R&R is a jealous mistress that needs a lot of attention. Fortunately, I enjoy washing and detailing the exterior, and Rhonda keeps the interior shipshape. We recently added a “Boat Projects” menu item to the website, with pages describing some of our larger or more important projects. You can get there directly with this link. … Continue reading Boat Projects →

We are enjoying Key West and looking forward to friends and family who will join us here soon! The weather has been mostly sunny and in the 70s, which oddly seems cool here but would feel like a heat wave in Michigan or Indiana! ... Meeting new pickle ball competitor/friends, many of them older and … Continue reading Key West Sampler →

We are enjoying and getting to know our new temporary home in Key West. Daybreak on the back porch of R&R We took a dinghy ride with Scott and Cathy to get familiar with the island. A Manatee came up for air only a few feet from our dinghy Pelican watching from a dock post … Continue reading Key West Freedom →

Stock Island Marina (our home for the month) has a large and well-equipped marina for sail and power boats, a good hotel, two beautiful pools, and a number of outdoor restaurants. It is only a short shuttle ride to downtown Key West. Our first day on the dock, we met a Calvin University graduate, two … Continue reading Stock Island Marina Village →

Yesterday we made a 110 mile crossing from Everglades City on the Florida peninsula to Key West at the end of the Florida Keys. Entering Chokoloskee Bay from the Barron River Everglades City is at the head of an eight mile channel leading from Indian Key at the Gulf of Mexico, through a winding waterway, … Continue reading Southwest to Key West →

From the Everglades, we want to share images of peace, peace, peace. The airboat fleet quiet. Calm waters. Fishing fleet safely in harbor. A heron in the mangroves. A line in the water. And sunset over the river. That’s all.

As we prepared R&R for departure from Marco Island yesterday, we heard a repeated “slap” sound and saw a dolphin slowly swimming through the marina, slapping its tail on the water surface again and again. It was a beautiful sight and brought smiles to our faces! Richard, the insightful dockmaster, former charterboat captain, and bold … Continue reading Dolphin Day →

Two weeks ago Rhonda and I invited boat guests Shirley and Matt, plus Marco Island friends Marilyn and Jean, for a late afternoon cruise out the Marco River and into the Gulf of Mexico to enjoy the sunset. It was a warm sunny day and the sunset was spectacular! No green flash, but beautiful! The … Continue reading One of These Blades is Not Like the Other! →

As we walk the docks for exercise or enjoyment, we continue to be amused and intrigued by boat names. It is common for boat names to have a nautical theme: Some boat names seem to refer to a spouse, girlfriend, daughter (or even a former spouse!): Other boat names reflect big dreams, lofty aspirations, even … Continue reading Boat Names (Reprise) →

Though I am hesitant to “toot my own horn”, after months of online classes, an examination in August, and a detailed application and documentation process with the Coast Guard, I am happy to have received my Merchant Mariner Credential a/k/a Coast Guard Captain license. Could not have done it without the support and encouragement of … Continue reading It’s Official →