THE FINAL BLOG ENTRY

TRIP SUMMARY

BODIES OF WATER;   Bays, Rivers, Canals, Lakes, Creeks, Oceans, Gulfs, Cutoffs, Channels, Sounds, Straits, Ponds, and Harbors, all too numerous to count.

COUNTRIES, 2;   USA & CANADA

STATES, NINETEEN (in order);   MA, RI, CT, NY, MI, IN, IL, KY, TN, MS, AL, FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, MD, DE, NJ, NY, CT, RI, MA.

MILES;  6000+ (Average speed, 8mph)

FUEL;  3,000 GAL., $12,000, (Fuel efficiency, 2 mpg.)

MARINAS & ANCHORAGES;

239 Nights; $12,986

16 Nights Canada Parks Pass $392.

24 Nights Anchored

26 Nights at Free Docks

EXTENDED VISITS HOME

Sept.  6 thru 13, 2011.  Hammond, IN (Chicago)

Nov. 19 thru Dec. 4, 2011.   Fairhope, AL

Dec. 18, 2011 thru Jan. 10, 2012.   Gulfport, FL

March 7 thru 10, 2012.  (Joe only)  Marathon, FL

LOCKS TRANSITED   105

AFTERTHOUGHTS

This trip will be forever embedded in our memories.  There are many adventures we have shared during our lives, but they all pale by comparison to spending a year plus, cruising on the “Great Loop”.  As we look back on all the places we have been, all the times of great fun and pleasure we enjoyed, and the moments of fear and anxiety, we will cherish every one of them.  It was a terrific learning experience, not just about boating and places, but about people and life.  As we Loopers all say, even with all that adventure, the best part of the journey was the people we met along the way.  Without sharing this trip with fellow Loopers, it just would not have been as much fun.  Someone said, “You will regret the things you did not do, more than the things you have done.” and we are so happy that we did it.

The expense, worth every penny, the adventure, PRICELESS!

ALL THE BEST,

PAT & JOE APICELLA

 

HOME SWEET HOME

DAY 340:  FRI. JUNE 22, 2012

DEP POINT JUDITH 05:50 ARR. HOME12:43

D. 61.1sm / 5840.1

We awoke at first light, about 05:30, made the coffee and got under way by 05:50. Breakfast was served on the bridge while cruising out of the pond towards Block Is. Sound. It was another beautiful morning. Travelling this early is great. The wind is down, the air is cool, and the seas are usually calm. The only other boats we see are mostly fishing boats, although this morning we saw a Canadian Warship in Block Is. Sound. Pleasure, however, wasn’t our motivation for starting out early. We planned to cruise up Vineyard Sound because the current there would give us a 3-4mph boost starting around 10:00AM. That’s the difference between travelling at 12mph with the current or 4mph against it. Our course was pretty much a 28 mile straight shot from the Point Judith breakwater to Buzzards light. At 09:15, Buzzards light was abeam, we continued past Sow & Pigs reef off Cuttyhunk, and made our turn north east towards Waquoit Bay. As we arrived at the entrance to Waquoit Bay, our good friend John Russo was there to greet us and welcome us home. He escorted us thru the bay, into the Seapit R. and into the Childs R. our home port. We have several friends along the Childs River and were greeted by Tom Noonan and Bob Greymont. Tom, an excellent photographer took our picture as we cruised by his house. Tom also took our picture on the morning we left 54 weeks ago. Bob greeted us with an air horn and fireboat welcome. Needless to say we appreciated the welcome home, but had mixed emotions about ending the trip. We were sorry it was over, but happy that we completed it.

SUNRISE AT OUR ANCHORAGE 05:30

MARINA AT SNUG HARBOR

NICE HOUSE

THE CANADIAN WARSHIP WE SAW IN BI SOUND

ANOTHER SHIP EMERGES

JOHN RUSSO WELCOMES US HOME

TOM NOONAN TAKES A WELCOME HOME PICTURE

BOB GREYMONT BLASTING A HORN AND HOSE

GLORY DAYS RETURNS
  PHOTO COURTESY OF TOM NOONAN

WE DID IT!!!!

GETTING CLOSER

DAY 339: THURS. JUNE 21, 2012

DEP PORT JEFF 06:28   ARR POINT JUDITH POND 5:18

D. 93.1sm / 5779.1

We had a peaceful night on the mooring, awoke early and well rested, had breakfast and planned our departure time so we would catch the easterly current through Fischer’s Island Sound at 2:00.  Fischer’s Is. is about 9 miles long, 1 mile wide, and lies about 2 miles off the CT. shore near the end of Long Island.  Because of its proximity to the shore the Sound is relatively narrow and the current can get up to 4mph.  The seas were flat and the morning was sunny, bright and warm.  It was about 7 hrs of beautiful cruising on a straight line to the entrance to the Sound and our biggest challenge was staying awake, just the way we like it.  With the current pushing us east we made through the Fischer’s Sound in less than an hour.    From the eastern end of the Sound at Napatree Point, it was another smooth boring ride to Point Judith.  Point Judith was where we anchored out on our first day of our Great Loop cruise, so it was fitting that we should spend our last night on the trip here as well.  On that first day, we were not as experienced as we were today, and we anchored behind the jetties in the outer harbor.  As I recall, we had a bouncy night.  This time, we were much wiser, cruise wise, and took the 30 minute trip north into the upper harbor and found a beautiful anchorage.  Unfortunately, it was not as quiet as it first appeared as there were several boats heading home and creating wakes.  It wasn’t as bad as being in the outer harbor, and it became quiet and still after the sun went down.  We had our final dinner on board, went to bed early so we could get an early start for the final leg of our GREAT LOOP!    

PORT JEFFERSON HARBOR AT 06:28

RACE POINT LIGHT ENTERING FISHERS IS. SOUND

NORTH DUMPLING LIGHT FISHERS IS. SOUND

PASSING WATCH HILL RI

GALILEE, RI  FROM POINT JUDITH POND

SUNSET AT OUR ANCHORAGE IN THE UPPER POND

GLORY DAYS CROSSES HER WAKE!

DAY 338, WED. JUNE 20, 2012.
DEP LIBERTY LANDING MARINA 07:29   ARR. PORT JEFFERSON, LI  2:30

D. 61.9sm / 5685.9

Slack current at Hell Gate was at 10:30 this morning which meant we had to be there before then or the current would turn against us in the East River. The ebb current in the East River gets up to 4+mph and we don’t want to go against it for a few good reasons. First, it would slow us down, second, it would burn more fuel, and third, there is always a lot of debris in the river and we don’t want to run into it. We said goodbye to our friends Evelyn & Sid, Something Special, and Julaine & Fred, Boreas, and left at 7:30 to take advantage of the flood current. At one point the current gave us a boost of better than 4mph and we were doing almost 15mph. At 08:22AM on Wed, June 20, 2012, at Mill Rock, Hell Gate, East River, NY, Glory Days crossed her wake. This is the point where we officially entered the Great Loop on June 8, 2011, one year and 12 days ago. More about that later. We passed under the Whitestone Bridge, the Throgs Neck Bridge, and past Execution Rock into Long Island Sound. Much to our delight, and due to a little bit of good planning, but mostly good luck, the weather was excellent and the Sound was flat calm. We really lucked out weather-wise on both coming home and last year leaving through the Sound as the seas were flat then as well. From there to Port Jeff it was a beautiful, stress less enjoyable cruise. We called old friends Jan & Gary Gottlieb and made arrangements to meet them when we arrived. This was fitting as they drove to Croton on Hudson to meet us last June the first day we were on “The Loop.” We picked up a mooring in the harbor, took the launch to shore and brought them back to the boat for some adult beverages. After some catching up and a few beverages later we went out for a nice dinner, said good night and took the launch back for a great night’s sleep.

LEAVING LIBERTY LANDING MARINA

SOUTH ST. SEAPORT

THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE

THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

NY IS SPECTACULAR FROM THE EAST RIVER

THIS IS MILL ROCK WHERE WE STARTED THE GREAT LOOP!

THE #8 BUOY BETWEEN N & S BROTHER IS.
CHECK THE CURRENT

THE THROGS NECK BRIDGE AND
THE ENTRANCE TO LI SOUND

EXECUTION ROCKS

SCHOOLS OF MENHADEN IN LI SOUND

GLORY DAYS MOORED IN PORT JEFFERSON HARBOR

PORT JEFF

PAT, JAN, JOE, GARY
DINNER IN PORT JEFF

THE BIG APPLE

NEW YORK, NY

DAY 337 AT LIBERTY LANDING MARINA

We arrived at Liberty Landing Marina at 1:00 on Mon, and spent the afternoon and the next day in a whirlwind of touring and sightseeing. The marina was a good choice because it had easy access to the water taxi that went to lower NY. From there it was an easy walk to the tour bus stop, Ground Zero and South Street Seaport. We were very much impressed with the beautiful tree lined walkway ran along the shore of Hudson River. Since we did the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Ground Zero on Sat, we were able to take in some of the other sights NY has to offer. After we tied up the boat, the first order of business was a double decker tour bus. With only 1 1/2 days and so much to see, this seemed like the best way to get around. Like everything else in NY it was expensive. It is reassuring to know the laws of supply and demand are in force as no matter how much they charge, the people were lined up to pay. We all did the mid town/downtown route (for $68 you don’t get uptown) and scoped out the places we wanted to visit. After the bus tour we met cousin Karen Apicella for sushi at a great Japanese restaurant on the waterfront. On Tues we decided to see the Empire State Building and boarded the water taxi for the short ride across the Hudson. While we were discussing how we were going to get there, a woman of about our age offered to guide us to the correct subway station and rode the train with us to the correct stop. She was an actress with a summer home in Maine, and was enthralled with our tales of The Great Loop. She certainly did not fit what our expectations of a New Yorker were. We have met some of the best people everywhere we have been on this adventure.

We met Evelyn & Sid at the Empire State Building, spent an hour at the top and then had lunch with them at Jack Dempsey’s. After lunch we parted company as they wanted to see the Holocaust Museum and we wanted to see South Street Seaport and museum.   After the Seaport we stopped at St. Paul’s Chapel, which is NY’s oldest public building in continuous use.  George Washington worshipped there, and the 9/11 recovery workers received round- the-clock care there. When we got back to the boat our travelling friends  helped us celebrate our wake crossing, which wouldn’t actually take place until tomorrow, when they would be continuing up the Hudson River and we would be going up the East River towards Hell Gate & LI Sound.

INSIDE THE LOBBY OF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

THE FAMOUS WALL STREET BULL

NY AND THE HUDSON R. FROM THE TOP OF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

SOUTH STREET SEAPORT IN ITS HEYDAY

AN INTERESTING AND ARCHAEOLOGICALLY ACCURATE VIEW OF
MANAHATTAN ISLAND IN 1605 

AMBROSE LIGHTSHIP AT SOUTH ST. SEAPORT

INSIDE ST. PAUL'S

MEMORIAL TO 9/11 VICTIMS

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S PEW

OUR FINAL NIGHT ON "THE LOOP"
THE COVETED GOLD FLAG

TO THE BIG APPLE

THE BIG APPLE

DAY 336;   MON. JUNE18, 2012

DEP MANASQUAN 07:39   ARR. NYC 1:00

D. 46.9sm / 5624.0

After 2 day of tortuous cruising, today was boring.  The NJ ICW ends at Manasquan, so the only way north is in the ocean, up the coast.   The current was pretty strong in the morning so Mike, the assistant mgr and his deck hands helped us depart.  It was just a short distance from the marina to the ocean, about ¼ mi., and from there it was a pretty straight shot, 45 miles up the coast to NY.  The wind was 5mph, still out of the east, and the waves were less than 1’, but we had swells on the stbd. Beam of about 2’ – 4’.  It was a little rocky, but I much preferred it to the NJ ICW.  We cruised at between 8 & 10 mph, and at 11:05 we passed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, (thttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verrazano-Narrows_Bridge) the entrance to NY harbor.  At this point the harbor is almost a mile wide and there is a huge anchorage area with ships of all kinds from all over the world.  As we got closer to Manhattan, the boat traffic increased until it became very busy with ferries, water taxis, police & fire boats, fishing boats and cruisers like us.  As we passed the beautiful Statue of Liberty we (Boreas Something Special, & Glory Days) stopped to pose for pictures with her in the background.  We stayed at the Liberty Landing Marina, which is a privately run marina at Liberty Landing National Park, which is on the NJ side of the Hudson R.  From there it was just a short water taxi ride to Manhattan or the Statue.

LEAVING MANASQUAN INLET

THE VERRAZANO NARROWS BRIDGE

ONE OF MANY SHIPS TRANSITING NY HARBOR



GLORY DAYS PASSES THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

THE TIP OF MANAHATTAN

NY AT NIGHT FROM LIBERTY LANDING, NJ

NY AND THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

AC TO MANASQUAN, NJ

DAY 335:  SUN. JUNE 17, 2012

DEP. ATLANTIC CITY 06:10   ARR. MANASQUAN 1:37

D. 65.0sm / 5571.1

The wind is still out of the east at 10 – 15k and there are whitecaps on the ocean making it very uncomfortable for boaters, so we again have to take the inside route.  It was also pretty cool and we had to wear sweatshirts most of the day.  This part of the NJ ICW is a little better than the Cape May to Atlantic City section, the big advantage being only one low bridge and no rude bridge tenders.  It took us 7h 27m to go 65sm compared to 7h 45m to go 55.0sm on the last leg.  Except for the bridges, the cruising is pretty similar to the AC run, shallow and narrow channels through large shallow bays.  Like all of NJ the shores on the east are lined with houses from one end to the other.  Today being Sun, also Father’s Day, we see a lot of small boats fluke fishing and crabbing. A few miles north of Barnegat Bay we have to enter the Point Pleasant Canal, which is 2 miles long and 134’ wide.  While we are transiting there is a very strong ebb current adding another 4mph to our speed.  The canal is crowded and the strong current makes handling the boat a little tricky as we have to stay a good distance from the boats ahead of us because it would be very difficult to stop or turn.  It was white knuckles all the way, but we made it through to the Manasquan River with no problem.  This is where the one low bridge is, but it is always open except when a train is coming, and of course, when we get there, THERE IS A TRAIN COMING!!  Now we have to do slow circles with the current pushing us toward the bridge.  Hoffman’s Marina, our destination for the night is just the other side of this bridge and just before the inlet to the ocean. Except for a brief period of slack, when the current changes direction, there is always a strong current and lots of boat traffic.  Larry, the dock master has us pull up to the fuel dock for a pump out after which he, with the aid of 2 other dock hands puts the Glory Days in her slip. 

THE JERSEY SHORE, BAYSIDE

CAUGHT AT MANASQUAN THIS BASS WEIGHED 40+LBS.

THIS BOAT CAME IN WITH 500 LBS. OF SEA SCALLOPS