After Mel and Maria’s departure on August 1 from Eagle Harbor, we went with George & Deb to Doc’s Marina Grill for a seafood dinner. Though good, we didn’t think it was worth the price. Food, and especially restaurants, in Washington cost so much more than in Phoenix. Afterward, George, a …
Sometimes renting a car in Seattle is expensive and difficult. Reserving a car to pick up our friends, Mel & Maria, from the airport turned out to be impossible! There were none available. Tom’s solution, a U-Haul truck. Mel & Maria got a kick out of it and it became …
May 10, 2022 – The day we were supposed to fly from Phoenix to Seattle to get on The Secret and shortly thereafter begin cruising to Alaska. May 3 – The day we found out Canada would not allow unvaccinated people to cross their borders. From Canada’s Immigrations site: It …
07/04/20 – 08/25/20 – On July 4th, we returned to the boat at Fort Meyers because there was a couple interested in seeing Life’s TraVails, which you might recall had been for sale for eight months with very little interest…but we were in the middle of COVID-19. Before leaving Marathon, Tom …
Click on any image to expand 03/29/20 – 06/02/20 – When we last talked, we were in Marlin Bay Marina in Marathon with tentative reservations through the end of April, but with plans to head for The Bahamas the beginning of April. Well, April came and went, and our reservation was …
08/13/19 – 03/28/20 – We imagine most of you have noticed we haven’t posted any cruising news lately. It got to be too much of a burden for Tom to format pictures to Paula’s writing, and we just decided to discontinue our blogs. But exceptional times call for exceptions, don’t …
08/04/19 – 08/13/19 (Remember you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.) We were excited to begin exploring the Thousand Islands with whatever time we could spare before making our way back to the US. We had heard from several cruising friends how beautiful it was. The Thousand …
07/18/19 – 08/03/19 On July 18, we drove the 120 miles to Toronto to catch our flight to NC for Paula’s Dad’s 102nd birthday party. Unfortunately, many flights were canceled due to thunderstorms in Chicago and on the East Coast. There were hundreds of scouts stranded in the airport bound …
6/30/19 – 6/30/19 One of the main reasons we decided to keep the boat after finishing our first Great Loop in 2016 was because we loved the Trent-Severn Waterway and wanted to return to Canada and do it again, taking more time. After we started, we made the decision not …
6/16/19 – 6/29/19 OK, OK, we’re a little behind, as you can see by the dates above. But…we were in Canada, and there was too much fun to be had! We’re now trying to catch up as we make our way back down the East Coast toward the Chesapeake and, …
6/2/19 – 6/15/19 After leaving the New York Harbor and the amazing experience of being the only boat moving on the water (see our last blog), we headed north up the Hudson River. On our first loop, we took several days to explore along the way, but this time we …
5/22/19 to 6/2/2019 Last we talked, we were waiting for the Blue Angels show over Annapolis as part of Commissioning Week for the Naval Academy. That next morning, we dinghied into town again (only a 5-minute ride) and after walking a bit, had a sidewalk lunch at Mission BBQ and …
5/15/19 to 5/21/19 After our return from our home in Phoenix to Life’s TraVails at Atlantic Yacht Basin (AYB) just south of Norfolk, it was time to continue north into the Chesapeake Bay. We left Wednesday morning, May 15, with the goal of Solomons, MD, about 127 miles 2 days …
4/26/19 to 5/1/19 When last we left you, Tom and Lorenzo were working on our port engine at Seapath Marina in Wrightsville Beach, 14 miles short of where we had ended the previous day. With the elbow Lorenzo made installed, they started the engine. All seemed well until they found a …
4/21/19 to 4/25/19 April 21 at 6:35 AM, we left Lady’s Island Marina near Beaufort, SC. It was clear and nice, but still cold – 50°overnight. Though we left early, we had 5 boats pass us in the first few miles of the Coosaw River, so everyone must have thought …
4/14/19 to 4/21/19 Slack tide occurs when the tide is changing direction at high or low tide, leaving it basically motionless for a few minutes (or up to about 30 minutes depending on the moon) as it changes directions. That is the best time to dock or depart. The tide …
