Pete and Tracy Richmond truly are the perfect cruising couple - not only do they live-aboard their Antares full time in Annapolis - they also cruise extensively at every opportunity - on their own and will friends and family.

This past summer, they traveled up the Atlantic coast to Maine - picking up friends, family and the occasional lobster meal along the way!

By taking shifts, Pete and Tracy spent the first day going from Annapolis to Block Island - a 24 hour run. By the time they got to Block Islands, they were in fog as thick as pea soup!

They were often joined by friends and family. This time Scott and Lisa joined them for a 3-day weekend. Scott lives on a Hatteras 53 and Lisa on a 46 Chris Craft Constellation. Scott, loves to fish. Pete writes:

"Our timing was perfect, the dawn was breaking as we arrived and promptly set out 4 rods. We were not disappointed. Although only one tuna was landed, we had several bite and a few good fights. The conditions during the trip were 15 to 25 kts and up to 10-foot rollers. We had to reef the sails to slow down to 8 kts., the upper speed for trolling for tuna."

"We decided that mussels would be great for dinner. With Scott and Lisa, we set out on our adventure to collect dinner. All of us were used to finding mussels any place there were rocks - but not in this case.

We decided to try the other side of the island (off Block Island) and set out on a trial cut into 10' high bushes. In one area there were several tidal pools and that's were we struck gold. In a few minutes, we collected 174 mussels. Scott later commented that this was the strangest fishing trip he had ever been on!"

If it wasn't fish or mussels, then there's always lobster - and there was lots, too! One of the pleasures of cruising is buying lobster's from the local fishermen. With beer in hand, Pete would go bartering with the locals aboard his dingy.

It's clear that Pete and Tracy's favourte past time is fishing...

"When you tow four fishing lines and you get a fish onboard and you have the people we had on board, by God, we're going to get this boat stopped and get that fish on board. That's important, because that's sashimi on top and tuna steaks underneath."

Thanks to the shallow draft, they were able to go places were many other boaters could not.

"...Our shoal draft allowed us to tuck up for better protection and isolation. Going ashore, even if the weather wasn't perfect, was always fun. Each island or town was different. You never knew what was around the next corner or on the other side of the rock - but we were never disappointed."