going on all the charters, though, and so it was nice on Saturday when we took out my visiting sister and her husband. The whole family got to go, and we had a lot of wind. The Hudson was downright choppy! It was great to see the new Freedom Tower being constructed from the perspective of the Hudson, and the Statue of Liberty always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, no matter how many times I’ve seen it.

It’s turning out to be a hot week, but hopefully that’ll just inspire more people to want to cool off on the water here and go sailing with us. It really is cooler out where our boat is. The breeze kicks up and knocks the humidity right out of the air….

We had planned to stop overnight in Chesapeake City, then in Lewes, then in Sandy Hook, NJ. Because of the way the weather was setting up and the way we thought the tides were timed with our trip, we skipped our first stop near Chesapeake City in favor of an overnighter through the C and D. We had a really fun day motorsailing up the Bay and through the Canal. Halina no longer needed to sit on my lap while sailing, which was a big plus. We put a life jacket on her, and she was able to roam the decks with us during the calm conditions we were experiencing. She especially liked to flop on the rubber dinghy we had stowed upside down on the bow, and swinging from the top of the dodger also brought about peals of giggles. We were thrilled she was having such a good time. Mariana crept around the cockpit as usual, trying to throw whatever she could down the main hatch.

We passed Asbury Park, blasting Springsteen. It was a long night, though. We had thought about stopping by Atlantic City, but we had no idea where to go in and anchor. Local knowledge would have helped. So we slogged it out another night, going as slow as one and half knots at times, burying the bow under seven foot waves. We hadn’t expected the wind to work so hard against us, but it did. Then, of course, the fuel pump had problems and Ryan had to pump by hand. This whole ordeal took a long time, and of course it happened at 3am when I was on watch and he should have been sleeping. As a result, my watch was longer and his sleep was shorter. Thank God he knew what to do, though.

I took a nap that morning before the girls woke up, and when I did wake up, we were finally near Sandy Hook, New Jersey. You’ve never seen two people so happy to be spending time in Jersey! We considered continuing on to Manhattan, but Sandy Hook is pretty nice, and Ryan desperately needed a rest, so we prepared to stop for at least a little while. The sleeping beauties might have been sleeping at the world’s fanciest hotel for how rested they appeared when they finally got up. Sandy Hook is really quite pretty and looks like you imagine a place called Sandy Hook to be. It’s long and sandy, and there were a lot of fishing boats. It was a Wednesday and we had only left on Monday, but it felt like a long trip. We were exhausted but relieved to be out of those ocean conditions.

So we decided to spend the rest of the day and overnight anchored in a little cove by the end of the island. The weather was just as pleasant as could be, and we appreciated every moment of it. We called our New York boating buddy Ed, and he advised us on a good time to hit the tide to ride it up the Hudson. Thank you, Ed! By mid afternoon Thursday, we were tied up to the wave wall at our beloved 79th Street Boat Basin. While Mariana and Ryan napped, I took Halina to the nearest playground and smiled as she ran from place to place.

Is it right to take them on ocean passages? Some would say no, others would say we’re giving them a unique life experience, and when they grow up they can both claim they did their first ocean passages at age one or younger. For whatever that’s worth. Halina asks a lot of questions and I believe she’ll grow up as a natural sailor and not have to learn it all as I have. That’s a good thing, I suppose. Either way, kids bounce back quickly from difference experiences, and two days on a boat did them no harm. They were safe, and best of all, they were snuggled in close with their parents. That family bond is something you can’t replicate anywhere.

As soon as Mariana is finished with her bottle, I’m going to put her down for a nap and scrub the deck. It’s always good to leave with a clean deck and full water tanks. It just started to rain, which is a little unexpected. Does this mean I don’t have to scrub the deck now?

We’ve been ready to leave for a week now, and I’ve provisioned for the trip twice. It just means we have lots of food available on board, which is nice. We’ve more or less given up on telling people we’re leaving because it never seems to happen. We’re the boat who cried "sail!"

Whenever we leave, I’m really looking forward to the trip as I haven’t taken any really serious trips since we came here from New York a couple years ago. It’s a commitment, and it shows we’re for real about what we’re doing here. The next time I write, it should be from the 79th Street Boat Basin in New York City!

Since Yoda isn’t quite up to patrolling the decks these days, our two toddlers have taken over that duty. We put the baby netting around the lifelines this weekend, and it looks pretty good, I have to say. It sure makes me feel better with them running around. On deck we use life jackets for our three and one year-old, too.

We signed a contract today and should be settling on selling our house within 60 days, so there’s no turning back. And that’s a good thing. Really.

I plan to blog on a regular basis, so please check back to see our latest adventures. The next post should have us somewhere between here and New York City!