What better way to do a shakedown sail then to turn it into an overnight cruise? So under sunny skies on Saturday April 26th, after Brandon finished work at the Boatyard, we loaded up some provisions and warm clothes and took off for a sail over to Dutch Harbor on the other side of Jamestown.
The wind was about 10-15 from the South. We did a jib-only sail because we put up all our canvas over the cockpit and we can’t put the main up with the connector. And well… we wanted to stay in the shade!
It was a quick sail over and we surprisingly were not the only ones. We shared the anchorage with another ambitious cruiser. As soon as we got there, we took the little dog over the Dutch Island and did not heed the warnings that there would be ticks. We walked around the abandoned islands which still houses many military ruins. I hear it was once a place for leprosy patients.
Needless to say, we spent the better part of our trip knocking ticks off ourselves and Scruffy. So we hurried back to the boat only to discover it wasn’t enough, we probably took another 20 off the little guy. It was crazy to think that how bad it was in April due to the mild winter we had.
As the sun went down, we closed up down below and I cooked up some Chili and Cornbread. Using the oven heated the place up and the Chili warmed us from the inside out. The recipe I used is from a good friend from college, Kate (Brush) Owen, who wrote them on notecards that I still use today!
So with a glass of wine and a book in hand, we snuggled in for the evening. It was cool that night onboard, I don’t think I have every worn so many clothes. We woke up early and sailed back to avoid forecasted rain and luckily just as we hit the shore, it started to come down.
All in all a very successful first cruise, and not knowing where this year is headed, it is great to know we have this escape.