My name is Brittany Custin, and over the next two weeks I — along with Southern Boating — am inviting you to cruise, vicariously, through the canals and around the islands of Venice, Italy. Through this blog, you can follow the journey of our crew and Skip Allen as he changes his hat from publisher to tour guide and driver of our 48-foot powerboat.

The adventure will begin in Casier, a small town near Treviso, just northwest of Venice. There, we will pick up our cruiser from Le Boat, a bareboat charter company with embarkation ports all over Europe. We have chosen Italy for this trip, but between France, Germany, Ireland and the many other destinations that they offer, you can’t go wrong no matter which one you choose. One of the great things about Le Boat, which I am sure many of you can appreciate, is that you have the option to operate your own boat — as well as chart your own course (more to come about that in the next few days!).

While we do not embark until August 14^th, we are already making some preparations from home. Le Boat supplied us with a provisions list, which we have filled out with the basics, like water, coffee, butter and eggs. Everything else we will pick up along the way at our various stops, including fresh Italian breads and other delicacies.

I hope you are as excited as we are to see where the journey takes us. I will fill you in each day with the details of life on Le Boat and all of the wonderful things there are to see, do and eat along the way! The cruise starts on August 14th and continues through August 21st.

So for now, arrivederci, my Southern Boating friends!