More About In the Lee
About Jimmy, Sondra, Baxter, Utopia and The Jeep
This website was primarily created to host a blog. We have received enough requests from friends and family to share our travels and adventures. The Home page will contain simple information about where we are in our story, while the Blog page will provide more details.
Below is more information about the us, and the Links page provides location information along with some fun media links.
The Boat(s).
Utopia is a 2006 Caliber 40 LRC SE. She is rigged as a cutter with the staysail and head sail are on furlers and the main sail is cradled with lazy jacks and a stack pack when not in use, with a Seldon in boom reefing system. There is also a light wind spinnaker on a furler. She has a long fin keel with a skeg hung rudder. The transom includes a small swim platform.
There are two berths, with the master berth a pullman style located just aft of the forward head. There is a second head adjacent to the quarter berth near the companionway steps, across from the galley. The salon settee can also be converted to another bunk. The tankage on this boat is incredible. With just over 200 gallons of diesel storage, the boat has a long range even when the wind is not blowing. Add in about 180 gallons of fresh water storage, you can see why it is a Long Range Cruiser.
We are her third owners. The first owner named the boat Gigi's Island. The couple that we purchased the boat from re-named her Utopia and created a palm tree and sun logo that is present on the hull.
An 8.5' Highfield dinghy and a 9.9 hp outboard serve as our car to get to shore or to explore shallow waters. We accidently called it The Jeep one day, and the name has stuck.
Past Boats: About Time a 1985 32' Sabre & a 25' Hunter
The Crew
Jimmy
The bearded one
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Jimmy is the one that started us down this sailing journey with the idea of looking for a new hobby to take on as a couple in 2006. His first time sailing was during our ASA 101 course in Pensacola, FL.
Sondra
Medusa meets Einstein
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Sondra is usually up for an adventure and said "why not?" when Jimmy mentioned learning to sail together. She is fully hooked on sailing now.
Baxter
The fluffy one
Baxter is Jimmy & Sondra's second sailing cat and Utopia is his second boat. The big orange cat has one PHRF race and cruising experience in his sailing resume.
Our
Plans
Utopia is the boat we have selected for our future full time cruising. Loose plans are to leave St. Petersburg, Florida November 2023, round Florida and head north. We plan to haul out Utopia and hike the Appalachian Trail from April to October. After that, we would like to see the Bahamas, cruise up the east coast, possibly making it to the Statue of Liberty before heading to the Caribbean. Beyond that we have no plans, we just will see what comes our way and where the wind takes us.