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Eliana has made it to Brazil, and will soon(ish) be on the east coast.

Warren Holybee

Active Member
Hello everyone. It has been a long time since I have been on. I've spent the past month in Salvador, Brazil, and thoroughly enjoyed Carnival!

I will leaving here in the next couple days (Monday or Tuesday) and head north. I am currently singlehaded, but a friend of mine is stranded in the Caribbean and I will be picking her up. I will make a couple very quick stops in the Caribbean before making landfall in the US (finally) in Miami sometime in April.

From there ????

I need to find a place to stay for the Hurricane season, and that place needs to be friendly to liveaboards, and I (rather desperately) will need to find work. My career was a broadcast engineer, so a big city with lots of TV stations would be ideal. I could probably also find a job in IT. Or even Starbucks would work if I can comfortably live at anchor someplace.

I hope to be able to run into some of you as I wander north. Any suggestions of where I should stop to work?

Also, a few of you donated to the gofundme my mom set up. THANK YOU! I would not have been able to make it as far as I have without that, and at least being able to make it to the USA gives me a chance to work for a while to save money again.

-Warren
s/v Eliana
 
Hi Warren,

Congrats on some fantastic adventures! Very inspiring. If you make it as far north as the mid-Chesapeake, there are a whole lot of marina choices (from very basic to quite fancy) and the proximity to DC or Baltimore can be reasonable. We live in DC and the drive to our marina in Deale, MD is about 45 min normally, maybe an hour max at rush hour. Not the best commute in the world but not the worst either, and I think pretty good as far as affordable liveaboard options close to a city? Can't really say what the job market looks like in your fields, but I have to imagine there are quite a few broadcasters, all sorts of IT, and about 6 million Starbucks :)

Keefer
 
Warren

Well done on your journey so far. How has the boat been treating you? We'd like to hear of your adventures. As you travel up the East Coast, hiding from hurricane season is best done further North, like in Maine. As for wintering over as a live aboard is probably best kept below the Chesapeake. The Chesapeake is wonderful in the spring and fall but hot in July & August. Long Island Sound, where we are, is good in the summer but sometimes a bit short of wind. From Boston North to Maine is beautiful in July and August. I think if I was going to try to winter over comfortably, I'd try for Charleston or Savanah. No idea what the work situation would be anywhere along the coast. if you end up coming in through Long Island Sound, call us, we are slightly East of NYC in Hempstead Harbor. Our number is 516-437-6107.

Bonnie & Jim
 
At this point, I am leaning toward Charleston or the Chesapeake. Key is my ability to live aboard at anchor, at least for a few months until I am making money, as I will have none to pay for a slip when I arrive. So someplace that has a live aboard community already would be great. It's very doable on the west coast, where the sailing is good all year, and there are anchorages right near the heart of the city. But I'm sort of feeling that is more difficult to find on the east coast.
 
Warren
In Northern Florida on the St John's River is a place called Green Cove Springs. From what I know they are very friendly to liveaboards and seem to be somewhat out of the paths of previous hurricanes. Also in Georgia, Check out the marina in Brunswick GA. Also friendly to liveaboards.

Jim
 
Anchorages in Charleston are few. Anchorages abound in the Chesapeake. There are several communities around the bay where you could live at anchor. Baltimore. Annapolis. Norfolk. All may have work.
 
What a difference a month makes! I am now on St. Thomas, USVI. Where I guess I will be staying for a while.

The passage from Salvador to here I think breaks my record for the slowest passage I've done with an average speed of 4.5 kts.
I made it without incident, and having arrived tore my mainsail while flaking it. The leach came apart in my hand. I don't think it is worth trying to fix, the sail has over 30,000 miles on in. I had hoped it would make it all the way around back to SF, but I guess not.

Now I am just sitting at anchor, bewildered that the world seems to have come to an end while I was away, and waiting for things to open up again. I'm not sure how much people on this group follow, but every island in the Caribbean is closed to arrivals except the USVI. (which is why I am here now-I couldn't land anywhere else) The entire south Pacific is closed for the upcoming season. No boats are sailing anywhere, and people are wondering what will happen come hurricane season. A dozen or so boats were refused entry to St. Helena, and are now headed this way, praying they will be allowed entry when they get here. Some won't, as they were not planning to enter the US and don't have US visas.

I hope everyone is safe, enjoying their solitude. I'm used to it by now, but I would like to be able to enjoy socializing at the yacht club or local bar after 30 days at sea.

-warren
 
Hi Warren! Welcome back to civilization (I guess!!?). What a strange thing to come back to, I would think.
Were you able to see any News along the way (30 days)? Or was it a total surprise? There would have been some rumblings before you left but not nearly as severe as it is now.
 
Warren

Nice to see you are safe in harbor. If ever there is a good place to be hole up in, St Thomas ain't that bad. Do you have any news on being able to leave there and make it to the East Coast? Is the US even allowing boats to reenter? Right now with all the restrictions on personal movement here, you might be better off where you are. Getting a job here would be rather difficult at the moment. Keep us up to date with your situation.

Jim
 
I am able to leave for the East Coast whenever I like, and other boats have and are leaving. I don't see any hurry, so I am looking at mid to late May. I don't think I'd find work there, and if I just have to wait someplace, this is a nice place for that.

As far as I can tell, US flagged boats are free to enter the US and any port they wish.
 
Hi Warren,

I can't speak for everywhere, but as for Maryland it is still very much a good idea to stay away. Living aboard is still allowed, but all recreational boating is currently illegal and pretty much everything is shut down. And with coronavirus cases still going up in the region, we are likely at least a few weeks away from any easing of restrictions (maybe more? who knows). Not to mention it has been unseasonably cold lately. Stay in paradise for as long as you can afford it!

Keefer
 
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