Welcome to KetnerPoint.blogspot.com This is the blog for the motor yacht In My Element and Debi and Bob Smith.
Please join us as we navigate and cruise the inland waters of the eastern third of the United States and Canada. These waters will include the Intra-Coastal waterways, the Gulf of Mexico, inland rivers and bays, and the Great Lakes. The map below shows the general route that we will take as we make this trip. A bigger image can be seen at www.greatloop.org.
This trip has been a dream of ours for several years since reading an article about the Great Loop in the BoatUS magazine. We both knew immediately that this was an undertaking suited for us. After resolving a number of concerns like becoming retired and acquiring a boat, we are ready to leave our home on Fox Island, WA. We have a lot of people to thank that are helping or have helped to make this dream become reality. This will be done incrementally over the time of our trip.
The home issue was solved when our daughter, Nicole, son-in-law, Ted, and granddaughter, Miranda consented to move into our house and take care of it in our absence. There is a lot of house and a lot of yard to maintain and we thank them for that.
Acquiring the boat was a bit of a challenge. After attending several TrawlerFests, constantly surfing the Internet, and making several trips to the east coast, we found the boat for us in our own backyard. It is a 43' Fathom Element designed and built by Fathom Yachts in Bow, WA. We had been aboard the boat a number of times at boat shows and had taken several "test drives" but finally were able to come to terms with Kurt at NWYachtnet and Ric at Fathom this fall. Many thanks to the both of them for helping make this boat our new home for the next year or two or...... maybe more!
