One Year!

As I am drinking my morning coffee today, I realized that this weekend will be the 1 year Anniversary of the Delivery Cruise from Kenosha to Marblehead. We will be spending the weekend out at Middle Bass Island and we will reflect on a season where we got used to the boat as a cruising couple. We very much enjoy our boat and have proven that we made the correct choice in acquiring this Trawler. Bob and Lyla, we will continue the tradition that you have set with this boat and start cruising far afield!

We have a winter project that we will have done. The boat is a 2007 and is due for a full bottom job. We are having the paint sand blasted off, any blisters in the fiberglass repaired and then epoxy barrier coats and hard finish coats. We did this on our Sea Ray and had fantastic results.

At some point we plan to update the electronics, but we have found our rhythm with the iPad running the Garmin app and using the 2 Raymarine E120's for AIS and RADAR to keep track of everyone else. We do want a stern thruster and the lanyard remote. The Marinas we frequent are tight and it would be nice to have the fine control of the stern when backing in to a slip in a fresh breeze. We have not hit anything but I certainly would like the added control. So on the longer term schedule of projects, we will postpone the electronics update and prioritize the stern thruster and related batteries, charger and control unit. We might even replace the bow thruster motor with a variable unit to match the variable we would install on the stern.

We are sad and excited at the same time for the season to end. It has been a great season and next year we plan on stretching our legs and heading north for our long trip next summer. We are planning on heading back to Mackinaw but we will take a different route and visit Detour Village and St. Ignace. We will pass by the Les Cheneaux Islands on our way so we may just stop and anchor for some fun.

We have 3 more weekends before we need to unload the boat of our stuff and lower the mast for winter storage. Fall is a beautiful time of year. Warm dry days and cool nights with colors at sunrise and sunset that are worth the cost of admission. Since I am now a member of the Yacht Club board, I will have things to keep me busy over the winter layup. I just might have found my off season "hobby". We will see.

Just Us II out and back to 16.