Cheryll and Rich Odendahl from Algonac, Michigan, have the travel bug. So far, they’ve visited 47 countries, including the usual suspects – France, England, Mexico – and some more exotic spots – the Mount Everest base camp, Iceland, Fiji.
Then there are their boating trips. In 2011, Odendahl retired after 30 years at General Motors, and he and Cheryll wanted to spend time cruising. They bought a trailer to tow behind their Chevy Silverado and drove to San Diego, where they bought a 2008 Ranger Tugs 25. Ranger Tugs, of course, are designed as trailerable cruisers for a couple. And they drove back home on Route 66, towing their new Ranger, appropriately named Roam.
Since then, the Odendahls have cruised from Alaska to the Bahamas, towing Roam around the U.S. Most recently, they cruised to Cuba, where the Ranger got a lot of attention. The Cuban officials at Marina Hemingway had never seen a Ranger Tug before.
The Odendahls got a permit from the Coast Guard for the trip, and left from Marathon, in the Florida Keys. They waited for a weather window (remember that this is a 25-foot boat), ran down to Stock Island, near Key West, to fuel up, and then made an overnight voyage to Marina Hemingway, outside Havana. It took them 19.5 hours for the 101-nm trip.
Then they spent five days doing what most of us do in Cuba: Toured Havana, had a drink at Floridita, Hemingway’s favorite bar, visited his finca, took pictures of Pilar, his restored fishing boat, bought some cigars, rode around in 1950s American cars. When they had a good weather window, the Odendahls fueled up Roam at Marina Hemingway to come back home. Another overnight trip, the return took 17 hours for the 128-nm run back to Marathon, riding with the current this time.
For a thorough, first-hand account of their trip, go to:
