May 12, 2021 We have sold BeachQuest

The End.  Its no longer our boat.

It took several months.  Many boat tours by interested people over the course of the last 4 months, but Art and Virginia really liked the boat and bought it!

 We brought it back to Hammock Beach Marina from Huckins boat yard in Jacksonville, our last cruise. We exchanged ownership, they toting stuff on board as we, in turn took our stuff off. Smooth operation! And of course after getting everything just right, the boat ran better than it has ever run. Smooth as silk. So we sold it! So now on to the next adventure ... where the heck are we going to live? ... (In a townhouse in Vero Beach as it turns out)!

 Some stats beginning in March 2013 and ending May 2021

 

    Total miles traveled was approximately 30,000 miles. 

    Fuel used: 12,331 gallons (average cost per gallon of $2.96)

        Anchored (Days)......... 442   15% 

        Free Dock (Days) ........ 75      3% 

        Marina (Days) ......... 1,518   52% 

        Mooring Ball (Days) .. 127     4% 

        Boat Yard (Days) ....... 206     7% 

        Travel to WI (Days) ... 571   19% 

         

        Non-Stop (overnights) . 6

January 2020-July 2020

I've lapsed into blogger lethargy. I have lots of notes and pictures but seem to fall prey to procrastination which leads to a rather boring, static blog. Apologies to anyone still looking back at here.

 In short, we were in Marathon until May, made it up the coast during the Covid lull and at the moment are a few days away from Hampton where we'll sit for a few months. We need to be in WI early September. We'll be back at the boat by October and off we go south. In the meantime we have put the boat up for sale, survived not a few storms and were unable to get back to the Bahamas. Long Island called but we weren't listening thus condemning us to a long trek up the ICW only as far Hampton.

These last few weeks in July have been hellishly hot. So hot in fact, we've gone soft and are doing marinas every night so the AC can run all night instead of the 4 or so hours every evening.  So in a nutshell, we are selling the boat and once that is accomplished we will be living on land. Somewhere. But I'll post small snippets about that adventure as it unfolds.

I did add a rudimentary web page of many of our ICW stops over the years and the mileages.     Well, ok.  It wasn't exactly an effort to endear me to thousands of cruisers plying the ICW, but more for my benefit because I never remember how far it is between these common stopping points.  So if anyone else finds it useful, I can claim at least partial community service.  See  this link here

November 2018 - December 2019

Leaving Huckins we headed to Hammock Beach Resort and Marina.   Later in January we headed south to Marathon and after a few months headed back up to Huckins for boat repairs.

Mary scheduled her new knee surgery and after we were situated in Salt Ponds in Hampton,VA.  Uncle Dan passed away a few weeks after we arrived, meaning a trip to WI.  And then later after we had returned to Salt Ponds, we again drove up to WI for Mary's new knee.

After a month, I left Mary in the care of our eldest daughter and returned to Salt Ponds where My cousin Kathy joined me and we took the boat down to Brunswick.  Kathy had to fly back to WI so I took the boat to Huckins, solo.

Meanwhile Mary's other brother, Gordy passed away.  Mary's knee rehab is going slow but we still plan to be back on the boat in early December, and repeating our usual Hammock Beach, Marathon winter trek. 

As for early spring the specter of the Bahamas looms large.  We'll see.

Trying out a minimalist blogging style on our more detailed blog 

August - October 2018 New England and back South

We spent a great few months exploring Long Island and Cape Cod Bay.  Boston, Providence Town, Sag Harbor, Montauk were a few of the many stops we made.  Great trip!

On the way back down we made a stop at Great Kill and met up with Wayward.  We spent several days there waiting for a weather window and finally took advantage of a marginal one.  The alternative would have been to stay at Great Kills for at least another 4-5 days.

We tossed around a bit on the less than light seas (forecast models all disagree and are rarely accurate) but we made it to Atlantic City, then Cape May and up the Delaware River and the C&D Canal to Chesapeake City were the seas and weather seemed to moderate.

We anchored along the Chesapeake (Wayward managed to snag a log  anchoring up the Sassafras River) and made stops and Annapolis, Solomons, St. Michaels,  Olversons, and down to Salt Ponds for a day or so before heading down to Norfolk and on into North and South Carolina.

We made it into Georgia and finally here in Brunswick where we are staying for few days before heading to Huckins boat yard where we leave the boat for a month.  Per our usual arrival here, we almost beat a rainstorm while docking.  Almost ...

We have a group of great friends here!  But the downside is all the boat maintenance I've deferred while playing over the few months.  They have now come to the fore, thus I will me digging in the engine room for at least a few days this week.

For details, one can berate me for not updating our our detailed travel blog.   Probably wont do much good but I'm devoting at least a day while we are here in Brunswick to putting something up more recent than last year.

July-August 2018 Up to New York and New England

We did the now routine trek up to Norfolk, and through the Chesapeake.  We stayed for over a week in Baltimore having never stopped there before.  Fun Place.

The usual stop in Chesapeake City was a surprise becasue they have dredged the entrance!

We went through New York (13.5 mph through Hells Gate!)  and loitered around Long Island for several weeks stopping at Port Jeff, Port Washington, Cutty Hunk, Vineyard Haven among other places.  We did take the ferry to Nantucket for a day.  Wow!  What crowds!

Then it was up through the CC canal to Boston where we were joined by my daughter and their 2 boys for a week of Boston history.  Fun, even in the rain.

We left Boston and stayed in Gloucester for a few days and saw friends then headed to Provincetown in Cape Cod where we are now.  Weather permitting we hope to get over to Long Island again and maybe Hyannis.  Then Montauk for Labor Day before joining up with Dave and Joann for the trek south.

Lazy ass that am., the details, while recorded, have yet to be posted.    But our travels and current location can be found here.   The map is clickable.

April - June 2018

We made it up to Norfolk, then Hampton, VA, leaving the boat at Salt Ponds Marina before driving to WI to see family and doctors.  We even made an excursion to Minnesota to see our daughter.

Back at the boat after a month up north, we spent a week doing boat maintenance and entertaining our son and his son for a few days.  We left Salt Ponds on June 21, bound for New York by way of stops along the Chesapeake Bay.

Our first anchorage was Little Bay just past the Rappahannock River.  Its a little different than when we stopped here in 2013.  But the dog enjoyed the beach.

Rain storms tonight!

February-March 2018

We loitered and played in Marathon until mid March and then made our way up the Bay side through Miami.    I was able to enjoy a few games of Pickle Ball, a first for me.

A stop in Tarpon basin anchorage for the night allowed us to see Dave and Darlene.

Moving north we anchored at Oleta Park with the next few days looking promising for an outside run.   And we took advantage of it, Miami to Lake Worth then again outside to to St. Lucie Inlet.

No blue stripe on the side any longer.  Hard to see, but it really is shiny

We pulled into Fort Pierce the following day after anchoring near Jensen Beach to avoid the strong southerly winds.

A few days after we arrived in Harbortown Marina, we went over to Cracker Boy boat works and were hauled out.  Manuel and his gang started sanding the next day and we had a newly painted topsides a few days after.  So shiny and new looking.  The downside is we will have to wax the rest of the boat so it appears to be somewhat uniformly shiny.

Next its on to Norfolk where we'll leave the boat for several weeks as doctors probe us and scold us.  And we see grand kids.

Once back on the boat we're off towards New York and Long Island Sound.

January 2018

Greg and Dona joined us for a few days at Hammock Beach.  And then Dave and Kathy came aboard.  We left a few days after they arrived for the trek down the ICW.

Before we left eagle eye Dave spotted the air leak in our big dinghy.  Two small slits.  We patched it successfully but the temps were only about 60 and plunging into the low forties the next few nights so we left the patches to sit hoping they'd setup ok.

Dave and I played the Ocean course here.  Scary expensive but a fun time.  My golf scores continue to grow as does my age.

We anchord our way down south towards Ft. Pierce except for a mooring ball in Titusville.

Stayed in Ft. Pierce a few days to see some friends and then anchored in Stuart before stumbling on a vacant mooring ball at Sunset which we grabbed for a few days.

We anchored in Palm Beach where Dave and Kathy departed and then, left making our way down the ICW anchoring in Lake Santa Barbara, Oleta Park, Boca Chita, Tarpon Basin where we met up with Dave and Darlene.  Then on to Matecumbe Bight (Robies Marina was quite a dog pit stop!)  before arriving in Marathon and the Marathon Marina.

Like coming home again.  And Marathon sure made a herculean effort to clean up after the hurricane.  It was  pretty much Marathon as we knew it except for the City Marina dinghy dock.

Several couples we met here are primed to take off for the Bahamas.  Gives one pause for thought.  Sure would be great to go back there again, especially in this weather.

As for details, well I still haven't updated the blog of unwritten, but not forgotten details.

Yet.

Perhaps after I complete our taxes?!

September - December 2017

Happy New Year to the dwindling number of people that actually read this any more.

Rhonda.  She's the one who convinced me to visit the hospital

We finally left Clayton, NY  for Oswego when a weather window popped up.  Clayton is also where I contracted something called cellulitis in my left leg.  Forever thanks to Rhonda at the city dock for helping us through that little experience.

After making it down the Erie Canal we had to hole up at Half Moon Marina on the Hudson for a few weeks waiting to see where the hurricanes were heading.   But we took advantage of that lull to visit New York City with Pat and Chip.  What a great time!

We also went to West Point and FDR's home.

After they passed we got down to Huckins boat yard on the Ortega River in Jacksonville.  While the boat was hauled we drove up to Wisconsin to see kids, grandkids, friends and of course doctors which are in Green Bay.  And once again we weren't able to linger in Green Bay and visit with Tim and Jill, our next neighbors when we lived in Suamico.

Back in Florida we moved the boat down to Hammock Beach Resort where we arranged for the kids and grandkids to have a condo for a week.  They got the cushy condo and we had three of the four boys with us on the boat every night.  7AM is really, really early in the morning.  Really early!

All the foibles, fun and experiences can be found here.  However I'm months behind on updating it.  But one of these days when we aren't so busy living on a boat as retired people. :-)

January - September 2017. Up the coast, New York, the Erie Canal and Canada

We lingered in Marathon until April and then ended up having to abandon Hawks Chaannel for the inside route where its alarmingly shallow in many spots.  We took several months to make our way up up the coast through the Bay and finally into New York and the Erie Canal, one of Mary's "favorite" places.

We ended up staying at Winter Harbor to have a fuel pump rebuilt and some seals replaced before running up to Oswego, and the finally across the Lake to Clayton.  We spent some time anchored there and then anchored in Alexandria Bay for a few nights before going to Canada and Gananoque where some of our kids and grand kids met us.  It was there we discovered a coolant leak so we only did a little day trip to Bolt Castle and back with the kids.

After they left we anchored off of Lindsay Island for several days.  Friends came out and rafted to us so we had a nice little party and some wonderful weather.

We headed back to French Creek Marina in Clayton to address the coolant leak which turned out to be a dead injector.  It was replaced and the coolant leak disappeared much to my surprise.

After that was complete we went over to Mary Street Public dock or as we refer to it, Rhonda's Place.  Rhonda is the wonderful dock master there.    Other friends joined us for a few nights before we headed to Alexandria Bay, but not before I enjoyed two hospital visits for cellulitis.   The hospital is in Alexandria Bay and Rhonda arranged for someone to drive us there and back a few times.

Anchored by the thousand Island club, our friends rafted up to us while we were at the hospital.  Turns out I had to stay for a few days while they transfused me with antibiotics to stem the infection.

After I was set free we still had to hang around for a follow up visit and then another follow up the day after labor day.  Luckily Jake, the dock master at Wellesley Yacht Club fond a spot for us during the days I was in the hospital and until the day after Labor Day.  Thankfully it was a short dinghy ride from the boat to the hospital.

We left after the last followup and went right to Rhonda's dock again.

Details can be found here, but probably not for several months given the propensity for lack of blog updates by yours truly.  But I'm gearing up for it, honestly!

December - January 2016 Wisconsin and Points South

We made it to Huckins Boat yard and then drove to Wisconsin for a month before returning to a cleaned and fix boat.  We made our way south stopping in Ft. Pierce for a few days before arriving here at Loggerhead in Stuart where we doing boat projects before heading across Okeechobee to the Ft. Meyers and ultimately Marathon in the Keys.

Details of course can always be found here.

November - December 2016

We rode out hurricane Mathew in Brunswick, GA and then made our way to Huckins Boat yard on the Ortega river in Jacksonville.   We left the boat in Huckins Capable hands and drove up to Wisconsin to see children, grandchildren and doctors up in Green Bay.  Details, including at least one picture of our dog, can be found here at where is BeachQuest

September 2016 Charleston to Brunswick

We bounced around in the Charleston Harbor Marina as Hermine swept over us and some days later left and made our way to Brunswick Landing Marina.

Hot day.  Dog gets the fan while I get hot.

I may have forgotten to mention, the year long struggle over acquiring a dog has come to an end.  It snores, hogs the bed, and eats yummy food while I dine on old bread and left over spam.  

Well, OK, its not quite that bad.  But the gist of it is, we now travel with a dog.

Details, as usual  can be found here.

August 2016 Charleston

We returned from the Bahamas and made our way up to Norfolk leaving the boat at Salt Pond Marina.  After traveling to Wisconsin for Doctor visit, grandchildren spoiling and a wedding we returned to Norfolk with Jack our oldest Grandson.

From there we made our way down to Charleston where we met Jacks parents and his brother Jonah.  They all left a few days ago leaving us here, sweltering in the 90+ degree heat.   We decided to just stay here in Charleston until mid September before moving south to Brunswick.

Details can all be found here but full disclosure, I've just started getting the Bahamas entries posted.  I'm more than a little behind, but with all this time we have now I'm devoting more of it to getting up to date.

April 2016 in the Bahamas

We crossed over to Bimini the first week of April. Checked into the country while tied up at Bluewater resort and marina whee we stayed last year.  JR, always the best dockmaster.

We left the next afternoon for Great Harbor (a bad decision).  This time we are heading up to the Abacos.  But you'll have to go to Where is BeachQuest for details.  Since I'm so far behind updating anything, it may be a while before I get the details out there.

February-March in the Keys

Yes we are in the Keys, specifically Marathon waiting to leave for the Dry Tortugas and the Bahamas.  Mail delays and work delays due to unmotivated party-going boat owners are delaying us.  But we have our eye on the ball now and should be leaving here next week, April 3.  I hope!

February 9, 2016 Sunset Lake Miami Beach,FL

30 degree's in Florida?  Hard to imagine but we are freezing here but moving south in a wishful attempt to find warmer weather.  We've made it to Mimi Beach so far and shivering in the mid 60's or lower over the course of the next few days.

I haven't update our more detailed blog since December but I'm getting to it!  But there at least you can see where we've been.

After Brunswick to Cumberland Island, Jacksonville and St. Johns

We finally escaped Brunswick and spent several days at Cumberland Island before moving on to Jacksonville and then here on the St. Johns.

I never get tired of writing it I guess, but here is more of the story

But i need to post one particular nice picture (I'm complimenting my less than stellar phone and its sad camera)


At Jacksonville Landing for a non-weekend night.

We aren't the sailboat

Up to Brunswick, Wisconsin and back to Bruswwick

Our grandson joined us in Titusville for the trip up to Brunswick.  How fun is that!  We arrived in Brunswick and left for Wisconsin a few days later.  Spent almost 2 months in Wisconsin before returning here to Brunswick.

After multiple boat projects we are planning on leaving here at the end of September and spending October up around Savannah before making our way south again.

But for the real story, go HERE

Back in the States

We took advantage of a short weather window and ran from Black Point Settlement to Nassau in one day, and then Nassau to Bimini the next.  The third day we ran to Lake Worth. The ocean passages across the Northwest Passage between Nassau and the Bahama Banks, and the Gulf stream later the next day, were benign.  Well, actually they were enjoyable with the gentle rolling ocean swells.  And warm sunny days.  We were lucky.

We headed up to Stuart for a few days then Titusville where we were joined by our grandson, Jack for  the trip up to Brunswick.  But all that and more is detailed in our Where is BeachQuest blog.