2018 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 on a computer.

Stan and I both keep logs of information about our travels. Mine are more about the places we've been and the places we've stayed, his are more technical (engine hours, maintenance etc.). For information on where we've docked and anchored, please refer to my Travel Logs. This year we took two short trips from Ithaca. We spent two weeks traveling west on the Erie Canal and almost three weeks in the the Thousand Islands. Not as many miles as we use to put under the keel...but an adventure just the same. The totals below are from the time we left home in 2011 till the end of 2018. See other years stats here.

     166   Different anchorages

     120   Different marinas

     349   Different towns visited

       23   State & providences visited

         3   Countries visited

      223   Most miles traveled in one day
18,993   Total miles traveled

2018 Travel Stats
     914 Miles traveled
     287 Gallons of diesel purchased
     165 Engine hours
       18 Generator hours
     168 Days on board
       32 Days of travel
         3 States/providences visited
       24 New Towns visited
       50 Locks traversed
     133 Days at a marina
       21 Nights at a dock
         7 Nights at anchor
         0 Nights on a mooring ball
         7 Days on the hard (hauled out)

2017 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 on a computer.

Stan and I both keep logs of information about our travels. Mine are more about the places we've been and the places we've stayed, his are more technical. For information on where we've docked and anchored please refer to my Travel Logs. We didn't put a lot of miles under our keel this year, so the stat's haven't changed too much from last year. These totals are from the time we left home in 2011 till the end of 2017.

     161   Different anchorages

     107   Different marinas

     324   Different towns visited

       23   State & providences visited

        3    Countries visited

     223    Most miles traveled in one day
18,070   Total miles traveled

  2017 Travel Stats
     981 Miles traveled
     358 Gallons of diesel purchased
     131 Engine hours
         2 Generator hours
     167 Days on board
       15 Days of travel
         4 States visited
       23 New Towns visited
       25 Locks traversed
     149 Days at a marina
       12 Nights at a dock
         5 Nights at anchor
         0 Nights on a mooring ball
         0 Days on the hard (hauled out)
         1    Night at Sea

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

2013 Season Wrap Up

I usually do a wrap up blog when we get home after a wonderful cruising year. Thoughts about our feelings of the places we've seen and how it feels to be home. This year I'm having more trouble with that. My thoughts and feelings at the end of our third cruising season are the same as the past two years. Our favorite places for the year are different, but our passion for what we are doing is the same. Maybe this year I'll just give highlights of the year instead. 

The first 3 1/2 months of our cruising season were spent in Charleston, which we thoroughly loved. Most of our days were spent on boat projects, although we did find plenty of time to enjoy the company of good friends and had fun exploring the city. The second part of our year was spent moving up the coast from South Carolina to Cape May, NJ. Except for a side trip to Manteo on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and a few weather delays, it was pretty uneventful. 

Our first real adventure of the year came when we decided to take the inside route up the New Jersey coast through the ICW instead of waiting on high winds and rough seas in the Atlantic Ocean. We don't regret making the trip and we got to see a little more of New Jersey, but I'm pretty sure it was a once in a lifetime event. After our long, very slow trip up the coast we spent a wonderful day in New York City. We had a lot of wet cool days this spring, but we got an absolutely amazing day to ride bikes around NYC and Central Park…definitely a highlight of the year. 

I felt our real cruising season began when we went up the East River into Long Island Sound and headed towards New England. What a great place to spend the summer and our friends on Amici made it even better. Their gracious hospitality while we were in their homeport of Branford, CT made us feel like we were home and we really enjoyed spending time with them on Block Island and in Martha’s Vineyard. The highlights of our visit to New England were Newport, Mystic, Block Island, Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod and Boston. As wonderful as New England was and despite the wonderful time we were having with our friends, our true destination for the summer was Maine. Luckily by this time the weather was finally giving us a break and we got to spend four wonderful weeks exploring this amazing state. We enjoyed the beautiful coastline, small towns like Camden, hiking on Mount Desert, picking blueberries, seeing the wildlife, eating lobsters and visiting with the local people. Four weeks were definitely not long enough to absorb all that Maine has to offer…we will be back.

As we departed Maine we made our way back down the coast and visited places we missed on our way up. The one true highlight of the summer was having Kyle and Brytanie join us for Labor Day weekend in New York City. We had a great time having them onboard and getting to show them NYC from the deck of The Pearl. An added bonus during their visit was having the Pianas (Bryt’s family) join us for a day of cruising and exploring the city. We truly enjoyed having family onboard and sharing our cruising life with them.

After Labor Day we made our way down the east coast and back to the Chesapeake, where we enjoyed three weeks in Baltimore. It was a great place to transition back into life on land…we had time to relax, do a little work on the boat, explore the city and catch up with friends before we headed back to Texas. It was another wonderful year on the boat and now that we are home we can see how blessed we are to have the opportunity to see so many unbelievable places, meet so many great people and spend so much time on the water. For now we will spend time catching up with family and friends at home…but we look forward to more adventures on The Pearl next spring!

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

This is a map of our New England and Maine stops

This map shows the travels of The Pearl since we bought her in March 2010. To see more details of the places we've been click here. 

Oct. 21 – Adjusting to Life on Land

There’s always an adjustment period when we leave the boat and move back into our home. It’s nice to have more room, I enjoy my larger tub, the convenience of the car and we definitely like relaxing in our lounge chairs. Everyone asks and I guess they think we sleep better at home in our own beds…well the beds on the boat ARE our own beds too, and we actually sleep much better on them. This summer we slept with the windows open most nights, with a cool breeze blowing through the cabin. The only nights we closed the windows were the nights that were too cold to have them open. The fresh air and the gentle rocking of the boat make sleeping very easy. I truly miss those two things.

Catching up with family and friends is the best part of being home; it's what we miss the most about being on the boat. We stay in touch daily with everyone, but hugs and kisses are a little hard to email! Stan loves to fish, so being on the coast in Texas in the fall is a great time of year. Stan plans to spend as much time as possible in his kayak fishing on the bay...but first, things around the house have to be done. There are seven months of little chores and maintenance projects to catch up on. We work as quickly as possible to get these things done, so we have time to have fun. We also have all winter to plan our next adventure.

2012 Travel Stats				2011 Travel Stats
2678		Miles traveled		3987		Miles traveled
808		Gallons of diesel purchased		1085		Gallons of diesel purchased
379		Engine hours		566		Engine hours
209		Days on board		211		Days on board
68		Days of travel		96		Days of travel
10		States or provinces		13		States visited
55		Towns visited		71		Towns visited
106		Locks traversed		8		Locks traversed
121		Days at a marina		146		Days at a marina
46		Nights at a dock		11		Nights at a dock
30		Nights at anchor		48		Nights at anchor
10		Nights on a mooring ball		4		Nights on a mooring ball
2		Days on the hard		2		Days on the hard

Some of our neighbors are very...very large, but they will move south when hurricane season is over.

She looks a little sad...all closed up for the winter

Oct. 6 - Home Sweet Home

We left Port Lavaca on March 7...we had seven months of amazing adventures, filled with lots of new sites and experiences. We traveled 3990 miles, over 4000 miles if you add in the miles we traveled in the dinghy and on our bikes. We visited 12 states and the District of Columbia and countless numbers of wonderful cities and little towns. Some of our favorite places include Ocean Springs MS, Tarpon Springs FL, St. Petersburg FL, St. Augustine FL, Fernandina Beach FL, Cumberland Island GA, Charleston SC, Beaufort SC, Washington DC, Annapolis MD, and all the wonderful little places on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Our favorite day was spent snorkeling and fishing off Sombrero Reef in Marathon, Florida. The list could be so much longer…there were so many places that had their shining moments. We enjoyed learning more about the history of the country and seeing the places we’d heard about all our lives. We especially enjoyed the times we had with family…it was a lot of fun to explore Key West with Kenneth and Earline, and we enjoyed getting to know Kendra, Doug and their girls a little more in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Thank you for sharing a piece of our adventure. The other high point of our trip was meeting people…not just boaters, but the local people of all the great places we stopped. They shared local knowledge and their enthusiasm for the places they live…so many good memories.

It took us a little time to get comfortable with weather and sea conditions, buying groceries without a car, doing normal life activities in such a small space, limited laundry and countless other things we take for granted at home. We definitely have become more appreciative of those things. Stan's confidence in the boat and his ability to handle new situations grew each day. Things that seemed like big deals in the beginning…were nothing by the time we returned. As we have more time this winter to reflect on the places we’ve been, the things we’ve seen and the things we’ve done, I’m sure it will soak in a little more how lucky we’ve been to have this amazing experience.

I am going to miss the sounds and sites on the water….the birds, the fish, the sunset and the unknown around the bend. This is just a break…not an end to our adventure. We look forward to cruising again next spring and summer, and exploring other wonderful spots in this country and Canada.

Stan making the last inspections on the boat

Atlantic Yacht Basin...one of the sheds they keep boats in

One last look at our precious Pearl