After months of anticipation, the three of us finally departed Maui on Tuesday and headed off for St. Croix!

Unfortunately, the excitement was quickly put on hold, as our plane from Maui was re-routed to Honolulu due to a medical emergency on board. The change led us to spend an unexpected 24 hours in Los Angeles before finally making it to the U.S. Virgin Islands on Thursday afternoon. 

Bobby and Gabriel picked us up, and we headed from the airport directly to Gold Coast to not only get our first look at the boat, but also meet Jeff, who’s the main boss man over at Gold Coast Yacht. We can tell you the news boat is absolutely beautiful and the finishing touches are coming along!

The next few days consisted of projects to get Trilogy VII ready for go time. We worked on cleaning out the barrels that will ultimately hold our diesel and water supplies, and became the “splice girls,” making sure all of our safety equipment was properly attached to the boat. We attached the mainsail, and Jason got to work building our bunks that will be our home for the nearly 6,000 miles between St. Croix and Maui.

Before we knew it, after lots of prep, it was time to take Trilogy VII out on her first sail to help us identify any needed adjustments before we cast off for Panama. Some of the staff from Gold Coast joined us for her maiden voyage under sail power, and we headed up toward Christianstead before bee-lining back to Salt River, maxing the engines out at 22 knots!

The crew is in good spirits as we approach our departure date early next week, and we did our first provisioning run today and are definitely stocked up for the trip ahead.

We’ve been enjoying some delicious food here on the island, and even sneaking in a little bit of time at the pool and local surf break. Jason, meanwhile, in his adventures on land, is slowly but surely getting more comfortable at driving on the left side of the road.

 “Remember,” said Jeff, “if you reach your hand out and touch the grass, you’re doing something right.”

Stay tuned for more updates and tales from the seas—we’re almost ready to set sail!

-Captain Jenna and Captain Sydney