Well, it has been a bit of time since I have written on this blog. Life has been interesting and has taken a lot of interesting turns in the recent days. Words like “pandemic” “layoff” “quarantine”… have become a part of our daily vocabulary. The COVID-19 has taken so much from us and it has also given us much. The one thing it has given me is time.

Because of this additional time, I have decided to go get my boat. I was originally planning on purchasing a trailer and having a friend help me move her down here in the fall. Then our lives changed. On June 15th, I will leave Everglades City, FL in my bread truck (my little cargo van) and head to Asheville, NC. I will kiss my sweet do, Baloo good-bye, pick-up my charts and fuel cans from storage and head out to Beaufort, NC to start launch projects. As long as all goes well, we will launch SV Yankee Girl on July 7th. We will be taking the Intercoastal Waterway south to Lake Okeechobee, then down the FL West Coast to Everglades City! Over 800 miles!

My quarantine team will be joining me on this voyage. Kristen “KK” Keane and Tara Watkins will help me move Yankee Girl. I have known KK since 2016. We have worked together in so many capacities. She brings a lot to the table as a good expedition companion. I think her superpower on this expedition is excitement and enthusiasm. Whenever I feel like my feet are getting cold or getting anxious, KK brings me back to getting pumped and feeling like we can accomplish anything. Tara came into my world last summer in the Outer Banks. She joined the Outward Bound family as a Logistics Manager. Tara then joined us here in the Everglades this winter. She has sailing experience from a semester course with NOLS and has genuine passion for the marine environment. Tara is calm, steady and pragmatic. I am so grateful that these two women will be traveling with me.

There will be more to come.