Hutchinson Island Halfway!

Cruised from North Palm Beach to Hutchinson Island Marriott Resort in Stuart, Florida. We are now on the Treasure Coast of Florida, the region includes the coastal counties of St. Lucie, Indian River and Martin, the name refers to the Spanish Treasure Fleet lost in a 1715 hurricane, and evidently emerged from residents’ desire to distinguish themselves from Miami and the Gold Coast region to the south. But the area itself is truly a treasure, more on the area in future posts.

We have been on the journey now for six months (half of our 12 month plan), with only 7 days off the boat, 5 for Christmas and 2 in Nashville. We have done 43 Lock and Dams, 3000 miles, 2700 gallons of diesel, 5 different river systems, and our farthest point south was Key West, 90 miles from Cuba. We’ve stayed at 60 different marinas and have spent 5 nights “on the hook” or anchored out (Captain sleeps best when tied to a dock). We’ve met many friends along the way for dinner, had a 90th Birthday party, 5 overnight guests, come “crew” with us on five differnt ocassions, and have met over 102 Loopers (that’s how many boat cards we’ve collected, have probably met more than that but didn’t get their card). So we are celebrating coming this far at the resort with our son Brad. And that we’re still married, too! Now we are heading north up the east side of Florida.

We fill our 150 gallon fresh water tank about once a week, and get a pump out of the 55 gallon holding tank about once every 10 days. We mostly use our own shower and heads, unlike some loopers who rely heavily on the marina bathrooms.