Changing our minds.

As long as I can remember, I’ve never had a problem with changing my mind. Fortunately, Jeff doesn’t have a problem with it either! As a result, we’re not going to Luperon this summer.

Everything is fine. We simply decided that we don’t want to go deeper into the Caribbean. The more we researched sailing to and cruising in the Caribbean, the less the positives outweighed the negatives for us. The Bahamas are relatively close, the water is gorgeous, the air is warm, the Bahamians are friendly, the islands are safe, and the sailing is fantastic (once the winter winds settle down). We really don’t need anything else right now.

Once we decided that we didn’t want to sail to the Caribbean, going to Luperon made less sense for us. I’ve really been disliking the fact that there’s so much we keep missing as we travel north and south, hurrying along to outrun the cold weather or make it to Connecticut before it’s time to turn around again. There’s so much of North Carolina we’d like to explore, and we’ve barely scratched the surface of the Chesapeake or New England beyond Connecticut and Rhode Island.

So what’s our plan? Assuming that fate doesn’t decide to overturn the card table, we are going to stay in the Bahamas until mid-to-late May before making the jump to the Florida/Georgia border, or perhaps the Georgia/South Carolina border. From there we are going to S L O W L Y work our way north, sailing along as much as we can, even if it’s only 10 miles in a day.

The goal is to be back on the ICW by October 1st, so we won’t go any farther north than the Chesapeake this summer. In fact, I won’t be surprised if we don’t make it north of North Carolina. Of course if it’s simply too hot and humid for us we can be in Connecticut with the right weather window in under a week.

Once we start heading south we are going into delivery mode, aiming to get to Georgetown by Thanksgiving. We’ll stay in that region, including the southern Bahamian islands, until late February or early March, at which point we’ll work our way north again through the Bahamas with a plan to cruise in New England in the summer of 2021.

Occasionally on the various cruising forums it feels like some participants are in a competition with others. Like you aren’t really cruising if you never leave the ICW, or if you don’t go to the Caribbean, or to Europe, or around the world. Before we cut the dock lines, I’ll admit that I felt a bit that way myself. But now that we’re out here it’s obvious there are so many different ways to cruise. From blitzing around the world in an organized rally to moving 20 miles every six months. The most important thing is to cruise it in a way that brings you the most satisfaction.

It’s taken us a while to get there, but I think we’re finally starting to figure it out. The East Coast and the Bahamas, not too fast, not too slow. It works for us, and we’ll keep doing it as long as it’s fun – or until we change our minds again!

11 thoughts on “Changing our minds.”

    1. Thanks, Nica! I’m looking forward to sharing that anchorage. In the meantime I continue to marvel at how you two keep plugging away at everything before you cut the dock lines yourself. Sometimes it gives me flashbacks to when we were getting ready. LOL! Hang in there – you’re almost there! Kimberly

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    1. Thanks, John. We really feel lucky to have such varied cruising grounds on this side of the U.S. – although I’m sure you feel the same way about the Pacific Northwest and Alaska! We’ll be following your track again as you head back from Hawaii! Kimberly

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  3. I always say, the most dangerous thing in your boat is a schedule. Now that we’re retired, we really try to sail when it’s fun, sit tight when it’s too rough, and go with the flow. Still, trying to meet up with friends or family can create challenges! We spent The first summer of our retirement on the Chesapeake and really enjoyed it. There are just so many places to go that you can Pick one based on the wind and weather! We accidentally stumbled on pirate weekend in rock Harbor when meeting family there and we had a blast. So I’ve come to realize that being flexible and adaptable leads to happier times on the boat. By the way we moved to Miami Beach last week and hope to leave here next week for the Bahamas! The only schedule we have right now is picking up our 4 year old twin grandsons mid May. We might not even make it to Georgetown this year because of the delay but I’m OK with that. You can either be constantly stressed and disappointed by the weather or go with it. Maybe we will cross paths again if the winds and Fate allow

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    1. Great to hear from you, Nina! Those are wise words indeed. Some of,our favorite travel memories are from experiences that happened accidentally. We’ll be bopping around the Exumas for quite awhile so keep us posted. We’d love to get together with you two again! Kimberly and Jeff

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      1. We look forward to welcoming you to, “Velcro Beach”! Good company, hot shower and comfy bed…..and of course, our beloved Maggie! 🌺

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  5. Florida has been windy this winter too from what I’ve heard from Morgan. Maybe you guys should have a season exploring the keys and the gulf side, you can always circle back cross FL through Lake Okeechobee.

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