November 23, 2024

We left The Wharf in Orange Beach, Al on Thursday 11/7. It was hard to leave Evan and Michael (Strummin’ Along) behind as well as Donna and Gary  (L’Attitude Adjustment) who live in Orange Beach. Evan and Michael were staying to have routine  maintenance  done on the boat and then go home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They will continue their Loop in early January.

We cruised 69 miles to Destin, Fl on Thursday. Stayed at the Two Georges Marina and then another 61 miles the next day to the Sun Harbor Marina in Panama City. It is a totally rebuilt marina.  The restaurant is not open yet so we ate on the boat and got ready for our trip the next day to Apalachicola.  After 67 miles we stayed at the Water Street Dock and had dinner at Scipio’s Seafood restaurant.

The next morning we headed to Carabelle (30 miles) where we would wait for a good 3-day weather window to cross the gulf to Steinhatchee. This is where we reunited with Suzy and Don (Tranquility). They had been waiting for well over a week for  good weather. “Captain” Kim is the harbor master at C Quarters marina and is known as the “weather savant”.



Jack, Don and two other captains spent time with her that afternoon and then after dinner looking at several weather, wind and wave forecasts for the next day and decided we would head out for Steinhatchee in the morning.  At sunrise, we set out on the 83 mile crossing.  The conditions ended up not being as favorable as predicted. We experienced 5 + ft swells and 3 ft chop. This was the first time in 9 months that I used the scopolamine patch for nausea. Needless to say, we were happy when, after 10 long hours, we arrived at Sea Hag Marina in Steinhatchee.  Steinhatchee had suffered quite a bit of damage from Helene. They had no power or water but had fuel.

Our next stop was Pete’s Pier in Crystal River. After travelling 77 miles across the open Gulf, we then followed a very narrow, very shallow, 10 mile approach to the marina. We had to stay there 2 nights due to weather.  Fortunately, they had a golf cart that we used to ride over to a small strip mall and had dinner at a Thai restaurant one night and a seafood restaurant the other.







Thursday, November 14th was a big day. We made it to the Clearwater Yacht Club (82 miles) on Clearwater Beach!!  Only one day away from “crossing our wake” and completing our Loop! We had a nice dinner at the Club that evening and left for St Petersburg in the morning. Upon our arrival at Loggerhead Marina, we opened a bottle of Prosecco that I had chilled for the occasion, and toasted our accomplishment of completing the 9 month adventure of the Loop while still talking to each other!

So, over the course of 257 days, we:

· 
·       Cruised 5,200 miles through the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, the Chesapeake Bay, 3 of the          Great Lakes, and hundreds of rivers, canals, and waterways
·       Traveled through 17 states and 2 countries
·       Consumed 3, 000 gallons of diesel
·       Made forward progress on 129 days, averaging 4.9 hrs, 40 miles, @ 8.3 mph
·       Transited 109 locks, which lifted and dropped the boat 2,200 feet
·       Infinite # of hours of enjoyment



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