Cruising the ICW

Just couldn't wait to get on the road again! (credits to Willie Nelson).  Well after 17 months, we are back on Rumaway and off for another number of months of adventure. We arrived in Norfolk VA to see her out of the water for hull paint and various prep work at the Atlantic Yacht Basin storage yard in Chesapeake VA.  After launching 2 days later, the work for us started. The boat had been winterized last December to prepare for the short cold spells that can develop here, and that also means that all of the systems needed to be recommissioned.  The first priority was AC as it was close to 90 when we arrived. Second priority was water systems and refrigeration. We moved aboard the day after the AC was commissioned and started the cleaning.  Although in covered storage the exterior of the boat was very dirty of course and required nearly two days of cleaning. The bigger concern was the interior, as it is such a humid climate here in the summer, and after two summers s...

After 15 days of hard running, long days, we reached Atlantic Yacht Basin (AYB) in Chesapeake Virginia, just south of Norfolk, where the boat will be stored under cover for the next 8 months.  This is the same place we left the boat last year for the majority of storm season. From the last post, we were in Stuart, Florida, and expecting to take 3 weeks to get the boat to AYB.  Having Tristan along has really helped as we have been able to put in long days.  Generally up before dawn and away with first good light, and docked around 6.  As we worked our way north, and being past Spring equinox, the days progressively got longer and we lengthened the days so that we were regularly putting in 10 to 12 hour days.  That enabled us to log close to 80 nautical miles days pretty regularly.  Total mileage for the trip from Sarasota was 1,071 nautical miles (1,983 km) for an average daily run of 75 miles. That may not sound like an outstanding average speed, but con...

A lot has transpired since the last post.  The world has changed for everyone very quickly, and life has been turned upside down for us as well.  I will pick up from when things were relatively normal, and get to the current state of affairs. From our stop in Sarasota we continued north to Anna Maria Island, which we have been to before and love, for a couple of nights to enjoy the beach, and the bike riding, and await son Sean and girlfriend Laura's arrival.  We had planned on going on to St Petersburg to meet them but it turned out the weekend of their arrival was the Grand Prix Indy Car race, so there was no hope of getting moorage in the area. While waiting for them, we decided to go back to Venice to have thermostats replaced on the starboard engine as it wasn't properly coming up to heat. Not an urgent job but something that should be done given the time available. That took a half day longer than planned, but it worked out okay as Tristan joined us there....

We departed Fort Myers area the day after Greg's sister Denise left, headed north again.  Our first stop was Pelican Bay, where we had spent a night when Denise was with us.  We continued to be plagued by every boaters nemesis, strong winds.  Fortunately the wind was out of the South for the trip, so following seas and not taking a lot of spray, as we had 20+ knots.  Pelican Bay is relatively protected, for this area, and the wind dropped to 10 knots overnight so we had a pleasant night. Getting out of the winds in Pine Island Sound was a priority so we headed north into the more protected waters of the Gulf IntraCoastal Waterway (GICW) towards Venice.  This was a relatively short run, of only a couple of hours, and we had dolphins with us much of the way.  We took a diversion on the way into Boca Grande so see what it offered, and came across a beautiful old yacht, We spent the next 3 nights at Venice Yacht Club, as the wind continued to blow.  ...

From our last report in Marco Island, we did spend one more night in the area, on the hook in Smokehouse Bay, in the heart of the Island.  This is a very protected spot about 15 minutes in from the main channel.  We dinghied to the marina to visit the bar for happy hour, and in the morning dinghied to the local grocery store, which provides a dinghy dock for boaters.  What a service!  We continued north for a very easy run of only 20 miles in protected inside passages to Naples.  Our friends in Naples provided a contact for us at the Naples Sailing and Yacht Club to enable us to stay for a couple of nights.  Beautiful club, and very well located.  The heart of old Naples was just a few minutes bike ride away.  We got a chance to give our new bikes a real workout with a ride to the beach area, and an area called Port Royal, which is littered with $50M homes on the beach.  Naples is one of the wealthiest areas of Florida (hard ...

Well we ended up spending 10 days in the Marco Island area.  No big issues.  Just enjoyed it.  Greg arrived on his own from the Keys, and anchored in Smokehouse Bay the first night, then moved the boat to Marco Island Marina to await Judy and Tristan's arrival.  Unfortunately, Tristan's flight was cancelled due to weather issues in Charlotte.  Judy overnighted in a comfy hotel in Miami on her own, while Tristan slept on the bench in the airport.  Tristan arrived in Miami Friday and they drove to Marco Island arriving mid-day. Saturday we drove to Everglades City, about 20 miles south, to partake in their seafood festival, and take an everglades air-boat tour. What a hoot that was, ripping thru the everglades at up to 50 mph.  One of the cool things about the tour operator we used is that they provided communication headsets.  Not only did it surpress the sound from the engine, but we could talk about things we saw.  One of the things w...

Our month in Key West went by much more quickly than anticipated. Certainly helped by the variety of things to do and see, and visits from family.  This song captures the vibe perfectly.    (Howard Livingston and Mile Marker 24 band) Judy's sister Wendy's visit unfortunately coincided with the poorest 3 days of weather we had in January.  Although generally dry, it was unseasonably cool and seasonably windy.  That didn't stop Judy and Wendy from getting out and seeing things though.  After all, Wendy was there to celebrate a significant milestone birthday.  Hemingway house, the butterfly museum, some shopping of course, and we even managed to get a dinghy trip out to Sunset Key during a calmer afternoon.  The highlight though was the evening at the local cabaret headlining a female impersonator act who features Bette Midler, Cher and a (third character).  He/she was fantastic and we all had great fun. Tristan's visit followed sh...