May 11 – 15, 2026

Back in Civilization (And We’re Not Sure How We Feel About It) — Nobad Weather Fam Sails North from West Palm

Passport emergencies, a dinghy outboard that refused to cooperate in a downpour, a rescued phone from the bottom of the anchorage, our first real sail with BOTH sails out — and an emotional return to the place where this whole adventure almost ended before it started.

---

Reentry Is Weird

We’d only been in the Bahamas for a month. One month. And pulling back into West Palm Beach felt like landing on a different planet.

Cars honking. Office buildings. Construction noise. People everywhere in a hurry to be somewhere. Some of our buddy boats put it best: it’s all too overstimulating.

They’re not wrong. When you’ve been anchored in turquoise water with nothing louder than the wind for weeks, civilization hits different. We needed time to decompress before we could even think about moving north.

West Palm gave us that. And honestly? We could have stayed longer.

---

West Palm Highlights: Sundowners, Soggy Groceries, and a Phone in the Dark

The week wasn’t exactly low-key, but it was the good kind of chaotic.

Monday brought sundowners aboard SV Subdivisions — a reunion with friends from our sailing summit back in the Keys. We were already in West Palm with SV Free Soul and SV Nima (our Banks crossing crew), and meeting up with SV Subdivisions and SV Ocean of Fun (both solo sailors from our bluewater community) made it feel like a proper homecoming.

Tuesday was a comedy of logistics. I ordered Walmart delivery ahead of predicted rain storms — only for the driver to spend a full hour unable to find the drop location before finally locating Josh at the exact spot we described. It only sprinkled on Josh. SV Free Soul, however, picked up their groceries later and got absolutely drenched on the ride back to their boat. This is becoming a theme for them. We are not sorry for how hard we laughed in the group chat.

That same evening, our buddy on SV Ocean of Fun dropped his phone in the water as it was getting dark. Josh immediately zoomed over in the dinghy to help search. They found it. Mostly salvageable. A small miracle.

Wednesday was the big family outing — passport renewal day, which sounds mundane until you add three kids, Florida humidity, a broken camera at the post office, a detour to CVS…twice, and children who were fully convinced we were torturing them.

We promised treats. We delivered. We found Skinny Louie near the public docks for shakes and snacks, the kids played in a water fountain at the park, and we randomly met another kid boat family who had just completed a 7-day passage from Puerto Rico and are heading all the way to the Chesapeake. This community, man.

Then our dinghy, Spongebob, refused to start for 15-20 minutes while a storm rolled in. We made a valiant attempt to beat it back to the boat. We did not beat it. We got soaked. Our kids will tell you it was the worst thing that has ever happened to them. We’re calling it “pulling an SV Free Soul” and we stand by it. Did I have a mini breakdown on the boat after? Yes. Some days are a lot.

Thursday ended the week perfectly — the whole crew met up at Peanut Island at the mouth of the West Palm inlet. Snorkeling, beach time, good people. For a moment it almost felt like we were back in the Bahamas.

Almost.

---

We Finally Sailed. Like, Actually Sailed.

Friday morning we said goodbye to SV Free Soul and set sail for Fort Pierce with SV Nima, SV Subdivisions, and SV Oceans of Fun.

And then it happened.

We pulled out the mainsail.

For the first time on this entire journey, SV Nobad Weather sailed with both the main and headsail out simultaneously. Full canvas. The way a sailboat is supposed to sail.

We kept the sails up the entire passage. Running on one engine, we held over 6 knots. At one point we cut both engines entirely and were still hitting over 5.

I was a stress ball the entire time and I do not care even a little bit. We are a real sailboat now.

---

Fort Pierce: The Place That Almost Broke Us

I’ll be honest — I had complicated feelings about returning to Fort Pierce.

If you’ve been with us from the beginning, you know the story. Fort Pierce is where our sailing journey almost ended before it really started. We lost both props here. We were stuck over Christmas. It was a hard, demoralizing stretch at the worst possible time — the kind of early test that makes you question whether you made a terrible mistake.

But God provided a way through it, we got the boat fixed, and we kept going. Everything that came after — the Keys, the Bahamas, the Berry Islands, the Gulf Stream crossings — none of it happens without pushing through Fort Pierce the first time.

So here we are. Back again. Almost 6 months later. Anchored right off the main channel, close enough to hear the restaurants on shore. The current here is ripping — strong enough that we had a very serious conversation with our kids about what to do if they fell overboard. (Short version: don’t fall overboard.)

What happens in Fort Pierce this time around? That’s a story for the next post.

---

🌊 Capt. Josh, Admiral Sam, and our salty crew

Don’t cancel plans. Make more.