MV Sequel: The Crew

Everybody knows who’s captain in a relationship. Edie, of course. Edie is a retired education therapist with many interests. She still substitutes in local classrooms in between scrapbooking the old fashioned way with scissors and glue and the new fangled way electronically and her writing of the family memoir. She is also quite good with a camera and she has converted to the digital world of imaging.

 Joe, who is the captain with the blessing of the United States Coast Guard, isn’t totally sure that the de facto captain is completely worked into the plan to cruise America’s Great Loop and see the country the way the explorers did. Nevertheless, Edie has taken the course and has been with Joe on the water in various boats from the early 1980s. We will embark on this grand tour in April 2012.

Joe retired from the practice of chest and heart surgery 11 years ago. At that point he allowed his avocations to become his vocations. He is a published author of fiction and continues to write furiously. He is also a photographer with a penchant for totally moody landscapes and wildlife (sometimes humans, too). The boat is his second home. He likes to be on the water at dawn and dusk when the birds do their best posing.

 By way of preparation for the voyage, Joe has taken a Power Squadron course on engine maintenance. It did feature some hands-on rebuilding of a gasoline engine. He is learning to service the boat's diesels, a task that seems easier than messing with gasoline engines. The designers and builders at Tiara had us in mind because the engine room is quite spacious and everything seems to be within arm's reach.

We encourage family members and friends to join us along the way. The general rule of thumb is that you wait on us. Because of the vagaries of weather and certain fixed milestones along the way we must pick our places to tarry. For example, northern canals rarely open before May 1 and rarely on time. We must be through the Trent Severn waterway before Dominion Day (July 1) because every boat in the Province of Ontario will then take to the water. Being in Chicago and out of the Great Lakes by early September is a must because the days begin to get short and the weather a little unpredictable.