Cool Change Sailing

Having owned Cool Change for nearly a month now, it feels agonizingly slow before the weather becomes pleasant and I can finally conduct the sea trial on Long Island Sound. I’m remembering the feeling of excitement I once felt as a little boy, anticipating Christmas morning…which couldn’t get here quick enough.

This morning, my friend, Carla Bennett, whom I’ve known since my teens, asked me how I planned on returning to the U.S. Atlantic coast after having the boat delivered by land to Lake Erie. So, I described my plan as follows.

July 4, 2023 is when I intend to begin the journey. Any sailing time prior to that will primarily allow me to become familiar and proficient with operating the boat single-handed. As I sail to the east, I’ll eventually find myself in Canadian waters, as their national boundary runs down the center of Lake Erie. This will bring me to the Welland Canal—a deep water passage that allows maritime traffic to travel from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario or vice-versa—which consists of a series of eight locks. Small pleasure craft such as mine must yield the right of way to freighters which get first priority in each lock. Doing so, this section of my travels could take all day, depending on the traffic.

But once that canal is astern, and before I begin navigating the St. Lawrence Seaway, I plan on enjoying a few days at Niagara-On-The-Lake to spend time with Dave and Jannette Cheperdak, who recently moved there from British Columbia. Next, the St. Lawrence.

That lengthy body of water could take a month before I reach the Atlantic. No doubt, I’ll enjoy visiting places like Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. Why rush past cities I’ve never visited before? With no actual schedule, I can enjoy the trip and shore excursions for any amount of time I choose. This will take a full month, taking me to mid-August, then heading south along the U.S. coast.

At this point, I’ll continue a relaxing pace from town to town, probably rarely spending a full 24 hours at a time on the water. No need to hurry towards Florida; my insurance forbids me to sail south of Georgia until November 30th, the end of hurricane season. For 3 1/2 months, I can lazily wander towards the south, always finding my next interesting destination 8, 10, 12 or 20 hours away. The total distance from Maine to Florida is about 1,400 nautical miles, a trip which if done non-stop could be completed in two weeks.

I’m debating whether I want to navigate any portions of the ICW (Inner Coastal Waterway) which is popular with pleasure craft who want to avoid the added perils and risk of being on the ocean. This interior passageway allows boats to use their motor, not sails, and travel from the Chesapeake Bay to Florida and beyond. I haven’t fully researched it yet, but with a 60’ mast, I have to be certain of the bridge clearances. We’ll see. Besides, there no need to begin putting 100’s of hours on the engine if it’s not really necessary.

There’s no question about finding a marina somewhere in North Carolina. I’ve promised Rick Guthy I’d park it there for a few days and at least once, invite him and Denise for a day on the water. These moments and others like them will all go by so fast, November 30th will be here before you know it.

And that’s where the fun begins. In Green Springs, FL, there is a company called St. Brendan’s Isle that offers physical mail service to anyone without a physical address. This business began as a solution to the sailing community but they’re not their only clients. Those that travel around the country in RV’s can use their services also. You would have mail delivered there, then when you’ve stopped long enough to have mail forwarded, all you need is a General Delivery address and just like that—your mail will arrive. They even offer an e-delivery service where they’d open the mail, take digital images of it and allow you to read it immediately without the added 5-7 days! Plus, their service takes you step-by-step of establishing Florida residency, including driver’s license, boat registration, voter registration and more. Of course, this all comes with the added perk of no state tax.

My insurance also prevents me from traveling to any foreign countries during my first year, with the exception of Canada. However, they DO also make an exception for the Bahamas! And now that I’ve made it to December, what better time to visit the Exumas—a pristine, turquoise water paradise within the Bahamas—and relax at Chat ‘N Chill for the holiday!

Which brings me to the inspiration for today’s post— Nights in Ohio are still dropping into the 30’s and 20’s, making it ideal for burning Duraflame logs in the fireplace. Unfortunately, I’d run out of logs, so I hurried to Costco before they closed. While in the store and making a beeline for the boxes of logs, I passed a display of Tommy Bahamas folding chairs and beach umbrellas. I immediately pictured myself planting the umbrella on a white sandy beach, the chair beneath it and Strider lying next to me on a blanket. Both items came home with me along with the logs.

But, as I told Carla, this entire plan is subject to change or total erasure at a moment’s notice if I discover better ideas along the way. For now though, it feels not only doable, but probable.

My actual posts along the way might prove me wrong…but who cares? There no right or wrong choices of destinations when you’ve got all the time in the world.