#47 The Chesapeake!

Norfolk and the AGLCA rendezvous were… hugely fun controlled pandemonium. Something like 350 people to meet, maybe 40 boats here in the marina, meetings during the day where we absorbed information like it was the first day of college, an entire bay full of 400 foot freighters passing by, tugs, ferry boats, private boats, sailboats tacking back and forth, and the occasional seaplane taking off, sunsets, docktail gatherings, and well, you get the idea. It was great. We were a bit on the exhausted side once it was done and were glad we had a couple of days there before we left.

One of the fun days was when we opened the boat to the “Looper Crawl”, which is basically an open house for boats. We must’ve had 30 or 40 people come visit the boat, so of course every one is a conversation. Lots of fun, but lots of work for Cheryl; she prepared by having this boat spic and span from end to end for the Crawl.

(“Spick and span” originated in the 16th-century Netherlands as “spick and span-new,” referring to freshly built sailing ships. It combines “spick” (a nail/spike) and “span” (a wooden chip/shaving), signifying a vessel that was entirely new, down to its smallest parts.)

At the many seminars we attended we picked up route information for what’s ahead, and wow. Wait till you see the videos below with two of the locks we’ll be going through.

This trip has been continual new experiences, challenges, new people, new places to explore, adventures and experiences, and from what I got out of the seminars, that’s not going to slow down a bit.

The people we have met are simply amazing. Of course, no one goes out and does the Loop who isn’t feeling a little bit of pressure to get out and live life while they can, and that spirit was reflected in so many ways it was just amazing. Boat names, personal philosophies, stories, all reflected that spirit in one way or another.

It was kind of sad the last day, at the end of the last seminar, when we all got up and started on our own paths again. Made me feel a bit like I did on the last day of high school and the last day of college. All these people with whom I had shared so much, scattering like dandelion seeds with a strong breath. Fortunately we will see lots of them again as we Loop-frog our way around, but many of them we just won’t. The rendezvous is quite an experience. So glad we made it to this one, and on our own boat.

I have a story I have to share, even though I can’t give you many specific details. Many years ago I had a friend who lived on a sailboat in Key West. (He’s the kind of guy who likes to keep a low profile.) We did some deliveries together and stayed in touch even after I sold my sailboat. He was a real inspiration for me for a long time for a number of reasons. Then I lost track of him. I tried off and on again to catch up with him somehow. For years. When we were in Key West we took the dingy out into the anchorage and asked around to see if anyone knew him – with no luck. Coming up the east coast I looked in every marina we stopped at and asked around in hopes of finding him. Nothing. So yesterday we took the water taxi around the point to downtown Annapolis. On the way I saw what sure looked like his boat, so on the way back, the water taxi pulled up to his boat so I could talk to the man we could see working in the cockpit. Holey Moley, it was my friend!! So once we got back to our boat I jumped in the dingy and went back over where we had a great visit. It was really good to see that he’s doing well, still sailing, (he’s been on his boat 25 years now) and seemed happy to see me. It really made my day to find him. He’s a really smart guy, just took a path a little different from most. Now that we’ve reconnected hopefully we will stay in touch.

Cheryl did some tallying since we’re at about the halfway point. We’ve been to 42 marinas, and have met folks and collected some 95 boat cards. As of now, and this feels weird, we are headed home. We may still be going north for a while, Canada waits, but in terms of the Loop, we are headed home. Somehow that kind of changes how this feels. We are starting to talk more about what life is going to look like in six months.

We are off in the dingy to explore Annapolis in a few minutes. More later!

Cheryl: For Better or for Worse…

Prior to Looping, one of the more serious concerns I had (and that I’d repeatedly seen addressed on multiple platforms/forums) was – How does the Looping Life affect your relationship with your partner? So far on the Loop we’ve met over 100 Looping couples. Most are married, some (like us) are committed partners, and a few are strictly boating buddies. When the women are alone, conversation quickly shifts from boat and sailing statistics, to who we are as individuals, what we left behind to pursue this adventure, and how our relationships are holding up.

From what I’ve gathered, relationships seem to run the gamut from “This is the best thing that has ever happened to us” to “If I had a match, I’d drop it into the gas tank.” It appears, though that the vast majority of relationships are holding up on the vast majority of days. But bad relationship days are pretty consistent across the board.

So, how are Butch and I faring? It’s been pretty fabulous, but there have been days when I’ve heard myself say otherwise. It’s been like a marriage. We moved in together after the ceremonial first morning of pulling in the lines. Not only did we have to figure out the logistics of route planning, navigating, and keeping the boat afloat but we had to figure out how to coexist in roughly 100 square feet of occupiable space.

Cruising down the river system behind schedule with temperatures in the 40’s, morning fog, frost, and 4:15 PM darkness we quickly (but brutally) made it through the for Better or for Worse commitment.

We had to address Richer or Poorer starting on Day 4 when we ran aground. It has continued throughout our trip as we’ve paid up to $220 per night marina fees and have seen diesel prices at $7.20 a gallon. Today while talking to a fellow Looper she asked how fast our boat would go. I replied that we like to keep it under 10 miles an hour, but it can go up to 22 miles an hour. Because at top speed, it’s like dragging our credit card in the water behind us – just one continuous swipe! At the recent rendezvous we attended, one Looper described Looping as a ski trip- Spending your Kids’ Inheritance. There is probably some truth to that.

This week we had to commit to in Sickness and in Health. Luckily, Butch and I are generally very healthy but this past week our luck finally caught up with us. Early Friday morning, Butch got dreadfully ill. He was feverish, chilled, weak, and couldn’t keep anything down. For two days he couldn’t sit up or stay awake. The poor guy was miserable. I tried the best I could to help him contain his symptoms and keep him comfortable. On the third day, he started to feel a bit better, but was very weak. Then bam! I got sick that night! The 100 square feet we share became VERY confining. At that point all sense of privacy and decorum went out the window. But we managed to care for each other and are now both feeling much better. We can look at each other with a new level of commitment and devotion and put aside the sights and sounds of our fever dreams. (Except the one Butch had about our owning a chair farm. That one was pretty darn special! Ask him about it someday.)

With our new sense of commitment to this adventure and to each other, we sail on as we start the second half of our Loop. As Butch said, we’re heading home!

They’ve got some REALLY big ships around here.

You’d think the things that break down on a boat would be the complicated electronic stuff. Well, we’ve had that too, but this bracket that holds the chartplotter up top rusted through and in a rain, the rust stains ran down our clean white dash, the floor, out a drain and down the side of the boat! This one was too rusty to repaint so a new one was called for. The building is the NOAA building, where all those charts, both electronic and paper, that we use to navigate by come from. I felt like taking them a box of donuts.

Three hundred and fifty or so new friends! Amazing group, all sharing the same adventure and adventurous spirit. The conversations burned hot and spread like a prairie wildfire. There was a couple here who literally just finished sailing around the world over three years, got back, bought a boat just a few days before this, and were headed out on the Loop!

Cheryl really earned this certificate! A Norfolk sunset.

She was looking good for the Looper Crawl. Was nice to be here a few days extra, I got the outside cleaned up and some maintenance done so she’s ship-shape and ready for the second half of this adventure.

We are starting the second half with a brand new flag!

Looper boats come in all sizes. This is one of the bigger boats at the rendezvous, behind it what is definitely the smallest!

The official photo of our group.

We went to the Mariners Museum, which was spectacular. Among the finds was this lighthouse Fresnel lens, and a collection of sextants. When I started all this boating nonsense, I learned to use a sextant. Wow, am I old!

Someone sailed this boat across the Atlantic once, took him 85 days. Where did he store the food? Miss Belle Isle is the earliest/oldest known Chris-Craft boat in existence. This museum was fascinating.

That big sailboat just fascinated me. Check out those masts, rising far above the trees. That is one honking big sailboat!

Finding time to do some chores like clean up the dingy!

Walking around the Annapolis marina our first evening we came across lots of wildlife, which paid us no mind at all.

We reconnected with Tim and Kathleen on Enchanted Circle for lunch in Annapolis; Tim took this shot of our boat underway. Such a tiny sliver of fiberglass, floating on such a vast expanse of water.

We are on NEBO, an app that keeps track of our travels and lets us connect with other Loopers. Works great! This is our track from Norfolk to Deltaville.

“Nothing is more wonderful than waiting for a happiness you can be sure of.” B. Kingsolver