see how tattered my
ensign (American flag) is? It's been a hell of a rough sail from Grenada! I made it to Miami this morning after staying up all night for the sail across the gulf. It was pretty dull, not much wind, cold, and I had to fight the gulf current, which really wanted to shoot me north. Video coming soon! Merry Christmas today!!
Here's a video from earlier in the month. I'm on Cat Island waiting for weather. As soon as I arrived here I was taken in by a very nice Columbian family from Miami, the father of which met me on the fuel dock when I arrived and immediately invited me over to the house for the next couple meals. It's very nice to have some company while I wait for weather, and the everyone in the family has been super nice.
I haven't been able to access the site for updates. I'm on Cat Cay waiting for Christmas morning when there is supposed to be good weather to cross to Miami. I've had awful weather since Puerto Rico. No wind, or strong stormy wind from the exact direction I want to go. Bad news. I'm almost there though.
This update is from a week or so ago:
Exhaustion. I’ve been open ocean and coastal sailing daily for the last 20 days with occasional overnight stops.
After I arrived in Ponce, Puerto Rico I hopped up to Mayaguez on the NW side of the island, then departed the next day for Grand Turk Island. What a miserable sail, walking speed the whole way and one 24hr period of dead calm. However, I made it in 4 days and arrived 24hrs before my father and step-mother arrived on their cruise ship. So we had a nice, though brief visit. That night I weighed anchor and sailed north behind the cruise ship. I went north of Caicos islands bound for Mayaguez Isl. North of Caicos I was becalmed again, the weather has been very aggravating! I changed my destination to Rum Cay, which is a bit further away. I never made it, the wind shifted and strengthened to the NW (just the direction I wanted to go) and I had to backtrack a couple hours to take refuge on the SE point of Mayaguez. It wasn’t much of a refuge, the wind was very strong and running parallel to the coast, and the swells rolled along violently in the same direction. I dropped anchor anyway and slept in short periods, rolling violently and getting up to check the anchor, which dragged twice buy held for the rest of the night once I paid out more line and it found its spot and dug in. Leaving the next morning was a nightmare. The high winds and swells continued, so getting the 45lb anchor and 50ft of chain back onboard by hand took an hour. Before sunset, I made the anchorage on the SW side of the island, which is well protected by a long reef. What a joy it was to drop anchor there, the water was calm and the boat protected from the wind by the land. I rowed into the small settlement to look around and walk the dog, but when I returned I collapsed into my bunk and slept soundly until morning. I was completely exhausted.
Unable to update the blog from Mayaguez I continued on to Rum Cay 130 or so nm away. I arrived Friday shortly before sunset. I’m relieved there was a place to stop today, I’m rocking an awful headache.
Man, I love Puerto Rico. Great food, great weather. It's warm during the day and borderline chilly at night, perfect.I was getting really tired or sweating day and night in Grenada. But I'm not complaining I promise! Here's the second part of the videos. I'm leaving Ponce tonight for the SW corner of the island, then Mayaguez tomorrow and on to the Bahamas the next day. I've got a special visitor coming on the 29th to Miami, so I'm hustling a bit to ensure I'm on time.
as a special treat, I cooked steak and mashed potatoes tonight. Soo good! I haven't had a steak since I left the US.
A Charleston, SC native, Perry graduated from The Citadel (The Military College of S.C.) in 2005. He spent 4.5 years as a Naval Officer operating out of Florida and Virginia. In 2007 aboard the USS Arleigh Burke he deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and spent several weeks off the coast of Somalia conducting Anti-Piracy operations. 4 months before leaving the Navy he bought a 31' sailboat and began to prepare her for a great adventure; a sail from Virginia to South America and back by way of the Bahamian and Caribbean Islands. This blog picks up at the beginning of that journey. Perry is currently preparing to find a job, sell the boat, and make a move to Japan by summer 2011.
