JADIP Cruising

Steve checking engines while Carol drove So our Adventure began on Feb 4, 2018 when we officially took ownership of our N-37 and moved her from her slip in Eau Gallie Yacht Club at Melbourne, FL.  We started engines about 0630 and made our way south to Fort Pierce, FL.  The first night we stayed at Harbortown Marina at the fuel dock because it was just across from Cracker Boy Boatworks and we had an 0830 scheduled haul out.  The video above shows the small island right in front of us that night and we were in heaven.  We were tired because the ride down was a bit unnerving with first day jitters and about 25 mph headwinds the first half of our trip.  Luckily we had a good friend and experienced pilot with us for trouble shooting and the wind calmed down later in the afternoon so we could make good headway and arrive before dark. We ate outside at the Harbor Cove Restaurant with great weather and delicious food.  We toasted a great first day! Every...

There was a series of events that led up to our boat and living aboard.  The last four years of health issues for ourselves and family had implanted a sense of concern and a worry that an active future was not at all certain.  Then when Carol very unexpectedly became unable to work for medical reasons during 2017, she wanted to do something positive instead of moping around. About that same time, a friend bought an RV with the comment that too many neighbors had become permanently disabled or worse in the past year.  The thought was simply, "We've put off doing things until "someday" and we realized that if we didn't act now, life events would change "someday" into "never". We decided we'd much rather be water gypsies than land travelers.  We'd talked about doing the America's Great Loop many years ago but it was always a "someday" item.  So we started looking at motor trawlers for stability and possible living aboa...