December 30, 2014 MM 100.5 Free dock near LaBelle, FL

Where the hell is LaBelle you may be asking yourself.  Well, if you must know, its a small town in central Florida right on the Okeechobee waterway.  We're on our way to Ft. Meyers and other delectable destinations on the west coast of Florida and decided to take the Okeechobee Waterway  since its the fastest route to Ft. Meyers from Stuart where we've been for the last few days.

For the nitty gritty of how we're doing you can go here

November 26, 2014 Norfolk to Jacksonville and heading south

Currently we're in Jacksonville at Huckins Marina for some fuel pump repairs.  Since leaving Norfolk we've stayed in this bubble of cold air for the last few weeks.  Engines complain bitterly when cajoled into starting on these 30 degree mornings.

We couldn't go outside on the ocean due to weather so we ended up taking the ICW all the way to Florida.  But his time we ran all the trouble spots at high tide and didn't touch bottom once!  

All the ugly details can, as usual, be found here.

October 21, 2014 and ready to head south

We are at Tidewater marina in Norfolk and planning on leaving here for warmth!  Who'd have thought we'd be complaining about the chill of 60 degrees having lived in Wisconsin for 60+ years!

We've been here for a week and the parade of southbound boats has been a steady stream.  And we are hoping to join the parade in a few days!

Details as usual can be found here

August - September on the Chesapeake (updated 9/16/2014)

9/16/2014
After some horrific internet problems and lost pages and pictures I finally tossed up an update to Where is BeachQuest this evening.

After experiencing the shock watching our dinghy dangle 10 feet off the water when the hoist broke to traipsing around Washington DC with kids and grand kids, we're regaining our equilibrium here in the Solomons while we wrestle with the dinghy hoist repair.  We'll be here for a week or so before heading north to Annapolis and Baltimore.  After that we start going south again before the chill winds of late fall begin to blow.

As usual, details can always be found at Where is BeachQuest which is where I try to record all the gory details of our misadventures.  Although slightly behind,  I am still plugging away with updates, albeit slowly.
Maybe its a fractional amount of author laziness, but the lions share of the blame sits squarely upon the sagging shoulders of the internet and the plethora of  poor internet connections out here.  Even data connections with our phones tend to be sluggish.  Oh the trials of cruising!

July 29, 2014 Wisconsin

 We're in Wisconsin for visits and doctor parties.  Or is that Doctor visits and parties?

Anyway we left the boat in the Chesapeake near Washington DC at The Boathouse Marina in Colonial Beach.  Oddly enough we haven't met up many loopers as we went up the east coast.  I guess we're lagging well behind most of the group.

Its been a far more leisurely journey up the coast this time.  But for details you can go to our Where is BeachQuest blog.

Actually I wonder, is there anyone actually reading this?

June 5, 2014 Little River, SC

Finally received the burgee in Isle of Hope, GA

Having completed the loop we are of course flying the gold burgee.









We are currently in Little River, SC making our way north again towards the Chesapeake where we plan to spend the bulk of the summer.  The loop was a fabulous adventure.  I cant quite talk Mary into doing it again though.

I'm still, albeit tardily at times, updating our more detailed blog, Where is BeachQuest.   We are going to be spending the winter months (after November 1) in the Keys and then hopefully head over to the Bahamas until June when we head north again.

Crossed Our Wake - March 25, 2014 Stuart, FL

Resting comfortably after 6700 miles

Today, at about 1:30pm on March 25 2014  we completed the loop!  My ballpark estimate is 6,713 miles over the course of 379 days.  We did take about 30 days to travel off the boat so our actual cruising time was a little less than a year.

When we left our inexperienced showed.  Today we just calmly backed into a slip in a tight fareway without much stress or fanfare.  Guess 6,000+ miles and a year can impart some experience!

Here is an interactive map of all the places we visited along the way.  Click on any of the little markers and it should bring up a brief description.   Apologies in advance for my occasional terseness.  

We hung around the marina and talked with some old friends we haven't seen in a year.  And then headed back to the boat, showered and went to this little Italian place in the strip mall across the street from the marina.  Yum!  The best veggie pizza and wine!  Then satiated and tired, back to the boat for some sleep.

Quite an adventure.  And near impossible to describe in a few words.  But if you want details head over to our Where is Beachquest blog  where I try and chronicle most of the details.

You know, I think I'm just a month or so late putting the finishing touches on this segment of our life aboard.  Heck I haven't even ordered the coveted gold Burgee yet.

February 26, 2014 Marathon, Fl

Well, we did make it across the Gulf in one piece and journeyed all the way to Marathon Florida where we'll be until mid-March before heading back north.

For minutia, pictures go here to our Where is BeachQuest blog.

January 22, 2014 Panama City Marina

Yes, we are alive.  Still.  And in the still floating boat too.  We've been ensconced at Baytown marina in Destin Florida for the last few months and have finally moved on towards Carrabelle where we'll be heading across the Gulf to Dunedin in (I hope) a few days.  But weather windows open and close without warning so who knows.

Meanwhile I try and record all the minutia at our more active blog, where is beachquest