We finished with all the final preparations in Charleston and the Rum Runner was ready for the adventure ahead. It was a stressful last week with tons to do. On the last night in Charleston we were hanging out with friends who asked us if we were ready. Well- we realized that we may never really be ready, but we were ready enough. It was time to go off and make our way South. We left the dock at 8 am on Saturday and made our way down the intercoastal waterway, our goal was to get to Beaufort for the night. [View Full Entry]

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Jay and I are off and the adventure has begun. We have started sailing south and hope to be in the islands soon. We are looking forward to the cruising lifestyle and all that it entails. A quick note about leaving the country. Many things will be changing once we head off to sea and I just want to remind everybody what to expect. Our cell phone will be turned off and we won't be accepting any calls. If you call and leave a message on our cell, we will probably not get the message until we get back to US [View Full Entry]

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One of the things that have happened while living here in Charleston is that we have befriended many of the delivery captains. These people are paid to move boats from here to there and occasionally need crew to come with them. Because of this we are now considered for many trips (even though our lack of experience) due to our friendships with these skippers. And as things worked out, I (Jay) am off to help deliver a boat. Ok, either this plan is brilliant, or it is plain stupid. We checked with plenty of respectable sailors here and it seems like [View Full Entry]

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The weather has been wonderful this week, with a high pressure system over the entire area and big isobars. The ocean has laid down from the last storm and there is 5-10 knots of wind coming from the south. The perfect weather window, the perfect sailing conditions. So we decide to go on our first offshore sailing adventure, to head down south about 30 miles to the Edisto River and spend the night anchoring there in a fabulous spot the locals told us about. Our first night on the hook. On Thursday we wake up at 6 am and start the [View Full Entry]

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Preparations for the journey ahead are going well and we are making progress on the Rum Runner. The name of the boat was painted on last Thursday, and we had a small christening party (although we decided against the traditional champagne bottle breaking on the bow of the boat, and decided to go with pouring rum drinks on the stern instead- we figured it was more appropriate). So she is now officially the Rum Runner and no longer referred to as Beneteau 473 hull #197. We have also commissioned the sushi boat, our dinghy. We bought the sushi boat and motor [View Full Entry]

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So here we are, another week in Charleston. Not a lot to report this week, we are still just getting the boat ready for the trip. Most days have been spent hanging out in the marina so that work can be done on the boat. But we are getting really anxious to pull up the lines and set sail. It is kind of a catch 22. We really want to be spending the days sailing, maybe practice our anchoring and doing a couple of overnight trips around here to get used to how the boat handles. But if we go [View Full Entry]

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Last night was an interesting one. It all started like a normal Friday night here. Around 5 when everyone has finished work for the week and the weekend has begun, everyone from the marina heads to Salty Mikes for a drink. Salty Mikes is the locals bar at the marina and is just a hole in the wall place, very rustic with a lot of character. We have enjoyed going there because it is a great place to meet other sailors and swap stories. Last night we made friends with a delivery captain and his crew. They have sailed all over [View Full Entry]

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The weather was nice for a few days, sun and mild winds. We had just packed up the boat enough to even consider going out, so it was time. The thought of going out by ourselves in an area we don’t know well and on a boat we are just starting to learn was a bit frightening. But we remembered how we felt with our last boat on the first few times out and realized that we could do it. We also we starting to feel the need and the desire to start the sailing trip and not just the provisioning [View Full Entry]

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So here we are in Charleston, SC. We have finally made it across the country and have rendezvous with the boat. We can’t believe how busy we have been and how much we have done in the last week. So we arrived in Charleston late Tuesday night, exhausted from the trek across America. Of course it was too late to go over to the marina and board the boat, so we found a nice hotel in downtown Charleston for the night. The next morning we woke up excited and ready to see the rum runner. It was Boat Day! A day [View Full Entry]

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After a hard day sailing, there is nothing like watching a sunset on your boat with some appetizers and appertifs (rum is the preferred drink, of course). And for a disclaimer, yes these are all pictures of the boat except one. What can we say, we love our boat! [View Full Entry]

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