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By Chuck Baier

Today’s blog post will be more of a personal nature rather than another boat related post. I hope you’ll bear with me as I get my thoughts down to let everyone know what’s going on, and for my own therapeutic value. The big story is …

By Chuck Baier

Today’s blog post will be more of a personal nature rather than another boat related post. I hope you’ll bear with me as I get my thoughts down to let everyone know what’s going on, and for my own therapeutic value. The big story is near the end if you want to skip right to it. I will bring you up to date first on where we are and how Beach House and crew finally arrived after a long and difficult struggle to make our current destination. If you have been following our recent posts, you know that we had been in Carrabelle for a couple of months trying to cross the Florida Big Bend to get over to the west coast of Florida. Beach House finally made the crossing, albeit short one of her regular crewmembers.

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Can we go now? That’s the question every American Skipper has been asking since the President announced talks on normalization with Cuba on December 17th, and the internet is abuzz. Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions and misinformation …

Can we go now? That’s the question every American Skipper has been asking since the President announced talks on normalization with Cuba on December 17th, and the internet is abuzz. Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions and misinformation out there. That announcement stated that talks were to begin on the normalization process, and although the idea of formal talks between the two countries in itself is historic, we still have a long way to go before we top off our fuel tanks in Key West and point the bow south. So the short answer to the main question is, YES AND NO. The original announcement was only for formal talks and nothing more. In the following weeks, there were more announcements and some changes, and suddenly everyone was getting more excited and the rumors began flying throughout the boating community. There is a but. You have always been able to take your boat to Cuba, IF you apply for and are granted a license by the Treasury Department. This is still the case.

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The mechanic at Dockside Marina in Carrabelle did an excellent job getting Beach House back in operation. After our 4-hour tow back to the marina from the Gulf of Mexico, and a quick phone call to the mechanic, Eric arrived early the next morning. We…

The mechanic at Dockside Marina in Carrabelle did an excellent job getting Beach House back in operation. After our 4-hour tow back to the marina from the Gulf of Mexico, and a quick phone call to the mechanic, Eric arrived early the next morning. We were concerned with letting the engine sit, even overnight, with water in the cylinders and oil pan. There wasn’t much that could be done about it on such short notice and just getting someone on board by the next day was better than we expected. Not knowing how serious the problem was made for a fitful sleep that evening. Whenever something like this happens, you always expect the absolute worse and have expectations of major expense and delay. When you live on your boat full time and don’t have a place to go ashore when these things happen, it makes the anxiety even stronger.
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We have been delayed so long that our friends that were way behind us finally caught up. Our next weather window looked so perfect it was scary. The two previous attempts to cross the Gulf of Mexico from Carrabelle to the Steinhatchee River had met w…

We have been delayed so long that our friends that were way behind us finally caught up. Our next weather window looked so perfect it was scary. The two previous attempts to cross the Gulf of Mexico from Carrabelle to the Steinhatchee River had met wit…

To all of our friends, followers, customers and fellow boaters. We wish you all a happy holiday season. May you have a very Merry Christmas and a happy, prosperous New Year. Enjoy this time with family and friends as we will, and let’s look forward …

Keep in mind that we are not attorneys nor do we have any expertise in the laws regarding these actions. Every Skipper must make their own decsions when they find themselves in a boarding situation. The following are only our thoughts and opinions. B…