It was a nice surprise and made the finish a little more fun. As you can see, while Denise was taking pictures of them, Geo was taking pictures of us.
Note the dirty bow, a water stain that comes from the tanins in the water. After 6680 miles, Tranquility needs a good scrubbing.
The finish line has been in sight for quite awhile ever since I arrived in Carrabelle, FL, in the pan handle, back on November 11. It was there that I decided to leave her for the holidays and early winter. I watched the weather throughout that period and good weather windows for crossing the Gulf were few and far between. I was back in Carrabelle on March 5 and determined a suitable weather window was forecasted beginning on the 8th. Geo made plans for transport up to Carrabelle and arrived late in the morning on the 8th. Based on forecasts, we made plans to leave the Carrabelle harbor that afternoon and anchor behind Dog Island, just 5 miles away. As recommended by a prominent Loop weather prognasticator, we went out into the Gulf through a series of bouys to create a GPS track that we could follow in the dark early morning hours of our planned departure the following day.
We were already 4 to 5 miles into the Gulf when I considered not going back to Dog Island, but continuing on. It was 4:30 in the afternoon and seas were a little bumpy, but we concluded seas were in the forecasted 2 to 3 foot range and were probably as bad as we could expect overnight and into the following day. The decision hinged on my being able to go to sleep at that momemt, so that I could be up by 11 PM to take the overnight shift. With that, I said to Geo I was going down and if he didn't see me by 5:30, it was because I was sleeping and he should keep going.
I think I did sleep, what I call airplane sleep, where you are sort of aware of your surroundings, but are not really awake. In any case, I arose when my alarm came on at 10 PM. Geo had a couple of cocktails and went to bed at midnight.
The overnight wasn't too bad, with a full moon, the sea was fairly well lit and visibility was very good. At one point I spotted lights in the distance and after awhile determined they were coming closer and eventually a sailboat passed on the port side about 200 yards off heading in the opposite direction. Other than that, I did not see another vessel until well after the sun was up. Surprisingly, Geo was not up until 7 AM, which allowed me for an hour and a half nap.
With daylight, came much calmer seas and as Clearwater Beach came into view, we decided to shift coarse 10 degrees more to the south and head straight to John's Pass at the south edge of Madeira Beach. By 1:30 Friday afternoon on March 9th we were tied up at ABC Marina. This concluded a 194 mile, 22 and 1/2 hour cruise.
I also got to Madeira Beach in time to have cocktail hour with my sister-in-law Sue, husband Mark and a few of their holigan friends from Massachusetts.
Denise arrived on March 12th and we spent the week basically getting ready to head north again in mid April. Plans are to get Tranquility to Kenosha in July, where we can enjoy it only an hour and a half from home. It was on the 17th that we left the marina and cruised back over to the bay at Geo and Nanc's to officially cross our wake.
That was also St Patrick's Day and we took the opportunity to celebrate Nanc's birthday, 3 weeks early.
This concludes the Great Loop, at least the first one. Looking back on the year, I must acknowledge several people who became 1st Mates, Crew or just Passengers.
My 1st, First Mate is, of course, Denise. To the surprise to many, especially herself, Denise survived, or as she likes to say, endurred a total of 2235 miles, or one third of the entire cruise. While there were moments along the way, like "get me to shore NOW!", I knew she was handling it ok when she came back after two trips home early on and again to do some of the Illinois, Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. I tried to tell her several times how well I thought she was doing, but she wouldn't talk about it for fear of jinxing herself.
Geo joined me for two of the more daunting legs of the cruise, the crossing of Lake Michigan and the recent crossing of the Gulf. Neither of these turned out to be daunting at all, but it was comforting to have Geo aboard, just in case. He also was along for one of the major side trips, that being the trip up the Tennessee River to Knoxville and then stayed aboard all the way down the rivers of Mississippi and Alabama. In all, Geo was a first mate for 1682 miles, or 25%.
Somewhat surprisingly, my brother Ron travelled 1019 miles. This is surprising because he suffers from some motion sickness and neither of us was sure how he would handle any rough seas. He first joined in Albany, NY and easily survived the Erie Canal and then one calm day on Lake Erie. He was aboard again for a couple of days on Lake Michigan and then again for a week on Kentucky Lake and the Tennessee River. For 449 of Ron's miles, another friend of ours, Mark, was aboard. During those miles Ron was a passenger and head chef. When not preparing meals, pico de gallo, or margarita's, he was throwing rocks at signs along the Erie Canal and Mark was first mate.
In all, Mark was aboard for 552 miles and even captain for several miles on Lake Erie while I took a rare nap.
Tom, another good friend was aboard early on for 433 miles and solved a few nagging problems that arose just as Denise and I were departing Madeira Beach. He also installed the stereo. Tom, being a life time boater, took over the helm on many occassions. He also got out the fishing pole on every chance.
Friends Mike and Patricia and their dog Scruffy Joe were along for 389 miles on a side trip up the Cumberland River to Nashville and beyond. They set a new standard for fine dining with daily creations, including great hors dourves and even breakfast one rainy morning in Nashville.
Also along for the 54 mile leg from Joliet, IL to Ottawa was Jason's friend Amanda.
And then there was me alone on three stretches. Lakes Erie and Huron, a short stretch on the Illinois River from Ottawa to Peoria, IL and finally along the Florida Panhandle from Pensacola to Carrabelle for a 3 leg total of 594 miles.
Maybe you'll find interesting a few stats from the trip.
Total miles: 6680 miles
Total travel days: 111
Average miles per day: 60.18
Average speed: 8.6 MPH
Diesel fuel consumed: 2540 gallons
Average fuel efficiency: 2.63 MPG
Locks traversed: 79
It was a great trip. Stay tuned for more adventures, planned starting date of April 20.
