111: Our FIRST OVERNIGHT PASSAGE WITHOUT CAPTAIN BEN - We are DEFINITELY NOT READY

So much happened in only a week in Antigua. We completed our sailing lessons, said goodbye to Captain Ben, met our favorite kid goat, and acquired a new crew member! But, all of our scheduled upgrades were urging us to head to Sint Maarten. The only downside to leaving was that there was no forecasted wind. We were heading into flat seas again – not a bad thing on our first crossing without Captain Ben! We provisioned the boat and brought on Lauren, a new crew member. Lauren is a vivacious, adorable college sophomore from the state of Maine. She is a go-getter, already owning her own boat and doing her own improvements. While e-learning, she hopped on a delivery boat in Rhode Island and spent 2 weeks at sea with an all male crew and loved it. I met Lauren on Facebook – Women Who Sail site – as she was open to crewing again. We invited her to join us on the short passage to Sint Maarten where she could find more flights or sailng opportunities there. She was a gem to have onboard. And, Tracie continued her journey with us to Sint Maarten. But, sadly, her trip was coming to an end. Our 18.5 hour, 100 NM crossing to Sint Maarten was a breeze, as easy as the crossing from St. Lucia to Antigua. We DID get to see dolphins as the sun came up over the horizon, our first big animal sighting on Blown Away. We arrived around 8:30 in the morning and anchored in Simpson Bay before clearing at customs. Thankfully, it was a breeze other than extra forms to complete due to COVID. This stop in Sint Maarten will completely transform our boat from a charter boat to a blue water cruising vessel. Bring it on! #sailing #sailboat #sailingprojects #antigua #captain #sintmaarten #stmaarten #overnight NEW TO OUR CHANNEL? We are Eileen and Brown Councill. Welcome to our channel and a glimpse into our life adventure! 2020 was a year of uncertainty and change (for all of us, right?), but we overcame the challenges and decided it was time to chase our dream, to sail around the world! Did I mention that we had very NO sailing experience? Before leaving Qingdao, China, our home of 4 years, we sold almost all of our earthly possessions and started our international search to find the right sailboat that we would call "home." After 5 months of unanticipated twists and turns, we found what we were looking for, a used Leopard 44' Catamaran located in St. Lucia. So, here begins our journey, filled with unmatched excitement and honestly, a bit of trepidation as well. We have much to learn as we travel the world on our floating home and we intend to document that journey and share it with you. We are so glad you have decided to join us, and we hope that you will find our story so compelling that it will inspire you to chase your dreams too! As a viewer, we consider you to be part of our family and look forward to getting to know you. Don't hesitate to comment on our videos and ask questions. We will do our best to answer every correspondence! All we ask is that you have patience with us as we work really hard to improve our camera/video techniques and ability to tell a story. Hopefully, you will be as BLOWN AWAY from watching, as we are in experiencing and producing our adventures! HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT US? If you wish to support our video efforts, all we ask is that you SUBSCRIBE, give a THUMBS UP, SHARE our videos with your friends, AND COMMENT! WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET TO KNOW US MORE DEEPLY? It would be an honor and pleasure to deepen our relationship with you as a Patron. Please click on the following link to see how: https://www.patreon.com/sailingblownaway WOULD YOU LIKE TO FOLLOW OUR JOURNEY? https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/6040796987916288 WHERE CAN YOU FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA? Instagram - @sailingblownaway Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SailingBlownAway Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/eileen.dietrich/ YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/sailingblownaway