I know it’s been a while since the last update. Things slow down a bit on the blog in the summertime since we tend to cruise a little less due to the heat and humidity. Truth be told, we pretty much hibernate since one step outside the door of our trawler means you are either drenched from rain and thunderstorms or totally wet with sweat. Sometimes walking down the dock with the sun blaring on you makes you literally feel like you’re a cooking piece of meat on the grill.
In our last post, we explained why we left Snookbight Marina after 4.5 years living there. It was time for a change and so we moved Blue Turtle just down the road to Salty Sam’s Marina. We were lucky to be able to get in since they currently aren’t accepting live aboard boats, however, that may change in the future. It seems like finding good live aboard marinas in our area is getting more and more difficult. For now, we are happy with our move, settling in and anxiously awaiting cooler temps.
With summer heat forcing everyone indoors, we really haven’t had the opportunity to meet very many of the live aboard folks around here. We have met one couple that we see occasionally during happy hour at Parrot Key, the restaurant here and we did get invited out by friends Joe and Glenda to cruise over to Matanzas for dinner where we met a couple new people. I think once the temperatures start to cool, more folks will be out and about around their boats and we’ll get a chance to properly meet everyone.
Other than hibernating, working, and getting our eighth grader (holy cow!) back into school, we haven’t been up to too much. I have been busy getting started on my article on the Dry Tortugas for Passagemaker Magazine. It will be due in late October so I’m now focused on getting the bulk of it done. It is slated for publication in January 2018 and I’m so incredibly excited about it. Just going through photos from our last trip there this summer has me dreaming of turquoise waters, gorgeous reefs and no Wifi service! I already can’t wait to go back there again although it might be a couple of years. Since we have visited the Dry Tortugas the last 4 years in a row, Randy and I are discussing some new destinations for our annual summer trip. More on that to come.
We are all presently itching to get off the dock and as soon as we have a free weekend and decent weather, we will be dropping the dock lines so stay tuned!
What are your plans for Hurricane Irma
Sorry for the late reply. We evacuated on Wednesday and headed North. Blue Turtle is sitting inside a hurricane rated boat barn. We are in Louisville visiting friends. Prayers for our area and friends and family.
Hi, I read some of your stories and am wondering how your boat made out?
Gary
Ft myers
Hi Gary,
I’m assuming you mean how we did during the hurricane? We had our boat hauled out and put into a barn at Snookbight Marina as part of their hurricane plan. Needless to say Blue Turtle was safe and sound and we were very fortunate to not have a direct hit as they were forecasting.
Thanks for asking,
Kim
hello,
thanks for your informative website. i am a lifetime boater and am currently in the process of buying a trawler. my plans are a bit different i guess…i will be spending the summers on my trawler on the ohio river near cincinnati and wintering near fort meyers. wondering if you can give me some info on slip rentals for the winter there.
look forward to reading more of your posts.
thanks, terry
Hi Terry,
I’d say the majority of boaters here are what we call “snowbirds” and they do exactly what you are planning to do. With that said it is getting increasingly harder to find a slip for the winters here. A few marinas recently adopted the strategy to basically force folks into annual contracts even if they are seasonal. This means fewer slips at other marinas since so many folks are looking. It seems that rates and policies of many of the marinas down here change quite often so the best way to get current info is to locate as many marinas in the area and call them regarding rates and availability. We wish you much luck on your endeavors!
Kim & Randy