Dick and Peggy on Alize: We Have Arrived!!

After 2,197 miles, after 114 days, 14 hours and 15 minutes, after 17 lift bridges, 31 swing and bascule bridges, and 36 locks, on November 22^nd at 1415, we motored into Taylor Creek at Harbortown Marina in Fort Pierce, FL. Holy bilge water, what a trip, what an experience. . Those of you who have done this know what I mean and understand how words just don’t suffice. Marg and I are much better sailors than we were when we started. We were challenged at times and if we knew those challenges would have been laid down before us, we may have thought twice about going. But having been confronted with adversities, being able to overcome them and continue on was what gave us the confidence to meet the next challenge.

We took 100s of pictures – too many to share in this blog. The ones we’ve shared with you all are only the tip of the journey. Plus, pictures just can’t capture it. The devastation of Irene in upstate NY, the impenetrable fog off the Jersey coast, the sunsets and sunrises, the power of the ocean, the creatures we met along the way (human, aquatic, fowl and mammal), the beautiful seaside, riverside and canal-side villages we visited, the anchorages we stayed in that were in creeks off of rivers that were so isolated and we were so alone, and the nights were so dark that it was claustrophobic, New York City and the Statue of Liberty, connecting with friends for a few days along the way, unseasonably hot weather, unseasonably cold weather, unusually strong winds (I now have a new appreciation for how futile weather predicting is), food, glorious food – grouper, shrimp, low county whatever, spot fish, pizza the way it is supposed to taste, the boating community in general. I could go on forever.

Attached are some pictures we took the last couple of days. We are putting together an album of a more comprehensive recap of our trip. I know many of you will not be able to see it unless we publish a coffee table book that only about 2 people would buy. But trust me, the pictures are great.

Finally, I could not wrap this up without thanking a few people for helping us on our trip. Jeff and Sandy Bacon gave us all of their charts, cruising guides and notes in hopes that we would learn from their mistakes. Most of the info was about their dog, Hatch, but it was invaluable nonetheless. Steve Watterson for his great book, A Year in Paradise. Steve and Margaret captured the soul of the journey. We used their book often as a supplement to the more technical cruising guides. Our daughter and son-in-law, Janet and Bob, who took care of our house, paid our bills and mowed the lawn, raked the leaves and even shoveled the snow once already. Our friends, Chris and Sandy Taylor, Blue Janis, Dick and Susie Haller and Jim and Blanche Terracino, who joined us for parts of the trip. I hope you had as much fun as we did. Fred and Lorraine Ford-Smith who sent us many emails with fantastic info from his trawler group about updates on the Erie Canal problems and other navigational changes (the info we got from Fred was usually more accurate than what we got from the Canal Corporation). The heroic folks at the Schenectady Yacht Club who saved our asses and our boat during hurricane Irene, particularly Rick and Kathy Fleming. Andre and Nathalie, our Quebecquois friends whom we spent a month travelling together after the Erie Canal adventure. We now know that if it’s 20 degrees Celsius it is actually a very nice day. To our friend Lee Jordan and daughter Janet for the fabulous send off party, Kenny Juergens and Sherry Cooper for music to cruise by, Stu and Sally Neidus for the fabulous send off dinner, Mary Bookman and our friends and colleagues at Forest Corporation for the fabulous send off party, and our sailing buddies at Dock of the Bay for the fabulous send off party. The folks at McGregor and the folks at Elderhealth for the fabulous send off parties. And to all of you who followed us on our blog and sent your messages of encouragement to us. We hope we can see you all and share the stories directly with you. You are all such good friends.

We’re here now. After a trip to Fort Myers to share Thanksgiving with my parents, we are off to Chagrin Falls to share in the birth of our second grandchild, celebrate Christmas with Marg’s mom, and the rest of our family, see friends in town that we miss terribly, and reunite with some of our Dock of the Bay friends at Rodger Saffold’s and Donna Rice’s annual Holiday Party, we will return to Fort Pierce to prepare for our next adventure – the Bahamas!