Coastal Cruising: Bay Breeze & Aquavit

Today we had maintenance dredging at our dock. Years of inconsiderate boater's wakes have washed sediment under our dock. Our boats and dock sat on the bottom on spring tides and we were back to having to watch the tide to get in and out of our slip. So we moved Bay Breeze and Aquavit to the public dock while a back hoe on a barge removed 28 cubic yards of spoil for upland disposal. Now were back to a deep water dock with no tidal worries. (Except for climate change and sea level rise.)

Aquavit is named for a Scandinavian liquor with a strong maritime heritage. Linne Aquavit travels in a cask tied to the rail of a freighter to cross the equator twice before being bottled. The name translates to “water of life”.  We chose a Tiara 31 Open Express for a cruise north on the Atlantic ICW because it can cruise at 24 knots and has an air draft that allows passages through most bridges. As sailors we had to learn how to pilot a twin diesel boat and navigate at a much faster pace than the six knot speed of Bay Breeze.

3.17.2018 Preparing to cruise There's a lot to consider in planning a cruise and making sure the boat is ready for a trip is the foremost priority. Starting out knowing all systems are working and maintenance tasks are complete has taken several months. Aquavit is new to us and was in good shape when we purchased her in Naples last summer. Customizing the boat to our needs and upgrading electronics for a cruise that will take us far from our familiar cruising ground has been our main focus. We also needed to become familiar with handling a twin diesel, so a few short shakedown trips have us more comfortable with a faster pace. We hope to embark first of May to hop down the florida west coast, the across the inland waterway through Lake Okeechobee. Then up Atlantic ICW as far as we can make it through the summer.