It can be maddening trying to find, buy and then store all those chart books we boaters need for long-distance cruising. We’ve always felt it was important to have paper charts as a back up to our GPS chartplotter as well as for route planning. The downside of paper charts/chart…

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Could it be a conspiracy that our friends have called or talked to us about just one more going away dinner or party? I suppose they might be thinking that if they plan enough stuff we will be too busy and won’t be able to leave before the snow flies….

Our friend Gary helped Jim run the lines to the TV from the Track It unit. It all went together without a hitch. Thank God!  

This week I had the pleasure (I say I because Jim is out of town doing a boat show in Indiana this week) to meet many of the Loopers that are just now transiting through our homeport of Charlevoix, MI. As you can see from the photos below these are…

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Tradition dictates that a christening ceremony be performed for new boats. For thousands of years, we have gone to sea. We have crafted vessels to carry us and we have called them by name. These ships will nurture and care for us through perilous seas, and so we affectionately call…

Similar to Noah’s Ark we have two of everything and often times more, but in our case no animals. In preparing for the Great Loop we’ve been stocking up on engine pencil zincs, fuel filters, oil filters, oil, belts, impellers, tools, spare anchor and rode all in preparation for departure…

We have only eighty days until we cast our lines and depart Charlevoix for our new two-year adventure. Even though we have a whole northern Michigan summer season yet to enjoy, departure day is just around the corner. This past week we took care of a few items in preparation…

Summers in northern Michigan have the same number of days as anywhere else; it just seems shorter when 35˚, May evenings linger on towards Memorial Day. Couple this with how fast time seems to march on and you realize that you had better enjoy the warm days, when they come,…