Joy, sweat, and tears in Nova Scotia
Nikola is lifted out of the water in a small Canadian picture-postcard idyll. For the first time since it was launched over a year and a half ago.
Spooky sail with highlights
We set sail in Nantucket with a decent wind, only to be swallowed up by fog as soon as we leave the harbor. If we didn’t know better, it would seem like a journey into the unknown. But Canada awaits us on the other side of the Gulf of Maine.
Just the smell of it
The New England leg starts in Rhode Island, and Newport takes us straight to the epicenter of US sailing. You can’t get more sailing tradition than that.
Long Island Dolce Vita
New York’s skyline fades into the background as we continue eastward. The light wind sail that was battered by the thunderstorm in Norfolk awaits us in Mamaroneck.
New York, at last
New York doesn’t seem eager to let us arrive. The wind blows so hard on our nose that we have to tack toward the skyline at 33 knots. Entering the bay turns out to be a little frustrating. The cargo ships whizzing past don’t help us relax, either.
Loosing track of Summer
The air grows cooler and the water grows murkier. The feeling is almost homely. One thing is certain, though: the Caribbean is definitely a few hundred nautical miles behind us.
Sun sets and Sun rises
On land, the sun rises no less often. And yet it seems that way to us. Sunsets have also become more frequent since we’ve been on the water.
Riding the Gulf Stream
The next big leap is on the horizon. The Bahamas to the USA. We want to travel as far up the East Coast as the winds allow in one leg. Ideally, we will make it as far as New York; worst case, we will make it to one of the southern states.
Highlight after highlight
The leg to Long Island will be etched deep in our memory: Perfect moonset and sunrise, the incomparable light of the Bahamas and sailing in two to three meter deep water over a white sandy bottom. All around us, every shade from turquoise to blue. Not a soul far and wide.
No one here dives for the anchor
When was the last time we spent several days at sea? Over three months ago when we crossed the Atlantic. Time to warm up our sea legs again, because it’s three full days to the Bahamas. At least if we leave the Dominican Republic on the left and the Turks and Caicos Islands on the right.