Hard to believe it’s been well over a month since our last post ~ but then I think back on all that has happened…
Way back in early May we did connect with our high school friend Angie and her husband Kelly near Ponce Inlet. They live in a great community just south of Daytona Beach. So many amenities including a marina where we docked Echo for a few weeks. We very much enjoyed Angie and Kelly’s hospitality and met a few other folks during our stay. At one of the pools we met Sheryl and Kirk who invited us over the following evening. It was such a fun time getting to know everyone, hope to connect again some time! We also met Dewey and Lisa who live in the development and keep their sailboat in the marina. The dock master, Jerry took great care of us and Echo. Great place to stop if you have the right connections.
With Echo safe and secure in the marina, we rented a car and headed across the state for Scott and Tiffany’s wedding in Bonita Springs. The wedding was beautiful and It was so great to spend time with family! Congratulations to Scott, Tiffany and their daughters!
Linda, Kim, Jeff and Mary
On Mother’s Day met up with Jeff’s Aunt Linda and cousin Kim, good to connect on the first Mother’s Day since Jeff’s mom’s death.
~Back to the catamaran quest ~
We had driven to Fort Lauderdale before the wedding to meet up with a broker. There we saw a Crowther, a Knysna and a Catana. All of our exploration continued to help us learn what is available in Catamarans and further hone in on what exactly we required.
After the wedding we headed back over to Stuart to see an Antares 44. This manufacturer advertises their boat to be “the best live aboard catamaran” – we were very curious. There were aspects of the boat that concerned us but we felt we had to see one before making any buying decision. Good Trade had just arrived back from the Bahamas and had a list of prospects wanting a viewing, fortunately we were the first scheduled.
We met the owners Ross, Ashleen and Kyler, then explored the boat thoroughly. We left that day feeling that it included so many more of our “must haves” than any other boat we had seen. We knew Antares catamarans are few in number and move fast when on the market. This information and the fact that other prospects would see the boat soon caused us to agonize overnight and put together an offer the next morning. As it turned out, the next prospect made an offer as did another who hadn’t seen the boat yet. The owners felt a bit overwhelmed and decided to take a week to sort things out before making a decision. We were not optimistic that things would go in our favor.
While waiting out the week I took a quick trip to Detroit to attend a wedding shower for Katie, my soon-to-be daughter-in-law. Unfortunately we weren’t able to go to my cousin Dan’s wedding but did see lots of beautiful wedding pictures on Facebook. When back in Florida we headed out Ponce Inlet to start North getting Echo to Charleston. It ended up being one extra night out due to the wind direction but all in all it was a great last journey on Echo!
Once we had cell service again we found a voice mail from Ross to say that they had decided on us – we would get “Good Trade”. We were excited but now under pressure to get Echo emptied off and cleaned up then to get ourselves back to Stuart for a survey and sea trial.
In Charleston we docked at City Marina where our broker, St. Bart’s, is located. Initially we thought we could remove all our things in an afternoon, it actually took three long, hot days. We were as surprised as all the people at the marina who watched us remove load after load. It was pretty amazing to see the amount of stuff we had squirreled away on Echo. We completely filled a 5 by 10 foot storage unit and Echo’s waterline came up about 3 inches. We promised each other that we would carefully think through everything we brought aboard our new boat.
It was sad to leave Echo, felt like we were loosing a good friend. She has been a great boat and home for us during a difficult transition in our lives. We sailed her over 10,000 miles through several countries and many different weather conditions. She served us well and the next owners will find a wonderful boat and will benefit from many well thought out additions and improvements made by Jeff.
While doing a little exploring in Florida we stopped by our address in Green Cove Springs. We also enjoyed a drive on the beach and a great lobster roll at Cafe Heavenely in New Smyrna Beach.
As one door closes, another opens….
We rented a car and drove 500 miles south, back to Stuart. We were nervous going into the survey and sea trial but all went great. We even had the opportunity to sail close to the wind which is a challenge for many catamarans, the boat performed pretty well. Within a few days we were the proud new owners of Good Trade, soon to be named Echo and some extension to honor the original Echo.
We spent one night at a marina in Stuart to get ourselves and the boat organized for the journey back to Charleston aboard Good Trade. We did some travel north on the ICW but then saw a good opportunity so headed out at Fort Pierce. Good Trade performed very well during the 48 hour ocean passage. We motored some but sailed quite a bit, we also benefited from the 3 knot current in the Gulf Stream. The last few hours were pretty “sporty” as Jeff likes to say, the wind a steady 25 knots and gusting to 30 with 4 to 6 foot seas. As we entered the harbor in Charleston early in the morning we were greeted by the coast guard who choose to board us for a safety inspection. They were very nice guys and were quite understanding of the fact that we were pretty tired from the journey and had just taken possession of the boat less that a week earlier. We did have to search for a few things but in the end did meet all the requirements and passed inspection.
Now came the task of taking everything back out of the storage unit and loading it on to Good Trade. The previous owners left quite a bit of gear which we tried to sort through as we were bringing our gear aboard. Our promise of carefully thinking through all items went somewhat by the wayside, but we did weed out many things during the move. It took about a week and several trips to Goodwill but we finally felt the beginnings of organization on Good Trade. It will take months to really organize but it does feel good to have all that packing and unpacking behind us!
We took one day to explore Charleston before leaving. What a beautiful city filled with friendly and helpful people!
We left Charleston about a week ago and have been slowly making our way north via the ICW. We stop most nights at marinas along the way. It is very hot and running the air conditioning has been a necessity, we do plan anchoring some where we can be close to the ocean breeze. The scenery is beautiful, the low country, the barrier islands, the birds and of course the dolphins. Fortunately there was just that one alligator.
The company insuring our new boat requires us to be north of Cape Hatteras by July 15, so that’s as far as we know for plans at the moment. We have some boat improvements to make and hope to explore some of New England this season. The insurance policy for Echo provides storm coverage just north of the Florida/Georgia border so she’s fine with the broker in Charleston.
We will post more about Good Trade and the official name change at some point. For now, it is a 2004 Antares 44 Catamaran, beam 22 feet and draft about 4 feet. The first owners named her Barefeet and completed a 5 year circumnavigation then sold her to Ross, Ashleen and Kyler who renamed her and spent the past 3 years exploring the US East coast, Bahamas and the Carribean. Some of the aspects that made this boat stand out in our evaluation included solid fiberglass construction below the waterline, keels and skeg mounted rudders along with shaft drives. We were sold on the concept of a catamaran and just needed to find the one that had the interior layout and amenities we wanted along with the safety factors that we required and Good Trade fit the bill in all aspects.
It feels good to be on the move again, thanks for following our travels ~ Jeff and Mary
Delighted to read that you have found your dream boat and look forward to reading more as you come up the coast. Is NYC on the agenda? If so, let me know.
Thanks Brid, we are enjoying the new boat. Not sure how far north we’ll get but will certainly contact you if we get to NYC!
So good to hear from Mary! I love your posts and figured you were very busy in some icky, hot, humid weather. Glad to hear the adventure continues and you are still married!
Thanks Denise, good to hear from you.
Congratulations on the new boat..B & I are in Bermuda now celebrating our 50th anniversary. Will return home on June 23..T&B
Thanks Tom. Happy anniversary to you and Brenda. Hope you are doing well.
Jeff and Mary,
It’s always a pleasure to read your posts, and after the latest I had to chime in on the name change, although I figure that’s done. LOL. It just sounds like the name ECHO should be followed by a slightly smaller, dimmer echo! Or 2, each smaller and dimmer.
What fun just contemplating that!
Be safe,
Curt and Mary
We agree Curt. It is confusing having 2 boats with the same name. We are thinking maybe ECHO 2…or ECHO too. Thanks for the comments.
Glad for the update. Will see you in September!
Can’t wait!