A Week Aboard S/V Sabado: 11/29/2020 – 12/5/2020
We’ve officially been docked in Cape Canaveral, FL for a month. That’s the longest we’ve stayed in one place since I moved aboard. Although we did leave for a week to visit my family in Texas, we are still itching for a change of scenery ASAP!
Anyway, I guess I jinxed us last week by bragging about the good weather. It was nice on Sunday so we went on an extra long walk and took care of some outdoor boat chores, but a storm ended up blowing through so we spent Monday inside, eating homemade chicken katsu ramen and watching Lost, hiding from the rain.
On Tuesday I announced my resignation from the only semblance of a job I was willing to keep after I decided to sell everything I owned last year, running the nonprofit I started in college. It was a bittersweet email to send, but it was the right decision. My staff and Board of Directors deserve a President and CEO who has regular and reliable cell and WiFi service and who can give the position their all, and that is not me anymore! From start to finish, WSS was a whirlwind experience. I’m so thankful for those who helped me keep my head above water in the early days, and those who challenged me to think even bigger thereafter. Together, we’ve accomplished some cool things, and helped a lot of women along the way. It’s been quite the experience, and I can’t wait to continue to watch the organization grow under new leadership. ❤️
We spent the rest of the day Tuesday in the marina lounge doing some computer work. Ray got the new iPad Pro so he went in and installed all our navigation and weather apps, while I answered some emails and figured out Christmas gifts for my family.
On Wednesday Ray decided to drill a hole in our fridge before I had even finished my coffee.
With this new hole, he was able to hook up the thermostat he made for our top loading fridge to this fridge as well. Once that was taken care of, I made our last (and largest) Instacart order- so we should be able to go 2-3 months comfortably without needing any more groceries (longer if we catch some fish ;)).
We spent the rest of the day Wednesday drinking beer in the cockpit and listening to music that came out before I was born (Ray is educating me).
On Thursday we dropped our propane tanks off at the hardware store to get filled, went and picked up some Cuban coffees (Joe please reopen Cuba so we can sail there!!) and watched some peacocks in the parking lot (they just run wild here).
Friday was spent cleaning the boat, checking the engines, sorting out our new lines, doing our last loads of laundry, etc. in preparation to get the hell out of Cape Canaveral. We got a weather window Saturday afternoon, tossed our lines, swung through the fuel dock, and headed out toward West Palm Beach!
We started the trip off going way too fast- under full main and jib, our SOG was 7kn and we figured we’d hit about 10kn once we turned downwind, making our ETA in West Palm Beach before sunrise… and we were not trying to drop anchor in an unfamiliar anchorage in the dark. So we kept an eye on things, prepared to reef to slow us down if needed, and luckily the wind calmed down and we were able to cruise at about 5kn for most of the afternoon.
Towards the end of the day the wind died a bit more than we’d like, so we rigged our jib onto a barber hauler and settled in at about 4.5kn of speed for the rest of the day.
Usually I listen to a podcast or an audiobook while I keep watch, but when we were docked in Cape Canaveral the boat across from us had a heinous recording of a squawking bird playing every day- thinking it would keep the other birds off his boat, which it didn’t- so I just enjoyed the peace and quiet during this sail. It was amazing.
Right before sunset the wind completely died (I’m talking 2kn/2.5kn TWS/AWS), so we caved in, dropped our sails, and turned on an engine. We were a bit bummed, but not too upset considering this was our view:
I made some enchiladas for dinner and we switched off napping and keeping watch overnight.
My first night watch shift was pretty uneventful, just the way I like it. At one point the coast guard was relaying warnings about a 20ft piece of floating dock that was drifting around in our area, so I kept an eye out for that as best I could (the moon wasn’t very bright so it was tricky!), but luckily we never crossed paths with it.
My second shift was similar, I saw a few fishing boats but nothing to alter course over. I watched the sunrise then headed back to bed while Ray guided us into West Palm Beach.
I woke up and dropped the anchor, cracked open a white claw, and am getting ready to make some breakfast and head back to bed for a bit!
It looks gorgeous here, I can’t wait to explore! I hope you all had a good week. ❤️