NLSC Monthly Meeting, Tuesday, October 20, 2009 @ VFW, Golden Valley, MN Mark and Diana Doyle — Miami to the Dry Tortugas: Exploring the Florida Keys Authors of Managing the Waterway: Biscayne Bay, FL to Dry Tortugas, FL Join Mark and Diana for a fun and informative preview of the Florida Keys. Often called, "America's Bahamas," this 192-mile chain of small islands is home to North America's only barrier coral reef. Boasting plentiful and convenient services, and a tropical average temperature of 82ºF, this is truly America's cruising, fishing, and diving paradise. Their presentation will highlight both Hawk Channel and Florida Bay routes and offers valuable planning and cruising advice.
The Doyles dinghy ashore at Garden Key and Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.	Mark and Diana are authors of the popular cruising guide and electronic chart series, Managing the Waterway (www.managingthewaterway.com). They are also Electronics Editors for MadMariner and have written numerous articles for professional and boating publications, including Power Cruising, Sea Magazine, and Latitudes & Attitudes. Both are USCG Captains, Mark holds a 100-ton USCG Master’s License and Diana holds a 50-ton USCG Master’s License. They are also Seven Seas Cruising Association Commodores. They juggle time between water and land — surveying future cruising guides, leading seminars, boat show-hopping and then hunkering down in their Minneapolis home to write. Their most recent book, Get Onboard With E-Charting: The Complete Reference Guide to Electronic Charting and PC-Based Marine Navigation, covers a range of ideas for bringing a laptop or smartphone aboard. They met nearly ten years ago, when Mark pushed Diana’s boat off a piling at Wentworth Marina in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Mark had just retired from Boston high-tech, specializing in color digital imaging, and was finishing preparations for another southbound trip. (His first roundtrip of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway was in 1987.) Diana was a professor enjoying summers living aboard her 36’ Allied Princess with her young son. Within a few months they sold both monohulls and moved onto another “two hulls” in the form of a PDQ catamaran. Collectively, they've put over 20,000 miles under the keel and cruised Canada, the Bahamas, and the United States East Coast extensively while homeschooling their son and gathering information for their guides.
Mark's prior delivery background and the family's cruising experiences became the basis for their first “Managing the Waterway” guides. They have recently returned from surveying the Inland Waterways for their next guide: Managing the Waterway: Chicago to Mobile.