Sailing Season 2024 – It all begins now

After a wonderful summer in Kingston and Toronto, we’re back in Florida, ready to get Crimson Kathryn back on the water. Our journey south began early in the morning on Friday, Oct. 27th. We had a great border crossing and a smooth trip down to Defender Marine in Connecticut.

This is definitely not our usual route south. We made the Defender detour to pick up 200ft of anchor chain and other supplies that Mark purchased. We decided to make this trip because the shipping cost on that much chain is crazy! I can also tell you that putting 200ft of 3/8th chain in the back of your car gives a good test to your rear suspension!

We made good time to Connecticut and only really ran into traffic when we closed in on N.Y.C. We crossed over to the west side of the Hudson River and travelled south on the New Jersey turnpike until we reached our first night destination – Trenton, NJ.

The next day (Saturday, Oct. 28th) we were up early and on the road by 7:30pm. It was a lovely day for driving – bright and sunny. We started early so we could get through Baltimore and Washington in the morning (trying to limit our traffic exposure). It was a good plan and we had little trouble getting through these two busy cities. That day ended at a Holiday Inn Express in Florence, SC. This hotel was kind of in the middle of nowhere and we didn’t feel like driving too far to get some dinner so decided to go to this store called Buc-ee’s. To say this place was strange is an understatement!! It’s the weirdest, craziest store we’ve ever been in. I can’t even explain it – kind of a fast food place but there’s also clothing and souvenirs and a gas bar that has probably 50 pumps. As we were heading back to our hotel we laughed and struggled to find words to describe Buc-ee’s. Mark came up with Costco mashed up with a fast food restaurant!! FYI – the food was good!

We had a slightly slower start today because we only had 5 hours left to drive. Another great driving day with very little traffic. We drove straight to Reynolds Park (although we couldn’t get in to the boatyard because the gate is now locked on weekends) and arrived around 1:30pm. We had a great visit with Julia & Brad and Jane & Steve, before heading to our very swanky Airbnb.

Tomorrow begins the process of getting Crimson Kathryn ready for our sailing season. We have an ambitious season planned – hoping to get to Turks and Caicos! So let the fun begin!!