Grand Traverse Yacht Club Contingent Overtakes Garrison Bay – San Juan Islands, WA

We left Roche Harbor to go whale watching in Haro Strait, the water was glassy smooth. It would be the last chance for a whale sighting this trip to the PNW – unfortunately, it was not meant to be, but we had fun looking. Our next stop was Garrison Bay and a long-planned rendezvous, by boat, with fellow members of Grand Traverse Yacht Club, our boating club in Michigan. Richard and Diane, Steve and Deb, Jim and Geri, Fred and Lisa, and Mike and Carol had all flown out to the PNW to charter two sailboats to cruise the San…

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Kismet's Captain Jim Chart Review

Preparing, Packing and Planning for Our Trip West

Planning for the trip west! After spending this past winter holed up at home in northern Michigan remodeling our kitchen, we feel we're more than ready for some new cruising adventure. We are preparing, planning, and packing to head west soon to begin another fun boating season. First, we'll visit the Flaming Gorge  Reservoir on the Green River in Northeast Utah/Southern Wyoming. Then we'll continue on to Puget Sound in Washington State, there we'll put in at Anacortes and cruise north into Canada's Gulf Islands, Desolation Sound, and more. Check back often, the fun is soon to start.

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Kismet Cruising Torch River, Michigan

Winding Down Our Torch Lake Weekend

Kismet is heading back to the Torch Lake Bridge after a nice time at anchor during our Torch Lake weekend, we just barely squeaked under the bridge with only inches to spare (below). As we made our way through Torch River we were reminded once again how beautiful this stretch of water is. The river is fairly shallow with lots of dead-headed logs, so paying full attention while cruising through this area is well worth the effort. By the time we ended our Torch Lake weekend and reached Skegemog Lake the wind had picked up. We were fighting whitecaps as we approached the…

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Kismet Anchored, Torch Lake, Michigan

Torch Lake – Kismet Likes to Anchor Here

Torch Lake has lots of fond memories for Lisa and me. We each boated here before we were married and began our boating adventures together on this lake. We used to trailer our 21-foot Four Winns Sundowner to Torch Lake to spend long weekends on the hook, but since our mode of boating has changed over the last fifteen years it's been a long time since we've been able to bring one of our boats to any inland lake. We kind of like the flexibility we are now enjoying with our Ranger Tug, Kismet. Torch Lake is named, not for…

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Kismet Cruising Torch River, Michigan

Have You Ever Been to Torch River?

We launched the boat at Whitewater Township Park in Skegemog Lake and quickly pointed the boat in the direction of Torch River. Jim and I started our boating adventures in the early 90s on a 21-foot Four Winns Sundowner. On many weekends during our short Michigan summers, we'd trailer it to Torch Lake for a relaxing few days on the hook. Jim was studying for tests at the time and I'd catch up on reading, we'd fill up a cooler of mostly finger food and we'd be happy campers for a long weekend away from the rat race. This weekend we…

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Kismet Docked, Key West Harbor, Stock Island

United States’ Most Southern Destination, Key West, Florida

After three grueling days camping out on Kismet in the boatyard, putting bottom paint on, we arrived at our most southern destination for our winter 2012 boating season, Key West – Stock Island actually, one island up from Key West. We'll be docked for a month at Key West Harbour. Stock Island is close enough to Key West to have fun in the popular tourist town when desired and far enough away to enjoy a relaxed marina setting with beach and pool amenities. This year we procured a slip in the outer basin which is lined with mangroves. We are nestled into…

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Dinner with Friends

Dining in the Keys with Crew of Chip Ahoy

Dinner in the marina tonight with friends Scott and Cyndi Perkins, on Chip Ahoy. It's always a pleasure to bump into this couple whom we met on our first Great Loop boat trip in 2006. Also from Michigan, Scott and Cyndi sail down Florida's West Coast to the Keys every winter. Cyndi is a talented writer/editor (Cyndi has also written chapter's in both of our books When the Water Calls and Women On Board Cruising). Scott is a gifted musician and performer. Click on the CD covers below to read more about and listen to some of Scott's excellent boating…

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The Historic Village of Boca Grande

The Historic Village of Boca Grande, on the island of Gasparilla, is located at the southern tip of the Cape Haze Peninsula on Florida’s Southwest Coast midway between Sarasota and Ft. Myers. Nature has blessed this lush barrier island with seven miles of powdery white beaches stretching the entire Gulf side. Downtown is just a short walk from the marina and the beach, on the Gulf side, not much farther. We spent the afternoon of the day we arrived, and the morning of the day we departed, exploring the town and stopping in a few shops on our way to…

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Anchorage Off the ICW Between Lido and Otter Keys, Florida

Lido and Otter Key provided a peaceful anchorage for Kismet tonight. Before dinner, we got in the dinghy and cruised a nearby canal, this is where we found this very unusual (to us) tree (below). No leaves on the tree just these beautiful bright red, orchid-like, flowers sitting next to some closed-up, brown pods. Do you know what kind of tree this is? Please let us know if you do. We haven't seen another like it, so we think it's somewhat unusual, but hey, we're from northern Michigan and a little unfamiliar with tropical plants. This is the sun (below) just…

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Time for Some Big City Action in Sarasota

When we've been anchoring out a lot we look forward to getting into a big city marina and we can't think of a better place along this beautiful Gulf Coast than Sarasota. It has everything here to satisfy a cruising boater. Nice marina facilities (Marina Jack), restaurants right on the dock, music to serenade you to sleep, a newer downtown area with shops and more restaurants, and if you happen to be there on a weekend – an amazing farmer's market and art fair. We love Sarasota! The Sarasota Farmer's Market is a visual treat. The quality of produce available…

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De Soto Point and Longboat Key Anchorages

De Soto Point Anchorage on the Manatee River A quiet night and calm waters greeted us at DeSoto Point on the Manatee River (above and below). A few other boats were already anchored for the night when we arrived late afternoon. It was late so we stayed on the boat, made dinner, and enjoyed the sunset. Longboat Key, a Favorite Anchorage We are loving the nice January weather, it makes anchoring out a real treat. We had company tonight when Captain Kathe and a group of women came by to say hi.

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Gulfport Marina, Florida

First Time in Gulfport, Florida

On our way to Gulfport today. Great cruising weather, calm as could be, and not too many boat wakes to contend with and we were happy about that. We've heard lots of good reports from other boaters about this little community near St. Petersburg. We made arrangements to stay one night at the Gulfport Marina, just about a mile from the downtown area. Here's an artsy idea for your car when it needs a new paint job. Tribal art! This is just a little representation of this little community. Many restaurants along the beach area but lots of art galleries and…

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Reddington Beach, Florida

Redington Beach Anchor – Florida

Anchoring in Florida is a real treat. Lots of options available, and we decide to try a few new spots (new to us anyways). Instead of anchoring in St. Pete Beach, which we've done a couple of times before, we stopped a little earlier and tried this spot off Redington Beach. It turned out to be a picture-perfect spot in a well-protected cove, a good choice for our first night at anchor during this winter trip to Florida.

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iPad Navonics GPS Tracker, Lake Powell

Making Our Way Back to Wahweap Marina

Our time on Lake Powell came to a close today as we made our way back to Wahweap Marina and civilization. We would highly recommend Lake Powell as a cruising destination for adventurous boaters, whether you bring your own boat or you rent a houseboat. We enjoyed using our iPad with the Navionics app to navigate Lake Powell. Great tool, way outperformed our expectations. This (below) was our carefully saved garbage from our ten-day trip. We also stowed the extra anchor and line we used while on Lake Powell, we won't need it again for a while. We spent one…

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Kismet Beach Anchored, Padre Bay Canyon, Lake Powell

Back to Padre Bay Canyon – Last Night at Anchor in Lake Powell

We spent our last night in Lake Powell anchored in Padre Bay, the same area we anchored our first night out. This time we found a little cove that was quite a bit more protected just over the hill from our first anchorage site. With a very clean, sandy beach off our bow the site was closely protected on three sides. Jim is an old pro at burying the anchor now. It seems like it only takes a few minutes now to get settled versus the 45 min. we started out with. Here (above) you can see how our back…

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Boat Beach Anchored, Dungeon Canyon. Lake Powell

Dungeon Canyon Took Our Breaths Away

We found Dungeon Canyon to be quite impressive. It's another wide open area with lots of sites to beach anchor, and plenty of space between boats for added privacy. As the day progressed, we enjoyed watching the way the light changed on the different rock faces surrounding us as the sun set and the warm, gold glow in the canyon turned more to a pinkish yellow before it cooled off and finally set just before the canyon turned dark. The view at dusk off the stern of Kismet. (Above)     Jim is giving a demonstration (above and below) on how…

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Canyon Wall, Lake Powell

Canyon Walls of Lake Powell

Here are just a few examples of the variety of wall shapes and colors you might see while cruising Lake Powell. We couldn't help but wonder what they faced to become so sculptured and colored. We saw walls with huge jagged pieces clearly pulling away from their mother rock – we imagined they might soon succumb to the elements and make their final descent disappearing below the deep, dark blue water below.

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Cruising Davis-Lewellen Gulch, Lake Powell

Davis Gulch – A Visual Delight

We were the first boat into Davis Gulch this morning and because of that, this is what we found... eerily still waters mirroring the sculptured rocks and dark blue skies. The rock face took on gigantic organic shapes, a few suggesting arrows pointing into the canyon. Absolutely breathtaking.

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Padre Bay Canyon, Lake Powell

Canyon Cruising

The Amazing Lake Powell Lisa and I have talked for a long time about our mutual interest in cruising Lake Powell on a houseboat, it's been on our to-do list for quite some time. For one reason or another, it never worked out until now, although it won't be on a houseboat but on our very own tug boat, Kismet. Prior to the building of the Glen Canyon Dam, which was completed in 1963, Lake Powell did not exist and boating was nothing like it is today. It took 17 years to fill the canyons up to their full pool…

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Ranger Tugs Rendezvous

Itching to Get Back on the Water

Above are photos of a Ranger Tug Rendezvous, courtesy of Herb Stark. When I was a child, our family would drive to Lake Chemung (Howell, Michigan) to spend summer weekends, a family event I always enjoyed. Like many things children look forward to, like getting to the lake, it never seemed to happen soon enough. If I said it once I’d bet I said it a hundred times, “Are we there yet?” and I’m beginning to feel the same way about heading out west to get back to boating. This time with our Ranger Tug R27 trailerable trawler. Later this…

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