Here We Go Again

“It’s time to move on, it’s time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It’s time to move on, time to get going”

— Tom Petty, Time to Move On

It’s packing time. Our schedule is locked and loaded. We have marina reservations. We have places to go.

But we aren’t on Selkie yet.

We are still in Tahoe.

We need to get to Florida!

But before we do, we have a holiday to spend with family.

Libbie and I depart for Austin, Texas on 12/20 and spend a week with our family before heading to Saratoga, Florida on a Southwest Flight, and to Selkie.

We are starting to gather all the things we took with us back to Tahoe, especially personal clothing and other items.

We are also bringing other things we’ve acquired over the summer, like (pretty heavy) guide books, important paperwork, and personal electronics.

With any luck, we’ll be done packing in the next ten days. We leave in eleven.

We’ve spend more money on Selkie this summer, not just with storage.

(Remember what B.O.A.T. stands for, right? Answer at the bottom if you don’t remember.)

There were some typical issues to chase down when we pulled her out of the water last February. We think those issues were fixed but won’t know for sure until we actually see her in the water and run everything.

We also had her hull waxed and bottom painted.

The yard, Safe Cove Inc in Port Charlotte, Florida has been storing Selkie. The staff there has been very helpful in getting things done, and we are very pleased with their help. They will be putting Selkie in the water the day before we get there.

But we will have some work to do once we arrive in Florida.

When we left, we had essentially taken everything off Selkie that could blow away and put it all inside the cabin.

That was a great decision, given that Hurrican Milton paid a visit to Selkie with (insert appropriate possessive pronoun here) hurricane force winds. To read more about this, see my previous blog, “Whew”.

Now we need to reverse everything to put Selkie back together and provision her.

We need to raise her radar mast and restore everything outside the boat back to sailing condition.

We need to make sure everything works before we take off.

We also disrupted everything inside Selkie to help her survive a hot and humid Florida summer.

We positioned the mattress in our berth so that it would have air circulation around it… we don’t like moldy mattresses to sleep on.

We left interior hatches and doors open with fans circulating.

We had a dehumidifier running to keep the humidity to below mold-producing levels.

We left charcoal in foil trays out in the open to help with smell abatement.

We left stuff out so that it would improve air circulation around key items, like life jackets.

We need to stow all the stuff we either shipped to Selkie or brought with us.

And, according to our schedule, we have to get it done in a couple of days.

We can’t wait.

Our plan is to explore South Florida including the Keys from New Years until later in February when we park Selkie for a few weeks at Florida’s Space Coast.

Then, it will be March, and that means time to go to Tahoe to ski (and we need to be there)!

Our itinerary includes an initial stop in the Everglades and doing some exploring there.

We will then be in the Florida Keys for most of rest of the time, with its beautiful (but shallow!) water.

I’m looking forward to some snorkeling and fishing, and maybe finding a lobster or two for dinner. I know Libbie is looking forward to fishing.

Beyond that, we have no expectations of the Keys other than to enjoy them and see other Loopers doing the same thing as us. If we are lucky, we will get as far as Dry Tortugas National Park, only accessible by boat and a day’s sail from Key West.

Once we conclude our March ski trip back home to Tahoe, it will be back to Selkie and up the Atlantic Coast to Solomons Maryland about Memorial Day Weekend, when we finally “cross our wake” and finish our Loop.

FYI, we will be planning a celebration when we are done.

But until then…

“It’s time to move on, it’s time to get going…”

(B.O.A.T. means, “bring on another thousand”)