Should I start gushing about my boat now, or wait until I’ve at least crossed some open ocean? Seriously, I’m just loving the Grand Banks. I’m sitting here trying to think of something that I’m unhappy with, but coming up blank. A couple of days in I turned on the Naiad stabilizers for the first time. Mind blown. The boat cruises through big wakes like a catamaran with those on. It’s amazing. We cruise at 8 knots without even beginning to push the engines. We’ve got tons of space. The back swim platform is huge and is in constant use. The list goes on. There’s nothing better than being 3 months in on a boat, and still being stoked with the purchase.
The ICW dolphins, all day, every day. Being up close with dolphins never gets old.
Notice the muddy anchor. The next day I sprayed some PB Blaster on the salt water rinse handle, and got that to turn again. No more mud. And now that I’ve got the watermaker cranking out 30 gallons an hour, I think I’ll even skip the salt water rinse and plumb it to fresh instead. Really get decadent on this boat.
Look familiar?
There are hundreds of these along the ICW. The kids look at them all with longing—wishing they could go explore each one.
You get to see both sides of the wealth spectrum when cruising along here.
If/when we do a Great Loop cruise, I think I’ll lower the mast a couple of feet. Quite a few bridges we just didn’t quite fit under. We’re 23′ 6″ with the mast up, which we verified by going under 25′ bridges.
Christmas Eve. Close enough. The kids obviously knew what these were, but they kept calling them canoes. So I was able to say, “I’m only going to give you one clue. They absolutely, positively, are not canoes.” This at least confused them for a few days.
They’ve both wanted kayaks, but Lowe has really, really, wanted a kayak. He was very excited.
We are super happy with how stable these are, and how easy it was for them to really get cruising around.
Of course. Now we need SUPs too.
Christmas morning. The innocence of Christmas is alive and well on our boat, even with an eight year old around. The two of them were off the rails excited about their stockings. Tic-Tacs, PEZ, bubble gum tape, and a couple very small toys. We probably should have just left it at that.
Lowe got his remote control boat. That had been on his list for about 6 months. An impressive run.
Spy Decoder stuff. She loves this stuff. For quite a while she was even writing the fairies in secret code. Much to the chagrin of the fairies.
Look closely at this picture and you may spot what I was sure was an extinct species on the ICW—a sailboat with an actual sail out.
No fish yet.
The time stamp on this picture is 7:43 am. I had a sweatshirt on.
35 Comments on “Boat Christmas”
Happy New Year to the Bums.
Perhaps we will bump into each other this year in the islands. We won’t hold it against you that you are now on a power boat. We have many friends with power boats. Not that there is anything wrong with that 🙂
Mark and Cindy
Ha! thanks for that, Mark and Cindy. Happy 2018 to you and Cream Puff. Be great to share an anchorage in the islands, we’ll be sure to keep our generator door closed. 🙂
HAPPY NEW YEAR BUMS! I’m so excited for your family’s next chapter of adventures. Jamie and I love the Grand Banks too, they’re in our “someday” file for if we get tired of these white flappy things. Wishing you all the best in 2018, cannot wait to see what it holds! xx Behan & the Totem crew
Thanks, Behan! And happy 2018 to your crew in beautiful Colombia. Those white flappy things are overrated. 😉
Hey, quick question, didn’t the s&p return about 18.9% this year? Or is that graph something else entirely?
The graph represents returns since May 2017, when Wander Financial was started.
We got those same kayaks for our kids (we have realized via your blog that they are same ages, nearly same birthdays, just reversed with older brother younger sister) last summer and throw them on the deck of our 40 footer (sail). They love them. All over the place. Wait until yours start surfing boat wakes with them—-
Awesome, glad to hear other great reviews for these reasonably priced kayaks. Yes they are huge pieces of hard plastic that will be around forever, but hopefully after our kids are done with them we can donate them to some kids in the islands and they will get a good use for many years to come. Awesome about the kids – let’s get them together!
Happy New Years!! Safe travels!
Thanks, Karen. You too!
Those kayaks are awesome, we got our kids some of those last year and they love em…they will only hold a kid or very light adult too lol. AND they are tough as nails.
It’s still always fun reading your blog and posts, our kiddos are close in age and I’ve been reading you guys Back before any of us had kids. Happy New Year Bums!
Really happy with our kayak purchase. Lowe was out in the marina yesterday with high winds and sturdy as can be. Guess I should go leave a review on Amazon for others now.
Ahhh before kids….. 😉
Happy 2018!
Happy New Year Bums! Just so you know, my kids are 35 and 32 and the stockings are still their favorite part, it’s pretty much all we do anymore.
Ha! Can we be your kids?! 🙂
Happy 2018 to you and your family, Judith!
Happy New Year!
Happy 2018 to you and Ken!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
Just leaving it at that, is hard, especially when you see those faces. 90 days to retirement. You guys have a great year!!!
Not that you’re counting down or anything… Hope it goes fast. Happy 2018 to you to, Dave.
Happy new year to the Bums. I’m looking forward to a year full of adventure.
Thanks, Peter. Happy 2018!
You boat is absolutely gorgeous! I have enjoyed your blog for many years. What an awesome life!
Thanks, Cindi. We are pretty stoked about her. Happy 2018 to you and thanks for being with us for so long.
Happy New Year, Bums! Here’s to 2018 providing the great returns like 2017! Between the Wanderer newsletter and OMentoring, I’m well ahead of the market. The subscriptions have paid for themselves many times over. Cheers!
Thanks, Chris. Happy New Year to you, too. Off to another good start!
All the best for a safe, prosperous and fulfilling year ahead, Happy New year and safe sailing !!
Or motoring… 🙂 Thanks, Bob. Happy 2018 to you.
Happy new year guys have much fun and be safe
Thanks, Michael. Happy 2018 to you.
Happy New Year! I’ve been reading your blog for a couple of years and it always helps get me through the awful office, behind a desk days. One day I’ll break out of here! Safe travels to you.
Glad we could help a little at the office, Louise (hopefully they don’t see your comment!). We will try and post some beach photos soon (okay that might NOT help get you through the day at the office). 🙂 Happy 2018!
Inflatable SUP’s have come along way .We carry two on our sloop.Really like Red Paddle Co. Think the big kids would enjoy these to jump off the rig, join the kids and get the blood flowing. They store very well. Great post. Many happy returns ;).
Thanks, Geordie. I have bookmarked Red Paddle Co when the time comes for more toys. Happy 2018 to you!
Was that the original Bumfuzzle in that one photo?
No. Sister ship.
Sure thing! We’re chesapeake based for foreseeable future- I’ll email you guys when I see your travels bringing you up our way so we can get the kids together in a raftup…