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8/21/2008

So this is the day we officially got to our home port of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Of course Lake Michigan was windy and rolling. Our original plan was to just go to Manitowoc and maybe have Doug and Ben come with us for the final 3 hours the next day, weather permitting. Well, I guess the weather was not permitting. We were slogging through 4 to 6 foot seas again with the wind on the nose. Rolf was below napping, (anyone that knows him is aware that this is a common occurrence) and he got flipped up, turned over in the air and landed on the cabin sole on his hands and knees. There are always surprises on this lake. Since the weather forecast for the next day was worse, we decided to just head for home. When you leave a port and have a circular route back, the term for returning home is crossing your wake. That is the official sign of completing “The Loop”. So we crossed our wake at 4:20 pm today when we entered the Sheboygan Harbor. Doug and Ben and Todd were there to greet us and get the boat tied up. What a great welcome home. Rolf calculated the miles and it is about 5,400 miles and almost a year, since we left last year on August 27^.

Good bye from Kathy:

Well we are home now and the big question we are getting is What Next? The answer is we have no plans for anything. We just moved into our new condo this week and have a lot of work to do there so it is our new focus. Rolf will be working on the boat a lot this fall. The boat worked wonderfully but you know after that kind of hard use there will be some rehabbing going on when it is out of the water. We are very curious to see what the keel looks like. We have spent so much time in the last few years planning for this big event. We purposely left it open ended so we would be able to decide during the trip where we would live when we got back. We think we did the right thing to be back near family. We will check in on our resolve when it is 20 below this winter. 

The other question we get is would you do it again? My answer is that I don’t need to do the exact route again and be gone for so long but I would like to do parts of it. So maybe we would go back to some of our favorite places and spend some bigger chunks of time than we were able to do. I did love the lifestyle and the warm weather.

As far as taking a sailboat on this trip that was a worry at first because most of the boats that do the trip are trawler power boats. We were worried about depth of the water and mast height with the bridges. Yes, it would have been nice to not have to worry about the mast and to put it up and down. However, we were always able to get where we needed to go, so we just had to be careful in knowing where the bridges were and if we could go through. Our charts were good and showed every bridge on the whole 5 thousand mile route. We were in a lot of shallow water and had to be super careful. It would have been nice to have a 3 foot draft, but again, with careful planning we were able to get through and mostly every bottom was mud or sand. So when we ran aground we didn’t hurt the keel (we hope).  

The hardest question of all is “What was your favorite place?” We loved a lot of them but I would have to say for me it was Key West. The reason I say that is when we visited towns it was always fun to see something new. So after a while we were ready to move on to the next new thing. We stayed in Key West for 3 weeks and I would still be there if I could. I loved it. I will let Rolf answer these questions for himself. The other thing I liked the best was seeing all the animals and plants. Being in all those different climates and seeing the changes as you went along was fascinating.

What most people do at the end of this trip is make a list of their best and worst things. So we will try to do that.

Kathy’s list:

Best decision-I actually have two, shipping the mast to Mobile and getting full insurance coverage with Tow Boat US

Worst decision-this has to do with weather so I guess leaving the dock in Sheboygan to start the trip and getting into a storm with 50 mph winds right off the bat. We were really anxious to get started.

Best Marina-My first thought is Marco Island, Florida. I liked pretty much everything about it, nice town, great pool, new and nice facilities, access to great yacht club, good slips.

Worst Marina-Wardell in North Tonawanda. That was the guy who gave us such a hard time, overcharged us for the non-slip and the facility was a first class dump. (no hard feelings though).

My favorite place-Vero Beach, Florida. That is one snazzy outfit.

Best restaurant-no clue because there were so many fantastic meals

Worst restaurant-The marina restaurant At The Solomons. It took more than a half hour to get an egg for breakfast and it was still mostly raw.

Best bathroom-Pickwick Lake, Grand Harbor Marina, Mississippi. They were new and all marble and glass.

Worst bathroom-of course it would be Hop-o-nose. It was so bad I wouldn’t even enter the building.

I would also have to say a big thank you to Todd Wake (son-in-law) for getting us a remote control for our steering. Without that our trip would have been so much more difficult.

I am happy to be home and sad that it is over.

Love, Kathy

Good bye from Rolf:

It is bittersweet to be home. We will need to shift from the daily challenges of navigation, boat handling, provisioning and maintenance to the challenges of setting up this new condo and adapting to life on land.

Traveling by boat allowed us to truly enjoy the varied countryside from the rivers of the Tennessee Valley, to the Florida Keys, to the low country of Georgia, to the Chesapeake Bay. It allowed us to enjoy animals not seen in Wisconsin. There were Catfish, Herons, Egrets, Dolphin, Pelicans, Horseshoe Crabs, Manatee, Tarpon, Magnificent Frigate Birds, Jellyfish, Snakes, Alligators, Eagles, Vultures, Shrimp, Blue Crab and Sea Turtles to name a few. We were able to enjoy the local food specialties. Catfish in the rivers, Shrimp on the Gulf Coast, Crab dishes on the East Coast, Conch Chowder in the Keys, Low Country Boil in Georgia and Grits everywhere south of Kentucky. It was very easy to meet other “Loopers” as we all had flags from the Americas Great Loop Cruisers Association. While we did not travel as a pack you would often run with someone for a while. Also, you would meet new friends and catch up with old friends at the marinas and anchorages. There were many happy hours where Loopers would gather in the evenings. At times the party would move down stream from port to port. Population density varies from the complete isolation of the lower Tenn-Tom Waterway to the crowding of New York City.

Best decisions:

1. Shipping the mast from Chicago to Mobile. Thinking back on spending 3 months trying to keep the mast off the lock walls, away from pilings and away from our heads made this an absolute must.
2. Tow Boat US unlimited coverage. We only needed this service twice but it was well worth it.
3. Carefully measuring the mast height above water before departure. As you go under a 65ft. bridge you are sure the mast will be knocked down. Only by knowing this measurement can you relax.
4. Keeping an accurate log of fuel consumption. Very important when fuel stops are far apart.

Best Marinas:

1. Marina Jacks in Sarasota. Several on site restaurants, close to downtown, great facilities and marina staff.
2. Marco Island Yacht Club. Hot Tub and friendly yacht club.

Worst Marina:

1. Smithville. Lousy piers, no protection from wakes, the worst courtesy car and nothing nearby. In spite of this it did have cable TV.

Best Anchorage:

1. Mooring field at Marathon. Inexpensive, shoreside showers, mail room, bike corral, dingy dock and water spigot. Also had a pump out boat, water taxi and cruisers net. The cruisers net is a radio discussion of local events, a time to meet newcomers and ask/answer questions.
2. Vero Beach mooring field. All of the above except for the pump out boat. On bus line into city. Walking distance to restaurant.

Most significant problem:

1. Anchor becoming fouled around keel in river or tidal current. Once in the Mississippi near Cairo Illinois and once in the Little Shark River in Florida. Very difficult to correct. Since learned to use an anchor kellet to keep the line below the keel at slack water. Also, kept the helm hard over to keep from running up on the anchor line in current.

Best Restaurant:

1. Woody’s at Columbus Marina. Up on stilts with great view and steaks.
2. Church & Main in Candajohare, New York. Tiny little town with this gem.
3. Café Marquesa in Key West.
4. Grandview Hotel in Tobramory Canada. Whitefish to die for.
5. Many others too numerous to count.

The Loop has been a once in a lifetime adventure. Anyone interested in a similar trip should contact the American Great Loop Cruisers Association or attend one of the Trawler Fests around the country. You can jump start your knowledge with their help.

Norsketravels will be signing off until our next nautical adventure.

We hope you have enjoyed our story.

Rolf & Kathy