Leaving Baja for the Season and Summer Plans

Changes in Latitudes – Changes in Attitudes

We returned to Baja at the end of March, with excitement about a new chapter… After 30+ years of traveling to and living in Los Barriles, Baja, Mexico. We decided it was time to check out other places and sold our home to a wonderful couple who will take care of it and enjoy it as much as we did.

We are planning on spending the next couple of years cruising on My Sharona and travel to other places. We will still return to Baja and our many friends, picking out our favorite months to be there.

Back to the Blog…

After a great time in Spanish Wells, I flew home for the East Cape Guilds Music Festival in March. I am so happy to be involved with the East Cape Guild in Los Barriles, Baja, Mexico. We raise funds to put qualified students with high school and college scholarships. (In Mexico, high school and above grades are not free and many local families can not afford to go to school)

After the Music Festival I flew back to Spanish Wells. We had made plans to buddy boat back to Florida with Jamie and Karen, and the weather Gods decided to give us a good crossing weather window. We had just enough time to say goodbye to our cruising buddies and get moving back to Florida.

Our Plan is to leave My Sharona in Jacksonville until June. Having some work done.. spiffing her up and most importantly adding a new kind of Stabilizers to the bottom of the boat.

I think if you have read our blog, you realize that moving from place to place is always watching the weather. Especially without stabilizers which, on most ocean going boats, are built in at the factory. Boat stabilizers are devices or systems designed to reduce a boat’s rolling or rocking motion due to waves, currents, or wind, enhancing stability and comfort, especially in rough seas.

Our boat is 42 feet, and most boats this size do not have them. Since we like to cross the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas, which is where we find rough seas, we decided to splurge and have a system installed.

Next up – Florida to Maine

This summer we have decided to cruise from Florida up to Maine. We have done this wonderful trip twice before, but both of those times, we went all the way up to Maine and back down to Florida in one summer. It is doable for sure, but since you need to make it up to Maine and back in one summer, you tend to rush and miss some spots that you would like to see if you had more time.

So.. this year we are planning on leaving My Sharona up in Portland, Maine for the winter, so we will have lots of time to see the places we missed. On the trip up to Maine, we will be traveling on the Intercostal Waterway.

The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a network of navigable channels, rivers, bays, and canals that stretches more than 3,000 miles along the eastern and Gulf coasts of the United States, from Boston, Massachusetts to Brownsville, Texas. The ICW provides a protected and inland route for boats to travel up and down the coast, avoiding the dangers of the open sea and the need to go around the Florida peninsula.

The ICW was originally developed as a commercial waterway in the early 1900s, but today it is primarily used by recreational boaters, including sailors, powerboaters, and cruisers, who want to explore the many ports, towns, and anchorages along the coast. The waterway is maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and includes many man-made canals and dredged waterways, as well as natural waterways like sounds and rivers

The ICW is a popular route for boaters who want to travel the East Coast of the United States, with many stops and attractions along the way, including historic towns, scenic waterways, and beautiful beaches. However, because the waterway is a man-made and maintained waterway, it does require careful navigation and attention to water levels, depth, and channel markers. Many boaters rely on navigational charts and GPS devices to navigate the waterway safely.

The Ditch on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), specifically refers to the portion of the ICW that runs through the Eastern Seaboard, including the coast of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. It is called the Ditch because it is a man-made waterway that is often very narrow, with relatively shallow water and a narrow channel that requires careful navigation. The Ditch is popular with recreational boaters who use it to travel up and down the coast, as well as commercial vessels that transport goods and materials along the waterway.

That’s about it for now… Hope you all are enjoying your summer. I will try to keep you updated on our travels.