A Week Aboard S/V Sabado: 4/30/2023 – 5/7/2023

Good morning, we got married this week!! ❤️

It took eleven planes, three sailing catamarans, and two ferries, but twelve of our favorite people arrived in the British Virgin Islands by Monday afternoon. We had a welcome dinner at Bitter End Yacht Club, which was full of ear-to-ear smiles and gushing speeches.

We ate some phenomenal food (including a lobster pizza with truffle oil, lemon ricotta, and arugula that I am still dreaming about…) and concluded the night with cocktails, dancing, and a beautiful sunset. It was a celebration we will never forget!

The next day was my mom’s birthday, so I planned some activities at one of her favorite places: Saba Rock Resort. We started the morning at a yoga class with a perfect view of all three catamarans that were hosting our guests: Sabado, Southern Charm, and Delana Mae. 

We spent the afternoon at the spa, getting mani/pedis while we sipped champagne, followed by waterfront massages. It was a relaxing day full of pampering! Later that evening, our friend Emmanuel, who specializes in cutting hair in exotic locations, cut my mom’s hair on the resort’s helipad. 

He did a few really cool cuts for our guests this week. You can follow him on Instagram to see more @onecreativityanddesign!

While we were doing that, the rest of our crew explored Virgin Gorda. They drove around the island in open-air trucks, stopping at various lookout points, and visited The Baths National Park.

We all met back up that evening for my mom’s birthday dinner. The theme was “62 years old, but only 17 in Celsius!” 

My parents got together when she was 17, so they shared stories with everyone about their early dating days over some wonderful food and wine. ❤️

The morning of our wedding, we moved Sabado over to Leverick Bay. It was a short trip, but we took our time and put the sails up. ⛵️ Being able to sail our home to our wedding destination with all our loved ones was an experience we will cherish forever! 

All three boats picked up mooring balls next to each other; then, we boarded Southern Charm for brunch. Our friends Kevin and Elizabeth created the most spectacular spread for everyone, including custom cups for the occasion!

The food was excellent, and sharing the pre-wedding excitement with all our guests the morning of our ceremony was so fun! ☺️ Elizabeth and my mom set up one of the empty cabins with all of my wedding attire so I could get ready aboard Southern Charm after brunch. 

I did my hair and makeup, then, in true boat life fashion, dinghied to shore in shorts and a t-shirt while my sweet friend Jenna leaned over to block the salt spray for me.

We walked into the closest store and asked the woman working there if we could use their fitting room to put my dress on. Thankfully, she said yes!

We drove to Savannah Bay (it wasn’t intentional, but it’s worth noting that I first moved aboard Sabado with Ray in Savannah, Georgia, AND our photographer’s name for the wedding was also Savanah). We had a breathtakingly beautiful ceremony officiated by our dear friend, Shahin. There wasn’t a dry eye on the beach! 

We popped open some champagne and took in the moment. We are so fortunate to have people willing to take time away from their lives and travel thousands of miles- on relatively short notice- to be there for us. We felt like the luckiest people in the entire world.

We all piled into trucks and headed to CocoMaya for cocktails, beach games, and dinner. I can’t imagine a more perfect day! ❤️

The following morning we said our goodbyes to the guests that needed to leave, then sailed with those who remained to Trellis Bay. We spent the day relaxing, sharing photos from the wedding, and snorkeling a sunken sailboat nearby. 

I was surprised to see the entire sail still on the ocean floor! 

We opened a special bottle of Oregon wine to continue the celebration and grilled some steaks for dinner on the boat. 

The next day the seven of us attended the Full Moon Party at Trellis Bay Market, Bar & Grill. We ate our fill of jerk chicken and grilled Mahi Mahi, sang along with the live band, and watched various performers dancing on stilts with fire while the moon rose! It was quite the production for what had been a quiet little bay just hours before…

The next day another chunk of our guests departed, and we sailed the remaining two over to Norman Island. We had a beautiful trip, the winds were light, and the seas were calm, so we hauled out the gennaker! Using that sail is always a treat; our SOG was just over 5kn in 8kn of wind! 

Ray and I had a blast at the helm while our guests enjoyed the sail from our beanbag chairs on the bow. We arrived just in time to make dinner, watch a beautiful sunset, and grab a few drinks at the Willy T.

Looking back on this week, having such a small wedding allowed us to share so many special moments with our loved ones that we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to have. Being able to eat dinner all at one table, stay on boats owned/operated by our friends, and have after-parties every night in our cockpit created so many memorable moments… ❤️ Our entire week was full of love, with no stress! It was sweaty, casual, and slightly salty, just like us. We wouldn’t change a thing. 

Thank you to everyone who came and those who sent us loving messages from afar. We are planning to honeymoon on a beautiful boat in the Caribbean for the foreseeable future…