May 29

Chris Taylor
Fox Chapel Presbyterian ChurchSailing with the big boys

Leaving Smith Point lighthouse at the base of the Potomac behind us

Chris Taylor
Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church

This morning

On the water and heading south

Chris Taylor
Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church

May 27

The last few days have been pretty stressful as we've struggled to Heartsong ready for our cruise, but today we finally cast off our lines and headed out into the Chesapeake. We made it to a beautiful anchorage on the Rhode River just before a thunderstorm rolled in. Looking forward to a good night's sleep!

Chris Taylor
http://foxchapelchris.blogspot.com

6:45 a.m. just north of Key West.

We left the BVI's on Tuesday after a wonderful time together.  As always, it was hard to see the kids take off.  Bonnie went on to Seattle for our niece's wedding, and I took off for Florida for my next two courses.  Unfortunately, my flight was cancelled and I ended up staying overnight in Puerto Rico, but I got up the next morning at 3:30 a.m. and was able to get a seat flying standby to Fort Lauderdale.

I arrived at the South Seas Island Resort in Captiva late Wednesday afternoon, and the next morning began a course on Coastal Navigation.  Again, pretty intense, and it ended with a three hour exam this morning.

Tomorrow my two classmates and I begin a five day cruise down to Key West and back.  We'll get back here Saturday and be done around noon.  The exam for the Passagemaking certification will actually be done on the boat either Thursday or Friday.  Sunday, I leave very early to catch a 6:30 a.m. flight out of Fort Myers, and that afternoon Bonnie and I will reconnect on Heartsong and begin our three month cruise up the coast.

Barry the Barracuda

This is a video of Barry the Barracuda. He has been hanging out by our boat the last two days and seems to have taken a liking to Anna.

Sea Turtle Video

Here is a video Kaulin, my son in law, has taken with his GoPro. This one shows one of the sea turtles that was by our boat the last few days.

The kids came in earlier this week and we've had a great time exploring the islands, playing games at night and catching up. Missing Brittany though who had to stay in Colorado for exams.

We've spent the week being taught on "Edith of Trossa" (foreground). Pretty intensive.  A great learning experience. Tomorrow the kids come in and we transfer to another boat for ten days of cruising on our own.  What an amazing experience!

April 28 2015

Snorkeling this morning at "the Indians"

With our classmate Betsy and instructor Brian.

Friday, April 24 2015

We arrived in the Virgin Islands yesterday. Spent two hours in the classroom and six hours on the water today. Absolutely beautiful!  Same schedule tomorrow, then we board a 43 foot boat tomorrow evening where we will spend the next five days sailing the islands.