Chinook's Great Loop

[Chinook]

Hi Sum,

Yes, we are changing plans. After deciding to fly out of Mt. Myers instead of Miami I looked around for a place to pull the boat and store on the hard in the Ft. Myers area. I found a place that looks like it will serve, so we'll mess around on the Gulf side till December 15. Thanks for the tip about Jensens. I've been looking for a place to explore Captiva out of, and that sounds like a good option.

[Bobglas]

Chinook, Thoroughly enjoying your blog. Vicariously sailing with you. If your loop brings you through Lake Champlain (my main sailing area) would hope to meet up.

[Chinook]

We do plan on going up the Champlain Canal and cruising on Lake Champlain on our way to the St. Lawrence and the historic Canadian Rideaux and Trent/Severn Canals. Stay tuned and maybe we can hook up when we get there, sometime next June or July.

[Chinook]

Courtesy of United Airlines, we're back home in the chilly Northwest for the holidays. Chinook is patiently waiting on the hard, basking in that warm Florida sun until we return to resume the Loop cruise. We've traveled 2,329 miles on the water thus far, and we're looking forward to cruising through the Keys and out to the Bahamas in January/February. The flight home took us from Ft. Myers to Houston, where we changed planes. The flight path was right along the Florida panhandle shoreline, and it was fun looking down at Dog Island, where we staged for our crossing to the Florida penninsula. We could also see bays where we anchored, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway canal sections, Pensacola, and Mobile Bay. It was kind of like going back in time, seeing those places which we're now so well acquainted with on the water.

[ris]

Have a nice Christmas. The last butterfly was a white peacock.

[dlandersson]

You LEFT the warm, sunny south for the chilly northwest?

I'm convinced you need someone to watch your boat while you're gone. I'm volunteering.

Courtesy of United Airlines, we're back home in the chilly Northwest for the holidays. Chinook is patiently waiting on the hard, basking in that warm Florida sun until we return to resume the Loop cruise. We've traveled 2,329 miles on the water thus far, and we're looking forward to cruising through the Keys and out to the Bahamas in January/February. The flight home took us from Ft. Myers to Houston, where we changed planes. The flight path was right along the Florida panhandle shoreline, and it was fun looking down at Dog Island, where we staged for our crossing to the Florida penninsula. We could also see bays where we anchored, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway canal sections, Pensacola, and Mobile Bay. It was kind of like going back in time, seeing those places which we're now so well acquainted with on the water.

[Tomfoolery]

We do plan on going up the Champlain Canal and cruising on Lake Champlain on our way to the St. Lawrence and the historic Canadian Rideaux and Trent/Severn Canals. Stay tuned and maybe we can hook up when we get there, sometime next June or July.

Rumor has it the next MMOR will be on Lake Simcoe. It would be outstanding if you happened to be in the area at the same time.

(Unless Simcoe isn't part of the canal system, of course. )

[Chinook]

Stranger things have happened. As summer rolls around, we'll know more about whether our path and the dates for MMOR could coincide.

[Chinook]

We're back in Florida following our holiday trip back home. We found 2 feet of snow in the yard, a sharp contrast to the 80 degree weather we left behind in Ft. Myers. However, as the credit card commercial says: "Time spent with kids and grandkids - Priceless". We're now back on the boat and are beginning our run down to Key West. We had a tornado warning in the area last night, but the forecast looks good for the immediate days to come.

[Obelix]

Welcome back, to the not so warm Florida Sunshine
Good to be able to follow your blog again, are you planning to visit Ft. Jefferson?
Ft. Jefferson is like many other destinations still on my bucket-list.

Obelix

[Gazmn]

Hey Mike,
Happy New Year - & to All Readers.

What's your time frame for being in the mid & lower Keys? I''m coming down Feb 1st. Will you and Sandy still be around?

[Starscream]

Nice to hear you are back on the water: makes my morning coffee that much better. Your description of the reluctance to actually get going is exactly how my wife and I feel sometimes when it's decision time to get going on a trip when a good forecast rolls around. Sometimes we'd rather be shot than start prepping the boat. The cleaning, the inventory, the loading, the last minute repairs or improvements, the actual loading of day and night gear for a family of six, prepping the truck, closing up the house, saying goodbye to showers and all the conveniences of home....for only a three or four day trip.

Last September we were hemming and hawing over one last late-season trip from Montreal to Mallorytown Landing in Ontario. We really didn't feel like making such an effort for four days, and we almost didn't go. Turned out to be one of the best trips ever, with us being one of only boats on the river. I remember saying to my wife, "If we don't go, we'll regret it. Let's bite the bullet and go make memories." Best decision ever.

I'm sure you're back in the groove already.

[Chinook]

Re Starscream: It's called inertia, and can be really tough to overcome. It shows up when I listen to the weather forecast the day before a crossing. Go or don't go? It also shows up when I'm setting the alarm clock for 2:30am the night before a hunting or fishing excursion. I tell myself no one ever caught a fish from the bedroom.
Re Obelisk: I'm afraid the time spent in the Ft. Myers area before our Christmas break will require us to forego an excursion to the Tortugas. We'll want to save that time for when we cross to the Bahamas.
Re Gazman: I'm quite certain we'll be beyond the Keys by Feb. 1. I'm thinking we'll be in the Bahamas by then. By the way, we discussed possibly meeting up in New York Harbor when we get up that way, so we can take pictures of each other in front of the Statue of Liberty. I still think that would be cool to do.

[Chinook]

We''ve been dodging severe weather systems, which have been alternating with good weather days of late. We managed to reach Bahia Honda in the Keys on a nice travel day yesterday, but last night a forecast gale didn't disappoint, and pounded us while tied up in the marina. It's just plain windy today, and supposed to remain windy (20 knots) for the next 4 or 5 days. We'll see if we can make short moves on the lee side of the Keys, which will be the south side (Hawk Channel) so long as the north wind lasts. We should be able to get down to the next high bridge to the east in a couple of days, and then have more protected inside waters to navigate in. Hopefully, we'll get a break in the unsettled weather in a week or so, which would enable us to make our Gulf Stream crossing to the Bahamas. Stay tuned.

[Sumner]

Mike I see where you couldn't get in at Marathon. The first night we were there we anchored...



http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... 11-18.html

....way down at the north end past the mooring field. The water is shallow but we never touched bottom. That might be an option for you.

We only moved over to the mooring field so that we could leave the boat a few days and rent a car and drive back over to Ft. Myers Beach to look at the Endeavour and to move our Suburban and the trailer to South Dade Marina otherwise we would of just stayed on anchor there. I think you can also anchor on the west side of the field but my memory on that might not be good. It is very protected in there so you don't need a lot of rode out.

I didn't use it because there were east winds when we were there but if there would of been west winds I would of tried ...





..................anchoring in Long Key Bight on the NE end of Long Key. From there it is easy to pass under the high bridge there and continue north on the gulf side.

Enjoying reading about the trip. Where are you going to stage to go across to the Bahamas? Are you going to stop at Bimini? I think the next time I go I will just bypass it and check in probably at Chub Cay,

Sumner

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1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

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