Coney Island to Albany

5/30 – 6/5/2016  Summary:  We awoke the morning of May 30th anchored at Coney Island and were anxious to see NYC, but decided the best, and cheapest, plan would be to move up the Hudson River about 40 miles to Hudson-on-Croton, then take the train back to the city. As…

Continue reading

Norfolk, VA to Coney Island, NY

5/17 – 29/2016  Summary:  We returned to Life’s TraVails on May 17th to find her still in “the cave” but dry. The next morning we rented a car so we could get supplies and do some sightseeing. The first project was to replace the leaking holding tank, and after the…

Continue reading

Holden Beach, NC to Norfolk, VA

4/28 – 5/6/16  Summary:  After Paula got close enough for Lorenzo to jump to the dock, we took a northerly heading on the ICW. Ten days on the dock in Holden Beach had put us behind schedule, so we needed to move faster to make up for lost time. We…

Continue reading

Beaufort, SC to Holden Beach, NC

4/6 – 28/16  Summary:  Our move up to Charleston went well, including the narrow cut called Elliott Cut where the current could easily match the speed of one’s boat, so timing was important. This section of the ICW was one of the nicest we had seen with a large variety of…

Continue reading

St. Augustine, FL to Beaufort, SC

3/18 – 4/5/2016  Summary:  Our trip to the boat started with a couple of days visiting Paula’s parents in Greensboro, NC. Considering they are in their mid-to-late 90’s, they are doing very well, and Naomi beat us in a game of hearts both nights we were there! From Greensboro, we…

Continue reading

Stuart to St. Augustine, FL – Part II

2/7 – 21/16  Summary:  Our stay at Ft. Pierce ended up being a combination of fellowship, sightseeing and labor. In the short time we were there, we met 17 people who were either Loopers, DeFever owners, or just friendly folks. We got invited to share a dinner at the local sports bar &…

Continue reading

Stuart to St. Augustine, FL – Part 1

1/27 – 2/6, 2016  Summary:  We arrived at the boat to several days of rain, then spent a couple of days provisioning and making good use of the rental car, including stopping at 8 thrift shops in one day. (We have become thrift shopaholics). Ate lunch at an amazing new brunch…

Continue reading

Sanding in Stuart

11/18-12/5/2015  Summary:  Once again we headed to the boat with full intentions of moving south. But once again, that was not to be, not because we couldn’t, but because we determined it just didn’t make any sense. As we looked for a marina south where we could leave the boat, we…

Continue reading

New Flybridge Enclosure Completed

10/19-23/2015  Summary: 
 This was a short trip to the boat to check out the new enclosure, figure out what to do with our unpaintable anchor pulpit, have new batteries installed, plus a few other odd chores. We are extremely satisfied with the new enclosure! The new O’Sea glass is so clear…

Continue reading

Building an anchor pulpit

10/5-8/2015  Summary:  Tom took a short trip to the boat to meet with Steve on the final design of the flybridge enclosure and get some work done on the bow pulpit. Steve had installed the top cover on the new frame and as Tom walked up to the boat (pictured above),…

Continue reading

Flybridge frame misunderstanding

  9/15-22/2015  Summary:  Tom headed down to the boat to move it back from the maintenance marina to Sunset Bay Marina and work on the anchor pulpit. However, when he arrived at the boat, he had an email from Steve Schrimsher, the canvas guy, asking him to call about an…

Continue reading

Flybridge frame-building trip

8/27 – 9/8/2015  Summary:  Tom flew to the boat to both prep for hurricane Erika and work on building the frame for the new flybridge cover. Even though Erika turned out to be a dud (praise God!), the threat caused a lot of work and a 4-day delay in the…

Continue reading

Flybridge enclosure design trip

8/13-18/2015  Summary:   For Tom, the process of having a custom-built flybridge enclosure and frame is not just an “Okay, do what you think is right” for the builder. He put a lot of thought into the frame and where it would attach to the boat, the materials and how…

Continue reading

Sarasota to Stuart

Greetings, and welcome back. Quick note that our last 2 posts were not “posted” correctly the first time, so you may have missed them.  If you’re interested, you can read Stuck in Sarasota – Again, and Quick trip to check on power problem. 7/23-8/3/2015  Summary:  We arrived on the boat in…

Continue reading

Quick trip to check power problem


7/5-8/2015  Summary:  For several days we had been getting messages from the alarm system on the boat that the batteries were low and the temperature in the boat was high. We called the marina and they found a circuit breaker blown and moved us to a different power source.  We still had alerts so on…

Continue reading

Stuck in Sarasota – Again

6/16 – 29/2015  Summary:  We arrived at the boat fully intending to get the window replaced, then move south to Ft. Myers, a 4 or 5 day trip. The window was to be removed on Wednesday and the new one installed on Friday, then we would head south on Saturday. Well…that didn’t…

Continue reading

5 days in Sarasota

5/18-23/2015  Summary:  Our time on the boat was a combination of work and play. We flew into Tampa and drove down, getting there in time for an early night.  The big task of the trip was rerouting the TV wiring, but praise God, it worked first time!  We didn’t move…

Continue reading

Clearwater to Sarasota

4/15 – 25/2015  Summary:  We returned to the boat on tax day, ready to explore the Clearwater area. While there, the Sugar Sand Festival was underway, just minutes from our boat, with some beautiful sand sculptures.  We met friends in Clearwater and Tarpon Springs, a Greek Community known for its Sponge Docks where boats go out to harvest…

Continue reading

The Crossing

  3/25 – 4/1/2015  Summary:  We arrived on the boat on the 25th with a list of items to do before we made the crossing from Carrabelle to Clearwater. Tom started on the mechanical list while Paula continued to get things organized, including her new set of dishes. The weather held us off…

Continue reading

On our way, on our own

This blog is as much for us as it is to share our adventure with others. We figure when we get old (no comments, please), it will be a good way to reminisce about the trip. So the first couple of paragraphs are a summary of this two-week stay on…

Continue reading