Loggerhead Marina friends

Meeting Karen and Charles on Jan 26^th was instant bonding. New boat owners themselves since Dec. we had many of the same needs and list of must have. We shopped together till we dropped at the Miami boat show and hit every boat store from Vero to Miami. Charles was great help in fix or rebuild with his engineering background and it was Karen who got us in our seamanship class. They also want to do the loop but work is still in their immediate lives. Their daughter also helped us with a water system that gives us triple filtered water in the galley as well as the wet bar (#1 on Sandy’s list of must haves).  Do I believe in angels? YES

Pizza at the Miami Boat show

Charlie and Karen                      Danny and Sandy

Causing trouble! An evening with the Bill and Virginia and A&B was fun from the start and it was the first time we were ever asked to “be a little quieter” from any marina condo residents who overlook the marina.  First time for everything, I guess.  SomeRlovin’ loves to party!  Seven bottles of fine wine caused us to use our out doors voices

out doors—go figure…

Virginia and Bill  innocent looking right?

Loggerhead friends Sharon and Ken V. are AGLCA members and completed the Loop in 2011. It was Sharon who told us about having cards made to be able to pass to other cruisers. A thank you goes out to David and Deb for an outstanding job making our “boat cards.” Sharon also spent time helping us with a blog and gave us their list of their stops along the way. She is an inspiration as she is the Captain of their 44’ vessel, Dockers Inn

Ken and Sharon

When Dan needed help working on the boat one of his best resources was another boater just a couple slips away, Geoff.  What an amazing source of information and always willing to lend a hand.  He and his wife Jill soon joined our circle of friends in the marina.  Jill and Sandy bonded as retired nurses so they had things to talk about other than boating.  Geoff and Jill also intend to do some long-range cruising this year but travel about 4 times faster than we do.  However, with both boats going north it is very likely we'll run into each other somewhere along the way.  That's our hope anyway.

Marshall and Judy have been at Grand Harbor and Loggerhead Marina for years and could be seen riding their bikes around the docks frequently. We mentioned needing bikes for our adventure and that we had missed an advertised deal on some Dahon folding bikes. Judy said “Marshall has been wanting new ones and this was as good a time as ever to sell ours.” Just in the nick of time for us. Future pictures of the bikes to follow I’m sure. We met so many wonderful people in the marina. 

The Loggerhead Marina staff was great during SomeRlovin’s 7 month stay. They were helpful with keeping an eye on the boat during our absences and helped us in and out of our slip during the many real and practice dockings.  Harry, the assistant dock master, even had the same model boat as ours only a few feet larger, so he was a great source of information when Dan had his tool belt on.  We’ll be back…

Harry                       Steve                           Neil

A Day and a half with Capt. Chris Caldwell …March 20 and April 10th

Without a doubt one my best days on the water was hiring Capt. Chris Caldwell for trawler training.

Shear terror became an optimistic challenge. I can’t say enough about how Chris helped us.  In the first hour Ruth said “Worth every penny.” Chris looked over SomeRlovin’s   engine room, electrical panel, water system and safety equipment.  His wife Capt. Elyse worked as a nurse and so he understood my need for a fully equipped first aid kit including an AED which we have on our boat.  (Charlie thinks we should fly a white cross flag to alert other boaters of our medical capability.)

Maneuvering in and out of Loggerhead slips multiple times for practice helped us become more confident. Dan spent time using only the engine and no side thrusters. It can be quite difficult on a single engine boat especially in wind or current and in tight situations.  Depending on thrusters can be saved for me!

I practiced using the VHF radio and we went to the Vero Beach Municipal marina to practice picking up a mooring ball.  Chris was with us from 9am till 6pm and taught the entire time including during lunch.  On a different night, Elyse gave a free lecture at the power squadron for First Mates and the combination of these two dynamite instructors right here in Vero Beach was a Godsend and substantially improved our preparation for our journey north.

March visitors

Anita stopped by on her way to visit family in Ft Pierce from Rochester NY. We stopped at the Driftwood Inn for a drink and were told it is one of the oldest establishments in Vero with its late owner whose motto was “I’d rather be a Liar than a bore any day” We ended our visit at the Fish Shack for Wednesdays special,lobster.

Visitors in March included Ruth and Barb who drove from Canfield and despite the cool weather enjoyed the sun of Florida. The time passed quickly but not before we had a few good laughs, and of course good food and drinks.  Char and Jim joined us for our first anchoring and lunch at Hole in the wall.

Sandy Barb & Ruth

Jim and Char

Barb returned home to Canfield by air so she missed the St Patrick’s party with the power squadron. Ruth helped me find a green shirt after a lovely lunch at the Driftwood Inn. 

Choosing Vero Beach September 2012

 After purchasing SomeRlovin' we needed a place to dock for the winter.  We chose Vero because of Marsha and Al, part-time residents, but included in the package were Jack and Gail, full-time residents.  What would we have done without them?  All are mail orders (which were substantial) went to Jack.  They listened to our stories of purchases and adventures and were truly interested.  We cruised a few times with them up and down the Intracoastal, lunch at Harbortown in Ft Pierce and our first overnighter to Patrick AFB near Cocoa Beach.  They proved to be great shake-down partners.

Marsha and Al at Patrick AFB

 

Gail and Jack on the ICW

Vero Beach Power Squadron -- What can we say; this group was so welcoming and genuine.  They adopted us as though we had been members forever.  Socializing, boating safety education, recreation and FUN were added benefits to becoming full-time Power Squadron members. VELCRO BEACH We get it!

Alice, Brian, Virginia and Bill

Dan, Joe and Sandy at Wills 55 restaurant and bar

Great friends from VBPS

Kayaking on Indian River Lagoon

Most of February, March and April were spent getting us ready to head north. We joined the Vero Beach Power Squadron for the opportunity of classes in boating safety and seamanship. It was mostly a review for Dan but ALL new terminology for me. I found it both challenging and frightening but incredibly worthwhile. The class had about 9 of us with different levels of experience and also size of vessels. Living aboard has also been a challenge. it doesn't take long to totally trash the place. Also we lose things tucked away in all the corners but it's home and we've adjusted to living on the water.

It's not always about power boating. In addition to classes at the Power Squadron we have enjoyed all sorts of social activities. From wine and hors devours every Friday night to our most recent past-time - kayaking. We've gone on two outings on the Indian River Lagoon depicted on the following pictures.

Barb and Sandy in the Mangroves

Dan, Sandy and our new boating friends Karen and Charlie

Trawler Fest 2013

Jan.28th- Feb. 3rd

After a relaxing vacation with brother Jeff and sister-in-law Robin in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico Dan and I stated the adventure of our life. Trawler Fest 2013 held in Ft Lauderdale Fla, was greeted with excitement then fear then total commitment to know all we can before we start our trip with Some R Lovin' to Lakeside Yacht club in Cleveland , Ohio. We enrolled in Trawler University for two intense days of instruction. I took Women boat handling and Dan took Know your boat systems. After Dans first day I asked "How was it?" his reply was "The boat is on the market " ( just kidding). We both enjoyed our days and viewing several new and used boats for sale when we boarded our new temporary home we were happy with our choice of vessels.

This is the lovely pendant Dan bought me to represent our new lifestyle. It was quite a funny story because I debated for some time between this one and two kissing dolphins with tiny diamonds. As I pondered which one I wanted the owner of the store joined the sales clerk to aid in the sale. I made the comment that I thought the dolphins were too fancy to wear everyday due to the bling on them. His comment was Where are you from ...Johnstown Pa.? We all cracked up. Johnstown is only about 80 miles from DuBois. Of all the cities in the USA! HE was from Johnstown. We all had a good laugh and the deal was closed.

We joined the Vero Beach Power Squadron social hour on Friday night Feb.1 at the recommendation of our harbor master and Captain Elyse who we met in Ft. Lauderdale. The group has more than 300 active members who all love boating. Everyone was anxious to share their experiences and some had lived aboard their vessel up to 10 years. Activities are planned on a regular basis and so we jumped in with both feet. a Kayaking trip to Pelican Island is scheduled for Sat. Feb 9  and a cruise to a nearby harbor for lunch is Feb. 20th.

Once a month the marina has a morning breakfast with other boat owners docked here at Loggerhead. A couple from Quincy Mass. who sold their home to buy a 50ft Jefferson quickly started conversations with us and we are in the same boat (pun intended) as they are new owners since Dec. and have plans to live aboard and do the loop in the future. Karen is fully engaged in the learning process and we have connected. Charlie, her husband has a Captains license however not a lot of helm time. Our plans are to enjoy the next few months with enthusiasm.