How was the first day?

After a weather delay, on March 21st, we FINALLY left the Loggerhead Marina in Hollywood, Florida, where The Zone has lived happily for several years. 

Proudly displaying the America's Great Loop Cruising Association burgee.

Off we were heading North on the Intracoastal, not exactly sure where we would land our first night, though we knew we would anchor out somewhere near West Palm beach.  The WPB Boat Show assured us the marinas would be a zoo filled with monster yachts and we wanted to avoid it like the plague. The first day was relatively uneventful, though not unexciting for us. We were doing it! We felt free, in love and living our dream. Granted, Day 1 consisted of waiting for many bridges to open and wondering who all these people are who spend their days on jet skis, but nevertheless, we were on The Great Loop of America and were sharing the helm and life, looking forward to what lies in store for us.

Last check of the engine room

Sharon, from Loggerhead, who along with her team
took great care of us & The Zone!

 What was in store for me for several hours, was trying to understand and follow nautical charts to help my Captain navigate. Not always simple, for either of us, despite his experience and my 5 Day Class.  Some of the charts are old, and my vision older, but by the end of the day I got the hang of it and now feel comfortable with my important daily task..especially now that I'm using the giant, globe magnifier.

Small section of a chart from Day 1 in South Florida

 We had a gorgeous day on the water, and chose to spend the night at the North Lake Worth anchorage.The water was a lovely calm with a delicious breeze making the evening a delight. Making my Captain a calm, delicious delight to be with, was a lovely app called, "Anchor Watch" that would sound an alarm on his Blackberry if we drifted.  Aah, the wonders of technology.

Swaying gently for a peaceful 1st night

Stay tuned for our next episode, as I describe our first docking debacle.....(we're fine, really, just want you to come back for more!)

 Here's a preview....this was the remainder of an attack of a very large, very sick bird....most of it's "spray" landed on me, in front of a dock full of boaters as my audience.  They said it's a "blessing".

Haven't you gone anywhere YET?

Well, no, we haven't, at least not literally!


Our departure date has been pushed back to (cross your fingers) March 20th.  We've been plugging along at a steady pace for the last two months and have done so much on the boat since we got here.  We are now in that comfortable spot of being just about ready to start our trip.  FINALLY!!  We've already had our share of surprise mishaps and sh*t-happens moments, and we haven't even left the dock! 


Just to give those curious an idea of what exactly we have done thus far, here's a list of some of our completed projects:

"Crispy" water tank alarm

• Serviced a 50 HP Yamaha outboard engine
• Serviced 2 Cat diesel 3208 engines
• Serviced a Westerbeke 12.5 diesel generator
• Serviced 4 A/C units
• Upgraded the windlass (anchor retrieval mechanism)
• Replaced 150 feet of 3/8" anchor chain  - twice:
• 1st time we shlepped it back to the boat, we found they gave us the WRONG size!!!
• Replaced and installed screens on about 15 windows
• Changed bathroom faucet 
• Replaced the water tank alarm system - twice:
• 1st time, a short in the system - not installed by us - turned the alarm into a crispy critter  - it stank up the boat for days!!
• Replaced the water pump - twice - trial and error with eventual success, but first:
• 2 or 3 days of not having running water while Ross was in NY
• 1st-time for me in the engine room while the captain helped by instructing...me via ooVoo (video conference) to do something he had never done himself.  THAT was cool!
• Beat our 3-trips to Home Depot- in-1 day record
• Dyed curtains in the mid-cabin (that was Cap'n "Becky Home-Ecky"), cleaned, re-orged, bought, fixed, polished, inventoried, threw out, labelled, re-greased, de-greased, unclogged, and tested just about everything on the boat.

All in all, approximately 28 trips to Home Depot and West Marine, not to mention Target, K-Mart & well, Anthony's Pizza.  

Another day in Paradise!

Measuring new anchor chain
 to mark before installing

     

One of my new jobs!

We've seen my folks as often as possible, which has been a gift, and went back and forth by car to NY for a week to see some pals and family. We've had not one but two amazing parties -one in Florida and one in NYC. Check out all the fun pix on Facebook!

From our NYC Bon Voyage!

Photo from our party at my Dad & Anita's in Florida

We've dealt with a bazillion mundane details like, mailing address changes, health care, taxes, registrations, insurance (boat, car, apartment..), and after an upcoming visit from one of Ross's sons, we will actually be on our way North!


The time we have spent thus far on-board has been its own adventure of sorts.
We have developed some routines, at least for starting and ending the days, and have discussed safety and other related habits and rules that need to be adhered to. We have developed roles as to who does what/when to some extent, and have started some traditions we would like to keep. One that I love, is to get dressed for dinner each night, even if we just grill up some hamburgers. It's a lovely way to end a day and appreciate where we are and who we are with. 


I get to have "date-night" with my sweetheart EVERY night!

What have you been doing????

Everything & nothing is the answer to that question!

Lord knows I could go on & on, but the stories of our on goings from the last month or so, would bore you to tears.  It would be like reading the details about how someone cleaned their house before moving. Ho-hummm...

I promise tales of excitement & adventure to come! In the meantime, practicing my knots...try these! Start with the bowline under "Essential Knots" then "boating"http://www.animatedknots.com/

If you come aboard someday, there will be a test.

Why are you doing this?

I suppose it's odd that a girl from Flushing and a guy from Rosedale end up navigating the cruising world. (It's odd enough that we're together at all, but that's another story..) I certainly didn't grow up with boats or on the water (Flushing Bay doesn't count), and neither did he.  Ross has always been curious, extremely handy and equiped with an innate sense of purpose and motivation when there's something he's eager to do or learn. He's a sight to behold when he gets his mind set on accomplishing something. It's one of my favorites of the many traits of his I adore, and it's contagious!  His adventurous spirit has kept me off the couch and out into a world that had been beyond my wildest dreams. He constantly reminds me by example that I should never, ever stop learning and exploring; he taught me to have the courage to dream.

Many moons ago, he bought a sailboat and taught himself how to maneuver it and navigate it himself. Too bad there was no YouTube in those days!  I can only imagine those first trials and tribulations. It wasn't until 8 years ago that he bought his first power boat, The Zone, a 52 ft. Jefferson with twin catapillar diesel 3208 engines. She has a 4 ft. draft, a 15ft. beam, an airdraft of 17.5 ft., a Westebek 12.5 kw diesel generator and now has a bow thruster and an inverter.  She goes about 12 knots at cruising. Sitting atop her proudly is the dinghy a Caribe 13 ft. inflatable with a 50 hp Yamaha.  





The Zone in Spanish Cay



After many journeys with Ross, sometimes alone, sometimes with family, all delightful times making precious memories, he asked me if I would consider cruising the Loop.  At first I thought he meant taking 6 months or a year off from work to do this.  When we next spoke about it, he said he'd hoped the journey would be for 1-3 years.  Honestly, when he said that, we were in a restaurant and I spit food across the table and almost choked.  I immediately started crying and got defensive, filled with all of my fears about doing this, and doing it now. "Leave a job I love that pays me generously; leave my family, my friends, my life as I know it?? And I know nothing about boating other than the bathroom's called the head and the kitchen is the galley."

It was then that I started reading books by women who have done this, and started reading blogs by other Loopers.  This book changed my outlook and rid me of my fears: Changing Course: A Woman's Guide to Choosing the Cruising Life I recommend it to those of you still wondering why I'm doing this or considering it yourselves.  The more I read and the more Ross and I spoke about all aspects of boating and the lifestyle and what I have to gain by joining the man I love on the journey of a lifetime, I began to get as enthusiastic as he was. It soon became my dream as well. Another book I'd recommend to women is, "Women On Board Cruising", by Lisa Targal Favors.  Lisa and her husband Jim have become our heroes.  We've followed them for years through their second Loop and onto their present course. Jim & Lisa Favors and their blogs, books and websites Their experiences, and their way of describing them, spoke to Ross & I.  We hope someday to meet them and look forward to meeting so many like them who help others benefit from their experiences, mistakes and all!

If you know me, you know that I make lists.  Top of my list was to take a class from Seasense Boating  by the women captains I've read about countless times. I took a 5-day live-aboard class this past April in Sarasota Florida.  As luck would have it, the only other student was a journalist for Power and Motor Yacht Magazine.  We're actually in an article called, "Getting My Bearings" by Alyssa Haak in the September issue. Nothing like having your introductory experience driving a power boat, tying knots, completing engine room check lists and navigating documented for the world to see. Boy did I learn a lot!  That class truly took some of my fears away and gave me the confidence and knowledge I needed.  I spoke with Ross from time to time during the class, which the article describes as "boot camp without the yelling".  When I described what we were doing and asked him more and more questions about The Zone (to compare with the vessel we were learning on), he was delighted!  He fully expected that after a day in the engine room and blisters on my hands from tossing lines, I was going to beg off the whole Looping idea and say, "screw that!" That couldn't have been further from the truth.  It showed me that though I have more to learn than I thought, it's possible to do it, and to learn while doing it, and that I can, like Ross, dock a big-ass boat, stern-in first!



Where are you going???





This map shows the ideal season to cruise each section of the Loop.
Green is for Spring
Red is for Summer
Blue is for Fall/Winter

  

As you can see on the map, our direction of travel is based on the seasons and weather fronts.  Mother Nature rules and Safety First prevails.  Ross & I (he's the Captain and I'm the Admiral) agree about this, especially after reading many a book and blog about others' experiences, and hearing of their regrets after making poor decisions. Not the kind of risks and adventures we are signing up for.

We do plan to divert from our course from time to time as we see fit.  We enjoy going off the beaten path and have vowed not to rush through this like we're on our way home from work. I want to see and feel and taste it all!

We will leave NYC in January and prep The Zone, currently located in Hollywood Florida. We'll need some time to re-organize, stock-up and get used to living on the boat. If we don't kill each other or sink the boat by March 1st, we set sail (well, get motoring) heading North, and away we'll go..

Sea Fever

I MUST go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,

And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.

I must down go to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over. 



Admiral Laura Ross & Captain Ross Perrone



John Masefield

You're leaving your job???

The Zone in Bimini

As a matter of fact, yes, I am; well, we are.

My Captain & I have been planning this for a very long time, and our journey around our Country (no, not around the world), within ourselves and with each other is going to begin before we know it.

Please check out this website, which was my first taste of what was to become: America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association

Yes, I know the site looks and sounds a bit corny, but there you'll find an amazing group of cruising folks who help, teach, encourage and guide each other on what can be a truly unique and satisfying experience. I can't remember the last time I embarked on an all encompassing journey outside of my comfort zone, or had the opportunity to take a risk to make a huge change in my life as I know it.

Here it is, the time is now, and I'm counting the months, weeks and days until we enter The Zone and start living life a whole new way.