Southport, North Carolina

VIP STATEROOM

MASTER STATEROOM

We have been in Southport for a second day because of the weather. It was a light rain and very windy so we decided to stay here and try it on Friday. We have about 100 sm to go to Beaufort, North Carolina and didn't want to do it against the wind.

We actually ate on the boat tonight. We were going to grill pork chops and try out the grill for the first time but we couldn't get it to work. I had to do it with the convection/microwave oven. I will never be able to cook with that like Cindy, at the lake, but being I have never even used the cooktop on our boats in MN, I thought it turned out ok. I guess we have to try out all parts of the boat!

Georgetown and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Georgetown on Memorial Day

We're slowly moving north through South Carolina. We have had 2 short days compared to what we had when we started this trip and it has been nice. The weather has been warm and there hasn't been much wind. The ride to Myrtle Beach was just my kind of trip. The water was calm, there was some traffic of boats and we didn't have any major decisions to make while we were moving. The river is one of the most scenic areas we will go through on the whole trip. Our boat is to the right in the picture above.

The river is brown and everyone says to wait to clean the bottom of the boat until you reach the Chesapeake Bay.

We are staying at the Grand Dunes Marina in Myrtle Beach. It is a hotel, marina and golf course facility. This is an exceptional marina-they gave us a complimentary bottle of wine when we arrived! Several times during the trip we have stayed in the same marina with another couple from Burnt Store Marina in Punta Gorda. They are here also so we had supper in the hotel this evening together and the service and food was excellent.

We're off to Southport on Wednesday and I've heard they have some shopping close by the marina! I have to get some shopping in with this trip but have yet to find a drive-thru to get my Happy Meal!!

Charleston, SC

We have been in Charleston since Friday and it is time to move on to Georgetown, SC. This is a very nice to place to visit and a busy marina. We are one of the smaller boats here but they do have almost anything you want to see. I would hope that we will get back here sometime in the future.

I went shopping both Sat. & Sun. afternoons because they have a great market area plus a festival going on for about 2 weeks with a lot of activities. Bob stayed on the boat and did some things he wanted to get done.

On Saturday night my brother Bruce came from Columbia to have supper with Bob and I. We got to show him the boat, visited, and of course-ate out!!!!!

We had to stock up on beverages and bread so we took the cart to the Amoco station about a block from the marina.

The sunset was great tonight from the boat. I hope to see quite a few more in the weeks to come.

Beaufort, SC

We had a very short day from Savannah to Beaufort, SC today. On the way out of Savannah we met 2 barges and when we met the first one we had 2 policeman in a boat escort us past the barge. Security is tight in areas of transportation.

Beaufort is a very nice tourist town. It is the 2nd oldest town in South Carolina and has preserved a lot of the old houses. We are at the city Marina and within walking distance of most of the restaurants and shopping.

We met a couple from Burnt Store Marina in Punta Gorda where we have a place and they are on their way up north also. It seems they are staying in the same places we are staying.

Tomorrow we are in Charleston and hope to meet up with some of my family.

Savannah, GA

Pictures taken from our boat.

River Street

Savannah, GA

WE HAVE FINALLY LEFT FLORIDA!!!!

After all this time we arrived in Savannah, GA on Tue. afternoon. We were off-shore and it was windy and rough. The ICW in Georgia is slow going and we needed to at least get here. Savannah is a big river town and has a lot of barges going through day and night. We are staying right on the river by the Hyatt Hotel and the heart of River Street. We were treated to a great fireworks display at dusk and constant music by various persons along the street.

The pictures here might be kind of strange but one of the things in Savannah is the tide range. It can vary 7 1/2 feet. Our water hose shows the difference in low and high tide.

This would be a great town to explore and has a lot of history. They really cater to the tourists. We didn't do any of that.

Fernandina, Florida

Our first day back on the boat was a short day. We went from Jacksonville to Fernandina in about 4 hours on ICW. We filled on fuel so now we have about 1125 gal. on. We put on 600 gal. and a sailboat next to us put on 7 gal. Wish we could have paid their bill!!

We also pumped out for the first time, the last time we were off-shore and emptied out that way.

Fernandina is a tourist town. A lot of gift shops and restaurants. Doesn't this sound just like my kind of place! We needed bread so Bob and I walked to the nearest convenience store. The man told us it was just a short 8 blocks. By the time we got there it was over a mile and very warm outside. One thing about walking to the store, you can't carry much so you don't spend much.

On the way back we just happened to pass the oldest saloon in Florida, the Palace Saloon. We thought we better check it out, especially being it was so warm outside. It was the typical old building but cool inside and great refreshments.

There are quite a few shrimp boats in the area so you can buy fresh shrimp easily. We bought about 2 dozen. Bob deveined and boiled them so we had fresh shrimp for an appetizer before we went to have a shrimp supper!

The Rhody Ray

Bob wants me to give you some information on the boat, for those that haven't talked to us lately.

It is a Marlow Explorer 57E.

The length overall is 61' and has a beam of 18'2".

There are 2 Caterpillar C-18 engines and 1000 hp for each engine.

We have 2 northern lights 16 kw generators.

Bob can drive from either the pilothouse or bridge-he prefers the bridge.

Some very nice extras are the bow and stern thrusters and my favorite is the stabilizers.

We have an 11' dinghy with a 40 hp Yamaha motor that we carry along to go to shore when we anchor out.

We have alot of luxuries considering it is a boat: washer & dryer, dishwasher, 4 televisions, 3 refrigerators and a lot of freezer space. So far we have been eating out a lot but we do have a stove top and convection/microwave.

Map of the Great Loop

Hi, We are in Minnesota for a few days and thought I would put in a map of the whole circle trip for those who are questioning where we might be going.

St. Augustine to Jacksonville

Hi, We had another short day, only about 6 hours. We left St. Augustine about 7:15 because there was a bridge that was suppose to be closed for construction and only open between 12:00 and 1:00. We got there about 10:30 and it was open!!! There was some talking on the radio from some boats how they were taking their time because of the bridge. I'm sure they were as surprised as us that it just happened to be open today.

It was another cool day. I had my new Minnesota Gopher sweatshirt on for only about 15 minutes when we were leaving the marina and I got a yell from another boat -GO GOPHERS!!

There are MN Gopher fans all over!!!

One of several bridges coming into Jacksonville.

This is the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium we went by on the way into the town. Boats can park right by the stadium and attend a game. Parking would be for free!!

We're headed to MN tomorrow for Ray's birthday. We're leaving the boat at the marina in Jacksonville until Monday. We head north from here, finally leaving Florida!

Daytona Beach to St. Augustine

Hi, We had a very short day, only about 6 hours. We stayed at the Municipal Marina close to downtown. According to the book, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States. I would have liked to have more time here but that is for another time. I went from shorts and t-shirt to sweatpants and 2 sweatshirts in a matter of 15 minutes. We are further north and it is noticeable. The wind was from the north and we headed

right into it all day.

One thing I have noticed is the bridges. They have all kinds. Some are new, old, short, tall, and like this one painted on the bottom. We can't go very far on the ICW before we go under or through another bridge.

Cocoa to Daytona Beach

The morning was windy so Bob decided to drive from the lower station.

(note the details)

Later in the morning the weather was much better so we moved to the flybridge.

I get to drive for awhile. The auto-pilot could have been helping me!

This is one of the swing bridges that opens upon request when boats need to pass through.

We have been gone for one week. The people we have talked to have been so interesting and so helpful. The Cuban dockboy in Miami was amazed that I couldn't swim. He said I was the first person he had ever known that couldn't swim. Every person we meet has such an interesting background. I really can't imagine all the experiences we're going to have in the next few months. We're very lucky to be able to do this.

Tuesday we're headed to Jacksonville where we will leave the boat to fly home Thursday to celebrate Ray's first birthday!!!

Fort Lauderdale,Fort Pierce, Cocoa

HI, We have put in long days trying to get to Jacksonville by Wednesday. As I said, we needed to make time, so Saturday we ran about 2 miles out in the Atlantic in about 35 feet of water. There were a lot of fishing boats we had to watch for and it was about perfect conditions. Fort Pierce seemed to be about the right distance which was about 98 sm. We parked the boat by a retired Coast Guard person who is now with the Army Corp of Engineers. He had all sorts of information for us and very interesting stories to tell.
Sunday, Mother's Day, was a very interesting day. Everything started out ok but quickly changed about noon. The wind was very gusty-about 25 knots. We had a man on a jet-ski jump our wake and he fell off. He tried to swim to his machine but it was moving away from him faster than he could swim. We decided to turn around and help him. That also meant we had to go into shallower water than we should. We finally got close to him so he could swim to our boat. He was about 10 feet away and had to rest, he was so tired he couldn't swim anymore. Bob backed up the boat enough so the man could finally board our boat. We couldn't get to his jet-ski because of the shallow water so we had to stop a smaller boat passing by and asked them to take him closer to his machine. It is difficult to say what would have happened to him if we hadn't stopped but at least we know he was safe and hopefully learned a lesson.
We had several delays during the day which I won't mention because they were human errors so we didn't get to the Cocoa marina until 7:00 p.m. We tried to get into a closer marina but they weren't letting anybody in because of the wind. It was still gusty so we were glad to have several helping hands from other boaters. We could only plug in one power cord so I brought out the flashlights and candles and there wasn't any showering or using alot of power. I was just glad to be out of the wind,
safely in a marina and couldn't wait for the day to be over.
We put in fuel in this marina before we left and it was $4.05 per gallon versus $5.05
per gallon we paid in Miami Beach. A couple other boaters warned us about the tight area where the fuel dock was located but with the help of the dock boy and Bob's manuvering the boat it went just perfect. I think I was the only one nervous about the whole situation.
We are off for Daytona Beach!!!

Fort Lauderdale

It must be Saturday morning in Fort Lauderdale. There were 3 cruise ships in port when we headed out through the channel into the Atlantic. We decided we needed to make time today so we went on the outside instead of the the ICW.

Miami to Fort Lauderdale

The weather was windy today so we decided to finally try out the intercoastal waterway. The problem with that is there are several bridges we can't get under so we had to wait for them to open. Most open every half hour but more than likely it is when we just missed it. We went 21 nm. in 6 hours. It is slow going but a lot better scenery than just open water. We found a slip at the Hyatt Regency Pier 66. It is a place we have visited in the past when we come here for the boat show.

Marathon Key to Miami

We left Marathon on Thursday morning with the help of a good guy on the boat next to us, Bob Kennedy. We had one fender go in the water, got that one quite easily but as we left the slip we lost another one. We had to back up and get that one, that meant me with the boat hook. Bob did an excellent job and I actually retrieved it without too much trouble. It was going to be one of those days.
The seas were about 4' to 6' swells with 15 knt. wind on the starboard bow. The water was coming over the bridge so Bob had to drive from the lower station. I wasn't much help today because I was seasick. We finally arrived at the Miami Beach Marina, much to my relief. Just watching the huge boats arrive and depart from there is amazing.
No matter how far we are from Little Falls Bob keeps in contact with the guys. Here he is talking to one of them after we are in our slip.

Marco Island to Marathon Key

On Tuesday morning we left Marco Island at 8:15, we waited until we could call Richard. Richard is our new best friend from High Seas Technology. This company installed all the electronics on the boat. Richard is a very patient young man who has had the responsibility to teach both of us how to use all the navigation electronics. Bob and I have very limited computer skills and what appears on the screen is a foreign language to me. We only called him twice on Monday and once on Tuesday. He answered our question and we were certain we could get to Marathon Key. We didn't call him at all on Wednesday because we didn't go anywhere!

The trip to Marathon Key was great. The autopilot guided us on the route we had put into the computer the night before. I always forget how blue and clear the water is here, it is beautiful! We were about 14 miles from shore and it is amazing how many boats you meet coming and going.

We have driven to the Florida Keys many times but this time we got to go under the bridge instead of over it. We came through Moser Channel, just south of Marathon Key and the marina where we were going to stay. It is a very different perspective seeing the bridge from the water plus the old railroad bridge that is still there.

Wednesday morning we decided to stay another night. We had been so rushed to get underway and after 2 days of learning all these new things, we were already tired.
I needed to still get things put away and clean. Bob needed to look at his charts and take a day off. Plus the weather is great. It might be a little warm for Bob but just my kind of temperature, about 85 to 90.

We are off this morning for Miami Beach! It should be another exciting day!

First day on the water

Our first day on the water we went as far as Marco Island. We finally left Burnt Store Marina at 8:55 a.m and went through the intercoastal waterway, under the Sanibel bridge and to Marco Island.
After a long delay, commissioning the boat and dealer follow-up calls we finally had to get underway. The first day went as expected, a lot of questions and learning some new things about the boat. We decided if we can learn about 2 new things a day, by the time we finish our trip we will be very familiar with the Rhody Ray.