Sweet Caroline - Getting in the rhythm

Today has been a slower day -- winds somewhat behind us, but we are just trying to stay on course and get to a waypoint at 65 W longitude, from which we can turn South. The last two days have been great sailing - 6-8 knots in spite of the 10-12 foot swells. Little difficult to sleep last night being on a starboard tack, but we try to at least take naps in the day. It's been a trip of many first ... so far, no one has been seasick. We have encouraged each other to stay hydrated and rest whenever we can.I am so grateful for finding the right meds that work for me. I even cooked dinner last night -- pork roast barbecue, corn on the cob, and slaw. Another first is that we caught a fish -- but it was a skipjack tuna (which are really only good for bait). We don't have the freezer space just. read more...

Sweet Caroline - Day 1 - The Race is ON - Early Start

We were officially notified by the Rally HQ that the race could begin anytime after 12:01am on Wednesday, November 11. We checked tides and current and reviewed watch schedule and planned our leave for 2am. We were making our last safety check before dark last night and identified that the starboard bow light was defective. This was after Jeff had already done rewiring to correct the port bow light, earlier in the week. This one was a defective light, though. We were able to get to West Marine and get a new one before they closed (thanks to Uber).Then all hands on deck to make this last repair - and we were in business. Let's go to bed before something else goes wrong. We had an early pretty simple dinner and called it a night. Today is the day - Kirk, Grey and I got us off about 2:23am. read more...

Sweet Caroline - Last days of Preparation

We are in Portsmouth, last week countdown... only 6 days away from our departure. Kirk and I arrived on Saturday afternoon about 3pm. It was so exciting coming in the marina and seeing all the Caribbean 1500 flags, and there are more being raised every day. We got here just in time to tie up, shower and go to the first Happy Hour to meet some of our fellow cruisers. We were able to walk downtown to a few restaurants and shops -- we'll wait for a car to get groceries though. Our Safety Inspection was scheduled for Sunday at 11am. I wanted to walk down to the local UMC service, but since I am assigned as the primary safety person, I had to guide Peter Burch through our boat showing him all the through hull plugs, ditch bag, and I was all ready to demonstrate my ability to get the liferaft. read more...

Sweet Caroline - The adventure begins

It's been a couple of years since our Bahamas adventure, so now it's time to start the next adventure.I'm typing this on a plane flying back from Tucson, AZ where I've been on a project for the last 21 months.Mary just said goodbye to her Duke Energy friends and is on another plane out of Charlotte.I'm taking a few months off before my next gig and Mary is going to take some time off from Duke this time so she can be there as well.She didn't get to stay long in the Bahamas last time, so I'm looking forward to having my first mate along for the duration.We'll have to get used to living together again, since I stay on the road and we're rarely together for more than 3-4 days at a time.We're going to meet up in Baltimore tonight and hopefully find a ride from there to Oxford, MD where Sweet. read more...

Sweet Caroline - Our Countdown begins

It seems like we've been counting for years, but it's finally coming into site.We just finished up work at Port Annapolis and our official list of projects is complete.Of course, it's still a boat, so we always have a list.We moved the boat to Oxford to enjoy the Eastern shore a bit before heading south to start the Rally.Kirk is finishing up a project in Tucson, AZ on Oct 29th, and Mary is taking a long break from Duke.We will meet up in Oxford the weekend before the rally to begin the journey south.Our original plans were to try to make it to the SSCA Gam next weekend, but it looks like it's probably back to the boat tostraighten up from the endless projects and start to organize the boat for the long trip.2 more weekends planned on the boat before the start.S/V Sweet Caroline. read more...