Where to Start (again)

Well, here we are nine months later - with plenty of posts…just not on this blog. SeaPeople, Facebook and Instagram make it way too easy: snap, upload, done. No plugging in the big MacBook, no dragging photos into folders, no resizing files. Just “boom” - instant gratification. Which also means we’ve done a crap job of keeping a real blog from pure laziness.

New mission: rectify this situation. Because come December 5th, it’ll be ONE YEAR of full-time sailing and we’ve got like…three blog posts?

So before we catch you up to where we are now, Cartagena, Colombia (as of November 2, 2025!) let’s rewind. Like rewind to the Bahamas beginnings, eventually in another post, our slog down the Thorny Path, a salty summer in Grenada and the states, and the jump west to Bonaire, Curaçao, and finally Colombia. Grab a coffee (or a rum), and let’s get into it.

The Crossing: Fort Pierce ➜ Abacos

When we left the States, Kaikoa was cold, excited and ready for some sunshine! Adam picked a good weather window - calm seas before the next blow rolled through and we were off.

The crossing? Honestly…uneventful. Which is exactly how we like our ocean crossings. Smooth water, light breeze, and just enough motion to make the kids and me mildly seasick (fun times). Adam, of course, was unfazed - cool as ever at the helm. He enjoyed the starlight sky, moon guiding the way and I think I even stood a small watch so he could get a nap in.

We anchored off before checking into Green Turtle Cay, mostly to soak in the “holy crap, we did it” moment and let the wind chill out. Two days later, we pulled into Green Turtle Marina and Yacht Club. Docking was a little spicy but the skipper stuck the landing with some dockside backup. Spent a few fun days exploring Green Turtle Cay.

Check-in was surprisingly painless, helped by the fact that our customs officer recognized Adam from last year when he skippered Lady J (last season). Small islands, big memories. And just like that, we had our 90-day cruising permit and were officially cruisers!

Finding Our Island Groove

We spent our early days in the Abacos adjusting to the heat, jumping off the boat, and pretending we weren’t just burning through snacks like feral seagulls (this family is addicted to chips). Days spent tracking down best places to provision, snorkel, beach comb and hang out.

The water was so blue it looked fake and every new anchorage somehow managed to outdo the last. We swam with turtles, chased fish, and watched our kids live their best mermaid/pirate lives.

That’s also where we met our first cruising buddies, Elizabeth & David on Coin Toss. They are sailing a Lagoon with their two Portuguese Water Dogs, Mei Mei and Kava. Within days, we were fast friends, the kind that turn “we’ll just grab a sundowner” into a full-blown friendship! We ended up bouncing into them all the way down to Grenada.

Floatchella ~ The SeaPeople Crew

I had one goal before we left the states: make it to the SeaPeople Floatchella gathering at Shroud Cay. Eighteen (prob more) boats gathered for a lazy river float and raft-up. Through this meet up we met some great peeps.

What started as “just a weekend” turned into a few months of sailing, laughing, and adventuring with the ultimate winter crew: Lost (Brian & Erin), Chief (Camille & Ketch), Moonshine (Kendra & David), SnailTrail (Rachel & Rob), and Sungem (Gilly & Connor).

We had water sports days, fishing days, spearfishing, liar’s dice marathons, volleyball matches, and enough laughter to keep our batteries charged through the constant weather changes in the Bahamas and need to move.

We were the oldest boat in the group (and definitely the only one with kids), but it didn’t matter. Aria and Harbor were right there in the water or fishing on deck. It was everything we imagined cruising life could be — good people, salt water, and sunsets.

Mid Season Plans

As seasons shifted, everyone started planning their next big moves to relocate for hurricane season. For a hot minute, we considered sailing to Guatemala for boat work and jungle adventures. Then we talked with Jamie and Behan on Totem (our consultants), who gently reminded us that our goal was to get lots of miles under our belt as a family to prep for the Pacific and we should really keep honing our sailing skills as a family, not hide in a boatyard up the Rio. Adam can attest, sailing as a family is much different than sailing a Coast Guard ship!

Another option was heading back to Florida/Georgia but that felt like a terrible idea (our friends would have laughed at us for coming back so soon). So it was time to find some fun friends to sail The Thorny Path. The not-so-gentle route down through the Caribbean islands, known for wind, waves, and endless beating to windward. Naturally, we said, “Yeah, that sounds fun!”

To be honest our fate was sealed when we won a free haul-out and one month on the hard at Spice Island Marine in Grenada through the SeaPeople & Young Cruisers Awards the year before. We never thought we’d actually be that far south to be able to utilize the award. But free boat work? Say less. Decision made.

As our winter Floatchella crew started to scatter, we linked up with some new buddies, Sailing SeaBella - a rad Canadian family with kids the same ages as ours. Instant match. The parents were awesome, the kids clicked, and before we knew it, we’d sailed over 2,500 miles together.

It also wouldn’t feel right not to shout out the amazing boats we sailed alongside. There were so many, but the ones we regularly shared anchorages with from the Bahamas to Grenada—and kept tabs on—were: Bobin, Sun Gem, Sailing Isla, Kaia, Zia, Liquid Sunshine, Lulan, Coin Toss, Alliance, Maka, SlowmOcean, and all the new friends we met at La Phare Bleu in Grenada.

Rob, Rachel, Seamus & Síbeal on SeaBella

Favorite Destinations in the Bahamas -

Hope Town
Shroud Cay
The Aquarium off of O’Briens Cay
Water Cay - Raggeds

KaiKoa is the third boat from the bottom

Up Next…
Next time, we’ll dive into our run down the Thorny Path—leaving the Bahamas behind and exploring the Dominican Republic (one of our fav stops), Puerto Rico, and beyond. Honestly, it’s tough to look back through it all without wanting to share every photo, every story, and every update! I’ve posted on SeaPeople, Instagram, and Facebook. Part of me wants to include all the details…and part of me wants to fast-forward to where we are right now.

Playing Catch Up