Nina Carroll MD

So many sailboats and sailing adventures… gliding, heeling, dancing through the waves, shushing sound of water on the gunwales, cockeyed view of sky, reading clouds,know the tides, currents, wind speed, and direction.
Be wary of hidden shoals and rocks, drop and set anchor, secure a mooring, or tether to a dock, and savor the destinations diverse, new, or known.

Beginning on Snow’s Pond in Rochester, MA, sailing sunfish then a Hobie cat. A brief stint with windsurfing.

 

Later, I met a seasoned sailor and during one cold rainy weekend in Maine in July on Chautauqua, her 30’ Sabre sailboat. I fell in love with sailing. Favorite cruising grounds extended from Isles of Shoals New Hampshire, through down east Maine to Grand Manan, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton. Our adventures included sails to the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas. Then, on a 34’ Cabo Rico, Chautauqua, we sailed down the US coast to the Keys and Dry Tortugas. In 1999 we had three great female crew for the Marion to Bermuda Sailing Cruisers Race, a 650 nautical mile journey. We met our goal to finish the race safely prepared for future offshore sailing adventures in Cuba, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras. We rented a sailboat in the Whitsundays in Australia where the snorkeling was gorgeous and white sands legendary.

Many nighttime crossings of the Gulf of Maine in different sailboats always delighted especially when we encountered whales on Stellwagen Bank off Race Point Provincetown, MA.  Adventures offshore crossing from Provincetown to Maine on a Morris 32’, Selkie, were unforgettable with dolphins joining us in moonlight. Swimming off my friends’ CSY 43’ Justicia anchored near the beach at Chappaquiddick, MA and joining them for the journey back from Green Turtle Cay to Florida.

 

 

 

My next sailing adventures were on my new partner’s classic sailboat, a beautiful 37’ Tayana, Interlude.

By a fluke of odd events, we had two sailboats from 2012 to 2016:

Interlude, a 37′ Tayana and Endless, a 43 ‘ Morgan sailboat aptly named for the constant work required to keep her fit for our adventures.
After selling Interlude, we had the trawler Transition in New England for summers around the Cape and Islands and Maine, and Endless in Florida for four winter journeys across the Gulf Stream to the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas, especially Green Turtle, Great Guana, and Elbow Cays. Snorkeling endlessly.

 

 

 

I joined friends our Australia friends, who we met on Green Turtle Cay, on their 53’ Alden sailboat, Cloud Shadow, to sail from Great Exuma to Turks and Caicos in the Bahamas, then later sailing adventures in Bequia, St. Vincent to St. Lucia for Christmas. We had anticipated joining them in the World Arc for their short leg from Tahiti to Fiji, but that was the spring of 2020 and international travel stopped due to Covid.  The captain brought the vessel home to Sydney almost singlehandedly.   What a harrowing journey with little welcome from the islands in the Southern Hemisphere which were in lockdown.

 

 

 

 

Now we cruise in our comfortable Camaro trawler with 360 degree views of our favorite places:  Cape and Islands, Provincetown, coast of Maine, especially Downeast past Acadia to Rogue Island, lobster boat races in Jonesport, sheltered harbors of Cow’s Yard,   Seal Bay, and so many others.  Transition is also perfect for day trips for lunch on Martha’s Vineyard with friends, and overnights in Katama Harbor, Edgartown, Hadley Harbor in the Elizabeth Islands, or Cuttyhunk. Paddleboarding in calm waters.