We are sailing offshore from Cape Fear North Carolina, across the gulf stream, directly to the Bahamas. 0:32: Catch a Mahi Mahi Usually, we bring our fishing gear in at night, but this night, we forgot to. Fish On! We reel in a Mahi Mahi in the dark while going 9 knots under sail. Kate fries him up and we have a delicious fresh fish meal.

2:47 Offshore Sailing

We keep on trucking! We are almost to the Bahamas. We can feel things getting warmer, which is much needed. We needed shorts weather, rather than the nasty cold of the East Coast in November. Luckily we didn’t have to dodge any storms or hurricanes, but we did sail through some winds up to 35 knots on the way down, making for an exciting sailboat passage.

9:31 Arrive in Eleuthera

We made it to Eleuthera, the Bahamas after almost a year of hard boat work. It seems like everything is coming together. We navigate the shallow waters, dodging coral heads, on the way to Meeks Island (one of the Bahamas Pig Islands) in the crystal clear turquoise waters of the Bahamas.

10:53 Anchor Down

This is what we went sailing for. Dropping anchor in the Bahamas and cooking some steaks on the grill! Yes! Watch a beautiful sunset with us.

12:04 Good Morning

We wake up in the morning and Kate climbs the mast to get the lay of the land. What other girls would do a mast climb? Kate is a superwoman! The water is glass calm and beautiful clouds dot the horizon. We jump in and dive our Rocna 33kg anchor to see how it is set!

15:02 Paddle Boarding

It is time for some paddle boarding and to explore a beach at a deserted island in the Caribbean! Woo Hoo!!! We made it.

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The post [Ep 14] Gulf Stream Crossing p2 – Sailing Offshore to Bahamas: Land Ho! appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

0:00 Annapolis

We start out this youtube sailing video where the last one left off. We left the dock at Bert Jabins in Annapolis, Marlyand in the cold November rain! We had a deadline though, our goal was to be at anchor in the warm, clear blue waters of the Bahamas to celebrate Thanksgiving.

0:31 Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay was a mess on the way out. We dodged fishing gear and huge cargo ships and freighters as we motored upwind to make our weather window. The next morning we were sailing, almost to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, the outlet to the Atlantic Ocean. After months of being coupled up in a boatyard, we have finally headed to sea again. We raised our sails and reached down the coast, headed toward Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

1:19 Cape Hatteras

Late that leaving, or should we say early the next morning, we rounded Cape Hatteras in the dark. We dealt with the choppy and confused seas driving at weird angles by the relentless current. We made it through, rounding America’s Great Cape at roughly 2:00 AM. The next morning, as if to celebrate our achievement, we were greeted by dolphins swimming off of our bow. Our first Bow Dolphins on Sweet Ruca!!!

4:20 Dolphins & Fishing for Mahi Mahi

After we crossed into the Gulf Stream the next morning the conditions subsided. And, at times even went to flat calm. We decided to do some fishing and nailed our first Mahi Mahi. Thankful to the gods of the sea for the fabulous dinner. Fish tacos for days!

7:34 Cape Fear, North Carolina

After our first offshore fishing experience, we saw the weather was shifting. To get ahead of it, and make some time in the calm, we decided to tack back to shore and head to Cape Fear, NC. A wonderful little town on the Intercoastal Waterway. We stayed the night and re-filled with diesel and icecream!

8:33 Gulf Stream in Big Breeze

We headed back out to do battle with the Gulf Stream once more. It was the only thing left between us and warm weather. The problem was, the wind was blowing from the direction we wanted to go. We saw big breeze up to 35 knots and Kate experienced a bout of seasickness as we had spray into the cockpit.

12:21 The Morning After

We made it through, but we weren’t to the Bahamas just yet. The trip would continue. We show you what the inside of the boat looks the morning after bashing into big seas offshore. Bluewater sailing at its best. Kate talks about her seasickness and Curtis is having fun discussing autopilot. He is really happy he is finally wearing shorts, a sign we are sailing closer to the Caribbean!

#sailingvlog #capehatteras #gulfstream #chesapeakebay #sailing #atlantic #bahamas #caribbean #sail #3rdreef #sailinglife #sail #sea #boat #yacht #sailboat #yachting #travel #ocean #boatlife #sailor #yachtlife #boating #summer #boats #sailingboat #sailingyacht #adventure #yachts #vlogger #youtubesailing #vlog #rescuedog #sailingdog #boatdog

The post [Ep. 13] Gulf Stream Crossing – Sailing Offshore to Bahamas in November appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.