Welcome to Sailing with Water's Edge!  This blog will focus on our sailing voyages on our boat, s/v Water's Edge.  She is a 2005 Hunter 456, purchased in 2008 and since then docked at Watergate Marina in Clear Lake Shores, TX.  My husband, Bob, and I have recently retired and sold our home in Houston.  A couple of years ago we purchased a home in Punta Gorda, FL where we will soon be living full time.

We have spent the last 4 months preparing ourselves and the boat for our upcoming Gulf crossing.  From new stern rails, life raft, anchor, radar, chart plotter, cockpit enclosure (for me!) fenders to smaller items such as fans, oil changes, system checks, we have made Water's Edge as safe and comfortable as possible.  We are ready, too. 

The time has arrived!  We leave Saturday, April 20, and will be "buddy boating" with s/v Southern Girl (owned by good friends), going offshore, to Gulf Shores, AL.  After a cheeseburger and a cold one at Lulu's we will then move on to Pensacola, FL.  Southern Girl will remain in Pensacola for about a month, but after a couple days of rest and enjoying the sights, we will continue our travels south to our new home. 

These last 2 days before our journey begins are filled with food prep, stowing items, securing the dinghy on the davits, filling diesel cans and praying for good weather for our crossing!. It's looking good now as a cold front is on its way today.

I hope to post regularly as a chronicle of our journey and to keep our friends and family apprised of our progress.