05 November 2022 | Seville Spain
04 November 2022 | Caminito Del Rey, Spain
28 October 2022 | Estepona Spain
23 October 2022 | Malaga, Spain
08 October 2022 | Port d'Andratx
03 October 2022 | Cala Mondrago - Mallorca Spain.
02 October 2022 | Cala Mondrago - Mallorca Spain.
01 October 2022 | PortoColom - Mallorca Spain
30 September 2022 | PortoColom - Mallorca Spain
27 September 2022 | Manorca Spain
18 September 2022 | Port of Vecchio
05 September 2022 | Corte Corsica
02 September 2022 | Corsica, France
Time to Say Goodbye to Freebird!
15 February 2023
Steven Cowart
We have signed a contract to sell Freebird. We will hand her over on March 23rd right here in St Thomas. It will be a very bittersweet day.
It has been an incredible adventure and Freebird has exceeded my expectations. All of the hard work and upgrades have worked out exceptionally well. It's immensely satisfying to have everything work exactly as you planned and making her so self-sufficient and reliable, and it was as enjoyable as the sailing and the travel. It's really difficult to convey what I have seen and experianced. I have been changed forever and truly appreciate what I have had the opportunity to do.
Crossing the Atlantic Ocean as the Captain who is responsible for every aspect of the vessel, the crew, the weather, the route and the actual sailing was truly a milestone moment for me. This was probably one of the most thought about and anticipated things associated with my dream. It actually went even better than I hoped and was just fantastic. Certainly something I will never forget.
This lifestyle requires constant attention. The weather, the wind direction, where you are and where you need to go when the constant changes invariably occur. Provisions and the difficulty getting them as you travel from remote areas, and from country to country. We have seen so many incredible places and seen things you could never see without this lifestyle .
We do miss our boys, our families and friends! We also really miss some of the things that civilization can offer. I have been out of the USA for over a year and will enjoy being back again.
I have made some really good friends over the last year who want me to join them as they continue to sail the world. I will have options if I want to continue to explore the oceans. Although Freebird will continue on with new owners, I am convinced my adventures still have many pages left to be written. Sometimes it's good to have your future unpredictable and new and exciting things left to discover.
I have truly appreciated all of the comments from everyone.
Thanks so much for sharing the journey!
St Thomas and the USVI
10 February 2023
Steven Cowart
After the BVIs we sailed over to the US Virgin Islands. It's really close and only takes about 3 hours. We spent 1 night at anchor in Christmas Cove on Great St James before heading over to the huge main bay at St Thomas.
This is my first time back in the US in over a year. It is really nice to see more familiar things and get some "Good Ole" food like Barbecue and such. We were able to stock up on things that we haven't had access to for a very long time. Angela has found a Mexican restaurant that she loves.
We have had a lot of beautiful sunsets here and I got a good shot of Angela taking a picture of one. You can actually see the sunset in the phone she is holding.
Jost Van Dyke and the "Soggy Dollar Bar"
02 February 2023
Steven Cowart
We arrived at Jost Van Dyke and took a mooring ball in the shallow turquoise water right on the beach. This famous beach has no dock to land a dingy and typically you need to swim the very short distance to the beach. There are quite a few bars and restraunts there, but the oldest and most famous is the "Soggy Dollar Bar" for obvious reasons. This bar is the birthplace of the world-renowned "Painkiller" drink that is so common in the Caribbean.
Many of the small shops here have sand floors and it's truly a swim-up beach setting. We had an incredible dinner that night at Hendo's Hideout which is right next door to the Soggy Dollar.
After dinner Angela and I played a short game of Cornhole. She won but I was uh........really tired and full............! It wouldn't have been that big of a deal except she REALLY likes to gloat when she beats me. I have no idea why????
British Virgin Islands
01 February 2023
Steven Cowart
After a rather windy overnight sail we arrived in Virgin Gorda in the BVIs. This is one of Angela's favorite spots and the first place we have sailed where we have previously visited before by boat. There is an iconic park there called "The Baths" which are a huge series of gigantic boulders right on the beach with openings, caves and tunnels throughout the park.
Anchoring is not allowed here so we took one of the free mooring buoys and swam to the beach. After some exploring we hiked to the top of the hill above the park for a delicious breakfast. It was a great morning we really enjoyed being back in the BVIs.
We headed out that afternoon to a very secluded cove to anchor for the night before heading on to Jost Van Dyke.
Montserrat
30 January 2023
Steven Cowart
We headed out from Guadeloupe to Montserrat and while passing between the islands we caught a nice Mahi-Mahi.
Angela's brother Paul reeled him in and we got really exited when we saw what we had caught!
These fish are stunningly beautiful when you first get them to the boat with incredible colors of iridescent blues, purples and green. They are also delicious and so we had enough for dinner for two nights!
Montserrat is an active Volcano and we didn't go ashore. We spent the night on the far North of the island away from the Sulphur smell of the active vent. We left the next day for the overnight sail to the British Virgin Islands.
Guadeloupe
26 January 2023 | Guadeloupe
Steven Cowart
After a very short overnight stop to anchor on the West side of Dominica we continued on to Guadeloupe. There are quite a few small islands that make up Guadeloupe, and we started with a small protected Cove on the South end. Lots of Sea Turtles swimming around the boat and a beautiful cliff on one side with a Pelican Roost. It was a very nice anchorage before heading over to another spot to explore "Terre-de-haut". We did a nice hike over to the main bay for lunch and to see the 5 masted tall ship in the bay.
Afterwards we sailed north to the much larger main island to get provisions and visit the ":Cousteau Reserve". This tiny island just of the main island can only be visited by dingy. We did some snorkeling there and spent the night before heading off once again to head North.
Our plan was to reach the Virgin Islands for Paul's return flight to the US. Luckily he was able to spend two weeks with us to help with passages.