April 8 – May 12, 2024 – St. Augustine, FL – Life in a boatyard!

On this Mother’s Day, I sit here on HOMES, in the gravel boatyard of Oaisis Marina in St. Augustine, FL. However, thanks to technology, I can FaceTime with my mom and Nicholas today, as they spend time together. We have been “boating” on land since our return from Ohio on April 30th. It isn’t ideal – especially showering in the marina’s shower house. I thought my college days of carrying a “bath bucket” were behind me. However, the maintenance and upgrades to HOMES are necessary. If we take care of her, she’ll take care of us. There have been some unforeseen delays, but the new lithium iron phosphate batteries for our inverter should be installed on Thursday. So, hopefully, our next blog will see us back in the water and continuing our voyage north.🤞

It seems like a long time since we’ve last cruised; however, in the month of April, we cruised from Key Biscayne, FL to St. Augustine, FL, traveling 8 days, going 327 miles (284 nm), at an average speed of 7.5 MPH (6.5 knots). We can’t wait to get back in the water and on our way again!

Here’s what we’ve been up to…

On Monday, April 8th, after taking us 6,125 miles, HOMES came out of the water for her spa treatment. With the arrival of high tide at 3:15 PM, we backed HOMES out of her slip and into the slings of the lift. John, the owner of Oasis Marina, used a remote control unit to drive HOMES in the lift to the concrete pad, which will be her home for the next few weeks.

After getting HOMES settled, Tim and I got into our rental car and headed south to Stuart, FL to spend the night. In the morning, we dropped off the control unit of the stabilizers at Gyro Gale, for the rotator valve to be rebuilt. Our next stop did not go as planned. If you recall from other blogs, a weld on our Spade anchor broke. We have been working with Spade and they finally agreed to give us a new anchor, per the warranty. However, once we hauled the anchor into their office, the guy said that the shaft was bent, so they wouldn’t warranty it. So, that was a huge waste of time and energy. The previous owners paid $4,200 for the anchor. We’ll replace it with one costing $1,500 (on sale for $1,000). It won’t be of pretty, shinny stainless steal, but it will do the same job. We are more utilitarian than the previous owners.

After a long day of driving from Stuart, with that failed stop in Palm Bay, FL, we spent the night in the outskirts of Charlotte, NC. We made it home the next afternoon, Wednesday, April 17th. We spent the next 10 days visiting with family and friends. It was nice being home to experience the sights and smells of spring! In our yard, our lilacs, viburnum and wisteria were all blooming. We also had a nice surprise in the mail. The America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association (AGLCA) sent to us our BaccaLOOParate Degree – for becoming Gold Loopers! We’ll frame that with our tattered white Looper Flag.

On Sunday, April 28th, we headed back south. We spent two nights in Savannah, GA. We thought about taking HOMES there, but, this way can still explore the city and save at least three days of cruising time. We stayed in the historic downtown at Planters Inn in Reynolds Square. The 60-room inn was built in 1913 and is attached to the Oliver Sturges House, built in 1813. However, from 1736-1737, this site held the home of John Wesley, English missionary and later the founder of Methodism. In 1733, when James Oglethorpe founded the Colony of Georgia, he invited Wesley to be the minister of the newly formed Savannah parish.

On Monday, April 29th, we spent the day walking Savannah’s historic district, from Forsyth Park to the Plant Riverside District and all the lovely squares in between. The architecture and huge live oaks with moss dangling from their branches transports you back to the Old South. Fortunately, Union Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman (native of Lancaster, OH), spared Savannah on his March to the Sea, when he burned everything in his path between Atlanta and Savannah, from Nov 15 – Dec. 21, 1864. Some accounts say he spared Savannah because of its value as a seaport and because the mayor signaled the city would surrender; however another account says that he felt the city was too beautiful to burn. Either way, we are fortunate that this beautiful old city survived the ravages of the Civil War.

On Tuesday, April 30th, we left Savannah, GA and excitedly headed back to HOMES in St. Augustine, FL. The marina owner, John, has been texting us with HOMES’s progress and said she looks like new. He was right! HOMES greeted us by sparkling in the hot Florida sun. John said it took five guys five days to wash HOMES, buff her three times, wax and polish all of the stainless steel. John painted the bottom – a slightly darker blue, giving HOMES a new look. He also painted prop speed on the props and rudders. She looks fabulous!

On Wednesday, May 1st, we got back in our rental car and drove the 7-hour round trip to Stuart, FL to pick up our stabilizer unit from Gyro Gale, a family-owned business established in 1976. The family, like their stabilizers and customer service, is awesome. Zeyad showed us the shop and showed Tim how to change the air filters that we purchased.

On Thursday, May 2nd, Tim reinstalled our stabilizer unit and hooked up our new anchor. We had our new anchor shipped to the West Marine store that is just a mile from the marina. We picked it up yesterday.

We may be stranded in a boatyard, but at least we’re in a beautiful city- the oldest city in the United States! Every night, we take the mile-walk through the moss-covered, tree-lined streets of the historic neighborhood of Lincolnville to the historic district of St. Augustine.

The marina is in the Lincolnville neighborhood – established in 1866 by former slaves, this neighborhood played a pivotal role in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – 100 years after Sherman spared Savannah. On June 9, 1964, Andrew Young was arrested in St. Augustine after leading a march from Lincolnville to the Plaza de la Constitucion, where he met with violent opposition. Young, a civil rights activist, was sent to St. Augustine by Martin Luther King, Jr. to help stop the riots in the city while Congress debated the Civil Rights Act. Young remained true to the non-violence strategy of the movement. He endured being beaten by a large white mob, knowing that if he and the marchers fought back, the Civil Rights Act would fail. This march helped to cement the need for the Civil Rights Act, which passed just a month later. Young went on to become the first African American elected to Congress from Georgia and was one of the first African Americans elected to Congress from the former Confederacy. His final steps on June 9, 1964 are memorialized in brass in the Plaza de la Constitucion. In 2011, Young, age 79, returned to St. Augustine and marched the same path, this time being greeted with joy instead of hatred. He said the purpose of the 1960s Civil Rights movement was “to seek human dignity and respect that allows us to live together as brothers and sisters and not perish together as fools.”

On Friday, May 3rd, the electricians arrived to begin running the wires for our new isolation transformer. They finished installing it on Thursday, May 9th. This is an upgrade that we wanted to do to protect HOMES’s electrical system when we hook up to shore power. The electric pedestals at marinas can fluctuate from sending too little, too much, or the wrong frequency of electric. Or, like in Michigan, HOMES’s electrical system kept popping the breakers because of the new GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interruptor). Now, when we plug into shore power, the electric will run into the isolation transformer, where it will be corrected before being used by HOMES. This isolation transformer will bring peace of mind. It would be very expensive if we’d have to replace every electrical item on the boat.

While the electricians began their work on May 3rd, Tim and I drove the 3.3 miles from the marina to the St. Augustine Lighthouse, taking the Bridge of Lions over the Matanzas River (Intracoastal Waterway) to Anastasia Island. There has been a lighthouse, in some form, at this site since 1589. The current lighthouse was built between 1871 and 1874, replacing its predecessor, which was first lit in 1824 by the new territorial American Government as Florida’s first lighthouse. Tim and I climbed the 219 steps to reach the observation deck.

Our climb up the 219 steps was easy compared to the early lighthouse keepers, who had to carry 25 lb. buckets of lard oil up those steps. In 1859, Maria Andreu became the first Latina American woman lighthouse keeper, after taking over for her husband, who fell to his death. She tended the lighthouse for three years until the Civil War. In 1862 Confederate sympathizers took over the lighthouse, burying the lens to avoid drawing attention of Union soldiers. In 1867, the lighthouse was restored to working order and relit, but Andreu did not return. It is believed that she spent the rest of her life with family in Georgia, but her story demonstrates the influence of Latina women, and all women, who have served and continue to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard.

During the next few days, we alternated between boat chores and exploring St. Augustine.

Tim ordered and installed our new anchor swivel; changed oil in the transmissions; changed the oil in the outboard engine of the dinghy; changed the oil in the generator; and, we grocery shopped and took the rental car back.

John lifted HOMES and moved her a foot or two so that he could move the blocks and paint those areas. We received our new screens and Tim hung them. The screens that we made last summer with the magnetic frames did not hold together. These screens use Velcro.

After a day of chores, we would always take an evening walk around St. Augustine, enjoying the evening views and visiting places, such as: Whetstone Chocolates and Coffee; Dog Rose Brewing Co.; Ancient City Brewing; A1A Ale Works; Bog Brewing Co.; and, Meehan’s Irish Pub. We met so many nice people!

Tune in next week as we, hopefully, will be back in the water and into Georgia. We are still waiting on our new lithium iron phosphate batteries to arrive and be installed, as well as our life raft to come back from being re-certified. We like St. Augustine; however, we are more than ready to leave!

Thanks for reading. See you next week.

---

April 8-14, 2024 – Ft. Pierce, FL to St. Augustine, FL

Highlights this week: Seeing lots of friends and finally getting to see the Fountain of Youth.

Monday, April 8 2024 – Layover day at anchorage near Melbourne, FL (Causeway Bridge, South)

Last night, we got to watch Space X launch a rocket, taking another satellite into space. This anchorage is noted to have good viewing for launches. We watched live coverage of the launch on an app called “Next Spaceflight.” We have Starlink on HOMES, so we said a little “thank you” as it went up. We have never been without internet on our trip. Even when we had no cell service, we could make wifi calls through Starlink. During our crossing of the Gulf of Mexico, we opted not to activate the off-shore feature of Starlink; however, it was nice to know that if an emergency arose, we could have activated it for $2.00/ gigabyte.

In the afternoon, we took the dinghy over to Melbourne, since we had never been there. Melbourne isn’t dinghy friendly. We called the marina and they said we couldn’t tie up there. The AGLCA Harbor Host saw us on Nebo and messaged us to see if he could be of any assistance, so we asked him where he would recommend tying up. He agreed that Melbourne isn’t dingy friendly, but gave us 2 options.

Option 1 was a huge failure – our first ever mishap in the dinghy! The waves and wind were brutally hitting us as we attempted to tie up at the city boat ramp. The dinghy motor hit bottom, died and then refused idle properly or go into gear. Tim lifted the motor and found a massive fishing net wrapped around the prop! Luckily, some kayakers had a knife that we borrowed. It still took a good five minutes for him to cut the net free, while I was holding the line as the waves beat us into the dock.

With that problem resolved and the motor acting fine again, we headed to Option 2. This was a grassy area, but too shallow to beach the dinghy properly. I sacrificed my shoes and jumped out to pull us ashore, as Tim pushed with a dock pole.

After all of that, at least Melbourne was worth the trouble. The historic downtown was quaint. After a delicious lunch at Meg O’Malley’s Irish Pub, we walked along the Crane Creek Riverfront to the marina. We met Loopers on Wake Up Call. They just began their Loop this year, but had a setback when Misty dislocated her shoulder falling between the dock and the boat while taking their dog off. Injuries are always a grim possibility on the Loop.

We finished off our walk at Hell n’ Blazes Brewing Co. We agreed with their awards announcing them “The Best Beer in Florida,” in a state-wide competition. The bartender retired here after teaching for 30 years at Gahanna, Ohio City Schools. We had fun talking about our favorite craft breweries back home in Columbus and Marysville. The eclipse was occurring during our walk, but the sun barely dimmed. The best picture Tim got of the eclipse was as we walked through a parking lot! 😁

Tuesday, April 9, 2024 – Melbourne, FL (Causeway Bridge South) to Titusville, FL (Titusville Marina)

Today, we were underway 5 hours and 13 minutes, going 40 miles (35.2 nm), going an average speed of 7.7 MPH (6.7 knots). We were pulling up anchor by 7:00 AM, since we wanted to get to Titusville before the wind picked up more today. We got a little bumped around a little last night, but our anchor never moved. This morning, we found out why. The anchor came up caked in sand and shells. Before rinsing off the anchor, I picked off a shell to save for my collection.

Our cruise today was up Florida’s “Space Coast” – Melbourne, Coco Beach, Port Canaveral and Titusville. This portion of the Atlantic Coast got the name Space Coast because of the spaceports like Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center. Rockets are launched from this area because at this point, the Earth’s rotation is optimal, adding the speed of rotation to the orbital velocity of the rocket. Also, launching from an uninhabited location minimizes the danger of falling debris from a failed launch.

We pulled into Titusville Marina as other boats were going out to watch the 12:53 PM launch of the Delta IV Heavy NROL-7 from Cape Canaveral. This will be the last mission of the Delta rocket family, as it takes off for an unspecified national security mission. We docked at the fuel dock and got gas in the dinghy and the dinghy’s extra tank. We had just finished tying up in our slip when we heard the rumble of the rocket launching. We ran to the bow, but only saw a lot of smoke in the clouds. However, we learned later that no one got a good look at the launch due to the clouds.

This evening, we had plans with a friend/ fellow retired firefighter, George, and his wife Jackie, who live in Titusville. After a tour of HOMES, we headed to Cafe Paradiso Bistro & Social Club for dinner. Chef Gypsy had a huge menu on New-Orleans style foods. My ginger curry chicken salad sandwich was delicious and Tim devoured his Louisiana Smothered Chicken. It was a nice evening with great food and great company. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture with George and Jackie.

Before going to bed, we set our alarm for 12:15 AM to catch the last rocket launch of our visit to the Space Coast – a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink internet satellites. Then the launch was delayed to 1:40 AM. I thought a night launch would be more spectacular, but it was just a red light in the sky that faded to white, just like its smoky tail.

Wednesday – Thursday, April 10-11 – Layover days in Titusville, due to weather

We had originally planned to stay in Titusville on Wednesday, but a storm caused us to extend our stay another day. Fortunately, we love the historic downtown, which is just a short walk from the marina. We revisited our favorite places from when we were here 2 years ago on HOMES – Sunrise Bread and Playalinda Brewing Company.

We also accomplished some chores. Tim fixed the fresh water inlet, which broke when the water froze in Mobile, AL back in January. He made a temporary fix at the time. We had the parts shipped to us when we spent the week in Punta Gorda. He also replaced an access port on the swim platform. There was nothing wrong with it. It was just old and ugly. While he was sitting on the swim platform, a manatee swam by! I didn’t get a good picture, but what a thrill to see!

We also added chain markers to our anchor chain. The color allows us to know how much chain is out. We usually try have out 5 foot of chain out for every 1 foot of water – taking into account the tide. Originally, the chain was painted with colors, but now the colors are hard to see. These chain markers were on the boat when we bought it, so we decided to use them.

We also deflated my paddle board and put away the fender boards that we made in Mobile, AL. We need to clear things off the deck because we are have HOMES washed and waxed in St. Augustine next week.

Friday, April 12, 2024 – Titusville, FL (Titusville Marina) to Daytona Beach, FL (Halifax Harbor Marina)

Today, we were underway 6 hours and 15 minutes, going 47 miles (41.8 nm), at an average speed of 7.7 MPH (6.7 knots). We pulled out of Titusville Marina at 7:00 AM. We wanted to get an early start so that we could meet up with my friend, Tonda, and her husband, Denny, who are at their condo in Daytona Beach this week. The weather prevented us from getting to Daytona yesterday and today, they need to be at the Daytona Airport by 6:30 PM. So, we left early to optimize our time with Tonda and Denny.

After exciting the marina’s channel and turning left, we headed north under the NASA Railroad Bridge. This bridge is kept in the vertical position, until it needs to be lowered to deliver heavy rocket boosters, rocket frames and other supplies to and from the JFK Space Center.

Soon, we were going through the Haulover Canal and under the Haulover Bridge. This man-made canal connects the Indian River Lagoon and the Mosquito Lagoon. Even before this canal was dug in 1881, the Native Americans used this narrow strip of land to “haul over” their canoes. During the 2nd Seminole War (1835-1842) the U.S. Army established Fort Ann (near present-day Kennedy Space Center) in 1837 to prevent the Native Americans from using this portage to carry out raids against American settlers.

The canal is known for having manatee and we actually saw three! Although we don’t “see” them like at the zoo. First we see what looks like a log and as we get close, we see some swirls in the water – but it’s still cool to see them in the wild!

As we approached New Smyrna Beach, we were on high alert as to not miss our turn. When we came through here in 2022, we missed our turn and continued out toward the Ponce de Leon Inlet. By the time we realized that we needed to turn away from the Atlantic Ocean, we only saw a small strip of water (the Halifax River) boarded by two beaches (not only shallow, but also addition low tide!). We were such rookies – day 6 of our Loop! This year, we took the left turn and had a comfortable cruise along the wide Ponce de Leon Cut, while talking to our son, Nick on the phone. We’ve learned a lot in 2 years!

By 1:20 PM, we were tied up at Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach. Just before pulling into the marina, we recognized the anchorage where we hit bottom in 2022 and wrapped up all that stuff on our starboard prop. That day 6 of our Loop was a trying day – not to mention that between the Ponce Inlet mistake and the prop incident, Florida Fish and Game boarded us to see if our toilets were set to pump overboard. They quickly left after they discovered that we weren’t in violation and they saw another big boat coming. Despite that trying day #6, we continued on…and now we’re Gold Loopers.

Tonda and Denny were at the dock, by the time we got our water and electric hooked up. We had such a great time together – touring HOMES, touring their condo, and driving around Daytona Beach. We had lunch at Racing’s North Turn. The restaurant has a museum commemorating this location’s history of being the North Turn of the pre-NASCAR beach races from 1936-1958. These beachfront races began in 1902, but in 1936 a 3.2 kilometer course began hosting stock cars and motorcycles. This beach course hosted its last even in 1958, when NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) relocated to its current Super Speedway location, known for the Daytona 500.

Saturday, April 13, 2024 – Daytona Beach, FL (Halifax Harbor Marina) to St. Augustine, FL (Oasis Marina)

Today, we were underway 6 hours and 58 minutes, going 52 miles (45.6 nm), at an average speed of 7.5 MPH (6.5 knots). We got another early start, pulling out on the Halifax River, going under the bridges of Daytona Beach, before the Sunday boat traffic began. Today, we heard two calls on the radio from boaters having engine problems and trying to negotiate the bridges with one engine or limited control. That is always sad to hear, but also concerning if they are close to us.

We fought the current most of the day, slowing our speed slightly, but our cruise on the Mantanzas River was beautiful. We cruised by Bulow Creek State Park, Palm Coast, and Matanzas State Forest. The shores alternated between scenic park lands and lines of homes with private docks extending into the river.

We turned off the Matanzas River at St. Augustine and continued a short distance up the San Sebastian River to Oasis Mariana. Here is where HOMES will spend the next few weeks getting some TLC maintenance for Loop well done.

A nice surprise is that our friends on Sea Cottage are at a marina right up the river from ours. Keith and Melinda have been in my blogs before. We first met them back in Columbus, Mississippi and traveled with them several days until reaching Mobile, AL. We next met up with them at Punta Gorda, FL. They were our first guests to arrive by dinghy months ago, and now we returned the visit. We took the dinghy over to their boat and had a nice dinner at their marina’s restaurant, Hurricane Patty’s. As we finished dinner, we saw two or three manatees splashing near shore in the marina! It was dark, by the time we left their boat; however, the dinghy has lights. Those are just evenings that just go too fast.

Today is Sunday, April 14th – the day I finally made it to the Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth! In 1976, on the way home from a family vacation to Disney World, I wanted to stop here. We made it to the parking lot and it was raining too hard to go into the park. Today, I drank two glasses of water to make up for my missed trip.

Founded in 1565, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the United States. If you remember from our visit to Pensacola, they brag about being older, but they were not “continuously occupied.” St. Augustine was here 42 year before the English colonized Jamestown and 55 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Juan Ponce de Leon is credited with discovering Florida, at St. Augustine in 1513; however, a Timucua village was already at this location, where people had lived for over 3,000 years. Being a Catholic, Ponce de Leon wasn’t looking for the Fountain of Youth to live forever, he was just looking for fresh water and had heard that the people drinking from this water had lived a very long time.

The Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park costs $22 at ticket for admission. The park claims to be the oldest theme park in the United States, with its founding in the 1950’s. The park has a reconstructed: Timucua village; 1587 Mission Church; Spanish Lookout; and, Spanish boatyard. Peacocks freely roam the grounds. We watched a show in the planetarium showing how Ponce de Leon used the stars to find St. Augustine. I would not be doing the Loop if we had to rely on the stars for navigation and a led weight hanging from a rope for a depth finder!

After leaving the park, we walked to the Colonial Quarter and ate lunch at the Bull & Crown on St. George St. Also, on St. George St., we passed the oldest wooden school house in the United States. Our final sightseeing stop of the day was the oldest thing in St. Augustine – – and not a replica. It is the Old Senator Live Oak. It is well over 600 years old and would have witnesses Ponce de Leon’s arrival.

After enough sightseeing, we drove back to the boat. We began our day by taking an Uber to pick up our rental car. HOMES will be coming out of the water tomorrow at 3:30 PM and we’ll be heading home. However, we need to backtrack a little first. On Tuesday, we’re dropping off our stabilizer unit to be repaired in Stuart,FL and picking up our new anchor in Palm Bay, FL. Yes, the Spade Anchor Co. agreed to give a us a new anchor for free. It is not the exact same anchor, but we’re happy with their decision. So, we won’t actually be heading back to Ohio until Tuesday afternoon.

Look for a new blog on May 5th – Cinco de Mayo. HOMES should be back in the water by then after her TLC maintenance. Her wax job alone will take 6 days.

See you then! Thanks for reading.

---

April 1-7, 2024 – Key Biscayne, FL to Melbourne, FL

Highlights this week: It was a cathartic week, as we made our way back up the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to complete our Loop. We are now GOLD LOOPERS. We crossed our wake in Delray Beach on Wednesday, April 3rd, after leaving there on June 7, 2022. However, the reminiscing began on Tuesday, when we cruised into Fort Lauderdale… where our boat search began in June 2021.

Monday, April 1, 2024 – Layover at anchorage near Key Biscayne

For the month of March, we travelled 12 days, were underway 59 hours, going 441 miles (383.2 nm), at an average speed of 7.5 MPH (6.5 knots). It was a fun month, taking us from Venice, FL to Key Biscayne, with the skyline of Miami in our sight.

Today, decided to stay at this anchorage near Key Biscayne, since we wanted to explore Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. The anchorage was absolutely crazy yesterday — day boaters and superyachts, blaring loud music, with people jumping into the water and playing on rafts, etc. Two boats squeezed in by us, but they were gone in a few hours. By dark, all was quiet and only about 15 boats, mostly sailboats, remained in the anchorage overnight.

We took the dinghy into No Name Harbor to visit Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. A park ranger was standing at the dinghy dock waiting to take our $8.00 entrance fee. We walked along the trail to Cape Florida Lighthouse, which was closed for renovations. If the lighthouse could only talk! It was built in 1825 – making it the oldest structure in Miami-Dade County. It originally guided sailors around the Florida reef. It has survived nearly 200 years of erosion, dozens of hurricanes, an attack by native Seminole Native Americans and an explosion of lantern oil and gun powder. Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon named this area “Cape of Florida” in 1513. Key Biscayne is the southernmost sand barrier island in the continental U.S.

Before the lighthouse was built, the Cape of Florida was known as the Saltwater Railroad. After Spain transferred its Florida territory to the U.S. in 1819, escaped slaves from the Deep South of the U.S. and Black Seminoles (runaway slaves taken in by the Seminole Native Americans), boarded ships here to migrate to the British-controlled Bahamas. Under Spanish rule, many blacks were free; however, invading U.S. General Andrew Jackson, and future President of the U.S., was a strong supporter of slavery. By the 1830s, thousands of slaves had escaped from the Cape of Florida to be free in the Bahamas.

Past the lighthouse, we walked out on the beach briefly, before taking the trail back to No Name Harbor. We had a drink at Boater’s Grill, before heading back to HOMES. We feel fortunate that, in the 1960s, Bill Baggs, a civil rights champion and editor of The Miami News, had the passion to preserve this portion of Key Biscayne. In the 1950s, real estate developers cut down every tree on the property, including the mangrove wetlands, and filled it in with dredged material, in order to level the property for hotels, condos and single-family homes. At some point, development stopped and the area was taken over by the invasive Australian Pine trees – like on nearby Virginia Key. Baggs worked with the property owner, Mrs. Garcia, to sell her property cheaper to the state of Florida for a park, rather than to another developer. The rest is history, and I’m sure Florida is happy to have the tourism and ecological benefits today.

Tuesday, April 2, 2024 – Anchorage near Key Biscayne, FL to Fort Lauderdale, Sunrise Harbor Marina.

We were underway today for 4 hours and 51 minutes, going 39 miles (34.2 nm), at an average speed of 8 MPH (7 knots).

We pulled up a clean anchor around 8 AM and traveled back out of Biscayne Bay and around the Cape of Florida.

After passing by Miami, we continued traveling along the Straits of Florida/ the Atlantic Ocean up the coast from Miami Beach to Ft. Lauderdale. It was hard to discern where one beach community ended and another began. There was a continuous line of high-rise buildings overlooking beaches dotted with sun umbrellas. We were too far away to see how many people were on the beaches. The waves were just a 1-2 foot chop, but we didn’t see any wildlife.

As we approached Ft. Lauderdale, we were reminded that Florida isn’t just for tourists. We could see three freighters ahead, which were anchored outside the Stranahan River, waiting to enter Fort Lauderdale. To our left, in the distance, we could see freighters being unloaded at Crowley-Port Everglades Terminal. We were heading the same way as the big freighters and cruise ships – up the Stranahan River.

Tim negotiated the heavy boat traffic coming and going through the entrance of the Stranahan River. We soon made a right turn to continue on the Stranahan River, with a beach to our right and a tour boat crowding us on our left. We fell in behind the tour boat and continued under the 17th St. Causeway Bridge. We then continued past canals shooting off on both sides of the river, with big houses and equally big boats docked in front.

After the 17th St. Causeway Bridge, we turned right, off the Stranahan River and onto the New River. We recognized the marina where we took a sunset cruise back in 2021, after a week of boat shopping. We continued under the Las Olas Blvd. Bridge, where the river name turned into the Middle River. The Intracoastal Waterway connects all of these rivers, with sections of made-made canals – so in general terms, we are back on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Despite hurricanes and environmental issues, we still saw development in progress. Ten minutes later, when we saw the Sunrise Blvd. Bridge, we knew that we were just minutes away from docking at Sunrise Harbor Marina – a superyacht marina.

Why pay $365.00 to dock with the superyachts for a night? Well, it may be no surprise to those who know me… a coffee shop/ French bakery! We discovered Anna’s Coffee Shop and French Bakery when we came to Fort Lauderdale for a week in June, 2021 to shop for boats. We stayed at a kitschy hotel in Victoria Park and walked to Sunrise Blvd. Bridge to look at the ICW and the marinas and dream about our Loop. We found Anna’s Coffee Shop on our walk. When we found our dream boat seven months later, her name was “Anna.” That seemed liked a good sign, even if we did rename her HOMES.

Wednesday, April 3, 2024- Sunrise Harbor Marina -Fort Lauderdale, FL to Delray Harbor Club -Delray Beach!!! The Loop is complete! We CROSSED OUR WAKE!

Our voyage today took 5 hours and 15 minutes to go 23 miles (19.7 nm), at an average speed of 6.7 MPH (5.8 knots). That may seem like a long time and a slow speed- even for HOMES; however, we are back on the Atlantic IWC – which means lots of drawbridges!

Waiting on drawbridge openings was made more difficult today by the 19 MPH winds, with 30 MPH gusts.

We knew the wind would make things difficult today, but we didn’t want to delay crossing our wake. So, after breakfast at Anna’s Coffee Shop, we untied and Tim backed HOMES up passing the superyacht behind us. The crew was busy washing the yacht behind us. A girl was in a their 35-foot tender, washing the side of the yacht. I use my paddle board for HOMES! 😁

Once out of the marina around 9:00 AM, we began our quest to time the drawbridge openings, so that we had the least amount of time to wait in the wind.

Around 11:00 AM, we passed the Hillsboro Inlet and recognized the Hillsboro Lighthouse. This is the inlet that we entered the Atlantic Ocean for our sea trial back on February 8, 2022. We are now back in familiar waters!

The wind continued to increase as the day went. We traveled most of the day with a sailboat. At the E. Palmetto Park Rd. Bridge in Boca Raton, the sailboat asked the bridge tender if he would open early because of the wind. The bridge tender sarcastically said, “not unless the Coast Guard declares an emergency.” So, the sailboat guy chuckled, said “thank you,” and we continued to fight the wind. By this point, two more boats had joined us.

Fortunately, E. Palmetto Park Rd. Bridge was our last bridge of the day. We could fit under the last two bridges standing between us and finishing our Loop- Spanish River Blvd. and Linton Blvd. Leaving the other tall boats behind, we were alone in the channel – allowing us time to get out our gold burgee. We ordered our gold burgee when we were home at Thanksgiving. It arrived when we were home for Christmas; however, we only opened the package enough to see that it was gold. We didn’t want to jinx our completing our Loop by taking it all the way out. 😁

April 3, 2024 – 1:28 PM – Gold Loopers!

After cruising under Linton Blvd. Bridge, we passed by the marina where we are staying for the next two nights – Delray Harbor Club. Within minutes, we were CROSSING OUR WAKE in front of Seagate Yacht Club, Delray Beach, FL.

Below is a breakdown of our trip, from pulling out of Delray Beach on June 7, 2022 until returning on April 3, 2024:

• Days traveled: 163
• Months traveled: 11 months (4 in 2022; 5 in 2023; and, 2 in 2024)
• Hours underway: 773
• Miles traveled: 5,860 (5,091.9 nm)
• Longest voyage: 171.6 miles / 25 hours and 18 min. (Gulf of Mexico crossing)
• Average speed : 7.6 MPH (6.6 knots)
• Maximum speed: 16 MPH (14 knots) – The Upper Mississippi River
• Gallons of diesel: 3,214.64
• Miles/gallon: 1.82
• Locks: 73
• States: 16

After taking photos and selfies in front of Seagate Yacht Club, we turned south back to Delray Harbor Club. Unfortunately, Seagate didn’t have any transient slips available; however, the dock master at Delray Harbor Club was excited for us and happy to take our picture to submit to the AGLCA – America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association.

Once we submitted updated our information on the AGLCA website, we walked into Delray Beach. We had been looking forward to returning to the Blue Anchor British Pub! That pub is where we’d go every evening for drinks on the 3 occasions that we were in Delray getting HOMES ready for our voyage. It was a nice homecoming!

On Thursday, April 4th, we spent the morning making plans and reservations for the next phase of our journey. Tim scheduled some work to be done on HOMES, at Oasis Marina in St. Augustine, starting on April 12th. He wanted to use Oasis Marina to do our work. If you recall, they were the marina who went out of their way to help us on June 13, 2022 – day 7 of our Loop – when we wrapped up all that stuff on our props in a Daytona Beach anchorage. They were as friendly and as accommodating on the phone as we recalled. While we take a trip home, they will: 1) put in our cutlass bearing (which we have, but Toledo Beach Marina didn’t have the tools to install last winter); 2) do a bottom paint job; and 3) a full-boat wax. Tim plotted our daily courses to get us to St. Augustine on April 12th. We’ll be stopping in new anchorages; however, we’ll be repeating our stay at Titusville Marina, because we really liked that marina and the quaint downtown.

In the afternoon, we walked over Linton Blvd. Bridge and back to Delray Beach, along S. Ocean Blvd. (Hwy A1A). We reminisced as we visited Seagate Yacht Club and the very slip from where we left in June of 2022. Some of the neighboring boats were the same, but no one was around. We ended our walk back at the Blue Anchor for one last time. Two of our favorite bartenders from two years ago were there – Lannie and Anthony. I think Delray Beach is more beautiful at night. Tomorrow begins our new chapter, as Gold Loopers.

Friday, April 5, 2024 – Delray Harbor Club, Delray Beach, FL to an anchorage near North Palm Beach (North Lake Worth- Turtle Cove)

On today’s voyage, we were underway 3 hours and 29 minutes, going 27 miles (23.2 nm), at an average speed of 7.6 MPH (6.6 knots). However, the duration of our trip was 6 hours and 18 minutes, because we fueled up before leaving Delray Harbor Club and we had several drawbridges.

We perfectly timed leaving the fuel dock, so that we’d arrive at Atlantic Ave. Bridge for its 9:45 AM opening. However, the bridge tender didn’t reply to Tim’s repeated radio and telephone calls. Tim finally called the next bridge –George Bush Blvd. Bridge -to see if there was a problem. That bridge tender said he had been hearing us on the radio and wasn’t aware of any problems. At that point, the Atlantic Ave. Bridge tender came on the radio and said that his shift didn’t start until 9:55 AM and he didn’t know why no one was there earlier. At this point, it was 9:47 AM and he refused to lift the bridge until the next opening – 10:15 AM. Originally, we were feeling sentimental about going under Atlantic Ave. Bridge -where we began our Loop – and hoped that we’d have time for pictures – – we had plenty of time for pictures!

The ICW was busy today, but it was a Friday. When we passed the West Palm Beach anchorage, where we anchored on our first night on the Loop in 2022, we were surprised to see so many half-sunken boats and boats beached on shore. The buildings had a lot of construction going on too. I don’t think I could live somewhere that gets consistently ravaged by storms.

We had a short cruising day today. The anchorage- Turtle Cove in North Lake Worth – is near John D. MacArthur Beach State Park. There was really nowhere to easily visit, so we spent the evening on HOMES. Tim made a delicious dinner of andu sausage with veggie rotini and I made us a spring mix salad. A relaxing evening.

Saturday, April 6, 2024 – An anchorage near North Palm Beach (North Lake Worth – Turtle Cove) to an anchorage at Ft. Pierce (Fort Pierce R184/ Causeway Bridge)

Today, we were underway 7 hours, going 49 miles (42.9 nm), at an average speed of 7 MPH (6.1 knots). We got an early start after a comfortable night at anchor. It’s been cooler for the past few days, with less humidity.

Within a few minutes of leaving the anchorage, we were slipping under Parker Bridge (US-1), with about 2 feet to spare. The next bridge – PGA Blvd. – would have been about a foot tighter, so we requested a lift.

The Jupiter Inlet looked much different from 2022. Even on a Saturday, the US-1 Bridge replacement project was in full swing. This new bridge is supposed to be done in late 2024. Despite the construction, the Jupiter Lighthouse still proudly stood out.

Also standing out was a classically beautiful boat – Honey Fitz. The U.S. Presidential Seal on the side of the boat made me curious. A quick Google search told me that this was a presidential yacht, most often associated with John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy; however it also served Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon. This 93-foot wooden yacht, launched in 1931, was a superyacht in its day. The Honey Fitz has just been restored to replicate the decor of the Kennedy era. It now serves for use on limited charters and fundraising events.

The anchorage that we chose for tonight is off the ICW channel near Ft. Pierce. The anchorage was crowded, but we found room. Later, we took the dinghy across the ICW to Ft. Pierce for a walk. The historic downtown was a short walk from the free dinghy dock. We didn’t think that we’d ever been to Ft. Pierce before, until recognizing the restaurant where we ate with our broker back in June of 2021, when we were boat shopping. We finished our walk around Ft. Pierce with a drink at Sailfish Brewing Co. before heading back to the boat and calling it a day.

Sunday, April 7, 2024 – Anchorage near Ft. Pierce, FL (Ft. Pierce R184/Causeway Bridge) to an anchorage near Melbourne, FL (Melbourne Causeway South)

Today, we were underway 6 hours and 19 minutes, going 48 miles (42.2 nm), at an average speed of 7.7 MPH (6.7 knots). Fortunately, the few bridges that we had today were all tall enough for us to fit under. We had a relaxing cruise, passing, and being passed by, several other cruisers. We anchored with Steel Magnolia last night. She is a Florida Bay Coaster – only 13 left in existence. We chatted on the radio as they passed. They have been living aboard their boat for 19 years. While passing and chatting with a sailboat from Vermont, they told us that we’ll enjoy Lake Chamberlain this summer. These boaters weren’t Loopers, but the boating community, as a whole, is friendly.

We are anchoring here for tonight and tomorrow night. Melbourne is west, across the channel, and there is also land access to our east. This area looks like a nice place to explore. Also, we have seen lots of dolphins around the boat, but they aren’t too active. Perhaps, at a high of 71 degrees today, they aren’t feeling like jumping out of the water. Tonight at 7:16 PM, a rocket is being launched from Kennedy Space Center that we should get to see from HOMES. There will be another one tomorrow afternoon.

This is where we will leave you. Next week will take us to Titusville and Daytona Beach before reaching St. Augustine for HOMES’s TLC maintenance.

Thank you for joining us on our journey to become Gold Loopers! What a journey it was! Our plans are to continue up the East Coast and up the Champlain Canal to do the Canadian canals this summer…so the journey is not over!

See you next week!

---

Week 8, Part III – March 25 – 31, 2024 – Marathon, FL to Key Biscayne, FL

Highlights this week: Road trip to Key West; finally getting to tour Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park; making it back to the Atlantic Ocean; and an unexpected stop in Key Largo.

Monday, March 25 – 26, 2024 – Excursion days to Key West, FL

When we left you last Sunday, we were in Marathon. We had just enjoyed a day at Sombrero Beach, and were on our way to dinner, at Lighthouse Grill, with our friends from Ohio, Mike and Jen Plahovinsak and their daughters Evie and Annie. On Monday, March 25th, the Plahovinsaks picked us up in front of the marina for an overnight trip to Key West.

Our first stop was Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum. I knew of Hemingway as a Nobel Prize winning American novelist and an adventurer with a larger-than-life persona, since reading The Old Man and Sea in high school. During the guided tour of his home, I learned more about Hemingway’s career as a war correspondent, during the Spanish Civil War and WWII; his 4 marriages; his novels; and his suicide in 1961. However, what I did not know anything about was his cats! Hemingway was given a white, six-toed cat by a ship’s captain in the 1930s. This inherited trait – called polydactylism- causes cats to have extra toes on either their front and/or hind feet. Thought to be better mousers, these cats were popular with ships’ captains. Today, the Hemingway Home has about 60 polydactyl cats on the property, which all trace their linage to Hemingway’s original cat. The cats have free range of the home and property and are federally protected. They have three staff members taking care of them, and as our guide said, “they have better healthcare than him.” 😁 Hemingway named all of his cats after famous people, so that is still the case today. The guide bragged about often having lunch with Eleanor Roosevelt.

We walked along Duval Street and had drinks at Sunset Pier, before continuing on to Mallory Square and touring the Key West Shipwreck Museum. We had lunch/dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe where they had shoes belonging to two of my favorite female artists – the late Olivia Newton-John and Madonna.

By this point, we were ready to check into our hotel in “Old Town” Key West. The Saint Hotel is on the corner of Easton St. and Duval St. Our room’s balcony overlooked the pool, while the Plahovinsaks room had a balcony overlooking Duval Street.

On Tuesday, March 26th, The Plahovinsaks needed to get an early start. I still wanted to see the Southernmost Point of the Continental USA, so Tim and I got up early for a walk and breakfast. We were up with the roosters, trash collectors and street sweepers. It was still dark when we got to the marker, showing that we were only 90 miles from Cuba. We then walked to a French bakery that I had scoped out yesterday – La Grignote Cafe & Bakery. The key line scone was heavenly!

Once the Plahovinsaks dropped us off at HOMES, we spent the rest of Tuesday getting ready to leave the marina the next day. We had divers come and clean the bottom of HOMES. In saltwater, plant growth and barnacles can grow on the bottom. The divers found a crab pot line wrapped around the prop. Thankfully we had line cutters installed on our props last winter. Without the cutters, the crab pot could have wrapped around our prop, causing damage – like our experience in Daytona back on June 12, 2022 – day 5 into our Loop. The divers also check our “zincs,” a/k/a anodes. I explained in a previous blog, that anodes are sacrificial metals, which get eaten away, instead of HOMES. The anodes on the prop shaft and Freedom Lift (the dinghy lift) looked okay to the diver, but he’d be back tomorrow to replace the anode on the back of HOMES.

Wednesday, March 27, 2024 – Marlin Bay Marina, Marathon, FL to a mooring near Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park (return trip)

Today’s voyage took us back to our scenic spot on the mooring ball near Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park. We were underway 3 hours and 55 minutes, going 30 miles (26.1 nm), at an average speed of 7.6 MPH (6.6 knots).

We got a late start today, because the diver had to come back and put the anode HOMES’s stern. Of course, all boats are different, so the anode didn’t fit HOMES’s screws. No fear – Tim has a tool for every occasion. He was able to drill out the anode screw holes to fit.

While waiting for the diver to finish, the portable pump-out guy came by, so we had our waste tank pumped out. With all of these tasks complete, we untied and headed back the way we came. Our first move north! The persisting wind made us scrap the idea of taking the boat to Key West. After visiting Key West by land, we weren’t impressed enough to spend the time and money to go back there on HOMES.

If we didn’t leave Marathon today, the wind would prevent us from leaving until Saturday. We were ready to be done with Marathon, so we decided to head back to the mooring ball at Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park to wait out the wind. We redeemed ourselves, by hooking the mooring ball on the first try this time!! However, once we were secured, Tim wasn’t happy with how the mooring line looked. So, he got out the dinghy and discovered the line was knotted under the mooring ball. It took some time, but he unknotted the line. The line would have held us fine, but considering the strong winds tomorrow, he wanted it right. Besides, he said it was a job that needed to be done.

On Thursday, March 28th, the weather forecasters got it right. We awoke to howling winds of 25-36 MPH, with gusts of 45 MPH. Tim tied my paddle board on a little tighter and we enjoyed a relaxing day. Around dinner time, Tim noticed a Portuguese Man of War floating by. A quick Google search later, we learned that the Man of War is common in the Florida Keys. Having no propulsion, they depend on the wind and the tides to move them around. Their venomous tentacles paralyze and kill fish and shrimp. Their sting can be painful to humans, but not deadly. One of their only predators is the loggerhead sea turtle – which is protected as a threatened species by both federal and Florida laws.

On Friday, March 29th, the winds calmed down to around 21 MPH and boats started moving again. Around 1:00 PM, the winds were even calmer, so we decided to take the dinghy over to Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park, for the 2:00 PM guided tour. What a hidden Gem! Lignumvitae Key has the highest elevation of any of the Florida Keys and is home to the tropical hardwood hammock, which supports 65 species of trees and woody shrubs, including 10 species that are threatened or endangered – including the lignum vitae tree, for which the key is named. The lignum vitae tree was targeted by early loggers for its dense resinous wood for use in ship building and for its medicinal properties. Since it was difficult for loggers to get to the Lignumvitae Key, the tree survived here. All of the trees in the hammock support numerous species of butterflies, dragonflies, birds and tree snails, many which are endangered, like the trees they depend upon.

In 1919, William J. Mathewson, a wealthy Miami chemist, bought the 280-acre key and built a caretaker’s home, with a windmill for electricity and a cistern for rainwater. The exterior of the two-story home is constructed of corals and fossils of long-ago sea creatures. Mr. Mathewson decorated his lawn with several 17th-century cannons, which were salvaged from the H.M.S Winchester, a 60-gun British warship, built in 1693, that wrecked on the reef. There is also a north-south coral wall running along the back of the island. Archeologists have no evidence of who built this wall, but guesses range from the Mayans to early pirates.

After leaving Lignumvitae Key Botanical Stat Park, we were hungry, so we headed across Lignumvitae Basin to Islamorada for dinner at Pappa Joe’s. We skipped Robbie’s this time, because Tim didn’t want to wash pelican poop off the dinghy 😁. We ended our day with a beautiful sunset. Tonight, we are sharing the mooring field with another Looper – Superior Sunrise. We exchanged a few chats on Nebo. They will be heading north too.

Saturday, March 30, 2024 – Mooring near Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park to anchorage near Key Largo

On our voyage today, we were underway 5 hours and 13 minutes, going 38 miles (33 nm, at an average speed of 7.2 MPH (6.3 knots). As you can see, we did a little backtracking to stay in deeper water – at least 6-feet deep. We cruised under Channel #5 Bridge, which is a 65-foot bridge that carried Rt. 1/ Overseas Highway over us. Once under the bridge, the Atlantic Ocean stretched in front of us. We made it back! We left the Atlantic Ocean on August 11, 2022, when we turned into New York Harbor. It’s hard to believe that we will complete our Loop in 4 more stops!

Today, we cruised along the coastal water in a 2-3 foot chop, but in the ocean, the period of the waves is farther apart, creating more of a rolling effect – not uncomfortable at all. After about 2 hours, we were back to being parallel to Lignumvitae Key. There is a channel at Islamorada that we could have taken, but the water had some spots around our 4-foot-8-inch draft. We probably would have powered through fine, but why chance it? We aren’t in a rush.

The anchorage that we picked behind Rodriguez Key was better than the reviews had indicated. As predicted, there were lots of boats anchored there, with a lot of day boaters near the key playing in the water; however, we didn’t experience any inconsiderate boaters waking us. Plus, it was only a 15-minute dinghy ride away from Snappers Oceanfront Restaurant & Bar on Key Largo! We shared a table with Jackie and her partner Toni, who were on day 1 of their vacation. It didn’t take long for us to start chatting – sharing stories of Florida “back in the day;” how AI is changing law firms (Jackie owns a staffing agency in Minnesota); how much fun we had in Chicago (Toni lives in Chicago); and tips on where we should get some good Thai food in Ft. Lauderdale. They didn’t think it odd that we are only stopping in Ft. Lauderdale to stop at Anna’s Coffee Shop and French Bakery – which we discovered on our first boat-search trip in June of 2021.

As I’ve said many times before, the reason we always try to find coffee shops in the morning and/or places to have drinks in the evening is to chat with people. Meeting people is what traveling is all about! I may not remember the name of the restaurant or the anchorage, but I’ll always remember Key Largo is where I had a key lime mojito, while talking with two nice women who wanted to be in my blog! Hi, Jackie and Toni! I hope you’re having a fabulous vacation!

Sunday, March 31, 2024 – Anchorage near Rodriguez Key to an anchorage near Key Biscayne, FL (Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park)

Our voyage today took 6 hours and 27 minutes, going 51 miles (44.1 nm), at an average speed of 8 MPH (6.8 knots). It was a beautiful day to be on the water. The Loopers were really out moving today! It was fun watching everyone moving, mostly north, on the Nebo app. Don’t forget that you can click on the Nebo link at the top of our website homepage to see us moving in real time.

The anchor came up clean this morning, except for some beautiful shells. I couldn’t reach them easily, so I just had to washed them off, like I do the mud. The water today was the most beautiful turquoise blue, with patches of sandy-white bottom shining through. The water was generally 12-feet deep, as we came along Biscayne National Park and into Biscayne Bay. I was surprised at how soon we began seeing the skyline of Miami today.

Our anchorage for tonight and tomorrow night is in Biscayne Bay, next to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park – at the tip of Key Biscayne. Just across the bay is Miami. The state park and several restaurants are just a short dinghy ride away. However, there are also lots of huge boats, with lots of people on them, loud music and inconsiderate boaters – although, it is Sunday. Tomorrow, we’ll go explore the state park and some of the local restaurants. Hopefully things will be a little quieter on a Monday.

On Tuesday, we’ll be moving from here to Sunrise Harbor Marina, in Fort Lauderdale. Which means….on Wednesday (knock on wood), we’ll be in Delray Beach to complete our Loop!!

Check back next Sunday to see if we become Gold Loopers!

Thanks for reading!

---

Week 7, Part III – March 18-24, 2024 – Everglades National Park (Little Shark River, Monroe County, FL) to Marathon, FL

Highlights this week: 1) Spending 3 nights anchored at two different locations in the Everglades National Park – a World Heritage Site; 2) exploring Indian Key Historic State Park – am 11-acre uninhabited island; 3) getting out our snorkeling gear for the first time; and, 4) enjoying time with friends from home.

Monday, March 18, 2024 – Everglades National Park, anchorage in the Little Shark River to an a mooring near Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park (near Islamorada, FL)

Today, we were underway 7 hours and 35 minutes, going 57 miles (49.8 nm), at an average speed of 7.6 MPH (6.6 knots). We enjoyed the unique experience of anchoring in the Everglades National Park for the last 3 days; however, the no-see-ums a/k/a biting midges did a great job from keeping us from exploring this remote area in the dinghy. I’m not sure how these tiny insects can bite so hard and leave such a big red welt! They did keep us confined inside HOMES, with no-see-um screens in every window and door, or in our no-see-um screened tent. Actually, it is good that these tiny insects are protecting this important habitat from humans. There are numerous rare and endangered species like the manatee, American crocodile and the Florida panther.

Tim sacrificed himself and went out to unhook the snubber on the anchor line and hose the mud off the snubber rope. The no-see-ums attacked what little of his face was exposed. I was similarly bundled up so that I could brush them off his clothes before coming back inside. Luckily, the anchor chain and the anchor itself came up clean, so we didn’t have to go back outside. The sights and sounds of the Everglades were still worth the pain. On our cruise out of Little Shark River, Tim saw a bull shark jump up out of the water and we briefly saw a manatee. I guess it’s good that the no-see-ums are protecting this wildlife from invading humans.

The Gulf of Mexico was gentle today. Once we turned to head toward Florida Bay, the water fell from a depth of 14-16 to 6-8 foot. There were two areas where the water depth was 5 foot, but it was well marked on the charts. HOMES got through these two area with about 8 inches under her bottom.

The reason to navigate this shallow water was to get to Lignumvitae Key where the shallow water will allow us to swim and snorkel for the first time on our trip. There are 5 mooring balls around Lignumvitae Key. This was our first time attempting a mooring ball. We were happy to see only one boat in the mooring field. Since these moorings are free, no one monitors them to say how many are open. We spotted a ball that wasn’t too close to the other boat or to any crab pots. Tim slowly cruised up beside the mooring ball – a big white ball with a long rope floating on the surface with a loop at the end. I hung off the bow with a dock pole and hooked the loop with my dock pole and quickly threaded our bowline through the loop…we looked very professional for our first time…however, our luck ran out. I had the bowline over the rail instead of under and when Tim tried to fix it, the rope came off the mooring line. 😖 About 4 more attempts and maybe 20 minutes later, we were hooked. It probably would have made a funny video, but it was our first time attempting a mooring ball. The effort was worth it! We stayed at this mooring until Thursday morning.

On Tuesday afternoon, we took off in the dinghy to explore. Unfortunately, Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park, which we are moored next to, is closed until Thursday. However, we got to explore Indian Key Historic State Park -an 11-acre uninhabited island, only accessible by boat. The boat dock had a sign saying not to use it because of storm damage, so we paddled the dinghy to the kayak landing, to protect the sea grass.

We hiked the island, looking at the remnants of a town from the 1830s. In 1831, Jacob Houseman used the island for his wrecked-ship salvage business. He even had Indian Key established as the first county seat for Dade County. His shady business practices ended his business and in 1838, Dr. Henry Perrine, a physician, moved his family here to await the end of the Second Seminole War, but on August 7, 1840, the Native Americans attacked the island. Most of the structures were burned to the ground, but most of the residents escaped. Perrine was killed. Being the only visitors on the island made it a very cool experience. We took an envelope to mail in our $5.00 entrance fee.

On our way back to HOMES, we came across a fun looking restaurant called Robbie’s of Islamorada. We tied up at the dinghy dock, which was right next to the tarpon feeding tanks. For a fee, enthusiastic tourists were holding fish over the tanks and huge tarpons came jumping up out of the water and grabbed the fish. Despite the screaming and uproar of the spectators, the pelicans were everywhere, hoping for some food. As we sat down to eat on the waterfront patio, we notice that five pelicans were sitting on our dinghy. We watched as pelicans flew on and off our dinghy, thinking how cute, until we got back and saw what a mess they had made!

On Wednesday, we went snorkeling for the first time. We bought snorkels, fins and masks in Fort Lauderdale when we first bought the boat, in 2022. This was our first opportunity to try them out. We took the dinghy to a shallow reef where we saw other snorkelers yesterday. Then, we snorkeled around HOMES for a while. We didn’t see anything too interesting, but the water was nice!

Thursday, March 21, 2024 – Mooring near Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park (near Islamorada, FL) to Marathon, FL

Today, we were underway 4 hours and 22 minutes, going 30 miles (26.3 nm), at an average speed on 8 MPH (6.8 knots). We were on our way within minutes, since it is much easier unhooking from a mooring ball than pulling up the anchor. We retraced our electronic track back through the narrow channel, so it seemed less stressful this time.

It would have been nice to have visited Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park, but it was closed during our whole stay. It opened this morning at 9:00 AM, but we had to get moving early to beat the winds that would be increasing steadily throughout the day.

Knowing that strong winds and heavy rains are heading our way, we made reservations at Marlin Bay Resort and Marina in Marathon, FL for the next four days.

By the time we got to the marina, the wind was blowing about 13 MPH and the entrance of the marina was not large and was on an angle. Tim couldn’t get up too much speed, so he gave a burst of the port thruster to maneuver us through the entrance. The person on the radio had told us that we’d have a starboard tie; however, when I spotted the three marina employees, they were on the port-side dock. I quickly readied the lines on the port side. Tim back HOMES into the slip with ease; I handed off the mid-ship spring line and the stern line and then ran to the bow. Tim thrusted the bow to the port and then to the starboard so that I could wrap the bow lines around the pilings and cleat them off. I have to say that we looked like experts! I guess that makes up for the ugly mooring job that we did three days ago. 😁

The marina community here is very friendly. Two of our neighbors are from Ohio – Cincinnati and Sandusky – both are now living on their boats full time and no longer have “dirt” homes. A couple who own a 56’ DeFever, similar to ours, came by and we gave them a tour of HOMES, in return for a tour of their boat. A brand new Looper couple stopped by and we gave them a tour of HOMES and shared some of our stories. Our friends on Brand New Day are here too, but we haven’t seen them on their boat yet. Other than a quick radio chat as we passed in opposite directions on our way to Punta Gorda, we haven’t seen them since Iuka, MS when we toured the Civil War battlefield at Shilo.

At the suggestion of the other boaters, we headed over to Keys Fisheries for a drink. It is a unique walk-up window restaurant on the fish dock – you can’t get fresher than that! However, we just had a drink at their bar and watched the activity on the dock. A nice way to wind down our day.

Friday-Sunday, March 22 – 24th – Layover days in Marathon, FL

On Friday, it was just windy, with only a few sprinkles, so we opted to walk into Marathon to explore. The city of Marathon, incorporated in 1999, encompasses 13 keys – Boot Key, Knight Keys, Hog Key, Vaca Key, Stirrup Key, Crawl and Little Crawl Key, East and West Sister’s Island, Deer Key and Fat Deer Key, Long Pine Key and Grassy Key. Marathon is the heart of the Florida Keys – halfway between Key Largo and Key West.

The name “Marathon” came about by Henry Flagler’s railroad workers in the early 1900s, who were working night and day to build a railway between the keys, establish three railway stations and a post office. By 1908, the area was no longer known by the individual names of the keys, but had assumed the name of its railway station – Marathon. Once the railroad was completed to Key West in 1912, the town of Marathon faded into near obscurity. WWII brought an airport and other infrastructure to Marathon and the population has been steadily growing since the 1950s.

We walked about a mile from the marina on the noisy, 4-lane US Rt. 1 and entered the peace and quiet of Crane Point Hammock. It is a 63-acre tract of land acquired by the Florida Keys Land and Sea Trust in 1988 to preserve this last intact thatch palm hammock in North America. It is a sensitive ecological site with numerous endangered plants and animals. The property has evidence of the pre-Colombian Indian artifacts; an intact house built in 1904 and a 1950s house lived in by the last owners of the property. We hiked the Hammock Trails, walking on the uneven coral trails, enjoying the lush tropical plants, birds, and even the insects!

On Saturday, March 23rd, we awoke to a windy and rainy morning, with a tornado warning until noon. We walked up to the marina office and added 2 more days to our stay. The rain will end this evening, but the wind and resulting waves are too much for us to travel until Wednesday. Since the forecast is calling for windy conditions through next Friday, with the exception of Wednesday, we’ve decided to skip taking the boat to Key West and start are journey north on Wednesday morning.

Later in the morning, we got a text from our friends from home, Mike, Jen, Evie and Annie Plahovinsak. They picked us up in front of the marina and we went to lunch at Porkey’s Bayside Restaurant. We then came back and gave them a tour of HOMES. They are staying at a resort a mile away from us.

This morning, Sunday, March 24th, the Plahovinsaks picked us up for a morning on Sombrero Beach. We did a little snorkeling, found a few shells and played in the sand. The Marathon Turtle Hospital was there releasing a sea turtle back into the wild. We got there just as he was swimming away.

After a quick run through at Publix Grocery Store, the Plahovinsaks dropped us off at the boat. We had a few chores to do before meeting back up with them later this evening. The big chore was changing over our anchors. Our big, shinny Spade anchor, which was brand new when we bought HOMES, had a weld break, from a faulty weld. The anchor has a life-time warranty, but we were told by Spade that it is only for the person who purchased it. We don’t have the receipt, but we have the brokerage listing stating that the Spade anchor was purchased in 2021. We don’t think the previous owners ever used it. We’re waiting to see what Spade will do about it. At $3,000+ for the anchor, we hope they will do the right thing. If not, our old anchor will do just fine. We’ll be anchoring on Wednesday-Friday nights in windy conditions, so we need to know the anchor won’t break.

Tomorrow, we’re going to Key West with the Plahovinsak’s. Fortunately, we found two rooms at The Saint Hotel. I’ve never been to Key West, so I’m looking forward to it! The wind this week will not allow us to take HOMES to Key West, but at least Tim and I will make it there!

On Wednesday, we’ll head north toward Delray Beach!! We should be Gold Loopers on Saturday!!! See you next Sunday!

---

Weeks 5-6, Part III – March 4-17, 2024 – Cabbage Key, FL to Everglades National Park (Shark River, Monroe County, FL)

Week 5 – March 4 – March 10, 2024 – Cabbage Key, FL to Punta Gorda, FL

On Monday, March 4th, we were still anchored near Cabbage Key, where we left you last time, after having had dinner at Cabbage Key Inn with two other boater couples. Those two boats left the anchorage this morning, but we stayed to explore Cabbage Key and Cayo Costa Key– both are only accessible by boat or ferry…or by helicopter as we saw one Cabbage Key resident arrive.

Our anchorage is between Cabbage Key and Useppa Island. What’s the difference between a key and an island? A key (also called a cay; from the Spanish word cayo, meaning island) is a small, low-lying island formed on the surface of a coral reef. And, an island is a subcontinental land that is surrounded by water. Therefore the “land” of Cabbage Key is all sand and shells.

We took the dinghy over and beached it as before. We hiked the two short trails around this 100-acre key, seeing several gopher tortoises and many birds. We then climbed the water tower, which gave us a nice view of HOMES.

After soaking in the peacefulness of the key, we walked to Cabbage Key Inn and I had their signature drink – Cabbage Creeper – consisting of Pina colada mix, rum and a coffee liqueur floater. Tim had a local craft beer. We enjoyed our drinks in the bar, known as Dollar Bill Bar, because visitors write messages on dollar bills and tape them to the walls. This bar was also a well-known hangout of the late Jimmy Buffet, who allegedly wrote Cheeseburger in Paradise about the Inn’s cheeseburger.

After leaving Cabbage Key, we headed to Cayo Costa. We beached the dinghy on Cayo Costa State Park in Pelican Bay. There was no access to the State Park trails from Pelican Bay, due to storm damage, but we just wanted to walk on the beach anyway.

When we got back to HOMES, we decided to inflate my paddleboard. I had fun and even got a little work done! The paddleboard is so stable, it makes a good platform to clean HOMES’s waterline.

Tuesday, March 5, 2024 – Cabbage Key, FL anchorage to Punta Gorda, FL, Fisherman’s Village Marina

Our voyage today took 3 hours and 7 minutes, going 26 miles (22.7 nm), at an average speed of 8 MPH (7.3 knots). We had hoped to stay at this anchorage near Cabbage Key for another day, but a storm was heading our way. We already had reservations to stay a week at Fishermen’s Village Marina in Punta Gorda, starting on Wednesday, so we just added a day to our reservation.

We backtracked up the Gulf IWC and then turn up Gasparilla Sound to Charlotte Harbor. We passed a Looper friend, Brand New Day, coming the opposite, so we exchanged a few words on the radio. We hadn’t seen them since Iuka, Mississippi.

Once we got to Charlotte Harbor, an American Cruise Ship was anchored at the mouth of the channel and unloading people into a tender to take into Punta Gorda. We negotiated around the cruise ship and made our way into Fishermen’s Village Marina.

We had two reasons for booking into Fisherman’s Village Marina in Punta Gorda for a week-long stay. First, we have friends coming to visit for four days. Second, we need to have some deliveries…namely a refrigerator! Our refrigerator died back in Venice. We have been keeping our food cold in a tiny electric refrigerator, which came with the boat, but we had never used; and, a Yeti cooler full of ice. Our refrigerator was on its last leg and then I mistakenly finished it off. At the marina in Sarasota, Tim made yogurt. It wasn’t quite cool by morning, but I put it in the refrigerator anyway. The poor old refrigerator wasn’t able to handle the load. Fortunately, Tim tracked down a refrigerator in Fort Myers and it was delivered the day after we got to Punta Gorda, and the day before our friends arrived! Our old refrigerator/ freezer was a combined 7-cubic-foot unit. Our new one is 7-cubic-foot refrigerator and has a 2-cubic-foot freezer – which actually freezes food. Our old refrigerator only kept frozen food frozen. Things have come a long way since 2014!

While Tim had the refrigerator pulled out, he also added a fuse box and wired up a fan for our stateroom. We had miscellaneous other spare parts delivered to the marina over our stay.

As I said, our second reason for staying in Punta Gorda was so that our friends could come visit us on their spring break. We had a fabulous time with them – visiting Punta Gorda, Manatee Park in Fort Myers, Cabbage Key (by ferry), and Stump Pass Beach State Park, where we found lots of sharks teeth.

Before leaving, Janet and Ewan took us to the grocery store in their rental car, so that we could fill up our new refrigerator! We stocked up on everything, because our plan is to anchor out until we get to Marathon, FL in the keys.

After Janet and Ewan left, we still had one day to prepare for the next leg to the keys. Tim finished installing the fan in our stateroom, which will be nice on nights at anchor. We got gas in the dinghy, as well as in the dinghy’s extra gas can. With that all done, we were ready for our next voyage.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024 – Fishermen’s Village Marina, Punta Gorda, FL to an anchorage near Sanibel Island

Today, we were underway 5 hours and 53 minutes, going 42 miles (36.9 nm), at an average speed of 7 MPH (6.3 knots).

After passing Cabbage Key and entering Pine Island Sound, we were in new waters. Before reaching North Captiva Island, we passed Pine Island Sound’s Historic Fishing Shacks. These fishing shacks were built 100 years ago on stilts in the middle of the sound. All but one of them survived Hurricane Ian in 2022, while property on Captiva Island and Sanibel Island received devastating damage. That may say something for old fashion craftsmanship or maybe it was just luck. Either way, it was fascinating to see them standing alone in the water. Tonight, we were all alone in an anchorage in J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, near Sanibel Island.

Thursday, March 14, 2024 – Anchorage near Sanibel Island to anchorage near Marco Island

On our voyage today, we were underway 6 hours and 16 minutes, going 47 miles (40.8 nm), at an average speed of 7 MPH (6.5 knots).

As we cruised under the Sanibel Causeway Bridge, we saw the ongoing efforts to repair the bridge, from damage sustained during Hurricane Ian. The Sanibel Lighthouse is still covered in tarps, with hopes of being repaired by 2026.

As we rounded Sanibel Island, we headed out into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since our crossing. The Gulf was beautiful! With flat, open waters, Tim was able to use the autopilot and enjoy the scenery and watch as the dolphins ran with our bow.

By mid-afternoon, we pulled into our anchorage at Marco Island in Factory Bay. We didn’t need any groceries; however, Tim found a Winn Dixie with a free dinghy dock! It was a 25-minute dinghy ride through a canal network of houses. It probably would have been easier to pay $10 at the marina dinghy dock and walk a few blocks, but where is the fun in that! 😁

Friday, March 15, 2024 – Anchorage near Marco Island to Anchorage in The Everglades National Park, near Everglades City, FL

On our voyage today, we were underway 5 hours and 15 minutes, going 38 miles (32.8 nm), at an average speed of 7 MPH (6.2 knots). We pulled up a very clean anchor in Factory Bay and headed out from Marco Island and into the Gulf of Mexico. Our journey today was much choppier, with 2-3 foot waves. It wasn’t as an enjoyable ride as yesterday. It still amazes me that the Gulf of Mexico, where we’re traveling along the coast, is on 14-20 feet, and it will get shallower as we near the Florida keys.

Our anchorage in the Everglades was beautiful, but remote. Everglade City was about 4 miles away, up a made-man channel. If it wasn’t for our Starlink Dish, we would have been off the grid.

While the scenery was beautiful, we encountered our first biting midges, or as they are more commonly known –no-see-ums. They may be hard to see, but you definitely feel their bite! As always, Tim is prepared! Before starting our trip in 2022, he bought no-see-um netting to make screens.

Saturday, March 16, 2024 – The Everglades National Park, near Everglade City to The Everglades National Park, on the Shark River, Monroe County, FL

I have no Nebo log to share for this voyage, because we lost cell service. While our phones can work using Starlink, Nebo cannot. If you check our Nebo link, it looks like we are anchored in the Gulf of Mexico! 😁

However, according to our Aquamaps, today we traveled 5 hours and 8 minutes, going 41 miles (36 nm), averaging about 7 MPH (6.5 knots). The Gulf was as flat as glass today, so I worked on my blog and Tim declared war on the no-see-ums. He spent the afternoon making screens for every door and porthole on the boat. In the evening, we got out our no-see-um mesh tent. He bought this tent back in 2022, but we never had a reason to use it…until now.

Because of the tent, we were able to sit on the back deck last night and enjoy the sights and sounds of the Everglades. The Shark River is tidal, so as we sat on the back deck, HOMES began to slowly spin 180 degrees, from high tide to low tide. After dark, the sounds amplified, with an orchestra of owls hooting, insects chirping, birds singing, fish splashing… what a wonderful evening!

Today, Sunday, March 17th, we opted to stay at this anchorage for another night, because Tim preferred not to anchor near Marathon, FL on St. Patrick’s Day. We had plenty to keep us busy today. Since this is our 5th day at anchor, we were getting low on water. So, Tim turned on the water maker and filled all of our jugs, plus he filled HOMES’s water tank, even though that tank was still relatively full.

While I worked on my blog, Tim played on his ham radio. He was excited to make contact with a guy in Italy. Also, we made plans for our next few voyages. We have reservations for Thursday in Marathon at Marlin Bay Marina.

See you next Sunday. Thank you for following along!

---

Weeks 1-4, Part III – Feb. 9 – Mar. 3, 2024 – Mobile, AL to Cabbage Key, FL

Part III – Our final leg to complete our Loop!

Weeks 1-4, Part III – Feb. 5 – Mar. 3, 2024 – Mobile, AL to Cabbage Key, FL

Ahoy! My blog is back! During the month of February, we traveled 15 days, were underway 81 hours, and went 563 miles (489.5 nm). Of course, nearly 23 of those hours and 171.5 of those miles were added on our overnight crossing of the Gulf of Mexico!

I’ll give a quick recap of our February travels and then hopefully get do a blog every Sunday again. I’m calling this Part III of our trip, because it’s the final leg of our journey back to Delray Beach, FL to complete our Loop – which is called “crossing our wake.”

We last left you when we were heading home for Christmas. We flew out of Mobile, AL on December 19, for a week-long trip home; however, it turned into a month-and-a-half stay, due to my mom having emergency surgery, which led her to decide to move to assisted living in Columbus. Despite the circumstances, our family still spent the holidays together – can’t ask for more than that!

Week 1, Part III – Feb. 6 – 11, 2024, Mobile, AL to Pensacola, FL

With Mom, settling into her new apartment at Wesley Glen and it was time to fly back to HOMES. We rented a car for two days to re-provision and to visit downtown Mobile during Mardi Gras. It was much livelier than our visit back in December.🎭

Before our first voyage, we had some maintenance to do on HOMES. Mobile got colder than we thought. A few nights got to below freezing, so Tim had to fix a broken water line. He also put on new windshield wipers and changed the glow plugs in the generator. Once we had our groceries unpacked and dropped off the rental car, we were ready to start the last leg of our trip.

On Friday, Feb. 9th, we resumed our trip, leaving Turner Marina, cruising out of the Dog River, and crossing Mobile Bay to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. We were underway 5 hours, going 36 miles (31 nm). Mobile Bay looks big, but outside the channel, it could be 1-4 feet deep!

After crossing Mobile Bay, we entered the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Completed in 1949, the Gulf ICW is basically a man-made ditch designed primarily to connect numerous rivers and waterways for barge transportation. The channel has a controlling depth of 12 feet. HOMES only need 4 feet 8 inches to float.

Our cruise took us to Homeport Marina, in Gulf Shores, AL, where we fueled up with diesel and pumped out our waste tank.

On Saturday, Feb. 10th, we finally made it back to Florida! We were underway 4 hours and 39 minutes, going 32 miles (28.7 nm) to an anchorage near Gulf Breeze, FL. On Sunday, March 11th, it was too foggy to move in the morning and there was a storm heading our way. Once the fog cleared in the afternoon, we backtracked up to Pensacola, FL to tuck into a marina for two nights. In hindsight, we were glad the storm forced us into Pensacola, because we enjoyed its cute downtown and historic district. Also, we met a Looper family on their boat, Chasing Soulshine – we’ll come back to them later in the blog.

Week 2, Part III – Feb. 12-18th – Pensacola, FL to Carabelle, FL

On Tuesday, Feb. 13th, we headed toward Destin. We had an anchorage picked out near Fort Walton Beach, but we couldn’t get the anchor to hold, so we ended up at a private dock in Destin Harbor. This is the off season, plus the area marinas are still recovering from damage caused by a tornado that hit the area on January 9th. Therefore, when we called a marina to see if we could get in, the dock master referred us to this private dock. We were underway 6 hours and 54 minutes, going 50 miles (43.1 nm); however, due to our anchoring attempt, our trip duration was 8 hours and 18 minutes. That was a long day.

On Wednesday, Feb. 14th, we left Destine Harbor and headed toward Choctawhatchee Bay. We avoided the area in Choctawhatchee Bay near Elgin Air Force Base where the U.S. Air Force detonated 3 WWII bombs, recently found in the Bay. We never thought that we’d need to avoid bombs while doing the Loop! From the Bay, we re-entered the Gulf ICW, which took us to West Bay. We spent the night at a beautiful anchorage, after being underway 6 hours and 44 minutes, going 54 miles (46.9 nm). It was sad seeing the sunken or beached boats along the way, from the January 9th storm.

On Thursday, Feb. 15th, we pulled up a muddy anchor in West Bay and traveled 7 hours and 32 minutes, going 56 miles (50.1 nm), to our next anchorage at Searcy Creek. Our voyage took us past Panama City, Fl, which was hit the hardest by the tornado. We later found out that two Loopers boats that we had traveled with had been totaled here at Point South Marina Bay Point. Thankfully, both couples sought refuge at a hotel and stayed safe.

After Panama City, we re-entered the narrow Gulf ICW, which connected us with Searcy Creek. Our anchorage for the night was off Searcy Creek in an “ox bow.” An ox bow is a u-shaped formation. We have anchored in several ox bows in the river systems. This one is on my list of favorites. It was narrow, so we had to put out a stern anchor to prevent HOMES from swinging into shore. We were sitting on the line separating the Central Time Zone with the Eastern Time Zone, so our phones and electronics periodically went back and forth. Luckily, we didn’t need to know what time it was.

On Friday, Feb. 16th, we checked the weather and it appeared that we wouldn’t be crossing the Gulf of Mexico until Tuesday. So, instead of heading to straight to Carabelle, FL today, we decided to add a stop at Apalachicola, FL for two nights. It was worth the stop! Aplalachicola Marina was nothing more than a dock for about 2-3 boats, situated near quaint downtown of locally-owned restaurants, shops and galleries. Granted we were here at the off-season, but it seems like this is a hidden gem. It is known for some of the finest oysters by top chefs throughout the country. Apalachicola harvests over 90% of the oysters sold in Florida and 10% nationwide.

On Sunday, February 18th, we left Apalachicola, after a two-night stay, and headed to Carabelle, FL. Our voyage took 4 hours, going 29 miles (25.6 nm). It was so cold that we almost turned the generator on so that we’d have heat. At Apalachicola, we met two other Loopers. We all traveled to Carabelle together and will do the crossing of the Gulf of Mexico together on Tuesday. The marina in Carabelle, C-Quarters Marina, was nothing fancy, but Carabelle had a grocery store and a hardware store to help us get ready for our crossing.

Week 3, Part III – Feb. 19 – 25, Carabelle, FL to Clearwater Beach, FL

On Tuesday, February 20th, around 1:00 PM, we pulled away from the fuel dock at C-Quarters Marina in Carabelle to begin our overnight crossing – our fuel tanks were full and our refrigerator was full. ClasSea left before us and Next Adventure brought up the rear. Next Adventure is a faster boat, so they passed us around 4:00 AM. After leaving the fuel dock, we made our way out of the Carabelle River and across Apalachicola Bay. We entered the Gulf of Mexico around 2:00 PM, with flat water and sunny skies! We lost cell service around 4:40 PM, but two dolphins came at about the same time, which is better than anything a phone has to offer!

The sun began to set around 6:30 PM and we had dinner. I slept from around 8:00 PM until taking my watch at midnight. Tim relieved me around 4:30 AM. I then dozed again until sunrise. We got back our cell service back around 8:30 AM. It was somewhat of an eerie feeling knowing that you are totally off the grid. We were only in radio range of the two boats around us – usually about 5 miles apart. However, we were so prepared that there was no fear. We pulled into Port Tarpon Marina in Tarpon Springs, FL, after being underway 22 hours and 49 minutes, going 171.6 miles (149.1 nm). The duration of our trip, which includes getting fuel and docking, was 25 hours and 18 min. Crossing the Gulf of Mexico is probably the biggest milestone for all Loopers. Our next big milestone will be crossing our wake (finishing our Loop) in Delray Beach, FL…which is getting closer!

After a little nap nap from around 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM, we took the dinghy to explore. Not far from the marina, we saw a guy whose boat had died. We towed him back to his marina and on the way, he gave us some suggestions on where to eat and what to do in Tarpon Springs.

Thursday and Friday (Feb. 22 -23) were layover days in Tarpon Springs. On Thursday, we did some cleaning before taking the dinghy into Tarpon Springs for some Greek food at Mykonos, on the Sponge Docks. In the late 1800s, these waters were teeming with sponges and it was Florida’s most lucrative maritime business. Greeks brought experienced diving crews to Tarpon Springs. By using rubberized diving suits and helmets, they increased the harvests. By 1905, over 500 Greek sponge divers were at work on 50 boats. In the 1940s, blight reduced the growth of sponges. By the 1950, sponging, as a profitable industry, was nearly wiped out. However, in the 1980s, new sponge beds were found and Tarpon Springs is now back to being a leader in the worlds’s natural sponge market.

On Friday, we had a visit from friends. Willie and Theresa drove to Florida to vacation with Roberta and Dennis, who have a home at The Villages, FL. It was so nice to see them and give them a tour of HOMES for the first time. We spent the afternoon in historic downtown Tarpon Springs, having lunch at Johnny’s Taphouse and Grill and visiting Two Frogs again, plus Brighter Days Brewing Co. In the evening, Tim cleaned out the air compressors of the stabilizer system. We discovered that they were overheating during our overnight passage of the Gulf. This evening, Tim discovered they were clogged with black “gunk.” He’s not sure what the gunk was, but with it gone, the stabilizers are working well again. If you recall, the stabilizers are the four fins under the boat that keep us from rocking in the waves while cruising – especially helpful when a boat zips by, creating a big wake.

Saturday, February 24th, we traveled 3 hours, going 21 miles (18.2 nm), to Clearwater Beach, FL. Dunedin Causeway Drawbridge needed to be raised for us. We caused quite the traffic back up! Unfortunately, during the entirety of our trip, we watched a Coast Guard helicopter and Sheriff boat searching for a lost kayaker. As we left Clearwater on Monday morning, we heard a shrimp boat captain radio the Coast Guard saying that he found a floating body. The Coast Guard quickly had him call a telephone number, so we didn’t hear the rest of the story.

By Saturday, mid-afternoon, we had successfully made it through the shallow waters off the ICW that took us to Clearwater Beach Municipal Marina, where we’d being staying for two nights. We had our waste tank pumped out before docking. We thought that we were going to pump out while crossing the Gulf of Mexico, but we discovered that our waste-discharge pump wasn’t working. However, we thought it might not work, so Tim had the parts to fix it. We can only use the discharge pump when we are 9 miles off the Gulf Coast or 3 miles off the Atlantic Coast. So it is fixed for now, but we can’t use it.

Tim’s sister, Laurie, came to visit on Sunday, February 25th for the day. We walked around Clearwater Beach – the town and beach – but it really isn’t our type of place. It was very crowded with tourists/ beach goers. However, it was great to see Laurie and we had a great time people watching and searching for a shell ring in the souvenir shops. The tiny restaurant/ bait house on the dock with the marina, called Bait House, had excellent food and was a great place to talk and watch the pelicans.

Week 4, Part III – February 26 – March 3 – Clearwater Beach, FL to near Cabbage Key, FL

On Monday, February 26th, before leaving Clearwater Beach, we walked about a mile each way to Publix Super Market to stock up on food. We left Clearwater Beach around 10:30 AM and cruised 3 hours and 24 minutes, going 23 miles (20.2 nm), to an anchorage near Gulfport, FL. We took the dinghy into Gulfport’s free dinghy dock and immediately fell in love with this quaint little town, with its laidback, hippie-type vibe. The owner of a little art gallery told us that we should stay tomorrow for Tuesday’s Fresh Market. This year-round market has locally produced goods, locally grown produce, breads, cheese, desserts…need I say more? We immediately decided to stay another day.

Wednesday morning, Feb. 28th, we pulled up a sandy anchor and headed toward Sarasota, traveling 7 hours and 18 min, going. 48 miles (41.4 nm). Because of shallow water, we cruised up into Tampa Bay and then down, going under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge (I-275). This bridge is considered the flagship bridge of Florida and serves as the gateway to Tampa Bay. This is the second bridge at this location and opened in 1987. There is a toll to go across, but HOMES cruised under for free. 😁

Tampa Bay, like all of the other bays that we have experienced, is very shallow outside the channel. We left the choppy waters of Tampa Bay behind and entered the Manatee River. The water of the Manatee River was flat, but the Cortez Rd. Drawbridge had to be opened for us. We were hoping to anchor near Sarasota, but the anchorage wasn’t protected – add in the wind, shallow water and the anchor not setting, we opted to go to Marina Jack in Sarasota. Due to our anchoring attempts, we got into the marina after 5:00 PM. With our anchoring attempt, the duration of our trip was 8 hours and 25 min, but we still took a little walk around Bayfront Park. On our walk, we met a young English guy and his girlfriend. Hearing his accent, we asked him about narrowing boating the canals of England. Ironically, his brother had just sold his narrow boat that morning. He said most Americans, like his girlfriend, don’t know what a narrow boat is. He seemed pleased that our bucket list includes renting a narrow boat and cruising the canals of England.

On Thursday, Feb. 29th, we spent the morning walking around downtown Sarasota. We found Ofkors Bakery and got coffee and a delicious “lobster tail,” which is like a huge cream horn. Our journey today took us 17 miles (14.8 nm) to Venice, FL. We hadn’t originally planned to go to Venice, but we decided to see if we could find space at the marina. By the time we got a call back from Crow’s Nest Marina saying they had room for us after 1:00 PM. We were already on our way…so, we had 4 hours to go the 17 miles. We went an average speed of 5 MPH (4.1 knots) – which is slow for even HOMES! However, it gave us plenty of time to enjoy the views along the Gulf ICW, which included a lot of big homes along both sides, a swing bridge and drawbridge.

When we arrived at the marina, the Looper family, on Chasing Soulshine, was just pulling out. We exchanged shouts and waves as we passed. Remember, we met this family back in Pensacola and I said that we’d get back to them. Well, shortly after docking, we got a message on Nebo asking if we could do them a huge favor. Their two girls had left their laundry in the dryer at the marina. After a good laugh on both sides, we made arrangements to deliver their laundry to them tomorrow. 😁

Today, it was FINALLY warm enough to break out the shorts and sandals!! Later in the afternoon, we enjoyed the 1.3 mile walk into historic downtown Venice. The marina had free bikes, but we enjoy walking. On our way back to the marina, we walked along Venice Beach. In the evening, we had drinks with the Looper couple on Lady Grace Marie at the marina restaurant, The Crow’s Nest. We had been traveling with Lady Grace Marie off and on since Gulfport, but this is the first time that we really met. It was a nice evening!

On Friday, March 1st, we traveled about 2 hours, going 14 miles (12.2 nm), to an anchorage near Englewood, FL – to make the laundry delivery. We had a nice afternoon visiting with Chasing Soulshine and drinking the beer that they insisted we take as the delivery fee. 😂

We spent two nights at this anchorage, since we didn’t have time to explore Englewood after visiting with Chasing Soulshine on Friday. So, on Saturday morning, we took the dinghy into the free dinghy dock at Indian Mound Park and walked into Englewood. Due to a car show, it was very crowded, so we didn’t stay long.

This anchorage is large, but had a lot of crab or oyster pots. We watched a fisherman tending his pots. We could see him measuring whatever he was catching. This anchorage also had some sunken boats, which looked like they had been there a long time. These types of obstacles can make anchoring a challenge.

On Sunday, March 3, we traveled 3 hours and 11 minutes, going 22 miles (19.3 nm) to an anchorage between Cabbage Key and Useppa Island (in the Punta Gorda/ Cape Coral area). The cruise today was absolutely beautiful, with several dolphins playing with us along the way.

When we got to the anchorage, we joined two other boats – one being a Looper. We got a Nebo message saying to stop over. So, we launched the dinghy and went to their boat, WH-T-T, for a drink. They are Florida residents, and just started the Loop a few days ago. Their friends, on the other boat, joined us. Soon, we all took our dinghies over to Cabbage Key – named so for all of the cabbage palms trees on the key. We beached our dinghies with the help of employees from Cabbage Key Marina. As we walked up to Cabbage Key Inn for dinner, we were immediately greeted by a meandering wild gopher tortoise. About a dozen wild gopher tortoises make this key their home. I’ll talk more about Cabbage Key in my next blog. Tim and I fell in love with Cabbage Key!

For now, I will end my summary of our first month of travel – since getting back from our extended Christmas break. I will resume posting a blog every Sunday…unless I have more website technical difficulties, which are out of my control. 😖🖥️

Thanks for following along!

---

Week 21, Part II – Dec. 11, 2023 – Silas, AL (Bobby’s Fish Camp) to Mobile, AL (Turner Marina)

Monday, Dec. 11, 2023 – Silas, AL (Bobby’s Fish Camp) to Alabama River Cutoff Anchorage (near Stockton, AL)

As of today, we are ALL DONE WITH LOCKS! We completed 21 locks, since beginning our voyage from Chicago on October 23!

On our voyage today, we were underway 7 hours and 28 minutes, going 59.2 nm (68 miles) at an average speed of 7.9 knots (9 MPH). Our duration of 12 hours and 26 minutes is a result of turning on our electronics 30 minutes before leaving, completing one lock, and leaving our electronics on for a while after anchoring.

We awoke to a foggy, 34-degree morning, with frost shimmering on the decks. Dirtless called the lock keeper at 6:00 AM and was told to call back in 30 min. The lock keeper had to find out what an up-bound barge was doing first. When we got the go-ahead 30 minutes later, we all scurried around starting engines and untying lines – careful in the frosty conditions.

We started pulling away in unison from Bobby’s Fish Camp around 6:45 AM. Our Looper friends on Sea Cottage, who were able to get anchored last night, emerged from the fog to join us. We glided through the fog for about 15 minutes before getting to Coffeeville Lock and Dam. We filed into the lock single file and all nine boats were secured in about 20 minutes.

HOMES was the third boat into the lock. This is the LAST of 12 locks, since entering the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway back on November 10th. That realization made the cold, 34-foot drop a little more joyful than it would have been otherwise. Construction on this lock began in 1956 and it became operational in 1960. Hundreds of commercial vessels pass through here each year, carrying products such as coal, wood, steel, gas, oil and chemicals. We have seen a lot of barges on the Tombigbee River!

We waved to our last lock keeper (some nice and some not so nice) and began our last leg to the Gulf Coast! My fingers were very cold by the time I dropped the line. The town’s name – “Coffeeville” – made me desire a cute coffee shop with a steaming cup of coffee and a pastry. Alas, there was no stopping in Coffeeville, AL. The name doesn’t even have anything to do with my favorite hot beverage. The town, founded in the late 1800s, was re-named in 1819 after General John Coffee, a hero of the Creek War of 1813. This war was going on in conjunction with the War of 1812. General Andrew Jackson appointed General Coffee to fight the Native Americans, British and Spanish who were opposing the expansion of the United States. During Jackson’s presidency (1829-1833), Coffee was appointed to negotiate treaties with the Southeast American Indian tribes to remove them to the west of the Mississippi River and extinguish their land claims. Alabama’s name comes from the Choctaw phrase meaning “thicket-clearers” or “plant-cutters.”

As we traveled down the Tombigbee River, the boats began to spread out. Gigi III, a fast boat, took off quickly, so they could make it to Mobile today. We resumed our normal cruising speed, and soon we were cruising along with only Sea Cottage.

Holding a hot cup to tea felt so good on my cold fingers. Tim forgot to shave this morning, so he did that while driving.

There was a railroad lift bridge left in our path today; however, we had plenty of clearance to go under without a lift. We passed several north-bound barges. We saw timber stacked along the shore, as if it is a holding area for loading onto a barge. The timber was being watered. Filling the pores with water protects the timber from insects and fungi and prevents cracking. A little further downstream, we passed Boise Paper Company, which produces pulp, paper and board.

The rest of our voyage was curvy and scenic. After we left the lock this morning, the Tombigbee River became. At this point, the tide is only half a foot, but it’s a reminder that we’re getting closer to the Gulf of Mexico! There was also a swifter current, which gave us a nice push today.

Around 2:30 PM, we arrived at our anchorage – Alabama River Cutoff. We traveled up the cutoff and dropped our anchor. It broke free on our first try, when Tim reversed on the anchor using both engines. However, on the second try, he reversed with just one engine and it held. We called it good, since we’ll have very little current in this cutoff. Plus, we’ll also have the stern anchor set.

Sea Cottage anchored behind us. After we both got settled, Keith and Malinda from Sea Cottage came over in their dinghy. We had a nice evening of conversation, snacks and drinks. They are from Huntsville, Alabama and just began their loop. I made a charcuterie board, Keith brought bourbon and Malinda brought Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine – Banana Pudding Cream flavor. It was delicious! It was creamy like Bailey’s Irish Cream, but tasted just like banana pudding. After a tour of HOMES, they headed back to Sea Cottage. Tim used his flashlight with 12,000 lumens to light their way.

Tuesday, December 12, 2023 – Alabama River Cutoff Anchorage (near Stockton, AL) to Mobile, AL – Convention Center Dock

Today, our voyage took 5 hours and 41 minutes, going 45.7 nm (52.6 miles), at an average speed of 8 knots (9.2 MPH).

As our speed indicates, we got a nice push with the current and the tide. While the tide is only about half a foot on the Tombigbee River, it is around 2 foot on the Mobile River. It’s not a dramatic change, but it’s getting us into practice of considering tides again.

We awoke to another foggy, frosty morning. Around 7:20 AM, we started our engines and started pulling up our anchors – being careful on the icy decks.

After pulling up the stern anchor, Tim spun HOMES around and we followed Sea Cottage out of the anchorage and headed toward Mobile at 7:30 AM. We are happy to have an inside helm. It would have been cold driving from the upper helm today! Yesterday, HOMES and Gigi III were the only boats with inside helms. The others looked very cold.

Just a little ways downstream from our anchorage, we passed Calvert, AL – the home of AM/NS steel processing plant. It opened in 2010 with the capacity to produce 5.3 million tons of flat-rolled carbon steel products annually, serving industries such as the automotive, construction and appliance/ HVAC. As we passed its river terminal, we could see tow working around some barges.

Around 8:25 AM, we came to the confluence of the Tombigbee River and The Alabama River. Here ended our journey on the Tombigbee River. We are now traveling on the Mobile River, which will dump us in Mobile Bay this afternoon. Just as we got to the Mobile River, the tide and current were really giving us a push. It was a little reminiscent of the Upper Mississippi with some floating logs and confused water caused by the barges. However, eventually the barge traffic lessened and the tide went slack.

Around 11:00 AM, we cruised under the General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge, which takes Interstate 65 across the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta. Built from 1978-1980, this 6.08 mile bridge is the 8th longest bridge in the U.S. The Mackinac Bridge that we went under this summer was only 5-miles long.

The locks were all behind us, but we still had one more obstacle in our path to Mobile – a CSX Railroad vertical lift bridge. When the bridge is in the down position, it has a clearance of 5 feet – HOMES needs 21 feet. Sea Cottage radioed the bridge for a lift, then Tim radioed to say that we were .7 miles behind Sea Cottage. The bridge tender told us to come on through.

As we cruised into the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, we began to enjoy new plants and wildlife – yuccas and pelicans! I have been looking forward to getting back south to see pelicans and dolphins. I won’t see dolphins for a while longer, but watching the pelicans diving for fish and flying around the boat is such a joy!

Around 12:15 PM, the skyline of Mobile started appearing on the horizon. As we passed under the bridge taking Route 10 over the Mobile River, we entered the Port of Mobile – a vital part of the economic growth of the Gulf Coast and the entire state of Alabama. There were freighters being loaded; tow boats being fixed in dry dock; military ships being built; and, trucks driving around warehouses on shore. It was amazing to watch the hive of activity, as we cruised along. Mobile is Alabama’s only saltwater port and the 12th-largest port in the U.S.

The view of our dock along the wall of the Mobile Convention Center was hidden by a huge ship – the USNS Bob Hope. The Bob Hope is a Navy ship that carries vehicles for the United States Army. The ramp for loading and unloading vehicles was up, and we didn’t see any activity around the ship.

Tim brought HOMES around in front of Bob Hope and safely docked us along the wall. This wall is on a first-come-first-serve basis and we can only stay for 2 days. There are no water or electric hookups, so it will be like anchoring. However, this dock offers the best way to experience downtown Mobile. For some reason, most Loopers pass by this stop.

After getting all secured with lines and extra fenders, we registered and paid online for a two-day stay. On our bow is Mobile’s only dinner cruise boat – a sternwheeler called the Perdido Queen. Across the Mobile River from HOMES is Austal USA – a manufacturer of both aluminum and steel ships. It employs over 3,000 employees.

By 2:00 PM, we were all settled and ready to go explore downtown Mobile. As we were cutting through the parking garage of the convention center, which is next to our dock, we saw a security guard. She seemed a little offended when we asked if the area is safe. She said that we may see some homeless people, but the area is safe. She directed us to go across Water Street, where we’ll then be on Dauphin Street. We immediately fell in love with downtown Mobile – its historical buildings and quaint streets dotted with palm trees and majestic live oaks!

Dauphin Street was named by the French settlers for the son of King Louis XIV. The French were the first European settlers of area in 1702, in their attempt for an empire in America. In 1711, they moved a few miles to where the Mobile River meets the Mobile Bay – the current location of Mobile. Mobile was an important center for France’s Louisiana Territory and Dauphin Street was one of the principal streets of this new settlement. Mobile remained a major trade center with the Native Americans throughout the French period.

Mobile’s history, however, did not begin with the French. Alabama’s indigenous history can be traced back more than 10,000 years. The indigenous people –the Chato – were living in Mobile when the Spanish Conquistadors began sailing Mobile Bay as early as 1500. The Conquistadors were explores and did not settle the area.

The French were the first European settler; then came the British, after winning the French and Indian War in 1763; then came the Spanish, who captured Mobile during the American Revolution; then the U.S. took control when the Spanish lost control during the War of 1812. The area was annexed as part of the U.S. in 1813 by President James Madison.

Mobile had one other flag that few over her. Mobile was part of the Republic of Alabama, an independent republic that lasted for a month in 1861 – after Alabama seceded from the Union, but before it joined the Confederate States of America. In 1861, the population of Alabama was about one million and approximately 44% were slaves.

Mobile takes pride in being the birthplace of Mardi Gras. You may think of New Orleans as the home of Mardi Gras, but it actually began in Mobile in 1703 by the French-Catholic settlers, as part of their preparation for Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Mardi Gras had a history of ups and downs over the centuries, but it was revived after the Civil War. During the Reconstruction era, the morale of the people in Mobile was low. So, in 1867, resident Joe Cain revived the parade – decorating a charcoal wagon marching through town with six fellow Confederate veterans. Since 1966, the “Joe Cain Day” parade has been held on the Sunday before Mardi Gras. Mobile is very proud of Joe Cain, with many things being named after him.

Our exploration of downtown Mobile wouldn’t be complete without experiencing food and drink. We found KnuckleBones Elixir Co. for coffee. It had a lounge vibe and also served alcoholic cocktails. We needed food next. We are used to eating “lupper” (lunch/supper) around 3:30 or 4:30. Unfortunately, that schedule has not caught on and many of the restaurants didn’t open until 5:00. So, we found Roosters – a Latin American restaurant. We discovered that it was featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives – Season 38, Episode 8. My grilled veggie tacos, with a side of sweet plantains were delicious. And, once Tim figured out how to pick up his jerk chicken sandwich, topped with jalapeño cabbage slaw, grilled pineapple and mango habanero sauce, he only put it back down to blow his nose. The flavors exploded with just the right amount of heat from him.

Now sustained with coffee and food, we continue to meander through downtown around Cathedral Square. The Cathedral-Basilica Immaculate Conception parish was established in 1703 and is the oldest religious congregation of any denomination in Alabama and the Mississippi River Valley. This church was constructed in 1835-1850, with the portico, bell towers and stained glass added from 1870-1910.

The Ketchum House is an antebellum town home of W.H. Ketchum. It was commandeered headquarters for the Union forces, which occupied Mobile on April 12 1865. Since 1906, it has been used as Cathedral Rectory and home of the Bishop of Mobile.

Going a block further, we came to Government Street Presbyterian Church, known as the mother of Presbyterianism in Southern Alabama. It was founded in 1831 and worship has continued on this site since 1836 when the sanctuary was completed.

Our walk finally took us to Oyster City Brewing Company, the third location for this Apalachicola, Florida craft brewery. We will be staying in Apalachicola before our crossing of the Gulf of Mexico, so hopefully we’ll visit them at that location.

We then enjoyed the city in lights as we walked back to HOMES.

Wednesday, December 13, 2023 – Mobile, AL – Downtown (Layover day)

We slept so well last night that we didn’t hear the Bob Hope leave or the new freighter arrive. At 6:30 AM, I just caught a picture of the tug pushing the Star Hindra into the dock. It is a general cargo ship built in 1994 in Japan and currently sails under the flag of Norway.

First on our agenda for today was to experience a cultural tradition down here – a beignet. For this, we headed to Mo’ Bay Beignet Co. on Dauphin St. Beignets are a French doughnut that is made up with yeast, sweetened dough, squared cuts and then fried. They are then covered in powdered sugar and put on a bed of powdered sugar. Unlike a dense doughnut, beignets are light and airy. Each are made to order, so ours were steaming hot, as we pulled them apart to dunk in our chocolate syrup. There were multiple syrups, including buttercream and cinnamon. We paired our beignets with hot chocolate – their peppermint flavor for Christmas.

Surging on our sugar high, we headed back to the riverfront to GulfQuest National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico. The 90,000 square foot museum is shaped like a container ship headed into Mobile Bay. Mobile businessman, Malcolm McLean, invented the modern intermodal shipping container. Containerization led to a significant reduction in the cost of freight transportation by eliminating the need for repeated handling of individual pieces of cargo. It also improved reliability, reduced cargo theft and cut inventory costs by shortening transit time.

Inside the museum, there was water surrounding what looked like a 5-story container ship, named for McLean. We meandered our way through the 5-story museum, enjoying the interactive displays. Tim used a simulator to dock a freighter on the Mobile River and push a barge into Coffeeville Lock. The volunteer said that she had never seen anyone do so well!

The top floor had outside observation decks. There was a guy on the observation deck taking pictures of a boat across the river being lowering into the water. We saw several other people videoing the lowering of the ship. By the time we walked back to HOMES, there was a news crew setting up in the lot next to the parking garage. I couldn’t find anything specific about the launching of this ship, but I learned that it’s a big deal when Austal launches a boat.

Later in the afternoon, we decided to walk up to Serda’s Coffee Company for coffee. As you know, the reason we like coffee shops and local breweries or bars is to talk with locals. At Serda’s, we were fortunate enough to strike up a conversation with a guy who has lived his whole life and Mobile and is now a tour guide on Fridays, since he has retired. He told us that we needed to walk up Royal Street to Battle House hotel. It is on the site of the headquarters of Gen. Andrew Jackson in 1814. The $1.2 million hotel was constructed from 1906 – 1910. It was designed by Frank Mills Andrews – an architect famous at the time for building some of New York City’s most memorable buildings, including the New York Stock Exchange and the Vanderblit’s Fifth Ave. mansion.

While we were awe stuck by the vast lobby – with its stain-glass dome ceiling – our friend from the coffee shop told us to go to the second floor to the “whispering arch.” It worked just as he said. Tim stood at one end facing the arch and I stood at the other end. We could hear each other as if we were standing next to each other!

After our fun at Battle House, we walked back to Dauphin Street to Loda Bier Garten. It has over 100 beers on tap, including from the local craft breweries. However, we just had one beer, because we had two other places that we wanted to try on our last evening here – The Haberdasher and Royal Street Tavern, which is inside Battle House. We found locals to talk with at both places and really enjoyed our time in Mobile. We were amazed at how friendly everyone is here. Even people passing us on the street said hello.

That night, I woke up around 2:00 AM, hearing boat traffic going by. I got up thinking that maybe the big Star Hindra was leaving. It wasn’t leaving, but I was fascinated with the hive of activity going on at 2:00 in the morning. Rolls of steel were being loaded on the Star Hindra; a tug was guiding a freighter up the river, while a tow was pushing a barge down the river. It was fascinating to watch! I reluctantly went back to bed, so that I’d be rested for our voyage tomorrow.

Thursday, December 14, 2023 – Mobile, AL – Convention Center Dock to Mobile, AL – Turner Marine (Dog River)

Our voyage today took 2 hours and 25 minutes, going 12 nm (14 miles), at an average speed of 6.4 knots (7.4 MPH). It was a short journey out into the bay and over to Turner Marine on the Dog River, where we’ll be leaving HOMES to come home for Christmas.

Mobile Bay is the fourth-largest estuary (enclosed coastal body of water) in the U.S. at may 31 miles long by 24 miles wide; however, it has an average depth of 10 feet outside the shipping channel! Hence, the reason for our weird-looking path today. We had to stay in the channel – no short cuts!

Since we had such a short voyage planned for today, we took the opportunity to walk into downtown one last time. This time, we picked Yellow Hammer Coffee. We had fun with the baristas. When asked for “a name for the order,” Tim likes to say “Voldemort.” It usually gets a laugh from Harry Potter fans. This barista actually typed in our order under “Thou Shalt Not be Named.” 😂 Harry Potter fans know you can’t say Voldemort’s name. We also found out that our barista did part of the Loop with her grandparents years ago. Her grandmother, who lives in Florida, still keeps in contact with Loopers. She is going to give her grandmother our card. We took a picture together, in case her grandmother checks out my blog.

We had to wait for a train to get back to HOMES. Boats and trains…Tim’s two favorite things!

Once back at HOMES, we cast off and headed down the Mobile River and into the Mobile Bay.

When we got to the mouth of Mobile Bay, it was exciting to see the cargo ships that made Mobile famous, but those were not nearly as exciting as… DOLPHINS! My first sightings!! We saw several as we continued along in the Bay.

Mobile Bay looks big, but on either side of the channel our chart showed 5 feet on one side and 2 feet on the other.

Dog River Channel is just as narrow, but MORE shallow, because we are no longer in a shipping channel. As Tim kept us between the red and green markers, we saw depths go as shallow as 4’9” – HOMES needs 4’ 8” inches to float! Once we got under Dog River Bridge and turned into the channel for Turner Marine, their channel was even MORE narrow and shallow! However, we were told that the muddy bottom is like pudding, so we just kept slugging through – it was low tide, so it won’t get worse.

Tim was very relieved once we got tied up. Here is where HOMES will be until after Christmas. Later in the evening, we walked to Mobile Yacht Club, where Tim got a well-deserved beer!

Friday- Sunday, Dec. 15-17 – Mobile, AL – Turner Marine (Dog River) – Layover days

Since we are staying here, until flying home on Tuesday, we decided to get a rental car. We took a 13-mile Uber ride to the Mobile Regional Airport to pick up the car.

Our first stop was Lowe’s. Tim needed a storage container for changing the oil in the engines tomorrow. He also bought lumber and rope to make fender boards, which will protect HOMES from the dock.

Since we have a car, I wanted to drive across the Mobile Bay Causeway – called the Bayway. It was built in 1977, but is considered an aging structure, so there are plans to replace it by 2028. Before getting to the 7.5 mile-long Bayway bridge, we drove in a tunnel under the Mobile River. We had no idea that we cruised over a tunnel yesterday! This George Wallace Tunnel was built in sections and floated to the proper positions, then sunk. The sections were then joined underway.

Once over the Bayway, we turned south, along Mobile Bay, and headed to Fairhope, AL to explore. It was listed by Southern Living as one of the South’s Best Small Towns. Fairhope began in 1894 as a Single Tax Colony – a simplified tax system where the only tax was on ground and natural resource rents, with no additional taxation or improvements, such as buildings. The founders bought this “clear-cut wasteland” for $5.50 per acre. They thought the Single Tax plan would give them a “fair hope” of succeeding. In 1908, the city of Fairhope was established, which took over responsibility of the municipal services. Fairhope has always been a resort community because of its beachfront park, park lands on the bluff above the beach and the quarter-mile long pier – all gifted to the city by the Single Tax Colony, which continues to have an active presence in the city to this day.

When we got back to HOMES, Tim made the fender boards – even though it was dark. He wanted to beat the rain and chillier weather coming tomorrow. We need these fender boards because our dock does not float and the tide runs HOMES up and down. Our fenders are useless when they are above or below the dock. The boards stay in contact with the dock post and keep HOMES from hitting the dock. We have the same set up on the bow.

Yesterday was a work day. Tim changed the oil in both engines – 8 1/2 gallons in each! He also changed the oil filters and 4 fuel filters. I am his assistant. The marina had a bin for our used oil.

Today is a day to relax and to find a coffee shop.

There will be no blog next week. We fly home for Christmas on Tuesday. As the song goes…”There’s no place like home for the holiday”…so we’ll be heading home from the “Dixie sunny shores.”

Happy Holidays / Merry Christmas! We will post our next blog on New Year’s Eve. We may be in Florida for the New Year!

Thanks for reading!

---

Week 20, Part II – Dec. 4 – Dec. 10, 2023 – Anchorage near Aberdeen, MS to Bobby’s Fish Camp, Silas, AL

Highlights this week: Getting to a new state- Alabama; exploring Columbus, MS and Demopolis, AL; two beautiful anchorages; and staying at the iconic stop of the Loop – Bobby’s Fish Camp.

Monday, December 4, 2023 – Anchorage near Aberdeen, MS to Columbus, MS

Finally, the sun came out! Our voyage today took 5 hours, going 23.5 nm (27 miles), at an average speed of 6.7 knots (7.7 MPH).

Since we had a short cruising day, with only one lock, we were in no rush to leave our beautiful anchorage. The sun and 60-degree temperature felt so good that I had breakfast on the back deck.

Around 9:15 AM, we pulled up anchor. The caked-on mud was an indication of why HOMES didn’t move much last night. Despite hosing off the anchor as it came up, I still had to wash down the deck. My hands were equally as muddy, after using my hand tool to scrape the mud off the anchor.

We continued along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway today, enjoying the waterfowl and an eagle soaring above HOMES. We continued to see the Tombigbee River off to one side or the other. The Tenn-Tom Waterway is a series of locks and dams that make the Tombigbee River navigable until it merges with the Alabama River to form the short Mobile River, which empties into Mobile Bay on the Gulf of Mexico. The Tenn-Tom Waterway has three federally authorized purposes: navigation, wildlife mitigation (for the habitats it destroyed) and recreation. Navigating the Tenn-Tom, as opposed to the Mississippi River, reduces the trip to the Gulf Coast by more than 800 miles. And, with its creational component, it is friendlier to pleasure boaters. Very few Loopers take the Mississippi River to the Gulf Coast.

As we neared our only lock for today, the Aberdeen Lock, another Looper boat was coming up behind us. We waited for them inside the lock, before both of us dropped 28 feet in 12 minutes. Soon after coming out of the lock, we passed an up-bound barge – glad we beat him to the lock! Tim radioed the tow captain to see how he wanted us to pass. After telling us to pass on the 1 (on our left), he said he really liked HOMES.

We knew we were getting close to the marina when Air Force jets shot overhead. Columbus is home to Columbus Air Force Base. We got to Columbus Marina around 1:15 PM. Despite being on Columbus Lake – a 9,000 acre lake created by the Stennis Lock – the channel back to the marina was very narrow and only 5-feet deep. Tim skillfully threaded HOMES through the red and green markers and into our slip.

After getting checked in at the marina office and making lunch, Tim changed the oil in the generator. We ran the generator for about 5 hours last night and we’ll be using it when we anchor out three more times this week. The marina took our used oil, so that was a plus.

Around 4:30, we decided to see if the courtesy car was available to go find somewhere for a drink. A guy on another boat was just taking the car. He said that he was just taking the car to Walgreens so he wouldn’t be long. We said no problem, because we were just going to go in for a beer. He said, “I’d love a beer.” So, we introduced ourselves to Oscar, and the three of us drove the 10-minutes into Columbus. After a stop at Walgreens for his tennis elbow brace. We drove to a unique bar – Munson Brothers Trading Post. Over pizza and craft beer, Oscar explained that he just bought his boat in Destin, Florida and is on his way back home to Chattanooga, TN. He hopes to do the Loop someday.

Tuesday, December 5, 2023 – Columbus, MS (Layover day)

We reserved the courtesy car from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM today to explore Columbus, Mississippi. Columbus has many antebellum (pre-Civil War) mansions. Union Forces burned many southern towns down, but Columbus was spared because it opened it churches and homes as hospitals for both Confederate and Union soldiers. Friendship Cemetery is only blocks away from these antebellum mansions.

At Friendship Cemetery, Columbus claims to have celebrated the first Memorial Day; however, Waterloo, N.Y is counted as the official birthplace of Memorial Day. On April 25, 1866, Columbus held the first annual placing of flowers on graves of Blue and Gray at Friendship Cemetery. More than 2,000 Confederate soldiers were interred in Friendship Cemetery, along with 40 to 150 Union soldiers. A large group of ladies met at the home of Miss Matt Morton at Twelve Gables Mansion and organized this tribute – treating the Confederate and Union soldiers as equals. This tribute inspired poet Francis Miles Finch to write the poem, The Blue and the Gray, which was published in an 1867 edition of The Atlantic Monthly. In 1867, the remains of all Union soldiers were exhumed and reinterred in Shiloh National Cemetery.

Catfish Alley in Columbus is known as the epicenter of blues, jazz and soul music in North Mississippi. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Catfish Alley was the central meeting and business district for the Aftrican-American Community. It was called Catfish Alley because of the fish frying in the street cafes. African Americans would bring horse-drawn wagons full of vegetables and iced tubs full of large catfish into the alley. An annual carnival would be held in the fall after cotton picking season ended. Many legendary blues musicians came out of Catfish Alley. The notoriety of Catfish Alley later attracted acts like B.B. King, Duke Ellington, Little Richard, Louis Armstrong and James Brown. During the era of segregation, there was a hotel owned by a former slave that catered to African Americans.

Columbus is also the birthplace of Tennessee Williams – playwright of plays such as The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Born Thomas Lanier Williams in Columbus, on March 26, 1911, he was raised by his mother at the home of his grandfather, the reverend of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. His father was a traveling salesman and rarely home. The 1875 Victorian rectory is now a museum and welcome center. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open on a Tuesday.

We also visited the Columbus and Greenville (Mississippi) Railway to see the Baldwin Locomotive No. 601, built in 1946. It was the first “Road Switcher” of its type in the U.S. and was the railway’s first diesel powered locomotive. It was retired in 1984. Columbus also has the a “diamond crossing,” which is a rare occurrence where two railway lines cross, forming a diamond shape.

On our way back through town, we drove through the campus of Mississippi State College for Women. Founded in 1884, this is the oldest state-supported women’s college in the U.S. Ironically, Mississippi was the last state to ratified the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote, a century later in 1984. The university was originally called the Industrial Institute and College for the Education of White Girls. The mothers of Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner both attended the college. Since 1982, men have been admitted and now make up 20 percent of the student body of this liberal arts college.

Before going back to the marina, we stopped at O’Reilly Auto Parts to get oil to replace what Tim just used on the generator yesterday. We also stopped at Kroger to get a few things and to put gas in the courtesy car. Unleaded gas is $2.86 here.

Later in the afternoon, we took a walk to the nearby lock – John C. Stennis Lock – which we’ll be traveling through tomorrow. We were surprised to see large anthills everywhere. A quick Google search explained that they are fire ants! Fire ants entered the U.S. around 1918 near Mobile, AL and are now common in Mississippi.

Another thing that I have noticed since being in the south is that their “blacktop” has a brown/red color, because of the color of their gavel used in the asphalt mix. Sometimes the roads appear red because of the iron compounds in the aggregate.

Wednesday, December 6, 2023 – Columbus MS to Littles Island Anchorage (near Eutaw, AL)

Our voyage today had a duration of 10 hours and 31 minutes, being underway 8 hours, going 54.7 nm (62.9 miles), at an average speed of 6.8 knots (7.8 MPH). We had 2 locks, which explains the 2-1/2 hour difference between our “duration” and “underway” times.

Last evening, we coordinated departing with another Looper boat, Passport. We followed Passport out of Columbus Marina around 7:00 AM. Tim threaded HOMES back through the narrow and 5-foot deep channel. Just around the corner was the John C. Stennis Lock. After dropping 27 feet in about 12 minutes, we were back on our way down the Tenn-Tom Waterway at 7:30 AM.

The sun continued to warm the day from a chilly 36 degrees to 50 degrees, by the time we got to our second lock. Along the way, we saw a barge full of scrap metal being unloaded and reloaded onto trucks, and interesting enough – a telephone booth! 😁 I’m sure there is a joke behind that.

Before getting to our second lock – the Tom Bevill Lock – we entered a new state – Alabama! We had to hover outside the lock for about 15 minutes for a barge to come out. While we hovered, I took some pictures of the Tom Bevill Lock and Dam Visitors Center – which is a reproduction of a mid-19th Century plantation house. Docked on the river below the visitors center is a historic paddle wheeler work boat – the U.S. Snagboat Montgomery. This boat was one of the last steam-powered sternwheelers that served as a Snagboat. With its large grapple on a boom, Montgomery removed snags, underwater trees, stumps or branches that created obstructions to river navigation. It worked on seven southern rivers, beginning in 1926, removing 120-170 snags a day. It was retired in 1982.

After the barge came out of the lock, the lock master told us that we could enter and get secured, but we’d have to wait for some maintenance to be completed below the lock before he could lower us – which could take about 45 min. We were disappointed, but just thankful that he was letting us tie up in the lock instead of making us hover outside. So, I tied us off to the floating bollard and Tim shut off the engines. However, before we could get our lunch made, we heard the maintenance boat radio the lock master, telling him to go ahead and let us down, because their computer was in the middle of a software update. We quickly put our lunch fixings back in the refrigerator and restarted the engines and were all ready when the lock master radioed to tell us that he would be lowering us.

After dropping 30 feet, we followed Passport out of the lock. We waved at the maintenance boat sitting outside the lock. Soon, we passed Passport, because the anchorage that we had chosen for tonight is farther down the river than the one that they had chosen.

Now that we have exited the Bevill Lock, we are cruising completely on the Tombigbee River – as opposed to the straighter, man-made Tenn-Tom Waterway. We enjoyed an afternoon of twisting and turning with the Tombigbee River. The Alabama shoreline is steeper, with short, white cliffs. Near Cochran, AL, we saw utility worker sliding along a power line over the river. I’m guessing he doesn’t go zip lining in his spare time.😁

About 2 hours later, we attempted to anchor. We had hoped to be anchored by 3:30 PM, but a boating schedule is never set in stone. We pulled off where the river split and made an island – the Warsaw Cut Off. I was disappointed to see houses all along the southern bank; however, that was just a minor annoyance. The real problem was that the shallowest water depth that we could find was 27 feet – not the 15 feet listed on the chart. We attempted to anchor in three different locations, with multiple tries at each location. With the sun setting fast, we decided to go back up the river to the next closest anchorage.

About 20 minutes later, we got back to the Littles Bar Cut Off – another spot where the river went around and made an island. We continued off the channel for about a mile to a spot where the chart marked a nice sandy bottom anchorage. Luckily, our anchor found that sandy bottom on our first try – just before dusk! It was a beautiful anchorage, in the middle of nowhere! In the clear night sky, we could see the Milky Way and all of the constellations above us. Unfortunately, the low 40-degree temperatures made it too chilly to admire the night sky for too long.

Thursday, December 7, 2023 – Littles Island Anchorage (near Eutaw, AL) to Demopolis, AL

After a foggy start, our voyage today lasted 9 hours and 17 minutes, going 52 nm (60 miles), at an average speed of 7.4 knots (8.5 MPH).

Today would be another long day, with one lock, so we got up at 5:45 AM and planned on leaving around 7:00 AM. However, we awoke to dense fog. The fog appeared to be lifting around 7:30 AM, but then it set back in more dense than before.

Around 8:00 AM, we pulled up anchor. The anchor was caked with mud, but since it was more of a sandy mixture, it slid off easily with my hand tool. A little hosing off and it was all clean. With the fog still hovering over the water, we began heading back out to the Tombigbee River.

We glided through the fog as we re-entered the Tombigbee River. It took 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to the one-and-only lock of our day – Howell Heflin Lock, near Gainesville, AL. It only took 15 minutes for the lock keeper to turn the lock around for us. The lock dropped us 30 feet.

The below map shows an example of why the locks and dams are needed to make the Tombigbee River navigable. The locks are put where the river is too shallow or the turns are too tight. This map shows how the lock canal cuts straight, as the Tombigbee River snakes around on the left.

As we neared Demopolis, AL, we began to see the white chalk cliffs – some 80-feet high – which makes this part of Alabama unique. The chalk is a form of limestone, a sedimentary rock deposited when this part of Alabama was still underwater 145 million years ago. Some formations are more than 500 feet thick, representing at least 9 million years of dead algae and plankton building up on the seafloor. Since this chalk doesn’t let water through, water tends to pool on the surface, developing a dark, rich soil on top of the chalk. For that reason, this area is call the Alabama’s Black Belt. This dark, rich soil proved ideal for cotton farmers.

Around 3:15 PM, we entered the channel to Kingfisher Bay Marina. We pulled up to the fuel dock to pump out our waste tank. While Tim was checking in and paying for our two-night stay, he signed us up for the marina’s courtesy car from 6-8 tonight and noon to 2:00 tomorrow.

At 6:00 PM, we drove into Demopolis to The Red Barn for a drink. As we came to find out, it is a southern iconic restaurant. While we were sitting at the bar, the TV was tuned to a show called True South on SEC (Southeastern Conference) ESPN. The show’s hosts travel the south for restaurants that define the South…and on this Dec. 5th episode, one of the restaurants was The Red Barn! On the show, the owner was being interviewed right at the bar where we were sitting! Several of us at the bar said: “look you’re on TV,” but the bartender didn’t seem impressed. Maybe they have been playing the episode continuously since Dec. 5th. 😁 The history of the barn goes back to the late 1950s when the community built it from whatever old materials they could find. The barn was constructed with large wood timbers taken from old lock #5 when it was removed from the Tombigbee River. The community built the barn for a high school student who was paralyzed in a car accident, so that he could open an antiques shop. It became a restaurant in 1971.

Friday, December 8, 2023 – Demopolis, AL (Layover day)

We had both chores and exploring on our to-do list for today. While I was exercising this morning, I saw a Belted Kingfisher land on the dock post right outside the saloon (living room) window! It was too fast for a picture, but it was a medium-sized bird with a slate blue head with a shaggy crest and a body that is white and slate blue. It is a common bird along the waterways in Alabama. As their name suggests, they feed almost totally on fish. I didn’t get to see him catch a fish, but I did watch a white egret catch a fish yesterday after we docked.

Tim used this morning to see why the generator has been having issues starting. He determined that the we need new glow plugs. Unfortunately, the NAPA store in Demopolis didn’t have any, so he ordered them online to be shipped home. We’ll be home in about two weeks for Christmas.

At noon, we took the courtesy car into Demopolis. I found an antebellum house museum open today! Bluff Hall was just a 5-minute drive over the bridge from the marina. Bluff Hall stands on historic White Bluff overlooking the Tombigbee River. It was built in 1832 by the slaves of Allen Glover. It was a gift for his daughter, Sarah and her husband Francis Strother Lyon. It was common for plantation owners to also have homes in town. Lyon was a lawyer, plantation owner and a U.S. congressman, as well as serving two terms in the Confederate States Congress. He made his fortune in corn, tobacco and cotton. Corn made him the most money because it was used to make alcohol. Our tour guide said that Lyon worked to help keep Alabama from going bankrupt from 1845- 1853, donating $6 million dollars of his own money to keep the state going.

After the tour of Bluff Hall, we walked around the historic downtown of Demopolis. Demopolis – City of the People – was founded in 1817 by exiled French Bonapartists after Napoleon’s Empire fell. The French were given parcels of land by the federal government on the condition that they grow grapes and olives. However, the soil was not suitable for growing grapes and olives, but the town soon thrives as a commercial river hub in the 1830s.

As a robust, frontier river town, churches were slow to take hold. Rooster Hall is one of the oldest and most historic buildings in Demopolis. It was built in 1843 by the Presbyterians, using locally-made bricks. The church was confiscated by Union soldier during the Civil War. During Reconstruction, after the Civil War, a garrison of federal troops moved the county seat to Demopolis and used this building as the Marengo County Courthouse for a short time. In 1869, the church sold the building to the city and it became the Demopolis Opera House until 1902. It continues to be owned by the city.

After the historic downtown, we drove another 5 minutes out to the commercial shopping area on Route 80. We relaxed with a coffee and a huge lemon bar at Simply Delicious. Before heading back to the marina, we pick up some fresh fruit, veggies and beer at Walmart. There were no other grocery stores around.

This courtesy car was a little nicer than the last one in Columbus, MS, which had over 200,000 miles. However, this car had a the driver’s window that wouldn’t go up all the way. 😁 Oh well, we’re just thankful to have wheels to go explore and pick up groceries.

In the afternoon, we continued to do our chores. Tim rigged up a trip line for the anchor. He read that the anchorage for tomorrow night has snags. This trip line will allow us to pull the anchor up from the front and dump off any snags.

He also check the anodes or “zincs” on the engines and the generator- all looked good! There are anodes anywhere metal touches water – the swim platform, dingy lift, prop shaft, thrusters and fins. The anodes are sacrificial metal (zinc or magnesium) that corrodes instead of your boat. When we get back to saltwater, our anodes will deteriorate faster, so we’ll need to keep an eye on them and eventually replace them.

In the evening, we talked with other Loopers on the dock. Three new boats came in this afternoon. We met Sea Cottage and Passport back in Columbus, MS. We had never met the young couple and their cat on Yippy Ka Ay. Robin came into the marina after us yesterday. We met Robin back in Holland, MI. They are a young couple who are documenting their trip on YouTube – Wind Sails and Dog Tails. HOMES has a brief appearance on their episode in Holland, MI.

Saturday, December 9, 2023 – Demopolis, AL to Edna Bend Anchorage (near Naheola, AL)

Our voyage today had a duration of 8 hours and 34 minutes (but we were underway 4 hours and 26 minutes), going 32.8 nm (37.7 miles), at an average speed of 7.4 knots (8.5 MPH).

Why the huge discrepancy between duration and underway times? Our “duration” is the time we turn on our electronics to when we turn them off. Anchoring takes more time, plus this morning we turned our electronics on 2 hours early, due to an unexpected delay.

Six boats signed up to go through the lock at 8:00AM. There was a signup sheet in the boat house, which the lock keeper allegedly picks up. When Tim called the lock at 7:00 AM, the lock keeper said the lock was fogged in, so call back in 30 minutes. When Tim called back, the lock keeper said that now he had a barge coming 2 miles away, which would get preference over us.

Three Looper boats decided to stay put for another day, estimating that we probably wouldn’t get through the lock until at least 11:00 AM and the safest anchorage was about 9 hours away. Tim search Navionics for closer anchorages and found a safe anchorage only about 6 hours away. So, we decided to go, if we could got in the lock before 10:00 AM. At 9:00 AM, Tim saw on AIS that the barge was already in the lock, so he ran over to tell the other two boats who were still considering leaving today. He then immediately called the lock and told the lock master that three pleasure crafts were on their way! Good thing he did, because another barge was on its way up.

Sea Cottage and a non-Looper boat followed us out of Kingfisher Bay Marina. 15 minutes later, we arrived at Demopolis Lock – just as the barge was coming out of the lock. The lock master invited us to come straight in. There were at least seven egrets flying around in the lock. One egret sat on the lock gate the whole time it opened!

After dropping 40 feet, we came out to see the waiting barge. It didn’t give us much room to pass! The non-Looper boat sped out of the lock in front of us and was soon gone. Sea Cottage followed along behind us all day – hence the pictures with HOMES in them! The ride today was scenic, but the white chalk cliffs soon faded away.

Around 2:00, we got to Edna Bend Anchorage. We had our bow anchor set by the time Sea Cottage arrived. This anchorage is right along the bank – not up a little cut. So, for the first time, we set a stern anchor. The stern anchor will keep us from swinging out into the channel where barges will be passing.

The temperature got up to 78 degrees today. We enjoyed spending time on the decks well into the evening.

While enjoying the night sky, suddenly a search light lite up the bank. Eventually, we heard and saw the barge coming out of the darkness. We are out of the channel and visible on AIS, but Tim radioed the captain anyway, to let him know two pleasure crafts were anchored on the bend. The captain said “Roger, Roger.”

Sunday, December 10, 2023 – Edna Bend Anchorage (near Naheola, AL) to Bobby’s Fish Camp, Silas, AL

Our voyage today took 8 hours and 36 minutes, going 51 nm (58. 7 miles), going 6.9 knots (8 MPH).

Last night, we had a nice night at anchor. We left the generator on until we went to bed. With a low temperature of 55 degrees, we didn’t need to run the generator all night. Tim got up at 5:00 AM to restart the generator, so we’d have hot water for showers when we got up at 6:00 AM. While exercising, I watched a barge pass in the morning light.

Tim started pulling up the stern anchor around 7:00 AM. A long limb was stuck on the anchor, so I had to kneel on the swim platform to hold it while Tim got the anchor free.

I was pleasantly surprised when the bow anchor came up with no mud! It just had a little gravel/sand stuck on it, which easily washed off with the wash-down hose.

We pulled out of the anchorage before Sea Cottage and headed on to our next anchorage. When we came to the Naheola Bridge, I realized that we have seen very few bridges on the Tombigbee River. There really are very few towns around. Tim commented on how narrow the bridge span would be for a barge. When we went under the bridge, we saw that many barges have hit it!

We passed a lot of barges today. Around 2:00 PM, we got to the anchorage that we had picked out in Choctaw National Wildlife Refuge. Before pulling into the cut, we got a message on Nebo from our Looper friends who are docked 3 miles away at Bobby’s Fish Camp. They said they couldn’t get their anchor to hold there, plus the locals in bass boats yelled at them. We decided to give it a try anyway. However, after about 40 minutes of unsuccessful anchoring attempts, we headed to Bobby’s Fish Camp. A group of our Looper friends were standing on the dock waiting to help us tie up.

HOMES is hanging out over the dock about 3 feet, but we got tied up and hooked to electric. After we got tied up, another boat came in, who we have never met, Gigi III. They rafted off of us, since the dock is full. Since Gigi III is bigger than HOMES, Tim tied another line from HOMES to a tree root on shore.

Dirtless said that the owner will come find us when he wants paid. Dirtless called the owner twice yesterday and was told, “what’s your rush?” Around 5:00, the owner finally came by and said: “Any one of you who need to pay me, come on up to the building.”

Tomorrow morning, we will all be heading out. Our LAST LOCK on the Tombigbee River will be first thing in the morning!! Mobile, AL, on the Gulf Coast, is just days away!

See you next week! Thanks for reading.

---

Weeks 17-19 – Nov. 13 – Dec. 3, 2020 – Fulton, MS to near Aberdeen, MS

Month of November stats: We traveled 10 days, going 470.1 nm (541 miles) through Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. We had an average speed of 8 knots (9.2 MPH), but thanks to the fast current of the Mississippi River, we hit a maximum speed of 13.8 knots (15.9 MPH)!

Highlight for these weeks: Realizing that a beautiful side effect of traveling is the joy of going home! We rented a car in Tupelo, Mississippi and spent two weeks at home for Thanksgiving. I saw more family and friends in those two weeks than in probably the last year combined. It’s funny how being away has made me realize how important it is to make the time and effort to see those people who mean so much to me.

Monday – Tuesday, Nov. 13 – Nov. 14 – Fulton, MS – Midway Marina

We are now in Elvis territory! Fulton Mississippi is the hometown of Elvis’s father, Vernon Presley, and where Elvis allegedly bought his first guitar.

We booked into Midway Marina for a month, because it is cheaper to reserve a spot for a month than for two weeks. We had Monday and Tuesday as free days before getting the rental car. On Monday, we did some cleaning on HOMES and then took the marina’s courtesy car into Fulton to explore the small downtown, which had a few independent shops and a cute coffee shop.

That evening, we finally ran into fellow Loopers, Bill and Louise on Cheers. Tim worked with Bill at the Columbus Fire Department. They gave us a tour of their Kadey Kroger 48 North Sea and we gave them a tour of HOMES. They aren’t taking any time off to go home for the holidays, but we might catch back up with them in the Bahamas in early spring.

On Tuesday, we picked up our rental car from Tupelo Regional Airport. There is no Uber in Fulton, but there is a “Louber” – which is a guy named Lou who lives on his boat at the marina. Lou drove us the 20 miles to Tupelo for $40 and pointed out sights along the way.

Once we got our wheels, we headed to Tupelo River Coffee Shop, where we planned out the rest of our day in Tupelo. Just up the street from the coffee shop was the Tupelo National Battlefield. In July 1864, General Andrew J. Smith’s Union forces moved toward Tupelo, being pursued by Confederate forces. The U.S. Colored Troops fought heroically to defend the rear of the column, allowing the union troops to set up a strong defensive position in Tupelo. Union troops succeeded in their main goal: keeping Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest (who I mentioned in previous blogs) and his troops away from the Union railroads in Tennessee.

General Smith wrote that the fighting and discipline of the colored brigade “removed from my mind a prejudice of twenty years’ standing.” Formerly enslaved men often gave an alias when they enlisted to avoid capture, which made it difficult for a wife to prove a husband’s identity on an application for his pension.

From the battlefield, we headed to the birthplace and childhood home of Elvis. My mom is a huge Elvis fan, so we had to stop. Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 to Vernon and Gladys Presley. Elvis’s twin brother, Jesse Garson Presley, was stillborn 35 minutes before Elvis was born. Elvis was born in a two-room house built by his father, grandfather and uncle. This style of house is called a “shotgun house,” which is a narrow rectangular house, usually about 12 feet wide, with rooms arranged one behind the other and doors at each end of the house. It was a popular style of house in the south from the end of the Civil War (1865) through the 1920s and can be traced to Africa. The family had to move out of this house when Elvis was only a few years old for lack of payment. The family’s years in Tupelo were marked by financial difficulties. Elvis’s father was convicted of altering a check in 1938 and served eight months in prison.

Elvis revolutionized popular music by blending the blues he first heard as a youth in Tupelo with country, pop and gospel. Elvis’s childhood church, where he fell in love with gospel music, was moved to this site from several blocks away.

On Nov. 6, 1948, at the age of 13, Elvis and his family left Tupelo for Memphis. Elvis is quoted as saying, “We were broke, man, broke and we left Tupelo overnight. Dad packed all our belongings in boxes and put them in the trunk and on top of the 1939 Plymouth. We just headed for Memphis. Things had to be better.” Things did turn around for the family with the release of Elvis’s his first commercial single, “That’s All Right,” in 1954.

On Wednesday morning, we said good-bye to HOMES and headed home for Thanksgiving. We decided to make this a two-day trip, taking the scenic route. We don’t foresee ever traveling this area again, so we wanted to take in its sites.

We began day one – hitting 5 states (Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana). We traveled up the roads paralleling the rivers that we took down on our voyage to Fulton. However, it took us a month on HOMES to accomplish what we could do almost in this one-day trek.

About 30 minutes after leaving Fulton, Mississippi, we crossed over the Alabama state line. In about another hour, we crossed over the Tennessee River and had coffee in Florence, Alabama. Florence was the home of indigenous people dating back to 100 BCE. Here, you can visit the Florence Indian Mound and Museum. At 43-feet high, it is the largest surviving earthen mound of its type in the Tennessee River Valley. After the Chickasaw Nation was removed by the Federal government in the 1800s, Florence thrived because of its steamship and railroad routes. By 1831, the area expanded with plantations, due to increased cotton cultivation. Today, it is a quaint town – home of the University of North Alabama, as well as having two plantations and the Frank Lloyd Wright Rosenbaum House.

We crossed over into Tennessee around 10:00 AM. For a time, we traveled on the Natchez Trace Parkway – a historic forest trail, which extends 440 miles from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, TN. Construction of the parkway began in the 1939 as one of the many Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. The trail, which largely follows a geologic ridge line, was used by Native Americans for centuries as they followed the “traces” of bison. By the time of European exploration and settlement, the route had become the well-known fastest means of communication between the Cumberland Plateau, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico settlements of Pensacola, Mobile and New Orleans.

Today, the 50-MPH, two-laned road, cutting through forested land has many scenic overlooks, historical sites and hiking and horse trails. We pulled off at the site where Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame, died in 1809, at the age of 35. At the time, he was serving as appointed governor of the Louisiana Territory and was traveling to Washington, D.C. from his base in St. Louis, MS to settle some financial problems. He was distraught over many issues and was possibly affected by his use of opium, alcoholism and possibly had malaria, which causes dementia. It is believed by many historians that Lewis shot himself, since he had tried to kill himself several times in the past. Thomas Jefferson and Lewis’s explorer friend, William Clark, acknowledged that Lewis had suffered from “sensible depressions of mind” and “melancholy states.” He may also have felt like a failure because while Lewis and Clark made many discoveries, they did not find the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean – their main goal- and many of the trading posts that they’d established began to fall apart before the explorers returned home. To top it off, he now found himself in a desk job. However, some historians believe that Lewis was killed by bandits roaming the notoriously dangerous Natchez Trace.

Fortunately, we made it through Natchez Trace without seeing any bandits and, by 12:30 PM, we were driving over the Cumberland River and driving into Evansville, Indiana. We skirted a little piece of Kentucky around the military post of Fort Campbell, KY. We then ended our day in Bloomington, IN. We stayed in the downtown area – basically on the campus of Indiana University. The downtown was cute and we found a locally-owned Irish pub – Irish Lion Restaurant & Pub – in a restored historic 1882 vintage brick tavern, with cast iron columns, stained glass windows and a Civil War vintage front bar. The good meal was a nice end to the long day of travel. Tim ranks their fish and chips second only to the Kirby House in Grand Haven, MI. Of course, his all-time favorite was in Kinsale, Ireland.

Thursday morning, we had just a 3-hour drive to get home. It was so great to see Nick! Norah, our grand dog, was excited to see us too. We had a nice lunch at Tim’s parents house… and so began our two weeks of: socializing with family and friends, holiday decorating, a hair cut, dentist appointments, well-visits, flu and COVID shots, coffee at Winans, and the main event – Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 30, 2023 – Plain City, OH to Fulton, Mississippi

We took the fastest route back to Fulton, Mississippi today. It took us about 10 hours, with some slow downs in Nashville and a few stops for lunch and gas. We gained an hour coming back to the Central Time Zone, so it was only 8:30 PM CT when we got back to HOMES. That would have seemed like an impossibly long day, if we hadn’t experienced several 6-10 hour days on HOMES over the last month.

Friday-Saturday, December 1 -2, 2023 – Fulton, MI – Midway Marina (Layover days)

On Friday, we took advantage of our final day with the car by getting groceries. We hadn’t stocked up since having a car back in Holland, MI when we went home in October.

After unloading groceries, we headed back to Tupelo to return the car, since Budget Rental Car isn’t open there on weekends. We allowed time to have coffee at Lost + Found Coffee Co., before dropping off the car. The coffee shop and the employees were decked out for Christmas and Christmas songs were playing. I do love this time of year!

Lou, our “Louber,” was waiting for us after we turned in the car. We texted Lou last night and he agreed to come get us. At $40 for 20 miles, Lou is probably cheaper than Uber.

It’s funny how we can be so happy to pick up a car, and then be equally as happy to take it back. Since we are car-less again, we walked up to the marina restaurant – Guy’s Place– for dinner. As usual, I tried the local cuisine – fried green tomatoes and shrimp gumbo. I was going wait until Alabama to have fried green tomatoes, since that was the setting for one of my favorite movies – Fried Green Tomatoes; however, I thought I shouldn’t pass up the opportunity, in case I don’t find any in Alabama.

Saturday was a rainy and foggy day, so we had no intentions of cruising. We took the extra day to do chores and maintenance. Our heaters had been shutting off since getting back yesterday, so Tim investigated. He found that the crustacean remnants, from our time in saltwater, which had been stuck to the inside of the sea strainer, had finally fallen off and were clogging the sea strainers. It took several attempts over two days to clean them all out.

We had a lunch of pie and coffee at Guy’s Place. Last night, we were too full to indulge in their homemade pecan pie and key lime pie. Both were delicious! Tim made cooked cabbage and sausage for dinner, while I worked on my blog. Another Looper boat, Serendipity, came in and docked behind us. So, we will have a boat to share locks with tomorrow. We’ll be heading out at 8:00 AM.

Sunday, December 3, 2023 – Fulton, MS – Midway Marina to near Aberdeen, MS

We were not lucky with the timing of the locks today. Our voyage of 27.5 nm (31 miles) lasted 9 hours and 37 minutes, but we were only underway 4 hours and 7 minutes. We had to wait at all three locks today, which ultimately changed our final destination.

Pulling away from Midway Marina around 8:00 AM felt good. We haven’t cruised since November 12th. We pulled out behind the Looper boat, Serendipity. Our first lock – Fulton Lock – was only minutes away. We only had to wait 20 minutes to pull into the lock. By the time we dropped the 35 feet and pulled out of the lock, it was 9:00 AM.

The next lock was Wilkins Lock. We had to wait for a tow and barge to come up, but we still only had to wait about 20 minutes. Once the barge, which was carrying coal and wood chips, came out, we headed in. This lock dropped us 25 feet.

Our final lock of the day was Cochran Lock. This is where our luck ran out. We had to wait for a barge to go down in front of us. Instead of refilling the lock and letting us go down, the lock keeper waited for an up-bound barge – which was 2 miles away. We had to wait for that barge to get to the lock, come up and exit the lock. So, after waiting about 2 hours, we finally entered the lock around 2:40 PM. By the time we dropped the 30 feet and exited the lock, it was 3:00 PM and we still had 12 miles to get to Aberdeen Marina, which was our planned destination.

Now that it gets dark here at 4:45 PM, we decided to anchor tonight, instead of trying to get to Aberdeen Marina. The marina has a narrow channel, so it would be a challenge to pull in there even in full light. So, we found an anchorage on the map that is just north of Aberdeen. The “Acker Lake Cutoff” Anchorage is about 200 feet off the river, up a little cut. Two barges have gone by on the river, but we are safely tucked up in this little cut. We saw an otter or beaver swimming and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

It is now time to heat up some dinner and relax. The generator is running, so we have all of the comforts that we’d have at a marina. We’ll turn off the generator before going to bed and enjoy the peace and quiet of this beautiful setting.

Tune in next Sunday for our continued trip down the Tenn-Tom Waterway, toward the Gulf of Mexico.

Thanks for reading!

---