MANY THANKS

THANKS TO ALL This trip would not have been possible if it were not for the help of so many people. We would like to say thanks, first and foremost, to the Great South Bay Power Squadron, who kept us safe and taught us everything we might need to know BEFORE we left the dock. A special thanks to Larry Postel who arranged it so that we could take so many classes in a relatively short period of time. To our family, friends and neighbors who we knew would be there to help our kids in any situation that would require it (and did when Christy had to have her appendix removed). To our employees who kept everything running smoothly while we were away. But mostly, to our son and daughter Christy and Steven. If it were not for them this trip would have been over the day we came up with the idea. At 19 & 21 they took on all the responsibilities of running and maintaining our house, properties and companies (which are all still here and in good condition : ). I don‘t think we could have done as good a job at their age. It was a lot of work and a tremendous amount of pressure and responsibility. What an accomplishment…you make us proud! Also, to all our internet friends across the country (in particular the CHB group and American Diesel). These people were my cornucopia of knowledge for my mechanical and maintenance questions. It gave me an amazing piece of mind knowing, that when I was on the Mississippi river 150 miles away from anything or an out island in the Bahamas, I had somewhere to turn if I couldn’t fix something. And last, but not least, to all the great friends and people we met on the Great Loop. Whether it was our fellow Loopers or a stranger in a small town…everyone was willing to help with whatever you needed. It is amazing how many people want to help you attain your dream… thank you to everyone who helped make our dream a reality!

THE GREAT LOOP COMPLETED

MAY 30, 2007 (GREAT LOOP- COMPLETED!) What an exciting year! We were very fortunate to have been able to take on such a great adventure. In the past 360 days we traveled over 5,691 miles, have been to 3 Countries, 17 States, passed through 103 locks, 12 rivers/waterways, 27 islands, 10 lakes and many other bays, creeks, sounds, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. We stayed at 179 marinas, 40 anchorages/walls and used 2,650 gallons of diesel fuel. How do you end a log of such an amazing journey like this? As you know, Joyce has been keeping in contact with other Loopers online by posting comments through the AGLCA (America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association) throughout our journey. I think her final posting is a fitting close: Trinity pulled into her home port marina on Tuesday, May 29th. She actually crossed her wake at the Jones Beach Inlet on Sat., but decided to relax at anchor for a few days over the holiday weekend with some local friends. This was truly a terrific ending to a spectacular year of cruising the loop. As some of you already know and others are still finding out, one day is better than the next. Thanks to all the wonderful people we met along the way, the very helpful lockmasters, the friendly marina staff, the USPS, and the online help and support of the AGLCA for making this the most memorable year of our lives. The experience will never be replaced for any of us. We all feel we are so lucky to have met such an awesome group of people from all over the US, Canada and the Bahamas. Jaycie, especially, will never forget any of you. For those of you out there now and the others we met along the way....keep in touch for years to come and hopefully one day we will all be able to do this journey again and enjoy it just the same. Safe cruising on land and at sea, Joyce, Matt & Jaycie Trinity At rest on Long Island in Great River, NY

Great River

MAY 29, 2007 (Great River) GREAT nights sleep! Woke up to a beautiful day. We checked in with the marina and scheduled to pull the boat (put it on land) tomorrow. Started packing up stuff and made a few trips home to drop off some things. Interestingly enough, it was exciting and not depressing like we had expected. We love being on the boat… but we love being home too. Both our parents came out to see us this afternoon. My Mom showed up with a sign that read, “Welcome home Trinity crew” . We went out to dinner with Joyce’s parents to…you guessed it…Tai Show. The food was great, as usual, but even better because they picked up the tab J. The boat will be pulled 1st AM, so we went home to sleep. It was nice to be home. I will say that our neighborhood is up there with some of the nicest small towns we have seen on the trip. Had we been coming back to a really congested neighborhood or apartment building, it may have been a little depressing.

Zach's Bay to Great River / Home

MAY 28, 2007 (Zachs Bay to Great River/Home) Christy and Billy came to visit and we picked them up on shore. Spent the day hanging out and relaxing. Slowly the boats left the raftup and headed for home….we did the same. Traveling back from Zach’s Bay was really interesting. It was as challenging as the skinny water down south. We eventually made our way into the Connetquot river. We had planned to anchor out for the night and go to dock in the morning. After setting our anchor we saw Bobby and Corey (our neighbors) and other friends on the dock waving. We took the dinghy and went over to say hi. They convinced us to come in to the dock and tie up… so we did. A lot of people from the marina came by to say hi and to congratulate us. Our daughter came by again, along with my brother and his friend. It was so good to see them. We hung out, answered questions and told stories and had REAL NY pizza for the first time in a long time. Christy and Billy drove me and Steven back to the house (but I didn’t go in) . I picked up my truck and headed back to the boat.

Zach's Bay at Jones Beach

MAY 27, 2007 (Zachs Bay, NY) What a beautiful morning. Today is going to be the air show over Jones beach and we have front row seats. First am, my brother Doug shows up with his family. Then our best friends Todd & Jenn and their family. Then my sister Sue and Mark come by car so we dinghy over to the beach and get them. This is the most people we have had on the boat since we left. My son calls with boat troubles so we take Todd’s boat to go pick him, his girlfriend and my niece up at the launch ramp. If we took our boat it might take a couple of hours, but since his boat does 70+ mph….we’re there in minutes…AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! We get back to the boat and the raft has grown and everyone is having a great time. Jaycie is playing with all the kids, kyacking around and having a great time. I tell people that there were really very few kids on the loop. And although Jaycie made a lot of friends….they were all retired! While I was out Rick and Bill came by with their wives, I’m sorry I missed them. Lots of people “toured” our boat, we met a lot of nice people and made some new friends. The air show was great… the party was better! Watching Kevin & Bob manage a “raft“ is like watching Picasso paint a master piece. They move people in and out (from anywhere in the raft), set and pull anchors and turn the entire raft around with their little tugs (dinghies). We’ve gone almost 6,000 miles and been in every type of water and situation you can think of, and yet I am humbled to be in the presence of the “raft masters” : ) Late at night the wind picked up and we got a really nice lightening show. Oh, we also noticed the kyack was gone so Steven and I had to go searching for it in the dark. We found it on shore, on the other side of the bay and brought it back. Tomorrow, afternoon we will head into the Connetquot river to anchor for the night.

Atlantic City to Jones Beach

MAY 26, 2007 (Atlantic City to Long Island) Up at 5:30 because this could be another long day. It is a breezy morning, which is not great (we were hoping for dead calm). We hope the wind did not pick up the seas. As we approach the inlet it seems o.k., so we head out. Overall a nice morning with the sun coming up in front of us and glistening like gold on the water. About half an hour out, we get a call from Mulligan, who is leaving their anchorage. Watching Atlantic City slowly dissapear behind us is a really good feeling….we’re going home! It’s amazing, but we have heard more attitude and rude comments on the radio since we got into the “Metro area” than we have heard on the entire trip….and aurally, it’s a little depressing : ). On a brighter note, the water and day are BEAUTIFUL!! We could not have hoped for better. The water has flattened out with smooth light swells (1’ or less). The water has gotten that “glassy” look. To paint a picture, we are about 10 miles off shore now and I saw “radiating circles” in the water about 20 feet ahead of the boat. I looked for a fish as we came up to it and it was a moth that had fallen in the water and was flapping its wings. Today is the complete opposite of the Bahama crossing, which for our last “big water” crossing….was just how we would have liked it. We weren’t looking for a dramatic ending. The boat ran like a champ. As we saw Long Island in the distance Jaycie yelled ‘Land hoe!”. It was extremely exciting coming up on the Jones inlet (even though it was a zoo). Jaycie was so excited that she went down and stood on the bow. There was a very comforting feeling traveling in our home waters (even if they were shallow). Since we hadn’t expected to be back on the island so early (especially Memorial day weekend) and our marina is not ready for us, we will anchor out for the next few days. It will also give us a little time to assimilate. We know that some of our friends from the Power Squadron go to Zach’s bay for this weekend, so Joyce gave them a call. Kevin said they were rafted with Bob and a few other people and we were welcome to join them…so we headed in. As we pulled into Zach’s Bay it was packed (something we are really not used too : ). The first raft of boats start blowing their horns, waving and cheering….it gave us a really warm feeling. It was Rich and Bill and their friends….what a welcome! As we headed past them they pointed to where Kevin and Bob were. Again, we got another great welcoming as we approached their boats….this is going to be a fun weekend! We made calls to some friends and family with boats and they will be coming out tomorrow….can’t wait to see them. Rick and Bill dinghied over to congratulate us. We talked for awhile and they said they would come by tomorrow. We couldn’t have hoped for a better first day back on the island!

Chesapeake City to Atlantic City

MAY 25, 2007 (Chesapeake City to Atlantic City) Up at 5:45, dressed and on the sundeck at 5:50...the couple is already untying their boat and shoving off…disconnected and untied by 5:50...I think that’s a new record! Cool, but nice morning. A beautiful sunrise. With the sun so low all the bridges were in silouette….really pretty. We passed a operating nuclear power plant today and finished the C&D canal. We then entered the Delaware river, which interestingly goes all the way to upstate NY and right in front of our cabins. We saw, what we assume will be our last dolphins of the trip. We crossed Delaware bay and it was calm (we were told this can be a really rough, and long, crossing). Entered NJ through the Cape May canal. You can tell we are back in the NY area because the first three boats we saw, NOBODY waved (and they went by in a narrow channel at speed-no courtesy). We were supposed to stay here tonight, at Cape May, but the weather and water are really nice and we figure we will go, on the outside (in the ocean) straight through to Atlantic City. At this point we have been traveling about 6 1/2 hours and its another 5 to Atlantic City. The seas were 1-3, with an occasional 4. But all in all, not bad. Total travel time was 12 hours, I believe our longest day yet (did I mention I LOVE my autopilot!) I’ve been to Atlantic City lots of times over the years, but it was really something special to see it as we approached from the ocean side. We lucked out earlier when Joyce called ahead and got us into a marina (being Memorial Day weekend). Nice marina. Took the Jitney to the casinos and walked the boardwalk. The mall on the pier was redone since I was here last and it is AMAZING. At our dock we met another looper (from Colorado-some people transported their boat to do the loop) and they are 1/3 of the way through it. When we told them we are finishing in the next few days they asked (as lots of others do) “How do you feel?“. The best way to sum it up is that we are VERY happy to be completing the loop, but not happy it is ending. Back at the boat we listened to tomorrow’s forecast and it looks really good. Our next leg is supposed to be to the Manasquan inlet and we were told, if possible, do it on the outside because the inside is SHALLOW and not fun. If we get to the inlet and the ocean is good, we will take advantage of it and cross to Long Island. We are all very excited!

Annapolis to Chesapeake City

MAY 24, 2007 (Annapolis to Chesapeake City) My Birthday today. BEAUTIFUL morning! Sunny, calm and warm….what a day. Left before 7am. About a 5 hour cruise ahead of us. Fast 2 ½ knot current which worked to our advantage. It got really hot along the way. There was a lot of debris in the water. When we arrived it was a small, quaint storybook town. Perfect place to be for my birthday. Definitely my kind of town. Went walking around town, went to town hall (no, I didn’t have a meeting with the mayor : ) and went out to dinner to celebrate. Jaycie made me a really nice card and a model of our boat out of clay…awesome! Back at the dock we helped Mulligan in, a couple who have cruised from CT to FL every year for the last 42 years (we’re such beginners). We also met a couple from Oakdale….small world. We will leave bright and early tomorrow to take advantage of the currents again (and maybe cruise the outside with Mulligan who is leaving at 6:00).

Solomon's to Annapolis

MAY 23, 2007 (Solomon's to Annapolis) BEAUTIFUL morning! Sunny, calm and warm….what a day. Left before 7am. About a 5 hour cruise today. Fish were feeding everywhere (it almost made us want to stop and drop in a line). We are all getting really excited about completing the loop. Coming in to the harbor dozens of boats were racing in. As we got into the harbor it was a ZOO! I have never seen so many boats jammed into one spot. They were everywhere and we had to wiggle our way through all of them (and their anchor lines). It was really insane. We headed into the marina (yacht club) and it was great. Nice atmosphere. We got to watch the Blue Angels while eating lunch on our fly bridge…awesome. People were were packed everywhere. On every balcony, dock, restaurant and even roof tops. There were people on top of a 4 story high condo looking building sitting up on the peak. Loved the show and couldn’t have had a better seat. After the show we walked into town (which was hopping) and headed to the Naval Academy. Again, really cool. Their own “compound/town” which you really have to see to appreciate. Graduation is this week so a lot of it was closed to the public, but we got in the model ship museum and it is just amazing. There are actually model ships that were made by prisoners of war out of ivory and bones and the detail is beyond belief. Definitely too touristy for us, but still a lot of fun and exciting. Back at the boat we got to watch a sailboat race right off our dock (yacht club members). Jaycie helped me reinstall the starter (and while I was working on it, I decided to do some touch up painting on the back side of the genset). It started up beautifully and ran great. We’ll leave tomorrow and we figure, weather permitting, we should be home in about a week…..VERY EXCITING!

Solomon's Island

MAY 22, 2007 (Solomon’s) Borrowed the owners truck but ended up running out of time and couldn’t get to the repair shop (long story). Joyce did school with Jaycie and I caught up on some sleep. We headed to the maritime museum and on the way down the dock met a new looper. They were just starting and loaned us their car to get our solenoid…awesome. Went through a Menonite area (like Amish) and it was great (saw a few horse and buggies). Got to the repair shop and not only did he have the right part, but he put it on and tested it for me ($20 for the part and $5 labor!!! Unbelievable). On the way back to the boat we stopped at the museum. When we got back to the boat, Tim (Carol H) who we met in Canada, was waiting for us. We went back to his house and saw Carol, Shawn (their son / Jaycie’s friend) and Jack (their dog…Boo’s friend). Had a great time, but very strange being in a house and on a deck in a back yard. We caught up on everything and then they took us out for dinner. Great seeing them again. Great people and a great night. Later Joyce and I discussed a lot of the side trips we could do here in the Chesapeake. There are SO MANY that we decide to head home and make the stops that are on the way. We will come back another time when we can spend a couple of months here exploring the area. We will leave in the morning to go to Annapolis. On the news tonight we heard that the Blue Angels will be doing a show right over the marina we will be staying at. Should be great. We really liked Solomons.

Crisfield to Solomon's Island

MAY 21, 2007 (Crisfield to Solomon) Up early and gone by 7:00. We are trying to be very cautious cruising the Chesapeake. Last night NOAA said 3’ waves, this morning they said 2’ (except if the wind is going against the current and then it can be bigger… We figure we can handle a lot and if things are that bad we can always turn round and come back. The sun’s out, but it’s cool and breezy. Saw Vagabond had pulled anchor and radioed to see where he was. He was about an hour ahead of us and said it was a little bigger than reported out there. Once again most of the day was bow into the swells and wind. Although the other boaters think we are crazy for saying it, we really have fun in the swells. Today we “hobby horsed” the entire 5 hours. White caps were everywhere. It was a steady 2-3 with the occasional sets of 4,5 & 6‘s. Once we even put the bow sprit under (only the second time in 5,350 miles). Although we only passed commercial vessels while traveling, it was so much better than a boring “flat water” run. We were spraying water almost constantly and getting “misted” every now and then on the fly bridge. Everyone wanted to take a turn at the helm. Jaycie had a blast! Once we turned into the river which led to our marina, it was like a different day. Relatively still and hot. The marina we stayed at is the one where we went to a Trawlerfest to prepare for this trip. We saw a few loopers and heard some tried to leave this morning, but turned back because of the rough water. Once in I pulled the generator starter (which wouldn’t turn over) and tested it. It seems to need a new starter solenoid, so I found a local place and the owner of the marina is going to loan me his truck in the morning to get it. Joyce got in touch with Tim, Carol & Shawn from Carol H (we met in Canada). They live here and will come out to show us around and go out to dinner tomorrow. Look forward to catching up with them. Going to go into town after Jaycie finishes some tests.

Deltaville to Crisfield

MAY 20, 2007 (Deltaville to Crisfield, MD) Cold morning. Left 7:30. Big open water. Water mellow at first then picked up, along with the wind. 5 hours across with nothing to really see…boring! We crossed the Maryland border today (getting really close to home). We were going to go to Tangier Island but decided to go straight through to our next stop across the water (Crisfield). We heard the marinas on Tangier island are very exposed and that we should take a ferry to see it. Crisfield was kind of like a ghost town. Nothing to see or do. We were also told that Tangier island doesn’t really “open” until Memorial Day and there isn’t a lot to see… so we skipped it. We’ll be out of here in the morning.

Norfolk to Deltaville

MAY 19, 2007 (Norfolk to Deltaville) Very overcast and cool morning. The Chesapeake wind (5-10 knts) and wave heights (1-2’) sounds good, so we left around 7:45. Ultimate Taxi left a few minutes before us. There were some huge military ships and aircraft carriers we passed on the way out. As we came out into the Chesapeake, NOAA was wrong once again. Every time a big set would come and we would send spray flying we would look at each other and say, ‘It’s only 1-2 footers”. Luckily we were bow into the swells, but it was very lumpy the entire 7 hour cruise. It made it a little more challenging. Like when Joyce went down to make breakfast or I had to go down and change a fuel filter, while under way (I may have to consider changing to a 5 micron filter, instead of 2, because they are only lasting around 20-30 hrs). Other than the excitement of the water, it was a long monotonous cruise. Big water, kind of like the great lakes and wide open. We saw a couple of really cool lighthouses along the way. We heard some boats looking for a place to “tuck in” to get out of this. When we arrived at Deltaville the winds were pretty strong (I’m guessing around 20). When we docked we heard other Loopers talking about what a terrible cruise it was and how one wanted to go to a hotel for a week! We considered it pretty sloppy and choppy with occasional big swells, but not rough (although we did get “misted” up on the fly bridge a ½ dozen times-which almost never happens). I think after our experience crossing from the Bahamas, a lot of things are going to seem “not too bad” to us. Thank God we were taking it head on and not on the beam. We met a few new loopers and a few old ones. We took the loaner car into town. Nice town, real small, lots of land, real spread out…..LOVE IT! Back at the boat I changed the other fuel filter, tried to pull the starter from the genset (no luck yet) and put on my wet suit, mask and head lamp and dove under the boat to check our zincs. Sames zincs we left with from NY and they still look decent. They should be o.k. until we get back and haul her. We found out that boats have been waiting for 8 days for decent weather to go out in the Chesapeake. It is suppose to be the same, or better, tomorrow so we would like to take advantage and move on. We here the Chesapeake can get really nasty. They say that there is almost always a small craft advisory out and if not, a small craft warning. Joyce is checking the cruising guides and charts to see where we will go tomorrow. Triton’s Trumpet is about 2 days behind us right now.

Norfolk

MAY 17, 2007 (Norfolk) Overcast morning, but nice. Met a couple of other loopers last night and looks like we will all staying for a couple of day. We do some school work and business and then head into the city. We go on the battleship USS Wisconsin and are in awe. To give you an idea of the size, our boat weighs 45,000 lbs. Their anchor weighs 35,000 lbs….and they have 2 of them! We could only walk the decks because it is still an active boat in ready reserve. We then walked to the mall which was beautiful (with all the high end stores). Movies are back to $9 a ticket (far cry from the $4 in Alabama). Came back to the boat, played some games, watched some TV and called it a night. Weather is suppose to be “questionable” tomorrow, so we will see if we will leave when we wake up. If we have to stay, there is a lot to do here. (like Hooters having a bikini contest…but that stuff doesn’t interest a happily married man : ) MAY 18, 2007 (Norfolk) Woke up at 7, weather was heavily overcast, so went back to bed until 9. Joyce and Jaycie were still sleeping so I went to go on the sundeck and….WOW! I open the door and there is a MASSIVE white “moving object”. It is one of the largest navy tall ships from Spain, coming in to dock about 30’ behind us, perpendicular to our stern. They’re so close that when they threw a “monkey ball” (the ball with a thin line attached to their monster lines) it hit our boat. Our boat just keeps getting smaller and smaller : ) Suddenly a band starts playing (on board the ship) and I run down and get Joyce and Jaycie up. What an amazing sight. All white uniformed sailors on deck at attention. Someone from the ship threw one of their hats to the people on the dock. A fellow Looper (Sea Sea) caught it and gave it to Jaycie. What a great way to start a day. Did our typical school and work and then headed to the movies. The theatre was so big (and empty) that we made it a double feature day. As we walked back to the marina, we saw Ultimate Taxi at the dock (the 68’ Hargrave). We haven’t seen them since Mississippi. We talked for a while. It was nice to see them again. Funny that their boat, which was HUGE in the river system, is now very average looking and kind of small compared to what is around here. Back at the boat we got to watch fireworks down the river and the tall ship had a party (w/music) going on behind us. Nice night. Side note: When we arrived it definitely felt like a city, but after staying a while it seemed to get smaller. Really nice place to visit.

Coinjock to Norfolk, Va

MAY 16, 2007 (Coinjock to Norfolk) Lots of bridges (and a lock) to try to make on the hour or half hour. I was up at 5:45 (don’t ask why) and by the time I got on deck ¾ of the boats were gone or leaving. It was just light enough to see things…so Joyce got up, we prepped the boat and were gone by 6:15.…WOW! Cool morning, but nice. It was a beautiful sunrise (can’t say we have seen all that many of those-although lately we seem to be getting closer to them). Lots of narrow and large bodies of water. We expecting about 6 hours of traveling. Caught up to all the other trawlers and sailboats (the “go fast boats” were long gone). Got the first bridge and had 30 minutes to make the next bridge opening. If we could get ahead of the sailboats and slower boats (about 8 of them) and cruise at our 8 ½ knots we would make the second bridge without having to wait the extra ½ hour. Then we would get breakfast at a restaurant on the lock wall while waiting for the other boats. Passing took some time so as not to wake them and for some reason one boat was blocking the left side of the channel while not passing (kind of like 30 mph in the left lane of the LIE). Eventually we got passed them and pushed the engines a little to try to make up for the time. We got the then next bridge and were told, by the operator, that we missed it by 2 minutes!!! Ouch! So we hovered, in the wind, eating our breakfast aboard (not the relaxing breakfast served dockside I had imagined : ). ½ an hour later, all the boats caught up (you could almost hear the giggles from the sailboats) and the bridge opened and we headed for the lock. The lock was packed and unfortunately one boat couldn’t even get in and had to wait an hour for the next lock. Without trying to sound cocky, it was only a 3’ drop with a smooth and easy drop. I don’t know why they didn’t have him just raft to someone. We all headed out of the lock and for the final opening of the day…the twin railway lift bridges. When we got there we had to wait for the opening. We waited 15 minutes. Then, when they went to open, the second bridge broke and we were told to sit tight while they get someone to fix it. There were about 15 boats waiting (ranging from a small commercial barge, couple of 70’ yachts, powerboats and sailboats in a variety of sizes). With current and wind pushing everyone towards the closed bridge it was like a 3 ring circus (I should have taken video). For the non-boating readers, each boat, due to draft (hull under water), windage (height above water), weight, size, shape, single or twin engines, etc… will react and handle a little differently in wind and current. So every boat is “blowing/moving” in it’s own unique little pattern. Add to that, that some boats prefer to fight to stay in place, while others drift and others motor around….quite the scene! Then to add to the mess, the bridge we had just come through, lets another load of boats through which add to the “pile up”. Amazing that no one “bumped” boats out here. After about 40 minutes, or so, the bridge finally opens and we are off. Something I find interesting is that the slow boats don’t like being waked by the fast boats…and yet, will not let them “slip by” before going under the bridge, making them have to pass them as soon as they get going on the other side…go figure?! Anyway, as we get closer to Norfolk it is like we are back in the river systems again. Heavy commercial, industrial type operations all over the shores. You can start to feel the Naval prescence as we get closer to the city. HUUUUUGE military ships! Really AWESOME ! Suddenly “Turmoil”, the 210’ expedition tralwer yacht with the 3 boats on her bow…is a TINKER TOY! The wind is still blowing pretty hard and the marina we go to is very narrow and tight. Although I was concerned, docking went well. We are right in the heart of downtown Norfolk, VA. It looks like a great place to be. There are other loopers here, which we have not met, so we will go see them after we settle in. We are pretty sure we will be staying here for a little R&R for the next day or two.