Preparing for the second leg of our cruise!

As we left Crustacean in storage in Brewerton, New York, both Bill and I inventoried what was left on the boat. This was the basis for resupplying the boat for the second part of our Great Loop cruise. Thus began our planning for the next leg of our trip!

Next we tackled the where we wanted to go. Over the next four months, we reviewed charts and cruising guides and other Great Loop cruising blogs to help determine the places we definitely wanted to stop and explore. At the same time we looked for anchorages, marinas and places to refuel and reprovision.

I then recorded a summary of possible stops all along the way. We cruise about 25-40 miles a day, so we can explore at each stop. Half the fun of cruising is exploring in the dinghy and walking the small towns and hiking the trails in the parks and wilderness.

In the past month, we have stepped up purchasing the spare parts - filters, oil, replacement parts for the engine and plumbing and electrical systems. We also had to consider supplies we needed - food, cleaning supplies, laundry needs, medications and first aid supplies, as well as clothing and personal hygiene items. I wracked my brain to try to think 6 months ahead!!!

While in storage, the boat had a few repairs which were needed - replacing a seacock and checking the propellers and shafts for alignment. Bill tackled revarnishing the upper steering wheel and flag staff.

We try to do most of the routine maintenance ourselves, but some things you just need professionals to do.

As we are now about two days from leaving, we are beginning to close up the house so we can leave it prepared for a hurricane, alerting neighbors of our plans, and renting a car to drive up to New York.

Today we tackled packing the rental car. After much discussion we pieced the puzzle together and it all amazingly fit!!

We are both excited to be this close to beginning our adventure!!

June 4-5. Day 63-64. On to Cape May New Jersey. 53.4nm. Total 1534 miles.

Left Delaware City at 5:35am to be able to take advantage of the strong currents going with us while traversing Delaware River and Delaware Bay. The Delaware River goes south about 15 miles and flows into the Delaware Bay. As we travel south, New Jersey is to the east and Delaware is to our west. We are traveling just outside the shipping channel and are really moving at 10.9 knots. That is three knots faster than we normally travel, as the outgoing tides are pushing us along. Nice to have Mother Nature helps us save on fuel. The Delaware River is about 8 miles wide so there is plenty of room for the freighters and the pleasure boats. So far, we have not encountered any commercial traffic, but there is a large freighter behind us that will eventually pass us as they travel at 14 knots. The Delaware Bay proper varies from 23-29 miles wide and 26 miles long. There are five lighthouses on the Delaware marking the shipping channel. We went by Ship J...

Reflections on the Bahamas

Reflections on the Bahamas Over the past 10 weeks, we have traveled through Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma Islands and enjoyed the hospitality of the Bahamian people. We have learned all about the islands, its unique geography - limestone, caves, blue holes and chalk cliffs; and colorful history-pirates and rum running, salt ponds and cotton plantations, boat building and wrecking/salvage. Traveling over 1300 miles through narrow cuts and wide bays to vast depths of ocean, we negotiated the islands and found safe harbors, calm coves for anchoring, bays filled with moorings and marinas large and small. This trip required us to pay close attention to the weather, the tides and currents as we traveled between and through the islands. The Bahamian people are warm and friendly, willing to give us rides, advice and directions, as well as some secret recipes!! We enjoyed hiking trails, walking the beaches, snorkeling the coral rocks and reefs, discovering ruins and ol...

Day 64-65. May 25-26. On to Peck Lake, Jupiter, FL and then on to Indiantown/ Okeechobee Waterway. Miles 63.5/ 29.1 Total Miles 1122.1/1142.0

Day 64 We started early to get ahead of the holiday boat traffic. Weighing anchor at Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale, we traveled on the Intracoastal Waterway past the iconic Pier 66 Tower and Bahia Mar Marina. We then turned north and passed the older sections of the city - Las Olas( older homes), Galt Ocean Mile (one mile of condominiums on the beach), and the famous miles of beaches on the Atlantic. I used to live here in the early 70's and the biggest change I see is the older smaller homes on the water are being replaced with larger versions and a few more condo towers have been built. As we go further north towards Commercial Blvd, North Fort Lauderdale, and Pompano Beach and its Lighthouse at the cut, there is less reconstruction. The next town we traveled through was Boca Raton with its Spanish architecture, Camino Real and its landmark tower. The sand bar at the cut was just beginning to fill up with Memorial Day revelers as we went by. Next were t...

Crustacean Travels

Search This Blog