Hey guys…
Today WildChild finally made her way back into Marsh harbor to the same point in the adventure we were 2 weeks ago before we had the little detour to Florida.
Elena did amazing on the 300 mile journey with 2 crossings of the Gulf Stream. So it was a fabulous experience for her.
My spirit has actually been returning to normal. I am back to laughing everyday and smiling and just being so happy. I actually have a fabulous sense of humor and a very silly side of me that few people get to see. That part of me was repressed and put away for the last few years but I feel like I am back to life again.
Elena is like my new best friend. I think the angels were nice to me when they brought her to WildChild. She is like the perfect sailing partner for me… she totally gets my sense of humor and we play together a lot… just goofy silliness and fun.
…. I am kind of like the queen of the nerds… and of course you cannot be a nerd queen without loving StarWars and StarTrek… I was shocked to learn that Elena has never seen Star Wars…!!! holy cow… is that even possible?
So of course it is my duty to teach her the ways of the Jedi knight… we watched Star Wars episode 4 (the original) the other day so she now knows what the force is and how cool light sabers are. I am teaching her how to use the force to help the boat and Jedi mind tricks too. ha ha ha…
Also she has graduated the Captain Lexi sailing school for beginners when we made our crossing to Florida. We had a little silly ceremony… To call yourself a sailor (the very beginner very basic sailor) there are 4 basic things to do…
1/ Go sailing… maybe at least 200 miles will do…
2/ Know a bunch of fancy sailing terms…
3/ Know how to swear like a sailor…
4/ Drink a big shot of Rum straight up…
…. oh goodness I’m silly… (the secret is out now… Captain Lexi is a silly WildChild)… but anyways… In Florida we had Elena’s Sailor graduation party with her final test… a big shot of Rum straight up.
So Elena is now officially a WildChild approved beginner Sailor.
We have been working lately on her more advanced sailing skills… which of course has to involve using the Jedi force… and knowing about controlling the slot… sail trim… genny car placement and balancing her CLE with her CLR… of course. She needs to understand now WHY we make certain adjustments.
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Elena is now an awesome crew and a pretty good sailor… already far better than the last crew. So I think she is ready for our next step which will be the big 1200 Nautical Mile jump south we have to hammer out now.
Hurricane season is fast approaching and its way past time to jump. We have no more time to waste…
So what’s the plan… hmmm….
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Well…. originally I was talking to my friend Sailor Tom and he said he was going to Grenada… so buddy boating south with him was the plan. But he has changed his mind and decided to just go back to the US instead. So WildChild is alone in this.. no worries.
The Bahamas is actually made up of a bunch of different island chains that maybe my Canadian friends can think of as being like provinces. We are way in the northern Bahamas in the Abbacos… We know we have to start south very soon.
So the next jump will probably be to Nassau in the next 3 or 4 days… then from there… hmm… I don’t know… Maybe run hard thru the Exumas..? probably hit George Town (I hear is great) but I’m not sure where it is exactly… and finally make our way out of the south end of the Bahamas by way of Great Inagua island…. but then what…? I don’t actually know…
Looking at the maps and talking to other Sailors they tell me Curacao (just a bit north of Grenada is cheaper and a better place to hang out)…. although I also hear Trinidad is great and cheap… but I’m not sure if it is currently safe still…. (It is close to Venezuela which is currently very dangerous). AND… maybe Panama is safe from hurricanes and cheap for food.
Hmmm…
So loosely right now we will maybe go to Curacao..?
I heard yesterday that the Turks and Caicos expect sailboats to pay them a $100 a week for the privilege of being there… no thanks… we’ll just skip it. I heard that Puerto Rico is good… so maybe we will go there….?
Although the official start of hurricane season is June it is not too likely there will be a hurricane this early. (fingers crossed and insert lots of praying) But… I would like to be near the BVI’s by the end of June. July make the last few hundred miles hopping along the islands…
The very loose idea is that if a hurricane does develop and come that way in July we will hopefully know about it several days in advance and have time to make a 36 hour hard jump out of the way…?? (again not too sure of myself here).
However… we are pretty free here… we could maybe choose to go a different route. I have a friend in Jamaica I’d love the chance to see (Derrick)… maybe would could go visit with Cuba for a bit instead… wander down to Jamaica and then run long and hard (with the trade winds) to Panama…? Hmmmm…
Although we have 2 basic options in front of us… both of them start with WildChild getting to the south end of the Bahamas PDQ (Pretty Darn Quick).
If I get slow to make and pump out YouTube videos in the next month for you guys… please forgive me…. we have lots of sailing to do.
Cheers sailors…
Captain Lexi
………. the almost Brave…