Blog #10 Returning to the States

We have just completed our crossing from the Bahamas to Florida, and it was quite the adventure. We started the outing on Saturday morning as we sailed out of Grand Cay. I faced some pretty horrible seasickness quite quickly and sadly had to put the books away and take some Dramamine. Luckily this knocked me out for a while which allowed my body to acclimate to the bigger waves and turbulence without me having to deal with nausea and dizziness. Thankfully, I felt much better when I woke up and returned to my normal sailing ways. We all took turns taking watch throughout the day to keep our paths from intersecting with other boats and watching for wind changes. Besides that, we read a lot, listened to music, made it through a lot of podcasts, and took a few naps.

Through the night we each took a shift so that no one had to stay up all night; however, I don’t think Vince slept soundly knowing his life was in the hands of two amateur sailors. I had the first shift from 9pm-12am. The first hour consisted of me being a little nervous to be in the control of the boat alone for the first time, especially in the dark. The autopilot was getting overheated so I ended up directly steering the boat for the whole second hour. This was a slightly terrifying experience as you can see absolutely nothing outside of your boat. All I had to steer from was a compass which I had to keep the boat in line with. It was a bit like riding a roller coaster, blindfolded, while steering yourself. Luckily the wise words of Young Thug kept me at ease and it ended up being a great experience. By the third hour, I was getting into the swing of things and was able to relax and enjoy the amazing starry night. It was pretty incredible when it is just you and the open ocean for miles. After my shift, I quickly fell asleep and woke up just a few miles from Florida’s coast. The crossing was the most unique and rewarding part of the whole trip. It was a great way to complete our sailing adventures.