June 14
Final day of our Great Loop adventure. Woke up to a nice sunny morning as we hoisted
anchor and got moving at 7:30 after a quick cup of coffee and some nice and healthy
yogurt and granola. Slack low tide at
the marina was 10:58 and we were determined to hit it exactly. With
John raising and securing the anchor, Martha assumed her duties at the helm taking
us out of the anchorage and putting us on a heading upstream.
Leaving Toms Point Creek anchorage behind
Captain, my Captain...
The run up the North Edisto and Wadmalaw Rivers were uneventful. Tidal marshes, wooded islands, and more and
more houses built on the water’s edge with long docks extending through the low-lying
marsh lands and sticking out into the water. Outgoing tidal current was
surprisingly strong in a few places for the first two hours and we pushed the
rpm’s up a bit to stay on time. Once behind
John’s island the water quickly turned to a favorable current as the water was
still outgoing but now being pulled out the Stono River. It was time to idle
down the rpm’s a bit to keep within that eta window. Suddenly we were back in familiar waters as
the Limehouse Fixed bridge came into
sight, then came Ross marine where we
had the boat bottom painted last year, and finally we started coming around the
last corner and saw the Johns island/Stono River bridge and right by it’s side
our final destination.
Heading up stream
Docks along the river
Back in civilization as we pass a working yard
St. Johns Yacht Harbor in our sights
Winds were still blowing from the NE at a good 10-15 so we
at least didn’t want to add any tidal currents to our final docking maneuvers.
There’s a saying regarding docking in a marina – “Sometimes you WATCH the show,
and sometimes you ARE the show”. We knew
we would have some spectators waiting to help us celebrate our crossing so
definitely did not want to BE the show this time around. Our approach was sound going down the fairway, then a quick hard turn
to port to get us aligned with the slip, a few blasts with the bow thruster to
fine tune our position , finishing up with reverse engine for a nice stern
in portside tie at our home port of St. Johns Yacht Harbor Marina here in
Charleston, SC. With cheers from the
marina staff and our assembled friends we gave two blasts on the air horn to
signal our loop completion.
Heading down the fairway with fenders deployed and dock lines at the ready
Our “dirt home” friends Shane and Sandy had made the 4-hour
trip that morning to be here for our crossing. We had unsuccessfully tried
several times to get them aboard during the trip but the timing never worked
out. We finally had them stay with us
overnight as the only overnight guests we had the entire trip. We look forward to spending some time with them
over the summer back up on Lake Hartwell.
Shane and Sandy offer a champagne toast to start the festivities
Russ and Jax on “InQuest” (previously on “Cat and
Dogs”) have been special looper friends since our first encounter on the day
we left Charleston and grounded. We crossed each other’s wake multiple times
over the next few days before formal introductions and the start of a year long
journey as boating buddy’s. We helped
celebrate their wake crossing down in Longboat Key,FL and were honored that
they made the special effort to be here for ours as they continue their
cruising. As almost always happened
during our times traveling together, they would arrive first and get secured
and then help grab our dock lines as we came in. Today was no exception as they arrived in
Charleston an hour before us (having to fight the current as they docked) and were
standing ready to grab our dock lines one more time.
"InQuest" departing to continue their journey - fair winds and calm seas until we meet again!
Jamie and Trish from “About Time” made the drive up
from Jacksonville to help us celebrate.
Another special treat. Our
relationship took a long time to develop despite the fact we met early on at
the 2019 spring rendezvous in Norfolk, VA. where we docked alongside each
other. Going through some older pictures
we were struck by how often our paths crossed but we always thought of them as
being with another group of loopers so never made a special effort to socialize
with them. We later learned from their
perspective they kept wondering what they had done so that we didn’t like
them. Once we got all those incorrect
perspectives ironed out, we’ve enjoyed our times together and were glad to be
in St. Augustine back in April for their wake crossing.
Gene and Paula who are additional “dirt home” friends that
now live here on John’s Island were also able to help us celebrate. They’ve been good friends always making their
home here available to us as we were prepping for our journey and giving us
sound recommendations for marine services in the area.
With the changing of our white AGLCA “in progress” burgee to
the gold “loop completed” burgee we toasted with “little beers” to a successful
Great Loop circumnavigation and the new and old friends we are so fortunate to have
in our lives.
Showing off that gold burgee
"Little Beers" for everyone!!
"As You Wish" showing off some new bling on the bow
Thanks to my brother
Paul who graciously was the keeper of our daily float plan. He always humorously responded to my morning and afternoon text messages outlining where we were going that day and when we safely
completed the days transit.
And the biggest thanks of all to my wife Martha for
supporting and participating in my years long obsession with doing the Great
Loop. She made my dream hers and together we made them come true. The trip wouldn’t have been possible without
her by my side, nor would I have wanted to do it without her there.
Journey for June 14
Some stats from our trip:
5852 miles
1 year 1 month and 28 days (includes 2 month unexpected COVID-19 stopover in Jacksonville, FL)
1793 gallons of fuel
$5,138 cost of diesel
819.8 engine hours
116.1 generator hours
150 actual travel
days
Averaged 39 miles per travel day
Averaged 2.187 gallons per hour
Averaged 3.26 statute miles per gallon
Averaged 7.14 statute miles per hour
Average diesel fuel price $2.86 per gallon
Low fuel price $2.055/gal Brunswick Landing on 6/5/2020
High fuel price $3.76/gal Midland, Canada 7/31/2019
Alcohol consumed – way too much !!!
Best craft beer – still trying to find it.
Best quote on the trip – “Bad decisions make great stories”