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Meet the new La Rea!

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  • LaReaLaRea Member, Moderator Posts: 7,855 mod
    edited May 24
    Thanks guys!  It has been an amazing trip that surpassed anything we could have imagined.  

    6992 Miles traveled
    322 Days since leaving
    3 Foreign countries visited (Canada, Bahamas, Conch Republic of Key West)
    17 States visited
    150 Marinas and anchorages visited
    109 Locks transited
    727 Engine hours 

    More importantly, we met so many fun and interesting people that we're going to do it all over again!  We'll be here 3-4 weeks then head north.  Once is not enough!


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  • LaReaLaRea Member, Moderator Posts: 7,855 mod
    edited May 24
    Don't ask me to name a favorite part of the trip ... each region is different and special in its own way!  But in our second Loop, we'll spend a little more time in the Great Lakes and Bahamas.  We want to cruise Lake Erie and visit friends in Cleveland and Detroit.  Maybe visit the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan.  And we'll probably spend a bit less time on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.  
    If any of you are even remotely considering it, you absolutely do not need to have a big boat.  Most Loopers are in affordable boats 35-45 feet long and 15-25 years old.  Think Mainship 390 or Bayliner 3988.  It's cheap to run them and easy to find slips for them.  

    Here's a pic of our girl sporting the coveted Gold Flag (meaning the crew has made a complete Loop).  By this time next year, we hope to trade it for a Platinum Flag -- I've only seen a handful of those!


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  • LaReaLaRea Member, Moderator Posts: 7,855 mod
    edited May 24
    Our two closest Looping friends are Bill and Sandi from M/V Peace & Love.  We met them in Brewerton NY and traveled with them for probably 75% of the remaining 6000 miles.  Celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthdays with them.  They drove up by car from South Carolina just to catch our lines!  It's a great example of the lifelong friendships that come from boating.  
    Bill and Sandi decorated our dock with balloons and ribbons, plus an AWESOME banner of our boat.  A big crowd showed up to welcome us!  Champagne toasts at the dock followed by an even bigger potluck dinner in the clubhouse.  It was absolutely off the charts!  Really meant a lot to us having that sort of homecoming.  





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  • YYZRCYYZRC Member Posts: 5,282 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Chris, can you be back in Midland by June 14? Butter tart festival…

    https://www.midland.ca/en/community-tourism-culture/ontarios-best-butter-tart-festival.aspx

    First dozen are on me. 
    2008 350 EC on Georgian Bay
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  • LaReaLaRea Member, Moderator Posts: 7,855 mod
    Hah -- I wish!  We became huge fans of butter tarts!  For our American readers:  butter tarts are a Canadian delicacy.  Hard to explain, easy to enjoy!

    Unfortunately the Erie Canal is opening late this year because of storm damage.  There are about 200 boats stacked up in the Hudson River waiting for the locks to open.  We won't hit Canada until late June or early July.
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  • IanIan Member Posts: 2,931 ✭✭✭✭
    The Maritimo M55 Frankie Mo you drooled over is at Waterford now, came in a week or so ago. He’ll be waiting.

    Regards,

    Ian

    The Third “B”

    Secretary, Ravena Coeymans Yacht Club

    https://www.rcyachtclub.com/

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  • Liberty44140Liberty44140 Member Posts: 4,414 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Wow! congrats on the big finish..... and start of the next loop! Very cool that your friends drove up for your triumphant arrival. Great pics! 
    07' Cruisers 390 (Previous Rinker's: 06' 342EC & 01' 310FV)

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  • TonyG13TonyG13 Member Posts: 1,360 ✭✭✭✭
    edited May 27
    rasbury said:
    What's next!
    He's just going to do it again - like a ride at Disneyland!
    Post edited by TonyG13 on
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  • aero3113aero3113 Member Posts: 9,323 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 27
    LoL!!
    😂 ⚓️
    2008 330EC
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  • IanIan Member Posts: 2,931 ✭✭✭✭
    With more upgrades

    Regards,

    Ian

    The Third “B”

    Secretary, Ravena Coeymans Yacht Club

    https://www.rcyachtclub.com/

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  • LaReaLaRea Member, Moderator Posts: 7,855 mod
    Some before-and-after eye candy of the swim platform hydraulic pump system.  Last week I scraped off all the rust and applied gloss white POR.  Looks good from a distance.  Don't look too close or you'll see the brush marks.  I also cleaned the hydraulic check valves, and now the platform will hold position for 1-2 hours without the locks -- bonus!!  





    I did not WANT to learn about hydraulic systems, but now I know the basics.  My friend asked why I didn't just retrofit a new lift instead of going to all this trouble.  I told him it would cost $40k and he said "ohhhh, now I get it!"
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  • LaReaLaRea Member, Moderator Posts: 7,855 mod
    edited July 2
    (cross-post from yesterday's blog on LaRea.net)

    After a lovely five weeks living in a "dirt home," we're underway for another year of adventures!
    We stayed in the same small waterfront home that we rented before we left last year.  And you know what?  We enjoyed it!  The king-size bed, endless hot showers, real toilet paper ... these are the little things that helped us tolerate life ashore. 
    In the shower is where I feel it most ... that feeling boaters get when they go ashore.  The floor is definitely moving, though I know it really isn't.  That feeling went away after about a week of sleeping on land.  I want to get it back.  
    Our time here was hectic.  Lots of boat projects and maintenance, as I've already shared.  Lots of medical appointments, because LaRea's crew also needs routine maintenance.  Lots of visiting with our neighborhood friends, and especially our long-time boating buddies!  
    Back in the day, most of us had "express cruiser" boats made for overnighting and weekending -- which we did often.  On any given Sunday morning, you'd likely find us waking up with the boats all tied together, anchored after a long Saturday of floating, music, eating and drinking.  These "raft-ups" took place mostly at Gunston Cove, just a quick four miles from home.  Fun times!  
    When Diane and I moved up to a motor yacht, most of our friends did the opposite.  They downsized to center-console boats and ski boats, and they love them!  Over the past couple of weeks, they treated us to boat rides when our yacht was landlocked by the Potomac River's shallow water at low tide.  It was refreshing and great fun.  They don't care when the next low tide will happen, because their boats can go out any time.  So easy, so carefree.  
    We've known most of those friends for decades.  For them, I suppose it felt like we went away for a year, then returned home.  To us, it felt different.  Now the boat is home, and we were only visiting our old stomping grounds.  Today we're home again -- back on the water.  Sorry to be leaving, but so very happy to be underway!  
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