Sailing Cape Hatteras - Part 1 - Annapolis to Bahamas [Ep. 13]

After a major refit, we set sail on a dark, rainy, and cold evening from Annapolis with the Goal of being in the Bahamas for Thanksgiving. We don't make it in one shot and detour to Cape Fear, North Carolina, before heading out to sea again to rip through the Gulf Stream in 22-35 knots of breeze where Kate fights seasicknesses.Show more

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0:00 Annapolis

We start out this youtube sailing video where the last one left off. We left the dock at Bert Jabins in Annapolis, Marlyand in the cold November rain! We had a deadline though, our goal was to be at anchor in the warm, clear blue waters of the Bahamas to celebrate Thanksgiving.

0:31 Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay was a mess on the way out. We dodged fishing gear and huge cargo ships and freighters as we motored upwind to make our weather window.

The next morning we were sailing, almost to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, the outlet to the Atlantic Ocean. After months of being coupled up in a boatyard, we have finally headed to sea again. We raised our sails and reached down the coast, headed toward Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

1:19 Cape Hatteras

Late that leaving, or should we say early the next morning, we rounded Cape Hatteras in the dark. We dealt with the choppy and confused seas driving at weird angles by the relentless current. We made it through, rounding America's Great Cape at roughly 2:00 AM. The next morning, as if to celebrate our achievement, we were greeted by dolphins swimming off of our bow. Our first Bow Dolphins on Sweet Ruca!!!

4:20 Dolphins & Fishing for Mahi Mahi

After we crossed into the Gulf Stream the next morning the conditions subsided. And, at times even went to flat calm. We decided to do some fishing and nailed our first Mahi Mahi. Thankful to the gods of the sea for the fabulous dinner. Fish tacos for days!

7:34 Cape Fear, North Carolina

After our first offshore fishing experience, we saw the weather was shifting. To get ahead of it, and make some time in the calm, we decided to tack back to shore and head to Cape Fear, NC. A wonderful little town on the Intercoastal Waterway. We stayed the night and re-filled with diesel and icecream!

8:33 Gulf Stream in Big Breeze

We headed back out to do battle with the Gulf Stream once more. It was the only thing left between us and warm weather. The problem was, the wind was blowing from the direction we wanted to go. We saw big breeze up to 35 knots and Kate experienced a bout of seasickness as we had spray into the cockpit.

12:21 The Morning After

We made it through, but we weren't to the Bahamas just yet. The trip would continue. We show you what the inside of the boat looks the morning after bashing into big seas offshore. Bluewater sailing at its best. Kate talks about her seasickness and Curtis is having fun discussing autopilot. He is really happy he is finally wearing shorts, a sign we are sailing closer to the Caribbean!

#sailingvlog #capehatteras #gulfstream #chesapeakebay #sailing #atlantic #bahamas #caribbean
About Us:
So who are we? Well, we aren't Sailing La Vagabonde, Expedition Evans, Sailing Doodles, Sailing Uma, Gone With the Wynns, Tula's Endless Summer, or Sailing Delos. We don't have a fancy catamaran, but we do have a pretty and fast monohull sailboat. Cruising catamarans like the Fountaine Pajot's, Leopards, and Lagoons can't keep up with our quick J-Boats performance cruising sailboat ;)

We are Kate and Curtis, a YouTube sailing couple, with our sailing dog Roxy, aboard SV Sweet Ruca, a J-Boats J/46 monohull. We used to be sailboat racers on the great lakes, and our goal is to cruise around the world via the capes (the wrong way or the hard way). We will see if this will happen or not, as the "new normal" has put quite a damper on our travels. For now, enjoy our videos and join us on our journey via our YouTube Channel.

'Till Next Time :-)