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.