Category Archives: Boat Technical

Specifics about the boat.

Mellow Days in Marsh Harbour, Abacos Islands, Bahamas

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Friday, November 28 — It was an interesting sunrise. The clouds mostly blocked the colors, but wherever there was a gap in the clouds, the colors were vivid.

There had been a little bit of rain overnight. It was a gloomy morning. The wind was at 12 – 15 knots and the anchorage was quite rocky. It never failed to surprise us at how little fetch it took for wind waves to form. Unlike Thursday, there wasn’t much boat traffic. It seemed most boaters had hunkered down for the windstorm. The temperature was warm enough for shorts in the morning, but as the day progressed, it cooled down. By the late afternoon, we were wearing sweaters. Due to the thick cloud cover, the solar panels only produced 1/3 of the electricity that they normally generated.

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Start of the Passage from Norfolk to Marsh Harbor, Abacos, Bahamas – Cape Hatteras and Crossing the Gulf Stream

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Wednesday, November 12, 2025 — Christi woke up feeling like she was fighting a cold. It was warmer today than it was yesterday, but it was still too cold for our comfort. In the morning, we drove to Cova for lattes. Christi also stocked up on coffee since she knew finding good coffee in The Bahamas was not easy. Then Eric returned car while Christi and Keith did school. 

We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon getting things ready to go. Since it was a major passage, we had to make sure that everything was put away and securely packed in the cabinets and drawers. Eric rinsed the boat down and cleaned the exterior windows. Even though we’d run water over the lazarette and it seemed water tight, we decided to be extra cautious and put tape around the seals of the lazarette.

We untied at 1500. At first, the ride was not bad. We ran at 1625 RPM and averaged in the high 5s for speed. The sunset and twilight were… striped.

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Changing Plans in Norfolk, Virginia

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Tuesday, November 11, 2025 — Here was Kosmos in her slip at Morningstar.

Cruising season in the tropical latitudes officially began on November 1. Many families that were silent all summer have begun chiming in on the various boating apps, sharing where/when they were going. We’d mentioned that in Annapolis, we hadn’t met a single family going to the Eastern Caribbean — most were going to The Bahamas. As such, Keith has been asking to go to The Bahamas since that was where all the kids would be. Eric and Christi kept assuring Keith that there would be lots of families in the Caribbean and he’d have plenty of friends. But as we watched the check-ins, Eric and Christi began to doubt that was true. Few families indicated they were going to the Eastern Caribbean, and those that were wouldn’t be heading over there until later in the season.

Meanwhile, yesterday it cooled down again, but the terrible cold snap hadn’t hit yet. We knew the freezing temperatures were coming and would last for a while. We did not have the proper clothing/gear on board for such low temperatures. There was no weather window to Bermuda for the next three weeks, but a weather window was opening up to The Bahamas on Wednesday. Eric and Christi decided to give up on the Eastern Caribbean and just go to The Bahamas, instead. Keith was thrilled by the news. 

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Keith’s Perspective on Our Last Days in Maryland/Le point de vue de Keith sur nos derniers jours dans le Maryland

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On Saturday, we were supposed to go to DC with one of mom’s friends, but mom’s friend had to cancel. My parents wanted to go even without mom’s friend, but thankfully the museums were still closed because of the government shutdown. Thank you government shutdown! Instead, we went to brunch at a restaurant, then had Tiki Tour over for D&D. 

Samedi, on devait aller à  DC avec une des amies de maman, mais elle a dû annuler. Mes parents voulaient y aller quand même sans elle, Mais heureusement tous les musées étaient fermés parce que le gouverment était fermé. Merci fermeture du gouvernement! À la place, nous avons mangé un brunch à un restaurant, puis Tiki Tour est venu pour D&D. 

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