Welcome!
This blog is dedicated to the adventures of Blue Moon, our 28 ft Cape Dory trawler. We found her up in Gulfport, FL several years ago and couldn't resist her. We then sold our 27 ft Cape Dory sailboat and started this chapter of our lives.
Although, I won't be documenting every trip we take on Blue Moon, I will attempt to document the longer adventures.
This blog is dedicated to the adventures of Blue Moon, our 28 ft Cape Dory trawler. We found her up in Gulfport, FL several years ago and couldn't resist her. We then sold our 27 ft Cape Dory sailboat and started this chapter of our lives.
Although, I won't be documenting every trip we take on Blue Moon, I will attempt to document the longer adventures.
Spring 2014:
We plan to leave on Monday, March 17, 2014 for a ten week trip on Blue Moon. We will be going south to Ft Myers, crossing the state via the Okeechobee Waterway, then north along the east coast of Florida. We will then head south and explore the St. Johns River. We will go as far as the water depths will allow, then we'll turn Blue Moon around and head home. We are hoping to be back in Pelican Bay for the Punta Gorda Sailing Club's annual Memorial Day Weekend Bash.
The length of the trip will be around 1130 statute miles (980 nm). Since the ICW is measured in statute miles, I will be referring to statute miles, unless noted otherwise. We want to take our time and plan on averaging about 120 miles per week.
Two-thirds of our intended route will be places that we have previously visited. This will give us the opportunity to revisit some of our favorite anchorages, in addition to finding some new ones to add to our favorite's list.
We are looking forward to seeing what the St. John's River has to offer. "The St Johns River is one of the few rivers in the United States that flows north. The source of the river, or headwaters, is a large marshy area in Indian River County that flows north and turns eastward at Jacksonville to its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean. The total drop of the river from its source in swamps south of Melbourne to its mouth in the Atlantic near Jacksonville is less than 30 feet, or about one inch per mile, making it one of the "laziest" rivers in the world".
This cruising area is still non-touristy and has many small towns and quiet anchorages to explore. The Shands Bridge (south of Jacksonville) has only 45 ft of vertical clearance, so many sailboats are unable to venture into this region. There is talk of replacing that bridge with a 65 ft vertical clearance bridge. When that happens, the $1.00/ft marinas and the free docks will probably disappear.
I will try to post daily updates on this blog.
The length of the trip will be around 1130 statute miles (980 nm). Since the ICW is measured in statute miles, I will be referring to statute miles, unless noted otherwise. We want to take our time and plan on averaging about 120 miles per week.
Two-thirds of our intended route will be places that we have previously visited. This will give us the opportunity to revisit some of our favorite anchorages, in addition to finding some new ones to add to our favorite's list.
We are looking forward to seeing what the St. John's River has to offer. "The St Johns River is one of the few rivers in the United States that flows north. The source of the river, or headwaters, is a large marshy area in Indian River County that flows north and turns eastward at Jacksonville to its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean. The total drop of the river from its source in swamps south of Melbourne to its mouth in the Atlantic near Jacksonville is less than 30 feet, or about one inch per mile, making it one of the "laziest" rivers in the world".
This cruising area is still non-touristy and has many small towns and quiet anchorages to explore. The Shands Bridge (south of Jacksonville) has only 45 ft of vertical clearance, so many sailboats are unable to venture into this region. There is talk of replacing that bridge with a 65 ft vertical clearance bridge. When that happens, the $1.00/ft marinas and the free docks will probably disappear.
I will try to post daily updates on this blog.