As we attempted to walk to dinner in the cold, with Dana navigating, we made a series of wrong turns leading us to walk in a huge very long circle. Walking in these boat shoes that far is not exactly comfortable. He relented and fired up google maps but to no avail. I said, "Much later in this misadventure story, when we're capsized in the drink waiting to be rescued, we'll ask ourselves were there any warning signs way at the beginning any signs at all that might have been a red flag to foreshadow this unfortunate outcome?"  

The Bad Signs List(tm) has been given new life. 

As is so often the case before Big Trips, I did not sleep well the night before. I, however, managed to drag my sorry carcass out of bed on time and set about getting ready. I was stupid tired. 

The catamaran, the Aravilla, was docked in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. There's a wonderful marina there that is incredibly convenient for loading the boat. It turned out that the amount of equipment and parts sent to my house for the boat was more than I had realized. I asked Duncan if I might impose upon him to bring his truck and cart me and all this gear up to Baltimore. He kindly agreed and, also not having slept enough, showed up during this time period I've heard referred to as "Mourning" and help me pack everything into the truck. 

We made our way up to Baltimore where we met Dana and Peter in inner harbor.

We immediately set about getting carts and carrying all this stuff from the truck to the boat. Some of this stuff, notably some huge batteries, were significantly heavy so it made transferring them to the boat challenging enough that we had to be very careful. Boxes were cut down, trash was collected, and I made several runs back and forth to the dumpster while Dana started stowing things where they belonged.  

After that was done and the most cumbersome things were put away, we sat around the salon and talked about the upcoming journey. It was nice that Duncan was able to stay for a while.

The last update I had gotten was that due to the unpredictable nature of weather out on the ocean right now, it would be safer to travel along the coast down to Florida. At first I had that feeling of "I wanted to see big water" but immediately understood that on a sailboat one is subject to the whims of weather. The coast would offer us many options to sail into port should Bad Things(tm) happen. It would also mean we would be sailing past the islands and would most likely stop in the Bahamas. 

Dana informed us that the weather service he subscribes to has informed him that there's a big low pressure system moving through our intended route with 50kt winds and 25 foot seas. 

Yea, that's a whole lotta nope. 

So these weather consultants are, at the moment, suggesting we head out into deep water and make the run down straight to St Martin bypassing the other islands.

Watching Dana trace the projected route on the big paper chart suddenly made it very real. 

"This is no joke." I thought as I became aware of a growing trepidation welling up inside me.  

Peter commented, "When you're in the Bahamas you'll see hundreds of boats but they're mostly all from Southern Florida. They'll sail as far as the lower end of the Bahamas but no further." He had some term for that point saying that few people will sail the next 900 miles down to St Martin. I forget what he called it. My memory is not what it once was. 

"Once there you only see the mega-yachts, the live-aboards, and hard core sailors." 

"And soon, if all goes well, one rank beginner." I replied. 

While the magnitude of this trip had not escaped me intellectually, somehow being here on this boat now make it feel different. There's a much greater weight of seriousness to it. 

I spent a little time trying to arrange all my gear in my cabin. This really is the lap of luxury but the quarters are quite cramped. It takes a little while to figure out where everything should go. Much like packing a motorcycle, it takes a while to figure out what the best system is, where to put what, and what you'll actually use and what can be left less accessible.

Cozy and very very nice.

I'll likely spend the next month of my life in this cabin. 

Dana poured Duncan and I the last bit of coffee out of the carafe when he noticed the carafe had a prominent crack.

"Stop everything. This is now a bona-fide emergency!" I said not entirely joking. 

"I know. We will solve this immediately." Dana said. 

Dana did still need to get more provisions. Duncan kindly offered to drive us over to a Walmart where Dana, Peter, and I went grocery shopping.

The first priority was, of course, the coffee maker which we secured immediately. 

It was a pretty major shop. My dietary restrictions made things challenging. There was much reading of ingredients and putting things back on shelves. But Dana, as he always is, was incredibly kind and made sure there was plenty for me to eat. I will not starve and honestly will probably eat better on this boat than I do at home. Then again, I usually eat at McGinty's where I eat extremely well. 

It has been many years since I've been in a Walmart. I'm not saying it's a bad place, it just appeals to a different kind of shopper. Watching the people walk or more often cart by, I knew I just wasn't their target demographic. Some things you see and just can't un-see. 

Duncan needed to get to work and we knew the shop take significant time. We said our goodbyes to Duncan and after an hour or so we got an Uber and made our way back to the boat. 

We carted all of our supplies including the precious new coffee maker to the boat. Dana and Peter set about putting stuff away with an efficiency that was almost frightening. Before long all was where it needed to be but there was no rest for the sleepless weary.

Of urgent concern for Dana was that one of the out haul lines used to reef the sail had snapped and needed to be replaced. Dana and I had done this for another line the last time I was on the boat but neither of us could remember the brilliantly clever solution we had come up with. We remembered it was brilliant and clever but that was about it. Coat hanger in hand with much discussion, trial, error, and fiddling (Duncan would have been proud) we had the new line run and attached as it should be. 

I peppered Dana with endless questions about safety, night running, watches, safety gear, terminology, sailing tactics, and any other question I could come up with. There's so much to learn and he patiently answered all of my questions. Something that I find a bit disturbing is that I am finding learning this new terminology very challenging. He'll tell me the name of a thing three times but I'll still forget it. And I confess, I have again forgotten the name of the line that holds the boom up when the sail is down A topping lift? Topping line? Topping doomaflatchet?  

We talked about strategies for managing the sails in weather. What to do in heavy winds. We talked about man overboard scenarios and what he was taught in the captain's course he took makes much more sense than what I saw online. If I remember correctly he said, "Mark the location. Throw all the flotation you can. Let the sails go. Use the motors. In this cold water, get to the man over board as quickly as you can. You don't want to waste time making errors with wind or judgement."

Phil had asked me many questions about the boat to which I did not know the answers. When we talked on the phone he was very focused on night vision. "Does the boat have red interior lights?" he asked. When you're at the helm at night you need to be able to see as best as you can and the strategy is to dim all the instrument lights and any lights left on in the cabin should be the red variety so as not to affect your night vision. 

I asked Dana about this and he gave me with the "of course" look and explained the strategy for managing night vision. 

Once everything was done and all was put away as best as it could be we hung out for a while and pondered dinner. The sunset was beautiful but the photos do not do it justice.

It was quite cold as we walked over. I am a bit concerned that I have not brought enough layers with me. My shoulders especially do not do well in the cold. 

After some navigation errors along the way, we managed to find a place called Cross Street Market which had an open air upstairs with really decent heaters. 

Tomorrow, disturbingly early, we set sail for Annapolis where a starter motor is waiting for us. 

Because of this weather pattern that's being reported we will likely make our way down to Norfolk and wait there a few days for the system to pass before heading out. Because we are at the mercy of wind and weather, plans have to remain fluid and one must always be flexible. 

I was telling Peter about Miles By Motorcycle, "I"m using my site to document the trip. It's really about motorcycle trips but it just feels natural to use this platform to tell this story. AraVilla is, after all, a very strange motorcycle. No wheels and she floats." 

I've been posting updates and photos to the "Posts" tab above. My hope is to update the blog as I have connectivity. While we are doing the crossing there will be multiple days where I will be off the grid.

The "Planning  Map" tab above is where I will add points of interest of places to go. I've been told there is an Island not far from St. Martin that only has a single bar on it and from the photo is looks like the island is only slightly bigger than the bar. I've also been told of an island inhabited solely by goats. Both are marked in the lower right hand corner of the map. You can tap on the circled numbers to zoom in to that and then click on the point of interest circle to bring up details about that spot. 

Do you know of anything I should maybe see or do while I"m down in St. Martin? There will be a lot of work for me to help with but I imagine I will have at least a little free time. I know nothing so any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. 

The Trip Map is where I will post tracks and geotagged photos. 

If you want to be notified by email when I post updates please sign up for an account on the site, "Join" and then "Watch" this "Ride". If you have any problems please let me know.