INTRODUCTION

    After running the Carver 440 for 6 years, we bought the Grand Harbour pilothouse boat in January 2003.  We left the boat in the Fort Lauderdale area for about 2 months.  During that time we upgraded the electronics, replaced the dinghy, added lights and towel rods, adjusted the heights of tables and TV cameras, replaced the water pump twice, added a transformer and a new inverter, bought sheets and towels, loaded the boat with tools, etc. we shipped to FL from TX, provisioned the boat, etc.  In March we brought it from FL to TX, and later that summer we cruised to MN and back to Texas.

     It seems we were really de-bugging the boat for most of that first year.  We added stabilizers and replaced an air conditioner with a larger unit.  The manufacturer replaced all the caulking in the windows, as it was defective and leaked.  We agonized over the water pump, which was not solved by year end.

     Our friends, Jack and Nickie, who have a similar boat, spent the summer of 2003 on the TN River.  Their experiences sounded so good, they said they though they would do it again in 2004; and we wanted to do the same.  Although their plans later changed, we made plans to go up the Tenn-Tom Waterway and the Tennessee River.  We wanted to try some slower cruising, with fewer deadlines, although I was still working pretty much full-time.

     Trip 1 was undertaken with a trade show in mind.  We took the boat to Louisiana and docked it on the Tchefuncte River; the mailing address there was Covington, LA.  Other well-known names to boaters in that area are Madisonville, where the river meets Lake Ponchartrain, and Manderville, at the northern end of the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway.  Out of 12 days in the trip, including three and a half at the trade show, we used the boat on 5 days in beautiful weather.  Spring blossoms were abundant everywhere we looked, and the humidity and temperature were ideal.

     The remaining trips were planned to get us to the Tennessee River and keep us there into the Fall.  We thought we might even keep the boat up there somewhere over the winter.  In 2005, I wanted to go back to Canada, and we could save some miles going back and forth to Texas by getting a slip further north.

     In July, Lakewood Yacht Club held its annual Commodore's Cruise on a Princess cruise ship in Alaska.  Over 110 members went, and 39 of them also went early for a pre-cruise land trip, touring Alaska and staying in Princess hotels.  We did the land portion and the cruise ship, and we enjoyed the experience very much.  One of the 2004 trip reports is dedicated to the Alaska Cruise.