Good morning Loopers, Looper-wanna-be’s, and Cruisers everywhere,

What did we learn this past year on our Always Home Loop?  Here are a few items.

Time flies when you are having fun.
A dock mate here at Marina Jack asked…what did you do this past summer?   The summer?  We were gone a year.  Of course, the winter is spent in Florida somewhere on either coast.  Then spring becomes summer so quickly that it feels like we did spend our summer vacation in Canada!  A glorious time, to be sure.  We were gone for more than just the summer.  Amazing how quickly the year flew by!

We followed the AGLCA recommended calendar dates for major stops.  For example, you should be near the Erie Canal the first of June.  Chicago by Labor Day.  Florida by the First of December.   Yep.  We were!!  Especially with the weather delays that kept us in port from time to time.  We cruised the Loop in one year.  The rumor we heard is that more people climb Mount Everest than finish the Loop in a year.  We are one of those few adventurers that succeeded in fulfilling our Dream of cruising America’s Great Loop.

We did Homework and Studied almost every day…
We did more homework during this year than I did since college.  We learned to navigate, how to read nautical charts, and how to tie a line.  (still feels like a rope to me!)  Studying the route every day, planning the stops, finding the marinas Always Home could fit in, and learning all about boating.  It was work especially for non-boaters like us.

Other boaters who have been on the water a lot longer than we have, have an easier time of the Loop.  They already had the basics.  We had to learn those basics.  We were never bored.

Color is Everything on the waterways – 
Keep your eye on the buoy colors.  Red – Green.  We used colored clothes pins we placed at the helm and switched them as necessary.  The buoy colors switch often in the middle of a the ICW, river or lake.  Who knew?!  Sometimes “Red Right Returns” comes into play.  Sometimes not.  We kept a vigilant eye out so we didn’t end up on the wrong side of a buoy and then hear “thud” as the boat hit ground.

Blogging as a way to keep our memories:
Blogging is harder than it looks.  It actually takes quite a bit of time and energy to keep up with the daily details.  That explains why this blog is sometimes updated days after the event.  At least take pictures! They become your memory of the trip.  We are so glad to have put forth the effort.

Boat Cards –  we exchange our boat cards often.  Essentially they are business cards with contact information.  Some folks put their picture on the backside.  That helps when you are trying to remember ‘that guy you met on the street and trying to figure which boat he was from’.   If you don’t have some, get some!  They are very handy!

We remember the people because so many towns and marinas all blur together.  But the people…some of them quite quirky…stand out and become that picture in your mind of that time when you met them.  We met wonderful people.

We also remember boat names easier than the crew names.  We have tried to understand why.  Just how many “Daves” do you meet normally?  Or “Mary Ann” or “Jane”.  There are a bunch of “Bills”, “Johns”, and “Mikes”.  They all blur together.  It is so much easier to remember a boat name that is generally very unique.  There is only one Always Home, Bama Dream, Sea Horse, Nearly Perfect.  There are so many wonderful boats out on the water!!

The excitement rises when you meet another Looper in a new marina.  It is like finding your best friend has just arrived!  We all have the common stories of  towns and cities along the Loop route.  We have cruised the same water.  We will raise our glass of wine or a bottle of MGD in tribute every afternoon.

Wait for the Weather Window till it is right

Timing is everything especially when it comes to the weather.  The weather became more and more important as the year progressed.  Cruising the big water made weather watching a part-time job.  When can we cruise up the Chesapeake?  The Atlantic Ocean?  (we waited 11 days )  Lake Michigan? (we waited 12 days ) The Gulf of Mexico? (we waited 14 days)   “Weather Window” is always the watchword in the cruising world.  Don’t get the itch to move on if the weather is bad.  If you read the upper part of this blog, you will know that even with all the waiting at dock for good cruising weather, we still were able to do the Loop in a year.  Don’t rush it.

Great Idea!! – substitute Fender 
We are thankful for the idea of the beach ball in the laundry bag as a substitute fender for our locking days.  That idea came from a presenter during a AGLCA Spring 2013 Rendezvous.  We popped 2 excerise balls in the locks that cost less than $20 each rather than destroying a $150 round fender.  They were also lightweight and easy to move around from place to place on the boat.  A wonderful idea!

Geography

We learned geography!  We cruised near towns and cities that we had never known before.  17 states!! and Canada!  Having posted several maps on the blog helped us and you, the reader, with where we were in the grand USA.  This is snapshot of the map of our Loop stops.  Find the “A Map” at the top of this blog.  You can click on any of the red dots.  The location pop up.  Pretty cool.

Time is relative.
Where will you be next summer?  It is time to think of what your journey can be.  Time is now.  Time is relative.  ( and we aren’t taking about our in-laws.)  Do the Loop before you realize you cannot.  It is a lot of work.  Someone told us before we had begun our journey that “even when you aren’t having fun, you are!”  Imagine that!

Fishermen tell tales.  Loopers tell stories about that one time……