The Adventure Begins

We finally pulled away from the dock at 9:00 AM on Monday, May 11, 2009.  After five years of planning and working, we're off on the Great Loop, a trip up the east coast, across the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi and other rivers, back to the Gulf of Mexico.  This is the reason we bought the boat five years ago and it is wonderful to finally be underway.  This summer's objective is to get to the Chesapeake Bay.

Down  Time is a 36 foot Endeavour TrawlerCat. She only draws 36 inches and can get under bridges with at least 14 feet of clearance.  Both of those features are particularly important in Florida where the water can be quite skinny and the bridges numerous.

The day of our departure was a glorious Keys day: shining sun, a few fluffy clouds, no wind --  the water was flat and so clear you could see the bottom.  If you have never seen the water in the Keys, understand that this is where the term aqua was born.  You can't imagine the beautiful colors of the water.  We enjoyed every minute of it because we knew we wouldn't be seeing it again for a long time.

The last week before we left was a whirl of projects that needed to be completed.  We added a rear deck cover that has nearly doubled our usable deck space.  We call the new space our back porch.  Two adirondack chairs give us comfortable seating, perfect for morning coffee or cocktail hour.  The rest of the projects were boat maintenance, cleaning, replacing worn stuff. 

We finished the week with a visit from our good friends, Rob and Carol Harris and their dog Franklin.  They joined us in our last meal at our favorite Marathon restaurant (the Chiki Tiki -- best fish sandwich and french fries in the Keys).  Then they took our car home.  They will store it for us until we are ready to move it to our summer docks.

Our first day ended in Thursday Cove, an anchorage about 70 miles from Marathon.  One of the unique features of Thursday Cove is that you can't see anything but water and mangroves.  Off in the distance there is a bridge over the waterway, but other than that, there is no man-made object in view.  No houses, no high rises, just natural Florida.  It is not that common a view, but it was a great way to start our goodbyes to Florida.