123: SCARED TO DEATH - Our FIRST NIGHT PASSAGE EVER on our own - St. Maarten to USVI

After 3 1/2 months in Saint Martin, it was hard to leave behind our friends and the ease of French life, but knowing we have to be North of Cape Hatteras before 1 June was enough to get us moving. Preparing for a night passage is always daunting, but even more so after months around one island. We made our sail plan and shifted our destination due to the late sail date; we decided to skip St. Croix and head straight to St. John's. The greatest benefit to that is getting to buddy boat for a few days with our friends, Linda and Paul. We were expecting a relatively easy trip, but the swell picked up and the wave length was 5 seconds so while we rode the swell, we did not recover fast enough to avoid the banging. It was a rough 17 hours, but we made it without incident. Upon arrival in St. John's, our cruising guide recommended dropping anchor in Hansen Bay/Round Bay which we did and it was a coral field nightmare. There is very little sand and we struggled to find a place where we could spend the night without worry. We hope you enjoy the video and the non-stop adventure! #sailing #sailboat #sailingprojects #sxm #nightpassage #stmaarten #usvi #stjohns 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