Picking Up "Southern Style"

The day has finally arrived.  After months of searching, countless hours on the internet, talking to anyone and everyone who knew anything about Marlow Yachts, today Gail and I will pick up a rental car and drive to Panama City Beach, FL to realize a dream that began 10 years ago.  Today we begin a new chapter in our lives.

Today we head out to pick up our new yacht, "Southern Style".  Southern Style is a 2008 Marlow Explorer 57 euro.  Gail and I will be the third owners of the boat.  She is powered with a pair of Caterpillar C-18 ACERT engines at 1,000 hp each.  She also has a pair of 16kW Northern Lights generators.  She measures 62 feet overall, a beam of 18'2" and weighs in at over 95,000lbs.

Excitement does not begin to express our emotions.  We can't wait to load up the car and get going.  The past week has been a process of unloading Coastal Comfort and trying to pack for our trip aboard Southern Style.  I get on new boats all the time and take them thousands of miles.  Yet this trip has caused me to pause.  Why I don't know.  However, I guess when it is your boat, the heart rate tends to spike a bit.

Gail has not been on the boat since our first visit to see her back on October 3rd of 2015.  Needless to say, she can't wait to get aboard.  She is also a bit anxious about the 5 locks we will be going through as we cross Lake Okeechobee.  She has never been through a lock before.  We had a good talk yesterday about the process, so hopefully, she is a bit more at ease now.

The weather is a bit "iffy" for Tuesday and Wednesday on the panhandle of Florida.  However, we have our first day trip planned to run over to Apalachicola, FL where we will take care of more than just a few oysters.  Let the adventures begin.