December 13, 2018 – Useppa Island, Florida to Burnt Store Marina, Punta Gorda, Florida

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 wasn’t in mother nature’s plan so we had to motor into the wind all the way.  When we arrived we planned on filling up the fuel tank and dumping the waste which is done at the fuel dock.  When we arrived at the fuel dock our ASA certification instructor, Tom Crowe happened to be there working on the dock and he helped us tie up to the dock.  He also went down to our slip to help us tie up and get settled.  He had worked with us in the class on docking under all different wind and current conditions.  I think we showed him that his instruction combined with our experience enabled us to pull up to the dock like the captains that we have become.

The journey from Annapolis was about 1,430 miles and took 43 days.  It turned us from textbook sailors to experienced sailors and navigators.  In our classes, recreational boaters are referred to as skippers and commercial boaters are referred to as captains.  In the real world when you communicate with bridge tenders and others you are called “Captain”.  So we now think of ourselves as Captains and it feels good.

This journey taught us many things about the BlueBreeze, about the systems on her, about anchoring and docking, about having to work together to accomplish all of these things.  She is a great boat that is well designed for coastal cruising with roomy accommodations, good rigging and sails as well as an economical and reliable engine.  We discovered that like other things in life, if we don’t use and care for things, they will deteriorate.  The issues that we had with BlueBreeze were all mainly due to the boat not being used and maintained.  Neither of the heads on the boat pump properly due to dried up seals and gaskets.  The electronics had not been updated and the charts were all out of date.  We made the trip in spite of these things and when you are traveling in a boat most times without access to professional help you have to figure things out and continue on.

This journey has been great for us and we appreciate those that have followed us on this blog, your comments and support are appreciated.  The more comments the better as the activity and also search for us on Google will make us identifiable based on the name, Bluebreeze.  We will be here at Burnt Store Marina until the end of April.  Already, some friends and family have signed up to do some sailing and exploring of Charlotte Harbor, Pine Island Sound and the West Coast Barrier Islands.  The Bluebreeze has two cabins and two heads so we can accommodate guests.  Just let us know if you are interested.  Below is BlueBreeze at her slip at Burnt Store Marina. You will note that we haven’t had a chance yet to remove her old name of “EOS” and christen her with her new name of “BlueBreeze”.