Sunday December 29
We’ve been sailing now for 7 days 24/7 round the clock. Our days have been we randomly take turns at the helm. In the mid morning or early afternoon Dan would nap. After dinner around 6, Danielle and I would rest or nap then wake at 10, Dan would go to sleep. Our watch would last till 2am, then Dan was on till 6 or 7am. This has worked well for us. On our watch, in the sky full of stars, we’ve watched the Big Dipper rise into the night sky.

Saturday December 28
It’s hard to believe four weeks ago today we started this journey, my how time flies! The biggest surprise to me was I never anticipated we would’ve traveled down the the Inter coastal waterway. I expected all ocean sailing. Mother Nature had other plans. But it’s ok, we met several wonderful people along the way and spent great times with them!
I find it hard to sleep most nights with the rock’n and rolling, all the creeks the boat makes, from the ropes on the wenches to the halyards in the mast, canned foods sliding in the shelves, the bouncing of the memory foam mattress topper and even the water sloshing in the tank. It’s a new environment to adapt to.
Sailed through light showers this morning. A cloud 11 miles away was a bit angry and formed a water spout, lucky we had already past it.
Birds and boats. I’m guessing it’s a thing. At least once a day a bird or two just circle the boat. One even landed, that’s the second this happened to us.
We’ve also been trying to get regular exercise, sea conditions permitting. Typically we’d do 3 or 4 sets 15 reps of sit ups, Superman’s, squats, tricep dips, chest press, small arm circles and neck stretches. Balance can be an issue on moving boat but we’re making it work.
Friday December 27
Just cruising the Caribbean Sea today! The time zone, where are we in relation to that? We don’t have cell service right now so we decided we are on boat time! Our own zone, at least till civilization tells us otherwise.
I didn’t expect the calmness around Cuba. One day we’re allowed to go there the next day we’re not. I wondered if a large military force chasing away anyone who got close. Instead it was green with vegetation along the coast with small sandy beaches, very serene. As we rounded the most western tip of Cuba there is this lighthouse Cabo de San Antonio.
Cruising at 6 knots winds out of East 12-15 knots.
Cuba
A few days ago, I did a inventory of all food on the boat and where it’s located. Will need to rearrange later so like items are together. Today we took that list and made a master list of how many of each item we had.
Had a boat argument today, how much heel of the boat while under sail is acceptable for 1) showering 2) cooking 3) eating 4) sleeping?
Thursday December 26, 2019
The cockpit was wet this morning, it rained a bit last night. The sky behind us is really ugly fortunately it is crossing behind us.
Wednesday December 25, 2019
So this was Christmas 🎄!
It’s 74 degrees today in Key West, 40 back home in Pennsylvania.
Listened to Christmas music 🎶 all day.
Dozens of Dolphins came to swim by us this morning.
12:30pm cheers! champagne time🥂with lunch!
Cracked Black Pepper and Olive Oil Triscuts!
It’s ok to have Halloween candy on Christmas right?
Added waterproofing to the Bimini.
The code 65 sail “Cody” was up almost all day.
We fished for a bit, didn’t catch anything.
Merry Christmas from us on Trance!
Tuesday December 24, 2019
We set sail around 7:15am, anticipate sailing through the night.
Monday December 23, 2019
With a weather window approaching we decided to spend the day provisioning for the sail south. Danielle and I went to Costco, Publix, USPS and Walmart. It was a crazy day, so much traffic and impatient people. I know it’s two days before Christmas but still.
When we arrived in Deerfield Beach, because of the holiday, “there was no room at the Inn”, all the marinas were full. Then we found a new one, Aquamarina Oceanside, it’s actually docks at new apartment complex managed by a local marina, they had many stalls (slips) available and was the cheapest price around. The only hiccup was the electricity didn’t work , ground fault kept tripping and the water was turned off , the manager said they would reduce our fee because of that.
Sunday December 22, 2019
Another day spent with our Florida family. Dan and Bill did errands getting a few things for the boat. They also had to move Trance a few slips down, guess we parked in the wrong one yesterday. Halle and I went food shopping for their Christmas Eve dinner, we spent the day preparing food. More family stopped by, Aunt Joan, Cindy and Bonnie came over for dinner.
Looks like we may have a good weather window in a few days.
Saturday December 21, 2019
Everyday is a Saturday! We left our cul de sac probs around 8:30am went through 6 more bridges and finally ended up at the the Aquamarina Ocean Side Marina. Meet up with Dan’s cousin Bill his wife Halle, their son Jeffery, whom we’ll stay with for a few days.
Friday December 20, 2019
Alarms were set to wake us up at 6:15am, we wanted to see if the space launch at Cape Canaveral would be visible from where we were. Boeing was sending up an unmanned rocket.
Our travels today took us from Ft Pierce to Del Ray Beach FL. 64.4 nautical miles or 74.11 miles. Going through 17 bascule bridges. Some opened upon request others were on the half and the hour, a few were 15 and 45 past the hour. Majority of the bridge operators were polite and timely, but there was one who wouldn’t open the bridge for us. He said we were too far away, our eta was 2 minutes off, but it takes him 2 minutes to open the bridge. We waited there 30 minutes for the next time slot.
We stopped for the night in a cul de sac on the ICW. Looking at google maps, we’re near a Walmart parking lot…our RV on the water.
Sailing Trance 