Reflections on A Year of Sailing: Season Two Recap
It’s impossible to put the past year into a few short paragraphs, but seeing as I’ve fallen off my blog game for some time now, we’re going to try! It’s been a busy 12 months to say the least. This second go around of chartering Bella in both Wrightsville Beach and the US Virgin Islands proved to be even more rewarding than the first year.
I’ll begin with summer 2024, Bella’s first full summer season in Wrightsville Beach. After sailing her back up from the USVI at the end of my winter season in the islands, the Soundside crew wasted no time getting her in shape for day charters. To avoid living at work during the peak of our busy summer season, I moved off the boat and into a friend’s guest room for the month of May, then to a house with other friends for the summer. By September, I was back aboard Bella. I’ll admit, living on land for three months was a welcome break. It allowed me to have a life away from work and enjoy the space and stability of a house for a while.
Bella was a popular gal in Wrightsville! The momentum we gathered from the island season carried into summer nicely. Often, she’d be off the dock for charter twice in one day. People really do love a catamaran! Every few weeks, I’d take her out for a multi-day charter or sailing course. She and I sailed to Southport, up the river to downtown Wilmington, and even as far south as Little River, SC. Those little overnight adventures were always a fun change of pace from the hustle and bustle of summertime Wrightsville Beach.
Come fall, charters slowed down and boat maintenance picked up. I even took the entire month of October off to travel–something I never could’ve done that first year, with all the passage preparations and planning required for starting a new business in the USVI. I solo traveled through France, Italy, and Corsica, with a quick stop in NYC to visit a friend on the way home. (I’ll need to dedicate an entire blog post to that trip).
Upon returning home to Wrightsville Beach, I had only two weeks before my departure south on Bella. As you might imagine, that little bit of time in NC was a blur. Before I knew it, I was sailing out the inlet with my dad and another Soundside crewmember, Luke. However…things took a turn around 100nm offshore. Literally–we turned around. Long story short, the autopilot was acting up and our third crew member was very seasick. My dad and I weighed our options: continue on, hand steering between only two crew, or turn back and fix the problem. Knowing what I know now, we would’ve eventually diagnosed and fixed the autopilot issue, but in the moment, turning back seemed like the safest option.
Those 20 hours of sailing “backwards” was quite possibly the worst feeling I’ve experienced at sea–a horrible concoction of defeat and embarrassment. I only told a select few people I was coming back, turning my location off to avoid all the questions. My friend Arisa met me at the dock with a hug and coffee. Within 24 hours of our return, we were pushing off again–this time with a fixed autopilot and a new third crewmember, Cole, a non-sailing but very capable friend. The 8.5 day passage was smooth. Like last year’s southbound trip, we encountered a good variety of wind and weather. We made landfall in St. Thomas at 2am on Thanksgiving day, picking up a mooring in Brewer’s Bay and celebrating with spoonfuls of vanilla ice cream.
And just like that, the island season had begun. My first charter started only one week after our arrival in St Thomas. It felt good to get right back into the swing of things. Over the months of Dec-April, Bella had 12 charters, several of which were repeat customers from Wrightsville Beach. This year, I had a rotating crew–each month, a different friend of mine would come down to live aboard with me and help run a couple charters. It worked out beautifully. Having an extra hand onboard just made life so much easier. It also meant I could share this very special lifestyle with multiple friends from home!
Though I’d been sailing these same islands now for two seasons, the Virgin Islands still managed to surprise me with new things. I found new snorkeling spots, hiked trails I hadn’t tried before, and fell in love with different anchorages than last year. This ever-growing arsenal of places to take my charters allowed me to really curate each trip to the guests’ personalities and interests. I had fun picking out exactly the places I thought they would enjoy most. It also kept life interesting for me. After all, exploration is quite possibly the biggest reason to go sailing!
April came quicker than I’d thought possible. I said my see-you-later’s to island friends and places I had called home throughout the past two years, and set sail towards the beautiful Bahamas. My parents, Arisa, and a USVI friend, Mike, joined me on the first leg of the passage. Having 5 crew members was a luxurious experience! More people = shorter watches = more sleep. We spent a week sailing the 700 nautical miles up to Georgetown, Exuma, where I would swap crew. We sailed fast enough to be able to stop and explore a few islands along the way, soaking up every ounce of stillness during those nights on anchor. After briefly experiencing the bright and bustling Family Island Regatta in Georgetown on our two-day stopover, Bella and I set off again with a new set of crew: three NC friends, Evelyn, Caroline, and Luke. Once again, we were able to island hop a bit through the Exumas and the Abacos, stretching our legs on hikes and swims before reaching open water.
Those two weeks spent sailing north really refreshed my love of cruising. I absolutely love sailing into an anchorage for the first time, senses on high alert to take in my new surroundings. The magic of this ever-changing backyard will never be lost on me. There are two anchorages we visited on this trip through the Bahamas that are forever imprinted in my memory–one remote cove in the Crooked Islands and one small spit of an island in the northern Abacos. I plan to revisit them both one day.
Sailing Bella back through the inlet to Wrightsville Beach was a strange feeling. It felt both completely normal and incredibly surreal at the same time. We docked mid-afternoon, stepped off, and had no choice but to simply continue on with our days. Then just two days later, less than 48 hours actually, Evelyn and I were off again for a half-day charter! And two more days later, I had a three-day charter to Bald Head Island with one of my favorite groups of repeat customers. Quite the jolt into reality after two weeks of offshore/island sailing.
The month of May was spent tying up loose ends in Wilmington, visiting friends, and preparing to drive north to my hometown in Michigan. I also stopped in Virginia to teach a three-day sailing course to staff members at a summer camp on the Chesapeake. It’s now June, and I’m here in Michigan, settling into a very different lifestyle for the time being. I haven’t lived at home, with all of my worldly possessions in one spot—not scattered between a boat, my car, and friends’ houses like it has been for the past two years—since 2019, before my freshman year of college. Nearly six years! This homecoming was long-awaited. I’d been craving the stability and comfort of my Michigan home, while also knowing that such an extended period of time in one spot would likely send my brain spiraling off to new ideas about what to do next. Which, I can assure you, it has!
As I spend this time reflecting back and looking forward, I feel so much gratitude for the incredible people I’ve met and experiences I’ve had in these past two years. Now, onto new boats in new places!
