Life in the Slow Lane (The Pearl): 2016

Looking Back at 2016

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” —Dr. Seuss

In January we began our cruising year in the Florida Keys where we enjoyed the company of cruising friends and a full schedule of fun activities.

January was a little cold and wet in Marathon, so in February we decided to move our boat to Jacksonville and go home to Texas.

We spent March catching up with family and playing with our grandchildren.

In April we finally moved the boat out of Florida and enjoyed visiting with friends on our way north to Charleston.

May was spent in the Chesapeake revisiting favorite places and catching up with more friends.

In June we left the boat in Baltimore and went home for a visit and we helped our oldest son and his family move to Pennsylvania. It was a wonderful month spent with family.

July we headed to New England...were we enjoyed the sights, the weather and more friends.

We made it to Maine in August where we enjoyed hiking, beach combing and eating lobsters.

We spent the first week of September in Camden, Maine where we enjoyed the festivities of the Windjammer Festival. Then we slowly moved down the coast to the Chesapeake Bay.

In October we winterized The Pearl, said goodbye to old friends and headed home to spend time on the Texas coast and the Texas Pearl.

November was filled with boat projects...sun shades for both boats, fender covers, engine room projects and refinishing teak. It was also a time for crafts projects and volunteer work at the aquarium in Rockport.

December has been filled with family...especially our grandchildren and Christmas celebrations. We were blessed to be in Pennsylvania to welcome our newest grand daughter Cora Rose to the family.

2016 Travel Stats

Click here to go to The Pearl's travel map.

(expand the drop downs on the right side of the map for more information)

This blog post is best viewed in web version.

Stan and I both keep logs of information about our travels. Mine are more about the places we've been and stayed, his are more technical...sorry to the guys who read this blog that would enjoy more technical info, but that's just not my thing. For information on where we've docked and anchored please refer to my Travel Logs.

These totals are from the time we left home in 2011 till the end of 2016.

157 Different anchorages

101 Different marinas

301 Different towns visited

23 State & providences visited

3 Countries visited

143 Most miles traveled in one day

17,091 Total miles traveled

2011 Travel Stats		2012 Travel Stats		2013 Travel Stats
3987	Miles traveled	2678	Miles traveled	3112	Miles traveled
1085	Gallons of diesel	808	Gallons of diesel	1014	Gallons of diesel
566	Engine hours	379	Engine hours	425	Engine hours
211	Days on board	209	Days on board	248	Days on board
96	Days of travel	68	Days of travel	70	Days of travel
13	States visited	10	States or providences	11	States visited
71	Towns visited	55	Towns visited	62	Towns visited
8	Locks traversed	106	Locks traversed	2	Locks traversed
146	Days at a marina	121	Days at a marina	170	Days at a marina
11	Nights at a dock	46	Nights at a dock	3	Nights at a dock
48	Nights at anchor	30	Nights at anchor	50	Nights at anchor
4	Nights on a mooring ball	10	Nights on a mooring ball	25	Nights on a mooring ball
2	Days on the hard	2	Days on the hard	0	Days on the hard

2014 Travel Stats		2014 Texas Pearl Stats		2015 Travel Stats
1143	Miles traveled	1708	Miles traveled	1027	Miles traveled
279	Gallons of diesel	1054	Gallons of diesel	340	Gallons of diesel
163	Engine hours	196	Engine hours	112	Engine hours
141	Days on board	32	Days on board	123	Days on board
34	Days of travel	25	Days of travel	33	Days of travel
3	States visited	5	States visited	2	States visited
23	Towns visited	16	Towns visited	15	Towns visited
0	Locks traversed	11	Locks traversed	2	Locks traversed
115	Days at a marina	18	Days at a marina	67	Days at a marina
13	Nights at a dock	5	Nights at a dock	2	Nights at a dock
12	Nights at anchor	9	Nights at anchor	23	Nights at anchor
1	Nights on a mooring ball	0	Nights on a mooring ball	21	Nights on a mooring ball
0	Days on the hard	0	Days on the hard	10	Days on the hard

2016 Travel Stats
3434	Miles traveled
1037	Gallons of diesel
453	Engine hours
208	Generator hours
208	Days on board
75	Days of travel
12	States visited
59	Towns visited
1	Locks traversed
107	Days at a marina
6	Nights at a dock
35	Nights at anchor
60	Nights on a mooring ball
0	Days on the hard

Merry Christmas

“The best keeps getting better all the time.” –Allan Jackson

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...2016 was another amazing year and we feel blessed to have the life we are living. Our year was divided between adventures on the water and delightful time spent with our growing family.

We traveled from the Florida Keys to Maine this year. Exploring new places, revisiting old favorites, making new friends and catching up with old friends along the way. I won't go over highlights in this post...you can read the rest of the blog for that.

As wonderful as our cruising life is, the real joy of our life is our family. We really enjoy spending time playing, hugging, kissing and learning from our incredible grandchildren. Watching these little people grow is truly a gift. On December 8th we welcomed Cora Rose into our family and we were so excited and thrilled to be there for her birth. Kyle, Brytanie, her big brother Graham and the rest of the family are already in love with her. What a great Christmas present.

We look forward to new adventures on the water in 2017 and spending time with our grandwonders.

Nov. 14 - Beautiful Fall Day

Rockport Harbor

"It's amazing how a little tomorrow can make up for a whole lot of yesterday." ― John Guare

It was a beautiful day to be on the water, although our purpose for cruising today was to fill our fuel tanks...any excuse to be on the water on a day like today is a good thing.

The best fuel price in the area is in Con Brown Harbor, about ten miles south of Rockport. We had a leisurely cruise south, took on 225 gallons of diesel, had a nice lunch on our cruise back and then anchored by Mud Island to enjoy the rest of the day and watch the Super Moon come up. We gave some thought to spending the night on the hook, but we both have obligations in the morning, so we enjoyed a moonlit cruise back to our dock.

My favorite house on the ICW

Entering Con Brown Harbor

Fuel dock

What a beautiful day

It was fun watching all the dolphins playing today

Sunset and Moonrise

Wordless Wednesday

Nov. 6 – Rockport, TX

Rockport Harbor

“The world above is a wonderful place. But everyone knows the true magic lies...under the sea, where the water is clear and the fish swim free.” ―Sebastian, The Little Mermaid

One of the things I enjoy doing when we stay in Rockport is working at the Aquarium at Rockport Harbor. It's located across the parking lot from the boat, so my commute is very short. Working there gives me a chance to contribute to the community, visit with people from all over the country and get to know other volunteers who live in the area.

I worked this week and was lucky enough to be in town to enjoy a cruise on Archimedes (Texas Floating Classroom). The aquarium sponsored this floating educational classroom so the children in the area could have a chance to learn about the water they live by. On Thursday evening they had a sunset cruise for the volunteers, a way of saying thank you for the work that we do. I enjoyed the chance to spend a few hours on the water on such a beautiful evening.

A few of my favorite residents of the aquarium...this is Marley, a spotted moray eel.

Giant hermit crab

Stonefish

Lionfish

Seahorses

Archimedes - Texas Floating Classroom

Leaving the harbor, the building to the left is the educational building of the aquarium.

Learning a few things while enjoying a pretty evening on the water

Some of the aquarium volunteers enjoying a sunset cruise

Nov. 2 – Totally Out of Florida

“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.” – C.S. Lewis

We finally have our car back in Texas. It’s been sitting at Ortega River Marina for almost seven months. I drove Stan to the airport in Houston on Saturday and he caught a late flight to Jacksonville. He arrived about 9:45 eastern time and took Uber to the marina. The car was in great shape and started quickly, so he thought he'd drive west just a little before stopping for the night. Fate had other plans...he couldn't find a hotel room anywhere from Jacksonville to Pensacola. Every room was full, it seems Florida State University played in Tallahassee on Saturday and everywhere was packed.

After dropping Stan off I drove to my brother's house in Sugar Land. I spent the evening and most Sunday catching up with my sister in law and nieces, and had a chance to play with my great nephew…we had a wonderful time. Paula and I didn't go to bed until after three. I kept in touch with Stan during the night and knew he had decided to drive straight through. What else can you do when you can’t find a room?

By the time I got up Sunday morning Stan was in Baton Rouge and I knew he would beat me home. We left our house around 2:00 on Saturday and Stan was home by 2:30 Sunday...875 miles by air and 1135 miles by car. After more than 2 ½ years…we are finally and completely out of Florida.

Wordless Wednesday

Oct. 23 – Texas Pearl Cruise

Rockport Harbor

“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.” – Anaïs Nin

Last weekend we had a chance to take the Texas Pearl out for a cruise. We went up to San Antonio Bay and anchored close to Panther Lake...a place where Stan has spent a lot of time fishing in the past. The weather was nice, although still a little warmer than we'd like. It was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed watching the Hunter Moon come up over the horizon while doing a little fishing.

This was the first time we pulled a dinghy with us. It seemed to work well