Holiday Anchovy Update!

Happy Holidays from San Miguel de Allende in Mexico!

We hope this note finds you all well and ready to greet what we all hope will be a better 2021. Since our last update in Honduras, at the outbreak of the pandemic, we sailed Contigo back up to the U.S., making it as far north as Sorrento, Maine in August/September, before bringing her back to the Chesapeake Bay for winter storage. We spent time with Conner’s parents in Maryland as we were preparing Contigo for the offseason and then flew to Mexico, where we have eaten 12,451 tortillas since late October!

Last Days of Roatán

Before leaving Honduras in late May, we made the best of the local lockdown by spending time freediving just beyond the West End’s barrier reef. We were very lucky to have a couple of amazing freediving instructors (and human beings) aboard a neighboring catamaran called Nomad, through whom Conner received her Freediver certification and Karl learned some new skills like no-fins immersions.

Enroute to New England

We sailed Contigo up to Marion, Massachusetts in three legs, the first of which took us from Roatán to Key West. The second leg was a quick overnight around the Florida Keys and up to West Palm Beach, and the third was a Gulf Stream sleigh ride along the East Coast up to Massachusetts.

After spending a few days walking around Key West and marveling at the convenience of food and boat-part provisioning in the U.S. (it had been nearly three years since Contigo had been back to U.S. continental waters!), we pushed off for New England, completing the 1,000 nautical mile non-stop journey required to be full members of the Ocean Cruising Club: an organization with a lot of wonderful members whom we’ve met along the way.

A New England Summer

Below are a few pictures of time spent cruising New England’s waters. We had forgotten how beautiful (and sometimes cold!) the anchorages can be up there. We spent the majority of our time in Martha’s Vineyard/Nantucket and Coastal Maine, places we don’t ever seem to tire of, even if the price of a couple cups of coffee would have likely fed us in Central America.

Sailing South, Putting Contigo Away

We had planned on sailing from Maine back into the Chesapeake via the “outside route,” but the weather forecast lent itself to a run through the Long Island Sound, into New York City, and down the New Jersey shoreline. We spent the night in City Island just north of NYC and carefully made our way into town to enjoy some outdoor dining.

Happy Holidays, with lots of love,
Conner & Karl