6 month re-cap

November 19, 2019 – It’s been six months since we cast off lines for good from Herrington Harbour North, and started off in earnest on our ‘forward progress’ Loop. (See 3-month recap blog post)

Over the last three months (months four through six), we have traveled another 2436 miles, and:

  • Completed Lake Michigan, exiting through the Chicago Harbor Lock into downtown Chicago
  • Took our boat down the inland waterways
    • Illinois River
    • Mississippi River
    • Ohio River
    • Cumberland River
    • Tennessee River
    • Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
    • Black Warrior-Tombigbee River
    • Mobile River
  • Cruised the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
  • Crossed the Gulf of Mexico
  • Added seven more states to the list we’ve gone through:
    • Indiana
    • Illinois
    • Kentucky
    • Tennessee
    • Mississippi
    • Alabama
    • Florida
  • Transited 29 locks on the inland rivers
    • 4 locks we actually went through twice – once going up and once going back down, on our 500 mile (roundtrip) side-trip to Chattanooga
  • Traveled for the first time with guests aboard (Ben’s cousin Alec and fiancee Lena accompanied us for three days on the cruise to Chattanooga)

We moved the boat on 46 days, and remained in place 46 days; on the days we moved, we averaged 53 miles, although the shortest was 11 miles, and the longest was 113 miles.

We spent 67 nights in Marinas (74%), and 18 nights (20%) at anchor; as well as one tied to a non-lock wall, three nights on mooring balls, one at a free town dock, and one at a lock. (And one underway, during our 19-hour crossing of the Gulf.)

We have gained a tremendous amount of experience, but each time we think ‘we’ve got this,’ something new comes up.

Great Lakes boating – got it.

Narrow industrial river – got it.

Anchor in strong current – got it.

Communicate with huge tows to arrange passing – got it.

Navigate through dense fog – got it.

Get on a river that’s in flood stage 30 feet above normal – got it.

Tidal salt water again – working on it….

Getting used to ‘6 feet is plenty of depth’ for hours at a time – uhhhh, not quite there yet!

We pinch ourselves that we have come so far (‘Really? Over 4500 miles traveled since May 1st!?!’) Much of it was enjoyable in its own right, but some of it has seemed as only ‘paying dues’ to get to the nice, warm, Florida part of the trip. We plan to take our time enjoying the 300+ miles down the west coast of Florida for the next month, arriving at year’s end to our two-month layover in Marathon, in the Florida Keys. Then on to the Bahamas….

Sunset from third floor of Crabby’s, in Clearwater Beach, Florida

First 3 Months – Recap

August 19, 2019 – It’s been three months since we cast off lines from Herrington Harbour North, and started off in earnest on our ‘forward progress’ Loop.

We’d actually left on May 1st, of course, headed south to the America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association (AGLCA) Spring Rendezvous, in Norfolk, Virginia. That was 171 miles in the ‘wrong’ direction, but gave us a shake-down cruise, of sorts, and we felt pretty good about things as we completed the 323-mile roundtrip and docked once again at our home slip, to tend to a few last-minute details at our home port, before really leaving.

Over the last three months, we have traveled 1736 miles through:

  • The Atlantic Ocean
  • Three major rivers (Delaware, Hudson, St Lawrence)
  • Three Great Lakes (Ontario, Huron, Michigan)
  • Five states (Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Michigan)
  • Two countries (US and Canada)
  • 74 locks , in two lock systems (NYS Erie/Oswego Canals – 30 locks; Trent Severn Waterway – 44 locks)

We have moved the boat on 56 days, and remained in place 37 days; on the days we moved, we averaged 31 miles, although the shortest was 0.5 miles, and the longest was 99.5 miles.

We spent 50 nights in Marinas (54%), and 27 nights (30%) at anchor; as well as nine tied to a non-lock wall, three mooring balls, two free town docks, and 2 locks.

We have not slept ashore, nor driven a car, since leaving home.

Biggest Challenge: Not having a ‘normal day’. You’d think that maybe we’d settle into a routine, and one day would start to seem like the next. Just get up, do all the same things just like you did them yesterday. Nope. The myriad of variables and possible contingencies, seem to increase exponentially when we are deciding if and where to move our home tomorrow, and then further morph overnight. We adjust, and then begin the day, and there are another whole set of circumstances that mean the day may not go exactly as we thought it would. Wind. Waves. Current. Our boat. Other boats. Locks. Never the same waterway twice. Never returning to a ‘home slip’. Every maneuver is in strange water, whether navigating a tricky shoal, or pulling into a strange dock.

We feel fortunate to be able to undertake, and so far successfully accomplish, this incredible journey, supported by the camaraderie and friendship of so many other boaters we have met (Loopers and otherwise), and the well wishes of so many friends and family from afar.

And we have gained new confidence in each other as a team with all the skills, ingenuity, persistence, patience, and character we need to thrive in meeting the even greater challenges that lie ahead.