Return to the Dirt Dwelling
Great to be back, but sad the trip was over. Bo was very happy to be making his walk to the grass around familiar people on I-Dock. The wind began picking up later in the afternoon of 8/22 as forecasted, so we were glad we arrived when we did. Our objective the first night back in Kenosha was to la...
Crossed Our Wake!
August 22, 2019 WE CROSSED OUR WAKE TODAY! A final check of the forecast, Bo gets his dose of “bumpy ride Benadryl”, fire up the engines and off we go from Port Washington Marina at 8:00am. We needed to cover 58 miles as quickly as possible to be in Kenosha before the winds pick up later in the afte...
Port Washington Marina - Port Washington, WI
Port Washington, WI August 21, 2019 Kewaunee seemed nice and worth spending some time to look around. However, the weather forecast remained favorable so we decided to keep heading south knowing that we could get back to Kewaunee again someday if we so desire. We departed Kewaunee at 8:10am on Augu...
Salmon Harbor - Kewaunee, WI
Kewaunee, WI August August 20, 2019 We awoke to a sunny and cool morning in Frankfort with temperatures in the mid 50’s. The forecast was still good for our crossing to Kewaunee, so we got underway at 7:55am. The seas were relatively calm as forecasted (1-2 ft swells) with light winds. Our course wo...
Jacobson Marina, Frankfort, MI
Frankfort MI August 19, 2019 The morning of August 19th was clear and relatively calm. Our plan was to head south along Michigan’s shoreline while watching for a weather window to cross Lake Michigan. We planned to follow the Michigan coast when wind speeds were low or winds were coming from NE, E o...
Leland Township Marina, Leland, MI
Leland MI August 17 - 19, 2019 Our last night at Beaver Island was a little rough. Winds blew from the south overnight causing incoming waves to hit the hull and rock the boat. Bo decided he had enough around 3:20am and thought the entire crew needed to be awake to enjoy the experience. Sue to the r...
Beaver Island Marina - Beaver Island, MI
Beaver Island , MI August 15 - 17, 2019 We departed Mackinaw City at 9:05am on August 15, 2019, exactly one year since we started this adventure on our 37th Wedding Anniversary. On August 15, 2018 we traveled the southern end of Lake Michigan from Kenosha Wisconsin to Hammond Indiana. On August 15,...
Staits State Marina - Mackinaw City, MI
Straits State Marina - Mackinaw City August 12 - 15, 2091 We depart Drummond Island at 8:15am with clear skies and relatively calm seas. Our course covered 56 miles taking us through the channel separating Drummond Island from the Michigan Upper Peninsula, across the northwestern end of Lake Huron t...
Drummond Yacht Haven - Drummond Island, MI
Drummond Island, MI August 10 - 12, 2019 We departed Blind River at 8:35am for our 46-mile trip to Drummond Island. The weather was Sunny with a light breeze. It was cool enough that we both wore jeans, socks and flannel shirts. We had a bad feeling we have come too far north. The bright sunshine h...
Blind River Marine Park - Blind RIver, ON
Blind River Marine Park August 7 -9, 2019 Bo decided to help us get underway this morning. He woke Sue with a nice big slobbery kiss before the alarm was set to go off. The wind had begun picking up overnight and he thought he was due for some attention. We departed Little Current on 8/7 at 8:35am a...
Port of Little Current, ON
Little Current, Ontario Monday-Tuesday, Aug. 5 – 6, 2019 We departed Killarney at 8:40am for our first day in the North Channel on our trip to Little Current. Little Current is 29 miles from Killarney, but we decided to take a highly recommended side trip to the “Pool” which made our trip 56 miles -...
Sportsman's Inn Marina, Killarney, ON
Sunday, August 4, 2019 It was warm and sunny with a slight breeze as we departed Wright’s Marina at 8:35AM. We planned to travel 66 miles along the Small Boat Channel in Georgian Bay, weaving our way through more beautiful scenery of rocks, trees and water. There were some interesting names for chan...
Wright's Marina & Canadian Shield
Saturday, August 3, 2019 Wright’s Marina on Old Mill Island, Britt, ON Under a clear blue sky, we departed Big Sound Marina at 8:40am for our 58-mile trip to Wright’s Marina on Old Mill Island in Byng Inlet near the town of Britt, Ontario. (How’s that for a mouthful to describe a location!) We foll...
The Georgian Bay: Beginning the Small Craft Route
Friday, August 2, 2019 Big Sound Marina, Parry Sound The weather was good on the morning of August 2, so a few other boats were also pulling out of Bay Port Yachting Centre. We waited for the first wave to depart, then made our way to the fuel dock to take on fuel and pump out. We were underway by 9...
Good-bye TSW, Hello Georgian Bay!
Tuesday - Thursday, July 30 - August 1, 2019 Bay Port Yachting Centre in Midland, Ontario We hung around in the lower pool of the Big Chute to take photos of a couple other Looper boats before getting underway to Midland, ON. Just as we began heading down river, our port tachometer stopped working....
The BIG CHUTE!
Sunday-Tuesday morning, July 28 – 30, 2019 Our trip from Orillia through the Big Chute (Lock 44) covered 32 miles and took us through three locks that dropped us a total of 125 feet. We departed Orillia at 9:20am and began our trip across Lake Couchiching towards the town of Washago. From there we...
Draggin' a wagon around town
Thursday - Saturday, July 25 - 27, 2019 Orillia Waterfront Centre, Orillia, Ontario The plan for the day’s travel was to descend 38 feet through three locks, then cross Lake Simcoe, stop to pump-out and fuel-up, go through Atherley Narrows to enter Lake Couchiching where we’d find Orillia, our desti...
Ups and Downs to Portage
Wednesday, July 24, 2019 It would have been easy to hang around Fenelon Falls for a couple days. The lock area was nice, we had a view of the falls from our sundeck, Bo had nice green grass just outside our salon door, and the little town was great. However, we needed to keep moving along. Our t...
Fenelon Falls in Kawartha Lakes
Tuesday, July 23. 2019 On a cool morning with a blue sky and a few fluffy, white clouds, we set out to begin the second half of the Trent Severn Waterway (TSW). If all went well, we’d cross Buckhorn Lake to Pigeon Lake to Bobcaygeon (pronounced “Bob” + “cajun” ) Lock 33, the oldest lock on the water...
Buckhorn, Ontario, Lock 31
Monday, July 22, 2019 After Brian did the pre-travel engine checks, we left Island View Resort Marina & Trailer Park at 8AM in light winds on a cool, cloudy morning. The plan was to reach Buckhorn Lock wall before it filled up with other boats! That meant traveling 16.2 miles through three locks, r...
Island View Resort in Youngs Point, ON
Sunday, July 21, 2019 Youngs Point, ON, Island View Resort (after Lock 27) Our plans for the day had us traveling through eight locks covering 148 feet vertically and 26 miles horizontally to reach our next stop at Youngs Point, lock 27. We pushed off from the dock wall at 9:45 knowing boats were al...
Peterborough Marina, Peterborough, ON
Saturday, July 20, 2019 We departed Hastings Village Marina at 9:45am for our 38-mile trip to Peterborough. There was only one lock today, within our first mile, so the day’s vertical change was only 8 feet. The first 6 miles of the journey continued along the Trent River, then we entered the 20-mil...
Hastings,ON - Lock 18
Friday, July 19, 2019 We were up early on Friday, another heat-warning day with a humidex (the same as what we call a “heat index”) estimated at 38C (100F). So, by 8:40am we began our daily adventure by moving the boat one-tenth of a mile upstream to Campbellford’s lock 13. Seeing three other boats...
Campbellford, Ontario
Tuesday - Thursday, July 16-18, 2019 Campbellford, ON, City Wall The night at Percy Reach, lock 8, was so quiet it was almost eerie! No traffic noises, no motors of any kind anywhere, no planes, not even much bug chatter! Just a silent, dark night. Then it became another bright, sunny morning, and i...
Trent Severn Waterway begins!
Monday, July 15, 2019 The day has finally arrived - we will begin the Trent-Severn Waterway (TSW) today! TSW Locks ~The TSW locks only operate from 9AM to 5:30 PM on weekdays, or until 6:30 PM on weekends. (They are actually open until 6pm and 7pm, respectively, but the...
Trent Port Marina in Trenton, ON
Friday– Sunday, July 12-14, 2019 Trenton, ON, Trent Port Marina After an uneventful trip along the zig-zagging coast of Prince Edward County in the Bay of Quinte, we finally arrived at Trenton, Ontario, at the Trent Port Marina. Just after tying up, we observed some Canadian Air Force paratroopers p...
O Canada!
Tuesday - Thursday, July 9-11, Picton Harbor Marina, Picton ON "O Canada" is the name of the Canadian National Anthem Just after 8AM, we left Oswego, NY, to cross Lake Ontario. Around 10:15, Sue got a “Welcome to Canada” text message on her phone from Verizon while in the middle of the lake. It remi...
Oswego Marina in Oswego, NY
Monday, July 8, 2019 We headed to our last stop in New York today. As we left Brewerton at 8:30 AM, we entered our last lock on the Erie Canal, #23, dropping down almost 7 more feet. In about six miles, we reached Three Rivers, NY, where the Oneida, Seneca and Oswego Rivers all meet. Here we turned...
Ess-Kay Yards at Brewerton, NY
Tuesday – Sunday, July 2 – 7, 2019 We expected our trip from Sylvan Beach to Brewerton to be uneventful and it was. Bo was happy due to the calm ride. We traveled 23 miles across Sylvan Lake (no locks required) to Ess-Kay Yards, a marina which our research indicated had the expertise to help us reso...
Mariner's Landing at Sylvan Beach, NY
Monday, July 1, 2019 It's Monday morning and time to get close to Oneida Lake so we can cross it on Tuesday. Three of today’s five locks took us up a total of 57 feet, and the last two took us down about 50 feet, so we ended the day about 7 feet higher than when we started. In the late afternoon, we...
Canal Harbor at Rotary Park, Little Falls, NY
Friday-Sunday, June 28 – 30, 2019 Little Falls Canal Harbor at Rotary Park We woke up to our power out about 7AM, so we didn’t waste any time to get going. By 8:20 we were on our way and into the first lock of the day, Amsterdam’s lock #11. T...
Erie Canal Trip Begins!
Thursday, June 27, 2019 And so we begin our travels on the Erie Canal today! Though the Erie Canal was envisioned in the early 1800s, construction didn’t start until 1817 and was finished in 1825. Much of the Erie Canal makes use of the Mohawk River by adding locks...
Waterford & Rescue on the Hudson!
Wednesday, June 26, 2019 Waterford, NY, Waterford Harbor Visitor Center [Erie Canal MM 0] We departed Kingston at 8:40am on a calm sunny morning for our 66-mile trip to Waterford chugging along at our normal 10-11 mph. The scenery was gorgeous and the water seemed to barely move. The Hudson River ha...
Putzin' along the Hudson & Kingston, NY
Monday – Tuesday, June 24 – 25, 2019 It was a beautiful sunny morning with a few wispy clouds in the sky as we left Croton-on-Hudson, NY. There was a slight breeze blowing with temps in the 60s – we couldn’t ask for anything better! We went across...
Croton-on-Hudson, NY
Saturday - Sunday, June 22 - 23, 2019 Our New York City Adventure on the way to Half Moon Bay (Croton-on-Hudson, NY) We departed Staten Island around 8:40am moving through New York’s Lower Bay, under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to the Upper Bay. Th...
First stop in New York, Staten Island
Thursday – Friday, June 20-21, 2019 Great Kills, Staten Island, NY, Mansion Marina Morning fog makes us ask ourselves if we should we stay another day in Brielle, NJ. Brian checked the weather sites and it was predicted to lift around 10 – 10:30 AM. So we waited… then around 9:45AM it started to lif...
Hoffman's Marina - Brielle, NJ
Wednesday, June 19, 2019 We departed from Atlantic City at 7:40am on swells that were still running about 2 feet. Two other Loopers were seen traveling a little closer to shore. Around 10AM the fog rolled in with a change in the wind, also causing the seas to become a bit more confused with the cro...
Farley State Marina - Atlantic City, NJ
Sunday, June 18, 2019 Our first day on the Atlantic Ocean began with a bit of rock and rolling. Our route has us 4 to 5 miles offshore to stay clear of shallow water hazards in the area. The seas are running with 1 to 2 foot swells from the southeast with a 6 second period. Not bad for the ocean, b...
Utsch's Marina - Cape May, NJ
Monday, June 17, 2019 We departed Delaware City at 7:50am to take advantage of the tide as much as we could. The forecast turned out to be correct, so our trip down the Delaware River and across the bay was smooth and uneventful. We were surprised when we spotted a bald eagle along the way - we have...
Delaware City Marina - Delaware City
Friday – Sunday, June 14-16, 2019 We departed Havre de Grace at 10:30am. It was rather windy and rough on the upper part of Chesapeake Bay. Heavy rains the day before left quite a bit of debris in the water. Our route took us across the northern tip of Chesapeake Bay to the Chesapeake & Delaware (CD...
Another day on Chesapeake Bay - Havre de Grace
Wednesday – Thursday, June 12 - 13, 2019 Havre de Grace, MD, Tidewater Marina We had a couple things to do on our way out of Herrington Harbor North at Tracys Landing. 1 - Pump-out, which was on the same dock as us, free, and do-it-yourself – yay! But we had to move the boat to it, all of about 50 f...
Herrington Harbour - Tracys Landing, MD
Herrington Harbor at Tracy’s Landing, MD Saturday – Wednesday, June 8 – 12 Our 42-mile trip from Solomons to Tracys Landing was a little rough (Bo was not happy). This part of the Chesapeake is very wide, so the winds kick up some significant wave action. Things settled down later in the day, so par...
Spring Cove Marina - Solomons, MD
Spring Cove Marina – Solomons, MD Tuesday – Friday, June 4 – 7, 2019 The trip from Deltaville to Spring Cove Marina in Solomons, MD covered 69 miles. Our path took us near Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD. They have a couple target areas in the Chesapeake with exclusion zones during live fire p...
Deltaville Marina
Sunday – Monday, June 2-3, 2019 As we left Portsmouth, VA, on a quiet Sunday morning, we saw more cargo terminals plus even more US Navy ships. There were a couple of areas that had patrol boats guarding them. One was at the section that included the US Naval Ship Comfort hospital ship, plus a coupl...
Hello, Virginia! (Portsmouth)
Fri - Sat, May 31 - June 1, 2019 We left Coinjock, NC, on a bright, sunny and hot morning, already 80 degrees at 8:30AM. Crossing Coinjock Bay and the Currituck Sound went smooth and easy, but that also meant no wind to help keep us cool. We found a stow-a-way dragonfly on the flybridge but it decid...
Coinjock Marina, Last NC stop
Thursday, May 30, 2019 Coinjock is the last Marina on the ICW before making the final push to Norfolk Virginia (mile marker 0 on the ICW). Coinjock was the word used by the Native American's for "land of the mulberry bushes" though some translations say it is blueberry bushes. Either way there don't...
Alligator River Marina, Columbia, NC
Wednesday, May 29, 2019 We planned to depart Belhaven Marina at 8:30, do a quick pump out and be on our way. However, after talking with the dock master about doing a pump out at the city docks (which the marina also operates), there was a problem. Turns out there was a sailboat tied up to the dock...
Belhaven Marina - Belhaven, NC
Monday – Tuesday, May 27 – 28, 2019 After an uneventful trip from Beaufort, we arrived at Belhaven Marina around 3pm. Gregg, the dock master, was not at the marina because he’d flown home for his grandmother’s funeral. His business partner, Brad (and Brad’s wife), made the drive from Raliegh to he...
Homer Smith Docks & Marina, Beaufort NC
Friday – Sunday, May 24-26, 2019 As we left Harbor Village Marina, we were thankful to have learned that the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune’s live fire operations/training had been canceled for the day. Why would that be important to us? Well, the ICW goes directly through their firing range and if...
Harbor Village Marina, Hampstead, NC
Thursday, May 23, 2019 Finally able to get underway again with our repair plan in place, we left Southport, NC, by 8:30 Thursday morning. Within the hour we were waked immensely by a ferry (things fell over on the flybridge and below decks - we hadn’t expected the boat to be rolled so much on a calm...
Southport Marina, Southport, NC
Saturday – Wednesday, May 18 – 22, 2019 We departed Myrtle Beach on a hot, sunny Saturday morning. Lots of sandbars and some that turn into small islands at low tide. There were many boaters along there picnicking, relaxing, playing, and fishing. A group of young kids at one sandbar were pumpi...
Grand Dunes Marina - Myrtle Beach, SC
Friday, May 17, 2019 We departed Georgetown on May 17 in good weather. Georgetown was a town we could have easily stayed another day, but we needed to keep pushing on. Just before 10AM, we encountered a string of 14 Grady-Whites (sporting boats about 21-33 feet long) heading in the opposite directio...
Harborwalk Marina - Georgetown, SC
Wednesday, May 15 – Thursday, May 16, 2019 We departed Charleston in good weather (although the tidal current makes getting out of the marina more interesting than desired). Our trip down the Cooper River had us pass a cruise ship and the historic Charleston waterfront we had walked along a couple d...
Charleston Maritime Center, SC
Saturday – Tuesday, May 11 – 14, 2019 We said good-by to Beaufort and hello to Charleston on May 11. We spent much of the seven or so hours battling the biggest flies that look like bees! Apparently, meandering through the marshes at only 9-10 mph attracted those bee-flies providing us with the unwa...
Beaufort SC
Thursday - Saturday, May 9 -11, 2019 We departed Thunderbolt at 8:50 am in cloudy conditions with a chance for rain later in the day. While making our way towards the ICW, we noticed that our chart plotter was not providing updated location or speed. After checking a few connections and the typical...
Bahia Bleu Marina in Thunderbolt, GA
Monday, Apr. 22 – Wednesday, May 8, 2019 It was an uneventful trip winding through Georgia’s marshes to get to the Bahia Bleu Marina in Thunderbolt, GA. Along the way were some dolphins, birds, and occasional communities of homes with docks into the waterway, where a minimum wake is required so we h...
Kilkenny Marina - Richmond Hill, GA
April 21 to April 22, 2019 Saint Simons Island to Savannah GA is 97 miles. Given the tidal impact (which can slow us down by more than 2 mph), we needed someplace to stay overnight before getting to Savannah. How can one pass up a place called Kilkenny (assuming you have at least heard of South Park...
St. Simons Island, GA, Golden Isles - Morningstar Marina - Golden Isles
Wednesday – Saturday, April 17 – 20, 2019 This is the day we leave Florida! The boat entered Floridian waters on December 5th, so our boat has been in Florida for 133 days (4 months and 12 days). We have spent only 121 days in Florida due to the 16-day trip home for the holidays. Either way, it soun...
Amelia Island Florida
Sunday – Tuesday April 14 – 16, 2019 The 58-mile trip from St Augustine to Amelia Island transitioned us from busy Florida to “Old Florida”. Most of the miles were in a congested area (lots of houses, boats and low wake zones). The weather was looking pretty good until we got a mile or so from the A...
St. Augustine, FL - City Marina
Wednesday – Saturday, April 10-13, 2019 There is so much to do and see and say about St. Augustine that we don’t know where to start! In fact there is so much there that we decided to stay an extra day! And so, we’ll start with a history lesson… Florida’s indigenous people, (Muspa, Calusa, Timucua,...
New Smyrna Beach
Saturday - Monday, April 7 – 9, 2019 The trip from Telemar Bay to New Smyrna Beach is 68 miles (7 hours at our typical speed). The weather was very good and we only hit a few no-wake zones. We got to pass relatively close to the space center (Cape Canaveral / Cocoa Beach) and tried to get some pictu...
Telemar Bay Marina
Saturday, April 6, 2016 Telemar Bay Marina is next to a swing bridge that opens “on demand,” which means it will open whenever a boat requests it. Many bridges, especially if on a busy street, open on schedules, for instance on the hour and half hour, or on the quarter and three-quarter hours. Thoug...
Harbortown Marina - Fort Pierce
Wednesday - Friday, April 3 - 5, 2018 We departed Old Cove Marina under clear skies for our 49-mile trip to Fort Pierce. Much of the trip is in no wake zones, so our normally slow speed of 10 miles-per-hour was reduced to 6.5 mph. Lots of nice homes along the way and quite few boaters. Harbor Town M...
Old Port Cove Marina, North Palm Beach
Saturday - Tuesday, Mar. 31 – Apr. 2 It was a short trip from Boynton Harbor Marina to Old Port Cove Marina in North Palm Beach – only 21 miles in three hours with six bridges. We had to pass by a security area near the President’s place at Mar-a-Lago since he was in the area. The US Coast Guard mai...
Boynton Harbor Marina
Wednesday - Saturday, March 27 – 30, 2019 The trip from Pelican Harbor Marina to Boynton Beach took about 8 hours. Most of it is in no-wake or minimal-wake zones. We had to go under 23 bridges, eight of which had to be opened for us. We passed through Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades with its cruis...
Miami - Pelican Harbor Marina
Tuesday, Mar. 26, 2019 Our trip from Key Largo’s Pilot House Marina back to the mainland of Florida was a little rocky but not too bad. We had good weather for the trip on Hawk Channel, along the south side of the Keys. We saw lots of sport fishing boats in the distance working their way along the d...
Key Largo - Pilot House Marina
Sat. - Monday, March 23 - 25 Getting to the Pilot House Marina on Key Largo was interesting. The half-mile channel to the marina was so narrow that only one boat our size could go through at a time. We waited outside the channel for 3 boats to come out, then we went in with a couple of others that w...
Marathon – The Sequel!
Saturday – Friday, Mar. 16 - 22 Key West was great, Stock Island Marina Village was great, the weather was great… but we needed to be moving on. We decided to use Hawk Channel for our return trip to Marathon. The ICW route north of the Keys would have been smoother, but there are some very shallow...
SIMV - Key West
Tuesday, Mar. 5 – Friday, Mar.15 [WARNING: When it comes to our video links, please don’t expect too much – they are very short and taken by non-professionals! 😉 ] We left Marathon Marina on calm seas taking Hawkes Channel (on the Cuba/Atlantic Ocean side of the Keys rather than the Gulf / Florida...
At the Marathon Marina
Thursday, Feb. 28 - Monday, Mar. 4 [Recap of previous post] After a tedious 9.5 hour day on the water spent dodging crab pots and seaweed mats, we made it from Everglades City to Marathon Marina! Whew – Bo was so relieved when we reached the grass! We did see some kind of flying fish occasionally al...
Crossing - Everglades City to Marathon
Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019 Everglades City to Marathon, Crossing Florida Bay The crossing from Everglades City to Marathon is not as dramatic as the crossing from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs, but still needs some planning. The water coming out of Everglades City is very shallow, so tides must be taken...
Everglades Isle
Sunday, Feb. 24 – Wednesday, Feb. 27 Shortly after leaving Marco Island we noticed a boat we knew a ways behind us to our port side. A quick text with them (The Journey, Dale & Merna from Nebraska) revealed that we were headed toward the same marina in Everglades City. Then they let us know that ano...
Marco Island
Friday, Feb. 22 – Saturday, Feb. 23 The fog was lifting as we headed out from Fort Myers toward Marco Island, Florida, just after 9AM. It was a fairly uneventful trip with a handful of dolphins seen along the way. The most excitement came when we spotted someone in what looked like a tiny boat way...
Fort Myers, #2
Friday Feb. 22, 2019 As we depart Ft. Myers, Legacy Harbour Marina on a fine Friday morning, we’d like to tell you about some of the things we experienced while spending the last 24 days there. In the last post, we talked about spending time with our guests, so this will be everything else. The Lega...
Fort Myers, #1
Tuesday, Jan. 29 – Sunday, Feb. 10 We departed from Boca Grande at 10am for the 42-mile trip to Fort Myers. By moving along on the GIWW, we were protected from the rough gulf waters. As we passed by Cabbage Key, we spotted a large truck being transported by sort of a barge or ferry. How unusual! (se...
On the way - to Boca Grande!
Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019 The trip from Sarasota to Boca Grande was chock-full of signs noting “Manatee Zone, SLOW SPEED, Minimum Wake” which were often accompanied by mangroves on one if not both sides of the channel. Sometimes we were required to move at idle-speed producing no wake, and other times...
Marina Jack's - Sarasota
Thursday, Jan. 25 – Sunday, Jan. 27 As we departed St Pete at 10:45am, the wind was about 15 mph from the northeast, so our trip down Tampa Bay was much rougher than Bo cared for. We made our way down the main shipping channel, under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and then back onto the more protecte...
St. Pete's, FL
Tuesday, Jan. 22 – Friday Jan. 25, 2019 (Another long one, but the next couple will be short. 😎) After a four foot drop in the tide overnight, we left Tarpons Springs on a cool, sunny morning around 9AM. Knowing that we’d have some low bridges to get under, Brian took down the dinghy crane the day...
It's all Greek to me!
Monday, Jan. 21, 2019 Hello from Tarpon Springs! Established in 1887, Tarpon Springs is a pleasant coastal town with a population of 23,000. It has the highest percentage of Greek citizens of any US city. Greek sponge diving came to the area in 1905 and establish a strong Greek population. Greeks a...
The Crossing - Correction
Correction regarding all-nighters... We are terribly embarrassed about forgetting an all-nighter that we both recently experienced the summer of 2015. When we bought this boat and brought it to Kenosha from Hudson, WI, it was a 10-day journey covering 1005 miles. While waiting for the Lockport lock...
The Crossing
Wednesday Jan. 16 – Thursday Jan. 17, 2019 The Crossing “The Crossing” has sort of an ominous feel. Considering the night-time, lonely boat in the middle of the Gulf with no land in sight genre, it could be a frightening tale! Thankfully it was not scary at all. The worst of it was the all-nighter a...
Carrabelle, FL
Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019 Ahoy there! In our last post we mentioned a potential ship wreck! (Dramatic pause…) Here’s the story mateys! (Use your inside voice as a pirate to make this more fun!) Aye, f’shor we be mindin’ our own bizness, moving ‘long through the last of the panhandle’s GIWW, ya see. Tw...
Apalachicola, FL
Monday, Jan. 7, 2019 Traveling from Panama City Beach to Apalachicola was eye-opening. Hurricane Michael’s devastation from just 3 months ago (10/10/18) was heart-breakingly evident. The destruction of the natural environment, plus the community and personal damage, have left us in awe of the spirit...
Onward to Panama City Beach
Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019 We set out from Sandestin on a clear blue morning. The trip took us from Choctawhatchee (pronounced CHALK– tuh – HACH – ee) Bay, through the “Little Grand Canyon” of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) to West Bay, then Grand Lagoon, St. Andrew Bay and on into Lower Grand Lago...
We're baaaaack!
Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 After a whirlwind 16 days at home, we drove back to the boat in Pensacola on Jan 1 & 2. Not all adventures happen on the water… While staying at our favorite dog-friendly hotel in Hopkinsville, KY, we encountered 25 mule-traders who were there for some sort of mule-trader even...
Happy Holidays!
FROSTY WAS THE HARBOR (to the tune of Frosty the Snowman ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Frosty was the harbor! Though it's usually not that way. But the Loopers know when the cold wind blows it'll take your breath away! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pal-a-fox Harbor is a really great place to stay! Pensacola sun, hi...
Palafox in Pensacola
Thursday, Dec. 6 - Wed. Dec. 12, 2018 It’s a cloudy afternoon in Pensacola, and Sue’s just gotten back from taking Bo for a walk while Brian is off picking up the rental car. It’s 45 degrees outside with a wind chill of 37. As Bo & Sue descend into the salon, she needs to peel off the old winter jac...
The Wharf to Palafox
Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018 While at The Wharf, we were surrounded by very big, expensive boats. Many of them were for sale through local brokers, so they looked extra clean and big and beautiful and expensive! The fairway between the docks was rather small and some of the larger boats stuck out quite a...
Dog River to The Wharf
Wednesday, Nov. 28 – Monday Dec. 3 Life is so exciting when you (have to) get new things! Refrigerators, exhaust hoses, gaskets, generator fuel line air bleed washers… the fun never stops! Brian was very involved in the installation of our new frig (which needed some woodworking for the extra 1” in...
Fun at Dog River Marina
Thursday, Nov. 22 – Monday, November 26, 2018 Locking time-lapse videos For anyone interested in time-lapse videos about entering a lock or descending in a lock, Brian has figured out how take the video and put it on Youtube. The links are below – we hope it works. If you have trouble with it, pleas...
Dog River Marina
Sunday, Nov. 18- Thursday Nov. 22, 2018 (Gobble! Gobble!) We had a mostly quiet night’s sleep at our Tensas River anchorage. We’d determined that we had a 2+ mph current flowing through the anchorage and had set the main anchor without much trouble, let out enough anchor chain to hold us through th...
A Quiet Anchorage
Saturday, Nov. 17 Another foggy morning, but at least we got to sleep in a little longer! By 8:30am, all five boats at Bobby’s Fish Camp had left the dock and were heading for the last lock of the river system, the Coffeeville L&D! A tow without barges, the Maxx B that had settled on the shoreline l...
Bobby's Fish Camp
Friday, Nov. 16 Finally! On Thursday, the weather was predicted to begin cooperating on Friday. Though the cooler temps were to continue, the sun was supposed to shine (at least partially), with no precipitation. So about 9 boats were determined to leave Demopolis on Friday morning - a bigger group...
Kingfisher Bay Marina
Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018 We arrived in Demopolis almost a week ago in the late afternoon after our anchorage at Sumpter. It had been raining most the day and continued to do so as we took on fuel and moved to our slip for the night. The weather forecast for the next few days was rather ugly. A cold f...
Sumter Anchorage
Thursday, Nov. 8 While we enjoyed Columbus Marina and would have been fine staying a little longer, we needed to get moving to stay ahead of some upcoming weather patterns…like the approaching COLD snap! Columbus is 335 miles from Mobile. There are very few marinas (so we must anchor out some nights...
Columbus Marina
Tuesday-Wednesday, Nov.6-7 Upon leaving Smithville, we encountered the first lock immediately. We were aware of a tow coming up river, yet it was over 3 miles away and only moving at about 4 mph, so we thought we had plenty of time to lock through before it got to the lock. Unfortunately, the lock...
The Smithville Experience
It’s always good to be open to new ideas and places, even when they are not highly recommended. Our options getting to Columbus Marina when storms were predicted for the evening were... Go all the way to Columbus in 1 day: 59 miles and 4 locks, hopefully get there before the storms Go to Smithville...
Midway Marina (Between where & where?))
Saturday, Nov. 3 We planned to get an early start Saturday morning. We were up early and ready to cast off at 7:30am, only to find FOG! The river was completely covered in it! We thought about attempting the 1 mile journey towards the lock using GPS and radar, but that fog grew even thicker! By 8:15...
Heading to Bay Springs
Friday, Nov. 2 What could be better on Halloween than to have our bright, shiny newly-balanced props installed on our propeller shafts! The excitement never ends! Then we did a test run to be sure the vibration issue had improved and we are happy to report that it did! 1800 rpms was feeling pretty g...
Sittin' on the sundeck watchin' all the boats go by...
Tues, Oct. 30 (Halloween Eve! ooooohhhhhh scarey!) Sittin’ on the sundeck watchin’ all the boats go by… while we are still at Aqua Yacht Harbor in Iuka, MS. We are in a slip in the aisle that leads to the haul-out stations at the boatyard so we see many boats going by, in both directions. Some have...
Aqua Update #3
Saturday, Oct. 27 Hello – still from Iuka (eye-oo-ka) Mississippi! Sue is finally feeling better! There is still some residual cough and she gets a little more winded than usual walking uphill, but those will get back to normal eventually. In fact, Sue is feeling so good that she was able to do a Wa...
Aqua Update #2
Up to this point, Sue and I have posted about things we have already seen or done. This post is going to provide a quick overview of what we do to get ready to move along. We have worked on this one together! There are numerous references we draw upon to plan the next leg of our trip. A series of “...
Aqua update #1
Friday, Oct. 19 Sue is improving, but I am I doing a quick blog update until she has a chance to do a post. Do you remember seeing that funny “Stool Bus” picture with our “GTB to Paris Landing to Pebble Isle” post? You know what? That is only funny if you are outside the bus!!! Let me explain. We...
Clifton Marina - Continued
Wednesday, Oct. 17 (Brian taking over blogging while Sue is under the weather) We ended up staying in Clifton Marina longer than planned. Sue’s nasty chest cold took a turn for the worse, so we decided to delay our departure to seek out medical attention. As soon as we told someone at the marina off...
Clifton Marina
Sunday, Oct. 14 Yesterday, we woke up to a cloudy sky with cool temps, 45 degrees, but at least it stopped raining, which we'd experienced most of Friday. We quietly left Pebble Isle about 9:40am only to encounter swarms of bass/fishing boats zooming around the Tennessee River in every direction at...
Moving on to Paris Landing then Pebble Isle
Tuesday Oct. 9 – Thursday Oct. 11 Yay! We are finally able to move the boat with our new transmissions! Although we loved GTB and the people there were super nice, a month and a day was plenty of time visiting the marina and that area. Transmission testing completed around 12:30 and we were on our w...
Back on the River
Mechanical update 10-10-2018 This post provides information on the transmission replacement along with some “fun facts” on marine transmissions. (if you are not interested in marine mechanical components, I recommend you skip this post) Marine Transmissions – a little background In a boat like ours...
Life at GTB
Thursday, Oct. 4 Hello from Green Turtle Bay, KY! (Yes, we’re still here) We arrived at Green Turtle Bay on Sept. 7 on one engine due to dead transmission on the port engine. Finally, after evaluation, then locating the same new transmissions in England, our new transmissions touched down in the US...
Q and A, Miscellaneous
Thursday, Sept. 20 This is a long post so we split up the questions into 3 catagories: Trip specific, Crew questions, Daily Activities. TRIP SPECIFIC 1. What is the difference between a Comment and a Message on this blog? A Comment remains on the screen for everyone to see. A Message is sent only to...
Just dropped in, to see what condition my transmission is in…
Operational update (A more interesting update from Sue will appear in the near-future) We stayed at Paducah two nights to look around town and assess our operational issues. Getting the boat to Green Turtle Bay Marina (Grand Rivers KY) was our only real option for mechanical repairs. This required a...
On our way to Green Turtle Bay
Saturday, Sept. 15 (though going way back to Friday, Sept. 7) Shortly after leaving Paducah as we were looking into the sun, we saw what looked like a large dark evil monstrosity a ways ahead of us on the river. So we checked the Garmin to see if the monster had an AIS signal. (AIS is the marine a u...
Paducah, Kentucky
Wed - Thu, Sept. 5-6, 2018 We began our day anticipating a long journey of 92 miles, all the way to Paducah, KY, knowing that a new transient dock (just opened last September) would be waiting for us. Thoughts of power, possibly water and a dock to step out onto were true incentives after our previo...
And now ... a Little Diversion
Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018 Thinking it would be just another day on the river, we had our first encounter with a serious tow wake. We came upon a tow with 15 barges coming out of a river bend just as we were entering the bend. The captain asked us to go by on the “1” which put us in the perfect spot to...
Heading to Hoppies
Monday, Sept. 3, 2018 Monday – Happy Labor Day! After running Bo (he ran, we threw a ball) in the cool 82º morning breeze, we cast off for the day to get through 60 miles down the Mississippi to Hoppies Marina, which is about 25 miles south of Saint Louis as the crow flies. We had two locks to get t...
Finally - movin' on to Alton
Sunday, Sept. 2, 2018 Brian’s Technical Update Taylor (one of the mechanics) encountered a broken bolt inside the transmission seal after removing the shaft connection. He had to drill into the remaining bolt piece and back it out. Another small section of bolt was found in one of the other two rem...
Visiting St. Louis, MO
Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018 Warning… this is more historical information than experience… and long! On Thursday, 8/30, we drove to St. Louis to visit the Gateway Arch National Park which is actually near the starting point of the Lewis & Clark Expedition of 1804. Its name was changed from the original...
We found Missouri!
Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018 It turns out we were at Grafton for 5 nights. We left on Tuesday morning, 8/27, while the boating traffic was almost non-existent. The weekend river was a bit of a wild place with all sizes of fast boats, jet skis, pontoon boats, and only one sailboat (how sad!). However, we n...
"Show me" Missouri
Monday, Aug. 27, 2018 Up to now, Sue has been the author of our updates. You could tell because they were interesting and nicely done. This update is from Brian, with a more technical, and likely less interesting, update. The engines are running fine after their recent tune up. The new air conditio...
Grafton - The Key West of the Midwest
Fri-Mon, Aug. 24 - 27, 2018 “I woke last night to the sound of thunder, how far off I sat and wondered. Started humming a song from 1962…”* …Not really … Sue woke up thinking of that song, but everything after “thunder” isn’t true. Strong storms were directly overhead and pouring down on us like ca...
Beardstown to Grafton Harbor
Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 As we left the Logsdon Tow Dock at 7:42am we realized we’ve been on our trip for a full week – how time flies! It must be time to stay in one place again! So we decided to go a full 88 miles to Grafton, IL, where we’d meet up with the Mississippi River. When we took off, we n...
Beardstown - Yes, THAT Beardstown
Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018 We left IVY Club at 8:35am through a frenzy of barge traffic, one going down river coming at us on our port (left) side and another going up river coming at us on starboard. Got in front of the one on our port side and passed the up-river tow “on the 2” – river lingo for sta...
IVY Club @ Peoria Heights
Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018 We took off from the lock wall at Henry about 9:50am on a misty morning that turned into a cool, cloudy day. During the morning, we saw a bunch of Asian carp jumping in the prop(eller) wash of a big tow pushing along 15 barges. After a short day on the water, at 1:15 we arrive...
Henry, IL
Monday, Aug. 20, 2018 After just over an 8-hour day on the river, including a 3 hour wait at the Starved Rock lock, we made it to our Henry Harbor tie up on the abandoned lock wall at 5:15pm. Abandoned is appropriate for the ambiance, but doesn’t do it credit since it was actually the first lock & d...
Ottawaaaaaah... (Heritage Harbor)
Friday - Sun, Aug. 17 - 19, 2018 We left Joliet on Friday 8/17, after 8:30am so the bridge could be raised after rush hour – the only problem was we had to wait an additional 45 minutes… why? We don’t know. Suspicion has it that the operator may have been napping. Locks and bridges – all part of the...
Day 2 - Can we get to Joliet?
Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018 Off to a slower start today, 9:35AM cast-off. (But it was a long walk to shore for Bo and to return our key.) To get from Hammond to Joliet, we’d have to go under many bridges (antennas and dinghy crane lowered to fit), as well as several more needing to be opened for us, plu...
Hello Hammond
Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018 We got into a little rain shower just as we were going by Calumet Harbor so we hung out doing circles (except Sue steered a figure-8 just for fun) outside Hammond Marina waiting for the shower to pass. By 2:15pm we were at the fuel dock. After fueling, the port engine wouldn...
The adventure begins!
Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018 Our great loop trip has finally begun! It's only appropriate that it is on our wedding anniversary. When we began a new lifetime adventure 37 years ago this adventure of a lifetime wasn't even a figment of our imaginations! A little hazy & foggy as we cast off from Kenosha b...
The lack of adventure continues …
The final replacement part has arrived and should be installed by the electrician on Monday or Tuesday. So, the current plan is to leave on Wednesday the 15th, weather dependent, of course. (Knocking on wood!)
Bo says good-bye and thank you!
Thanks to all my friends (K9 and human) at K-9 Playtime who said good-bye and gave me a fantastic “Bone Voyage” travel survival gift! (See pictures) Everything smells great! I immediately took one of the bones and tried to hide it in the couch cushions, but Mom always gets mad when I do that, so I r...
Map & Tentative Schedule
As we wait for our final repairs, we thought we'd give you a look at the full Great Loop map and our tentative schedule. (See the photos.) We are doing "fun" things, like setting up a new printer since the old one we brought from home couldn't scan to a pdf (guess it was older than we realized!) tes...
Depart date slipping a few days
We should have the engine repairs complete by the end of the day. The new shore power electrical switch is in. Two of three electrical issues are resolved, but we continue have problems with the forward AC system. It is likely new parts will be needed. This will cause us to push back our departure d...
Went looking for trouble and found it
(Sue's note: This is kind of technical.) Brian spent 1/2 day with an experienced diesel mechanic re-setting engine valve timing and then looking over both engines for potential future issues. Great news, we found some. We will be replacing the starboard engine main water pump over the next few days....
New Crew aboard
The Moran Group held a great bon voyage party for Brian during lunch hour at the office on his last day there. Among the many thoughtful gifts was our new crew mate. His name is Wilson. He is famous. You may have seen him in a movie.
Getting Ready to Go
After many years of sailing, we decided to sell our sailboat and buy a trawler to prepare for our Great Loop Adventure. In 2015, we purchased a 47' Marine Trader built in 1989. Over the last 3 years we have completed numerous upgrades, but still have a lot to do in the next few weeks before pushing...
Blog Viewing Instructions
IMPORTANT: The timeframe for this blog is from current time backwards. When you arrive at our blog you will probably be at one of the top three choices on the left side of your screen: Map, Photos or Posts. If you only see icons, click on the 3 white lines in the top left corner to toggle between ic...