ICEBEAR crew prepping for departure! Anastasia, Jenni, Alex, Emma, Capt. Sean, Matt & Layton.
By ICEBEAR Mate Emma Garschagen
Everyone has the pre-departure jitters. Excited and busy energy all around. We all just went for our last Caribbean swim and everything except this laptop I'm typing on has been stowed.
How fast the world can change! Just a week ago, Alex and I were leaving home in Boulder, CO to get on a plane. Having been in lockdown for the past two and a half months, hardly seeing even close family and friends, we made the decision to take two flights and stay in a hotel. The change felt drastic, but the more we thought it over, the more we knew we had to go meet ICEBEAR in the Caribbean to sail her north to Annapolis. The trip was just too good to pass up!
When we arrived on June 1st, after 24 hours of travel with masks and Lysol wipes galore, we hurried out to ISBJORN who was anchored in Caneel Bay. She had just been delivered from the BVI after sitting on the hard since February. We were travel weary and suddenly far from the cocoon of home that became so comfortable during quarantine. But the moment I stepped back aboard ISBJORN, I was reminded that home can shift locations much quicker than you think. Alex and I "babysat" ISBJORN until Ben and the boys arrived on Thursday, at which point we got to move onto ICEBEAR. Sean and Anastasia, plus three more pirate crew, had just sailed the big boat north from Grenada.
Emma & Alex ‘babysat’ ISBJORN until ICEBEAR arrived from Grenada. Both boats are heading north from the USVI today.
Over the next few days the rest of our "skeleton crew" arrived. Jenni, who often sails as a relief mate for 59 North, Matt, and Layton. As the crew grew, so did the anticipation of pushing off and out to sea. We started to get to know each other, provisioned the boat, hung our lee cloths in our bunks, filled fuel and water, and checked systems and the rig. I find there's a constant running checklist in my head as I prepare for a trip that starts too long to see all at once, but then we approach our departure date and items disappear. Now this is the last item on the pre-departure checklist!
We're looking ahead at roughly 1,350 nm and not much wind. Hopefully we catch a breeze this evening as we push off from the USVI to get us started. We have ample time to play cards and get to know each other!
Sean, Anastasia & three others brought ICEBEAR up from Grenada last week, after she was on anchor in quarantine there for almost three months.
We're weighing anchor in just 15 minutes, so I'll sign off here soon. It feels great to be on ICEBEAR now, considering the regular 2020 season has been called-off. Though I'm missing most of the miles I was looking forward to sailing aboard ICEBEAR this season, I'm glad to be with her now and bringing her home with this wonderful crew.
Goodbye for now!
// Emma, ICEBEAR Mate
