Mission Panamania, Operation: Miami to Nassau
Our first year of sailing we managed to rack up over 3000 nautical miles bumming around south Florida and the Bahamas. It was a year filled with learning how to sail, maintaining our boat and getting in the groove of our new life afloat.
But, it’s time to take off our training wheels. We’re still newbies at best but if we want to grow up to be world exploring sailors, this is where it starts.
There are well over 1200 nautical miles between our anchorage in Miami and our hurricane hideout territory below the 12th Parallel in Central and South America. Our goal is to be in Panama by August 1st. That gives us 17 days to wind our way through the Bahamas and cut between Haiti and Cuba as we make a beeline for Panama.
We have a rough idea of what our route will look like but we’re on mother nature’s schedule now. We will surrender all plans over to her, go where the wind blows and be patient when it does not.
We’ve crossed the gulf stream twice now. Our first crossing was exciting because it was the first time we had ever lost sight of land and truly been out at sea. We waited for our weather window and mother nature rewarded us with mild seas and dolphin escorts as we crossed over into Bahamian waters. Our second crossing was headed back to Florida with seas so calm, we couldn’t even tell we were in the stream!
Here we go for another round of exciting firsts as we take on the gulf stream for the 3rd time. Join us, and the new Curiosity crew, for part one of what we are calling Mission Panamania.
So far so good! We have zero complaints about the first leg of our journey. Clear blue waters, fresh fish and can do salty attitudes, what’s not to be happy about. It feels sooo good to be moving again, we almost didn’t want to stop.
We’re all getting in the groove of our shifts and we’ve got a boat load of new gadgets to program and play with. Plus, Dale and Justin are both new to sailing so there’s a lot of learning going on through each shift. They are both like sponges and are learning quick!
We’ve broken the shifts up between the girls and the boys. Us girls are on watch from 12-3 and 6-9 both am and pm. It’s working out nicely as we all get to watch sunrise and sunset together as well as eat meals together.
Overall, it’s been a fun start and all crew members are getting along like peanut butter and jelly. Everyone is pitching in and doing their part, we each feel like we have enough space and time to ourselves, and the cats haven’t tried to toss anyone overboard. Granted, we’re only a few days in, so I will hold all final thoughts until we reach Panama in one piece. 😉
Curiosity Crew
Wondering who Dale and Justin are and how they became part of the crew? They are our first Patreon crew members to join us from our crew call we placed earlier this year.
- Crew Call: gonewiththewynns.com/join-our-crew
- Video where Dale and Justin first came aboard: gonewiththewynns.com/new-rigging-nav-gear-crew-sail
- Follow Dale and Justin: Instagram – instagram.com/djsdives/ Twitter – https://twitter.com/DjsDives YouTube – youtube.com/user/DaleOnolack
Sailing Report
To see our full map with interactive pins, click here: gonewiththewynns.com/map
- Dates: July 14 – 17, 2017
- Nautical Miles Sailed: 235
- Anchorage: Old Fort Bay. Anchorage can be found easily on Active Captain.
- Cell & WiFi: Our BTC cell phone signal was good.
Gear Used In This Video
- Quatix 5 Watches: Garmin Wearables
- Chartplotter: Garmin 7612xsv Multi-touch
- iPad Mount at Helm: http://amzn.to/2fT84PG
- iPad Pro http://amzn.to/2d9Oopf Sailing Apps Used:
- iNavx: http://bit.ly/2vGgC51
- Garmin Bluecharts with Active Captain: http://bit.ly/2tgnRmA
- Iridium Go and Predict Wind for weather and communications: bit.ly/PredictWindIridium
- Portable Floating VHF w/GPS: http://amzn.to/2hwEoK7
- Entertainment at Sea, Kindle and Prime Unlimited Reading: http://amzn.to/2mpGQ9K
- Electric Cooking Device: gonewiththewynns.com/product/productdouble-up-skillet-and-oven
- Tortilla Press: gonewiththewynns.com/product/tortilla-press
Cameras Used to Capture This Video
- Main Camera – Sony A7ii: http://bit.ly/a7rii-sony
- Sony Zoom Mic: https://www.gonewiththewynns.com/product/sony-gun-zoom-microphone-black
- Sony 24 – 70mm f4 lens: http://bit.ly/2470-zeiss
- The Helm Camera – Sony Action Cam: http://bit.ly/sony-as300
- All of our up to date photo and editing gear: gonewiththewynns.com/best-travel-camera-video-photography
Thanks for being a part of our journey! If you enjoy what we do and you want to help us keep the videos and posts flowing, check out our Say Thanks page. It lists out some ways you can show us some digital love and most won’t cost you a penny.
David
Grandma wishes we were all with you having the good time you all are having. She said she would be in charge of the cats and you all could take care of the boat. She misses you both says you have changed in the long time you have been away. She said you look like your mother, Jason. Ha ha!! She says she has gotten much older – 86 this year. She prays that you all are safe. 🙂
LOVE YOU!!! Grandma
Gerald B
Hey guys. Everything OK? Curiosity’s been parked at the airport for a few days. Swapping crew? No emergencies we’re hoping.
Donald Hatland
The alcohol stuns the fish instead of having to knock it out. More humane getting it drunk instead of beating it.
Deborah Kerr
Great teamwork on that 1st fish!! I never heard of marinating it with alcohol while still alive – haha 🙂 Great video of ” a day in the life of the sailors…” – looks like fun! Looking forward to the sights and atmosphere/culture as you sail south past Cuba – will the sea be as pretty blue as it is in the Caribbean? Will there be different types of fish to catch?? Oh my, those non-Tuesday Tacos looked awesome good!! Keep smiling 🙂
Don Hatland
Pretty slick knocking the fish out with alcohol, as long as it is cheap alcohol. Do not want to use the good stuff.
Tev
So excited to see you are on your way and anxiously waiting for your blogs each week. SOOO glad you have a fisherman on board but you need deep sea fishing equipment!! Ha ha ha Bet that dolphin was delicious. Safe travels.
AlainCh
You need to update “your boat – Meet Curiosity ” and “your dinghy -Sailboat Dinghy Swap” for us…
we need to know the upgrades in details !!!!
:-)))
just checked, old boats specs ! heheh
Stay dry, make a good life !
Pat Parker
Absolutely wonderful sharing in your adventure. Look forward to each and every video
boyd
What did you squirt on the mahi?
Judy
Are kitty cats still part of your crew. Can’t remember when last you mentioned them.
Nikki Wynn
Of course they are. They were both shown in this video and are still fantastic travel buddies!
Lisa Bee
What did you squirt out of the red bottle for the Mahi?
Jim Deatsch
Jason, “A ship in the harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are for”.