This Saturday I will be setting sail down the east coast, from Norfolk, VA all the way to Ft. Lauderdale, FL! I found a crew listing saying he was leaving Virginia this week. Well, I am being laid off this Thursday with our contract coming to an end. It's the life of being a government contractor. I responded to the crew listing last Friday thinking why not, but I doubted it would work out. It turns out the timing is perfect. My job ends this Thursday, I will be driving down to Norfolk Friday, meet the captain and his crew and if all is well, set sail Saturday morning. So this will make a nice 1-2 week vacation in between jobs.

One of my goals has been to sail down the east coast, but I didn't think it would happen for many years from now. I have wanted crew for someone on a trip like this, but wasn't sure how I would ever be able to because of work. Well, timing is perfect right now. I will gain a lot of experience and will get a taste of what cruising is really like. I have dreamed about buying a larger boat for cruising longer distances, but I wanted to gain more experience beforehand.

Now the boat... I read about some people bashing this brand I will be sailing on. The boat is a 2003 Hunter 420 Center Cockpit. I looked it up online and it looks very nice! The captain says it is in boat show condition and the boat is fully loaded with just about every amenity. I know they are not made for severe offshore sailing, but for coastal cruising, it appears they fit their purpose well. I'll see how it is while sailing on it for 1-2 weeks.

We will be setting sail Saturday for a 150 mile offshore leg from Norfolk to Beaufort, NC. We'll be sailing over night and taking shifts on watch. After that we will have a combination of ICW and offshore sailing, making stops for the nights. Some of the planned ports are Beaufort, NC., Charleston, SC., Savannah, GA., West Palm Beach Fl., to Ft Lauderdale, FL. We will wait for clear weather windows and will be taking out time. We may spend a day or two at some of the ports to tour around and enjoy the trip. The captain has made this trip many times, so he is very familiar with it all.

Stay tuned as I will be taking many photos and videos of the trip and will post updates.