We have driven all over and around Norfolk since we arrived but we hadn’t explored the downtown area which has a lot to see and do. It is very compact and best explored by foot so we opted to take the ferry from Portsmouth to Downtown Norfolk. The ferry is an easy walk from our marina in Portsmouth and delivered us right to the Waterside area which is a great place to start exploring.
A cute ferry and only $4 round trip.
This great walking map is posted at the Waterside Park and the signage along the walk is great. We followed the waterfront trail to the left and headed towards the Naval Museum. We have toured several aircraft carriers and battleships so we opted to just explore around the area and not tour the ship.
The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is an official museum of the United States Navy and reports to the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, D.C. This free museum interprets the history of the U.S. Navy in and around Hampton Roads, Virginia from the Revolutionary War to the present day for service members and the general public. It is very well done and is well worth a visit.
There are several really pretty small parks along the walk as you head towards Freemason Street.
Freemason Street was perhaps the prettiest part of the walk and is part of the city’s oldest freestanding neighborhood, featuring tree-lined cobblestone streets filled with old, historical homes. It was a cool respite on a very hot day. Some of the wrought iron gates and iron fences were really beautiful. Freemason Street derived its name from the location of the original Norfolk Masonic Lodge (just east of the neighborhood).
From Freemason Street we opted to take Grandby Street back towards the waterfront. Grandby Street was named in 1769 to honor Englishman John Manners (1721 – 1770), Marquess of Granby. The original street ran three blocks from Bute Street south to Town Back Creek, a semi-navigable stretch of marshland running the length of today’s City Hall Avenue. I am happy to report we did not have to navigate thru swampy marshland to get back to the waterfront!!
Honestly, sometimes I wonder what I was thinking when we decided to spend the summer in this part of the country. Yep, it’s hot and humid most days which makes exploring by foot not as exciting but what the heck, we gotta get out and do it anyway!
We found a really cute coffee shop along our walk to cool off in. Wally had a good laugh with the barista… unbeknownst to him, he had a nice size spider riding on his shoulder. While he was ordering, apparently the barista was staring at it and Wally asked her if something was wrong. She nervously told him about the spider, which Wally quickly brushed off and dispatched. Aww, poor spider… Seems this barista has seen a few interesting pets come in with customers … like snakes, tarantulas… ugh, so she thought maybe it was Wally’s pet spider – HAHAHA!!!!! We had a cold brew iced coffee to jump start us to go back outside and walk some more!
The mermaid has been the signature symbol of the City of Norfolk since 2002. The idea of a “Mermaid Parade” came up in 1999, and was implemented with local bronze sculptor Kevin Gallup mass-producing 130 mermaid castings for local businesses, artists and homeowners to sponsor and decorate. To this day the mermaid is the symbol of the city, and is part of the official city logo, its website and social media sites, and it now has this much larger mermaid fountain in Town Point Park on the edge of Elizabeth River, next to the Nauticus maritime museum.
The result has mermaids all over the city, and enthusiastic support for the city adopting the mermaid as its symbol. At least 80 mermaids have been customized and placed around the city. It was fun to look for them as they are each uniquely different and quite the work of art.
Norfolk has no shortage of art … everything from beautiful museums to outdoor murals. We made a beeline to the Glass Light Hotel and Gallery. Inside the hotel is the Perry Glass Art Collection featuring beautiful glass pieces from local and internationally renowned artists. The featured art includes a rotating selection of pieces, which guests will find throughout the gallery as well as the hotel.
These six-foot glass bunnies, “Pops and Bunny”, crafted by renowned Dutch artist Peter Bremers are ready to greet you in the lobby and restaurant.
This private collection encompasses two floors of over 65 glass art pieces from world renowned artists. Some currently being featuring are Dale Chihuly, Stephen Rolfe Powell, Nancy Callan, Karen Lamonte, Peter Bremers, Katherine Gray and Lucy Lyon. The Gallery is free to hotel guests and the public to enjoy.
All that exploring had us hungry and I knew just the place that Wally would love – The Grilled Cheese Bistro!!! I had read about this restaurant and knew it got rave reviews.
What happens when you combine two pieces of bread, slice of cheese, and a frying pan? The answer — a winning business model. The Grilled Cheese Bistro is a cozy downtown restaurant that launched in 2015, and has quickly become a staple for both foodies and novices alike.
Even though the concept of a grilled cheese seems rather simple, the culinary combinations that the chefs make are truly remarkable. The menu includes names like; Sam I Am, Gooey, Hangover, Dreamin’ of Reuben, and Guiseppe (Melon, Prosciutto, Basil, with Local Wild Flower Honey, Balsamic, Mozzarella & Fontina), so I was all in to try it! Damn, it was good… sooooo many delicious calories in those huge sammie’s. They were so big that we ended up each taking half of our sammie’s home. Dinner was recreated with a fresh garden salad …. Does that help reduce the overall calories??
After that delicious gut bomb lunch we were definitely walking a bit slower… or maybe it was hotter?? We headed back towards the waterfront and made a last stop at Slover Library and Selden Market Shops. The Slover Library blends traditional library functions with the best of contemporary library resources and services. The beautiful, innovative space design creates a vital and dynamic center for the community and is also known as an attraction for visitors. It’s welcoming spaces make it a great place to spend sometime reading.
Selden Market is Norfolk’s first retail incubator. They supposedly offer a mix up-and-coming concepts in retail, food and more from local, small businesses. They market the shops as the perfect place to shop for unique gifts offering products from home decor, jewelry, wallets, skateboards, apparel and more! The Selden Market is a great concept but it was disappointing as there were hardly any shops open and many of the spaces had no vendors occupying them.
We had a great day exploring downtown Norfolk but now we were ready to take our buddha belly’s back to the boat and plop down or have a nap!
Sometimes the joy of traveling is not traveling – LOL!! Seriously, it’s exhausting to be on the move everyday so taking a break for a few days or a few weeks is great. Technically we are in Portsmouth VA but are just across the river from Norfolk and I couldn’t be happier with the location. It’s easy to get to Norfolk proper and also explore the area with our trusty SUV Ernie.
We really wanted to be in Norfolk for the 4th of July… it just seemed so fitting to celebrate our independence surround by navy ships and personnel. Our slip at the Tidewater Marina gave us a birds eye view of the firework show and it was quite spectacular.
I use an app called Bands in Town… it helps you find musical events in your area. You can set your location and choose your favorite band or musician. Based on your preference it will alert you when a musician you like is in the area and also give you alert for similar musicians. I just happened to go on the app to update our new location and up popped The Doobie Brothers 50th Anniversary Concert tour at the nearby Atlantic Bank Pavilion. Wally loves the Doobies so of course we had to buy tickets for July 3rd. Concert day rolled around and by late afternoon a massive electrical storm was brewing. Thunder, lightening and torrential rain started around 5:00 pm. I was sure the concert was a no go and poor Bentie was shaking. We had good communication from the venue via social media so after the first big storm stopped we walked 10 minutes to the pavilion. Right as we got there. – KAPOW – another storm starts rolling thru. Geez, I was sure again it was doomed but long story short after two delays we got into our seats and the concert started at 9:00 pm.
It was poring buckets … You couldn’t even see Downtown Norfolk a cross the river.
The Doobie Brothers band was really tight and the concert was a blast. Michael McDonald was on keyboard with his still great voice and the saxophone player was incredible. They even had a guest artist join them for the last few songs – Bruce Hornsby – who I LOVE!!! I also really liked the multimedia show that was playing behind the band. Seeing the old film clips of the much younger Doobies were really fun.
It’s been quite warm here so we have been doing our walks and exploring in the mornings. Or, we are finding indoor places to explore like the Chrysler Museum of Art and Glass Studio. This museum is really well done and I love that they have made art available to everyone by not charging admission. We also had a nice lunch at the museum cafe .. the food was really good and its a nice way to support the museum.
Of course, we have found all the necessities like grocery stores, West Marine, Lowe’s and Home Depot!!! There is even a Farmers Market every Saturday in Portsmouth and it’s a nice walk to get there. I’ve gone twice and done a side trip through the old town area to look at all the beautiful, historical homes.
My yummy lunch with spoils found at the local farmers market. Basil and heirloom tomatoes with a goat cheese and chive quiche.
There is an adorable family of ducks who have come visiting frequently. They seem to know when I will be sitting outside in the early evening and Mama duck quacks really loud to announce their arrival. Of course I scramble to find something to feed them … I am a sucker!!! They have been the happy recipients of stale bread, tortillas, corn and oats. Wonder if I can find some Purina duck chow somewhere??
Mama was trying to get the full attention of the brood… she seemed to be giving them a lecture on being grateful for unexpected gifts.
We have had some repairs and maintenance to get done on Escapade, so that is another great reason to tie up here for a few weeks. Our gal needs engine and generator oil/filter changes and we are replacing the house batteries as they are getting long in the tooth. Captain Handy aka Wally will be doing that as well as replacing the AC main water pump. He got the AC pump done earlier this week and after a couple of failed starts, he got the system working – YAY. All the AC’s are working again, they are much quieter, producing cooler air and not cycling on and off. YAY and more YAY – everyone is happier on board too. The portable monster unit we bought at Walmart in Elizabeth City saved our bacon and I was sure glad to have it.
It wa a little janky but it did the job. I put the vent tube out the porthole window and stuffed a towel around it to keep the warm air out.
The furbags are happy to have all the AC units working again too.
We have found plenty to keep us busy and entertained since we got here PLUS Wally drove to Florida in Ernie to bring Road House, our Entegra Coach here to Virginia. We really wanted it out of Florida during hurricane season. It was a whirlwind 5 day road trip for Wally but I stayed on the boat to look after the furbags. I found a great indoor storage facility about 50 miles from Norfolk. It’s a massive cinderblock building in the middle of nowhere. Definitely not worried about the weather with her inside that building.
Road House is all tucked away inside for the summer.
There is so much to see and do in this area so we will take advantage of having wheels. Williamsburg, Virginia Beach, Cape Charles and Hampton are a few of the places we want to check out so stay tuned for more land based adventures.
We had originally planned to head to Manteo NC for a few days in the boat with hopes of exploring the Outer Banks via car but Mother Nature had different ideas. There was a big blow coming and it was forecasted to last several days plus we had to cross the Albemarle Sound, preferably not on a big wind day. After looking at all the options, it made sense to scoot across the sound when the conditions were decent. We scrambled around and changed our car reservations and made alternative marina reservations.
We did NOT want to get stuck at the Alligator River Marina for days on end. It’s basically a gas station on a busy road with a marina behind it … in the middle of NOWHERE. No services to speak of, no easy way to get a car rental and the drone of cars going by the boat was constant. UGH, there would have been mutiny if we had to stay here for days…well, except there was no way to get anywhere – LOL!!! This marina is a necessary stop before crossing the Albemarle Sound or trying to head over to Manteo and is just fine for one night.
The view from the flybridge at dinner was very pretty but not enough to want to stay here for days!
As luck would have it, we crossed the Albemarle Sound the next day with 2-3 ft wind waves and long easy rollers, mostly pushing us from our stern. We got into Coinjock Marina with no drama and spent the next six days there. This marina is well run, has a nice restaurant and ships store, laundry, etc. Otherwise, there isn’t much going on there either, kinda in the middle of nowhere also! Most boaters just stop overnight here on the way to Norfolk. The good news is that Dave had rented a car at Enterprise in nearby Elizabeth City. They brought the car to us at the marina, but Dave had to take the driver back to Elizabeth City. The only downside was they weren’t open on the weekends to return the car and didn’t allow after hours return – weird. So, that meant we had to stay until Monday but we were happy to have the wheels to tour the Outer Banks and nearby areas.
Heading our to cross the Albemarle Sound.
Albemarle Sounds – not a bad day. Escapade did just fine.
Rustic Coinjock Marina
Unfortunately, our AC continued to vex us which necessitated a trip back to the Walmart in Elizabeth CIty to buy a portable AC unit. With the main salon AC being unreliable, the pilot house AC could not keep up with the solar load and high heat so it was uncomfortably warm inside. The portable monster unit was easy to get vented out our sliding door…Janky, yes but at least the boat was cool enough to feel good about leaving the pets all day. Fortunately the stateroom AC’s seem to be working okay, so at night we were nice and cool.
Our first day touring the Outer Banks took us to Kitty Hawk. We all agreed that the Wright Brothers Museum was well worth a visit and the ranger talks were also very well done. So much to see there…What was fascinating to me was why the Wright Brother chose this part of NC to conduct their glider flights. They wanted Wind, Sand and Isolation. Kitty Hawk has all three and in the day, it was very remote and isolated. So remote, it was sometimes hard for them to find a boat to take them over there. Isolation meant no prying eyes to steal their ideas and future patents. Why sand you may be wondering ?? So when they crashed it would be soft – and crash they did. Over and Over and Over again. But that did not stop the Wright Brothers, they persevered until they got the design right. OCD geniuses – perhaps!
Sadly, much of the Outer Banks is nothing like what the Wright Brothers experienced. Much of it is now now miles of soulless strip malls, mediocre restaurants, beach houses packed in like sardines and crowed beaches. From Nags Head all the way north to Duck was exactly like this and very disappointing from a scenery aspect. To add to the disappointment, we had the worst BBQ ever that day for lunch – waaaah! We did find a few pretty places and a not too crowed beach to explore, so I am only showing you those pictures.
Holy Cow can it rain in North Carolina… but once it was gone it was gone!
Our second day exploring the Outer Banks took us south of Nags Head to Manteo and we felt the area was redeemed! Our first stop was at the Pea Island Preserve…WOOHOO… this is what I was hoping to find in the Outer Banks. Pristine, unspoiled beaches, wildlife, birds and sand dunes galore.
From there we drove to Bodie Island Lighthouse and on to Manteo. I loved quaint Manteo, it’s waterfront walk, rustic marinas and scenic beauty. It would have been great to stay here on the boat as originally planned and I would highly recommend that Loopers put this down as a stop if Mother Nature allows!
We found a nice place for lunch in Manteo, strolled along the waterfront and were entertained by a group of young folks, bridge jumping into the cool water. The marinas here are just steps from town and the local Ford car dealerships rents cars.
Summer fun in Manteo!!!
We also explored inland from Coinjock – taking a drive to the Dismal Swamp State Park. A segment of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the Dismal Swamp Canal, which is fed by Lake Drummond, flows for 22 miles between Virginia and North Carolina. It cuts through the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
Before there was a canal, there was swampland. It was Colonel William Byrd II who envisioned something more during the late 1720s. But it would take years for the idea to blossom into action as construction on the man-made waterway wouldn’t begin until the 1790s.
The goal was to create a viable trade route between the Chesapeake Bay and North Carolina’s Albemarle Sound. It was the first canal that connected the two regions, then came the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal decades later. Now, the Dismal Swamp Canal is part of something bigger — the Intracoastal Waterway — a network of aquatic passageways along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coasts.
The Dismal Swamp Canal is the oldest operating waterway in the country. Both the canal and swamp played a huge role in African-American history. Between 1680 and the Civil War-era, the swamp served as a refuge not just for wildlife but for hundreds, if not thousands, of escaped slaves, who lived off the land freely.
Yep, that’s a narrow canal!
There are two viable routes for boaters to get to Norfolk from North Carolina. We had opted not to take the Dismal Swamp route as the canal depth is dicey for Escapade. The canal is supposedly dredged to 6 feet but is littered with stumps and deadheads just below the surface. We draft 4 foot 9 inches and didn’t want to risk damaging our props. This route is far from dismal, really it is quite beautiful but traveling at idle speed for 20 plus miles might have taken the bloom off the rose!
It was fun to hike around the area, we saw several snakes and a few birds. It was a hot afternoon and we were too late for any decent birding. We also chatted with a few boaters who were spending the night on the free dock at the Dismal Swamp Visitors Center.
On the way back to Coinjock, we stopped at Morris Farm Market – craft beer, live music and fresh produce – that is a trifecta of goodness in my book! This place was recommended by the bartender at Coinjock so he redeemed himself for the awful BBQ place he also recommended!
Morris Farms is very doggie friendly!
Maybe a little less child friendly – LOL. But there were loads of well behaved kids having a good time too.
Elizabeth City, which is up the Albemarle Sound had been on the cruise plan but was also crossed off thanks to the big blow. So why not explore it via car?
A quaint water front town, marketed as the “Harbor of Hospitality”, Elizabeth City has had a long history of shipping due to its location at a narrowed bend of the Pasquotank River. Whew, say that three times fast!!! Founded in 1794, Elizabeth City prospered early on from the Dismal Swamp Canal as a mercantile city. Later it developed industry and other commercial focus. While Elizabeth City still retains extensive waterfront property, it is linked to neighboring counties and cities by contemporary highways and bridges to support other transportation. It also hosts one of the largest United States Coast Guard bases in the nation.
We enjoyed a nice lunch at Hoppin John’s and a warm walk around town. Elizabeth City certainly is hospitable to boaters with three docks offering free moorage for two nights. We need a do over on the Albemarle Sound as there is so much more to see and do in this area.
Our stay was coming to an end, the car was returned Monday and we were hoping the AC repair team was coming. We had plans to have dinner at the Coinjock Marina Restaurant, celebrate Wallys birthday and then skeedaddle on Tuesday. Well, who’d a thunk that Mother Nature had other ideas?? AGAIN!!!
It had been windy off and on the past two days. Apparently, the wind had been blowing water up the C&D Canal, which was where we were headed. Word on the dock was that the water level was too high for two of the swing rail road bridges to open. There are really no other marina’s until after you get past these two bridges so boats were turning around and coming back to Coinjock. We figured all would be well in the morning – NOT.
Dinner was fun and we celebrated Wallys birthday with a huge tomahawk ribeye steak and a fine bottle of Leonetti wine we had stashed onboard. Later in the wee hours of the morning a massive storm came through bringing more wind, rain and a huge electrical storm. I woke up to see light flashing through the stateroom portholes and claps of booming thunder. I LOVE lightening storms at a distance but the furbags were not entertained, Bentley especially … poor buddy was shaking so I sat up with him for awhile.
We got up early on Tuesday, after not good sleep thinking maybe miraculously we could leave but not a creature was stirring, not a boat was on the move – AGAIN!!! The water was now higher than the day before. It had crept under the docks and was flooding the lawn in front of the marina. Not feeling optimistic, Wally made a call to the bridge tender. After at least thirty rings, a human picked up and informed us that “ donna know when da bridge gonna open-wadter too hi-havta wait til da wadter com down. Okay, despite not being able to leave… Wally repeating that back to all of us brought some much needed levity to the day.
Nope, no one’s going anywhere!!!
So Tuesday was a bit of a lost day, AC dudes were a no show and was told they would be out at 8:30 am on Wednesday. We played cards, read, did Wordle, walked the dock and chatted with other boaters. We enjoyed getting to know Rhonda and Bob on Hawks Landing. We swapped boat stories as our boats are both Carvers, same make but theirs is 45 feet and ours is 53 ft. It was fun touring Hawks Landing and meeting their cat Charlie. It was a bit like ground hogs day as we ate dinner at the restaurant again and asked for our favorite waitress Shelby.
New friends!! Hoping to see Rhonda and Bob in the Chesapeake Bay this summer.
Wednesday morning rolled in and AGAIN, not a creature was stirring, not a boat was on the move. The good news was that the wind had shifted over night, bringing water back down the canal. Word on the dock was maybe by noon “da wadter com down” and “da bridge gonna open”! Well, yippee skippy… the AC dudes also showed up, worked a bit of magic with a descaler and back flush on the salon AC unit. It was as working again but they agreed we also needed a new main water pump as we still couldn’t run more than two units at once without a high pressure failure. We debated having them just install a new pump but the boss/owner somewhere behind the curtain quoted us $2,000 plus installation for a pump we knew we could buy for under $800. So long story short, Captain Handy ordered a new pump and will be installing it in Norfolk.
Meantime, “da water com down” and boats were departing the dock like the great migration. It would be about 40 nautical miles to get to Norfolk but with with three bridges and a lock that only open on a set schedule, this was a tricky run. I had estimated that if we could leave around 1:30 and if the all the cards aligned, we could make the 4:00 pm lock opening before the last bridge scheduled changed for rush hour car traffic. No pressure!!!
I got some great pictures and video of Rhonda and Bob leaving which I texted to her.
Hey, where did everyone go????
So with a cool boat, we made smoke and got underway. It was actually a beautiful cruise, the last of any North Carolina low country and into Virginia we went. As fate would have it, leaving Coinjock late put the pack of boats that were on the dock a long way ahead of us. We had the waterways us all to ourselves. Being in the great migration of boats must have been really stressful. The C & D Canal is narrow and we were so glad we weren’t cueing up, waiting for the bridges to open with a pack of 25 plus boats.
Goodbye North Carolina – Hello Virginia.
That was tight quarters… yikes!
Cruising into Norfolk was surreal after being on the ICW for so long as the landscape is filled with huge commercial dry docks, barges and naval ships. Other than almost being taken out by a tug boat pushing a huge barge, we cruised into Norfolk with no other recreational or commercial boats. That was about 30 seconds of sheer terror when we almost came bow to bow with that big barge. It was a blind corner just as we started under a bridge. Since we were going very slow anyway, Captain Wally put the boat in reverse and did a quick 180 degree turn to starboard. I am here to tell you that tug horn was really loud.
We had a wonderful 2 weeks with our friends Dave and Tanya, another adventure to add to the books! It was a bittersweet goodbye but we’ll see them again in November when we are back on the west coast. It was extra special to have them onboard to celebrate Wally’s birthday!!!!
The other cool thing waiting for us in Norfolk was our SUV Ernie. Our Charleston friend Drake drove him up the day we arrived and thanks to some plane schedule confusion, Drake was waiting for us on the dock at the Tidewater Marina. We were happy to offering him our couch for the night and dinner in the marina restaurant.
All tied up at the Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth VA – what a great view of the Norfolk skyline from our boat.
Escapade has traveled just over 862 nautical miles on the loop so far. It’s crazy to think that there is still over 5,000 miles to go! We are taking a break here in Norfolk for 2-3 weeks and then we will head out explore the Chesapeake Bay. Stay tuned for more updates as we explore the Norfolk area.
What’s the difference between Beaufort NC & Beaufort SC?
The difference is about 375 miles or 6 hours. There’s a Beaufort in North Carolina and South Carolina. The big difference between them is in the way you pronounce Beaufort (This is not a trivial issue). Bless your heart, you will be corrected if you mispronounce either Beaufort!!!
Beaufort, North Carolina is pronounced “BOW-firt,” as in a bow and arrow. If you’re going to Beaufort, South Carolina, you must say, “BEW-furd. Ironically, both are named for an Englishman, Henry Somerset, the Second Duke of Beaufort, who never came to either North Carolina or South Carolina.
Originally we thought we’d have to skip BOW-firt but luck shown down upon us and thanks to a recommendation from some other loopers that we met in Beaufort SC, we got a last minute cancellation at the Beaufort Yacht Basin for 2 nights. How’s that for more irony??
Why was this such a stoke of kismet/luck you may wonder? The Big Rock Fishing Tournament has all but taken over Morehead City and Beaufort and transient boat slips are rented out a year in advance. This tournament is a big damn deal in NC. Almost anyone along the coast line understands how big a damn deal it is. Sport fishing is a huge passion in this part of the world and Blue Marlin are the prize catch. Entry fees for this tournament are anywhere from $2.5K to $40K and the prize purses for the biggest fish are huge. Cape Hatteras is legendary for these beautiful fish. This tournament is mainly catch and release but there is a prize for the biggest marlin boated over 500 pounds -$833,000 to be exact. Of course it has to meet the NC size regulations in order to keep it but wowie…. That’s some cash. I was please to read that Big Rock has a foundation and supports many local charities as well.
Most if the big boys are over at Morehead City where the tournament headquarter aka Big Rock Landing and the weigh in station are.
Here are a few interesting factoids about the NC marlin fishery.
WHEN: Blue marlin can and have been caught off Cape Hatteras every month of the year, the very peak months being July and August, with May, June and September a close second. HOW: Sport fishermen catch blue marlin by trolling artificial and natural baits. Boats pull up to eight lines at speeds ranging from 4 to 8 knots. Two of the lines are pulled close to the boat on the surface and are called flatlines. The others are attached to outriggers.
SIZE: The fish off Hatteras can be anywhere from 50 lb. babies to 1000 lb. giants, the average fish weighing between 200 and 500 lbs. LIMIT: The blue marlin fishery has strict regulations in NC. The fish must be 99 inches or greater in length and only one fish can be kept per BOAT per day.
Honestly, this is a big $$ sport… the payouts are never going to cover the expenses of these 50 to 80 foot mega boats. These big sport fishing boats are expensive and they can burn 50 gallons of diesel fuel an hour. Most of the boats competing in the tournament leave the dock at 6 or 7 am and return around around 5 or 6 pm. So with todays diesel fuel prices being around $4.00 per gallon, a boat running 12 hours @50 GPH = $2,400 a day. The tournament runs 6 days so the average fuel bill is $14,400 – SHEESH!!!!!
So, can you tell I got a little caught up in the excitement?? I’ve been listening to the Big Rock live radio during the day and following the leaderboards online. Saturday the 17th was the last day of the tournament and it wasn’t quite over when I finished writing this post.
So what else did we do in Beaufort??? Well, we walked all over and took the marina golf cart the Piggly Wiggly grocery store. Worst grocery store I’ve been to yet on the loop… old, smelly and sad so aptly named I guess?? I found a few decent veggies to tide us over but eww, don’t like smelly stores.
We had a really nice linner (because it ain’t lunch and it ain’t dinner) our first day in Beaufort, sitting outside at the Black Sheep overlooking teh waterfront. Best wood fired pizza we had on the loop! We also visited the Beaufort Grocery Store for lunch the next day… really good chow and they sold me a loaf of fresh baked sourdough bread cause the bread at the Pig was a no go!
We also visited the North Carolina Maritime Museum, the Watercraft Center and the Beaufort Historical site and the Old Burying Grounds. We had hoped to take a ferry to Shackleford Island but it was so windy on Monday that we nixed that idea.
There was plenty to keep us out of trouble for two days and we were glad it worked out to stop here. Beaufort is a cute little town with loads of charm, well, except the Piggly Wiggly!
Escapade underway on the ICW… photo taken by a member of the Escapade on the Loop Facebook Group.
Wilmington was a very nice side trip off the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway on the Cape Fear River. Both days we transited the river the water was like a pond so the fear level for us was pretty low. The name Cape Fear comes from the 1585 expedition of Sir Richard Grenville. Sailing to Roanoke Island, his ship became embayed behind the cape. Some of the crew were afraid they would wreck, giving rise to the name Cape Fear. It is the fifth-oldest surviving English place name in the U.S. Cape Fear was also the landing place of British General Sir Henry Clinton during the American Revolutionary War on May 3, 1775.
One more bit of trivia for all you pub dwelling trivia players. The 1962 film Cape Fear and its 1991 remake were set at Cape Fear (although neither movie actually was filmed there).
Wilmington is a port city so there are massive container ships on the river. We had to sit and wait for a container ship to exit the loading docks and go to the turn around basin. The water sheriff controlled river traffic while a single tugboat moved this massive ship around. It was actually really interesting to watch the entire maneuver.
Most of the time we avoid getting this close to these big ships and give them wide berth. Especially when they are under full power out in the shipping channels as the bow and stern wakes are enormous. They can’t slow down or stop for us recreational boaters so it’s really dangerous. In this case, the sheriff was monitoring how close was acceptable and we stayed well out of the way.
Our approach to Wilmington on the Cape Fear River.
The population of Wilmington is over 117,000 so this was a big city for us on the loop. We tied up at Port City Marina and enjoyed two days of shore leave in town. We took a guided horse trolley tour, visited the Battleship USS North Carolina, strolled the beautiful river walk and enjoyed the Friday nite summer party at the Port City Docks. Of course, there is no shortage of great restaurants and shops to peruse in Wilmington. We had a fun lunch at the Beer Barrio… 30 draft beers on tap and a great taco menu.
Being a University town, Wilmington has a nice vibe and a younger demographic as well. The north end of the waterfront is all new construction with mostly mixed use condominiums. This area is no stranger to hurricanes and the Port CIty Marina where we tied up was fully rebuilt after Hurricane Florence whipped arse on North Carolina.
We really enjoyed the self guided tour of the USS North Carolina. This massive battleship participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific theater of operations, earning 15 battle stars and is the most highly decorated American battleship of World War II. I really appreciated the crew stories that were on each one of the informational signs around the ship. These stories really bring home the actual day to day life onboard, some were sad, some made me laugh out loud.
As we explored the ship, I was thinking it wasn’t really that much different than our boat. Escapade has an engine room, electrical control panels, a galley, berths, heads, generator, anchors, windlass, pilot house with a captains chair… ok, so we don’t have any ginormous guns on deck or torpedos – LOL. We only hold 800 gallons of fuel and the battle ship could store 221,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Egads, I thought our fuel bill was huge!
It was also fascinating how huge this thing is and that most of the enlisted men were assigned a certain area of the ship and stayed in that area. They had divisions and most of the men socialized within their division, slept in the same area, ate at the same time, etc. I think I would have wanted to work in the supply room or the medical area which were of course the plum jobs. No thanks on the laundry room!!!
Oolala… the guys in the laundry area were allowed to work in their skivies because it was so hot.
I also loved how dog friendly Wilmington is. There were dog relief areas and bag stations all over and dog parks too. This is probably the tiniest dog park I have seen!
Our two days in Wilmington flew by and off we go again… see you at our next stop up the ICW!!
Charming, quaint, friendly, scenic and slightly rustic – all are very good descriptors for Southport NC. I really loved everything about this small town. Could it be tainted by being welcomed to town almost immediately after we docked at the marina both via social media and in person by the local Great Loop Harbor Host??? What’s more charming than having a local Great Looper show up at your boat with a warm welcome and an invite to come sit on the porch and visit.
Not many places can boast having a dock just for yoga!!
Yep, definitely tainted by that! These two are legendary in the America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association (AGLCA), not only for the local warm welcomes in Southport but also for all the ways they volunteer to support the AGLCA. These two life long boaters have put over 32,000 miles on their boat cruising and are a wealth of knowledge about the Atlantic Intercoastal Water Way between Norfolk Virginia and Florida. We met them two years ago at a Looper Rendezvous in Fort Meyers Florida where I attended their session on cruising this part if the ICW. I’ve appreciated and referred to his detailed handout about this route with all the stops and anchorage suggestions.
You are treated like family when you arrive in Southport… not only do they host “Porchtails” every evening at their home overlooking the water but if you need anything they are there to help you. Need a boat mechanic, parts, restaurant recommendation, a ride to the grocery store, doctor or dentist – they got ya covered. These are two of the finest people and so passionate about the Great Loop. We spent two very enjoyable evenings on the porch with them, other loopers and neighbors – it felt like we were leaving old friends when we said our goodbyes.
I love the Purple Martin nesting gourds and box that Kay and Robert have in their yard.
Besides the warm welcome, the Morning star Marina in Southport was a great place to tie up the boat. Not only is it a full service, beautiful marina, it is also just blocks from the downtown historical area and waterfront. We walked at least 4 miles everyday exploring Southport. The marina also has a loaner car which we took full advantage of twice. The car is available to guests of the marina for 2 hours a day or longer if there isn’t anyone else signed up for it. We did a grocery store run our first day there and also used the car to take a drive to nearby Oak Island where we walked on the beach and checked out the lighthouse.
Southport is a small town – population is just over 4,000 which just adds to its quaint charm. It isn’t a fancy water front village but it isn’t gritty either. It truly is unique and has its own sweet vibe. Nice restaurant choices… some right on the water and some just blocks away in town. Loads of cute shops and some amazing local artists whose work can be seen at several co-ops around town. The free maritime museum is worth a visit as is the local market that is held on Wednesdays. There is also a REALLY good seafood market – Potter’s, which is right on the waterfront. This 5th generation family business has their own docks and thus a killer selection of fresh fish. Believe it or not, I did NOT get shrimp. WHAT… I bought some grouper cheeks at the suggestion of the fish monger and made blackened fish tacos for dinner.
We found plenty to keep us busy during our three day stay in Southport. Oak Island was a 20 minute drive and we enjoyed a nice long walk on the beach. Not sure that walk worked off the delicious BBQ lunch we had at the Southport Smokehouse… we might have needed to walk there and back!
Southport will definitely be added to our list of favorite loop stops from this trip. Next stop Wilmington NC.
After a day of rain storms, it was time to get out and explore some more. We spent the next two days exploring Sullivan’s Island, Mr. Pleasant and Fort Sumter.
We started the day off Friday with a nice lunch at the Maybank Public House then headed to Sullivan’s Island where we enjoyed a walk on the beach and checking out the ruins of Ft. Moultrie. South Carolina was the hot bed of the early civil war and we have really been enjoying relearning all our country’s early history.
On the way back we stopped by two great seafood places off Shem Creek in Mt. Pleasant. These places are quintessential low country seafood docks. The boats actually come into both these places daily which fresh shrimp and seafood.
My kinda place… they were processing shrimp when I walked in.
There were a number of fresh fish options here… we bought 2 beautiful swordfish steaks. Check out the egret to the dudes left and yes, he definitely got a bite of the scraps as did the pelicans. Who said birds are dumb…Why fish when they just toss you scraps???
Our friends Drake and Wanda have been spoiling us … Saturday, we started the morning at their place on the screened in porch, sipping mimosa’s and then brunching on Eggs Benedict. After a relaxing brunch, off to see more of Charleston we went.
First stop was the Angel Oak on James Island. This lowcountry treasure is a Southern Live Oak Tree which is thought to be the largest Live Oak Tree east of the Mississippi estimating to be 300 to 400 years old. This ginormous tree is 65 feet high with a circumference of over 25 feet, shading an area of 17,000 square feet. The oak derives its name from the estate of Justus Angel and his wife, Martha Waight Tucker Angel. Local folklore tells stories of ghosts of former enslaved people appearing as angels around the tree.
I didn’t see any angels … but the tree is certainly impressive and beautiful.
Next stop was a ferry ride across Charleston Bay to Fort Sumter where the first shots in the Civil War were fired. The National Park Service does an excellent job of getting people over to the fort and recreating the epic battles that were fought in Charleston Bay. The tour and museum at Fort Sumter are very well done.
The city of Charleston was strategic in both the revolutionary and civil wars. During the Revolutionary War, the 1780 siege of Charleston was a decisive success for the British during the War of the American Revolution as they shifted their strategy to focus on the southern theater. Capture of the city and its harbor gave them a vital base from which to conduct operations in their attempt to rally the support of American Loyalists and reconquer the southern states. Conversely, the loss of Charleston was a painful blow to the American cause, made even worse by the capture of over 2,500 Continentals and numerous vital weapons and supplies.
During the civil war, many Southern port cities had been closed off by the Union blockade, Charleston became an important center for blockade running. Repeated attempts by the Union Navy to take Charleston and/or batter its defenses into the ground proved fruitless, including the Stone Fleet.
We saw all kinds of boat traffic in busy Charleston Bay. While cotton and rice exporting are a thing of the past now, the South Charleston Port is a busy place and throughout the last three decades, automotive has become one of the largest commodity groups for the SCPA. Today, the SCPA contracts with three original equipment manufacturers: BMW, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Vans, who all call on the Columbus Street Terminal. BMW, however, is at the core of the state’s automotive sector and recently exported its 3 millionth car from the terminal.
We could see the cars being loaded, one at a time into the massive cargo ships.
We finished the day with “linner” (cause it ain’t quite lunch and it ain’t quite dinner) at the Charleston Harbor Fish House. The view of the city and bay from the open air dining room is beautiful. FYI, linner is a southernism I made up – HAHA!
I shot the picture thru the screen so it has an almost 3D effect.
Sunday was a sleep in day and in the afternoon a few projects on Escapade. Drake treated us to a fun evening at the Club Lounge at the scenic Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Ball Park located in downtown Charleston on the banks of the Ashley River. The Charleston RiverDogs are a Minor League Baseball team and a Class-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. The RiverDogs focus on family-oriented, fan-friendly entertainment and it was really great to see all the family’s there enjoying the game. The food and beverages in the lounge was surprising very good too… a grass fed hot dog and pimento cheese made it on my plate!!
The RiverDogs beat the Shorebirds 7 to 4 and each team had three errors too. Definitely minor league but a fun game with a spectacular catch my the RiverDogs pitcher.
It’s been two weeks since we set off on our great loop adventure from Hobe Sound Florida. We’ve travel about 336 nautical miles (NM) and motored about 44 hours at an average speed of 8 knots. Escapade is capable of going much, much faster but there are many parts of the Atlantic Inter Coastal Waterway (AICW) that require you to go slow (no wake zones) but honestly we have just been enjoying getting a feel for the boat and cruising along slow and enjoying the scenery. We have mostly been docking in marinas along the way but have had an opportunity twice to anchor out, which we love!! Cumberland Island was a highlight so far.. wild, unspoiled Georgia low country with no other boats in our anchorage. We toured historic Plum Mansion and rode our e-bikes all over the island, seeing loads of wild horses.
Our e-bikes were the perfect way to explore Cumberland Island. I was so excited to see the wild horses.
We always hope for uneventful cruises, meaning nothing breaks and the weather/wind is mild. For the most part the weather has been uneventful underway, a few sporty days but within our Go-No-Go parameters. A couple of exciting docking but they ended in no harm no foul, maybe just not the prettiest. We have had a couple of eventful days boat wise. Our second day out, there was a mechanical issue with our port engine and we motored part of the day on one engine. Turns out it was an easy fix, once we got on the dock (which wasn’t easy at all on one engine in the wind). Thankfully there were people waiting when we arrived to help us dock.
Part of the Great Loop experience is the people you meet along the way. Boaters in general are the nicest people…always ready to lend a hand getting you on the dock or troubleshooting a problem. Doesn’t matter what your politics or religion are, all that gets put aside (as it should) and the basic kindness of humans just shines through.
Our new friends Carol and Greg in Cocoa Florida, whom I met thru my Facebook site Escapade on the Loop were just the tonic we needed today when we arrived at Cocoa Village Marina. Not only did they help us get the boat into a slip on one engine, Greg took Wally to West Marine for a couple for parts he needed. Later that evening they drove us to dinner at their favorite Mexican place in town.
The Fur-bags Babies are also doing well on the boat… Sucia has decided she no longer needs to travel in a crate while the boat is underway and she is even joining us on the flybridge some days. Bentie has mastered his potty breaks while underway on the back swim step. He also loves hanging out with us on the flybridge or laying in the sun on the back deck when the boat isn’t moving.
We too are acclimating to cruising again and wow have we been tired some days. We knew the first few weeks might feel stressful as we get our boat mojo back and develop some routines. We quickly decided we don’t like motoring everyday and/or long cruise days back to back. Some times it’s necessary to get where you need to go or if weather is going to be dicey. It’s been great to have stops that are 3 to 7 days long and we are currently enjoying a one week stay in Savannah. My niece flew in from Portland Oregon and we have been having a blast exploring the city with her.
Savannah is a very walkable town and we have really been putting on the miles. We also did a trolly tour on our first day to get an overview of the city and understand the lay of the land. It was actually very well done with loads of history about the city. I think we have seen all 22 square in the city proper and every district. It truly is as beautiful and mysterious as I envisioned it to be. I love all the art within the city and the presence of the Savannah Collage of Art and Design has a profound influence on the vibe of Savannah.
I have this groovy app called Nebo which tracks our voyage … you can follow us any time you want to see where we are by clicking on the link below. Right now it will just show us as a white dot at Thunderbolt Marina near Savannah. When we are underway, you can see us cruising real time.
Planning a trip in a boat is very different than planning a road trip in the car or RV. Weather is one of the biggest factor that can change our plans, sometimes for days.
Go/No Go Plan…Hopefully all boaters have one. So what our Go/No Go Plan???
We look at weather forecast where we are currently at along with the forecast for our destination. Will there be rain, high wind gusts, are the tides and currents favorable? What is wind speed and from what direction? Do we feel comfortable with our experience, knowledge, and skill set to handle the boat if the conditions actually gets worse than the forecast? We also consider our guests comfort zones and the fur-bags too. Sucia and Bentley like calm seas too!
Wally and I make the go/no go decision together. If either of us have apprehension, even if just a gut feeling not wanting to go, we do not GO.
Our base line for wind is 15 knots plus of steady wind with wind gusts above that are generally a no go – especially in a boat we don’t have much foul weather experience in. Often marinas are tight and Escapade is a big boat to be docking in the wind. Wind and current opposing each other can cause wind waves that stack up tight. At large inlets, where water is entering and exiting the Inter Coastal Waterway (ICW), this can be very uncomfortable and sometimes down right dangerous. Tides affect the water depth and again here in the ICW, this is important to consider as the water is dang skinny (shallow). Yep, skinny is a boating term too! It’s easy enough to run aground on shoals on the ICW without all of the above factors working against you.
If we were planning to go offshore, this plan would be significantly more conservative as wind and wave height become significant factors and the danger level is much higher than cruising on the ICW.
Looking down our canal from the back of Escapade…its definitely blustery and windy here today and gale force winds are predicted for later today.
Being retired should mean no schedule, right? It’s amazing how bad shite happens when you make a decision based on a schedule – most great boating stories revolve around how people have earned that one the hard way. Personally, we prefer a safe and pleasant day on the boat as opposed to a arse whooping by Mother Nature.
This is the forecast from the NOAA weather website for todays proposed destination – Vero Beach. We also look at the Windy and Windfinder apps and compare the three reports. UGH, not looking good for at least three days but we will look again tomorrow.
Bentley doesn’t look bummed does he???Sucia is watching the weather too… I think she would have voted GO!!!
So… the boat is ready to go, fuel tanks are full, water tanks are full, the refrigerator/freezers are full but today but it is definitely a no-go day! Mother Nature casted the final vote, we are both a bit bummed but such is life on a boat. I thought I was going to be writing our FIRST Great Loop post today but c’est la vie, this is for another day.
an act or incident involving excitement, daring, or adventure.
We think it’s the perfect name for the boat as it really sums up our big adventure that we will be doing on the great loop.
Escapade on the dock in Hobe Sound. It’s been a great place to spend the winter and we are uber grateful to our friend Barb who offered us this space on the canal behind her house.
So what is the great loop??? The Great Loop is a 6,000 nautical mile circumnavigation of the eastern U.S., and part of Canada. The route includes the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the New York State Canals, the Canadian Canals, the Great Lakes, the inland rivers, and the Gulf of Mexico. “Loopers” take on this adventure of a lifetime aboard their own boat, no cruise ships do this as it takes at least a year to complete. We are “slow” looping, breaking the loop up in segments based on the weather and best seasons to explore that area. We think we will be looping for 2-3 years. This year we will leave Florida in April and cruise as far as Chesapeake Bay. Ultimately, we will put Escapade away for the winter, under covered storage in Chesapeake VA.
So why not just do the loop in one year you may be wondering. We certainly could but want to have more time to really explore. If one does the loop in one year, you have to cruise thru certain areas with the season and you do this over the course of a year to stay ahead of the seasons, so you are constantly on the move. As an example, unless you want to be the Edmond Fitzgerald, you need to be off the Great Lakes by late fall. Cold, wet and windy with potentially life threatening storms make Lake Superior nowhere to be past fall.
This will be our cruise route for 2023.
SOOO, about Escapade… she is a 1998 Carver Voyager 530. Measuring 53 feet long, 16 feet wide and just over 19 ft tall, she’s a big girl. Our biggest boat and quite possibility our last boat. She has three staterooms, two full bathrooms and a spacious salon and galley, she is a pilothouse/flybridge model, meaning there is a fully equipped driving area inside the boat which also has a big semi-circular dining table. There is also an enclosed flybridge with a huge lounging/dining area and another driving station. I love the views from the flybridge and we spend a lot of time up there. It is the place of choice for happy hour.
I will post a video walk thru when we are done tearing things apart (and putting them back together!).
The other cool thing about Escapade is that she has a crane to lift our 11 ft Boston Whaler up and onto the stern flybridge of the boat. The whaler gives us the option of exploring nooks and cranny’s on the water where Escapade can’t go. It is also a way for us to get Bentley to shore if we are anchored out somewhere. We bought the whaler sight unseen from a couple in Sarasota Florida last summer. This size, year and model of whaler is the perfect fit weight wise for Escapade. When I found it online, we jumped on it. Basically, we did a video chat and inspection with the owners, who were great. They even towed it to their storage facility for us, where it sat thru Hurricane IAN – GULP!!! It all worked out and when we got back to Florida in October, we drove over to Sarasota and picked it up. Other than two flat tires on the trailer and the boat being dirty, it was in great shape. Thankfully Hurricane Ian dodged both boats which were on land in differnt parts of Florida. It’s a bit nerve wracking the first few times, lifting the whaler up and on to the boat but hopefully it will get more routine as we get used to doing it. Wally did maintenance the lift, replace the steel lift cable with synthetic and purchase all new rigging before our first attempt.
The whaler’s name is Hijinx and we are looking forward to some fun in it! Hijinx also got a through cleaning, new electronics and a bilge pump. Wally serviced the 25 hp motor and it runs like a top.
Okay, maybe she’s bigger than we needed but we plan to be living on this boat at least 6 months out of the year and will have friends and family join us as we cruise the great loop. She was also a bit older than we originally wanted but the trade off financially for new/smaller vs older/bigger will hopefully be worth it. I say hopefully, because she has needed a lot of upgrades. I mean thousands of dollars in upgrades…credit card limit increasing upgrades! We did have full marine hull and engine surveys (basically like a pre-purchase house inspection) so we did know what we were getting into. That said, boats are mysterious machines with complicated systems and it never fails that you start by fixing or upgrading one thing and BAM… you are into now elbow deep in two or three other fixes or upgrades that you didn’t budget for or even think needed to be done. BOAT = Break Our Another Thousand!!!
Manuals… lots of manuals! Luckily, the boat came with loads of manuals and documentation, which I sorted, updated and reorganized.
So bam it has been.. it was all the upgrades we wanted to do that have been keeping us busy since November. We have mostly done all this ourselves (well, mostly Captain Handy who I am fortunate to be married to). The galley “needed” all new appliances.. come on now, the old Sub Zero refrigerator was non-operational! The new smart oven replaced the old funky but functioning microwave, the induction cook top replaced the crappy but functioning electric cooktop and the GROSS and non-functioning trash compactor had to go. In its place went a pull out storage area. Woo-hoo, more storage is always appreciated on a boat! We also yarded out all of the stone age TV’s ..three of them, a VCR and a disk music player. The salon (living room in non-boater speak), is getting a new solid maple cabinet that will house the 43 inch smart TV on a remote lift and have more storage. We also replaced the mattresses in the master and guest staterooms (bedrooms) and converted the bunk bed stateroom to storage. The list goes on and on and these upgrades are creature comforts that will make life aboard Escapade even better.
Another huge upgrade was the new flybridge enclosure… the existing one was put on just before we bought the boat by the prior owner. It turned out to be the worst quality material and was the most janky looking piece of garbage. It was conveniently installed just days before we took ownership so there was no negotiating on any of that. The goal of a flybridge enclosure is to provide shade… it did that. It should also make it more comfortable to drive from the flybridge and it should keep the elements out. Big fail on that part, the first time it rained despite having a canvas top that technically did provide shade, it leaked like a sieve and we had to put on rain coats. Did I also mentioning its was a janky piece of junk that started falling apart after 6 month in the sun. UGH, so we had to get a new enclosure and despite the budget shattering price, we love the new enclosure and it doesn’t fail on any of the criteria now. We opted to go with white vinyl “staminode for the top and sides, which is more heat reflective than the black canvas top that was on it.
Happy Hour on the flybridge is a very happy time now!
Janky, Janky, Janky …so damn janky! I was not exaggerating how bad the enclosure was. The rain is supposed to be on the outside …arrgh!
Now that’s what a flybridge enclosure should look like… bye bye janky, hello happiness!!
Notice the rain is on the outside… novel idea huh!!!
Creature comforts are one thing but making sure all the systems are in good shape and operating properly is not only essential to using the boat but are also huge safety factors. With two 450 hp diesel engines, a 13 KW generator, a bow thruster, nine batteries with 3 separate chargers, a windlass system for anchoring and 4 air conditioners there have been plenty of things to maintenance and repair. A boat this size has miles of hoses that get old, brittle and and crack or break. Dozens of hose clamps that can rust out or break – it’s amazing how something as simple as a hose or hose clamp could potentially cause catastrophic damage on a boat. Shortly after we bought the boat we had a certified Cummins Engine Mechanic go through both engines and the generator. There are some thing’s that require writing a check and this one was worth every penny we paid. The four AC units also had a check up and got a clean bill of health from the AC Technician (that was a huge sigh of relief).
We’ve also been replacing old sink faucets, shower heads and checking all the places where water can and SHOULD drain out of the boat. There have been some interesting discoveries of places where water was COMING into the boat – OOPS. Plastic fittings get old and brittle, drains gets plugged – basically shit happens as a boat ages, hmm, kinda like me!
This is a grille on the exterior of the boat where rain water should have been draining out instead it was blocked with gross green plant debris and was backing up into the exterior pilothouse door well. So, we cleaned out all three drains and replace the old cracked grill. Great!!! Until the first time it rained hard… now the water from one of those drains was coming into the boat behind the electrical panel and onto the floor in the salon like a river – not good on so many levels. Turned out a fitting in the wall had broken and when we unplugged the drain it now had a place to go! ARRGH!!!
People always ask me how the pets like the boat… so far they have adjusted quite well to life on Escapade. There are lots of places for Sucia and Bentley to stretch out and nap or watch the world go by outside. The both also love the cockpit and having some sun time out there. Bentley’s other favorite place is the flybridge. There are interior steps from the pilot house to the flybridge so he can easily join us up there. Another great feature that sold us on this boat.
Granted we’ve only left the dock here in Hobe Sound once, LOL. It will be different for them when we start cruising again but it’s not their first rodeo on a boat. I guess I should tell them that we will be on the move again soon.
It’s hasn’t been all work and no play for the crew. We did take a one week trip around Christmas to see my cousins June and Matt in Kentucky. A couple of short trips to the west side of Florida to see friends and a fun weekend on a friends yacht in West Palm Beach. We also had our first guests onboard …yay for girlfriends!!! Locally there is so much to do in this area, farmers markets, art festivals, great water front restaurants, polo and beaches to walk on!
4 months have flown by as we’ve tackled all of these projects and we now have one month until we cast off the lines and cruise off into the sunset! We have a loose schedule and a long list of places we want to see and explore between Florida and the Chesapeake Bay.
our38ft^pluslife 