Thanks for the welcomes! I'll include some pics, Viper, as soon as I figure how to resize them to the required pixel size from my cellphone (suggestions welcomed!). Hey waybomb, I see you're in St. Joseph -- I looked at several boats there earlier this summer!
I currently live in Peoria, IL, but am visiting in PA this month to help clean out my mom's place after her passing a couple weeks ago.
Meanwhile, my house is for sale and my boat is waiting for me back in Peoria, and the plan is to eventually (next spring?) take her up the Illinois River, to Chicago and into Lake Michigan, and up the eastern shore to Traverse City, MI, to hang with my guy-friend for a bit. From there, I'd like to find the best route to the Atlantic to visit for a few months with family off the coast of Maine, where I used to spend summers with my grandparents and still return to each year for vacation.
Thanks again for the warm welcomes!
I decided 7 years ago that I would someday own my own live-aboard boat, and after years of dreaming, scheming, reading and researching, looking at boats in various states, picking boaters' brains on assorted forums, narrowing down my preferences and considering all my options, I finally decided this summer that the time was right! I took a Boating Safety course through the USPS (scored 100% on the exam!!!), got a few lessons on the water, and on Friday the 13th last month, I became the new owner of a 1992 Carver 33 Aft Cabin! The "live-aboard" part isn't a reality (yet), but that's just a matter of time.
Still feeling a bit euphoric!
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