GLORY DAYS ON THE GREAT LOOP: A MILESTONE AND OLD FRIENDS

DAY 266, MON APRIL 9, 2012

DEP. STUART 08:00 ARR. VERO BEACH MUNICIPAL MARINA (mm958) 1:30.

D. 42.95 sm / 4004.25

WE JUST PASSED THE 4000 MILE MARK! It’s hard to believe, but we have cruised in this boat over 4000 miles since leaving Cape Cod June 4, 2011. We knew we would would surpass this milestone, but to actually have done all this still boggles the mind. We have another 958 miles to Norfolk VA and roughly 600 miles to Cape Cod from there for approximately 1500 miles to go. We are almost there. WHAT AN ADVENTURE!

Yesterday we spotted fellow Loopers Bruce & Karen MacDonald on Ookpik, their 38’ Marine Trader. After getting re-acquainted we discovered their destination for today was the same as ours so we decided to cruise together. On the way out of the mooring field, we found out that old cruising friends Sharon & Ken Vogel on Dockers Inn were at the marina next to ours, and NOT in the Bahamas as we thought. We immediately called them on the phone and made arrangements for them to meet us at Vero Beach for Happy Hour. We cruised with them for over a month from Georgian Bay in Canada to Grand Harbor in Lake Michigan, and it was really great to see them again. Prior to our “finding” them we called Gerry Newman, an old friend from E. Islip. He and his wife Valerie joined us for Happy Hour as well as Karen & Bruce. It indeed was a Happy several Hours for us and we hope they enjoyed it as much as we did. We were rafted up with Ookpik on mooring #17 for the night. It was a perfect ending to an “almost perfect” day. The “almost” happened at the intersection of the St. Lucie R. and the ICW. In spite of planning routes and using a chart plotter I took a buoy on the wrong side and grounded. I called Tow Boat US and they responded immediately. When I went astern to check the water depth I discovered there was more than 4’ of water there. I immediately went back up to the bridge, put the boat in reverse, and easily backed off. Amen! There are a couple of saying about the ICW, “If you can back off you are not aground”, and, “If you haven’t been aground, you haven’t been around.” You can’t be too careful.