Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Last February we exchanged road maps for waterway charts and guides as we moved onto our 36 ft. Kadey-Krogen Manatee “Summertime”. We entered a lifestyle driven by weather windows, tide charts, local knowledge, recommended secluded anchorages and bustling marinas, dredged channel depths and bridge heights and opening schedules. Yes, the rigorous course we took last November on navigation and powerboat maintenance and operation really did pay off. 

While sailboats and larger power boats with deep drafts (4’-7’) “go to the outside” to find deeper water, we take advantage of our trawler’s shallow draft (3’ 2”)and “keep to the inside”. We navigate the canal-like waters between the coastal mainland and the narrow barrier islands, the marshy rivers and their tributaries and the man-made cuts that make up the ICW, the protected Intracoastal Waterway. We steer the boat between red and green markers that keep us in the deeper water that has been dredged to 12 feet. We have already logged nearly 2000 miles. Starting from Punta Gorda Isles, we cruised up Florida’s Gulf Coast to St. Petersburg. Turning south we made our way down to the Cape Coral/ Ft. Myers area. At that point the Caloosahatchee River lock system connected us to Lake Okeechobee, and following the St. Lucie Canal we arrived at Stuart on the Atlantic Ocean. A nice short cut. We turned north and trekked our way up the East Coast: FL, GA, SC, and NC.

We put our trawler “on the hard” in a boatyard up the Cape Rear River near Wilmington so we could welcome Erin and the girls back to our cabin in Maine where we picked berries, played around in smaller boats and went swimming everyday. Great Gramps and Great Grandmother sure did enjoy our visits. Returning to “Summertime” in October, we made our way up the NC coast as far as Swansboro. The chilly mornings began to remind us that it was time to head south. We made our way back to Brunswick, GA and tucked “Summertime” in one of our favorite marinas. We have just driven a rental car to Atlanta to be with Erin, Brett, Emily, Bailey and puppy Cupcake. Thanksgiving has been a great time. Early in December we are looking forward to spending a week in Belize with friends from Maine. Christmas will be spent with Dad, almost 97, at his N. Ft. Myers home. We hope to explore the Florida Keys this winter, maybe even scooting out to the Bahamas. We’ll see how far we get at 7 mph!   Join us as our adventures unfold at our online blog: wallyanddarcy.blogspot.com Follow our travels daily on Facebook: wallydarcy campbell and like us at M/V Summertime Our phone number remains 828 231 5025; also our email: wallyanddarcy@gmail.com New mail forwarding: 3916 N. Potsdam Ave. #353, Sioux Falls, SD 57104-7048 A Merry Christmas to you all and fair winds for the new year.... Darcy and Wally