I depart the buzzing and booming city of Key West, northbound for Panama City, Florida. After a mild frontal passage, which puts me through the usual sail drills, conditions quickly moderate. Wind and seas diminish over the next few days, making for slow but comfortable sailing. SUPPORT HOW TO SAIL...

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After a period of active weather, the weather maps are clear for the next week. Fair winds for northbound passaging are indicated, so I decide to push off for Panama City, FL. Besides my visit to Galveston, TX, in 2002, I have yet to cruise the Gulf Coast. SUPPORT HOW TO SAIL OCEANS ON PATREON: https://patreon.com/user?u=12372934 HOW...

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I arrive in the Florida Keys. Warm waters, sunshine, carefree ... um, no, not carefree, not in the winter. Cold fronts come sweeping across the Keys typically once a week during the winter months. The low islands offer little wind protection, and the holding is not always great. So one has to keep...

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I arrive in Biscayne Bay in the middle of the night (naturally), nearly fourteen days out of Poquoson, Virginia. After re-provisioning and making some repairs, I am promptly off to the Florida Keys. SUPPORT HOW TO SAIL OCEANS ON PATREON: https://patreon.com/user?u=12372934 HOW TO SAIL OCEANS ON RUMBLE:...

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Following that screaming gale I spend a week inching along toward Biscayne Bay in little or no wind. Entering into the Bahamas the seas become flat as a lake, and the sunsets are spectacular. Still I wish I was progressing a little faster, especially when the fresh food runs out. SUPPORT HOW TO SAIL...

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After a screaming gale I get light airs. Not complaining, although the slow progress does get frustrating after a while. An old Gordon Lightfoot song brings back memories of when I lived in a tiny apartment in Evanston, IL, worked at Arthur Andersen in Chicago, and constantly dreamed of blue water...

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I am unable to get far enough south to avoid gale conditions ushered in by a passing cold front. No option remains but to reef down and ride it out. SUPPORT HOW TO SAIL OCEANS ON PATREON: https://patreon.com/user?u=12372934 HOW TO SAIL OCEANS ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/c-1981134 HOW TO SAIL...

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The usual late fall offshore passage scenario. You depart the US east coast on the tail of a cold front, which supplies you with favorable northerly winds. But there's always another front moving through in a few days' time. The typical strategy is to sail south as fast as you can, by which you hope...

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No offshore weather window will be perfect. So long as the forecast calls for mostly fair winds and no severe weather, that's a window. And so it is. Well almost. I have to move south fast in order to avoid a rather strong frontal passage four days out. Other than that, looks like a decent run to...

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Despite the light and fickle winds I work my way up the Corrotoman River to a place called Sandy Point, where I am detained for several days on account of inclement weather. It is October after all. With the standard southbound departure date of November 1 only days away, I am now paying attention...

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A forecasted gale obliges me to put in to Put-in-Creek, on the East River of Mobjack Bay. It is still too early to head south, and October is a great month for cruising the Chesapeake, so the choice is clear. Owing to light winds I don't make Jackson Creek until just after dark. A tricky entrance...

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In this episode we pick up where we last left off--in the middle of the ocean, approximately halfway between Buzzards Bay and the Chesapeake Bay, drifting with no wind. Light conditions persist for the next 36 hours until some solid southerlies finally show up ahead of a strong cold front. But before...

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