Now in Beaufort, SC, we’re 2/3 of our way to Florida & it’s been our best travel year so far by far.  The weather has been great with hardly any issues!

Our Best Welcoming: A marching band upon our arrival in Beaufort, NC

Biggest Waste: The UN was meeting in NYC so for most of the day (last month), the East River was COMPLETELY shut down to all boats. We had learned of the scheduled re-opening time & had planned our day around it, but they kept delaying the re-opening. Idling in-place for over hour+ in 3 knots of swirling current was no fun. We wouldn’t minded as much if they had been actually … well … working on that peacekeeping thing …

The Cutest: The wild horses on Carrot Island off Beaufort, NC

The Most Unusual: MEAGAN is a SpaceX recovery vessel used for the Dragon spacecraft missions. Lori noticed the “X” above “Megan” & the internet told us the rest – very interesting!

The Best Donuts: Believe it or not, the ones from Neil’s Donuts in Middletown, CT which we loaded our freezer with before we departed! Two of our usual donut stops just weren’t up to par & our favorite Britt’s Donuts (in Carolina Beach, NC) isn’t opened this time of the year 😦

The Best Marinas: Safe Harbor Marinas. As we now summer at the Safe Harbor Deep River Marina, we can stay at (some) of their other marinas for free – up to 3 nights each – “when available” is the kicker, but as we’re ahead of “the pack” we’ve managed to get into a few. This has saved us over $1,000 so far, as marina transient dockage prices have jumped nearly 20% in just the past year. We anchor most nights during our spring & fall trips, but an occasional break with power, food & laundry is always welcomed.

We should arrive in Florida in about 2 weeks where dockage will be our biggest challenge ever.  With “everyone” having bought boats during COVID & crazy inflation, slips in Florida are difficult to come by & marinas which used to offer a reasonable monthly rate no longer are. Our prior Florida marina which used to be about $1,000 for a month is now over $200 a day!  Rental cars are 3x what they used to be pre-COVID.

We used to try to be at a marina in Florida for at least a month so we can deal with medical & dental appointments, along with prepping for the Bahamas.  Hey – it can’t all be easy & fun!

How the years fly by!  A planned few years of full-time cruising have somehow turned into 14 years with 3 different boats – Thanks Lori!

While our summer was mostly consumed with boat projects, we managed a bit of fun including dinners with friends, family, birthday getaways to Vermont for Benj & to Rhode Island for Lori.  At least most of our work were “one-time” projects – or at least we keep telling ourselves!

While our chores & lack of a rental car somewhat limited visits with friends, one arrived by water – here’s Mike on “Easy Riders” – a PDQ similar to our old one. Ironically, this PDQ was the first one we ever went aboard, with a different owner down in Florida back in 2015.  Mike’s done a great job “restoring” Easy Riders – it was a little rough when we first saw her!

If we had to “give up” a summer for projects, this was the year as the weather was funky all summer including heavy rains locally & especially further north which kept debris (& sewage) flowing almost continually.

BEFORE:  Did we have the worst surveyor in-the-world inspecting our boat before our purchase – or what? This photo shows the bottom half of an auxiliary diesel tank installation for our generator. This 20-gallon tank was barely-supported on a piece of flimsy plastic board.  Our surveyor completely missed this potential disaster.

AFTER:  Originally only a 10″ round inspection port for access, so I had to cut-out a bigger opening & could still barely reach in, but provided the diesel tank with much better support.

My only sit-down job all summer – splicing a new anchor bridle to the bow eyes (better angle to the anchor chain & less mess/friction on the bow deck).

Every year in mid-September, Mother Nature suddenly throws the switch, letting us know we’re done with A/C & time to turn on the morning heat AND … time to leave! This was our morning view on departure day, but 1/2 hour later as we shoved off this was pea soup, but dissipated a few miles further down river.

Our plans this fall & winter look to be a repeat of most years.  While we’ll mix it up a bit, we’ll be arriving in Florida for November & then depart for the Bahamas mid-December.