Have you ever seriously thought about living your dream? We did and now we are full time cruisers onboard M/V Big Run. Everyday is a new page to be written in our ship's log as we travel to new places and revisit some ol' favorites. Come along and share our experiences and journeys.

Comments to postings are welcomed. We have elected to moderate all comments before the comment is published, so be patient, you comment will be posted.


Welcome to our Adventure

Friday, May 31, 2013

M/V Twocan



This is M/V Twocan, a 1997 Kadey Krogen 42 widebody, hull number 200.  When we speak of a widebody, the interior of the port side has been expanded out thereby eliminating the side deck.  This creates a very spacious interior.  Also, note that we mention hull numbers.  The Kadey-Krogen 42 had a limited production run of 206 vessels before they switched to the 44' model.  Alan and Sue of Denver, CO are the proud owners.  Twocan is shown here berthed in a slip in front of Big Run in Brunswick, Ga.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Need A Hook

      High tide was 8.6 feet above datum at 1:01a.m. last night and slack tide was -.8 feet below datum at 7:16 a.m.  this morning.  Although not unusual to see a sailboat heeled over like this under sail, it does make for difficult sleeping conditions while on the hook, but then they didn't need a hook.

Update - later that day about 1 hour before high tide the boat was gracefully towed out of the marsh.

Friday, May 24, 2013

The West Coast Of Florida

     Well, it's been a long week because of the woes that computers have brought into our lives.  It appears, and I say that with a little a reluctance, that the transition to a private blog is now complete.  Although not all "invitations" have been accepted, those that have accepted are probably a little more computer savvy than myself.
     In the picture below are 2 clues as to why the blog has gone private.
      For those with a keen eye, you will have noticed the signs on the boat.  One on the pulpit and one the starboard quarter.  Yes, they are For Sale signs.  We have decided to put Big Run up for sale and continue our adventures in ways other  than boating.  We are exploring many different options for new adventures.  Once we have sold the boat, we will look for an apartment somewhere near the continental divide, the Rocky Mountains.  Make that an apartment where someone else takes care of everything.  No grass to mow, no snow to shovel, no building maintenance, just come and go as we please.  Once we have established our "new home" we can start thinking about our new adventures. One of our favorite ideas is going to Europe and getting a Euro-rail pass and exploring the old country.  The Euro-rail would be the geriatric version of backpacking through Europe.  Another idea is to explore the backroads of the United States  We also like the idea of taking the train through the Canadian Rockies.  New Zealand and Australia have also gotten honorable mentions.  As we journey to new destinations, we will continue to blog about those adventures.
     So, why the privatized blog?  I don't claim to be a prolific writer, probably not even a mediocre one and because of my shortcomings, someone who may be interested in purchasing the boat may not understand or comprehend my thoughts, make that rants, about boats and their maintenance and/or repairs.  Just to clarify this a little, yes Big Run is a vintage 1983 boat and from time to time needs repairs because of her age.  However, newer items on the boat are also prone to failure.  For example, our big 165 amp Balmar alternator mounted on the engine,  the one dedicated to charging the extra large house batteries while we are underway, stopped producing power somewhere on the trip north from Miami.  This unit is only 3 years old but is a alternator from a reputable company.  I still need to have it tested to see if it's the alternator diodes or the external regulator. So as not to discourage any potential buyers due to my poor writing skills, with respect to boat maintenance, I have taken the blog private.
     What if the boat doesn't sell?  Our current plans, and remember our plans are like jello, lots of wiggle room, are to stay, yes I said stay, here in Brunswick in the marina until October.  Then in October if the boat hasn't been sold, our plans, again don't forget about jello, are to head over to the Gulf Of Mexico and cruise the west coast of Florida.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Leave The Bottle

     I openly admit that over the last few days I have lost control of taking this blog private.  What was once an idea, for reasons which I still have to publish, has turned into a computer nightmare.  In their infinite wisdom, Google has mutated a simple concept into a complex web of new and improved garbage.  What I am referring to is my new arch computer nemesis "the private blog" which in the past only required a simple password.  Now, to my understanding, Google requires a reader of a Google private blog to register and create an account (email address), which is just what everyone needs, another account. We already have too many accounts, each requiring a password following a specific format.   I know that I  touted this blog as a journal of our adventures and yet here I am posting another entry about "Blog Technical Stuff".   I guess, in a way, this experience is an adventure into the cyber world!
     So here's the deal.   To date, I have received over 75 requests for access to the blog when it goes private.  When I flip the "go to private" switch, someone is bound to get lost in the shuffle.  For those who get lost and don't have our regular email address, I have set up a temporary email address to help with the change over.  I tried to keep it simple.  The temporary email address is "bigrunprivateblog@gmail.com".  If, when the blog goes private, you can't access the blog, please contact me at that email address.   However, there is a catch.  When the blog goes private, the temp email address will have gone private as well with this blog entry.  I have elected to delay the change over to private for a couple of days. When this change is done, I will definitely need an adult beverage.  Barkeep, make mine a double scotch, neat, and leave the bottle! 

Friday, May 17, 2013

Too Stressful

   Yesterday, I blogged about taking this blog private.  Today, while in a early stage of setting up the private blog mode, I was experimenting with adding our "contacts list" (email addresses) to those requesting permission to access the blog when it goes private.  After stepping away from the computer, I came back to the computer to find that Google prompted itself to send out invitations to our contacts list.  I think that's what happened!  If you are on our contacts list and received an invitation, I apologize for the interruption.  I am not a computer savvy person and until the private blog thing is setup it may happen more times than I care to admit.  Computers are too stressful.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Stay Safe & Have Fun

     For reasons that will be explained in the very near future, Big Run's blog is going private until further notice.  We have enjoyed blogging and will continue to blog, but for now we must limit access to the blog to family, friends or a followers.  A password will be required to access the blog starting Monday, May 20th.  If you are family, friend or a follower and wish to have access to this blog once it goes private, please send a comment through the comment section at the bottom of this entry before 6 pm Sunday, May 19th. Your comment should include a "request" for the password and your email address.  Your comment/request will not be displayed on this blog as all comments go to our email inbox for moderation.  I will not publish your comment and therefore your email address will not go public, but I will be able to contact you through email with the password to access this blog in the future.  I will issue emails with the password early next week.  Stay Safe & Have Fun

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Liveaboards

    We have been back in the "land of abundance" for about 2 weeks and there are still adjustments to be made.  We left Miami on Tuesday a week ago and traveled north to Brunswick, GA.  In our travels north we encountered too many bridges, most of which are on a fixed schedule requiring us to hurry Big Run to the next bridge for yet another scheduled opening.  Arrive too early and you have to do what I call the bridge dance.  The bridge dance is jockeying the boat around while you wait for the bridge opening, and as you are waiting you are combating the currents and wind while confined in a narrow channel.  We even encountered another bascule bridge being builtt so that will be another bridge to add to our bridge routes.  We have routes to all the bridges that are on scheduled openings.  This way we can monitor our progress on the chartplotter to the next bridge to see if we need to slow down or speed up.  In Big Run's case, it's usually speed up.  By the way, there are too many bridges in Florida that we need openings to pass through.
     For those of you that have followed this blog, I hope your are sitting down.  We will be in a marina for the summer instead of traveling north on the ICW to the Chesapeake Bay.  This will be an adjustment for us as we love being on the hook.  Since becoming "full time cruisers" in October 2010, we have averaged less than 4 weeks per year tied up to a dock in a marina.  We may have to change our status to "liveaboards"!
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