TOTAL MILES TRAVELED ON SAIL to SEE EXPEDITION:
32,118 NM
THE LAST PASSAGE:
Total Miles traveled on last passage – 1,235 NM
Miles traveled using SAILS – WIND POWER ONLY: 701 NM
Miles traveled using both SAILS & ENGINES together: 424 NM
Miles traveled using ENGINES – FOSSIL FUELS ONLY: 110 NM
Ship Sightings: We saw several ships leaving the Bahamas. Off of the coast of North Carolina, we saw a lot of recreational fishing boats. On our approach to the Chesapeake Bay we saw more large ships and also three other sailboats arriving back to the Chesapeake Bay.
Animal Sightings in Atlantic Ocean: Dolphins, Mahi Mahi, Barn Swallow
Animal Sightings in Chesapeake Bay: Great Blue Heron, Brown Pelicans, Dolphins, Osprey, Canada Geese
Strongest Wind:-- 18 Knots (knots are a wind measurement of Nautical Miles per hour)
PASSAGE NOTES:
One thing we will miss about the Bahamas and other tropical places is the beautiful clear water and bright colors. Even the houses are painted in super bright colors.
It was a fairly easy trip from the Abacos in the Bahamas up to the Chesapeake Bay. We took advantage of the Gulf Stream Current to go faster. The Gulf Stream flows in a northeast direction along the southeastern U.S. coast. This colorful graphic on the right shows the current moving up the coast. The red color shows current moving at about 1.5 knots. Over 24 hours, this added an extra 36 miles to our distance traveled in one day. Can you figure out how we got this number?
1.5 Knots X 24 Hours = 36 Nautical Miles
On Elcie, we do a lot of math problems like this to figure out how long it will take us to get somewhere. On this leg, we were eager to get home so we did more math than usual!
The Gulf Stream Current carries warm, tropical water from the Caribbean. Often, there are many more fish in the Gulf Stream. We caught 4 Mahi Mahi, ate one the first night and kept the rest in the freezer for later.
A small bird caught a ride on Elcie off the coast of North Carolina. We made sure that Moonlight did not see him because he is always a bit too interested in birds! It was a little barn swallow and it looked exhausted. After a rest, he took off for shore. Hopefully he made it!
We sailed north with a crew of 9 on board. There were plenty of people to stand watches and help with the sail handling. It was sad to think that the trip was almost over. We've seen so many amazing places along the way around the world.
We are used to seeing some beautiful sunsets over the ocean. This was a particularly good one on our last night in the ocean!
We entered the Chesapeake Bay at 4 AM in the morning, crossing the Bay Bridge - Tunnel just as a large ship was coming out. We carried on sailing up the bay to a town called Reedville. Here, we anchored for the night. Reedville is in Virginia and has a lot of traditional Chesapeake Bay boats at a Fisherman's Museum.
We spent our last night aboard in a quiet cove not too far from our home port of Oxford. Canada Geese and Osprey flew by and a small herd of deer grazed in a meadow nearby. In the morning, a crab boat motored by, working a trot line to catch crabs. We knew we were back home in the Chesapeake! Here is a photo of the whole crew on the bow of Elcie.
Elcie is now back home at her dock in the Chesapeake Bay after traveling all the way around the world!! The crew is happy to be back. We think the happiest crew member to be back might be the Ship's Cat, Moonlight, as he spent the most time aboard Elcie without going ashore.
For all of us who have lived and traveled on Elcie for the past 18 months, it is a great feeling to have her safely back at her dock.
Thank you to all the crew who joined us along the way to help sail the boat. Thank you to the tutors who helped Emma and Molly with their schoolwork. Thank you to everyone on land who sent us our mail, supplies and words of encouragement.
Thank you to Leslie who helped publish these logbook entries
AND
Thank you to everyone who followed along on our voyage. We appreciate your participation!