Croton-on-Hudson to Cornwall-on-Hudson
Today is Robin’s birthday so it was awesome to be able to take her on such a great cruise—this stretch of the river is jaw dropping and among the best scenery we’ve seen of the Loop. Docking at Cornwall was a challenge—stern in only—but they helped us get situated. Then we had to deploy the dinghy...
Cambridge to St Michaels
Hardly slept at all as it felt like the boat was slammed around all night. A little beamy—not anywhere as bad at Castaway Cay but still kinda hard to sleep. Wanted to have the Polts onto the boat for breakfast and give some of them a ride into town, but the wind was really whipped up. So we had brea...
Hyatt Cambridge MD
Windy overnight but we were fine. Breakfast in morning downtown Cambridge, where we ran into Tammy and Dennis from Exodus. Walked around town, which seems liberal—still has Black Lives Matter on street. A few cool murals. Walked to a rundown neighborhood but it was nice to find a corner grocery stor...
Solomon’s Island
Tons of birdsong at our anchorage this morning, and saw a fox family chilling and moving about in a front yard. Left around 10:30 for yacht club. Checked in, rode our bikes around, and had lunch at Island Hideaway So many Loopers here! Almost feels like the river system again, meeting so many people...
Smith Island
We left Crisfield on a rain-free day, thankfully. A little skinny getting into Smith Island, and a bit confusing where to tie up. $20 for the afternoon was a rip off to say the least. Walked around and saw the post office and bakery, which is closed til 2:00pm. Went through the museum, which was wor...
Crisfield 5/12-14
Cool harbor with lots of seafood processing. Andrew took his bike into town and didn't have anything positive to say about it. Had docktails with Til You Can't, Alba, Resonance, Launch 101 (Dave and Wanda), Mike (solo), and a Palm Beach boat under the pavilion. The marina was a pork project of a pas...
Cape Charles MD
Maryland, our 13th state! Kind of a cold rainy morning if I recall. Very, very calm on the bay, sun and clouds. Tied up and explored the town by bike—liked it, reminded us a bit of Frankfort, not quite as upscale. Had apps and drink and then back to boat for the rain.
Gloucester Point VA
Andrew met with North Point Yacht Sales guys and I rode my bike to get a pedicure. Had dinner at marina restaurant—not great. Wonderful clean, high pressure showers.
Hampton VA
Uneventful cruise through Norfolk harbor. Not particularly busy. Had dinner at marina restaurant—pretty good. Then went grocery shopping on bikes and as usual bought a bit too much to carry. Andrew had to balance a 10 pack of coke with a huge backpack plus milk crate. :)
Dismal Swamp Welcome Center to canal’s north wall
Andrew rode bike in the morning while I chatted with passersby including someone who worked for the FBI and had dreamed of doing the Loop (and follows the Looper groups on Facebook). Went to state park for short hike and checked out history center—great place, but didn’t see any bears, darn it. Crui...
Dismal Swamp
We left Elizabeth City with the intention of anchoring on the river before the canal, but to kill time and charge our battery bank we cruised all the way to the lock. I called teh Welcome Center to see if we could tie up if we could get through the canal, and they said yes, so we hailed the lockmast...
Elizabeth City
Left Manteo around 7:30-8:00. Not a great day to be on the Albemarle with waves on our beam seemingly no matter what direction we headed (Andrew tacked our way across). Wasn't terrible but easy or pleasant to move about the boat. Andrew felt a little queasy but I was okay. Long day (got in around 4:...
Outer Banks via rental car
Woke up early, rented a car, and cruised almost the whole length of the Outer Banks except Ocracoke and the northernmost part. The wild Cape Hatteras National Shoreline is pretty amazing—very unique. The southernmost town seemed like it might be cool. But everything is car-centric. The town of Duck...
Manteo
Somewhat sporty ride across the Albemarle—beamy seas but only maybe 2’. Long day. Wind picked up a lot and was tough to get into our slip without assistance (no staff on site). Sloppy seas there, we got banged around and thought about moving but not worth it. Had a quick dinner at the local tavern....
Belhaven NC
Long, not pleasant day with beam seas off and on. Ugh. Happy to get tied up. Marina is no frills but good vibe. There’s nothing to the town though. Finally got our personalized Tortuga swag delivered—insulated cups, coffee mugs, baseball caps. Woot! Turned out pretty well. On our way in we spotted A...
Oriental NC
Had breakfast with Bill then he headed west and we cruised up to Oriental. Don't remember much about the cruise. Oriental Inn & Marina has a cool, chill vibe. Seems like working class town. Tiki Bar was popular with locals, folks staying at the inn, and boaters. Met a couple from Annapolis who were...
Beaufort, NC
Andrew took Bill's van to Beaufort and rode his bike back, while Bill & I hung out; Bill got bagels while I took a shower. Then we all cruised to Beaufort. A little cloudy, had some rain, didn't see dolphins. Bummed it wasn't a better cruise for Bill. Walked around town, had a drink at a pizza place...
Swansboro NC
Short cruise after waiting a bit for bridge opening. The marina is just okay, nothing fancy with icky bathrooms and a single shower. Bill Bartlett met us here in his Sprinter van—yay!—and we hung out on the boat catching up. In the meanwhile we were messaging with Katoomba and they decided to stay...
11/23/24 St Pete FL
Just past beautiful looking college campus—in my next life. 🙂 Jim and Jodie Baas happened to be in town and kindly picked us up to go into St Pete for lunch. Went to artsy neighborhood, cool. Day two Ubered to Dali Museum (ok) and had dinner sidewalk restaurant downtown.
9/18/25 Joliet IL
First real day of Looping in the books! We really don’t know what we’re doing. Abilene and other Loopers tried to radio us outside Chicago but we didn’t have our VHF on. Ouch. Tied up in Lockport and other lock with, Mark. I was very relieved there was room to tie up to the free wall with 12-15 or...
9/19/25 Heritage Harbor Marina
Left Joliet early (dark-ish) with large group, very nice to have them help us go through lock! Tied up with Tika. Arrived mid-afternoon, around 96º, drenched with sweat. Very nice facility. Quickly got into unheated pool which felt GREAT. Lisa and Vern from Out of the Blue, talked about Tiaras lol....
11/18/25 Clearwater
Dodged a zillion crab pots on the way here. Thrilled to be done with the crossing! Free place to stay at Tiara service place, but no power and little sunshine so a lot of running the engine. Nice electrical guy checked our batteries and convinced us to replace our very old started battery.
11/16/25 Steinhatchee
Early start the next day (5:45 am) in the dark but with the benefit of the full moon. Long day making the big crossing; started with 2-3’ on the nose, pretty comfortable but still a little nerve-wracking out of sight of land or any other boats. The waves picked up, on the beam, for a couple hours mi...
9/20/25
Kind of a trip. Tied up on iffy fuel dock with crumbling wall we had to scramble over to get to ground. Other Loopers were on sketchy wall. The marina docks are nice but water is 2.5' deep so no one can get to them. Walk to sad town, Grandma's Bar for dinner with Andy & Kim (Sweet Equity), Bon Vivan...
10/12/25
10/12- 10/15. Great vibe, fresh cinnamon rolls delivered by Billy, who was a character and told us about his friend Useless Gene Duff, who they called Lucky.:) Lots of Loopers here. Went for hike in historic park with Leslie (Aloan Again); Loretta Lynn Museum with Gratitude and Sweet Equity; Walmart...
12/31/25 West End, Grand Bahama
This morning, today’s forecast looked just a little bit better than it did yesterday so we decided to go for it. We were shocked to no one else in the anchorage was living, but then thought maybe they were going to catch up with us. Nope! Cruised out in the dark, but we had the lights from houses an...
1/1/25 West End, Grand Bahama
Said goodbye to Bob & Debbie who were heading to Hopetown and Tony & Tina. Everyone else was staying another day to chill. Tried snorkeling in the beach; there wasn't anything to see, but it was pretty great to be in the Bahamian water. S/V Hannah had a bunch of us on their boat for docktails that w...
1/7/25 Hope Town
Due to weather concerns with going through Whale Cut (twice), we opted to hitch a ride with the Engels from Green Turtle to Treasure Cay and taxi to Marsh Harbour, then we took a ferry to Elbow Cay. Couldn’t decide between a hotel outside of town or AirBnB in town, so we figured we’d scope things ou...
1/8/25 Hope Town, Elbow Cay, Abacos
Had breakfast, shopped in town, then walked the beach about a mile to On Da Beach bar & grill for fish cheese melt sandwiches (really good!). Then back in time for the ferry to Marsh Harbor, taxi to Treasure Cay, ferry to Green Turtle, and walk back to the boat at the Engels. It was magical to be ab...
1/14/25 Great Harbour Cay
We moved to the marina for electrical and in advance of a blow coming through. The screwy electrical took some working on the staff to figure out and the fixed docks are really high, but the price isn’t too bad. Andrew saw Randy King and other Saugatuckers briefly! Took courtesy bikes for a ride to...
1/17/25 Little Harbour Cay
Tricky ride here due to chop, especially at the cut. Got anchored and took a long dinghy ride to hike to Hoffman’s blue hole—very cool! Tried to outrun dark clouds by slowly cruising in the dinghy (lol) and got absolutely soaked. Day two, we hitched a dinghy ride with Me-shell to Flo’s, which is a...
2/8/25 Lee Stocking Island
Left Stocking Island and took the outside route north, which wasn’t pleasant at all. Stopped at White Bay Cay to recover and see the pigs but we were too cautious to get out of dinghy. Fed two of them carrots and got a little freaked out when one of them seemed to pull down on our dinghy. They are B...
2/10/25 Tiny Galliot Cay
Went to Musha, dinghied to Little Lansing but it was too rough to snorkel the plane wreck, then walked the lovely sand dollar beach at low tide. Moved to Tiny Galliot where we enjoyed the snorkeling despite strong current. Interesting coral, some fish. Moved to Big Farmers via shallow water, made bu...
2/23/25 Big Majors
Chatted with No Rush in morning and then ended up right behind them at Cruisers Beach anchorage. But first we stopped at the Grotto for a quick snorkel. Stayed in all day—windy, chilly, rainy. Weird. Woke up a few times and checked alarm overnight but all was fine.
2/26/25 Warderick Wells Park
Woke up at 6:00 to get to WW by 9:00 since I didn’t get an email back. Got a mooring ball! Not sure what I expected but was way more wide open and boats closer together; the boat right in front of us is super closer (you’d never anchor so close). More of a social scene than I thought. Absolutely bea...
2/11/25 Little Farmers Yacht Club
Checked out the ‘marshland’ on north end of Big Farmers beach —very cool—then went to meet up with Rebecca and Me-Shell on Little Farmers. After making dinner arrangements with the yacht club we went into town for a drink and ran into everyone. Percy at Katey’s place was great and talked to us about...
2/28/25 Shroud Cay
Moved here early; dinghied the mangrove river to the rapids. Saw lots of turtles and a lemon shark in the super clear water. Beautiful trip. Rapids are very cool and the beach there is stunning. Saw more turtles and a small ray on our way back. Looked around for snorkeling sites listed on map and f...
3/1/25 Long Cay
Anchored here to check out snorkeling noted on Navionics. Had lunch waiting for low tide. Started at coral field southeast of us; unfortunately it was cloudy and there was a pretty strong current. Large field but unhealthy coral and not a lot of fish. Then we moved to Long Cay Reef and WOW, might ha...
3/2/25 Nassua
Back to Nassau--very sad to have left the Exumas. Did a couple loads of laundry, had a late lunch at Poop Deck. Monday Andrew met up with Jim & Carol and went to marine stores while I rescued Jim’s runaway dinghy:). Filled water tank and got groceries.
3/8/25 Lucaya
Another 10 hour trek, this time with 2' waves from one direction, swell from another, and wind from another, or so it seemed. I didn't feel nauseous and was fine when seated, but the iPad kept sliding onto floor and it was hard to move about at all. Active steering. Kind of exhausting over all. Gra...
3/13/25 West End
Left Lucaya around 10 am with s/v Rebecca for a pretty easy ride to West End, where we reconnected with Bob & Debbie from m/v Rosalita—it was great to see them again and catch up over drinks by the pool and dinner. Woke up at 3:10am and took a peak at the lunar eclipse/blood moon, which was super co...
3/19/25 Eau Gallie
Andrew took the car to Sebastian and rode his bike back. Cruised up there in the morning with the Burdens. Worked out great! Probably the prettiest stretch of the eastern ICW so far, great weather, saw dolphins and pelicans etc. So glad it worked out. Left Mary & Dave after lunch and spent the after...
3/20/25 Titusville
Opted to go all the way to Titusville instead of anchoring near NASA. Kinda bummed we weren’t there for a launch. We were going to anchor but the wind was crazy so we got a slip. Saw Casey from Tika and, finally, Scott and Leslie from A Loan Again, our very first Looper friends! Had drinks with all...
3/21/25 Edgewater
Big day as we brought Tortuga back to her previous home! Gianna joined us for the cruise in cold but sunny conditions, Parts of the cruise were quite pretty, especially through the Haulover Canal. Made it into Joe & Gianna’s canal with help from their neighbor Rob, who hopped on our boat to guide u...
3/26/25 St Augustine
Walked around town admiring the historic buildings and upon returning to our slip heard a familiar voice—belonging to Allen Bragdon, who I haven’t seen in at least 10 years (Andrew has seen him at boat shows). Given that he lives in Cape Cod we had no reason to think we’d bump into him here! He just...
3/27/25 St Augustine
Laundry, shower, and shopping—while checking out the alleys and great old buildings—before meeting Andrew for lunch. Clayton (from Tiara) and Jamie, who were in town on vacation, stopped at the boat for a beer. Toured Allen & Lisa's fabulous boat then joined them for dinner at the 115-year-old Colum...
3/28/25 St Augustine morning
Got a much-needed pedicure and enjoyed the walk back while Andrew took a bike ride, then headed out; I would have loved one if not two more nights here, but we need to keep moving and there were no slips available. Will definitely go back. Said goodbye to Allen and Lisa and shoved off a bit after 11...
3/28/25 Fernandina Beach
First impression of Fernandina Beach isn’t great as it’s home to two paper mills. Loved the workboats at marina entrance, though. Took quite awhile to get to dock due to a dredging barge that would come back to haunt us early the next morning. After a walk through town the megayacht next door was pl...
4/3/25 Thunderbolt GA
Left around 7:00-7:30 for long cruise. This may have been the day we ran out of fuel (in one tank, phew) AND ran aground. First issue was solved by switching tanks, although it took a couple of minutes which was a bit nerve-wracking since we were drifting towards shallow(er) water. After running agr...
4/10/25 Charleston
Left fairly early and made it to Charleston by mid-afternoon. Craig met us and dropped off our Amazon packages. We opted to stay in tonight since we still have all day tomorrow to run errands, etc.
4/12/25 Charleston SC
We picked up Ray and Emily from the airport around 10:30am—yay! So great to see them. Walked around and shopped then had lunch at Millers All Day, which was good. Got the kids checked into the hotel and then went to Boone Hall Plantation which has several preserved enslaved peoples quarters and a la...
4/21/25 Myrtle Beach (Little River)
The cruise here went from the beauty of the Waccamaw River to the ditch that runs through the Myrtle Beach area. Sarah Goy picked us up and took us back to Owen's apartment, then we all went to Patio's for dinner, a crazy dessert place, and back to the YC for drinks. What we saw of MB was less over-...
4/22/25 Southport NC
Left MB early to try to minimize dealing with holiday weekend traffic and high tide but alas, there was very heavy traffic with speedboats waking us from either side the majority of the way. The ditch gave way to natural waterways pretty quickly. Interesting scenery, with beaches and the ocean inlet...
Camp Lejeune/Mile Hammock Bay anchorage
Someone hailed us on the radio to pass us, and the crew of Katoomba overheard, which tipped them off to our whereabouts. We had no idea they were anywhere near us—a pleasant surprise! They were going to stop for lunch somewhere but when we cruised by it looked way too tight for either of us to get i...
4/17/25 Waccamaw River anchorage
Shortly after leaving Georgetown the scenery changed dramatically, from lowlands with nothing but golden grass to rivers lined with green live oak and cypress trees with Spanish moss. Really beautiful. Stopped for fuel (“cheapest on the East Coast” at something like $3.12 for diesel). This area feel...
4/16/25 Georgetown SC
Nice marina right in town, nice facility and cheap laundry—did 6 loads, including throw pillow covers. Woo hoo! Got in early enough to explore the town by bike, then Andrew went for a bike ridem then we had docktails with Coastal Fogg, soon-to-be Loopers who are originally from Toledo.
4/15/25
A bit of a spicy start getting out of Charleston and past the inlet. Took a cruise into McClellanville to check out all the very cool fishing boats, then anchored in another exposed lowlands anchorage. Very pretty in a nature preserve but exposed to the high winds. Fortunately they died down after d...
4/14/25 Charleston SC
Met at the boat then headed into town for lunch, a tour, and dinner. Started at Magnolia’s for lunch, which was a different restaurant than I thought but the food was exceptional:) Ray met a local high school friend for a bit then we met back up at the park for a walking history tour, which was real...
4/13/25 Charleston SC
Met at the boat then went to Lewis Barbecue, which Emily had recommended. Excellent food, great vibe, but odd to eat coleslaw off of paper! Drove 40 minutes to Cypress Gardens which seemed at first like a bust but the boat ride made the trip worthwhile. The cypress tree swamp was really beautiful an...
4/11/25 Charleston
Craig took us to breakfast nearby—might be the first time I’ve had shrimp in my eggs benedict.:) Craig was kind enough to lend us his company car so we went to West Marine, NAPA, and Harris Teeter (which I much prefer to Publix for groceries). Picked up dinner at the grocery store and ate on the boa...
4/8/25 Beaufort
Andrew had interview with boat magazine, then we waited for a tide change, then headed to Beaufort. Tied up at the great city dock right in town. Nice little town with pretty riverfront park, nice restrooms, some cute shops and multiple restaurants. Beautiful old homes and trees, quiet neighborhood....
4/9/25 Beautfort
Received advice to wait to time some cuts for rising tide and wait til 12:30pm to leave town, so we went back to city dock this morning, Andrew went for long bike ride and I took a short one around the lovely neighborhood. LOVE the old (1800s) homes and Spanish moss. Cute town. Met Goldilocks on th...
4/7/25 Hilton Head
Mark joined us for the cruise from Savannah to Hilton Head, about 3.5 hours. Nice variety of scenery (some narrow passages and a wider sound; dolphins, birds, tows and barges). Weather was good but very windy, so we mostly stayed at the inside helm. Pulled up to Palmetto Marina just as Anthony was w...
4/6/25 Savannah GA
Had breakfast on the balcony at Mark's hotel, which was fine and not crowded. Walked a lot again, all the way to Forsyth Park ,which was very happening with lots of activities and an art fair. Stopped at Wexford on the way back for a bite. Andrew and Mark met Paul to go to Tybee Island while I shopp...
4/5/25 Savannah GA
Mark came to the boat for coffee. Went to Collins Quarter for outdoor breakfast (very good). Weather is pretty perfect--hot sun but nice breeze. Flowers in bloom, allergies bad. Walked A LOT, including stops at the SCADshop and student gallery and for beers and fries downtown. Anthony came to the b...
4/4/25 Savannah GA
Got to Savannah by noon, and was relieved to find a spot on the city wall (it’s first come, first served)—right in front of Mark's hotel no less. We started walking around and decided to take a trolley tour, which was a great way to see the city and get a little history. Had dinner at The Public, wh...
4/2/25 Sunbury GA
Left around 10:00 for 1.5 hour cruise to Sunbury Marina. Funky marina/restaurant with pool in front of the owners house, I guess? Beautiful surroundings with tons of birds. Took a bike ride to a local historic site/park and tried to walk the trails, which were pretty muddy/wet in spots, and buggy....
3/31/25 Rockdedundy anchorage
Uneventful cruise, went a little farther than planned to get away from an inlet. Heard thunder and checked the weather to find a thunderstorm warning with possible tornados. Yikes! Had a very heavy downpour and some high-ish winds from 6:15-7:15ish and then just rain. Beautiful sunset with light rai...
3/30/25 Jekyll Island
Got a text from Kathy Janoski this morning after she saw our FB post about Cumberland last night. She's on St Simon now (!) so we made arrangements to connect. Stayed at Jekyll Harbor Marina which I loved. Beautiful shady grounds with cute restaurant, pool, and hot tub. Very nice staff, nice people...
3/29/25 Cumberland Island
Not a great nights sleep thanks to multiple super load trains throughout the night, followed by the early-morning barge right next to us. Squeezed out past it to leave after Andrew’s bike ride and a load of laundry. Left around noon and squeezed by the barge. Anchored off Cumberland and dinghied in....
3/16/25 Vero Beach
We said goodbye to Bon Vivant for a long day’s trip (63 miles) to Vero Beach on Sunday. We were going to anchor nearby but when we filled up with fuel at the marina they had a slip so we took it. On Monday Skip Fuller came by for a boat tour then showed us around town and took us to his house/studio...
3/16 - 3/19/25 Vero Beach FL
We said goodbye to Bon Vivant for a long day’s trip (63 miles) to Vero Beach on Sunday. We were going to anchor nearby but when we filled up with fuel at the marina they had a slip so we took it. On Monday Skip Fuller came by for a boat tour then showed us around town and took us to his house/studio...
3/14/25
Uneventful, pretty comfortable, downright boring crossing back to the US, which made for a funny contrast to how nervous we were about the initial crossing to the Bahamas. (Although to be fair, the forecast in December was dicier.) Of course it helped that there were dozens of other boats in view of...
2/21/25 Big Majors, Exumas to wait out a storm
Gray skies, spitting rain, cool and windy. Waited til high tide despite concern about finding a place (good we didn’t attempt going out into Sound though). Tough to find a spot but got one on outside near cruisers beach. Anchoring in a crowded place is so stressful, I’m glad Andrew knows how to do i...