The Dream

Mr. Adventure and I have been boating for about twenty years.  Okay-it’s probably been longer than that since we have been married more than 30 years now.   Neither of us grew up around water or boating. Steve started boating with friends and took a few sailing trips to the Bahamas  We started boating as a way of enjoying family time with our three daughters.  Our first boat was a Marquis.  The second boat was a Nautique Excel, followed by a Super Air Nautique.  Our daughters are all very comfortable on the water.  They ski, wakeboard, knee board, tube and swim like fish.  Mr. Adventure does all of those as well as ski barefoot.  Several years ago we began attending boating shows in Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Baltimore. It was at these boat shows that we learned about trawlers, and something called the Great Loop.

The circumnavigation of the Eastern United States by water is known as the Great Loop.   This loop is from 5000 to 7500 miles long depending upon the route taken.  Most people travel north in the spring to avoid hurricane season in the south and then head south in the fall to avoid the frigid winter weather.  The loop is usually traveled in a counter clockwise fashion to reap the benefits of the northern moving gulf stream and the downstream currents of the river system.

Our plan is to meander our way over the Great Loop covering different segments of the loop over a course of a few years, exploring the many beautiful cities and towns and villages of the United States along the way.  Mr. Adventure loves the water and boating.  I have always wanted to travel and explore our great country.  I have often thought it would be nice to live in a different city for a time but I never wanted to permanently leave our home in Georgia.  Our plan accomplishes both my desire for travel and Steve’s desire to be near the water.

We have been asked why now?   A wise boater gave us the following advice at Trawler Fest this year:

Imagine the years of your life in terms of a measuring stick. Think of each inch as a year.  Place a mark at your current age in inches.   Place another mark on the age in inches that you expect to live.  Use this ruler as a very visible indicator of how much time you have left to live out the life you want.