To embark on America's Great Loop, it takes a lot of stuff!

Jackie and I bought our 2020 Back Cove 41 in Hilton Head on April 30 and promptly trucked it to M.E. Yacht Restoration in Holland, Michigan from which we will embark on the Great Loop on September 25. They have been doing some upgrade and repair work for us and, without ever a complaint, receiving all the goods we need for a year of living on board. Think bedding, cookware, dishes, life preservers, lines, anchors, chain, fenders, navigation supplies, folding bicycles and on and on.

We flew out to Holland in July and spent a week opening boxes, stowing gear and studying the boat's many systems. We're hoping the boxes that have accumulated since then are much smaller in number. By the way, there's an old saying that you never have enough storage on any boat. We can tell you for sure that that adage holds more than a kernel of truth. If we can agree on what goes where and who gets which space, the rest of the trip should be a breeze!

Some of the things M.E. Yacht Restoration has done for us include: mounting a forward looking sonar, removing, sanding, and powder coating the mast, installing StarLink for first class connectivity, creating a milk crate storage area adjacent to the washer/dryer, installing shelving in the bilge, mounting an EPIRG and new ship's bell (required on our size vessel), installing NEBO, replacing the swim ladder, installing davits for the dinghy, fitting out our dinghy and its outboard, draining, bleaching, rinsing, and refilling our water tanks, installing fuel filter drains, putting on new hull strainers for our AC and generator water inlets, among other things.

How do two folks in their 70s who ought to be sitting in rocking chairs decide to embark on a 12-13 month epic journey? We're wondering too! A week or so ago, I asked Jackie how we decided to do this. Neither of us could really remember. But the reality is, not having sold our home in Key West, we put off (if not cancelled) our planned move to Charleston. And, both of us were up for an adventure and both of us love boats. Jackie would not be into anything remotely like crossing oceans. The Great Loop consists of numerous "inside" passages and you're never more than an hour and a half drive from at least a regional airport. We'll have some passages to plan for--especially on the west coast of Florida and in the Great Lakes. But mostly we'll be in relatively protected waters.