Certain rituals seem to be ageless. One is the gathering of women to beat dirty clothes against rocks, to share a little gossip, and to generally pass the time. This ritual continues for boaters…it’s called the marina laundry room. Every week Mark hauls a big bag of laundry to the marina washers while I tag … Read more

As most of you have figured out by now, this isn’t a travelogue. It’s a personal journey and will one day be a book called “Confessions of a White-Knuckle Cruising Spouse.” I thought of the title eight years ago while crossing St. Andrew Sound in a small craft advisory. The sound is shallow, way out … Read more

This is not about Ernest Hemingway, although he lived in Florida and would understand why this phrase applies to this post. We left Fort Myers and headed for the Okeechobee Waterway, a 135-mile trip across the center of Florida, using rivers, a lake, and canals. We made it through five locks and turned northward in … Read more

Two days out of Clearwater we holed up in an anchorage to wait out a storm, but also to recuperate from inconsiderate drivers who speed by you a few yards away, not caring that their wakes roll and bounce you around like a ping pong ball. I’ve learned to restrain myself and not give the … Read more

If you’ve cruised, you know narrow channels are marked with red and green buoys or numbered placards and you stay well inside them. They mark the limits of the dredged channel so you don’t run aground. On the West Coast water’s pretty deep most places. In the Gulf, people walk a few feet from your … Read more