You might think that with each subsequent move, it gets easier. Not in our case. We spent the last two years living in London, England and the two to three weeks prior to our flight to the U.S. was quite possibly the most stressful in a very long time. Selling, donating, packing, shipping, coordinating…and closing on the purchase of our next boat. Amidst all of the logistics of leaving the UK, buying a boat and working full-time, it was hard to leave our friends behind. I fit in as many coffee dates, dog walks, dinners, bottles of wine, and workouts with my friends until we meet again.

Due to delays in our closing, we delayed our flights not once, but twice. Finally, on November 15, 2024, we flew from London to New York. We chose a direct flight to NY because we were traveling with our puppy, Jackson and we didn’t want to add to his stress (and ours). Once we arrived in NY, we rented a car and started our drive to Yorktown, Virginia. We arrived at York River Yacht Haven the following day to see our boat for the very first time.

Stepping aboard, it was so very surreal and amazing that we were moving onto our new home on the water. Mark has been talking about his dream to live on a sailboat and travel the world long before we met. The conversations accelerated in the last five years as our kids were preparing to move away to college, we sold our house and our company, completed ASA sailing courses, and volunteered on catamaran deliveries around Ft. Lauderdale, FL, the Bahamas, and Norfolk, VA.

The first thing that surprised me about our new home was how natural it felt to move onto a sailboat. We spent the following two weeks at the dock preparing for our departure to the Bahamas. Numerous provisioning hauls at Trader Joe’s and Costco, more Amazon orders and trips to West Marine than I care to admit, and figuring out where to put everything. We even managed a day sail up the York River.

We developed a good rhythm of remote work (6am-1pm) and boat jobs (from 1pm until we couldn’t keep our eyes open). I’ve never been so sore from NOT exercising. We met a few neighbors at the dock and enjoyed some walks together. As each day grew colder and colder, we were all itching to head South.

After our last Amazon order arrived (promptly followed by the next last order) we were ready to chart out our course to the Bahamas. We had days that felt like we’d never get off the dock and we quickly learned that it’s late in the season to be heading South. Systems of low pressure form off the U.S. and it can be challenging to sail from Virginia around Cape Hatteras. After listening to several weather forecasts, running models in Predict Wind, and speaking to local captains and other sailors, we knew time to depart was now or suffer through progressively colder temps.

On Sunday, December 1, 2024, at 730am, we untied from the dock and set sail for the Bahamas. Our first planned stop will be in Charleston, SC which will take approximately 2.5 days of sailing all day and night. We were fortunate to find two crew members to join us, which means each person is on watch for three hours (my shift is 5am-8am & 5pm-8pm) providing the opportunity for each person to get eight to nine hours of rest. What a luxury!

We are uncertain how long we will be in Charleston before departing for the Bahamas. The primary reason for stopping is to pick up our life raft at West Marine. As soon as we have a weather to cross the Gulf Stream, we will be leaving for the Bahamas for the Winter season.

Here is a list of foods I have ready for passage that require little to no prep:

Lentil vegetable soup
Vegetarian chili
Amy’s frozen burritos
Boiled potatoes
Bananas, oranges, plums and apples
Roasted Japanese sweet potatoes
Veggie or turkey sandwiches
Yogurt, Granola, Oatmeal
Cliff bars, GoMacro bars
Nuts, chips, crackers
Coffee, tea, Luminate, electrolytes

We are now 30 hours into a 2.5 day passage. Once we exited the York River, we turned our engines off and have been able to sail throughout the day and night. We have the mainsail up with one reef and the jib is out. Our average speed has been 7 knots with true windspeed between 18-24. It’s a bit rolly and quite cold, but the sun is shining and there is very little boat traffic. We rounded Cape Hatteras this morning and we are heading South towards Cape Lookout.

We are looking forward to warmer weather when we (hopefully) reach the Bahamas this coming weekend!

You can follow our journey on No Foreign Land: s/v Spicy Nugget

Get updates on IG at instagram.com/horlerfamilyadventures

Leaving the UK & Leaving the Dock

We bought a boat