The Polar Plunge

Layla always looks cool from this perspective.

Weather windows be damned.  We weren’t going to wait any longer.  It is only going to get colder.  We have launched (on 14 January, 2016).

Ah...back in the water...

At the Morehead City Docks, just two blocks from our house.

We packed Layla and closed up the house.

The last of the stuff in the house bound for the boat.

A little more chaos and almost there.

We headed south down the waterway.  We are gone.  So the big question, “When are you guys going to leave?” has been finally answered. 

The next big question, “Where are you now?” 

Tune in again for the next dispatch and part of the answer.  Hope you are wearing your hats.  We are.  

Happy New Year!

First walk on the beach for the new year

We took our first walk on the beach of the new year here at Fort Macon State Park on Atlantic Beach in North Carolina.  It was a wonderful day with temperature in the 70's.  Of course the weather then changed and it has been below freezing at night and in the 40's during the day for the last several days!

The boat yard was closed for the holidays and then they decided to dredge the launch area. We have not put the boat in the water. As most family and friends know all too well- "cruising is more about intentions than schedules".

We intend on putting Layla in the water next week and move her to a slip for a few days while we make our final arrangements to leave. Yep. The big jump.  We will keep you posted.

Related to the issue of staying in touch, we have discovered a locator device (by InReach) we hope will keep us in touch. We will be able to send short messages (60 characters or less) to email addresses via satellite. Also, those interested will be able to see our location on a map to follow our travel. We will provide some more information shortly. If you think you want to be included in the list of contacts, let us know by sending an email or send a comment here. 

Wish you all the best for 2016.

Remember the words of Mark Twain,

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”