Southern Comforts...

[Paul Ouellette]

Fellow Fun-Seekers...

Since we're all Great Lakes sailors (in this section) I was wondering...

How many of you have intentions of heading South with your boat someday ?

As far as the Admiral & I...we've both rounded the horn (50yrs) last year & so "retirement cruising" from home to the Chessapeake & then ICW to the Keys & the Bahamas is looming large, as our hopeful cast off date draws ever closer.

We're planning to swap our B361 for a B423 in the next few years (her idea
) & put both our careers out to pasture so we can cast off in mid summer 2014.

It's a work in progress (of course) that's made somewhat easier by hearing of others who are also nauticaly afflicted too.

So to all of you, I ask the questions...

What's your cruising story going to be like ??

Where are you now & when do you intend to go ??

Will you be going with your present boat...or will you be getting another ??

[irwinsailor]

I still hold out hope that we will be heading south in 2009. If Amanda Faye does not sell we will take it down as we planed.

[ronc]

I would like to sail to the Keys via the Erie canal and then down the east coast. It will be before retirement perhaps in a 1-2 years. The end game for me would be to retire on a small boat someplace tropical. Not even sure if I should call it a retirement, Sailing around the world would have to be a bit more work then what I do not for a real job.

[PA28235Pilot]

I'll be "officially" retiring at the end of this year. In reality, it's so hard to concentrate at work, I'm already retired mentally!

Deb and I plan to stick around Milwaukee for another year getting things in order. After that, WE'RE OUTTA HERE!

We own a canal lot in Mississippi (yep, it was an "underwater" lot just after Katrina). Maybe we'll build a home on the lot, maybe we'll just wait and see while we cruise.

Bottom line, we'll be taking our boat "Tursiops" down to Mobile Bay and turning left to Florida then the Bahamas.

We've flown our plane to the Berry Islands and dreamed of seeing the area from a boat. Can't wait!

If the itch hits, maybe the Virgin Islands although we like like the Bahamas better.

We plan on taking our Hunter 34 (yep a Hunter POS) as far as we feel comfortable. If/When we want bigger or "better made" we'll jump ship and get a different boat.

Later
Al