“The Sailor spends his Christmas in a harbor on the hook…”
If you know any cruisers, you’ve probably heard the line “cruising is just fixing your boat in exotic locations.” If this is true, then JTandZiggy are officially cruisers. Between repairs, having fun, and limited internet access, they’ve been too busy to keep this blog updated so I (his brother) thought I’d provide a quick update. I apologize for the pictures, I had to screenshot them from his Instagram postings.
If you follow @jtandziggy on Instagram you’ll have a better idea of what they’re up to.
Jonathan and Ziggy made it to Key West, FL, where he fulfilled a lifelong dream of spending Christmas in the Keys listening to Jimmy Buffett’s “Christmas Island” on continual loop. They spent over a month in the Keys and enjoyed spending time with family who came down for Christmas.
Albion’s planned crossing to the Bahamas with Livin’ the Dream was cancelled when Jonathan broke the bleeding screw on his engine and had to get towed into an anchorage off of the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, FL for repairs. Finding a replacement screw for his older engine proved to be difficult and they spent over a week anchored in the lagoon. This gave him a chance to clean Albion’s bottom and get to know another great cruising couple sailing on Ohana, a beautiful Lagoon Catamaran.
After successful repairs, Albion and Ohana enjoyed a beautiful crossing to Alice Town, Bahamas.
Jonathan was again plagued with dinghy outboard problems after having professional service a few times already along the trip. He arranged for a new carburetor to arrive by Island Air but the new part still didn’t fix the problem.
Fortunately, a Bahamian backyard mechanic took a look at it fixed it for him in about an hour.
Now that the dinghy was up and running again, Jonathan and Ziggy spent the day exploring Alice Town.
Jonathan and Ziggy spent Valentine’s evening in Alice Town watching the sunset with his wonderful cruising buddies, Ohana and Livin’ the Dream.
After enjoying Alice Town, much fresh conch and natural beauty, Albion moved on to an anchorage in the Bahamas Banks and is currently crossing to Nassau as I write this.
All in all, it’s been an amazing journey. Hopefully he finds the time to provide his own update soon. In the meantime, follow @jtandziggy on Instagram.
Way to go, Jonathon. Glad to hear you’re having such great adventures.
Thanks Craig – hope you guys are doing well. I miss the GRSC/GHYC people. Chad who joined me for a month or so (races with Denny) is going to be giving a talk at the cruisers event in April about his time on the rivers. Good to hear from you. Have a great remainder of your winter
Thanks for the update. My husband and I met your brother at Torrrensons while getting his boat ready to leave. Sounds like quite an experience so far, we hope to do the loop when we retire! Hope the rest of his journey is smooth sailing.