by Jen
12/16/2011, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

You know that time of year, in the early Spring or Summer when it is warm enough at night to leave the windows open? We are there...only it is not Spring, nor Summer. I love not having to close everything up so tight to conserve daytime heat! We can leave hatches and ports open all the time now! Of course there are those midnight "fire" drills when a quick rain storm passes but a fast wash-down is always welcome.

If you haven't seen our facebook page yet, check it out! And if you are inclined, please "like" us! We'd love to hit 100 fans for Christmas! The link is on the right sidebar ---------------> Or search: Sailing Anastasia

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by Jen
12/06/2011, Vero Beach, FL

Wednesday afternoon we said our goodbyes to North Carolina and the cold winter weather. We've had our fill of cold nights for 2011. We made our way out of the Southport inlet and began what would be a 3-day, 3-night passage down the coast. The passage was pretty uneventful: great sailing and little motoring, ending on Saturday in Daytona Beach. The Ponce De Leon inlet was the most exciting, some would say stressful, bit of the whole trip. It is not a major ship channel so it lacks the deep water and well placed buoys we prefer an inlet to have. Also, the wind was out of the east, to our backs as we entered steering west into the start of an outgoing tide. Wind against tide is not a cocktail we enjoy! But all went well; the anticipation was the worst part, as usual.

Entering Florida is an experience indeed. The warm air, the sea smell, the birds, the dolphins, the bikinis and bare chests, the jet skis. What a contrast from where we were a few days ago. Don't these people know it is winter everywhere else! It takes a day or so to get used to it but it is really, really nice to wear t-shirts and shorts again. No more sweat shirts and wool sweaters! We are in the land of warmer temperatures!

From Daytona we traveled to Cocoa Beach where we met up with Chip & Tammy on Cara Mia. From there we pushed onto Vero Beach. We plan to stay here for a night or so, doing laundry and some more provisioning. The municipal marina is a fun place where you raft-up with other boats, sharing a mooring ball. It's a great way to meet other cruisers. We might even pull out our folding beach chairs and sit on the bow listening to Christmas music toasting our change of latitude.

P.S. There is no accompanying photo because our camera has decided to leave us. Hopefully soon we will find a new one!

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by Jen
11/26/2011, Wrightsville Beach, NC

A few days late for stating all we are thankful for, but nonetheless we are happy to be on our way. Today in Wrightsville Beach the sun is shining, there is a gentle breeze and the temperature is much higher than it was at our last post. Now, I won't lie and say that if you asked, we wouldn't want to be as far as Florida here at the end of November but days like today make our "lateness" excusable.

On Thanksgiving day we attended the local Methodist church's feast with our friends Martijin, Ana & Mia aboard Rotop. It was a feast indeed. I cannot remember eating that much probably since we enjoyed Thanksgiving with our families.

Thursday night we decided on a quick offshore jump out of the Beaufort inlet toward Wrightsville Beach. The passage was quiet and uneventful under a blanket of bright stars. Around 10AM we entered Masonboro inlet against strong current and by 11AM the hook was down.


this is the 4-5kt current we fought coming in the inlet.

From here who knows? One thing we do know is that the offshore jumps look appealing!

Also, we have added a new gallery to our SmugMug photo site: ICW -> South

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by Jen
11/18/2011, Elizabeth City, NC

F I N A L L Y We have begun Cruising Season #3!!!

We left Yorktown mid-morning on Wednesday and turned Anastasia's nose south. After a quick sail, close hulled, we anchored in the familiar spot of Hospital Point, Portsmouth just in time for the temperature-dropping cold front. We woke to a 30 degrree temperature change and heavy rain. Still we were jazzed from our much anticipated departure so we kept going even though the weather was nasty.

Over the past few weeks were delayed due to engine issues. We have had a persistent fuel leak at the high pressure pump that Maxwell and our amazing diesel guru Nick have been struggling with. Anastasia is powered with a Perkins 4-108, an oldie but a goodie. Since our ownership, we are responsible for 1000 hours and she has given us minimal issues. But this one was hard to fix, it took precious time and careful effort but the guys got it fixed! Thanks Nick @ East River Technical Services. Today we are happily motoring with no leaks!

Thursday found us trudging along through the wind and rain south via the Dismal Swamp. We made a promise in the Spring that we'd stop at the Visitor's Center in NC and so we did. We were told by the Lockmaster, Robert who is a gifted conch shell player, at the Deep Creek Lock that we were about 2 weeks behind the rush so we shared the dock with one other boat, Segwun. Nonetheless it was a beautiful night and very peaceful. Friday morning we woke to 47 degree cabin temperatures and frost covering the deck. I can't think of when this has happened before. We must get South!


crossing into North Carolina


Anastasia & Segwun @ the NC Visitors Center




Friday morning down the canal.

Friday afternoon we made it to the free docks in Elizabeth City and tied up for the night. We braced ourselves for even lower temps as the low was forecasted to drop to 29 degrees.

This shit is for real. It is COLD.




images speak for themselves.

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by Jen
11/11/2011, Chisman Creek, Yorktown, VA

Between blog posts, the best place for Anastasia updates is on our new Facebook page: Sailing Anastasia. Over there we're trying to start more dialogue and regular interaction with you! Link to the other pages we are following too. Some are our Friends, others are our Sponsors and the rest...we just like!

We also have a widget on our right-hand sidebar with the latest status updates.
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If you are not a fan yet, please "like" us and get in on the action! As always we appreciate your support and keep reading!

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by Jen
11/03/2011, East River, VA

Recently there has been some news about Rocna Anchors. Unfortunately, this news is of the negative variety...

We purchased our Rocna after months and months of research. We went a lil' big for Anastasia but considered that extra insurance. Over the past years of cruising it has served us well, very well. We drop it into the sometimes clear, sometimes muddy water and it does just what it should. We would consider it among the top of our favorite things on the boat.*

Now to this news. In a Practical Sailor Product Update it was stated that there were, "questions about the tensile strength of steel used in the shafts of Rocna anchors..." West Marine (where we purchased our rocna) issued a "Specification Notice" that indicated, "One of our suppliers, Rocna, recently notified us that beginning in 2010, their anchors were manufactured using a different, weaker grade of steel compared to that published on the Rocna website at the time and that had been previously published in West Marine catalogs." This was not a product recall notice but with their 100% satisfaction guarantee, "if you feel your Rocna anchor does not meet your expectation, our "No Hassle Guarantee" assures you are protected and you may return your Rocna anchor to us for a refund."

It is now time to do some more research on our own anchor and see what it's future holds. Will it stay or be replaced? Not sure right now.

The lead photo is our anchor and chain when we were in Conception Island, Bahamas, Spring 2011. There was NO wind.

*Read our list: "Top 12," posted back in April, 2010 of our most important things on the boat.

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