We are on the Move, Bittersweet

Dorothy and I left our safe harbor at Marlin Bay Resort in Marathon, Florida on April 30th. We had been there sheltering in Place since March 1st. Our original plan was to stop there a short time and then start moving up the east coast and on to finish our second loop. Do to the Covid-19 pandemic, we decided it was best to stay put. The Marina is gated and they stopped all new boaters and guests from entering. We felt very safe during our stay.

The sweet part is we are on the move again. After all its all about seeing new places, traveling by boat, and meeting new people. The bitter part is the fact we have decided to abandon our quest for a Platinum flag. This signifies you have completed 2 or more Great loop Routes. Our goal now is to get “SEASONS” back to Milwaukee anyway we can.

For several reasons we are not going to travel up the east coast of the US. 1. large population areas with Covid-19 issues. 2. Services are currently limited or restricted. 3. The Erie barge canal across New York is closed and may not fully open this summer. 4. Canadian border is closed. We are going to miss a lot of our friends along the way.

We have decided the best way home is to travel backwards on the route we came. Which means we are going up the west coast of Florida, across the gulf, then north bound on the river system. We will probably have the boat trucked from Grand Rivers, Kentucky to Milwaukee.  Because of the high water on Lake Michigan, we are going to put “SEASONS” right into storage. Our slip at South Shore Yacht Club is not usable in the near future do to a storm earlier this year.

We are limiting all exposure as we travel. “SEASONS” is set up to be self sufficient for 10 to 14 days. We will anchor as long as we can and only touch land when we need fuel, water and to empty the holding tanks.

It seems like the best plan for now given the the current state of the world.