Sweet Sensation crossed her wake on on 19 February at Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands after a trip of 9,037nm. Our extended Great Loop – one of the iconic sailing experiences on offer in the US, had taken us through the Intracoastal Waterway, rivers and the Great Lakes in our Prout 38 catamaran. Being British and in a sailing boat, we were something of a rarity on the Loop.
Our circuit began at Fort Lauderdale on Florida’s east coast, having made our way north through the eastern Caribbean. The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), a system of man made channels, natural rivers and sounds, runs from Florida to New York harbor, separated from the ocean by a narrow strip of land. At first we made slow progress, waiting for numerous bridges to open on schedule – 17 of them on day one, and that was before we had even left Fort Lauderdale! Read more.