Atlantic Jim - SV Esprit Update 2024 - 2025
Crew Alerts will begin December 15th, 2024 for 9 months of 4,000+ mile Caribbean / Atlantic cruising in 2025.
January - Esprit will depart Trinidad and sail north meandering thru the windward and Leeward islands to the Virgin islands. Cruising various islands as she continues to explore the swimming, diving, cuisine, culture and magic of the Caribbean ( see 2024 Captains Log).
April - Sailing west with the trade winds to Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Turks & Caicos Islands to arrive in Georgetown Bahamas for National Family Regatta week.
May/June - Sailing North up to Boston to cruise Martha’s Vineyard and New England’s Elizabeth Islands.
July - Sailing North up to Nova Scotia and the Canadian Maritimes for the 2025 summer weather!
Yacht Notes: Esprit is a 44’ Little Harbor center cockpit cruiser. She has a cutter rig with a heavy displacement of 20 tones providing additional motion stability and sailing comfort in all sea conditions. She was designed and built by America’s Cup winner Ted Hood and maintained in ship-shape condition.
Captain’s Log 2024
January – We left Boston MA in December 2023 and with a brief stop in Bermuda sailed 1600 nautical miles south into the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea. Then we began a new year with an exhilarating cruise thru the British Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and the east coast islands of Puerto Rico.
February - Esprit continued cruising, visiting the islands of Saint Croix, French Saint Martin, Anguilla, Antigua and Saint Kitts.
March – A gorgeous weather month and we slo-cruised around volcanic French Montserrat to Guadeloupe, Isle de Saints and the natural island of Dominica. It was stunning to see Plymouth, the prior capital of Montserrat buried under the last volcanic eruption from 2013. It’s now an abandoned town with the active volcano still simmering above it.
April – More perfect weather and our relaxed cruising included trips back north for Antigua, Saint Lucia and Martinique to accommodate the various plane schedules of inbound / outbound crew. The French islands are well known for their cuisine, culture and many lush volcanic islands to navigate and explore.
May - St. Vincent, Bequia, Grenada and the rest of the Grenadines welcomed Esprit and her crew … many shore excursions and lots of fun swimming and diving.
June – The rainy season began and Esprit sailed south from Grenada to Trinidad where she was hauled out of the water to safely weather hurricanes. Hurricane Beryl landed as a Category 4 storm on Carriacou in late June and caused extreme damage to the Grenadines and North Grenada.
November / December - Esprit annual refit / maintenance preparation for 2025 season
Crew Notes:
A big thank you to Christian, Klara, John, Ellen, Tom, Joanne, Jermaine, Jodie, Mark, Kristina, Nick, Jazmine and Herman - all fine crew members who came aboard to share boat duties and wonderful cruising.
Beaufort to Bermuda
In that late november 2023, after carefully monitoring the weather I was time for an offshore navigation / training voyage between Beaufort to Bermuda. On board Lady Esprit, a Little Habor 44 center-cockpit bluewater sailing boat. I am the 4th wheel, from a strong crew of Captian Jim. it was my first jump in the gulf stream, what an amazing experience i was impressed with how cabably is the boat with the centerboard down and well balanced The speed was frequently at 8 Knots Jim, Chris, John, thank you for welcoming me into your friendship. Salud! Nick
15th Dec 2023