Boat show and current plans

We decided to head over to the Cataba Island Boat show last weekend. We were hoping to find some local marinas to talk to that might be able to store the boat for the winter and maybe even supply dockage. We got two solid leads for winter storage which was way better than our previous options of maybe something on Lake Ontario and a 90% sure they could at one marina on Lake Michigan. So that was a win. Now we just need to find a dock somewhere on the US side of Lake Erie preferably. We got a couple leads but nothing real promising. The reality is even though I've started to see a few catamarans start to show up on the Great Lakes most are around the 40ft range and at least 4ft narrower than ours. The lakes just are not set up right now to handle these boats wide beam boats and it's going to be a challenge if we would like to bring it back near home.

The next problem is time. With all our currently scheduled activities we just don't have time to get this boat from Florida to Lake Erie this year. I think we are going to target somewhere on the Chesapeake Bay for the season. But even getting enough time to move the boat there will be a challenge as we have a family wedding on the 13th of June we have to be at. I coach the local high school trap team and our State event is on June 29th, and then Scout camp is June 29 through July 5th in WV. I'm a Scout leader by the way as well. Once we get back from Scout camp I have to take the Trap team to Nationals for the week in Columbus, OH then the next week is our county fair which is quite a busy week for us as well since Max shows goats and we are busy with volunteer work with his 4H club. Once fair is over Max's HS tennis team will start up for the season in August. So basically we have two weeks in June to get the boat from Miami to hopefully some marina on the Chesapeake Bay that can hold us all while crossing our fingers for the good weather window those weeks that will allow us to make that happen. Worst case scenario we hopefully get the boat to SC or above and find a place to park it for a month then come back in August and try to get it moving again. We are choosing the Chesapeake area simply because it's on the coast and only about six and a half hour drive away from us. We know there are lots of support facilities in that area and have heard about the great sailing there that we might enjoy on some extended weekend trips to the boat this fall/late summer.

Bottom line I'm not sure we are going to be able to use the boat much this season. Hopefully next year after Max graduates from HS we will be able to block off 6 weeks or so to bring the boat back to Lake Erie allowing us to go slow and enjoy doing the Down East Loop taking the boat up the East Coast past Maine and into Canada then down the St Lawrence to Lake Ontario though the locks and into Lake Erie where we can hopefully sail it on the Great Lakes a bit before putting it away for the winter and sailing it back out the next year ensuring we are in St Lucia by Jan of 28 to start the World ARC.

Writing all this out seems a bit crazy but hopefully the trip will help us get to know the boat while also providing some good experience along the way. At this point all our plans are written in sand and may change at any moment :)