Author: Jack Barnes

The term “splashing” is used by shipyards to mean putting the boat back in the water.  We got quite a few of projects taken care of the past summer in addition to protecting the BlueBreeze from hurricanes. This year there were numerous hurricanes but on one even came close to Safe Cove Marina in Port […]

This was Travis, Megan and Lincoln’s second visit to the BlueBreeze.  The first was when Lincoln was about 2 1/2 months old.  This visit was a rare pleasure to have all three aboard.  We brought along a pack and play for Lincoln to sleep in and it fit right next to the table in the […]

The term “splashing” is used by shipyards to mean putting the boat back in the water.  We got quite a lot of projects taken care of the past summer in addition to protecting the BlueBreeze from hurricanes.  Thankfully we missed Dorian and there were no other hurricanes that struck the Port Charlotte area.  The projects […]

We have enjoyed sailing in the Charlotte Harbor, Caya Costa Island State Park and Cabbage Key. During May the love bugs have been a real issue even to the point of following us across Charlotte Harbor, not to mention the bugs that get on the car.  This has been one of the worst years for […]

After returning from Vermont where we got to see our 4th grandchild “Lincoln”, born to Travis and our daughter Megan Bartlett, we spent most Tuesday’s thru Thursday’s cruising Charlotte Harbor from our slip at Burnt Store Marina.  We had many visitors including Stew and Becky Arnold, Bob Baucom and Karen Benedict, Linda Gilbert, Brenda Barry, […]

It was with mixed feelings that we got up today and headed the final 10 nautical miles to Burnt Store Marina.  On one hand we were thrilled to complete our journey from Annapolis, but at the same time it’s sad for the journey to end.  We had hoped to sail across Charlotte Harbor but it […]

The Marco Island anchorage was very pleasant, especially after the experience of the day before.  It was a cold night and the sunrise this morning was beautiful.  The channel leading from the anchorage out to the gulf had shallow water and was very crooked due to the shifting sand.  The seas close into shore were […]

Today was quite a day and one which we will never forget.  We got up and left early as our plan was to make it to the south end of Pine Island near Sanibel Island.  Under normal circumstances this would have been a long but doable day and setup the final half day to Burnt […]

We left the anchorage early but unfortunately a cold front had moved in and we had to motor into a 20 knot wind for the entire 40 miles to tonight’s anchorage.  We put up the reefed mainsail and this helped stabilize the boat as we plowed thru the waves generated by the wind.  We anchored […]

Morning has broken….. After a rather windy night at anchor behind Rodriguez Key, we headed south.  It was three hours of plowing into three to four foot waves into the wind when we reached a marina to refuel for the final leg of our journey.  We did see a rainbow along the way so we […]