10-12 to 10-28

We wound up staying at the cottage a few more days than we planned in order to get everything closed up just right.









We even managed to get in a walk of two!










So we saw our neighbors one more time and they helped up pull in our dock for the winter. This is an annual activity and everyone has a job to do - either helping to paddle the dock over to it's winter storage spot.






Or acting as ballast to weigh down one end of the dock so that the other end can be pulled onto shore.










Trick or Treat?

So we were the last ones left and eventually the deer made it over to our place in their quest for a hand out.

And they did eat right out of Dave's hand! We didn't have any corn for them, but apparently carrots and celery will do in a pinch!

We spent a few days in Buffalo with my parents, primarily organizing the stuff we have stored in their basement. Then we headed to Pittsburgh where we saw some friends and before we knew it we were back in sunny Crystal River - HOME!

9-10 to 10-11

My parents were due to arrive on September 10th so we had our work cut out for us getting the cottage in order.








We thought it was important to at least have the bathroom door in place for guests (something that had been conspicuously missing for a week or two).








By the time they arrived we had achieved a semblance of organization.








So here is a overview of our handiwork for the summer.









Photos courtesy of Mom.









The weather decided to cooperate with us and we managed to get in a boat ride.









On Saturday we had all the neighbors over for happy hour and my parents got a taste of the wild side of Jack Lake society. My father added his own unique element to the evening when he decided to teach the group a game he learned at a ski lodge 50 or so years ago called Indianapolis 500. He started by making elaborate race car revving sounds then with a swift motion of his upper body to the right and a loud “BRRRUUUMMM!” He looked expectantly at the person next to him. She looked at him, slightly confused, and said “BRUM?” My mother quickly picked up the pace “BRRRUUMMM!”

This is a game my family has subjected visitors to since I was a kid. There is no real point, other than to laugh, and maybe to get the group to make the sound of a race track in a relay type manner. Having at least one person in the group that can make a good cornering squeal is a plus. I can tell you that this round was most successful in the laughter department, but I can only imagine what we must have sounded like echoing across the lake!

After my parents left Dave kept busy helping out some friends with projects. Occasionally I am called in to assist on an emergency basis.








We have a robust collection of Readers Digest books from Dave’s Grandmother (circa 1950-1970) so I have been catching up on some of the classics of those days. The weather turned cool in the middle of the month and now fires in the woodstove (our primary source of heat) are a constant. Mornings often begin with an ethereal cover of fog.


At the end of the month we celebrated my birthday with Vikki and Bruce. Vikki’s discovery of SeaChange Smoked Salmon was a big hit.

Skip and Dorothy, the couple that owns the island across from us, came up in the beginning of October. Canadian Thanksgiving (celebrates the harvest, not what happened at Plymouth Rock) is in early October, and for the last couple of years Vikki and Bruce have begun a tradition of having a Thanksgiving dinner with them. We were invited to join them this year.

The gathering was to begin at 5:00, but around 4:00 the worst nightmare of any Thanksgiving host occurred. The power went out. Vikki and Bruce handled the dilemma with ease - grills were gathered, candles lit, and we had a delicious meal and a wonderful evening.



The next weekend (the actual Canadian Thanksgiving) was the last one our little community will likely spend all together until the spring. Six of us went for a final tour of the lake to check out the fall colors. Then Doug and Julie invited the neighborhood over for Thanksgiving dinner. Now that’s certainly one way to endear yourself to a community!

6-17 to 9-9 Jack Lake

Our arrival at Jack Lake also marked the end of our all play and no work days. Cottages are by their very nature work and we had quite a bit of renovating to do. We had rented the cottage for most of the past 15 years and had spent little time or money updating the place. That was all about to change.




Last year we started replacing the windows in the cottage and that morphed into a wholesale remodel which took most of this summer. For the better part of two months we lived in a state of chaos. July and August were pretty cold and rainy though (despite the photos), so at least we weren’t missing out on sunny days and warm weather.









My first project was to address the issue of a beaver that was attacking our trees. There was a huge beaver building a mansion at the end of our bay who apparently considered our property to be his building and supply store. I wrapped wire mesh around the trunks of the types of trees he seemed to prefer that were near the water and woke the next morning to discover he had moved on to our other trees. This pattern continued for several days, but at last it seems I am victorious. I felt like Bill Murray with the gopher in Caddy Shack.

The big news for the year was that the cottage two doors down from us had been sold! This meant new neighbors and sent shock waves through our little row of cottages. Fred and Eva (the sellers) are a quiet couple in their 70’s. Fred had fallen ill over the winter and so Eva decided to sell. According to Rick and Laurie (next door to us, Rick is Fred and Eva’s nephew) and Vikki and Bruce (three doors down) there were two full price offers for the property before it even hit the market. The first offer was by a couple, but the second potential buyer in line was a couple who already had a cottage on this lake and would be purchasing this one for their 19 and 20 year old sons to use because the boys were destroying the parents cottage with drunken parties. If the first offer fell through the boys would be our neighbors. We were all in a panic. Vicious rumors about counter offers and inspection problems that might threaten the sale circulated furiously. We counted down the days to the closing.

In the mean time, the first social event of the season was a 70th birthday party for Bruce.










We are fortunate that Rick loves to fish but his family hates to eat fish. Every once in a while he drops by with dinner. In return, we take their kids tubing.








One day Dave went to the marina in the next bay and a woman made a u-turn in the road but got a bit too close to the edge and her car slid, leaving her rear tires suspended in mid air. Dave stopped to see if she was okay (she was) and apparently fended off some rather testosterone filled boys who wanted to yank her car back to the road with their oversized pick up trucks. The woman wanted to wait until her husband arrived. He did, and as Dave was leaving he described the location of our cottage and invited the couple to stop by for a drink some time. A few days later a boat came by, very close to shore, going back and forth looking at our cottage. I waved and they called out “Does Dave live here?” Maureen and Mario visited for a while, and when they left we exchanged phone numbers. They invited us to their cottage for dinner later in the week and we had a wonderful dinner with them and their big, Maltese family, a close knit and hilarious group. They even treated us to fireworks off the end of their dock after dinner!

In the middle of July we all breathed a sigh of relief when Doug and Julie, the new neighbors, started to move in. Never was a couple more welcome in a neighborhood than they were. No matter what they were like they had to be better than the boys would have been. And in fact, they have been a terrific addition. They are big fans of the bonfire, and evening gatherings at their place are becoming part of the rhythm of life around here. Pardon the limitations of my camera, you have to imagine the lake and starlit sky in the back ground.

We had a seniors water skiing extravaganza one weekend. ("Look what Nanny can do!")











Participants had to be at least 50. Individuals who have not skied in a least 10 years preferred.










Nobody likes a showoff.











The event was followed by a congratulatory feast.










We celebrated Dave’s birthday at the end of August with two delicious cakes (thank you Rick, Laurie, Darcy & James, and Doug & Julie).

Shut-Eye Shanty, Jack Lake Ontario, Canada 6-16

Jack Lake is located in the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario, about 2 hours north east of Toronto in the heart of classic Canadian “cottage country”. The town of Apsley is a 20 minute (windy, hilly gravel road) drive away. About 58 years ago Dave’s maternal grandparents (Myra and OB) bought a cottage here, in a forest on a lake. Dave started coming here with his grandparents as a kid (he spent his first birthday here), and when he was 26, with the help of some generous loan terms, he was able to buy the place from his mother and uncle.

Coming to the cottage is the opposite of what cruising was. Cruising was about moving, going to new places and meeting new people. Travel, adventure and Change. The cottage, on the other hand, is a place Dave knows intimately and is filled with stories from decades and generations past. To the left of the property is undeveloped Crown (government) land, to the right all but one of the next 6 cottages have been in the same family for longer than Dave has been alive. The island across from us is also owned by someone Dave has known his whole life. Dave’s Grandparents were best friends with our next-door neighbor’s grandparents. Being here is about having a ties to people and a place that tug at your soul.

Spending the last few months of our hiatus at the cottage was an important part of our plan. Which is particularly fitting given that Myra gave Dave some advice 20 odd years ago that ultimately led to this trip in the first place. Myra and OB had a great retirement by most standards, spending summers at the cottage and taking a trip or two every year. Even though she and OB had the means to do what they wanted, when they retired they were no longer physically able to do many of those things. And like many men back then, OB passed away in his mid 60’s. Myra’s advice to her grandson was to retire when you’re young and then go back to work when you’re older. Dave never forgot what she said.

Even if this isn’t where your grandparents started your life-long love affair with the water by giving you your first boat at age 8, you can’t help but feel the magic of this place. The lake itself is particularly beautiful and has what must be hundreds of islands and bays. You can barely see most of the cottages from the water. Hours can pass between hearing engine noises. The enormous trees are filled with song birds and the haunting loon calls echo across the lake.


Shut-Eye Shanty is the name Myra and OB gave the cottage. It was indeed a bit of a shack back in the day from what I understand. The original building measured about 20’x16’ which included two 8’x8’ bedrooms with no doors. The walls were unfinished pine slats that didn’t go up to the ceiling and were covered with turtle shells. OB was an avid sportsman. There was no electricity and the place was heated by a sooty oil stove. The “facilities” were an outhouse. It was painted white with a red door and green trim.

The property was only accessible by water until the early 1970’s when a controversial private road was built. Myra and OB refused to take the cushy route, however. Dave put in the first driveway. Back in the forest OB used to stash bottles of liquor under rocks and the property was dotted with little signs saying things like “Beware of Nudes!”. The Rumbolds were clearly hearty Germans with a sense of humor.

Since then 4 additions have been built and the cottage is now a massive 800 square feet give or take. Don’t laugh. Before the boat trip we spent hours discussing how to make the place livable by building/expanding new rooms. Now we think “maybe a second bedroom, someday”. Electricity, plumbing and drywall were added long before I came on the scene.

The other night I was looking out at the lake after Dave went to bed (it is still light up here at 10 pm) and the bullfrogs in our bay began croaking loudly. It was more like a song really, the male and female frogs make distinct sounds that are almost a harmony. I thought I remembered that a shanty could also be a song and decided that the cottage was named for the sound the frogs make at night, like a lullaby. Today I found an old dictionary of Myra’s (inscribed in 1920) and looked up shanty. Indeed, one of the definitions is Sailors Song. That clinched it.

6-12 to 6-15 Crystal River Fl. to Pittsburgh Pa to Buffalo NY

We had planned to leave CR on Thursday so we would be in Pittsburgh for Friday night and leave Sunday, but as so often seems to happen with us we left a day late. With the heat and humidity in Florida it just took longer to pack up than we thought. Fortunately we have learned this about ourselves and didn’t let any of our friends in Pittsburgh know we were coming. We started making calls when we were a couple of hours outside the city, and as it turned out we couldn’t have planned it better if we tried.
We have two basic groups of friends in the ‘Burgh, one from Oakmont Yacht Club and one from Fox Chapel. A surprise 50th Birthday party was being held for an Oakmont friend Saturday night and a surprise 70th birthday party was being held for a Fox Chapel friend Sunday afternoon. Pretty much everyone we knew would be at one party or the other! We had an awesome weekend catching up. As was observed more than once that weekend, it seemed like we never left (in a good way).


We stopped overnight to visit my parents in Buffalo, and then headed to Canada. I thought this might be an appropriate time to say what a fantastic support my parents have been to us throughout our trip. From allowing us to fill their basement with things we don't know what to do with yet; to forwarding mail; to just plain supporting us, they have been terrific. Thanks Mom and Dad. It would have been a lot harder without you.

Based on some of the conversations we had I thought this also might be an appropriate time to reflect on the trip a bit and answer what appear to be common questions.

Q. How did you get along being cooped up together on the boat for so long?

A. Karen - Pretty much the same as on land. Dave - Sometimes it was hard, but better as time went on.

The 4 years we spent working on the boat were pretty tough at times. We really became all work and no play for a while, and we had lots of set backs that didn’t help. My feeling from the start was that if we could get through that we could get through what was supposed to be the fun part. There were times of stress during the trip and we argued, but then we always have argued occasionally.

One thing that probably really helped is that I am a night person and Dave is a morning person. Dave usually would go to bed and get up at least an hour before me. Then when I’d get up Dave would head back to bed for a mid-morning nap. That helped to minimize the amount of time we actually spent together and gave us each some alone time, something we both need a fair bit of.
A trip like this is also far from lonely. I mentioned a lot of the people that we met in my blog posts, but there were also many more friendly conversations in bars and hanging around docks along the way that I didn’t mention. Though I still don’t really consider myself a boater, I have to say the boating community in general is full of some wonderful, friendly and generous people. When you pull into a new dock it never takes very long to make new friends. I have a theory about that: The other cruising boaters have also been cooped up on their boat with their spouse so… when there is someone new to talk to, you do it!

Q. How did the boat run?

A. The boat ran great. We had barely taken the boat out at all before we started out on the trip, and apparently there was a bet circulating in Oakmont that we wouldn’t make it past the first lock in Pittsburgh without a breakdown. To that Dave says “See, all my anal retentiveness in the engine room paid off!” But seriously, he was thrilled with how the boat ran and handled. I will add that in more than one marina I overheard people commenting on how well Dave handled the boat.

Q. What were your favorite places?

A. Dave: Cayo Costa Park, Everglades City, Dry Tortugas, going through the Okeechobee, No Name Harbor south of Miami (all in Florida)

Karen: I agree with Dave, but I would also add that I really enjoyed the rivers from Pittsburgh to Mobile. It was a nice, easy way to start the trip as far as navigating goes and the fall foliage was just beautiful. I guess that part stands out to me partly because the only reason we traveled the rivers was that the boat we bought was in Pittsburgh, it was incidental as far as our original plans for the trip went. But I really enjoyed the small, friendly towns, especially Cuba Landing TN. Also, I suppose it goes without saying that we loved Crystal River since we wound up spending so much time there. I had no idea that there was a part of Florida like that.

Q. How did you manage financially with the economy crashing?

A. Yeah, that part was a bit of a shock. Everything was bottoming out with the stock market just as we were taking off. Some of the arguments mentioned above definitely related to stress about that. But a few key things allowed us to still take the trip:

1. First and foremost, we had the funds for the trip in cash from the beginning. Dave didn’t want to be worrying about where the stock market was every time he cashed a check so he never put the money in the market to start with. That turned out to be a much smarter move than we ever would have imagined. Our retirement investments, however, took a beating just like everyone else. But we always did plan to go back to work after the trip anyway. This was never intended to be a permanent retirement.

2. The price of fuel went way down, that was a big help. We anchored out a lot and didn’t eat out too often, when we did eat out is wasn’t at fancy places. We were definitely cost conscious.

3. We don’t have kids.

I have a few other thoughts about the trip that I think are worth mentioning before I wrap up the boat trip portion of this blog.

Without a doubt one of the best parts of this journey have been the people we met along the way. When we reminisce it is most often about the friends we made rather than about the things we did or places we saw. As I mentioned above, we worked really hard on the boat for 4 years before we finally left the dock. Maybe it is partly because we nearly abandoned having a social life that this stood out so much to both of us. We are now friends with people that we never would have met in our ‘normal’ life, and we are so much richer for it. I suppose it is a natural inclination to hang around with people who appear to be like you, but we really enjoyed stepping outside of the corporate job/suburban development zone.

We were constantly amazed by the generosity of the people we met. We still can’t get over how many perfect strangers offered to lend us their cars, nice cars, some of them. Many of the places we stopped were pretty rural and often not terribly affluent. The people in these places, who had the least to share, were often the first to offer whatever they had.

Another fantastic gift of the trip was having the ability to come and go as we pleased without a schedule. We had time. We weren’t rushed. During the first few months after I stopped working I often observed myself rushing while doing errands and would literally say to myself “relax, you’re not in a hurry anymore”.

Dave has never been a good sleeper, but he had a pretty stressful job before we left Buffalo and the routine of going to work early in the morning and getting home after dark had been firmly entrenched in his life for decades. During the trip Dave got into the habit of taking a morning nap around 10 am. I couldn’t resist teasing him about this new (very non-corporate) pattern and he really didn’t see the humor in it. I think he perceived it as something a slacker did. Now the Dave’s mid-morning nap is a recognized part of our routine, at least for now.

Rushing and not doing what you want when you want is so engrained in our culture that relaxing and doing what you want to do takes some getting used to. There is guilt involved. It takes considerably more than a two week vacation to change those patterns. When grocery shopping is an all day chore it is best not to be in a hurry about it.

So the best things about the trip were the people we met and having plenty of time. We weren’t concerned about goals or objectives or even getting to a specific destination. In fact, we didn’t go nearly as far as we thought we would. I, especially, had always envisioned this to be a Caribbean trip, but we never left the US. We kept wanting to stay longer at the places we stopped, and so we opted not to go as far rather than rush. But that was our choice, we did what we wanted to do. To paraphrase an old song, we enjoyed the ride.

5- 9 to 6-10 Pete’s Pier, Crystal River

We stayed in Crystal River (CR) for a month. Pete’s Pier is pretty run down, but it is in a great location - walking distance to the center of town and groceries - and we had a beautiful view from the salon. It rained quite a bit for the first few weeks which was a bit boring for us, but much needed for the area. There has been a serious drought in Florida for the past few years. I started walking the neighborhood for exercise (cruising involves a lot of sitting and my clothes are getting tight).

We also spent some time working on the boat. In order for us to keep it in Florida for the summer we have to change our insurance policy. That requires us to have a survey (inspection) of the boat performed, and after our 3000 mile cruise some tidying up was needed first. We (especially Dave) were pretty nervous about the survey, it was kind of like being graded on all of our work for the past 5 years. I am happy to report that it went really well, Dave got special kudos for his immaculate engine room. According to the survey we have a well maintained 11 year old boat. The surveyor even mentioned that the boat showed no signs of water intrusion! It is as if nothing ever happened.

Dave flew to Pittsburgh to get our truck the second week. Mike and Stacy were kind enough to lend us their car for the drive to the airport. Tampa airport is about an hour and a half from CR and we had to leave at 4 am for the flight. I got to spend my first night alone on the boat! We have spent a lot of time together in the past year (more on that later). Just having the place to myself for 24 hours was a bit of an event!

Having a vehicle again added a new dimension to our activities. We took a couple of day trips. First to Ocala, about an hour away, where we wanted to see a Polo Match that was rained out. Central Florida is really much different from the south east part of the state. Up here is horse country with green pastures, miles of split rail fences and Spanish moss hanging from the trees. Then to Cedar Key, a fishing village about an hour away that looks like what Key West used to be back in the day. We also went over to Homosassa, the next town to the south and visited the Wilderness Park (a natural environment zoo for native species) and had some awesome shrimp at the Freezer. The Freezer is one of those local hole in the wall places that had great food at great prices and is packed with people. It started out as a wholesale fish shop and over the years a bar was added and they started serving fish too.

On Memorial Day a group of boaters at the marina had a pot luck dinner and we got to know some of our neighbors. There are about a dozen or so liveaboards at Pete’s Pier, an eclectic, friendly group from a wide range of ages and back grounds. One guy seems to have had a particular effect on Dave. John is about 76, tall, rail thin and has the nick name ‘Captain Granola’. He was never a boater before but thought he’d give it a try and lives on a 35 foot older powerboat. His main interest these days is nutrition and he experiments with different dietary theories, trying them out to see how they effect his body. One of his big focuses is sugar. John gave Dave a book about the negative effects of consuming refined sugars and lo and behold my Jelly Belly addict of a husband is eating less candy! Dave doesn’t have a weight problem, but he does have arthritis in his back and sugar is bad for inflamation. John is amazingly flexible and looks at least 15 years younger than he is, so here’s hoping!

Mike and Stacy have an extra pair of kayaks so we took a day trip with them to the Rainbow River. The river is just pristine and you can easily see fish from above the water. We saw an alligator sitting on it’s nest along the riverbank and several turtles. I have to say, coming upon these animals in nature is considerably more exciting than seeing them in a zoo. Especially true of the alligators.


It was hot and humid in June, mid to upper 90s. For native Buffalonians like us that is really hot. Dave swears his blood is thinning. By the time our month was up at Pete’s we were ready to head north to cooler weather. Phase 1 of our temporary mid-life retirement had been completed. Phase 2 will take place at our cottage in Canada. We found a spot to leave SeaChange, and on June 12 we packed up the truck and headed north. But first we have some stops to make on the way.

4-29 to 5-5 Fort Meyers to Crystal River

We spent a night at the Fort Meyers Yacht Basin where we pumped out, took on water and made some much overdue updates to the blog. Then we anchored back at Cattle Dock point for a night(same as last time we were here). It was strange to actually know where we were going for the first time in 7 months. We went to Boca Grande (southern end of Gasparilla Island) and thought we would have lunch, go for a walk and then anchor for the night. After lunch our waitress told us that the local law is ticketing boats at the restaurant dock, and since the anchorage was really small we decided to just leave and find a new home for the evening. We headed a little further up the island and found a nice, cozy cove.

The next day we went back to Venice to spend a night. This time we were the only boat at the dock. Saturday we made it through Tampa bay, pretty easily this time. We almost made a wrong turn, but caught our mistake just in time. For our next stop we wanted to try somewhere new and settled on Gulfport, a small town on the north side of Tampa Bay that our guide book described as cute and arty.

As we were pulling up to the spot we were going to anchor I was thinking that my blog entry for this part of the trip was going to be pretty boring. No interesting photos, beautiful weather, we'd already been through this area. I looked over at a woman waving to us on another boat and thought she was warning us about a shoal, but then I heard her yelling "help!". Our first rescue mission!

Dave dropped the anchor and the dinghy, we donned life preservers and headed over. A man in his 60's with a bad knee and ankle had miss-stepped going from his dinghy to his boat and landed into the water. He didn't have the strength to get himself out and had been dangling there for 1/2 hour. We hauled him into our dinghy (not a small guy), pumped out his dinghy (it had flooded when he was trying to get himself out), and after he had rested a while we maneuvered him into his boat.

The man (Mike) seemed okay, so we went back to our boat, cleaned up, got back in the dinghy and headed into town. Mike and his friend Lucille were also heading into town, and since his dinghy didn't have a motor we towed him in. This is a full service operation. Mike offered to buy us dinner, but since he had just finished telling us about his bankruptcy we declined. We did accept his offer to tie our dinghy to the dock at his yacht club and a ride into town though.

Gulfport is a very cute little town, we had a delicious mexican dinner and got lost on the way back to the dinghy. We were close, but we couldn't find the exact mangrove covered corner where our dinghy was. After wandering for a while we finally saw a person in a marina (it was about 9 pm) and asked if he could point us in the right direction. Steve got in his car and drove us to our dinghy. He and his wife are planning on taking a trip something like we have.

The next day we headed back to Anclote Key near Tarpon Springs and anchored for the night.

And on Monday we anchored in Crystal River. Home?

I've loved travelling, but I am looking forward to being in a place I know (relatively speaking) for a little while.

The next day we went to the marina. This time we went to Pete's Pier instead of Twin Rivers. While we liked Twin Rivers, it is really more of a fishing marina - we were the only people staying there. Pete's Pier is a live aboard marina. It is rickety to be sure, but our view is beautiful, it is within easy walking distance to restaurants and shopping, and the neighbors are very friendly. The Mayor even came over to greet us! (He lives here).

Now we are working on what our next steps will be.