Slightly delayed… After spending the night at Grand Harbor and waking with a slight headache after the previous night’s beverages, it was time for my dad and I to say farewell to my mom and start heading down the river, with an emphasis on the down part. After my time on the river, I’ve decided…
Category: cruising
New Scenery
Kentucky Lake is the Tennessee River dammed just south of Interstate 24. It is one of the odd rivers that flow from South to North in the U.S.A. What this means is it is up hill or against the current until you reach Pickwick lake, located on the Tennessee/Mississippi line. Although there’s not much current,…
Caribbean Sailing, Good Friends and Great Wine
What do you do when you complete your captain’s license? You travel to the Caribbean, of course. After passing my masters upgrade and endorsements, I wasted no time and the next day hopped on a plane bound for Martinique to sail with friends John and Tadji. From my experience, the only easy way to fly…
Stranded South of the Border…Kind of.
Those that are familiar with the sailing and cruising lifestyle are well aware of the uncertainty that awaits . You never make plans. You try to make an educated guesstimate of where you’ll end up and when, but, ultimately, you embark expecting to go with the flow. My “plan” this past winter was to fly…
Miles, Storms, and Stories
While planning our moves in Sarasota, Em and I decided we should take the boat up the river system to Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley for the remainder of hurricane season. During that time, I’ll pick up some work to replenish the cruising kitty and we can make future plans. After 2 months of amazing adventures with…
Chart a Course to the Conch Republic
I awoke at 0600, prepped the boat, and was on my way to the Ft.Myers mooring field. I was planning on provisioning there with fuel, water and food. I was also taking on crew. Ray has been at Boulder as long as I can remember. He has helped us with many projects over the years…
Lemon Bay to Pelican Bay
I spent a wonderful night at anchor in Lemon Bay before picking up the hook and heading toward Charlotte Harbor. As I was raising the anchor, dolphins began circling the chain as the windlass pulled it in. The ICW through this stretch was much more interesting than the previous day’s journey. There were dolphins,…
Heading south
After departing Snead Island Boatworks last Tuesday, I first made my way to Marina Jack in Sarasota. Marina Jack holds a special place in my heart. As a kid, I spent a few summers in the Sarasota region with my grandparents, and more than a few of those summer days were spent looking at all…
We Made It!
And the boat still Floats! The past 3 weeks have been an absolute blur. I had two weeks to finish as many projects on the boat as possible before the boat was scheduled to be picked up. Some of the required projects included wiring the solar and new alternator charging systems, mosquito nets for the…
I’ve had choices
“I’ve had choices Since the day that I was born There were voices That told me right from wrong If I had listened No I wouldn’t be here today Living and dying With the choices I made.”-George Jones All my life I’ve had choices to make. A handful of those being more memorable than others….