Lorenzo & Delois Johnson

We have completed the Great Loop!!!  WOW!! Man-O-Man!!!  REALLY GREAT!!!  What an Adventure!!  What a challenge!!!  Fun and enjoyment beyond measure!!!  WE did it!!!

We left Holden Beach on April 20, 2008.  We traveled North, through North Carolina, into Va.  We spent a lot of time on the Chesapeake Bay, then on to Washington, DC.  From there, We headed back to the Chesapeake Bay and continued North to Baltimore, Cape May, NJ and then to Atlantic City, NJ.  After a few days in Atlantic City, We traveled North to New York City, and spent a night at anchor in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. 

We traveled North on the Hudson River to Albany NY, then followed the Erie Canal to the Oswego Canal.  The Oswego Canal took us to Lake Ontario.  We traveled East on Lake Ontario to reach the Saint Lawrence Seaway, and continued on the Saint Lawrence to the Thousand Islands.  When we finally forced ourselves to leave the Thousand Islands, we traveled to Kingston, Ontario Canada, where we passed through customs and officially entered Canada.  We then traveled the length of the Trent Severn Waterway, into the Georgian Bay.  We traveled the length of the Georgian Bay, and entered the North Channel.  We then followed the North Channel back to Drummond Island, Michigan, where we passed through customs and re-entered our country.  We crossed Lake Huron into Lake Michigan, and traveled the length of Lake Michigan, to Chicago  Ill.  From there, we traveled the Illinois River all the way down to Grafton, Ill, where we entered the Mississippi River.  The Mississippi River took us to the Ohio River and then into the Cumberland River.  The Cumberland River took us into the Kentucky Lakes area of the Tennessee River, and we followed the Tennessee River through the Cumberland Gap to Chattanooga, Tennessee to see the Fall colors in the Cumberland Gap.  We left Chattanooga, and backtracked on the Tennessee River for 250 miles to reach the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway. The TennTom took us all the way to Mobile, Alabama, where we entered the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway.  We traveled the GICW to the Florida West Coast at Carrabelle, FL.  We then crossed the Gulf of Mexico over to Tarpon Springs, Fl, by making an overnight 180 mile crossing.  We then traveled across Florida to the Florida East Coast and the Atlantic Intercoastal  Waterway via the Caloosahatchie River and  Lake Okechoobe.  We followed the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway from  Fort Pierce Florida back to Holden Beach.

The real star in this trip has been our trusty vessel, Lil’ David.  We arrived back in Holden Beach with Lil’ David in as good or better condition than when we left.  We could change engine oil and filters, repair a dripping galley faucet, and start the trip all over again.  Lil’ David provided a very comfortable, trouble free and safe Great Loop journey. 

The real stars are the people we have met along the way.  My faith in my fellow man has been restored due to the many great people we have met along the way.    We have lots of really good people, friends, citizens, good Samaritans, caretakers, well wishers, and downright good human beings living beside us.  This trip has taught me, among many other things,  to concentrate on the good qualities of our neighbors, and appreciate what they are willing to do to help each other.

Summary:

Total Distance:  6, 033 miles

Duration : 373 days, 18 nights at anchor, 1 night underway, 2 nights on lock walls, 5 nights at City Docks, and 347 nights in Marinas.

Transited 2 countries, 16 States, and 144 locks

Diesel fuel used:  4,012 gallons

Wine: 4 cases (needed to properly appreciate sunsets at anchor)

We are back home.  We have completed our Loop.   More to come later.

We are 43 miles from Holden Beach.  We are getting close.

Lil’ David actually completed the Great Loop when we crossed path  in charleston Harbor.  In our opinion, the trip is not complete until we are back in our slip at Holden Beach.  We are ready to celebrate tomorrow.

High tide tomorrow at the Sunset Beach swing bridge will occur around 11:30.  We need to pass through no later than the 14:00 opening to ensure that we are not delayed waiting for the tide to rise enough to allow the bridge to operate.   We are also going to stop long enough to top off the fuel tanks, so we will need an early start tomorrow.  We expect to arrive at Holden Beach Marina at around 16:00.

We are in Charleston, SC.  We left the anchorage at 0700, hoping to arrive in Charleston early in the afternoon.  We were surprised when we encountered heavy fog.  The fog was in patches, and would appear without warning.  Thanks to Radar, good charts, and luck,, we made it without incident.  We were in very narrow and twisting channels, and we were navigating primarily on instrumentation alone.  The fog cleared around 10:00, and we were able to come back to normal speed.  We arrived in Charleston at 1:00.  We enjoyed a good dinner at one of Charleston’s great restaurants, and then we went grocery shopping.

We will leave early in the morning and head for Holden Beach.  We are planning to stop North of Georgetown and spend the night there.  We should arrive at Holden Beach Marina around 5:00 PM on Tuesday, the end of the journey.  We will drive back to Georgia on Wednesday to retrieve our car we left there a week ago.

Tonight, we  are at anchor in the South Edisto River.  This is a really beautiful spot to anchor.  Lois prepared a great smoked pork chop meal with all the trimmings.  This anchorage provided a great view for our dinner on the Aft Deck.

We had a good day today,; no unpleasant incidents.  We traveled approximately 75 miles today, and we had to negoitate  shallow water in lots of areas.  We did not hit bottom.

We are only 40 miles from Charleston, but it may be a long day.  There are several trouble spots ahead where the water is very shallow.  There were two reports on the cruisers Net of groundings in an area 10 miles ahead of us, and we will need to pass through that area with a rising tide and above half tide.   We will arrive in Charleston sometime tomorrow, but we are not in a hurry.

Arrived in Savannah at the Riverfront Park Dock on Thursday, April 23^rd after a lot of zig-zagging down the ICW.  There are an amazing number of switchbacks, s-curves and 90 degree turns on the Georgia Intracoastal. We tried to assist a catamaran that had cut past a nun buoy and ran aground by doubling back and throwing a large wake to help free him from the grounding.  Unfortunately, a big enough wake wasn’t possible, so the cat had to wait for Sea Tow.  We pulled into Thunderbolt Marina for a while because an alarm had gone off on  “Going There.”  A cleaning of the fuel filter put the vessel back into running order, so we took off again after about an hour.  Saw a herd of wild hogs grazing close by the waterway (versus the floating dead boar we saw at Two Way Marina) and an old civil way fort.  We passed famous Bonaventure Cemetery right outside Savannah and arrived at the dock by 2:00.  Lois, Lois and Julie shopped Savannah’s famous River Street and we went to dinner at Bernie’s Oyster Bar.

It was an interesting but noisy night at Riverfront Park.  Savannah is the second busiest port in the US, a fact that was very evident by the freighters and container ships that passed in both directions. Most of the ships waited until they pulled abreast of Lil’ David before sounding their (very loud) horns to warn other vessels they were going around the bend. 

 This is a very popular section of town for both tourists and locals.  There is a very large waterfront park here that hosts street musicians and artists.   This is a very enjoyable place to spend time.  Lots of food and ice cream vendors, so I am not anxious to leave here.

Friday was very hot.  Chuck and I assisted Bob in making some monor repairs to  “Going There” in the morning and then we headed downtown to enjoy a meal at “Mrs. Wilkes’ Boarding House.”  It was a country home cookin’ feast and I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Savannah.  The restaurant is only open Monday-Friday from 11:00 to 2:00 and expect to wait a long while.  The meal is worth the wait.  Wear loose fitting clothes; they will fit tightly when You leave this feast.

The Savannah Arts & Crafts Festival is taking place this weekend, bringing throngs of sightseers to the Riverfront to browse the crafts, enjoy the music, watch the boats and stuff their faces.

This trip continues to provide new friends and acquaintances.  We ate dinner with a couple from Charlotte, NC, and we hope to see them again on one of our trips to Charlotte.

We have really enjoed our second visit to the Savanna Riverfront.  It was much better visiting by boat than when we drove here on our scouting trip.

Tomorrow, We head for Charleston, SC, expecting to arrive there on Sunday.  We cannot stay here because all dock space has been reserved for the weekend festivities.  When we arrive in Charleston, we will use a rental car to go back to Two Way Marina to retrieve our vehicle that we left there.

Reality is hitting home in a very painful way.  Our trip is almost over.  If it were not for friends and family at home, I would start the trip for a second time, and avoid the sadness caused by ending our adventure.

We are on the move again.  We left Two Way Marina this morning at 0745, taking advantage of the tide changes effect on the tidal current.  This marina has the fastest running current of any waters we have been in to date.  Makes any boat movements very challenging.

Todays travel was very scenic and rewarding, despite the high winds.  Lots of marsh lands, lots of wild critters, and very few signs of civilization. 

We had a good weekend with the family in Norfolk.  We returned to the boat on Monday afternoon, fueled and made underway preparations on Tuesday, and today Portia and Starrie are humming along happily and doing what they do best;  push us toward  new adventues.  They are a welcome sound to my ears.

Tomorrow, we will be in Savanna, provided we can find dockage.  We would love to spend a few more days there if reasonally possoble.  

On Sunday, 4-12, we left Lang Marina in St. Marys Ga, and headed toward Savanna.  We had a good travel day, even though the waters in St. Simon’s Sound were very rough.  The Ga. ICW is a beautiful waterway.  It is full of nature, with very few signs of civilization.  There are very few straight sections; it is always winding and turning.  We traveled approximately 60 miles, and stopped for the night in Two Way Marina in Darien, Ga.  We had planned to move closer to Savanna to leave Lil’ David for our trip to Norfolk.  We were not able to find dockage for a week stay near Savanna, so we decided to stay here, and we are only about 50 road miles from Savanna. 

On Monday, we went back to St Marys and retrieved our vehicle, so now we can drive to Savanna for our sightseeing.  We spent Tuesday in Savanna, and today we did some more sightseeing.  The Savanna waterfront is really beautiful.  What a great place to visit.  A history buff would really enjoy touring the city of Savanna.

This marina is approximately 4 miles off the Intercoastal Waterway.  It is in a very rural setting, and everyone we have met here has been extremely friendly and helpful.  There is lots of parking space available, so leaving the vehicle here will not be a problem.  This is turning out to be one of our best stops.

The flooding in this area has created some very strong river currents.  The river is flowing through this marina at over 5 kts.  Between the wind and the current, docking was very tricky.  Needed three tries to make it. 

We will leave on Friday morning to drive to Norfolk for a  reunion with my son Daniel, who is home from Iraq for two weeks.  All my children and grandchildren will be there for the weekend, and we are expecting to have a great time.  We will stop by home (Holden Beach) on our way back on Monday.  We will leave some more Winter clothes home; and Chuck and Julie will return with us and travel with us for a while.

We left St. Augustine on Monday morning, 4-3-09.  We had planned to go to Jacksonville, and spend a few days there.  Our first problem arose when we reached the Bridge of Lions.  The bridge and the channel were both closed while making extensive repairs to the highway.  The bridge would only open for 1 hour/day, from 1:00 to 2:00.  We were aware that the bridge would not open, but we could pass under the bridge, without needing the bridge open, if we lowered all of our antennas.  When we arrived at the bridge, the bridge tender made it clear that both the bridge and the channel were closed.  We anchored, and made ready to wait for 5 hours until the scheduled opening.   Soon, we noticed that other boats were passing through  on the starboard side of the normal channel.  We contacted the bridge tender,  and He said that He could not give us any advice.  We were able to pass under the bridge, even though it was a challenging maneuver.  The winds had increased to 30 knots, and were steadily increasing.

The wind increased to the point that we decided not to go to Jacksonville, but rather we continued on to Amelia Island Yacht Basin, about 4 miles from Fernandino Beach.  We holed up there for 2 days waiting for the weather to improve.

On Wed, we moved to our current location, Lang Marina in St. Marys Ga.  We are finally out of Florida, but just barely.  The St Marys river serves as a dividing line between Florida and Georgia. 

This is the home for the Navy’s Nuclear Submarine force.  We have met a lot of Submariners since we have ben here.  We visited the Submarine Museum in downtown St Mary, and really enjoyed it.

Last night we had visitors.  Carla and Charles, along with their two adorable daugters, paid us a visit.  Charles is Judy and Garys nephew, and we really enjoyed the visit.  Their home is approximately 15 miles from this marina.  I really enjoyed the visit with them, especially being able to get a Grandparent fix.  They could have left the girls and gone home, and we would not have complained at all.

We have enjoyed our stay in this town.  Tomorrow, we will move on.  Hopefully, we will be in Savanna by mid week.  This section of the waterway is very challenging due to frequent shoaling, very few straight channels,and the large tides.  The tides average 9 feet, so there will be times when we wil have to stop and wait on the tide in order to have enough water under us.

Our adventure is rapidly reaching it’s end.  This saddens us, but it has been a great trip.  We will take a break, and start planning another trip.

We arrived in St Augustine on Friday evening.  Our original plan was to travel as far as the Matanzas River and anchor across from Fort Matanzas.  When we got there , we found several boats anchored there, and the winds were fairly high.  We decided to continue on to St Augustine and spend the night at a marina.

As we passed through Datona Beach, I noticed that a crab boat was chasing us down.  Then, I recognized the person as Chris, a very good and close friend from Holden Beach.  Last Year, Chris and his wife moved from Holden Beach to Florida.  He recognized Lil’ David as we passed his pot line, and He came out to say hello and to give Lois a bucket of live blue crabs.

Friday night the six of us had a crab feast on Lil’ David’s aft deck.  Earlier, there had been a short skirmsh between Lois, Kathy and the very much alive crabs in the bucket.  This battle took place within the confines of the galley.  The crabs won the first battle, but lost the war.  They forced Lois and Kathy to retreat with great haste and lots of noise.   I witnessed the entire battle, and found it to be very funny.  Lois and Kathy could be heard telling the crabs “Now Take That” as they proceeded to dismember and eat the cooked crabs.  I made a note of this event; I like to learn from the experiences of others.

On Saturaday, we went on a walking tour of St Augustine.  The first stop was at the winery, and some of Us indulged in some serious wine tasting.  All the walking required us to make several stops for ice cream, but we finally made it to Ripley’s Believe It or Not.  We spent the entire day visiting the many attractions the city has to offer in the historic district.  St Augustine has a lot to offer the tourist.  It has the most beatiful Historic District I have ever seen.  It was a really good day.

Today, we drove back to Merritt Island to retreive the car.  When we arrived at Harbortowne Marina, where the car had been left, We found that there was a huge marine yard sale in progress.  This was an awesome Yard sale.  Several hundred vendors selling all kinds of new and used marine parts and supplies were spread over several acres.  I cannot describe how exciting to see such a large volume of marine equipment on display.  I really need to visit this place again when Lois is not with me.

They finally dragged me away from the yard sale, and we went back to the Space Center to continue our viewing the displays there.  A highlight of the day was going inside the Discovery Orbiter.  What a great experience.

We have returned to Oyster Creek Marina in St. Augustine.  We will leave the car here, to be retrieved at a later date.  Tomorrow, we will get underway for Jacksonville, Fl.  Should be an easy day, since Jacksonville is only 35 miles away.