St. Croix to Florida, April 2017

[Cool Hand Luke]

I just completed an amazing trip from St. Croix to Florida last month. Wanted to share some photos with you guys. Approximately 1,350 miles over 8 days and 2 hours. First 4 days with a good friend. Dropped him off in Grand Inagua Island, Bahamas, and the next 4 days I did solo. Memories for a lifetime.

St. Croix > Puerto Rico > Dominican Republic > Haiti > Bahamas > Cuba > Florida

The only stop was at Great Inagua. They make Morton's salt over there - huge mountains of salt were visible from the boat. Cool little island.































The last photo was after arrival in North Palm Beach, Florida. My girlfriend surprised me with a great breakfast, a nice bottle of champagne, and delicious mimosas

[Steadman Uhlich]

Luke,

Sounds like a great trip, and you made a nice post.

How far off of Cuba were you?

The photos of the food and fish are nice to see too. What is that lined up on the fried fish? Lingon berries?

The average speed of 7 knots is good too.

[Cool Hand Luke]

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

Luke,



Sounds like a great trip, and you made a nice post.



How far off of Cuba were you?



The photos of the food and fish are nice to see too. What is that lined up on the fried fish? Lingon berries?



The average speed of 7 knots is good too.

Thank you!! I'd say about 15-20 miles off of Cuba.
My friend and I caught a Yellowfin Tuna during his last day, so that made his trip. As soon as we caught it, I started up the grill. It was just salt, pepper, and a lot (and I do mean A LOT) of garlic powder with parsley. The rest of the fish were all Barracudas. I was catching them every 5 minutes one day. Threw them all back. I heard they're edible but not tasty.

Yeah, I was surprised at 7 kts. I calculated my itinerary based on 5 kts. So I got in early to Florida. The Gulf Stream pushed me up the FL coast. It was the best downwind sailing I've ever done!!

[Cool Hand Luke]

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

The photos of the food and fish are nice to see too. What is that lined up on the fried fish? Lingon berries?

The photo with the orange juice is not fried fish with lingon berries but scrambled eggs with ketchup droplets on top

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by Cool Hand Luke

The photo with the orange juice is not fried fish with lingon berries but scrambled eggs with ketchup droplets on top

That explains it!

I happen to love lingon berries on meats, but have never tried them on fried fish. Ketchup is my common condiment for fried things. But on eggs, I would probably do something similar with some Sriracha sauce (hot spicy garlic pepper sauce).

Just lately I have been enjoying a delicious dipping sauce that is "Blueberry White Pepper" and is from a brand called "Not Ketchup." (Notketchup.com). It has a unique sweet and piquant flavor that I have enjoyed on burgers, chicken, pork, etc. One of my favorites. I give it

[Steadman Uhlich]

Since you posted a photo of the Inreach Explorer+ unit on a box, and I am interested in those devices, I have a couple of questions for you:

1. Did you use that Explorer+ with any marine charts?

2. IF you did, is the display adequate in size for using as a "mini chartplotter" or too small to use for that purpose?

3. Did you try pairing it with a tablet or iPad for use as GPS "chartplotter" backup? If so, how well did it work?

[Eleuthera 2014]

Greetings SH,

I have one of these onboard and they do none of the actions you question. However, it displays your position on a map of your choosing so friends, family and enemies can follow your progress...

Heading into Grenadines as of Wednesday.

[Cool Hand Luke]

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

Since you posted a photo of the Inreach Explorer+ unit on a box, and I am interested in those devices, I have a couple of questions for you:

1. Did you use that Explorer+ with any marine charts?

2. IF you did, is the display adequate in size for using as a "mini chartplotter" or too small to use for that purpose?

3. Did you try pairing it with a tablet or iPad for use as GPS "chartplotter" backup? If so, how well did it work?

Hi! The inReach was just so that I could stay in touch with my family. It worked great for that sole reason. I sent over 1,000 text messages to my girlfriend and my family to let them know where I am and how I'm doing.

1. The inReach comes with its own charts, but I only used them for tracking and to take the screen shot as you see above.

2. I think it's too small for that purpose. You can do it, but I wouldn't.

3. I paired it via Bluetooth with my iPhone so that I could send text messages from my phone. It's much, much easier and SIGNIFICANTLY faster than typing on that small keyboard. The software is very simple and easy to use. I was sending SMS/text messages from my iPhone almost the same way that I send them normally. I did not pair it with an iPad.

Hope this helps

[flyingbeagle]

Hello I am new to this forum and sailing has been on my bucket list for some time. I love the details of your trip and I an curious of what make/ model your boat is. Sorry for my ignorance. I really like the layout.

[Cool Hand Luke]

Originally Posted by flyingbeagle

Hello I am new to this forum and sailing has been on my bucket list for some time. I love the details of your trip and I an curious of what make/ model your boat is. Sorry for my ignorance. I really like the layout.

No worries. Welcome to CF!!

It's a 2011 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 409. I purchased it in 2016. It's a great vessel and so far - no troubles