… INTO LIVE-ABOARD MODE

We’ve finally done it – made Sabrina our primary home. You might think it would be difficult to collect the things you need to live aboard from two homes, bring them on to a fairly small vessel and get it all stowed away. Well…you’d be right. But we’re working on it.

For those we haven’t spoken to, Kitty and I will be selling our house in Washington. We will be living aboard Sabrina and travelling with the seasons. Our stuff will live at our house on the Magothy River and in a condo we’ve rented in Baton Rouge, and we will visit it from time to time. We’re in Solomons Island for the Krogen rendezvous next week. The rendezvous ends on October 7, then we’ll head down to Baton Rouge for a few days. After Solomons, we’ll start our migration to Florida on Sabrina for the winter. The schedule will depend in part on the status of the intra-coastal waterway and facilities in the Carolinas, so stay tuned.

The trip down here yesterday was great, which means that nothing bad happened. We made really good time – 55.5 nautical miles in just under 8 hours. We were aided by a decent following wind and the tide for the first half of the trip. Also, I’m getting better at using the chart plotter to find the most direct route, and the autopilot to keep us on it. When your cruising speed is 6 to 7 knots, you want to follow as straight a path as you can without putting yourself in danger. The Chesapeake Bay is shaped a bit like a parenthesis, so the navigation channel is not the most direct course.

Only one photo from the trip. This is Bloody Point Bar lighthouse on the southern tip of Kent Island. It has a slight list from ice damage.

We’re spending a couple of nights at Zahniser’s Marina in Solomon’s. Nice facility and convenient to the waterfront shops and restaurants. I always like to stay at an in-town marina where possible.

Tomorrow we take Sabrina across the creek to Calvert Marina for the rendezvous.