Passage from St. Thomas to Fort Lauderdale, 5/6/21 - 5/13/21 and on to Charleston

Polly & Bryan and Pia & Mark Brewers Bay, St. Thomas, USVI to Pier 66 Marina, Fort Lauderdale, Florida: 1071 nautical miles in 6 days 22 hours for average speed of 6.5 knots; Max boat speed - 12.8 knots; Max wind speed - 35 knots; Motoring - 45 hours; 180 Oreo cookies consumed; TWO fish caught - Probably albacore tuna. On to Charleston with a quick overnight stop in Palm Beach, 5/17/21 - 5/20/21: 378 nautical miles in 2 days, 1 hour for average speed of 7.7 knots; Max boat speed - 14.2 knots with help from the Gulf Stream and a record 248 nm in 24 hour period. We were greeted in Charleston by our friends Debbie and Rich. Pia and Mark had parked their truck in Rich's driveway while on the passage with us. They drove back to Fort Lauderdale from Charleston to go cruising on their new (to them) Hylas 49, Naiad.

So Sad to Leave the USVI, May 2021

I have a very different feeling when considering our departure from the Virgin Islands this year as compared to last year. Last year, things were so uncertain with the Covid-19 pandemic and this year, we were hoping to go south to Grenada or Trinidad for hurricane season. Last year, we hadn't seen our kids in a year since their trip to visit us in the Caribbean was cancelled when Covid-19 hit. Last year, we were very anxious to get Joli back to the east coast. We were excited for the passage west which should be mostly downwind and reaching. This year, in spite of most islands still being closed to foreign boats, we really settled in to the cruising life style and had great times with great friends. Since we were mostly limited to cruising in the US Virgin Islands, we became very familiar with the area and enjoyed showing our visitors the USVI. Finally, we had a very rough, windy passage from the east coast to St. Thomas last November and it took us several months to repair all the leaks that developed and other damage that occurred during the rough passage. It would be so nice to just keep Joli in the Caribbean for few years rather than continue to sail back and forth. We are sad to leave but looking forward to getting to the states to visit family and friends and we WILL be back!