Greg and Susan Costa are full-time cruisers who haven’t quite figured out the meaning of the word “retired.” They have produced a nifty, little guide called Cruising the Bahamas with the Lucky Me, which is the name of their 35-foot Tiara. They are giving away this 57-page PDF for free, so PassageMaker figured we would help the effort. After Hurricane Dorian’s horrible destruction, the best thing we can do is encourage cruisers to visit those parts of the island nation that are still open for business. As we like to say back in the Bay State, this is a “wicked good” deal, so check out it.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Greg Costa grew up in Fall River, Massachusetts. After high school, he joined the Air Force and served nine years. He spent 22 years working for an international refrigerated warehouse company in New Bedford, Massachusetts and retired as the operations manager in January 2019. Costa is 54, has two married children, and two grandchildren.
Susan Costa spent most of her life in Attleboro, Massachusetts. For the past 25 years she owned a real estate appraisal company. She also has a background in marketing, fundraising for non-profits and politics. She is 53 and also has two adult children
Greg and Susan met in early December of 2015, at the Borden Light Marina restaurant Tipsy Toboggan, in Fall River, (A crazy story they love to share with new boating friends over drinks on the Lucky Me!) Fast forward four-months to April 2016, where they were married in a fairytale wedding at the Colonel Blackinton Inn before 150 family and friends in Attleboro, Massachusetts.
Susan has been boating since childhood. Greg never owned a boat until after they married. To the amazement of family and friends, in a few years with lots of practice Greg has become quite the captain, says Susan.
The Lucky Me’s homeport is Mount Hope Bay, Rhode Island. The Costas enjoy membership in the Taunton Yacht Club of Dighton, Massachusetts. They have yearly moorings in Rhode Island. They also use a slip at Borden Light Marina in Fall River, home to the Tipsy Seagull waterfront floating bar and Tipsy Toboggan Restaurant (where Greg & Susan met).
After island hopping the Bahamas in early 2019, they have covered more than 5,000 miles on the Great Loop through 16 states and Canada. Winter plans include the Florida Keys, a possible visit to Cuba for humanitarian aid and back to the Bahamas in February and March of 2020.
Each day Greg and Susan document the day’s adventures on Facebook page “Lucky Me Looping”, which has grown to over 5,200 followers. Susan often answers questions, offers advice to future “Loopers” and shares stories of the people they meet and the many different ports they visit. The past ten months on the page has documented their accomplishments along with some of the crazy stories from the Bahamas and the Great Loop including their off road adventures finding blue holes in the Bahamas, snorkeling the Exuma Land and Sea park, concerns with spiders the size of butter tarts in Canada, how to talk to the tows pushing barges on the Mississippi River, and Greg playing guitar with street vendors in Holland, Michigan.
At various stops along their Great Loop journey, Greg and Susan have a goal of volunteering, donating, or doing something to make a difference. They have completed 22 difference “Loopers Care” since leaving home in January. Examples of their outreach includes; donating food for a Senior Center lunch program, building bikes for children through the local Boys & Girls Club, sponsoring meals for groups that feed the homeless, gift packs for veterans, purchasing pet food and cleaning supplies for an animal rescue shelter, 15 back packs with school supplies for a domestic abuse center, sponsoring children’s eye glass needs in the Bahamas and cleaning a public beach.
