June 3, 2018 - Final Stats Update

Independence crossed her wake (finished the Great Loop) on June 3, 2018 at 10:10 AM, 399 days and 40 minutes after we began. It was the trip of a lifetime. It was a bittersweet day, good to be home, but I am going miss the adventure and challenges we faced and met each day. I think Linda and I actually became closer friends and mates than we have ever been before, we met some very dear friends, saw some amazing sites and basically enjoyed a 399 day vacation. What more could you ask for? Well, for me I’m ready to go again, but Linda wants to be home near the kids and other family and we will be doing several weekend trips this fall and next spring we plan to do a two or three month trip on the Chesapeake Bay.

Our final stats for our Loop:

Miles Travelled          6564

Days Travelled           147

Hours Travelled         761

Fuel Consumed         4192 gallons

Miles per gallon         1.57

Average Speed           8.62 MPH

Locks Traversed        173

Bridges Crossed        677, of which 66 were in one day on the Chicago River

Tunnels Crossed        8

Days lost to weather      58

Days lost to repairs        13

With this adventure over, it back to home and getting the house ready to sell, renovating and moving into the condo, and doing some much needed cosmetic and maintenance work on Independence. She did a fantastic job and never let us down, a few bruises and blemishes, but very sound and dependable the whole trip. One of the questions that loopers always talk about is what is the perfect boat? For us, Independence is the perfect boat, plenty of room, easy to handle, reasonably efficient and most of all very dependable.

As you look at the stats, it looks like a very scary long trip, but in reality it was 147 day trips of about 45 miles each, with no schedule or pressure to go on any particular day. We learned that if the weather did not cooperate, we stayed put and waited until the conditions were to our satisfaction. If we found a place we wanted to stay longer we did, if we found out about a local event happening that we wanted to see, we just stayed or went there. It was truly a very relaxing and stress free vacation that I’ll never forget.

June 3, 2018 - Belhaven, NC to Portsmouth, VA and Crossing Our Wake

Wow, we are on our last week before crossing our wake.  It's hard to believe we have been cruising for 13 months.  What an incredible journey and enough memories to file a life time!  In preparation for the final leg of the trip, Roofus got a spa bath.  Well, really a warm bath in the galley sink.  As you can see from the pic below, she was tolerant but more than ready to escape and has that 'take pity on me Dad human...get me out of here'.

We made our way to Alligator River for the night and captured this gorgeous shot of the evening moon with a replica of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse in the background.

On the 30th we docked up in Elizabeth City and picked up Patsi, Ken's sister, for the last few days of the loop.  We headed out the next morning and entered the Dismal Swamp Canal.  It was a beautiful day.  The canal itself is the oldest continually operating man-made canal in the United States, opening on 1805.  During the Colonial period, water transportation was the lifeblood of the North Carolina sounds and the Virginia Tidewater areas.  A canal connecting the of waters of Chesapeake Bay in Virginia and Albemarle Sound in North Carolina was first suggested in May, 1763 by George Washington.  In 1784, the Dismal Swamp Canal Company was formed with work starting in 1793.  The canal was dug completely by hand with most of the labor being done by slaves.  It took 12 years to complete the 22 miles long waterway.  Today the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates and maintains the canal.

Interesting fact.  The canal was closed in October 2016 due to the flash floods caused by Hurricane Matthew.  The runoff from the storm filled the canal with silt and sand, making it impassable.  It wasn't reopened until March of this year.  Timing worked great for us as we really wanted to make the canal part of our Great Loop experience.

The Dismal Swamp Canal is part of the Dismal Swamp State Park.  Combined with the national wildlife refuge that spans two states, is a 125,000 acres of wetland forests, making it one of the largest undistributed tracts of land remaining in the U.S.  It's home to birds, butterflies, black bears and more.  We didn't see any bears though, which was OK with me.

Dismal Swamp North Carolina - So calm the water was like a mirror reflecting the trees on the banks.

Dismal Swamp North Carolina - Patsi and Ken at the helm.  Love the smile on Patsi's face.  

Dismal Swamp North Carolina - Patsi got to be First Mate as we locked through at South Mills

Dismal Swamp Canal North Carolina - We spent the night last day in May at the North Carolina visitor center.  Just a few miles from the Virginia state line. 

June 1st dawned bright and beautiful and hot.  It had been warming up bit by bit as we moved up the east coast.  But after chasing spring-like weather for most of the trip, it was a smack in the face to remember that summer is hot.  Needless to say we ran the generator even while we were underway to keep cool.  But even the heat could not dampen our enthusiasm as we headed north on the canal and into Virginia.

Dismal Swamp Hamburg Ditch - There are 150 miles of ditches that have been dug for the purpose of slowing the drainage of the swamp in order to maintain the eco-system.

Great Dismal Swamp - All along the way were these beautiful flowering shrubs raining their petals down on the water.

Great Dismal Swamp - One of my favorite pictures.  So calm the banks reflect like a mirror on the water.  Our poor tattered burgee is ready to be retired.

Great Dismal Swamp - We picked up this passenger and several of his friends.

Great Dismal Swamp - Another gorgeous shot of the reflections on the water.

Great Dismal Swamp - In the background is one of the 10 remaining granite mile markers that were originally along the canal.  This one is #15.  There were originally 23 marking the beginning and each of the 22 miles.  Most have been lost.

Great Dismal Swamp - Welcome to Virginia.  Yoohoo!

Great Dismal Swamp - Patsi at the helm.  Should I be worried?

Great Dismal Swamp - Water lilies. 

Great Dismal Swamp - Our first water obstacle, a fallen tree across 2/3 of the canal.

Great Dismal Swamp - The Army Corps of Engineers marked the obstacle and we though we got by, we scraped at bit.

Great Dismal Swamp - Nearing the end.  Love those tannin filled waters.

Great Dismal Swamp - A big family of geese as we approached the Deep Creek Lock.

Deep Creek Lock, Chesapeake, Virginia - Almost home.  This was our 173rd and last lock of our trip!!!

Deep Creek Lock - Patsi is making my job so easy!!

Wow!  Home waters!  We are back on the Elizabeth River and the AICW.  

We docked in at Top Rack Marina for fuel and to wait on our children to finish their work week. 

Sunday, June 3rd dawn overcast with a threat of rain in the air.  But that did not damped our excitement.  Family was on their way to our home port at Tidewater Yacht Marina as we left our last stop on this 13 month adventure.  On our way to Portsmouth, we passed the USS carrier Eisenhower, #69 with it's iconic 'IKE' on the flight tower.

The next thing we knew, we crossed our wake at Mile Marker #0 which is the beginning of the AICW.  And just that quickly we were docked and our amazing adventure was at an end.

Once all the hugs and kisses were made, the champagne flowed with toasts all around.   Roofus got big bowl of water.

Then a moment of reality, we could now change our white burgee to gold.  Just too cool.

It was an amazing trip.  We made it and are still married,  And the best part I remember why I fell in love with Ken and why he is my best friend.  We set on a path to discovering new places and new friends with the Great Loop Adventure but we found the old us along the way.  After years of balancing work, raising a family and hundreds of other things life threw our way we were alone together 24-7 and actually got closer.  Best part of the trip!

PS from Roofus:
I survived!!!  6,600 miles later, I'm on my way to our dirt home.  I am with my Mom human, that it is time to get off the boat and truly settle down to retired life.  Though I know that my Dad human wants to keep going. Staying on Independence and keep looping has its appeal as my humans will always be close at hand and no going off hither and yon without me.  HMMMMM....will have to give that some thought.

But I will still be first mate no matter where we are, which means the world will always revolve around me!!!

Life is good!

May 27, 2018 Top Sail, NC to Belhaven, NC

The weather has been sunny and warm as we moved up the ICW on the last month of our cruise.  We entered Onslow County and past by Marine Corps installations and waters that proved more than a bit interesting.  Even though I had lived here for about 10 years, I got to see and experience things new to me.  It's amazing what you see from water vs. land.  We actually had to call ahead to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC to make sure they were not doing bombing drills.  Mind you, they are practice bombing with life ammo.  Lucky for us this was a bomb free day, so we didn't have to wait it out till they were done.  Not that I wouldn't have minded waiting if they were.  :)

Marine Corps Air Station New River, Jacksonville NC - This was my Dad's last duty station before he retired as a helicopter pilot.

Camp Lejeune is a major area for amphibious assault training.  We saw lots of evidence of this with all the wreckage of tanks and other military vehicles.

Camp Lejeune - At either end of the training area are warnings.  It says "STOP DO NOT PROCEED.  Live firing in progress when flashing.  Tune to AM 530."

Camp Lejeune - All along the way were these signs. 

Above "DANGER - Unexploded ordinance. DO NOT ENTER"  

Needless to say we obeyed!!

Below "DANGER - Live fire range"

Once we made it through, we headed to Swansboro, NC to meet up with my childhood best friend, Mary and her husband, Wayne.  We don't see each other often but it is like we never skipped a beat.  Love me some Mary.  It was a great day of cruising, catching up and making more great memories.  

Our next stop in North Carolina was Beaufort.  A quaint town with lots of things to see.  There was even a pirate ship that made a mock attack on a ferry heading out of town (below left).  And in the local supermarket we came across this very clever advertisement for SINGLE bananas (below right).

From Beaufort we headed to New Bern where I took some time to fly to Florida to be with my Mom and Dad.  Ken and Roofus held down the fort while I was gone.  Well Roofus mainly slept and held down her mouse toy.  :)  Ken caught some beautiful sunrises.

Meanwhile, I caught some gorgeous sunsets from Mom and Dad's backyard.  That along with a little wine and being with my folks made for great times.

A week later we were on our way again.  We decided to make a side trip up the Pamlico River to Washington, NC, known as "The Original Washington 1776".  The trip up was calm but once we docked up a storm rolled in for the evening.  But lucky for us the next day dawned bright and warm.  We went on the historic walking tour and really enjoyed taking in the ambiance.

Pamlico River on the way to 'lil Washington

Pamlico River - Look at all the pine trees.  I know I'm back in North Carolina!!!

The storm that rolled in that evening and surrounded us.  A 360 from top left through bottom right.  The is pics don't do it justice.  It was really quite dark and ominous.

Next day dawned clear and we had visitors.

The first thing we saw as we started the walking tour was this huge magnolia tree.  Awesome.

One of our favorite stops was the Regional Library but not because of the books but rather what was on the second floor...The Old Beaufort County Courthouse.  It's the second oldest courthouse building in North Carolina.  The neat part was that the library staff gave us a real old fashion skeleton key to get in so we could explore.

Back at the boat Roofus was keeping watch over everything and enjoying the air conditioning.  She is just too cute.  Love the Foo...

As we headed back down the Pamlico River we stopped over at Bath, NC.  It's the oldest incorporated town in North Carolina, being established in 1705.  Today it's a quiet waterside village.  My main interest in stopping here was to find and see the sight of the Devil's Horse Hoof Prints.  This was a ghost story I grew up with.  The legend was that in 1813, Jesse Elliot and some       companions planned to race their horses but being a Sunday and church time, his wife warned him     against such blasphemy.  Jesse's response was to shout in his horse's ear " Take me in a winner or       take me to Hell".  The horse promptly dug in its hooves, throwing him against a tree and killing           him instantly.  Some believe that the horse was actually the devil himself.  The hoof prints are             said to still be there.  Turns out we could visit the site but it was more than 3 miles out of town and     without a car would remain just a legend for us.  :(

But our stay had other benefits.  Turns out Bath is not only the oldest incorporated town in North Carolina, it was the first port and had the first library.  And Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard the pirate lived briefly in Bath.  In fact, in Bath, there was a traveling exhibit commemorating the 300th anniversary of Blackbeard's adventures in North Carolina.  It was a fascinating exhibit including artifacts from Blackbeard's flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge.

Surrounding Bath were fields of new corn.  When I was growing up most fields were tobacco.  Sign of the times.

View of Bath Creek and the Pamlico River in distant background.

But....the real treat was finding out that the Embers were performing in Bath, celebrating Memorial Day!  Ken and I love beach music.  And though my shagging days are behind me, we were up for some great music.  Fireworks followed the Embers performance.  A great day and evening!!!

With this great stop behind us headed back to the ICW to Belhaven and the Alligator River, on our way to Elizabeth City, where we plan to pick up Patsi, Ken's sister for the last leg of our loop.

PS from Roofus:

Life continues to be good.  Have my humans with me, my new toy "Baby Mouse" and lots of hugs and kisses.

And looking forward to Auntie Furr coming.  She's gives good hugs and scratches.

Yoohoo!