Arrival in Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas.
Georgetown will serve as our base for the next couple of years. We were fortunate enough to secure two moorings one for each of our boats at the St. Francis Hurricane Hole. Which is...
Blogging aboard Black Diamond!
Sailing logs of Black Diamond, a Jeanneau Sailboat.
Georgetown will serve as our base for the next couple of years. We were fortunate enough to secure two moorings one for each of our boats at the St. Francis Hurricane Hole. Which is...
After over 1,200 nautical miles and over 2,000 km from NYC, 6.5 days on the Atlantic Ocean, 300nm / 500km offshore at one point, we made it to the Bahamas. We consumed less than...
** Video, at the bottom of post ** We were only 380nm to Little San Salvador Island. The winds were predicted to subside a little bit and possibly to almost a dead calm. If this...
We just got swamped by a rogue wave! The wind was picking up and we were hitting 12 knots of boat speed. We put a reef in the main and the jib. Consistent waves/swells...
Our Strategy & Track and Use of On Board Electronics. Sirius Satellite Weather Station Another great piece of equipment to have on board for ocean work is the Sirius Satellite weather station. You will...
Once we rounded the Sea Buoy outside of NYC and part way down Long Island, we set a way point to point offshore of Cape Hatteras. The Distance to the waypoint read 374 nautical...
Liberty Landing Marina – Final Stop! Check out the AIS screen capture to see how crazy it can get in New York Harbour. Fortune’s Favour went ahead and picked up their final crew members...
Black Diamond and Fortune’s Favour will be buddy boating down the Hudson this week and then offshore to the Bahamas. We have arrived today late evening by train from Toronto to Catskills. Today is...
The best time to head offshore directly to the Bahamas or Florida would be during the month of November. This will avoid the hurricane season, and much of the tropical storms. But don’t wait to...
We made it to Catskill, NY, Hope-O-Nose Marina, absolutely the best place to step your mast on the Hudson. Great facilities, such as a swimming pool for your family to enjoy, while you...
The last 3-4 Locks to Waterford, NY on the Erie Canal, about to descend to the Hudson River. This is the largest drop in the shortest distance in the world. Over a 150 feet...
Travelling with two boats containing 6 children under 13, starting at the age of 4. Yes, we needing a few breaks along the way, considering all this, we have been making pretty good progress....
Further transiting the canal, our usual time table is off the dock between 9 to 10 am, sometime we would make one rest stop for about an hour or so, and ending for the...
After a 3 hour crossing of Lake Oneida, we were lucky to find a 100 foot spot on the wall for both Fortune’s Favour and Black Diamond including our 20 foot over hanging mast....
We left Oswego today about 10am, and completed about 9 locks, our average speed is about 6 knots. We stopped again at one of our favourite spots for ice cream. Bridge House Brats at...
We did this trip on our own 5 years ago. This time around, we are travelling with good friends, The Benningers, Paul, Sandra and their 4 children (Aged), Rachel (12), Andrew (10), David (7)...
After living in the travel lift for 4 days. Got most of the work done, still a few issues out standing, we hope to figure out during our travels through the canals. We can...
Can you believe we’ve been in Sackets Harbour NY, going on our fourth day now. We arrived at 2:30PM Monday, removed our sails, boom and back stays with Mark Garret’s help. Tuesday morning we...
Had a great evening crossing to Sackets Harbour last night. We left the dock at 3:30PM, and had a perfect SW wind of 15 knot average. Sailing for 9 hours average speed of 7...
Black Diamond has officially left the Port Credit Yacht Club this afternoon at 3:30pm, a few hours behind schedule. A little extra time loading all our supplies on for wintering in the Bahamas...
Renaming Your Boat Story by Heather Lochner Boaters are a superstitious lot and Renaming your boat causes the greatest area for concern! The list of dos and don’ts stretches for many nautical miles. Superstition...
Black Diamond’s 6th entry in the Lake Ontario 300… Last year was our best performance, with a 3rd in division, and 12th overall in PHRF. We were hoping to outdo that performance this year,...
The Tourism Office of Spain and Navy Point are the proud sponsor of Black Diamond Yacht’s Racing Program. Black Diamond 2012 Season ended with these results… Last Week-ends Thanks Giving Turkey Race, 1st in...
Grand Bahama Bank to Bimini, 80+ miles passage from The Berry Islands, Chubb Cay. We figured it may take us as long as 12+ hours for this passage. We left Chubb before day break...
Chubb Cay, Berry Islands, Private Resort. Complete with marina, airstrip, restaurant, Infiniti pool and beautiful beach. This place is a riot after spending months in remote islands with no amenities for the most part. The...
After provisioning in Nassau we set a course for the Berry Islands, a 36 mile passage across the North East Providence Channel. A large body of water between New Providence and Berry Islands. It’s...
We are getting pretty comfortable with anchoring out for extended periods and not heading to a dock as often as we use to. This is saving us quite a bit of money on docking,...
Land and Sea Park, Warderick Wells Cay, Exuma Cays, Is a Bahamas National Park and Land Perserve. For more information please visit this site. http://www.bahamascruisersguide.com/page75/page19/page19.html The Land and Sea Park in the Exumas was the next...
Bitter Guana Cay in the Exumas, Near Staniel Cay and Black Point Settlement. http://www.bahamascruisersguide.com/page75/page2/page2.html Bitter Guana Cay a must stop at least for the afternoon to explore this amazing island. Home to a few...
March Break! Only have about two weeks to get the boat to Fort Lauderdale from the Exumas. After a few days enjoying the Family Regatta in George Town, we set sail North on the...