Black Smoke

On the first day of our journey from Rhode Island, we saw black smoke coming out of the starboard engine if it was running at 2,000 RPM or more. One of the pros of a catamaran is that there are 2 engines, so even though our starboard engine couldn't go full throttle, we still had the port side engine. With only one healthy engine, our max current-dependent speed was around 10.5 knots. It took us 13 days to get from Rhode Island to our dock in Sebastian, Florida. With 2 healthy engines, we likely could've made it in a week, putting in as many hours a day that we did (12-15 hour days).

Ben thought it was smoking because it wasn't getting enough air in the engine, likely because of the turbo. Then he thought it was the fuel filter, then the wastegate of the turbo. At each anchorage, he would check the engines, turbo, filters, oil, diesel... maybe more or less, I'm not sure. I do know that it was messy and called for a lot of gloves, paper towels, and trash bags in a hurry. (That was my job.)

This is a weird perspective, but Ben is working on the starboard engine. To the left of his head, is the step Moose and Roo use to climb up into their bed. The white flat part with wood edging (above that black snake-looking thing) is the platform that their bed rests on when the bed is down.

Bear sleeps over the port engine while Moose and Roo sleep over the starboard one. To access and check the engines, Ben has to lift the kids' beds and that unmakes the beds, ruining my neat bedmaking skills. I quickly had to get over the presentation of their beds once I realized this would be happening daily. Fixing the sheets after lifting the beds for each check was just wasting my time.

Every time Ben lifted the beds and did something on the engine I was ever so grateful for his diesel mechanic training. It gave me peace of mind, but with each f-bomb he dropped, I couldn't help but wonder if our problem was beyond his scope.

When Ben exhausted all options, he searched for someone who could help us once we got to Sebastian. He found a marine diesel engine mechanic who was willing to come take a look for us and then accidentally came across a Yanmar mechanic, which was perfect for our Yanmar engine.

Yanmar guy ordered and replaced our turbo. Four miles into the trip to North Palm Beach, there was black smoke again. The mechanic was on his way to meet Ben at a restaurant's dock and told Ben to dive under the boat and check that there wasn't anything stuck on the propellers. He found nothing.

When the Yanmar guy arrived, he vacuumed out the turbocharger intercooler and found a shop rag in the engine. Someone had serviced the turbo and closed the rag in there limiting the airflow into the engine, which had been the source of our problem.

That black thing was once a blue shop towel. It is solely responsible for freaking us out and slowing us down! (Red and black thing is a flashlight, not found in the turbo.)

Once Ben left the dock, he was able to get up to 17 knots with no black smoke! Problem solved.

To Anchor or to Dock? (I prefer anchoring ⚓)

Anchoring was one of my bigger worries when we started this trip. It always seemed so complicated and that there had to be a lot of work done in holding a boat in place in the always-moving water. My role in anchoring is pretty easy in that I listen for Ben's OK and then drop our Mantus Marine M1 anchor by pressing my heel on the forward button (on the left) for 10-30 seconds, depending on where we are. Then I latch the bridle on the chain and let out some more until the blue line is taut. It is pretty straightforward. (The opposite of all that brings it up, as demonstrated by Ben in an Instagram post @catamaranfamilyof5.)

Toward the bottom of the picture, the two black circles with white covers flapped open reveal the out (left) and back (right) buttons. The blue rope and metal piece on the front netting is the bridle. Anchor and chain run down the middle of the deck. The cleat is part of the locking mechanism that keeps the anchor and chain from moving when we don't want them to.

 
Apparently, I should have been more worried about docking. Typing up to a dock involves a lot of thinking and evaluating that I have to ask Ben about each time because of the different conditions and setups at different docks or marinas. I have to tie the fenders in 3 different spots along the side we will be docking and get lines hooked to the cleats, ready to throw to the dockhand or Ben. I haven't quite mastered jumping off the boat to the dock and tying it myself... and by that I mean I haven't tried and don't want to.

When our day is done, we have two choices: anchor or dock the boat. Anchoring is usually free and in a designated area off the main channel. The boat is surrounded by water and if we want air conditioning, we have to turn on our generator. Sometimes we have anchorages all to ourselves. Other times, we have a few neighbors doing the same. Docking almost always involves paying a docking fee, per foot (ours is 44 feet long), and we hook up to power and sometimes can fill up our 200-gallon water tank, get fuel, and pump out the black tank (holding tank for discharge from the toilet).

As the sun was going down on day 12, we crossed Mosquito Lagoon, Florida into the Indian River. Thinking we could find a place to anchor in Titusville, we had a little more to travel. I was in the cabin getting the kids ready for bed. Approaching the wider part of the river, the wind and waves picked up, and Ben heard a call of distress from another boat on the VHF radio saying they had 3 feet of water in their boat. He remembered seeing a public dock/boat ramp right at the mouth of Mosquito Lagoon, turned us around, and told me to tie up the fenders and prepare the lines on the port side.

If you don't know where Mosquito Lagoon, the Indian River, or Titusville are, they are all around Cape Canaveral, home of NASA launches. Our NASA clearing the week before inevitably hung over my head as we were preparing to dock and sleep here overnight. I checked NASA's launch schedule (this time we knew we would be sleeping in/near a launch zone and could prepare!) and hoped and prayed for no launches scheduled for June 23rd with a 2:30 wakeup call.

Blue dot is the Cartermaran.

We were the only people at the public dock and didn't see any signs saying we couldn't dock there, so we did. Usually, when we wonder about if we are allowed to stay overnight at a place (in our boat or our truck camper), we figure the police officer will have some empathy about getting tired, not wanting to continue and jeopardize our lives, and having our 3 small kids with us. Fortunately, we haven't yet had to explain ourselves.

As the Cartermaran approached the dock on the port side, I was prepping the lines and adjusting the height of the fenders on the foredeck. The current pushed us quickly to the dock and Ben was yelling knotty things to me about tying up to the dock, expecting me to execute the plan seamlessly. Of course, I had no idea what he was saying to do, so I asked for clarification. I clearly was moving too slowly and he decided he would drive and tie at the same time. I stayed on the foredeck since I knew he'd yell for me to do something that I'd have to decipher.

He directed me to tie up to the bow cleat and I could see and feel the line sliding quickly like a snake, around the cleat in an S, as I attempted to tie it. I started getting anxious about the boat running into the dock and about the job I was supposed to be doing without really knowing what was expected of me. In between listening to Ben, translating the terms to English in my head, swatting the mosquitoes, and attempting to tie the line, I was getting eaten alive. This place obviously lives up to its moniker.

Ben had me jump onto the dock with him and walk the boat backward with the stern line while he held the line and walked backward with the bow. All I could picture was the Cartermaran drifting out and away from the dock with only the kids onboard. That added a bit more anxiety to the already stressful situation. I heard water spouting and looked up to find a manatee in the water by our boat. I called for the kids to come see it, but the girls were asleep and Moose wasn't able to find it. Manatees are so cute and are always such a pleasant surprise to see. I remember selecting them for a research project one time after I had moved to Colorado, in an attempt to share the cuteness with my peers who lived in a landlocked state. Growing up in Florida, I remember feeding manatees whole heads of lettuce by my dad's work in Port Everglades. (Looks like that is now illegal, so my kids sadly won't have that experience.) Another experience we didn't get to have that night: being woken up by NASA in Cape Canaveral.

On our way out the next morning, we got to see the Kennedy Space Center from afar, barely making out the logo and flag on the side of the 525-foot building.

Two dolphins were riding our wake for about 3 minutes. It was our first close encounter with them. Ben spotted them and called us up to see. Moose, Roo, and I stopped making breakfast and went out to watch. Bear was still hibernating, so we woke her up because I knew she would be sad to miss it. We watched them until they were done entertaining us and swam away. Dolphins are so mesmerizing to watch. We have seen them so many times since our initial encounter in North Carolina. It doesn't get old. Ever. For any of us. ...which is great because we are way more likely to see them when we choose an anchorage instead of a marina.

Learning One Wave At a Time

For Father's Day, I bought Ben this boat and coincidentally, on Father's Day (day 10) he had to demonstrate his skills and navigate through a very windy Port Royal Sound, South Carolina in 10-foot waves. Happy Father's Day, Babe! 🤪

Between the wind and the waves in the sound, the boat was gliding up each wave and slamming down repeatedly, water splashing up the sides of the boat. We faced sustained 25 MPH winds, head on at the bow with gusts of 45 MPH. I was picturing our boat performing like the boats in The Deadliest Catch during storms, minus the rain. 

Each sound, bay, or inlet that we crossed had its own challenges. I have been a big fan of stopping for the day and anchoring before we reached any open water so that we could cross first thing in the morning when the winds and waves were calmer. This wasn't an option since we had just begun the day just a few hours prior.

Port Royal Sound is between Parris Island and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. We were hoping to meet up with Steve, our buyers' broker, and his wife in Hilton Head, but that didn't work in our favor. We didn't want to endure the rough water any longer than we had to, so we will meet them on the water another time!

The kids were in the cabin watching TV. It didn't bother them at all. In fact, they hardly noticed, beyond me nagging them, asking to see that their life vests were on and properly zipped and clipped. I was sure we'd need to swim ashore.

Ben and I were in the cockpit. He was laughing and even told me, "We are learning... one wave at a time. I think I saw that somewhere." I rolled my eyes at him as he was mocking our motto, in an attempt to make me less anxious. I was avoiding accidentally updating my mom and freaking her out, at all costs.

As we crossed further into the sound, the waves were continuously bouncing the fenders, which I tied to the bow of the boat. Ben told me that he hoped I tied them well enough since they were all over the place. Thinking back on when I put them up there, I was pretty confident I tied them well.

We remembered to close the portholes and the hatches in the cabin as the waves picked up, but we had forgotten the hatches in the cockpit. One big gust blew the port side hatch back and it slammed open, landing on top of the 20-year-old cockpit air conditioner. Big hunks of the plastic covering flew off the back of the boat as I apologized to the water and animals for our unexpected and unavoidable shattering and littering. Ben said it was okay because he wanted to replace that anyways.

In the foreground, you can see the white plastic piece. It is all that remains of our AC cover. The black part is supposed to be under the cover that we lost.

Unfortunately, there was one more casualty during the crossing of this sound: one fender. Ironically, I HAD tied it well enough and the fender itself blew off, leaving the line securely fastened to the bow. I was sad to litter another thing (even though it would float to shore), but proud of my line securing skills, which I only learned at the beginning of the month.

Notice the 3 colors of line tied to the metal bar. The gray line is the one from the fender we lost. While we were filling up on diesel after that event, the worker, not knowing our story, asked if we wanted an extra fender (the black one) that some rich guy didn't want anymore. Karma works in mysterious ways.

Our journey down the coast had us narrowly dodging Tropical Storm Claudette the whole way. She was crossing over the Carolinas as we were southbound in South Carolina and moving into Georgia. Although this was not Claudette, it was an unwelcomed visitor on our trip.

A few waves, a lot of learning, and still we continue on this journey!

Stop Buying Balloons! (Featured Writer: Bear)

            Have you ever had a balloon before? I have. I loved balloons till my family went on a boat trip. In three days we saw 11 balloons just floating around in the ocean.

            Balloons are fun until you accidentally let go and they float away. You think they just float up and go into outerspace, but you are incorrect. Most of those balloons float and as they lose their helium, land in the ocean. That is how it starts. Once they are in the ocean they are pretty hard to get back. We tried to get the 11 balloons we saw, but missed every single one. The balloons can kill some animals that live in the ocean water. Balloons are like plastic bags, they pollute the ocean a lot. Balloons can be fun to play with, but they can destroy ecosystems.

            Animals can be tricked by the balloons. They think balloons and ribbons might be food. They eat those parts and they will die. One of those animals are sea turtles (my favorite animal). They think the balloon is a jellyfish and they eat it. Balloons can get stuck in sea grass that manatees eat. Balloons can also get stuck in coral reefs and the balloon slowly dissolves and the fish eat small parts of it. 

            We waste a lot of money buying balloons. Since balloons are full of helium, the balloon deflates slowly and after a few days, the balloon is totally flat. Balloons can easily pop. They are a choking hazard for little children.

            People make so much money by selling balloons, since we buy so many, so we should stop buying balloons. Think twice about buying balloons for your next party.

Adjustments

Like anything new, living on a boat takes time to adjust. Being on a boat for an extended period of time is different than going camping or to our property, in that we all have only this ~800 square foot boat for space. There is no outside free roaming space (until we get to where we are going). Luckily, there is enough room for everyone to have their own space, if they want it.

Before we left, people asked us why we'd just dive in and buy a boat without trying one out first. The answer was simple: it wouldn't be ours. We have two full months to commit to this journey and like our camper and cabin, we wanted the kids to feel like this was an extension of their house and comfort zone. Living in a chartered boat for a week would result in rambunctious kids and an anxious momma. Those are not the memories we wanted to make.

When we left, we told the kids they could bring a stuffy (or in Roo's case, a doll) and a blanket. I packed a few school workbooks, crayons and colored pencils, puzzles, books, and games. Other than that, they're left with their imagination and, once we get to Florida, the water. Pro tip: less toys = less cleaning = less nagging = less frustration. Wins all around, minus the "I'm bored," complaints, which have decreased once we explained that there were plenty of chores to keep the boredom away.

It took the first 6 days for the kids to acclimate to life on the boat with minimal toys and things to do. They started drawing and writing together, found games to play on their own, made up games, and became creative with what they had. On day 6, I checked in on Roo who was playing quietly in her room to find her playing with Baby Sadie and Baby Yoda. She had built bunkbeds for them out of porthole covers and screen inserts. I told Ben that if we had chartered a boat for a week, they'd have spent that whole time adjusting to the boat rather than enjoying it.

There is a lot of downtime on the boat for the kids and me while Ben is our water chauffer. That downtime is spent cooking or making meals, doing or checking on laundry, cleaning, sweeping and vacuuming, learning to navigate, listening to music while looking at the coastline and houses, watching the helm, playing, napping, and just hanging out. Ben has taught each of us how to drive the boat both with the wheel and the autopilot controls. 

After the first day of our journey, the kids realized they could stomach the big waves in the ocean while they were in the cabin watching unlimited TV on one of the 4 smart TVs in the boat cabin. Meanwhile, Ben and I were hanging out in the cockpit wondering when someone would throw up. (It was Moose on day 3, and only once.)

We don't have a dishwasher on board, but we do have a dish scrub brush with a soap dispenser. Bear thought this was the coolest thing ever and after discovering how it works, she stepped up and volunteered to wash her dishes after almost every meal resulting in one less for me or Ben to have to worry about. Occasionally, she'll do all of the dishes without even being asked to! Once Moose saw how it worked, he too has asked to do the dishes. Chore fun is a win for everyone!

We have a lot of living space at home, but so far, I am not missing it at all. (Maybe we should sell our house and downgrade!) I love having minimal stuff. It has made me not mind the chores as much since they get done quickly. There is a lot less hanging over my head when I go to bed at night and that is an adjustment I don't want to give up!

Mouse & Maisy (Featured Writer: Roo- age 4)

Once a time there was a little mouse. He splashed in the pool that he had. Before he dod that he brushed his teeth and put on his bathing suit. After that he goed outside and played in the pool. After THAT he wanted to play hide n seek with his dog, so he hided behind a tree. Then he goed on a trip to the swamp and goed to the beach too, like we're doing. He's going to the same beach like ours. He is going to marry Maisy at the beach so they put on their marrying clothes and then they goed off to go over to their marrying place. Then they finally played a game, then they goed back home, and goed and did something funner. The end.

Cleared for Launch by NASA

When I was a kid, my cousin and I went to space camp. I thought it was the coolest camp anyone could ever go to. In part because of the movie Space Camp and also due to the fact that I worked hard to pay my way to attend. We spent a week in Hunstville, Alabama learning how to be astronauts and deciding if that was the path for us (or just having fun with the zero-gravity rides and mock missions). Turns out, it wasn't the path for either of us, but that love of space has always had a place in my heart.

When people think of NASA, they think of Florida and Texas. I remember attending elementary school in Florida and going outside to search the skies for the rockets after the launches. I didn't realize how unique that was until we moved to Colorado and could only watch them from the TV, never seeing them in the sky. 

How many of you knew there's a NASA flight facility in Virginia? We didn't, until 2:30 this morning when Ben went to check the anchor we dropped at 10:30 last night in the dark. (The first anchoring where we were yelling back and forth to each other because we couldn't see well and there were some shoals nearby we were trying to avoid.) He came back, got into bed, and let me know the anchor was still in place, despite all of the rolling waves we'd been experiencing through the night.

All of a sudden, there was a white light illuminating our bedroom hatches. Knowing we were the only boat anchored in the area, it called for our attention. Ben got up and noticed it was another boat, so he went onto the deck. I heard him talking on the radio so I got up to see what was going on. The guy on the other end asked what our intentions were, how fast we move, and told Ben we'd be in the way of the shuttle launch. That's when Ben told me that NASA needs us to move within the next hour. He and I looked at each other, both barely awake, in disbelief that this was actually happening. He radioed back to clarify why we were moving and the guy on the other end confirmed it.

While all 3 kids were still asleep, we started the engines and lifted the anchor. We weren't sure how long they'd sleep since their beds are over the engines. The night before was a late one because the next safe inlet (Toms Cove) was several hours away, so we were hoping they would be asleep for a while considering the long day ahead of us. If you know Ben, you know this 2:30 start to the day meant that we could get so many more miles in today. We wouldn't be anchoring in a new place in the dark. 

Looking west to Virginia from the Atlantic Ocean
Sunset was around 8:45 PM, so we had about 90 minutes of boating in the dark, on the open water. I quickly found out that is not my thing.

Despite me telling Ben 4 hours prior that I did not want to ever ride in the dark again, I didn't have much of a choice. What are the chances that we happened to wind up in this cove where NASA launches from, on the eve of a shuttle launch?! We were escorted out of Toms Cove, in the dark, by NASA 4 hours before the expected 0700 Minotaur 1 launch. 

Moose and Roo slept until after 7 AM, but Bear joined us closer to 3 AM in the cockpit. She and I cuddled together bracing ourselves for the waves in the dark, not knowing which ones would be big, which would be small, or where we were. In my head, I kept a countdown until sunrise when we'd be more aware of what was going on around us. We kept nodding off while waiting for the launch that was delayed because of storms in the area. (Storms that we likely experienced in the ocean, but didn't notice because of the darkness!) Needless to say, we couldn't wait to get to bed and hopefully sleep longer than the past 2 nights!

Around 9 am, we watched the live coverage (this link cuts to the chase and just shows the launch) on YouTube, dragged the kids out onto the deck, and then saw the rocket soar up in the sky. Having my kids experience a launch like I remember doing as a kid made my space-loving heart so full. 

I guess space camp was the closest I'll be to witnessing the real thing.

Look for the faint white squirrelly vertical line- that's the path of the Minotaur I!

Underway on Our Maiden Voyage-Days 1&2

We are underway on our maiden voyage! At around 8:15 AM on June 11th, we left the dock in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. Leslie and Don, whose dock we were at for the previous 3 days, and Ben's dad and step-mom helped us cast off and wished us well. The kids, dog, and I were on the starboard deck, waving and saying our goodbyes, Titanic-style, while Ben was at the helm. I was looking forward to christening our boat with champagne (yes, I brought a bottle just for that), but some research I'd done said we had to actually rename the boat first. With so many moving pieces right now, we haven't renamed her, so we will save the champagne for our first cast off with Cartermaran adorned on her sides and stern, and as the AIS (automatic identification system- which is what other boaters use to identify who and what the vessels around them are and their coordinates, but not every boat has an AIS).

naptime - day 1

The first few miles brought us out to the open ocean. We had 20 miles of open water before our boat was guarded by land on both sides. Even though the waves didn't look big, my stomach thought they were. After 11 miles, I was the first to succumb to seasickness. The rest of the ride included some naps and time up in the cockpit listening to some tunes, but it didn't bother any more stomachs.

Our first anchorage occurred at the Sheffield Island Lighthouse in Connecticut. When we pulled in, there were a few other boats and the sun was getting ready to set. Miraculously, there was no yelling or fighting from either Ben or me as we learned how to do this together. I was expecting it to be more like hooking the truck up to the trailer, but it was very peaceful and only took one try!

Sheffield Island Lighthouse

As we lifted the anchor the next day, Ben said a light started flashing near the toilet, which indicated the waste tank was 75% full. He called several places around where we were headed and found a pump-out boat in Manhasset Bay, NY. Fun fact: It is illegal (and unsanitary) to dispose of waste within 3 miles of the US shore, so pump-outs are free ensuring that people don't break the law and dump it too close to shore. A man on a small boat (with a tank that holds ~300 gallons of waste) met us in the bay and tied up to us, then he hooked a vacuum-style hose pump onto our black tank and it started emptying our waste. This is actually a pretty crappy job... pun intended. ;o) It didn't take very long and then we were on our way, about 75 gallons lighter.

NYC has always been a place that I have loved (that's why there are so many pics for you all to enjoy on this post). The kids had never been there. Ben hates it. All five of us thoroughly enjoyed our cruise from the Long Island Sound into the East River and down to the Hudson Bay. My favorite comment from this day was from Bear as we were riding the waves from other boats in a no-wake zone, "This is why I don't like rollercoasters!" 

Traveling by boat was the best way to see a lot of sights because took out all of the crazy people and interactions (although that does contribute to my overall enjoyment of the city). We saw so many things! Riker's Island Prison and Vernon C. Bain Center, a floating prison on a very prison-looking barge, were on opposite sides of the river from each other. Moose loved watching the airplanes take off from Laguardia and fly low, right over us, one right after another. FDNY and NYPD boats kept cruising by us, so that was exciting too. We spotted one of the FDNY stations, saw a bunch of parks, and even a wedding!

Riker's Island Prison

Vernon C. Bain Center (Prison Barge)

FDNY Boat

FDNY Station

It wasn't a very warm or sunny day, but the kids and I (with my perma-smile) sat out on the foredeck, bundled up in blankets while listening to music and sightseeing. The Chrysler and Empire State Buildings, and the Freedom Tower (which, very intentionally, stands at 1,776 feet tall) all could be seen and identified by boat, peeking between various buildings from time to time. At an earlier time in our trip, Ben mentioned that he wanted to take the tender to go to the 9/11 Memorial, but after our rendezvous in the city with the truck, camper, and trailer, he decided it would be best left for another visit. 

Chrysler Building

Empire State Building

I really liked the unique design of this building on the East River.

We cruised under all of the bridges (Bear's favorite part of the day) that cross the East River, including the Brooklyn Bridge. Winding in and out around curves, Bear was the first one to spot Lady Liberty off in the distance, while I was trying to get a good picture of the Freedom Tower. She squealed, "Statue of Liberty!" I started to tell her it was too soon to see it still, but then I saw it too. It took a while to get into the bay and we watched as the statue got bigger and bigger. She stood there in the Hudson Bay coming into closer proximity, along with about 500 huge boats, ferries, barges, and jetskis all zooming around. Initially, the plan was to anchor behind Ellis Island for the first night, but we had been averaging 9 or 10 knots per hour, so that was not a possibility. Approaching the bay, I was glad we didn't anchor there because it was super windy and the waves and wake were so big. I had forgotten just how busy that place was! 

Freedom Tower standing at 1,776 feet tall (needle adds extra height).

Our first peek at the Statue of Liberty on the left with the Freedom Tower on the right. The Manhattan Bridge is in the foreground with the Brooklyn Bridge behind it.

We stopped for a few minutes over by Ellis Island, out of the way, and taught the kids about what happened there a while ago, letting Bear know that she will learn more about it next year in school. Circling to the front of the statue was Roo's favorite part of the day. I was amazed to see just how many people were still out about sightseeing in NYC and at the statue. It looked like the city was back to the normal hustle and bustle of years past.

Statue of Liberty, Freedom Tower, & Thin Red Line USA Flag

Our amazing day ended with another successful anchorage in Sandy Hook, NJ right off the Coast Guard Station. Two other boats joined us for the night and we heard the bugle call from our boat as the sun went down on day two of our journey.

Porthole view of Sandy Hook Coast Guard Station

Fears

Before we left Colorado, I was laying in Bear's bed with her, talking about my fears of the trip, letting her know being nervous is a normal feeling when so much is changing and there are a lot of unknowns. I listed some out to her, in random order- fear of the kids getting seasick, someone falling off the boat, the kids getting bored and not having enough to do, running out of food, sunburns, and I told her there were more, but I couldn't think of them at the time. She told me she wasn't nervous.

First overboard was claimed by Dixie (Bear and Ben's dog) on our second day at the dock. I was making the little kids' bed with their new sheets and Ben was outside working at the stern of the boat. The kids had Dixie on the dock and Ben told Bear to make sure she had Dixie's leash on her. Bear called her back over to the boat and she quickly learned how little legs, like Dixie's, are not a good match for going from the dock to the boat and vice versa. Dixie jumped to the boat, but jumped where a railing was, missed the boat, had already passed the dock, and fell into the water between the two- without her life vest or leash. Shrieks from the kids alerted Ben to pull a cold pupsicle from the water by the scruff of her neck. Guess who doesn't allow Dixie out of the cabin without her life vest anymore. Bear. Fear #1.

While we were at the dock, we had a lot to do. Mechanical stuff gets taken care of by Ben, while the house and kids things belong to me. I was unpacking, making beds, doing laundry, organizing the fridge and 3 freezers. Ben was ... well... doing a lot. I can't even tell you all of the things he did in the engine rooms, in small crawl spaces that I thought I'd have to call to get him cut out of, and on the deck. I continue to be thankful that he started his college education thinking he wanted to become a diesel mechanic. All of that one year of college and 2 prior years of vocational school loaded his brain so that it's all second nature to him. Needless to say, we were busy. The kids were bored and we didn't let them bring any toys. TV can entertain, but only for so long. They only packed a journal, school workbook, and stuffed animal each. Fear #2.

Due to where we bought our boat, we had to venture a little bit in open waters to get to our next waypoint. During our sea trial and visit in May, we were in the boat on the water for a total of 5-6 hours. I never felt sick. I chalked that up to this vessel being a catamaran. Once we reached the Atlantic, the water started getting choppy. From the cockpit, it didn't look like we were riding big waves, but they sure felt big to my stomach. I started feeling sick 11 miles in, but thought I could handle it. It was only approximately 20 miles, so only 9 to go- we were more than halfway! I was wrong. I stood up, walked to the gunwale, rode it out for a bit, heard Ben tell the kids, "There goes Mommy," and then came back in while being told by Roo, in an angry voice, "Mommy! You can't do that! You'll kill the creatures!" I told her it made me feel much better and that the creatures were excited to have such delicious poppyseed muffins for breakfast. Luckily it was just me. Everyone else had their sea legs from the getgo, and it only took me that one time to get it out of the way. (Update: Moose joined me in this on day 3.)  Fear #3.

We never technically ran out of food, but there were several times when Ben or I told the kids to stop eating because we needed food on board. This resulted in 2 Target runs and a Stop & Shop visit to be sure the food we stocked up on before we left would in fact, still be there on our journey south. Fear #4?

Little did I know that I'd have to face a lot of my fears within a 40-hour window at the start of our trip.

En Route

Cross country road trips are not for the weak (marriages). We do these types of trips a lot. There has been at least one every summer and there has yet to be a trip where I don't get yelled at for being a bad navigator. In fact, I've been told in the past that I need to come for a ride-along in a fire engine so I can hear what proper instructions and navigation sound like. 

What does this have to do with your boat, you're asking. On our journey from Broomfield, Colorado to South Kingstown, Rhode Island, we covered 2,005 miles in 30.25 hours. The first day wrapped up in Portage, Indiana after 1,068 miles, with no big stories. We played a lot of movies, ate even more snacks, and even had a few naps (not by the driver). It was by far the best travel day we have ever had with the kids and we told them that, despite our worries about having 3 kids share one tablet. All of our stops were efficient and productive, with only one or two impromptu stops to take care of basic kid needs. Could we ask for anything more? Besides a repeat of the day, nope.

Day 2 was far from a repeat. It started out drizzling. Not pouring, so that was good, but it was wet enough for the kids to quickly understand what 100% humidity is and the way it makes our (my) hair so much prettier (frizzier). Ha! They kept asking if it was going to stay like that and stay that hot- it was about 80°. All I really could say was, "Well... yeah..." and, "This is part of the reason why we live where we live."

Our drive kept us on I-80 all the way through New York. Google Maps and Waze were competing for the best route once we hit New York, but Google Maps won because it loaded the alternate route options quicker in the end. It had us cross the Hudson on the George Washington Bridge- a pretty cool double-decker bridge, minus the fact that the lady in the toll booth had us pay $66 to cross it on the top level with our one extra axel (the U-Haul trailer). Cars pay $16 and she said our truck alone would be $44. Ben said she probably classified us as a semi.

Wanting to capture several things, (like the New York State Sign, the bridge, and the looks on the kids' faces when they saw the big city, bridge, waterway, and everything for the first time), I made sure my camera was available on my phone and the navigation on the Google Maps window was still visible. See the image below to see how my screen was set up. I told Ben, "It says we take exit 1 C-D after we cross over the bridge," thinking that I covered my bases.

Looking down at the river below, Moose spotted a boat and we told him that we'd be cruising down there and under the bridge we were on, in just a few days. He was surprised and excited. (It turns out we misinformed him- our route took us another way- but we will be on that part next summer or the year after.)

On the other end of the bridge, exit 1 appeared much quicker than I anticipated. I repeated out loud that we take exit 1 C-D and thought to myself that I successfully navigated and took my pictures, but I was wrong. To my right was exit 1 and the next sign said exit 2 and looked like it was right there, so thinking that exit 1 would branch off into A-B and C-D, I told Ben to get off at 1. I looked at the map and saw "Rerouting..." and knew I was in for it. It= Carters driving their truck with slide-in camper and U-Haul trailer adventure in Manhattan, of course.

Oops.

That was wrong. My bad. I should've been solely focused on my navigation duties. In my defense- the kids' reaction was priceless, I got some blurry but memorable pics, and I missed the stinking New York sign anyways. Did I learn my lesson? Probably not...

Exit 1 led us down to an intersection with, thank God, a red light, and no lettered exit in sight. Ben had some choice words for me and my navigator skills that I chose to ignore while I quickly tried to find our way to I-87 among the streets in the West Bronx. Luckily, Ben spotted a sign that pointed to the I-87 truck route, so we turned left and followed the directions to get us back on track to I-87 while avoiding the outside lanes which had an obscene amount of people double and triple parked on the street. The new route took us under the EL train (thanks, Momma and your Brooklyn roots for the proper terminology) while introducing our kids to really awful drivers, some of which were on motorcycles or scooters with Uber Eats bags on their back luggage bar. (I don't think I'd ever order that while in the city after seeing the conditions they have to drive in... or I'd tip them really well.) I rolled my window down to be sure to get the full NYC experience- sights, sounds, and smells.

Once we were on I-87 I could almost breathe again. Google Maps had us en route to I-95 by way of some parkways. I was busy reading signs and making sure to avoid more of what we had just been through. I read a sign made of lights to Ben, "You are overweight. Take the next exit." He said he didn't care and we kept going. I was confused about why the truck's weight would matter. After a while of looking at overpass heights, I wondered out loud if we were short enough to clear them. Turns out the truck clearance with the camper is 11' 6".

Fast-forward a few more exits and I saw the sign again, only this time I realized I read the last one wrong and it actually said, "You are overheight. Take the next exit." Looking ahead, the next bridge clearance was 10' 4", so Ben quickly got in the right lane and took the next exit. We pulled over to get a look at the map and get us to I-95, avoiding the parkways. (Does anyone know how to input height restrictions into a mapping device? I know it's possible to avoid tolls or avoid highways, but haven't seen it for avoiding short bridges. This would've saved us the second rerouting in New York.) Ben found a route and put my phone on the dash so he could see the map and keep it out of my reach. I said he put my phone in timeout.

If you've ever tried to drive somewhere against your GPS's will, you know how obnoxious it is. We listened to and ignored the Google lady reroute us countless times, "In 1,000 feet turn left on... Then turn right on..."

I-95 appeared quickly and, thankfully, didn't have any low bridges. We knew we were in good company when we saw several semis on the highway alongside us.

Now, of course, there are two sides to every story. Here's Ben's story- painted with broad strokes, but obviously mine is more eloquent and detailed, right 8B?

Just after the George Washington Bridge, Lisa said I had to take a right on Exit 1D, I think. So she's busy taking pictures, like normal, and Exit 1 popped up and I said, "Is this the exit?"

She said, "1D," and I was like, "Well it says 1, and the next exit's 2," so she said to take a right.

Then we ended up in Manhattan driving under the Elevated Line and Lisa could navigate us back to the route, so I ended up driving through Manhattan and trying to get on a parkway. We're 11 and 1/2 feet tall and we get almost to I-95 and there was a sign saying too tall use this exit now. There's a blinking light and everything. There was a bridge that was 10' 4" and we would have lost the top foot of the camper. Very similar to the cabin story on the way to Carterado when we hauled it there. I hit that exit and we had to drive through Yonkers. Maps couldn't figure out how to navigate to I-95 so I just ended up looking at the map, finding our way, and then we got on I-95 and went to Rhode Island.

----- (End of Ben's perspective)

At an interstate service center, we were stopped for fuel and potty breaks when a random guy walked up to Ben, who had just started pumping fuel into the truck, and asked him for some money to get his teenager's car some gas. When Ben said no, the guy asked if Ben could finish pumping the gas into the truck and wait for him to pull up his car for a few gallons. Ben told him it was diesel so it wouldn't do him any good. He mentioned needing help getting his keys that were locked inside his car. Ben said he'd hate to bust his window open and then watched as the guy walked to his car, opened the door, and drove away.

The rest of the drive was uneventful as the apologies were spoken and the kids fell asleep once we crossed into Connecticut on I-95 (and wound up missing the photo of the Connecticut sign as well due to my phone being in time-out). We exited I-95, got onto Hwy 2, then US-1 and I navigated us directly to the parking lot of T's where we stopped a little before midnight, parked, slept, and waited for the 7 AM opening so we could eat our delicious breakfast before boarding the boat with the kids for the first time.

What's the Plan?

Ben and I took the Florida Boating Safety Course and passed it back in April. It is required that people much younger than us take it, but we decided it would be beneficial knowledge to have. One of the biggest points in the lessons was to always have a float plan. Reviewing feedback from all you lovely readers through comments, texts, and general questions, I realized I've failed to let you in on the actual plan!

We leave Sunday morning. Sunday. As in 5 more days. What?! My living room is excited for the trailer to arrive on Friday. This is what it looks like and has looked like for the past several MONTHS- of course, we have been adding to it, little by little to get to this point. The box of boxes goes to the curb on Friday- this is what has been collected from shipments over the past two weeks. Dang that every-other-week recycling business...

Thank you to all of our incredible neighbors, family, and friends who will be staying at, working on, spying, or looking after our house while we are on this journey. Oh, and if you happen to pass by the house, give us a wave on the camera!

Being a teacher, I have the summers off. Now that hasn't always been the case, as I typically take classes all summer long, but this year I finally reached the maximum credits beyond my master's degree. Hooray! Ben's work shifts are on for 48 hours, off for 96 hours, but one of the cool things about being a firefighter is that he can set up, what they call, trades. He asks around for anyone who is able to fill his job for a 24-hour block. In exchange, he will work a 24-hour block for them, a different day. Therefore, they are trading days. Back in April, Ben got all 16 shifts covered that he'd be missing from June 8th to the beginning of August. He has paid some of these back already, but most will be paid back after our trip ends.

Sunday we drive. Monday we drive. Those of you unfamiliar with our Epic Carter Family Road Trips might be wondering how we plan to entertain the kids for all of this 28ish hour drive. Well typically they have their tablets (or back in the day, they had a portable DVD player) to watch endless movies on, which keeps them quiet and entertained. That was the plan for this trip, up until about 3 weeks ago when Moose decided to see if we were kidding about the hammer not being a good stylus for his tablet. So, we will take our family hotspot tablet with some downloaded Disney+ movies (choices for this trip: Moana, Tangled, Cars, Raya, Onward among others) and hope for the best. 

Ben thinks we will arrive in Rhode Island sometime on Tuesday. Then we have Wednesday and Thursday to unpack the camper and trailer, return the trailer, and load up the boat. I'm expecting some necessary shopping trips will take place, and of course, I'd like to stop at T's for some more of that delicious food. Ben's dad and step-mom fly in on Thursday, so he will pick them up from the airport and they will drop him off at the boat. Then they will drive the truck and camper down to Sebastian, Florida which is where our boat will live from August until next summer.

Once we're on the boat, our plan is to head south to the Florida Keys. We're planning to stay overnight (for free) in the Hudson Bay with the Statue of Liberty, as well as make a few pit stops along the journey down. (There are a bunch of places we want to see between Rhode Island and Florida, but we plan to start America's Great Loop next summer and will plan out stops and attractions for that next year.) It should take us 1-2 weeks to get to Florida. In addition to the Keys, we want to check out Dry Tortugas National Park, Biscayne National Park, and possibly make a trip to the Bahamas. Ben's first shift back to work is August 7th, so we have to be back by then. Any stops between June 10th and the first week of August is anyone's guess!