Sunday, May 22, we departed St. Augustine and headed to Fernandina Beach, Florida. This beach town suffered considerable damage in 2016 from Hurricane Matthew. Happy to report the marina has been dredged and is back in business. The Amelia Island Welcome Center is just across the street from the marina. Per our book, Fernandina Beach…

Saturday, May 21, we walked to downtown St. Augustine from Rivers Edge Marina. Our last visit to St. Augustine was 18 years ago to celebrate my 50th birthday. There is so much to see and do in this town. As the dockmaster Paul commented “it’s the oldest U.S. city so you will see the oldest…

We just completed our first week on the Great Loop. We stayed in two marinas – Ft. Pierce and Rivers Edge in St. Augustine. Rivers Edge was a no-frills marina but clean and fun, with great people and a happening restaurant on site – Hurricane Patty’s! Friday night we had our first meal off the…

We experienced our first ‘friends’ visit on the Great Loop Saturday, May 21. Deb and Lou Bartolucci moved to St. Augustine from Ft. Lauderdale about four years ago. Deb and Pat worked together many years for the masonry association and Lou is a specialist mason and former instructor of apprentices. They came to the marina…

Friday, May 20, we made our first ‘shopping’ excursion in St. Augustine, Florida. From Rivers Edge Marina we walked to Winn Dixie and to West Marine (of course, we had to go to West Marine.) Captain Pat has been wanting to safety certify Sunshine with the Coast Guard. The last inspection was in 2016. As…

Many of you know we spend summers at Rattlesnake Island on Lake Winnepesaukee. Patrick’s family has had a place there since he was a child. So imagine our surprise when yesterday afternoon we realized we were docked at Rattlesnake Island – in Florida! Tuesday morning -May 17 – we left Melbourne and made it to…

We left Ft. Pierce this morning. We met fellow boaters (first time to exchange our boat contact cards!) from Stuart, Florida – Cheryl and Alan. Thanks to Alan for taking this photo and texting to us. Today we journeyed 6.5 hours, 45.2 nautical miles, averaging 7.0 knots. Every day when we stop we get a…

Still cannot believe we are doing the Great Loop! In 2009, Katherine, Andrew and Becky (daughter, son, and daughter-in-law) gave us for Christmas a book about the Great Loop. See below their wishes for us to follow our dream! We are finally making this happen! This morning we woke up to a beautiful sunrise in…

After many false starts, we finally departed! Special thanks to our neighbor, Jim Trub, for the photo! As we headed out our canal, we came upon a good friend, Patty Eckert, and her grandson, who also bid us good by. We will miss everyone but know we will be back soon. Big shoutout to our…

The good news is the generator pump should be here Friday. After installed we test it and hopefully are ready to depart mid-May. We will keep you posted!