I am back on the mighty Audax after a two week hiatus that consisted of sailing a new 50 foot Beneteau up the east coast of the United States. Making the decision to leave Audax when my mom, Rodger, Jillian, Andrew, Matt, Rosie, Natalie, and Amanda (did I miss anyone?) was not an easy one and it sounds like great times where had by all who visited. Looking through John and Stevie’s photos was fun for me but probably not as much of a blast as the time everyone had while here!

My trip was started around New Years while we were in Grand Bahama Island where I met Greg White, his lovely wife, Dana, and four children, Alexandra, Emma, Reise, and Andrew. The plan for the delivery was for me to meet up in Ft Lauderdale, Florida with Greg and his friend from college Bill Higgins. We took off on the morning of the 7th and did a trip back up the Intracoastal Waterway to West Palm Beach, because of bad weather offshore (passing all the mansions and fast boats along the way).

The next morning we headed 100 miles offshore to get in the Gulf Stream which flows north at 2-3knots, only difference to this boat and Audax is it has refrigeration, microwave, AC and all the other amenities plus new sails! Needless to say we ended up eating frozen dinners, which is no Audax meal but quick and easy while way out at sea.

One night was spent in Charleston, S.C and then we were back at sea and out a long way to get around Cape Hatteras, of course just as we were out there the wind picked up to 49 knots and the seas are 10 plus feet high! Luckily it was all coming out of the south and so just pushing us along and not right on our noses. We managed to surf down one wave and get a good gust of wind that pushed us to 17.6 knots surpassing Audax’s 9 knots!!! To be honest I felt pretty safe being on this 2007 50 foot boat but Bill managed to have a quick vomit over the side while staying harnessed to the roller coaster we called a boat. Once the wind and seas died out we put into Ocean City, MD to fill up on fuel before making the final push for Padanaram in Buzzards Bay, during which we saw a 15 foot long Great White Shark who found it convenient to swim under the bow and scare 3 grown men.

All said and done the trip took us 9 days, giving me enough time to head up to Portland and see a few people there before riding with Katrina back down to Sverre and Jenn’s place in New Jersey for a Saturday morning flight to St Thomas. The next day as my mom and I were sitting on the beach at Cinnamon Bay, St John we saw Steve and John coming around the corner with Audax and I got really excited about what we have ahead of us and another great safe trip home!

On a sad side note John and I dropped Papa Stevie off into the money hungry hands of the St. Thomas taxi drivers at 7am this morning! We will miss you big guy and thanks for an amazing 5 months together. This afternoon Matthew Byron arrives (aka Byron) and we head off for a day in Tortola before a trip to Dominica and the Leeward Islands.