Ile de Rey

It Feels Like the South…

Aboard their Tanna 47 that was delivered in 2020, Catherine and Stéphane Rey have already sailed more than 20,000 miles. That’s the equivalent of a trip around the globe... The crew takes us on a tour of their stopovers along the southern East Coast of the US.

Ile de Rey

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Published 01/08/2025

By Emmanuel van Deth

Issue: 203

Published: oct. / nov. 2025

Discover this issue

Who: Catherine & Stéphane
Where: East Coast of the USA
Multihull: Tanna 47
Facebook: Catamaran Ile de Rey

With our B2 visas in hand, we are sailing up the east coast of the US after three fabulous months in the paradise islands of the Bahamas. Saint Augustine, Savannah, Charleston, Beaufort—names that evoke Victorian or colonial architecture; everything was green, peaceful, and calm. Scarlett and Gone with the Wind were not far away, under the sun and warmth of this spring... Anchorages were easy and there are few long-distance sailors. We could easily settle here for a while to savor the languid tranquility of the Southern States. The locals treat us with kindness and goodwill, but they can’t help but stare in amazement at our audacity - yes, aboard our catamaran, we have come from very far away, in fact from across the ocean!
One state follows another: after Florida, it’s Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and after safely rounding the dreaded Cape Hatteras, here comes Virginia. In Norfolk, our humble catamaran sailed alongside aircraft carriers and warships. The US warships respectfully called us on channel 16: “Are we passing starboard to starboard or port to port?” It’s pretty impressive...
Then it’s Delaware and New Jersey that watch us sail by: we are still the only pleasure craft on the water. The landscapes have changed, concrete buildings have sprung up, modernity has taken over. Our stops are now only technical, to give the crew a rest before reaching the Big Apple, the highlight of our summer journey on American soil. Temperatures range from 17 degrees (63°F) to over 32 degrees (90°F); gray clouds and sunshine play hide-and-seek in the persistent humidity—it takes more than 20 hours for the laundry to dry...
And then, one beautiful June morning, we set off from Sandy Hook Point towards our chosen destination. After a few hours of sailing, we glimpsed the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and the world’s most iconic skyscrapers in the distance through the mist...

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