Sailing from Florida to Gig Harbor

The Leopard 46, Living Free is on her way from Florida and the Bahamas to Gig Harbor to spend the summer in the Pacific Northwest

You can follow the progress of Steve, Tim and Issac when you click on this live link:

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/LiveFree

The Adventure begins, Fri Apr 17 2020
At 0803 we passed under the 17th st bridge and hoisted the sail. We’re now cruising at 180˚ at 9kts! Close reaching past Miami.

Perfect day, Sat Apr 18 2020
We started the day with a spinnaker set on a beam reach as we sailed down & out of Hawk channel, we averaged over 7.5 knots up to 9 effortlessly. The wind later died so we motored to the point we thought best to cross the Gulf Stream, we’ll let the current take us towards the tip of Cuba where an eddy will push us south: just as we had a spectacular sunset sailing again, 6 dolphins joined us. Had a nice dinner in smooth seas with 12 knots from the North.
24º 12.548n 83º 09.780


Living Free in Grand Cayman, Wed Apr 22 2020
We pulled in here to Grand Cayman last night. The last three days weve been beating into 20 knot southerlies with an abundance of 6 to 10 foot steep waves so this is a good pit stop to get fuel and fix a couple things. The boat has. handled the conditions very well.
The best answer to your prayers was yesterday sitting on the engine doing some service (underway in some sea) when a large nut then a large lock washer dropped onto my lap from the end of the steering cross bar. I didnt know it was underneath hidden in a slot cut out of the end of the crossbar (that connects the two rudders) and had not been tightened since i repaired a bent steering arm a year ago.
Today the southerlies are supposed to turn to 10 to 12 easterly for 5 days which will be a very welcome sight for our straight south heading to the canal Our new main sheet halyard block got pulled too tight into the top of the mast and imploded so we have to go up and replace it with the original which i had repaired a few months ago. Have to re pull the main halyard to do that. The sail is 850 square feet and so heavy that a block and tackle arrangement in addition to the winch is required to set the sail. But its on my list to go aloft and check everything any way. We will get ourselves organized this morning and leave here in a few hours for the next stop in Panama.
Crew morale is very.high. Sunsets, sunrises. dolphins in our bows never get old. Marveling at the waves.before they meet us, deep shades of blue and boat speeds of over 8 knots close hauled with a double reefed mainsail and double reefed genoa. issac is sleeping alot and may not be hydrating enough but loves the rough conditions and is a great asset in every respect. He is enthudiastic and learning bundles every day asking tons of questions about sailing, why we do this and that AND COOKING UP A STORM IN THE GALLEY. The last three days he got off pretty easy because nobody felt like eating a big meal so we just snacked as needed.
19º 21.026n 81º 22.492w

Living Free in Quarantine, Tue May 05 2020
We have been 9 days anchored outside Shelter Bay Marina and will complete our 14 day quarantine on Sunday morning. At that time we will move into the marina and wait for clearance from the Health Department. We are told this is a formality as no one seems to come to do a physical inspection. Then we can get off the boat but more importantly qualify for the “admeasurement” inspection provided by the canal authorities. Then we will be in line to book transit through the canal. We will take on an advisor, two additional line handlers, 4 each 200 foot lines of 7/8" diameter and quite a few very large fenders. An agent will take care of this for us and take care of customs and immigration checking us in and out of Panama. The cost is about $3000 U.S.
The intensity of the 9 day crossing from Florida to Panama is difficult to describe. The task at hand is to sail the boat efficiently. The on going focus is on safety, comfort, sleeping, eating,.vessel maintenance and taking note of all the blessings. Every day.we acknowledge the brilliant design and construction of the boat and often speak of our gratitude and connection to our ocean home.
We have been embracing these 14 days of quarantine as a unique opportunity to slow down. There’s still plenty of time left over to take on projects! One of or most noteworthy accomplishments has been removing, servicing and reinstalling our feathering propellers. We replaced some blades and pins and recalibrated the pitch. The vibrations that had developed have been eliminated. The grand finale was Tim filming Issac with the Gopro - both breathing on compressed air. In the galley, Isaac has been killing it - last night creating two very good pizzas in the convection oven. Oh my goodness!!!
Tomorrow one of the crew members on the boat anchored behind us in the anchorage turns four. Isaac received the words and tune of Happy Birthday in Ukraine from a friend so we are going to swim over and sing hopefully with a birthday cake on the paddleboard. This is a community with accelerated opportunities to connect. We expect to make an impact that they won’t forget.
We are very thankful for each of you reading our blogs and we covet your prayers. Its not too soon to ask for favorable weather, safety and the Lords blessings on the other side. Thank you again.
Captain Steve
Living Free
7º 27.241n 82º 23.921w

Living Free Transits the Canal, Sun May 17 2020
Living Free was able to join two other vessels to form a raft entering and exiting each of six locks under her own power. Rafted to starboard was a Lagoon 38 from the Ukraine and to port a Beneteau 50 bound for Korea. Each vessel received their Advisor at 5 am yesterday morning - 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Our agent informed us at the end of the day that it’s very rare to see as much favor as we departed from the last lock about 2 hours ahead of schedule. We entered each of the Gatun locks on the way up to Gatun Lake and the first of the Miraflores locks on the way down to Miraflores Lake behind the freighter Maersc Wayatama. For some reason we were asked to pass the Wayatama before she entered the middle lock on the way down. This now put us in full view of the web cams that the Wayatama had been blocking from our view. Thank you Robin for telling me about the web cam just in time to alert family and friends before we went live.
We had become good friends with our Korean and Ukrainian friends sharing quarantine and a week of preparation after that to transit the canal. We anchored after transit and shared a potluck dinner with our new friends celebrating an epic day and all that went into making it possible.
The weather forecast was very favorable so we said our good byes and got under way at 9 pm navigating through a field of about 30 anchored freighters. Two hours later the lights of Panama City and the anchorage faded away. On Isaac's solo watch he was blessed by two dolphins fully illuminated by the sea. Tim scored this morning landing two Yellowfin Tuna. We thank you and ask for continued prayers of favor and protection as we proceed toward our desired haven of Gig Harbor.
7º 27.241n 82º 23.921w

7º 53.791n 83º 12.886w
Entering Costa Rica, Mon May 18 2020

A few hours ago we said goodbye to Panama and crossed into Costa Rica. We have settled into our watch groups for the first time in over three weeks. Its 1 am Monday as I write this (Steve) on my 12 to 4 watch. I can fall asleep any time any where so its easy for me to break my eight hours of sleep into two halves. Tim loves sunsets and sunrises so he follows my watch and does 4 to 8 morning and night. That leaves Isaac on the 8 to 12 watch which works very well for him. Being a young guy we call his watch the party watch because he likes to stay up late AND he likes to sleep. His watch is 8 to 12 morning and night watch.

Our crew meal times are 8:30 breakfast, lunch at 1 and dinner at 7. As of today each of us are caught up on sleep and would say that we have fully transitioned from the past three weeks of intense waiting, exhilaration of transiting the canal and are back into the routine of 24/7 sailing.

Last night the two hours of thunder, lightning and heavy rain on my watch were very intense. A most unique event occurred at the beginning of this weather system as over twenty beautiful butterflies greeted us and took refuge with us. They were jet black wirh flouerscent green accents. The wings of these beautiful creatures were like angel wings and symbolized the Lord’s blessing and protection over us. Our helm enclosure kept us very confortable. Tim couldn’t sleep for counting the seconds between flash and thunder so gave up his much needed sleep to partner with me: studying the weather on the radar, watching for small fishing boats and recommending a course change. Before Tim came on deck, Isaac and I prayed together for protection against a strike landing on us.

Today there is a new level of peace, calm and contentment on board that is very noticeable to me. It is as relaxed today as the squall was intense last night. Our team has solidified as we can see each others strengths and uniqueness with more clarity and appreciation.
At the moment we are making 8 knots speed through the water which is very very good in about the same amount of wind coming from the west. There is about 1 or 1.5 knots of current against us and we are running one engine at 1800 rpm. This is our goal rpm as we only burn about one half gallon per hour. Our prayer and goal is to make good speed with minimal fuel so that we can make 700 more miles to Puerto Madero Mexico without taking on more fuel. Even in perfect sailing conditions we have to run an engine at night to charge our batteries for our refrigeration, radar and navigation. During the day we have ample solar so favorable wind will allow us to save fuel.

8º 49.977n 84º 37.346w
Contrast of Costa Rica, Mon May 18 2020

12 hours ago we were going through quite a squall. Our radar showed red all around, we needed a pathway through, at just the beginning of my watch (Tim) 0415, the wind switch 60 degrees to starboard, so I tacked and then the wind went from 10 to 20 and off we sailed! There was a distinct V-shape hole on the clouds, We raced through there like Chris Carson on the Seahawks! 9+ knots with lightning strikes all around us; 5 bolts hit within a qtr mile. Flash-bang in the same instant. I realized there was no reason to be afraid because by the time the lightning struck, it was over. So we picked our way through adjusting our sails to the rapidly changing winds and came out the other side a few hours later.
We were visited on the morning be a pod of 20+ dolphins, jumping and twirling like corkscrews, they were so fun!
Now we’re sailing in the sun at 9+ knots on a beam reach under spinnaker heading exactly where we planned. We have, in both cases no control over the conditions, just navigating our ship in a safe direction. Days like these are epic in so many ways!

10º 26.138n 86º 48.652w

Living Free "in the groove"
Issac, Tue May 19 2020

Being “in the groove” as most of you know is a sailing term used to describe when you are getting the most out of the boat through sail trim and weather conditions expressed in speed and comfort.
And although our sail trim is not always perfect and weather conditions certainly not always optimum, the crew of living free has been “in the groove” more the past few days than we have most of the trip. Steve, Tim, and myself (Isaac) have found more and more chemistry as a team each day allowing us to move through a variety of sailing maneuvers with ease and quickness. For example, yesterday we went from flying the spinnaker on a broad reach to wing and wing on a deeper broad reach (almost a run), and ended the night with the genoa out on a beam reach, all within the course of a couple hours and all while maintaining our desired heading with speeds averaging around 8.5 kts or higher.
Being in cohesion as a team has allowed us to be “in the groove” as a unit as well. Getting the most out of our trip with maximum joy and comfort. In our groove, time seems to go by faster, but our enjoyment of each moment and of God’s creation increases dramatically. We see how truly blessed and highly favored we are. And the dolphins continue to remind us to have fun and enjoy each day to its fullest. (I’m pretty sure we haven't gone a day without them by our side)

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