After five months of cruising, we agreed that the lifestyle is relaxing, enjoyable, and a great way to see many interesting places. So, we decided that it was time to start the Great Loop from Ft. Lauderdale, FL in late January 2006.

We spent several weeks docked at the New River Municipal Marina right on the curve in the river overlooking the Broward Center for Performing Arts. What a great location as we could walk to stores, restaurants, and sights. As strange as it may sound, we loved using the Water Taxi. It may be because neither of us really had time to just stare at the sights as we pass by –- Jim is piloting and Su is navigating. We developed friendships with Tom & Lisa on Symmetry and Susan & Paul on Slow Dancing. All of us were first-year liveaboards and found we had the same apprehensions and anxiety as well as the anticipation of an exciting new lifestyle. We soon learned which restaurants served the best appetizers at happy hour. We also spent several evenings with Jim’s good friends, Betty and Steve. They were wonderful about chauffeuring us around to do errands and taking us to restaurants that we would never have found on our own. Chimera, a Brazilian restaurant, was absolutely the best!

Moving north, we stopped in Delray Beach as we had on our trip south. We had to visit with my friends, Ray & Celeste, and then see Joanne for a return trip to Elwood’s on Atlantic. The Elvis impersonator, a Delray Beach cop by day, is incredible and the show is outstanding. The memory gets a work out trying to recall the words to those oldies! Then, it was on to Soverel Harbor Marina in Palm Beach Gardens for another visit with my sister, Jane. We intended to stay three days and ended up there for 19 days because the food at Carmine’s Market was so incredibly wonderful. Step inside the door and one can understand why it was difficult to decide what to buy – cheeses, olives, soups, pizzas, salads, deli sandwiches, prepared foods, gourmet products, produce, meats to cook or grill, wines, and the desserts. Not to mention that there were about fifteen restaurants and a Barnes & Noble within easy walking distance.

We returned to Vero Beach Municipal Marina for about a ten day stay. The ease of getting around without a car is a big draw for boaters. If one needs to shop in West Marine, Lowe’s, Target, Wal-Mart or a mall out near I-95, the town offers a free bus service that makes two stops right at the marina. If going the other direction toward the downtown or beach, the walk is easy and interesting as you go by the homes that were built years ago. The downtown has boutiques that stock very unique items and great restaurants. The next stop is a “must” when cruising the Florida coast – Titusville. Dixie Crossroads serves the most delicious corn fritters dusted with confectioner’s sugar and broiled rock shrimp. The rock shrimp are called the poor man’s lobster as they taste more like lobster than shrimp and have very hard shells similar to lobster. When had these several years ago when we were looking at boats just south of Florida and now know that most fishermen once threw them away because the shells are too difficult to open. The next day we were on our way to Daytona Beach and trying to arrive before Bike Week started or we knew it would be impossible to spend the night at Caribbean Jack’s Marina. The restaurant there is quite good and the entertainment is always good.

St. Augustine is one of our favorite cities and one of those stops where I say “I could live here”. Founded in 1565, it is the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the United States. We toured Flagler College, formerly the Ponce de Leon Hotel built by Henry Flagler in 1895. The dining room, now the cafeteria used by the students, was very extravagant with Tiffany windows and murals on the ceiling. Some of the original chairs are still used and have been appraised at $1,200 each. We walked around the fort, Castillo de San Marcos that overlooks the harbor just north of the Bridge of Lions. We were able to spend some time with our friends, Tom and Shirley, doing the Artwalk that is held on the first Friday of every month.

Our northern route continued with an overnight stop at Fernandina Harbor where Jim discovered water in the generator oil, after lengthy phone calls, the parts were ordered and sent to Jekyll Harbor Marina on Jekyll Island, GA. Fortunately our 4 hour to run to Jekyll did not coincide with the submarine the Coast Guard was bringing up the Cumberland Sound!!! While Jim worked on the generator, I relaxed and read. Few boats were moving north or south in early March; however, I could not believe my eyes as S/V Antic with Andree and Tic sailed by headed south. We met them at Sailcraft Services in Oriental, NC in July and October 2005. We talked briefly via VHF and exchanged schedules.

Back to travel with stops at Kilkenny Marina, Beaufort, Isle of Palms, Osprey Marina just south of Myrtle Beach, and Southport, NC where we stayed for an extra day to wait for better winds for going up Cape Fear River, Swan Point Marina, and then into Sailcraft Services in Oriental.

We arrived on Thursday, March 16 with a list of maintenance repairs including 30-day bottom dry-out (my technical term) per our bottom sealing warranty, raising the waterline, painting the bottom, etc. We were welcomed back home by all the employees and then our friends started coming in for repairs too. Brenda and Geoff on Manu-Forti arrived to have their sailboat hauled; we had met them our second night out in November 2005. Barbara and Steve on Sarafina arrived for water tank repairs; we had met them at Sailcraft in October 2005. Then, Andree and Tic came in, back from The Abacos.

On Monday, March 20, we were hauled onto land -- what that really means is that we climb a 16’ ladder to get up to the boat! Not much fun when nature calls or when doing the laundry!! Unfortunately, March was too cold, rainy, and windy to do much other than huddle in front of two heaters inside the boat.

We decided to go back to Greer and do our taxes, visit with friends and family, and head down to Beaufort, SC for the Great Loop Rendezvous. We attended seminars about the upcoming trip and learned about the waters, tidal effects, winds, and places to stop throughout the Carolinas, Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, New Jersey, New York harbor, the Hudson River, Erie Canal, Lake Ontario, Trent-Severn Waterway, Georgian Bay, and the North Channel. We met people that we knew we would see again and again during our Great Loop trek, and some we knew would become life-long friends. Names I am sure that will be mentioned again are: Sue Hamel and Jim Brown on Water Dancer III (along with Sneakers, their cat and Linus, their parakeet), Wendy and Bob Ellen on Pelican, Mary and Vince Birleson on Betty B, and Sue and Larry Viig on Sue Sea Q 3.

Returning to the boat in Oriental on April 14, we waited for warmer weather to paint the boat’s bottom. Jim compounded and waxed the hull, and I cleaned the wood walls and floors inside. In the meantime, friends who were cruising north stopped in Oriental to see us, and often we would see other boats docked that were flying the same Looper burgee that we fly. In early May, the temperature climbed enough that we could apply the bottom paint. I should say climbed enough that I pained in sweatpants!!

By Tuesday, May 30, we were ready to leave with the list of chores almost completed. We stopped along the way at Dowry Creek Marina, Alligator River Marina, and Coinjock Marina which is known for its 32-ounce prime rib dinner for two. On June 2, we went through our first lock at Great Bridge, VA and continued on through the busy harbor of Norfolk and Portsmouth. We saw HUGE Navy ships, HUGE aircraft carriers, and HUGE container ships along with Naval Security and Coast Guard patrol boats with machine guns mounted on the bow and stern!!! Stopping in Hampton, VA, we watched fantastic fireworks from the fly bridge of Palmetto Moon that was the finale for the Bluebeard Festival. After two days, we cruised to Deltaville, VA and had the wind on our nose with 1 to 3 foot waves, not much fun; next day onto to Solomons, MD again with the wind out of the NE with 1 to 4 foot waves combined with some 5 footers, no fun at all! Next stop was only a one-night stay at Annapolis with the intention that we will return some day and really explore this neat town.

On Thursday, June 8 we arrived at the City of Baltimore Public Docks on the new harbor walk surrounded with three large tour boats, Godspeed, a Tall Ship, and Water Dancer III. Godspeed was on a tour of the east coast and represents the ship settlers came over on to establish Jamestown, VA; it will be a big part of Jamestown’s 400th year celebration in the spring of 2007. Baltimore is one of the places where Jim and I both say “I could live here”. We had a wonderful visiting with Sue and Jim from Water Dancer, Susan and Paul who live on Slow Dancing at the Anchorage Marina (we met them in Ft. Lauderdale), and my dear, dear friends Nan and Bob who live in the suburbs. We toured the Aquarium, home to more than 11,000 aquatic animals, and saw an absolutely amazing exhibit of frogs. We kept saying “look at this” or “look at these colors”. Who knew that they came in psychedelic colors or looked just like a tomato. Just incredible! We dined in some great restaurants and then, for something different, we took the Light Rail up to Nan and Bob’s in Hunt Valley for a cookout. I had my “driving and parking” lesson on Palmetto Moon one windy afternoon and learned how to maneuver in tight spaces and bring the boat in to a face dock. It is not easy handling a 42’ long by 16’ wide vessel that doesn’t have brakes and doesn’t respond immediately! Jim makes it look so easy.

After six days in Baltimore, we knew we had to head north to stay on the Great Loop schedule, so we cruised up into the C&D Canal which connects the Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware Bay. We stayed at historic Chesapeake City and carefully planned our trip down to Cape May. We did not want opposing wind and current; instead, we ended up with drizzle and low visibility. After seven hours, we docked in Cape May, NJ and were grateful to be secured in a safe harbor. We met Erica and Kevin on Kismet III from Midland, Ontario who were doing the Loop and Lynn and Bob Williamson on Legrace, a Dutch steel trawler, who were going to do the Triangle Loop, which will be explained in greater detail in another update, this year and the Great Loop next year. Since we were now facing the Atlantic Ocean from Cape May, NJ to the NY Harbor, we decided to stay an extra day to wait for the seas to settle down from Tropical Storm Alberto.

On June 16, we cruised from Cape May to Barnegat Inlet, NJ, we experienced gentle swells with a light wind out of the north. We decided to enter the NJ Intracoastal Waterway and travel a couple of hours to Toms River, go north to Island Heights and tie up at the free town dock. The village appeared quite serene with people taking a walk after dinner and many walked down to the dock to look at Palmetto Moon or sat in the pavilion and stared out at us. The next day we were back in the NJ ICW heading north to Manasquan Inlet. Jim was a nervous wreck as he didn’t have enough hands – one on the throttles, one on the clutches, and one to steer the boat!! The depth sounder was reading too, too shallow water for him to be calm. After that, we were back in the Atlantic with gentle swells once again.

We arrived in the New York harbor around noon on Saturday, June 17 and said we would never do this again on a weekend. The boat activity was amazing with the freighters, Staten Island ferries, water taxis, small fishing boats everywhere, large fishing boats, the Circle Line tour boat, power boats, sail boats, and then the Cigarette-type boats having a poker-run. The Statue of Liberty welcomed us and as always was an awesome sight. On the other side, the tip of Manhattan, the skyline will never be the same with the gaping wide-open area where the Twin Towers stood. We rocked and rolled all the way to the 79th Street Marina. Jim’s friend, Joyce, came up to see the boat, brought champagne, and had dinner with us.

On Sunday, June 18, we docked at the Tarrytown Marina and I was back in familiar territory having grown up about six miles away in Pleasantville. I was excited about seeing my friends: Mary Ann and Mark came over for drinks and dinner, Marcia came over and even played chauffeur taking us on a mini-tour that included showing Jim around the village of Pleasantville, and Mary and Mario also came to visit. It was so good being surrounded by my supportive and lifelong friends; part of me just wanted to stay! Since the Coast Guard Auxiliary had an office right at the marina, Jim had them conduct a Vessel Safety Check and, fortunately, Palmetto Moon passed with flying colors. We departed on Wednesday as we were told the marina would be filling up shortly as their 100th anniversary party was to be held over the weekend.

Cruising up the Hudson River was delightful as the bridges have clearances well over 100’ and the water is deep, in places over 200’ deep. The lighthouses are extremely unique as they all look like homes, West Point is always impressive to see but even more so from the water, Roosevelt’s home in Hyde Park is partially visible, and of course the Catskill Mountains were on our port side. On Thursday, June 22, we arrived at the Albany Yacht Club, formed in 1873, where we tilted the radar mast down to bring the boat’s height from 22’3” to 16’9” and now we can make it under the 20’ bridges on the Erie Canal!