Sailing PILAR - Blue Dot Voyages Archive – Page 2

We recently received our new paddleboards that we purchased while at the Annapolis Sailboat Show. Voltsurf had a show special that could not be beat! Watch our unboxing and our first boarding adventure down Bohicket Creek. LINKS: BLOG SITE: https...

This Drone aerial of marsh waters in Bohicket Creek in SC was taken while we were in the dinghy. Try making that drone catch in a boat that's only 10 ft by 4 ft! We almost missed it, but Stephen saved the day, like he always does.

Interesting footprint of our Leopard48 in comparison to others!

WATCH how we get our 40,000 pound boat out of the water for repairs and upgrades ! What's on the list? Fix rudder shake. Fix sail drive "boots" - replace and secure. Underwater lights not working - replace and ensure water tight seal Antifouling - press...

Perfect Winds, Sunshine & Great Company made for a great 10 hour day sailing an average of 10 knots SOG from Bohicket Marina in Johns Island-Charleston to Bull River Marina in Savannah on Thanksgiving Holiday 2019. WATCH a bit of coastal cruising for...

Tamsen is a 170 ft Perini Navi super sailing yacht built for the Firestone Family, who crew the boat themselves. We were fortunate enough to get a closeup view of this yacht during PILAR's stay at Thunderbolt Marine Services in Savannah, GA. Most of time...

This is the story of summer in South Carolina - serene beaches, ocean surf, sea creatures, sailing, sightseeing, long enjoyable days, and restful nights. Our home port is part of the Charleston Sea Islands - Bohicket Marina at the intersection of Kiawah, ...

Our Leopard48 has comfortable staterooms, however since we will eventually be sleeping here every night, we decided to expand our master stateroom bed to a REAL King size instead of the Queen size it was. We eliminated the V berth at the foot of the bed a...

We did some time in the winter of 2020...in the Boat Yard. We accomplished a TON of boat projects - some mandatory and some that we just wanted to make our eventual full time life on board as comfortable as possible for us and our guests. TIMELINE: Intr...

3 Guys, 15 Mahi, 6 Hours. Non-stop from 8 AM to 2 PM. Gulf Stream Georgia. All Mahi vacuum packed and frozen for consumption by us and friends. No mahi wasted. LINKS: BLOG SITE: https://bluedotvoyages.com FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bluedo...

While recently in Savannah at Thunderbolt Marine Services, we were treated to super views of this amazing sport fishing mother ship, Compass Rose. Quite the vessel. World traveling 160 foot sport fishing luxury yacht for fishing from the flats to the...

On the 4th of July weekend – 2020, we had 2 guests onboard who wanted to learn what it’s like to sail a catamaran, visit Monkey Island, AND celebrate a birthday! The evening before our sail, Kylee and James joined us – Kylee even 20 weeks pregnant...

Sailing during the Coronavirus was not easy. We heard from many of their trouble with entering or leaving countries. Many were just stuck where they were, even if it meant the ocean. Sailors that had been off-shore when the lockdowns went into affect ar...

Fall is one of the best times to go sailing in South Carolina. Cooler temperatures are more comfortable, but the water is still warm enough for swimming. It’s high time for Shrimp, Oysters, Blue Crabs, Stone Crabs and more. Darkness comes earlier mak...

We Gotta Regatta - We were headed out to see a funeral on the water, when to our surprise and delight, we ran headlong into the Alice Cup Regatta by the Charleston Ocean Racing Association. This is the first regatta I have seen live and I think I’ve ca...

Find out what Stephen found on a routine engine check before sailing south for the winter. LINKS: BLOG SITE: https://bluedotvoyages.com FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bluedotvoyages INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpil...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL! Our dinner today will be Fried Trout - lightly breaded with salsa. LINKS: BLOG SITE: https://bluedotvoyages.com FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bluedotvoyages INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotvoyages.sailing...

Thanksgiving began early this year as we needed to catch the wind! We left Bohicket Marina on Monday around 2 PM and caught a nice NW wind right out of the channel. After teaching our guests how to raise the main sail and fly the genoa, we decided to pu...

Here is the short story on why we replaced our rudder bushings twice! When we hauled the boat at Thunderbolt Marine in Savannah in January 2020, we had planned to replace the rudder bearing in the lower rudder shaft bearing carrier since they had become...

Cumberland Island | Sailing Georgia Coast | Machine Guns | Dungeness Mansion | Wild Horses | PILAR | EP50 Stuck in the US because of Covid, we found plenty of excitement in our recent sailing travel along the Georgia coast. Cumberland Island was recently...

We replaced our AGM batteries with Relion Lithium on our Leopard48 ! Get the details on how to do it right. Well, at least we think it's right. We spent weeks on the design (in between other things in life). These were installed January 2020 and so fa...

Captain Stephen recently noticed some milky colored oil in our sail drive, when changing out a leaky O-ring. So, back to Thunderbolt Marine in Savannah - closest place that can haul out boat out of the water. What did we find? Fishing line wrapped ar...

Solar Panel Installation on Leopard 48 Catamaran | EP52 Our Leopard 48 Catamaran came with several flex solar panels, which sound good on a list of boat features, in practice, did little to no good when you wanted to stay on anchor for an extended period...

Jekyll Island, Georgia - Sailing, Cruising, Exploring with PILAR | EP53 Last November, we visited Jekyll Island while spending 6 months in the GA area around st. Simons Island. Serenity, Roseate Spoonbills, Spanish Moss covered trees, historic homes, bik...

We recently sailed from St. Simons, GA to Bohicket Marina on Seabrook/ Kiawah Island, SC where we will spend the summer and fall. Trip Stats. Hours on the water: 27 Nautical Miles Covered: 171 Average speed: 6 knots Max speed: 10 knots Winds SE at 15-2...

Our fix for a broken Vitrifrigo Marine Refrigerator on our Leopard 48 - Sailing PILAR Not so much fun when your marine refrigerator just stops working. Luckily, we had not provisioned yet, so we did not lose any food, but we did lose 2 days trying to fin...

Sailing PILAR in St. Augustine & St. Simons Island | EP 55 | Blue Dot Voyages Thinking about visiting St. Augustine? Here’s a bit about our recent sailing experience in the St. Augustine area and our recommendations for your visit. TIMELINE: 0:00...

Love spending time with the granddaughter on the boat! Her favorite thing is "waking up in the morning on anchor and looking out at the beach". Mine too :-) TIMELINE: 0:00 Introduction 0:30 Paddleboard surfing 4:30 Fireworks LINKS: BLOG SITE: ...

We recently sailed from Charleston area of South Carolina to our Winter home in Port of the Islands Marina just south of Marco Island Florida. Of course, we would end up with a Gale! 50 Knot wind gusts with sustained 35-40 delayed us for 3 days. Watch ...

Coast Guard speeding by in St. Mary's GA.

Passing Time During Gale... New Radar and VHF Installations | Sailing PILAR - Blue Dot Voyages During our 3 day wait during our Sailing trip during the November 2021 Gale, we tackled a couple of boat projects. No Friday Night Fun for us! Work...Work......

Sailing PILAR to Everglades? Refugee Boat - Grounding & Gaters - Port of the Islands - Naples FL After waiting out the Gale and fixing our radar and VHF, we finally set sail again on Tuesday afternoon. Out St Mary's inlet, headed South! We had plan...

What's a Croaker Fish? Well, they "croak" . Watch one here. LINKS: BLOG SITE: https://bluedotvoyages.com FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bluedotvoyages INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar

HOT HOT HOT August Sailing on PILAR with Charles and Allison - (and an Engagement!) Blue Dot Voyages TIMELINE: 0:00 The Happy Couple (now engaged) 0:51 Kingfish Catch and Deck Lounging 6:00 Off shore ocean Swimming 6:55 Parasailor time - What's wro...

Portuguese Man of War. As seen in Islamorada FL. Beautiful but deadly. #shorts

Our Raymarine Axiom upgrade from our E-series MFD on our Leopard48 Catamaran was unplanned, meaning it wasn’t even our wish list, but then, when we sent one of our units in for repair, the option to replace for a little more $$ than a repair made us ...