From the Bridge:

Mackinac, MI to Norfolk VA

9 May 2022, Deltaville, VA

At the helm, passing my first duty station in the Marine Corps
in 1963: Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida.

Annie continues to do a terrific job of capturing the feeling tone of our great adventure. As we finish another segment of America’s Great Loop, the Atlantic IntraCoastal Waterway, I thought you might enjoy the trip by the numbers. The ICW starts in Brownsville, Texas and runs across the Gulf of Mexico, around the tip of Florida and up the Atlantic Coast, ending at Mile Zero in Norfolk, Virginia. We chose to cross Florida on the Okeechobee Waterway (from Fort Meyer to Stuart, Florida) to avoid the heavily populated areas of South Florida, and left the boat north of Stuart in Fort Pierce for our holiday break.

The average Loop adventure is between 6,000 – 7,000 miles (excluding side trips) and we are about two-thirds of the way as we circumnavigate the Eastern United States.

THE SEGMENTS BY DAYS:
Lake Michigan 32
Down the Great Rivers 60
Across the Gulf & FL 30
Home for Holidays 50
Up ICW to Norfolk 70

THE NUMBERS:                                                             
Miles Traveled                                  4,580                    
States                                                        22                    
Rivers  (major)                                         7                      
Locks                                                        38                            
Engine Hours                                        495                   
Days on the Water                               192
Stops 88 (80 Marinas and 8 anchorages)

We’ve since added two side trips—up the Potomac to Washington, D.C. and up the York River to Yorktown, VA then back to Norfolk. So we have now cruised a total of 5075 miles (737 being side-trips) and added another 20 days, for a total of 212 days on the water since August 13, 2021.

One of my Realtor friends asked me, “What in the world are you two 80-year-olds doing taking a trip like this?”  The answer is:

                                           WE ARE HAVING THE TIME OF OUR LIFE
And so it is!