The adventures / Cruising history & journals
From the first passage home from Deltaville to our latest return from Florida. The seasons, passages and places we explored aboard Mavis, with Long Island as our home base.
The long view
We brought Mavis home from Deltaville, Virginia, in the spring of 2018. That first passage became the beginning of a cruising life: summers in our Long Island home waters, five southern migrations, winters in Florida, and three Bahamas trips—two to the Abacos and one to Bimini.
We mixed the sheltered waters of the Intracoastal Waterway with offshore passages, choosing our route around weather, tides and the needs of each cruise. Stuart became a familiar winter base for Mavis; our home remained on Long Island.
Explore our historical breadcrumbsSpring & summer 2018
Deltaville, Virginia → Solomons, Maryland → Long Island
After a winter of preparation in Deltaville, we cast off on April 21 with our friend Robert aboard. The first day took us 61 nautical miles north to Solomons, Maryland. Mavis was on her way to her new home on Long Island.
Our first summer was spent getting to know her on the Great South Bay: sailing, visiting Fire Island, and preparing for the much longer voyage south.
September 2018 – April 2019
Long Island → Cape May → Chesapeake & ICW → Stuart → Green Turtle Cay → Long Island
We left Oakdale on September 29, 2018, and sailed through Fire Island Inlet for Cape May. The journey continued through the Chesapeake and the Dismal Swamp route, with a stop in Oriental for Mavis’s Beta Marine repower before continuing through the Carolinas and Georgia to Florida.
Stuart’s Sunset Bay became our winter base. In February 2019 we crossed to the Bahamas and spent time at Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos. The return brought us through Great Sale Cay and back to Florida, then north by a mixture of offshore passages and inside waters. We returned to our home on Long Island in April, completing a seven-month cruise.
Autumn 2019 – spring 2020
Long Island → Florida → Coconut Grove, Miami → Bimini → Florida → Long Island
Our second southern season took Mavis down the coast again and across the Gulf Stream to Bimini. After a stay at Dinner Key in Coconut Grove, we made the overnight crossing and settled in at Brown’s Marina.
Bimini gave us another way to experience the Bahamas: a different island, clear water, and the familiar routines of an extended cruise. By May 2020, the maintenance record places Mavis back in Florida and then in Norfolk on the way north; she was back in our Long Island waters that summer.
Winter 2020–21 & summer 2021
East Patchogue → West Sayville & Long Island waters
Mavis spent the winter ashore in East Patchogue and was launched again on April 7, 2021. The spring and summer brought us back to our Long Island routines before the next run south.
September 2021 – spring 2022
West Sayville → Belhaven → Charleston → Brunswick → Stuart → Chesapeake & Cape May → Long Island
We left West Sayville on September 24, 2021, and reached Belhaven three days later, leaving Mavis at Dowry Creek while hurricane season wound down. The next leg brought us through Oriental, Charleston, Brunswick, Fernandina Beach, St. Augustine and Vero Beach to Stuart on November 3.
That southbound voyage covered 1,129 nautical miles and included longer offshore runs around Cape Fear and the Frying Pan Shoals. In spring 2022 we returned north through Southport and Belhaven, then up the Chesapeake, through the C&D Canal and on to Cape May. During that return, the journal marked our 10,000-mile milestone together. Mavis was back in West Sayville by early May.
Winter 2022–23 & summer 2023
East Patchogue → West Sayville
After the Florida return, Mavis wintered ashore in East Patchogue. She was launched on April 13, 2023, and sailed back to her slip in West Sayville. Another summer in home waters led into preparations for the next southern season.
October 5, 2023 – April 17, 2024
West Sayville → Chesapeake & Carolinas → Stuart → West Palm Beach → Green Turtle Cay → Fort Pierce → Long Island
Our fourth southern migration began in West Sayville on October 5, 2023. We traveled through Solomons and Norfolk, then Belhaven, Beaufort, Hampstead and the South Carolina coast. Stops at Jekyll Island, Fernandina Beach, St. Augustine, Mosquito Lagoon and Vero Beach led to Stuart on October 31.
In February 2024 we returned to the Bahamas. After a stop at West Palm Beach on February 1, Mavis reached Green Turtle Cay on February 3. We spent another month in the Abacos before crossing back to Fort Pierce on March 3.
The homeward voyage continued through Vero Beach and St. Augustine, then Charleston, Georgetown, North Myrtle Beach and Southport. From North Carolina we continued to Norfolk, Chesapeake City, Bear and Cape May, arriving home in West Sayville on April 17, 2024.
Winter 2024–25 & summer 2025
Bear, Delaware → Long Island
Mavis arrived in Bear, Delaware, on October 22, 2024, and was hauled the next day for a winter of service and preparation. She was launched there on April 18, 2025, and was back in West Sayville for the summer before our next voyage south.
October 4, 2025 – April 10, 2026
West Sayville → Norfolk → Belhaven & the Carolinas → Stuart → Georgia & the Carolinas → Norfolk → Bear → Cape May → West Sayville
We left West Sayville on October 4, 2025, for our fifth southern migration. After Norfolk and Belhaven, the route took us through Oriental, Mile Hammock Bay, Carolina Beach and the South Carolina waterways. We reached Stuart on October 26, after stops at St. Augustine, Titusville and Vero Beach.
Stuart was our base for the winter. On March 5, 2026, we began the last trip home from Florida: north through Vero Beach, Titusville, Daytona, St. Augustine and Fernandina Beach, then along the Georgia and South Carolina coast.
The return continued through Southport, Mile Hammock Bay, Oriental, Dowry Creek and Coinjock to Norfolk on March 30. We reached Bear on April 4 and Cape May on April 8. On April 10, 2026, Mavis was home in West Sayville again—the final homecoming in this chapter of our cruising history.
A general chronology drawn from the captain’s journals and maintenance history. The original stories and recorded voyage tracks preserve more of the detail.
The cruising archive
45 complete journal articles, with their original photographs and publication dates. The stories remain part of Mavis’s home on the web.
Follow our historical breadcrumbs45 stories · original publication dates
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The invitation
A conversation is a good place to begin. Ask about the boat, talk through a system, or arrange to see Mavis in person.
Speak with the captain captain@sailingmavis.com