Grateful came to Minnesota from Ft. Meyers, Florida three years before we became her owners. It was love at first sight and Carol knew that with a name like “Grateful” it was meant to be ours. However, we could not make the purchase immediately. Grateful had two other owners in that three years and through unusual circumstances, she came up for sale once again when we could buy her in 2001. It was meant to be.

Before Grateful, the Great Loop trip was a very distant dream. But it started coming into focus and becoming more clear as we neared retirement. To get ready for this Great Loop trip, Mark decided that he needed to extend the flybridge in order to make room and store the dinghy as we traveled. Well, that simple project grew (don’t they always) into creating an enclosed upper salon with the extension to the flybridge.

In January, 2003, construction began. Specialists at Afton Marina and Yacht Club reconstructed the upper salon to be enclosed except for the back. We contracted them to finish the outside and we completed the inside. It was quite an undertaking because we needed the flybridge to be strong enough to support both the dinghy and the winch to pull the dinghy up onto the flybridge. Mark enjoys working with wood and he constructed the windows and doors, a storage cabinet and the drive station. He also covered the open spaces with laminate, installed speakers and electrical outlets. Carol loves doing the finishing work and there is enough teak to keep her busy. Finally in June, 2003, we were able to enjoy the nearly completed project. Amazingly, it took us another two years to enclose the ceiling. But during that time Carol refurbished the inside of the boat with new wall paper and redecorating.

The summer of 2009 came down to the final touches to make the Great Loop trip. The anchor winch needed replacement, and the anchor rope was replaced with chain. The air conditioning needed refreshing, and holding tank options needed to be installed. Mark built a breakfast bar for the lower salon and we purchased bar stools. We believe we are ready to go. Grateful will be returning home to Ft. Meyers as one of her first long stops. Bon Voyage.