Out with the Old, In with the New! Ep. 87

After owning and nurturing Thalia for 14 years, it is time to move on. Thalia is now up for sale at Navy Point Marine, in Sackets Harbor, NY, and we have bought a new boat! Our future adventures will now be onboard a brand new 2018 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 440.

If you had asked me several months ago if we would ever sell Thalia, I would have told you an emphatic “NO”! She had taken us up and down the East Coast, to the Canadian Maritimes, and to the Caribbean. The year we spent with the kids onboard filled our family bank with priceless memories. And our most recent adventure this summer, breaking into new territory in the Great Lakes and the canals, was more beautiful and charming than we could have imagined. Thalia was at her finest sailing us across the waters of our choosing with ease and grace, and at the end of the day we could enjoy her new amenities, including this year’s new dodger and varnished mahogany cockpit.

But, alas, we ended up at the Annapolis boat show in October, walking the docks and the decks of as many new boats as we could manage during the show’s opening hours. Through it all, I remembered why we had not gone to a boat show in the last 14 years. Seeing all the shiny new boats, I knew the temptations would be too strong! The wheels had been set in motion when we listed our boat for sale with Navy Point Marine and realized they were a Jeanneau dealer. And conveniently, we hauled out a week before the Annapolis boat show. And, OK, I’ll come clean by admitting that there were a few days in the summer that I had been browsing the Jeanneau website and accidentally left a page open of a new beauty, as Karen was taking over the watch!

The Jeanneau 440 is their newest generation of cruising boat design and has some very appealing features, the most notable of which is an inclining side deck that leads around the helm into the cockpit, making the transition from cockpit to deck very smooth. Unlike a lot of sailors that keep getting bigger boats, we are downsizing with this new boat, but Jeanneau has done a fantastic job with the use of space, making it feel very similar to the size of Thalia.

With the Jeanneau plant in France, we opted to take delivery in the Mediterranean. If all goes as planned, she will be bobbing in the water in late Spring, ready for us to grab the reins and start exploring the Med. More news to come as it gets closer! In the meantime, if you want a fantastic long distance cruising boat, check out this listing! The wonderful folks at Navy Point will take good care of you.

Circles, Loops, Triangles – Popular Inland Cruising Routes in North America Ep. 72

‘Loops’ Involving One or More of the Great Lakes

I love that you can’t help but learn something new whenever you travel or try different things. I long ago learned about the [boat cruising] route called ‘The Down East Circle Route’ which is the one we are taking two summers to complete (we’re adding in extra exploration of the Great Lakes). I recently learned that there also is the ‘Great Loop’ and the ‘Triangle Loop’ that are popular with boaters and also involve one or more of the Great Lakes. Who knew?

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A New York State Of Mind Ep. 68

I apologize to our friends in Rhode Island and Connecticut. We had every intention to visit your waters, but fate had other plans. I can hear you already. “But we are the Ocean State!” say you Rhode Islanders. And yes, the charming Connecticut shore is hard to miss as one works their way down the New England coast. But we got pulled into that powerful vortex that is New York – first, the city, and then the countryside. Continue reading “A New York State Of Mind Ep. 68”

Shake(down), Rattle and Roll Ep. 67

We knew this first week would serve as a good shakedown, as it does for any boat splashing in the water at the beginning of the season. Thalia had not seen a lot of use in the last 2  years. Therefore, we expected to have a few unexpected things come up. What was unexpected about the unexpected was the fact that we, more specifically I, was not ready. It all started off fine. We moved aboard Thalia at Great Bay Marine on Thursday, May 25 as planned, and had a real pleasant visit with our friends Don and Shelly (including a little tasting trip at nearby Stoneface Brewing Co). Don drove our car back home, so at this point we were committed! All good, until 4am that is. Continue reading “Shake(down), Rattle and Roll Ep. 67”

No Turning Back Now Ep. 66

The long awaited day has finally come. After many months of hard work, and a short drive from the boat shed to the launch ramp, Thalia is now back in her watery home where she belongs.

She launched today, thanks to the able hands at Great Bay Marine. It’s been 12 months since she saw water, and back then it was for just a short few days as we moved her from her previous winter home to Great Bay. I have been doing work steadily on the boat over the last year, especially since leaving my job last October. There were many weeks in the dead of winter that I’d pull into the yard and trudge through the snow and ice with my various projects lists, tools and boat parts to climb the ladder to a cold Thalia.

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Count-Down to Launch Ep. 65

Our last post was in February of this year (2017) and it shared our plans to return to our adventures at sea. However, we have not been idle, so this post will share what we have been up to!

I completed my last couple months of full time employment at the end of April – at least for the short term! I loved my job and my co-workers so this was a hard decision and my last week was certainly bitter-sweet. Here are a couple shots of going away gifts and team dinners!

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Back to Sea Ep. 64

This August 2017, it will be 10 years since we returned from the 14-month sailing adventure we took with our two young sons. Our oldest son will graduate from college this spring and our younger will enter – time passes too quickly! My husband said a final good-bye to his remaining parent last year and these life events have us evaluating the finite time we each spend on this earth. Certainly, Tom and I are still young by several measures but the exploration we long to do requires a physical strength and vitality that will not always be as readily available to us as it is today. So, we’re headed back to sea, at least part-time … for now!

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The Big Apple! Ep. 18

In our last installment, we were just getting underway from Pt. Judith, RI. Oh, how good it felt to leave that place! With a broken engine and having to anchor for three days in their ‘harbor of refuge’, we were all anxious to put some miles under the hull. We chose a nice short hop to nearby Stonington, CT. This would require us to transit through the Watch Hill Passage and into Long Island Sound. We passed Watch Hill, RI just at sunset and, sorry, I apologize about this ahead of time, but you’ll have to put up with another sunset shot! This one shows the Watch Hill lighthouse on the right.

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Respecting Mother Nature! Ep. 17

Do you know what a five day cone is? For those kiddos who might be reading this, it is the National Hurricane Center’s visual product which represents the most likely path a currently active named storm will take over the next five days. The cone shape comes from the increased margin of error which naturally occurs as you predict further into the future.

Anyway, we have been living by the cone! There is a web site that we check at least twice a day to make sure there are no surprises in our future with the predicted route of “Florence”. For all you power boaters out there, it is important to remember that our max speed is between 6 and 8 knots, so getting out of the way of the storm takes us a while! We will experience higher than normal seas and strong winds as a result of Florence passing off-shore so when we will be the most affected, we plan to stay put for a few days. The anticipation is a bit unnerving! We typically use NOAA for the latest status.

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