Detour With A Twist

Our current detour began with a week in Minnesota. Dave managed to catch the trending flu bug while we were there. It's a doozy! He had all the accoutrements including runny nose, headache, congestion, fever, chills and body aches. Too bad he had to bring it with him to New York City for the Architectural Digest show. His work is very physical and requires long hours on his feet. I worried about him the entire trip.

We love our visits to the Big Apple in the spring. This is our first time being here with real winter weather. It has been cold and snowy with a true Nor'easter arriving during our stay. It was cool seeing the city all shut down instead of crazy busy with tourists.

New York City After Nor'Easter Storm Stella's Visit

Unfortunately, I injured my back working out in the hotel fitness center. It's one of those things that happens to us "fit" people. One minute we are working our way through strength training; the next, we can't move! Things got really interesting with pain. Dave was ready to take me to a local hospital but I begged for one more day in bed and was thrilled to feel better by morning. My workouts have been curbed until 100% of the pain is gone. Until then, slow, gentle stretches and walking will have to do.

Each time we come to New York City I find new things and new places to explore. Our hotel was only a few blocks from Central Park so I visited as often as possible. Since I'm stuck with walking, I meandered through some new paths and found lovely spots that I hadn't seen before.

For the third year in a row we are in New York City for the St. Patrick's Day parade. It is hard to describe this day when everyone becomes Irish and everything is green! The parade boasts no cars (except for those at the start), and no floats. This is a parade of people, kilts, bagpipes and Irish pride!

The United Airlines New York City Half Marathon was on Sunday, March 19th. I was able to watch the runners from our 37th floor window. I made my way down to cheer them on, wishing I was running with them. The course starts in Central Park and makes it's way through Times Square and down to Wall Street. How cool!

Buzz Lightyear and Woody stop to take a selfie

As our stay in New York City comes to an end, we look forward to taking the train to Connecticut. We'll visit our family and friends there, then make our way back to sailboat Mystic in Mobile, Alabama. Finally, it will be time to resume our cruising journey.

Hellos and Goodbyes

We've been lucky to spend long periods of time with other Loopers along our journey. We've also been lucky to make return visits to our home in Minnesota, and our family in Connecticut. There have been a lot of hellos and goodbyes!

A visit to Connecticut in November

Beth & Minnie in CT

My Mom "Nonnie"

At the house of cats in CT

Dave with Marc in CT

A Visit to Minnesota in December

Beth with friends Linda and Mary in MN

MN Friends Mike & Linda

MN Friends Mary & Shel

Dave with sailing friends
Jim & Linda

Beth with sailing friends
Jim & Linda

Beth & Sonya on a MN run at Brown's Creek

Minnesota Visit in March

Sonya & Beth ~ Inside Stoopin on Olive Street

Sonya, Pat & Beth Neighbor gathering

Dave & Karla are teachers in Minnesota
who follow our blog with their students

We've had a lot of hellos and goodbyes while cruising too. We regularly meet the locals at each port we stop in. They are chance meetings where we learn as much as we can about people we may never see again, yet people we will never forget. We meet other loopers, some just long enough to collect their boat card; others who we travel with for long periods of time. When we arrived at Turner Marine in Mobile, we reconnected with several boats that we'd met at anchorages or marinas along the way. Life's Travails, Veritas, Bright Angel, Greatful II, Bonnie Jean, Mucho Gusto and Sea Marie; it seemed that everyone was having an extended stay in Mobile. But once the boat projects were scratched off their list, they would throw their lines and head out across Mobile Bay, never looking back. Our farewell ritual is usually in the form of a party; a celebration of progress, camaraderie and moving on. This makes it a little easier to say farewell; until we meet again; because we do meet again, eventually. Until we do, our community of fellow adventurers keep a keen eye on each other. Just like family!

Saying Goodbye to Henry

Henry's farewell party aboard Mucho Gusto

Toasting friendship, fair winds and following seas

The start of Henry's farewell card

Farewell to Henry & Mickey

Henry, Beth, Rhonda, Dave

Beth, Susan & Rhonda in Mobile, AL
Veritas farewell gathering

Mystic Our floating home

Mystic, has become our second home. We live aboard this 35 foot long, 10 foot wide floating respite from everyday life. Many of the Loopers we meet are what's called "all in", which means that they've sold their homes and belongings and moved onto the waterway full time.  We still have an anchor securely set on land back in Minnesota.

Mystic at Knife River, MN

Mystic at Turner Marine, Mobile, Alabama

Just like our house in Stillwater, Mystic is a classic. The house was built in 1871, the boat in 1966. Both have hardwood floors and beautiful lines. Our house has 2,400 square feet of living space. Mystic has about 350. Our house has a fireplace, Mystic has a coal stove. The biggest difference in our lifestyle aboard Mystic compared to our home is space. On our floating home, space is limited!

Our home in Minnesota

Mystic has room to sleep six, however, when loaded up with all of our live aboard gear she's more of a mini home for two. Our v-berth and two quarter berths are used for storage. Our main cabin settee table converts into a double bed. We use this for sleeping which means that we have to make our bed each night and stow it each morning. It takes about 5 minutes to do this. First, we have to lower the table top. Next we stack two layers of boat cushions on the bottom and add two layers of mattress toppers before putting the sheets on. We have been using three blankets; a heating blanket, a fleece blanket made by our friend Jayme Mikla and a beautiful quilt made by our friend Jerri Mitchell. It may seem silly to live this way but in doing so we are able to air out our bed each day. Living on the water we have condensation issues, so sleeping in the main cabin helps manage the moisture that is generated by our body heat.

Beth blogging at our table/bed

Mystic's Galley

Quarter berths on either side of steps

Fish eye view of Mystic's main cabin
Kitchen on the starboard side,
settee on the port. We make the settee into our bed.

View from the V-Berth facing aft

View from cockpit looking forward

Empty V-Berth

Composting Toilet in V-Berth

V-Berth with mattress cover

V-Berth made up for sleeping

Living in tight quarters is not as difficult as it would seem. We continue to find ways to store our belongings and make good use of the space we have. We are learning to get by with less. It's a simple life. We like that a lot!