In her berth

The name of our new boat is "Gi Gi Mae". The previous owners named the boat after their dog and De Anne said it was a fine name and that she did not want to re-christen the bow or re-letter the stern so the name will remain - "Yes Ma'am Admiral!" is the only proper response.

We were planning to take her home up the intracoastal waterway; however, around the first bend was a big, dirty dredger blocking traffic. The Venice Inlet was in sight so just like that plans changed and out into the Gulf we zoomed.

 De Anne in her natural habitat, with Longboat Key in the distance:

After two years behind the mast the speed was intoxicating:

A few boat chores to do. De Anne has never waxed a car; but boats are different:

Baby boat

Our purchase was closed yesterday with little fanfare. In fact, our presence was not needed, our escrowed money was all the attendance required.

We used the free time to pick up our new baby boat and outboard from West Marine and felt compelled to immediately inflate it on the patio. This dinghy is a RIB. We wanted the hard bottom so that we could drive it up on beaches with impunity.

We are adhering to the time-honored yachting tradition known as B.O.A.T. (break out another thousand). 

Monday we will pick up our new boat in Venice FL and cruise 20 miles north to Longboat Key.