Our journey on Crossroads has officially ended and we are now back on land in Memphis. It has been a month of changes with firsts being replaced by lasts and water by grass. We cleared Crossroads through customs and ourselves with immigration for the last time when we re-entered the U.S. Our last dinghy ride was in Key West and our last sunset and sunrise at sea were on the way to St Pete. Our trusty dinghy has been exchanged for two cars – not as much fun, but our butts stay dry now.
Entering Tampa Bay under the Sunshine Skyway bridge and thereby leaving the open ocean was the official end of the voyage for me. It was not quite the emotional experience I had expected. I think we were both just too tired from the 48 hour trip up from Key West. It was easier than when we left 18 months ago. We have both learned so much. Of course there are always surprises – we hadn’t planned to share the channel under the span with an outbound freighter, but it’s roomier than it looks from a distance.
Crossroads is on the market with Bill Browning Yacht Sales in St. Pete and Michele and I have already found a house in midtown Memphis. Things have been moving so fast that hitting the ground running is too slow to get it all done. For the last year and a half our world has moved at about five miles an hour. We couldn’t help but use that speed when calculating arrival times while driving the rental truck up from Florida. It would just come to us: 78 miles to Mobile – that’s an overnight trip, no, it’s about an hour now. Life in the fast lane.
I will have my photography business started in the next few weeks, so that and the house should keep me busy. Michele is already back at work and is readjusting rather well although driving is a little scary for both of us. I hope our fellow cruisers that are returning to land are adjusting well and those still at sea are having a blast. If you are in the planning stages of your own adventure; make your plan, pick a date, go! Someday never comes.
Thanks for reading,
Glenn

…and for Crossroads,

Weve been through some things together

With trunks of memories still to come

We found things to do in stormy weather

Long may you run.

Long may you run.

Long may you run.

Although these changes have come

With your chrome heart shining in the sun

Long may you run.

”Long May You Run”
-Neil Young

Reflections from our Journey

As I start to reflect on our journey I realize we have sailed to 18 countries/territories with 3 primary languages being spoken, French, Spanish and English. By the time we return to St. Pete we will have sailed over 4,000 miles. I think if we had realized how far we were going we might have gotten overwhelmed, but one day at a time, one island at a time anything is possible. I am sure it will take years to process the trip as a whole.

My friend Margaret sent me this quote “the real voyage of discovery consists not of seeing new landscapes, but of seeing with new eyes." I hope that when we return to Memphis we will continue to look at life with a fresh perspective and keep much of what these two years has taught us.

I am sure that when we leave Crossroads on Tuesday, I will cry like a baby. Crossroads has been a wonderful home for us for the past 2 years.

Crossroads has taken us safely to far shores and given us a lifetime of memories.
Crispy Cracked Conch in the Bahamas
Climbing waterfalls in the Dominican Republic
Carnival in St. Maarten
Exploring lush Jungles in Dominica
French wine and cheeses on Martinique
The wonderful people and nutmeg ice cream in Grenada
Watching a massive leatherback turtle lay her eggs at night on a beach in Trinidad.

Love,
Michele and Glenn

Congratulations note from Moonrise...

To the brave salt soaked crew of Crossroads:

You dreamt of adventure, and rather than allow it slip through your fingers like grains of sand to be lost or coated with excuses of why we could not, or we almost did that’s, you saw it through to fruition.

Great times, bad times, yelling at a wind that knew nothing of mercy, praising a moon that gazed over you like a lover with a secret. You wrapped your tenacity in sea salt and welcomed it all without reluctance, for that is truly what sailors do. We are proud to know you and welcome you back to port.

Love and respect,
Don and Kimberley

back in St Pete

A long, boring and uncomfortable passage finally got us back to Saint Petersberg, Florida today. Don and Ruth Phillips (Glenn's folks) and Randy from Bill Browning Yacht Sales were on the dock to greet us as we closed the circle on this amazing adventure. We now have a fast 10 days or so to make the boat presentable and move off. Then it's pack up the rental truck and hit the highway for Memphis (via Gulfport of course). We can't begin to process the end of this trip as we have had very little sleep the last two days, so we'll leave it there for now and reflect more later.
see ya'll soon!
glenn & michele

Key West photos

A few quick shots from Key West, FL
We're having too much fun to write.

Glenn with the original SpongeBob














Michele and her cousin Marty (who is lucky enough to live here)














M with our boat-friends Kim and David s/v Amanzi

Hallelujah Key West!!!

We arrived in Key West yesterday afternoon at 4:00. We left Nassau Sunday morning at 8:00am telling our good friend and dock master, Vincent, goodbye. When thinking about this passage I think of it in four legs the first being the "Tongue of the Ocean". We were sailing into the tongue of the ocean making 7 knots with 25 knots of wind behind us. The seas were high - maybe 6 to 8 feet. I was feeling a little green but we quickly got our sea legs and were excited about our progress. We made it the northwest channel light 2 hours before we had planned, giving us plenty of time to sail the next 60 miles on the banks. The second leg of the trip we continued to make good time even with a direction change, we had a beautiful night sail across the banks in 10 feet of water. The waves were only about 2 feet and the almost full moon made for a lovely evening.

We got to Gun Cay around 4:00 am and dropped the anchor so we could have daylight for the cut leaving the Bahamas and starting our gulf stream crossing. We awoke with the alarm at 6:30 and radioed into our weather guru Chris Parker telling him we were ready to cross the gulf and asking if he thought it would be an ok window. He said we would have 15 to 20 knots of east wind and the seas would be about 6 ft. I asked if waiting a day would help any with the seas, he said no it would be the same. Oh well, it wasn't the best weather window but at least he said we should not have any squalls. So we begin leg three of our passage, sailing across the gulf stream. I had a knot in my stomach, we were both ready to get this next 10 hours over with. Most of the day was not that bad and was definitely nothing like the trip we had going across the stream last time. I think the word for the day was tedious, not scary but very tedious. Our speed really slowed down in the apex of the stream and we could feel the strong current going against us. We finally made it to the other side and started our way down the Hawks Channel(what I would call our last leg of the trip to Key West). It was so much calmer in the channel and we had another beautiful night of sailing in 10 feet of water. Again, the moon was amazing. The next day we realized we were going to make it into Key West by that afternoon so we decided to sail on and pass Marathon. Marathon was our default plan. We really wanted to make it into Key West for several reasons but I guess the most important reason was that Key West was our first destination when we started our journey. It was symbolic to come back to Key West and celebrate being back in the good ole U.S.A.

Key West has a strong tidal current and the anchoring is not great- plus you have all the wakes from the excursion boats. Anyway- we had already decided we would spring for the mooring fee so that we would be in the calm harbor and not have to deal with the wakes, etc. The bad news is that we had to sail through a narrow channel with the strong tide going against us. At one point we were actually stopped, motoring straight into the wind. Glenn did an amazing job of working us through the channel. Hallelujah! I thought- now just one more hurdle to jump through before we could crash and sleep.

The moorings in Key West do not have a line on them. Our dinghy is lashed on our deck, so it is not available to help with the tie up. So I motored to the mooring while Glenn lassoed the ball (thanks Jeff, it worked). The wind was blowing so hard and we still had to get our dinghy off the boat and put a secure line on the mooring ball. My nerves were shot. I was yelling at the wind to stop and yelling at the stupid mooring ball for not having a line on it. It was not a pretty sight. As usual Glenn was calm as a cucumber. He admitted later how stressed he was but he did not show it. I think the last hour of our 56 hour passage was the most challenging of all.

Glad to be home, well almost,
Michele

And We Wait... Nassau

[N25d04:51, W077d19:11]

As you know, we were hoping to leave the Bahamas for Florida last Monday, but we turned on our 6:30am weather forecast with Chris Parker and he said, and I quote, “the weather in the Bahamas will be horrendous for the foreseeable future”. Needless to say we were pretty depressed. We decided to make the best of it, after all we are in a marina - a rare luxury with hot showers and endless electricity. We made our project list and discussed what we wanted to see of Nassau. I must say the week has flown by. Glenn has completed a ton of projects that had been slated for after we returned to the States and I have been busy with lots of little odds and ends.

Wednesday we took a stroll down to the straw market, (not a great one) however it was a beautiful day. I know this is very confusing due to the fact that we are stuck here waiting on better weather, once again it does not squall all day but it is windy as all get out, blowing 25 to 30 knots. This is not a bad thing when you are touring on land as it actually keeps it much cooler.

Yesterday, we took another stroll back to Atlantis (the huge hotel, mega marina, etc, it is truly out of this world). We packed a picnic using our last can of stuffed grape leaves from the French islands and an apple and cheese. We went to the Cloisters built in the 12 century in France and brought to the Bahamas in 1969. Wow- we really felt like we were in Europe. We had the whole garden and grounds to ourselves. It was one of those special days we will come back to many times when we are back at work.