Happy New Year from the Crew of the Bluebelle!
I am writing to you from what Paul will surely call “the coldest day of the year” (a joke between us that usually guarantees another brutally cold day soon). Bluebelle is anchored next to Jekyll Island, Georgia, which is a naturally beautiful place with remnants from the Gilded age. The wind is blowing about 20 knots and it’s in the 40’s today.
To fill you in from our last blog in September, we have traveled from Long Island, NY down to Georgia, covering about 1,100 nautical miles. Before leaving Long Island, we experienced the first Nor’easter of the season, which scared us into action. We sailed from Long Island straight through (covering the Jersey coast overnight in our traditional fashion), to Annapolis, Maryland where we spent a few weeks watching the temperature continue to drop. After, we made a bee line south, with a few nights of anchoring in the Chesapeake before we rounded Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and kept running south.
We spent Thanksgiving and my birthday in Savannah, (in the Bull River), and New Year’s in Hilton Head visiting friends. Our family came to visit us in St Helena Island, SC a beautiful Gullah Island where we rented a house next to a rescue farm.
Now we are planning our upcoming 2026 destinations, which include New England and possibly Canada. Paul has some work trips coming up to some of the colder cities in the US, reminding us why we choose to flee south in the winter.
We are healthy and happy, lamenting our lack of heat on the boat but sleeping like hibernating bears every night in our double feather duvet bed and flannel sheets.
In February, Paul and I will celebrate four years of living on the boat full time. I’m not sure of the exact number, but we’ve probably sailed close to 20,000 nautical miles during that time, visiting dozens of different countries and islands, and becoming better boat chefs along the way.
The beginning may have been rocky and a huge adjustment, but I couldn’t imagine life any other way than waking up on a frosty boat to have hot coffee with my favorite captain. From the scary experiences that tested our mettle, to the bluebird days of dolphins on a downwind sail with following seas, we are on the adventure of a lifetime.
With love,
Lindsay and Paul
PS one funny anecdote; Georgia is the land of grackles pooping all over our boat. If we don’t pay attention a flock will land and absolutely cover our fiberglass in nasty presents. We have turned into guard dogs; when we see a bird land on the boat, one of us will go running out to scream and clap our hands “GET OFF MY BOAT YOU DUMB BIRDS I’LL KILL YOU” and making as much ruckus as we can to keep them off as long as possible. We definitely try to make sure Paul’s work calls are on mute as a default.
TIBURON MARINO 