Provision Day

We've been studying weather forecasts all morning to decide which part of Florida we should sail first. Originally, we had planned to cruise Southwest Florida first because we've never done it before and if we loved it, we could stay longer. However, with the cold weather that is coming through SW Florida, we might swap cruising destinations. It appears that the lows are about 10 to 20 degrees higher in the Keys compared to the Punta Gorda lows. This makes a huge difference in the mornings and in the evenings on the boat. Remember that we are essentially camping but sans space heater and long johns (no we aren't irresponsible, we're in Florida!). Although, we do have a sleeping bag, fleece blankets, and we are in an enclosed space.

Assuming Scott doesn't change his mind, we're heading to the Keys first. This morning we are leaving Fort Lauderdale to spend a night with our friend Abbe at the Nuzzo's. We are going to provision today so that we can freeze what we can overnight to help keep the cooler cold. Tomorrow, first thing in the morning we'll head for the Keys!

Heading for warmer weather,
Lauren & Scott

Going Back for Seconds!

Rereading our last post, “[w]e probably won't cruise on Threesome for more than two weeks next time”, oh how we lied! Apparently enough time can pass to make you forget about all those lessons that you learned from the first cruise.

We have 40 days in Florida planned over the next couple months to keep ourselves out of the Michigan cold. How did we manage all this vacation time? Well I was accepted at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine and I start June 12^th. I decided after my first semester of grad school at Wayne State University that it didn't make sense to stay in the program for the spring semester. Fortunately, Scott is in his off-season with his day (night) job on the Detroit Princess. His real estate business is busy and pushing forward without him, luckily Scott can handle almost everything from his phone (with a little help from Uncle Giovanni).

We've already taken two trips down to Florida this winter. In our first trip we towed Threesome down and put her in storage in Punta Gorda, we received our new dinghy in the mail and blew it up, and we spent some time with friends in Estero. 

Our second trip was just a sabbatical from the Michigan snow. We spent ten days in Punta Gorda with Jim and Carol. Jim was the Captain of the Lee Tregurtha while Scott was a cadet. We had a great time taking their powerboat out for canal cruises, a trip to Cayo Costa, and exploring Charlotte Harbor. We also had the pleasure of sailing a Morris 29 with one of Jim's friends, which was probably the highlight of our trip. Oh, and between the two of us we gained 9lbs. Yeah, we ate well.

Ready for our upcoming adventure, 

Lauren & Scott

Countdown to Putting the Hulls in Salt Water

The anticipation is killing us! We are so ready to get out of here; the countdown is 3 days.
For those of you that don't know, we broke the "cruising adventure" into two parts. The first part of the trip included getting Threesome to Florida. Last month we drove the boat down to Punta Gorda, Florida, and by "we" I mean Scott, who drove the whole way because he was so excited to get there. We left the boat (on the trailer) and the truck in storage in Punta Gorda, which is where Scott's friends, Jim and Carol Nuzzo, live. Jim was Captain of the Great Lakes freighter, Lee A. Tregurtha, and was Scott's mentor when Scott was a cadet. We stayed in Punta Gorda with Jim and Carol for three nights and had an awesome time. They took us out to Fisherman's Village on Charlotte Harbor for dinner, took us out in their flats boat to cruise the river, and not only did they invite us to enjoy Isles Yacht Club for Valentine's dinner, but introduced us to many of their friends, some of whom live in the Keys! After three days of their hospitality, we headed for Naples. We met up with Sean, Scott's friend from college and hung out on the beach all day in the sun. It was so great we did it again the following day before flying back to Michigan for work and other travel plans.

The second part of our trip will include setting sail. We will fly back down to Florida THIS Monday morning to be reunited with our yacht. We plan on spending the night in Punta Gorda and getting an early start on Tuesday to drive down to Marathon (exact destination to be determined) and set up the boat. Punta Gorda is about 6 hours from Marathon Key, which will be where we launch the boat from and leave the truck. We can't wait to finally begin cruising in paradise!

Anxiously awaiting the adventure,
Lauren & Scott