lazygeckos

Happy Thanksgiving!

Added 2020-11-26 15:33:38 +0000 UTC

Happy Thanksgiving, friends. We are curious about your turkey day plans and wanted to share what we are doing!

The original plan was to be in Florida for Thanksgiving, but all of the late storms have kept us from getting there in time. When I say “late” some of you might be thinking that it’s still hurricane season and we should be expecting it. While the official hurricane season goes from June 1st through November 30th, cruisers use the smaller window of July 1st through November 1st.

Insurance companies also use the cruisers’ hurricane season for their window of allowable coverage. For instance, our insurance company says that we can't be in their hurricane box ((which is basically a latitude and longitude line)) during the window of 7/1-11/1. What that meant for us is, this year, we couldn't be South of Cape Hatteras because that was where our insurance company's box started. While these “do-not-enter areas” are similar, every insurance company is a little different. So, once November 1st hit, we got the all clear to continue on!

The plan was to begin traveling right after November 1st, so we began moving south towards Florida but there were 2 late season storms headed our way during this time. Although the hurricanes fizzled away before they got to us, their remnants still caused bad weather to come through. High winds and lots of rain does not make for ideal travel conditions! You definitely can’t cruise in weather like that.

Because of that, we are now spending our Thanksgiving in Charleston, South Carolina. While a change of plans is difficult, as cruisers we have come to expect it! Now that we are here, I'm kind of happy it worked out this way. Charleston is so cute and there are really fun places to explore.

While Charleston is amazing, there are a few not so great aspects about this area for a boater or cruiser. One is it's a bit difficult to navigate because of the current and tides. When we were going into the inlet, there were times we weren't moving forward at all because the current coming out was so strong. That made for a really rough entrance at the inlet into Charleston. The other downside is their lack of anchorages, and if you are lucky enough to find one, there will be a strong current. Twice a day, there is something called slack tide, and this is when boats can move around or try to go in and out of the inlets. These are small windows where there is essentially no or very little current so it is easier to maneuver your vessel. We decided not to deal with all of that and hooked up to a dock instead.

So we'll be here enjoying this charming little town Charleston for Thanksgiving. And then after Thanksgiving, we will look for a weather window to do an off-shore passage to Florida. It should only take us one night and then we'll be in Florida! Once we get there we will stop and plan out what direction to go in next. It will really depend on COVID and different countries' criteria. I think it's going to be pretty hard to cruise for everyone this year, but we don't want to stay in the United States. We're ready to move on to explore other parts of the world!

Although this year has been difficult we still find so many things to be thankful for. We hope you do as well! Tell us your plans and what you’re thankful for this year. We can’t wait to hear what everyone is planning (or not planning) for this holiday.