Day 1: Aqua to Midway

 Today was Day number One of Gooder Days on the Great Loop. We left Aqua Yacht Marina just before 8am and it was wet and overcast but looking up as the day would go on. We were the only boat leaving at 8am and when we got close to the first lock we met up with 6 other Loopers as the lock master was waiting on us. After this first lock, we spent the rest of the day waddling down the river like a mother duck and her ducklings with us taking up the rear spot as boat number 7. We went a comfortable pace of 7.5 kts and the sun peaked out and it was a fabulous day. We planned to anchor out tonight, but the whole group was docking up at Midway marina so why not, we pulled in and got the last spot on the end of the dock. I made us a gourmet dinner of hamburger helper then we joined the group for a campfire and good times. We met such wonderful people from Utah to Main, Florida, Arizona, and Texas, a true melting pot with common interests to do the Great Loop. As we all told our stories on how we started and where we are from, we swapped boat cards and called it a night. Tomorrow morning the plan is to rise and shine at 6am to check with lock master at Fulton Lock to see if we may pass thru EZ Peazy as group. Most of us will caravan again all day to the next marina in Columbus. We may stay one night or two, we will see what the weather brings. All in all, a fun and uneventful day and all went as planned with no hiccups. We did struggle with the Garmin Autopilot to learn how to program routes, but it is starting to make sense. We will see what tomorrow brings. More miles and more friends and good times to be had by all.

Todays Stats:

Time Underway: 6:47

Duration: 7:44

Distance: 47.9

Avg. Speed: 7.2kts

Max Speed: 19.7kts

Link to Nebo Daily Log

Day -1: Final Count Down to the Loop

We loaded up the dingy on the swim platform for the first and last time here at Aqua Yacht Safe Harbor Marina. The Spa Day for Gooder was completed and she has a new shine and lust for the sea. We leave tomorrow! Boy has time flown by. We arrived here at the end of may in hopes to take a side trip to Chattanooga, TN this summer and it never happen. Got a over night trip to Clifton, TN 50 miles down the Tennessee River through the Pickwick Lock and a day trip to Florence, that was it, the rest was boat projects all summer. These are things we completed, at least the items I can remember...

1. 1000 hr service on engines

2. Replaced all the canvas enclosure, Flybridge and Cockpit.

3. Installed SeaDek flooring in Flybridge

4. Upgraded all Electronics, Chart-plotter, Radar, Autopilot, VHF Radio, and added AIS.

5. Refurbished Teak deck in cockpit and swim platform

6. Hauled Out, washed bottom of boat, replaced zincs, sized up props for new spares.

7. Buffed, Polished, and ceramic coated entire exterior of boat.

8. Re-Stuffed Couch and dinette seats with new denser foam.

9. Loaded up on new appliances, tools, bedding, racks, mounts, pillows, etc.

10. Roof mounted Starlink, ran several cables to hard top for Radar & GPS

11. Recharged AC units with Freon. 

12. Added smoke alarms, CO2 alarms, fire extinguishers, and other safety items.

13. Replaced hot water pressure relief valve 

14. Added a 40GPH water maker to the boat in the basement.

15. Cut and Hinger Radar Tower.

16. And so many other little things like air purifiers, electric mini heaters, Monitor table mount, TV in the Flybridge, and the list goes on... 

Day -1 Short Video

I did this little short YouTube video to see how "Shorts" work. I plan to do longer videos, but I thought these shorts might be a good way to get out daily quick shots of daily life on the loop.

On another note, a sad one...  Yolanda will not be joining me on the first segment of the loop down the rivers to Mobile Bay. She had foot surgery and is still recovering. She is no longer on crutches but the foot is tender and will need another week or two to heal before getting on the boat. 

So with that, I put it out to the club "AGLCA" if anyone wanted to assist me in this epic voyage down the river portion of the loop. I had no less than 8 people chime in and I got someone to commit to joining me. He will be here this afternoon so we can be ready to cast the lines in the morning.

I also gotta give a shout out to the crew at Aqua Yacht. They have just been outstanding. Randy the dock master is the best, we will miss him the most. A great guy and only second to his awesome wife Teresa. 

I also can't believe it has been 5 months here on the dock at Aqua Yacht Harbor, but it is now time to move on. The weather has turned cold with nights in the 40's, so yes, time to head south to warmer waters....

Day -8: Florence Day Trip

 

Today we made a day trip 37 miles up the Tennessee river to Florence. We had a sunny ride up and a cloudy ride back. We had a great lunch at the River Bottom Grille at the marina. Yoli was not here so I invited a couple from our dock that were hanging out for the weekend. Thanks to Justin and Nicki for making the trip not so boring going solo. I wanted to get out an run the engines hard to make sure all was good after all the engine service work we did the past few weeks. All was good except for the Autopilot that did not work, so put that on the list to figure out. All in all, a gooder day for sure on the water. 75 miles 150 gallons of diesel and a ton of fun.

Florence Harbor Marina

Day -10: Final Sprint

 

Today marks 10 days before our next great adventure, 'The Great Loop". As we make the final sprint with less than 10 days to go, we are getting the boat buffed and polished this week. These guys spent 3 days last week doing the black hull, and now 3 days in doing the top white part. This was a marathon to get the boat ready the past few months as we did engine work, replaced all the canvas windows, refinished the Teak deck, put in all new electronics and too many other numerous small tasks to count. We have been at Aqua Yacht Marina since June this year to prep for this trip. We purchased the boat in May in Fort Myers and moved the boat here first of June. That in itself was a wonderful trip as we lingered in Destin and Orange beach for some beach time and fun on Crab Island. Should have blogged that trip as well, but we will let that one slide. So onward with the great loop, 10 days and counting down...

Refurbished the Teak Deck

Hinged the Radar tower

New Electronics

Captain Casey at the Wheel

Installed a Water Maker

Capt'n Rusty Alan

Day 14: Home Again :P

 

Clayton, NM RestStop

Two days on the road, some rain, some sun, but the temps went from 60’s to upper 90’s, welcome to Texas! We spent the night at a rest stop near Clayton NM then on to Amarillo for a Buc-ees fix and then a non stop 5 1/2 hour trip to the house. 

New Bitcoin Orange sunglasses

More stickers

Photo Op with Buc-ee

Home Again

Day 12-13: Goodby Salida

Raspberry Gulch Camp Spot

Last Days in cooler temps, time to head home tomorrow :( It rained most the day yesterday so we stayed inside and caught up on computer stuff, and chatted with friends. Today, we went into Salida for our last round of shopping and some Amica pizza. It did rain a bit, but all was good. We got our fill of Salida, a great little mountain town to visit in the summer to beat the heat.