3-2-1, Live!

 

Welcome to our blog!  Yes folks, this is the inaugural post of the blog that has been in the making for more than a month.  It just took Cindy's pea-sized brain forever to figure out how to make it happen.  Welcome to Glorious Dei A-Go-Go, the electronic diary of a man (Captain Thad), his first mate (Cindy) and their swab of a dog, mighty little Eloise, as they traverse the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) from home port in Port Charlotte, Florida, up the US east coast, and back down again.  We hope you will enjoy traveling along with us and sharing what is, for us, a wonderful adventure.

 

Let me give a tad bit of background.  Thad had a dream .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

 of buying a cruising boat and traveling around the eastern half of the United States.  Did not know how or when this might occur, but the dream persisted over 15 years.  He especially wanted to do a cruising route known as The Great Loop. 

 "The Loop" is the circumnavigation, by water, of eastern North America (over 5,000 miles), traveling the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the Great Lakes, inland lakes and rivers, and the Florida Gulf Coast Intracoastal Waterway.  It can be accomplished in any time period but usually takes from 6 months to a year.  That was Thad's dream.  It was not Cindy's dream.  Cindy was quite happy living in Indianapolis, doing the same old things.  Boats were great and she'd always enjoyed them, but was content with her life as it was. To be sure, we had even looked at cruising boats, of sufficient size to do the Loop, in Michigan and on the east coast, for several years, but this whole thing was still just a dream for the future.  But, wouldn't you know it, the Lord had other plans for the Harveys and Cindy really came on board (pardon the pun) with the whole idea in August 2010, and said "Okay, the time is right, let's do this thing!" Soooo, a move to Florida was put into action (much easier to find a boat down there), the house in Indianapolis was sold, furniture disposed of or stored in generous relatives' basements (thanks Mom & Dad and Brooks & Kathy), and a move to Cindy's folks' condo, in Port Charlotte, Florida, was accomplished in March 2011.  Then the search for the right boat began. 

But I must stop here and give a big shout out to a couple who really gave us the push we needed to realize we could do this cruising lifestyle.  Because, even though Thad had grown up on a lake in Indiana and had boats pretty much throughout his life and even Cindy's family had owned a boat, running around lakes in Indiana in 21' ski boats is no where near the same as piloting a boat in the 40' range.  So in May of 2010 we did 4 days of training with Chris and Alyse Caldwell on their boat, Sandy Hook, out of Ft. Pierce, Florida.  www.captainchrisyachtservices.com is their website and is well worth a visit. 

  Chris and Alyse taught us and trained us and reassured us that yes, indeed, we could certainly manage to buy and cruise on a boat.  Plus they have become good friends!  So, Chris and Alyse,  we owe you quite a debt for everything you have done for us these past 3 years.  Thank you!

 

So now we had moved to Florida and the search had begun.  We had looked at a number of boats in the past, had been to a number of boat shows over the years, and had somewhat of an idea of what we wanted.  But being with Chris and Alyse on their boat opened our eyes to what we really should be looking at, what was really important in a boat.  Up til then Cindy's head was turned by how pretty a boat looked and the aesthetics of the interior.  How little she knew!  And Thad, even with lots of small boat experience, Power Squadron classes and much, much reading and researching over the years, knew next to nothing about what was important as well as practical.  As it turned out, a year after training with them, we decided we wanted the same boat Chris and Alyse had, a 44' Gulfstar motor cruiser, aka a trawler.  Chris knew of two that were for sale, both in Jacksonville, FL, and over Memorial weekend 2011 we looked at both.  Boat #1 we knew was not to be, but Boat #2, hmmmm, could this be The One??  Turns out that SeaSea was to be our boat, and in July she officially changed ownership and her name to Glorious Dei.  And we could not have been more fortunate and blessed to have purchased our boat from a wonderful couple, Paul and Stacy Brannon.  They had lived on her for the previous 6 years, had done the Loop and cruised just about everywhere.  Family circumstances dictated they move back to Georgia and they had been praying the right persons buy their beloved home.  And, of course, we had been praying for the right boat.  It was definitely a match made in heaven, no doubt about that!  Paul and Stacy are the most generous and kind couple you will chance to meet and have also become dear friends.  Stacy was the captain and did most of the piloting of SeaSea but Paul himself is a licensed captain and more than capable at the helm.  Plus, one of our biggest blessings, he is incredibly gifted in mechanics and engineering and was always meticulous about the care and maintenance of their boat.  She could not have been in better condition.  We are so, so grateful to the two of them for selling us their boat and we promise to take as good of care of her.

 

Plus, Paul and Stacy agreed to travel with us, to acclimate us and further train us, when we brought the boat from Jacksonville to Melbourne, FL, in November of that year.  Invaluable.  They are, simply, the best!

 

So, what do you do with a boat once you have her??  We had chased that dream of getting one, like a dog chasing a car, and now we'd caught her!  It was somewhat daunting.  Now, we had to get serious about this Looping thing and make some definite plans.  The original intent was to leave in the spring of 2012.  You see, the weather dictates where and when you cruise.  For example, you leave the west coast of Florida by March 1, hit New York City around Memorial Day, do Canada through the summer and start heading south by cruising through Chicago by Labor Day.  You continue down through inland lakes and rivers, eventually coming back out to the Gulf of Mexico in Mobile, Alabama around November, then back to your original starting place by December.  Well, that was our plan.  But the spring of 2012 was just way too soon to begin, so we decided to do it the next year, leaving in March 2013.   Unfortunately, that highly inconvenient thing called "work" got in the way. Thad, who works for Southwind  as a consultant in the health care industry, had an assignment in Melbourne, FL that ran until May 1.  Leaving after May 1 would cause us to be traveling too far behind schedule, weather wise.  Sure, we could do the Loop and really push it, but it is not wise nor safe to push like we would need to, plus what would be the fun in that?  So, we decided to just travel north, from Florida, as far as Cape Cod, MA and come right back down the east coast, back to Florida in the early winter.  The entire Loop will have to wait for another time.

 

And that is precisely what we are presently doing.   We brought Glorious Dei from our home port, Gasparilla Marina, to Melbourne, FL, leaving on April 16.  More about that journey in coming blogs.  And we left Melbourne on May 15, heading north.  And that's where we'll close for now. 

 

Stay tuned, there is much, much more to come!!