December was crazy and hectic with multiple family birthdays, a Jimmy Buffet Concert and a family trip to the Smokey Mountains for the Christmas holiday. With all of that behind us, Randy and I desperately needed some down time, so we decided to get off the dock and anchor out locally for New Years. We …
Fort Myers Beach
I’m a little late posting this but wanted to post the photos and write about our first experience under sail aboard s/v Blue Turtle. Back in November, Randy and I decided we needed to get off the dock and learn how to get the sails up on our new-to-us CSY. We invited our marina friend, …
I’m sure this will be a shock to some, especially those who know how much we have LOVED living aboard Blue Turtle for the last NINE years. Rest assured, we are not selling her through any fault of her own. She is the most EXCELLENT live aboard and cruising trawler and we’ve had so many fond memories …
Even though our governor issued a ‘safe at home’ order on April 3rd closing down most of the state except for essential businesses, we have been practicing social distancing since mid-March. Randy and I have been off the dock more during this time than any in past years. With every grocery run becoming a potential …
One of the great things about living aboard at Salty Sam’s Marina is that we get a front row seat to the staging of the annual Fort Myers Beach Christmas Boat Parade. Every year the parade starts at Salty Sam’s with boaters adding their last minute decorations or checking the lights before heading out on the …
The temperatures may feel like summer, but the holiday festivities have certainly arrived in Southwest Florida. And what holiday season would be complete without the annual Fort Myers Beach Boat Parade? This year marked our fourth year in attendance and second year as Salty Sam’s residents. It’s such a fun and festive reason to invite …
I’m so late in posting about this very fun weekend we had back in November. Our friends Will and Tiffany (@teamwiff) got married the second weekend in November. These are the very same folks who we helped bring their 48′ Sea Ray Sedan Bridge home from Pompano Beach at the end of April. Their absolutely …
You might have noticed by now how quiet our blog has been this summer. It’s usually filled with photos and stories of our adventures to the Keys or Dry Tortugas. This year, we were unable to make our Dry Tortugas trip that we’ve done the last 4 years in a row. With a boy who …
In the past couple of weeks I’ve had a few folks reach out to us asking for an example of what they should expect to pay for slip rental in marinas in the Southwest Florida area. This post is intended to be a guide on how marinas charge for live aboards and what to look …
Last weekend marked our third attendance at the annual Fort Myers Beach Boat Parade organized by the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce and hosted by Salty Sam’s Marina. Last year, we cruised from Snookbight Marina to Salty Sam’s to the stay the weekend and enjoy the parade which was being staged there. This year …
As everyone has heard by now, Hurricane Irma has been wreaking havoc on the Caribbean islands, the Bahamas and Cuba with its path set on making landfall in Florida on Sunday. Earlier in the week we watched as Irma gained mass and power and started heading in our direction. By Wednesday, most of the state …
It sometimes can be bittersweet when you’re moving to a new home, town or in our case, new marina. When we first moved Blue Turtle from Cape Coral Yacht Club to Snookbight Marina 4 and half years ago, we honestly thought we’d be staying there at least until Corey graduated from high school. We did …