Underway to Somewhere
OMG!
I can hardly contain my excitement and enthusiasm about this adventure. I am beyond happy and Jim is too. Sometimes, while we are underway, I look at Jim and say, “we are loopers!”. He says, “we sure are”. “How cool is that!”
Being “loopers” is what this whole quit your job, sell your stuff, live on a boat, has been all about. And here we are -
Doing it.
As of today we have traveled 325 miles on the Happy Destiny. Interestingly enough, if we got in a car, and drove back to where we started from, it would take us about 4 hours. We have been on the water, underway, a total of 38 hours.
Traveling by water, on a boat, is not just hopping behind the wheel and taking off. There are a series of things that Jim and I must do every single time we are about to leave for a day of cruising. First, we have a float plan. This means we have researched the weather for the day, the destination for the day, and the route we will take to get to our destination. Jim will check the engine room and make sure we have enough oil and fluids. We secure the boat inside. Our shower doors must be locked so they don’t fly open. The trash can has to be secured. ( we learned that one on our first day). When you cruise, and you pass another boat, you will hit their wakes. Shit will fly! I have every Knick Knack and picture frame attached with museum wax so it stays put. Some boaters are very rude. They don’t even slow down, and we do get tossed. The law states that you are responsible for your wake. If we see a boat coming, a small fishing boat, a canoe, or even when we are cruising past peoples homes, we slow way down our wake is huge. We could really hurt someone or cause damage to property with our wake. Obviously, we don’t want to do that. This is how big our wake is under power.
As you can see, we could cause damage. Can you imagine being on a fishing boat, minding your own business, enjoying your day, and then - get hit by that! Picture it, and know - Jim and I will be courteous boaters even when we don’t get the same respect.
After the engine room is cleared, we then have to pull and store our electrical cord, fill our water tank, and prepare for departure. We are leaving from a marina where we have been tied up to pilings, which have kept us secure over night. Our lines are 35 feet long on the port and starboard sides and our stern lines are 50 feet long. All of these must be taken off, and then we can go! While Jim drives away, I secure all the lines and stow them away until we need them again.
FACT: The bodies of water we are traveling on are SHALLOW!
If you don’t believe me, ask this guy.
We are still in the state of Florida. We have been on a number of different inter-connected rivers, canals, and lakes. Jim and I have to be diligent in our navigation. One wrong move and you will hit the bottom, and it will not be pretty. We have hit bottom before. It’s scary! These bodies of water have channel markers which are placed in the deepest, dredged, points in what is called a “channel”. Channel markers are red and green colored signs that stick up out of the water. They are meant to keep you moving in the correct direction and in the channel. Jim and I must always be looking for these markers. We can also see them on our chartplotter which is a GPS device that we use to show us where we are and where we are going.
If you leave the channel and it’s markers, even a little bit, the water can be as shallow as 1 foot. The Happy Destiny has to have a minimum of 3.5 feet of water under her or we will hit the bottom. You’d be surprised that in these huge bodies of water, the maximum depth under our boat, in a channel is approximately 6-10 feet.
So, to sum up this first 6 days of cruising, I can tell you that it is everything and more than we dreamed it would be. We are getting used to our routines and working together as a team to make sure we are being safe, smart boaters. We are learning her sounds, and how she operates. I am becoming much more confidant in my role as the first mate. I have to face some fears, and become the badass chick who is confident and believes I can handle getting us safely tied to a dock. I have to admit, yesterday, when we pulled into the marina, it was wicked windy. The dock mistress and I, wrangled the lines like wonder women, while Jim maneuvered the boat right into its place. I was proud of us!
Today is Saturday. There is a tropical storm brewing in Florida. We have been ahead of this storm since we left. It is supposed to catch up with us tonight and tomorrow it is supposed to pour. We are safe in a slip at the Titusville Marina and we will stay put here again tomorrow if need be. We are just North of Cape Canaveral. I took a few pictures as we passed, but they didn’t turn out to well. But, it was pretty cool to see it there in our distance.
Here are a few pictures of our shenanigans the last few days.
I’m tracking our adventure on a GPS tracker. It shows all the waypoints each day. Here is a shot of exactly how far we have traveled. If you’d like to follow along I’ll leave the link. It’s kind of fun and I will do this every single day of our Great Loop Adventure.
Track my Tour
We’ve managed to find a meeting in each city we’ve been to. Sometimes, when I’m sitting in the bow of the boat, wind in my face, the spray from the water cooling me, I have been talking to my God. It is hard not to give thanks and let him know how grateful I am for every single minute of this amazing gift I’ve been given. It’s like, “WOW, just WOW...
Thanks for peeking in on our blogsite. We hope you are enjoying coming along for a bit of the ride. Please be safe this Memorial Day weekend and enjoy some time with your family and friends.
❤️
