It was April of 2010 when we moved from our small apartment in Stamford, Connecticut to Drift Away, our 46 foot Cheoy Lee Trawler. By we, I mean Pam and I, Charlie the three legged Snowshoe Siamese cat, Smudge the old lady cat, and Ruby the young pit bull mix puppy. Yes, we considered naming our boat “the Ark”.
Tag Archives | featured
The Journey Begins
Wish them luck: Queen Kathleen begins her Great Loop Journey. After years of planning and preparation we’re casting off the lines in the morning. Mike has been working on getting the dinghy situated most of the day and now feels like it’s as good as it’s going to get.
Manatees
Those cute cuddly teddy bears of our southern waterways. All us boater types enjoy gawking at them as they unassertively paddle around the marinas and estuaries down here in Florida. But, few know that they can be quite humorous as shown in the youtube below.
Raccoon Cay, Sharks, Ducks, and Goodbyes
Part of cruising is saying goodbye to friends we make along the way. The cruising community –especially the adventurous souls who hazard this far south—create a tight-knit group. As soon as a new boat enters the anchorage and the dinghy hits the water, you’re sure to be welcomed by one of the boats around.
Marsh Harbour, Bahamas
We left West End and headed to Spanish Cay, a small, undeveloped island with beautiful beaches. We stayed at Spanish Cay Marina and rented golf carts to explore the island looking for treasures. We hung out, and played ping pong and shuffleboard.
Go ahead, laugh!
Yep, it’s snow. All over everything. So, for you Loopers and Cruisers down in Florida, the Bahamas, the Windward Islands, and other warm climes, these photos are for you. Go ahead, laugh.
Longboat Key
The anchor held and we stayed put all night. We tugged further north on the ICW toward Tampa Bay. The weather was sunny, winds were light 6 knots out of the Northwest. The Florida waterways are very well marked. We saw a loggerhead turtle, a Loon, and our first Manatee since we left CT.
Heading North
We were already beginning to meet other cruisers who were heading north to complete their own Great Loop Cruises, which made us realize that it was time to begin ours as well. So, we left lovely Boca Chita Key and pointed the bow of the Docker’s Inn north.
Black Point Settlement Again
All of the Selenes left Black Point (except Escapade) to find a different shelter from the expected big blow for the next few days. We raised and secured the dinghy so that we could move quickly if necessary. Susan and Jerry (Ho Hum) stopped by to discuss the best cuts to use to get to George Town…
Testing Iron Lady In An Onshore Gale
News awaited that the long spell of pleasant New Zealand weather had finally broken down and strong gale to storm force winds with heavy rain were forecast, exactly what we had asked Circa Marine to arrange. As you can see from the lead photo, these new seas, onshore in angle and so reflected back, were steep and confused. A perfect day for testing.
