Reflections

It's hard to believe that our first season is coming to a close!  We left Stillwater September 18th and cruised the first half of the Great Loop to Florida. We traveled the river systems of the Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, Tombigbee, and inter coastal (ICW) . We crossed the gulf in a night passage from Carrabella, FL to Tarpon Springs and then down  the ICW to Fort Myers arriving on Nov. 6th.  All in all we have traveled over 2900 miles by water this season.

I have been on the boat for 7 1/2 months with only 9 nights off the boat.  Brigitte flew home about every 4 weeks to keep her Partylight business alive and well.  She did it again and we are going on her incentive trip to  Jamaica  the first part of June.

We spent two months + and the Holidays in Fort  Myers at Legacy Harbour Marina.  On Jan. 15th we moved to Fort Myers Beach and SnookBight Marina. Brigitte went home for a month waiting for our Grand Daughter Soren to be born.  I waited until labor started and then flew home for 5 days. Yes we are proud Grandparents.

On the 15 th of March we headed out to do the Florida Loop with friends Dick and Inga Bonfoy.
They travel with Baily their chocolate lab on a 40' Mainship trawler ( Bon Foyage). We crossed the gulf again from Marco Island to Key West.  From there we spent about 6 weeks staying at Big Pine Key, Marathon, Islamarad, Keylargo, Coconut Grove,  Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Stuart, and back to Fort Myers by crossing the state through Lake Okeechobee.  We are spending a week in Fort Myers  getting the boat ready for summer storage.

On Friday I took one final cruise up the river. We are storing the boat at a boat yard 26 miles up the Calooshatchee River from the gulf. The place has been around since 1953 and as Bud the manager said we haven't lost a boat yet.  Once up Owl Creek they lift the boat out of the Creek and travel
about 30 feet and drop us in a fresh water Lagoon. Putz'n around will spend the summer in fresh water in a covered slip.

We got home Saturday Evening after driving 1700 miles in 2 days.  We drove across many bridges that we had passed under many months ago. This felt a little strange but did rekindle many memories of a great adventure.  We hope you enjoyed our journey and we will pick up again next Nov.  We would like to thank God for his protection, for all the wondrous places we have seen, and the great people we have met during The Great Adventure of Putz'n Around!