Mobile and Onward

We stayed at Turner Marina

 awhile to get some routine maintenance done on the boat (oil change, etc.). This was a fun place to stay. They have a pot luck dinner every Wednesday and a loaner car to use to get groceries, etc.  

We used this time to fly back to New York to see doctors, dentists, families and friends.  We even did a quick visit to midtown. 

10/30/13: Made it to Mobile

We finally made it to Mobile AL. We've travelled over 2,830 nautical miles (3,253 statute miles) which puts us a little more than half way around the Loop.
We are all done with meeting and passing barges and their towboats on confined rivers.  The weather and the water continue to warm and inviting. 
After a quick trip back up to New York, we will continue on around the Gulf and stop in the Florida Keys for the winter.

10/19 Tenn-Tom Waterway: "The Ditch"

After attending the AGLCA Rendezvous we headed back to the Grand Harbor Marina. We spent the night there and refueled and cleaned out the holding tank. 

Our next major destination will be Mobile AL.  To get there we need to take the Tenn-Tom waterway. This waterway was completed in 1983 and helped make doing the Great Loop much easier than using the Mississippi.  To create this, passage had to be cut to connect the Tennessee and Tombigbee Rivers. 

The passage that was cut is 12+ miles long with riprap sides. There are no places to anchor or tie up for the night. 

9/10-9/15 Illinois River

The Illinois River ended up being much more interesting after leaving the more industrious area near Chicago. 

On the the 12th we were at our western most part of the trip (90 38.30'). We anchored off of Buckhorn Island

 to take Shaina ashore to do her 'thing'. There we met some locals who we became fast friends with. 

We continued on to Grafton IL  the next day and spent a couple of days relaxing.

 Grafton is a small river town that has reinvented itself.  Despite some severe floods, it still has some of the original buildings including the Ruebel Bar where patrons went into the burning building to save the bar. 

The Grafton Harbor marina is huge. All of the docks covered and uncovered, the restaurant 

and drumming pool float. 

As soon as we left Grafton we were on the Mississippi. 

Progress to date 9/13

As of Friday, September 13th,, we've traveled 1,866 nautical miles

On the river....

We left Chicago on the 5th and began the long river part of our trip.

We started on the Chicago which was exciting (dodging tour boats, etc. )

We eventually made it to the Illinois River

We had to pass a half mile electrified stretch of water. (It's electrified to stop the encroachment of Asian carp)

We spent a night tied up to a wall in Henepin IL watching tugs and their barges go by. 

Progress to date: September 9th

We've now been on our journey for over 2 months.  We have over 1700 nautical miles behind us and with many more to go.

Here is a map showing various key places and dates.

8/30-9/4 Chicago

Chicago was a blast. Approaching from Lake Michigan is magical. Felt the same way Dorothy must have felt when she first saw the Emerald City. 

We stayed at  DuSable Harbor while there. 

DuSable is right next to the Columbia Yacht Club who has the neatest clubhouse ever 

Our timing was perfect. The weather was perfect. We went to Grant Park and took in the Chicago Jazz Festival. 

We walked about and took in all of the sites of downtown Chicago.  

The 'bean' was really cool. 

While Loretta went to 

Denver to greet Logan who was returning from Afghanistan, I spent time with my cousin Joe. I even went on the CTA around the other Loop 

8/29 Saugatuck

We had a great 2 day window where we ran from Saugatuck to Chicago via Michigan City, IN

The last couple of miles we had about a quarter mile visibility through the fog. 

Using both radar and our horn, we made it safely. 

8/24-28 Grand Haven

Between poor weather and boat stuff, we spent a few days in Grand Haven. 

We met a couple of 'angels' literally and figuratively; Jim and Sharon. They are platinum loopers. (Means that they have done the Loop at least twice.). Jim drove us around to Walmart and a blueberry farm. 

One evening we went for a walk off the marina property. The dunes here are gorgeous. 

Loretta and I got some great photos along the breakwater at sunset. (The ones of the. 6-7' waves crashing didn't come out well)

The one of the kite boarder did

8/18-20 Frankport

We continued our way down along Lake Michigan and stopped at Frankport MI. 

While it's a small town, we found a number of great places to eat including Cru, a wine bar with a good selection of wines and small plates. 

Because of high winds and waves, we were weathered in for a few days. 

We went to a nearby beach and watched the wind surfers going down the coast and the 6' waves crashing on the breakwater. 

8/17 - Charlevoix

We took the advice from some boaters we met at Beaver Island and went to Charlevoix. After passing the bascule bridge,

we pulled into the municipal marina. 

The staff here was super friendly and helpful. The downtown area is cute with various boutiquey clothes shops and fudge stores. 

We went to the restaurant at Grey Gables  Inn  

and had a wonderful dinner from their small plates menu. 

8/11-13 - Mackinac.

From Drummond we sailed to Mackinaw City and stayed at the state marina. It's new and a short ferry ride to Mackinac Island. 

Mackinac Island is unique in that no motor vehicles are allowed. Only bikes or horse drawn carriages 

We went to the fort and toured the various buildings. They've done a great job to show the living conditions from the 1880s. 

We then went to the Grand Hotel for dinner. 

The hotel boasts the world's longest veranda (660')

The dinner was fabulous. 

8/10/13 - All downhill from here

At 11:57 am we were at at the nothern-most part of  our Great Loop trip.  From this point on we are heading south to hopefully warmer climes.  (It was in the upper 40s/lower 50s last night)

I

So after 47 days, 865.4 nautical miles, 106 locks and countless new friends made, we re-entered the U.S. at 2pm today.
All of the photos we took and posted fail to truly convey the beauty of the areas we travelled through.
Words cannot express the thanks and admiration for the many people who gave us help and valuable information along the way. We do plan to come back to Canada and continue our adventure

8/9-10/13 - Meldrum Bay

The Meldrum Bay Inn. We had dinner there on our last night in Canada. We had great pan fried whitefish and Pan Asian Shimp-Crab cakes. The bumbleberry pie was incredible. We plan to come here soon.

Meldrum Bay Harbor

July 30 - Georgian Bay: Bone Island

Our  first night in Georgian Bay. We had heard so much about the beauty and solitude.

Right about beauty...solitude is another matter. 

There was only 1 other boat when we anchored in Hockey Stick Cove. By nightfall there were 11 including us. 

June 28-29 - Montreal

It was foggy and overcast at the start of our trip down the St Lawrence Seaway. It took us about 7 hours to make it to Longeueil, a town across the seaway from Montreal. 

Incredibly we made it for the start of Montreal's Jazz Festival. We got seats at restaurant that was next to one of the outdoor venues and had a decadent lunch with music. 

We brefriended  Marie Claude who is the proprietor of Creme de la Creme. In addition to great food..p