6/9/10 – Brick, New Jersey – Home Port

Pre-dawn in the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway north of Atlantic City

Getting lighter

Dawn breaks

Red sky at morning - sailor take warning.

All is calm.

The gold burgee signifying our completion of America's Great Loop.

We were both up early and anxious about the tide heights, since we decided that we would return home by the Intracoastal Waterway route which twists and turns through the somewhat shallow marsh-lands of southeastern New Jersey, rather than take the outside route up the Atlantic Ocean and into Barnegat Inlet.

Because the winds were predicted to pick up from the southeast gusting to 25 mph, and rain was also in the forecast, the inside route seemed to be a better choice. “Reflection” left Gardner’s Basin at 5:10 a.m., and the scene was really lovely as we entered the ICW with the dawn sun breaking through the clouds over the ocean. We made our way carefully through the channels, always making sure we were within the channel markers so as not to go aground. Our depth sounder alarm went off several times, but we were always able to find deeper water.

A number of our fellow “Loopers” had problems in the Little Egg Inlet area, but we did not because we observed the markers, not relying solely on our GPS chartplotter, but on our actual visual sightings of the buoys and daymarkers. There were hardly any boats on the water, and our trip past the many summer homes on Long Beach Island was quite pleasant.

After about 4 hours George phoned our next-door neighbor, Ernie, to ask him to make sure that there were lines on our dock, and to tell him that we expected to make it home by 11 a.m. A little while later we made the turn into our home waters of Barnegat Bay. We were very nostalgic about this amazing adventure that we were completing, and then we talked about all the enjoyable things we could do this summer with our boat in our local area.

It now became quite over-cast in the western sky, but it looked like we would still beat any showers in. Finally, our own channel into Seawood Harbor was in sight, even though many of the markers were still down from the winter storms. Unfortunately, the condition of our inlet had gotten worse since we left, not only with a sand-bar building up and narrowing the channel, but also with shoaling continuing to make the depths tenuous.

George maneuvered “Reflection” in carefully and then blew her horn to announce our arrival in our lagoon. We were greeted by one of our neighbors who ran out of her house, waving and yelling, “Welcome Home!”, and Ernie, and his dog, Casper, who gave us his version of a warm “Hello” by running up and down our docks barking excitedly! At exactly 10:58 a.m. and after some 5,474 miles we crossed our wake and completed the “Loop” at our wonderful home where we started this trip on June 6, 2009!!! Later that evening we had an animated “Arrival Celebration” with a number of our neighbors, whom George called our “Support Crew”. We then made champagne toasts to each other and to “Reflection” as an acknowledgement of how truly grateful we are to God for not only blessing us with each other, our boat, and this exciting travel adventure, but also for the great people we met and the old friends we got to see along the way.

Here are a few of our trip statistics:

Miles traveled: 5,474
Days on-board: 324
Number of states visited: 16
Locks: 104
Gallons of fuel: 3,547
Number of towns/villages visited: 98
Great Lakes: Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan
Length of stay in Canada (Ontario Province): 5 ½ weeks
Length of stay in Marathon, Florida: 5 months
Number of friends we’ve made: Too many to mention

This was definitely the trip of a life-time, or until we say: “Let’s do it again!”

6/8/10 – Atlantic City, New Jersey

Pre-dawn in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal

Salem Nuclear Power Plant along the Delaware River

Miah Maull Shoal Lighthouse - Delaware Bay

Cape May Ferry Terminal and Cape May Canal

Cape May Harbor.

Cape May Coast Guard Station

Leaving Cape May Inlet

Atlantic City

New casino under construction.

Atlantic City Inlet.

“Reflection” left the dock at 5:37 a.m. for our destination of Atlantic City – 110 miles away. It was a lovely, but cool morning as we continued to make our way through the C& D Canal. Things soon got interesting when George saw flames and smoke coming up from a fishing pier along the Canal. He immediately called the Delaware Bay Coast Guard to report the sighting, and then had several more transmissions with them as to our longitude and latitude coordinates and the exact location of the pier so that one of the local fire companies could respond to the blaze.


After leaving the canal, we then entered the Delaware River with the imposing Salem Nuclear Power Plant in sight. This is not our most favorite scenic view, but it is a favorite fishing area for many (if you like nuclear fish!). We had an easy trip down Delaware Bay with the wind at our back, and then entered the Cape May Canal at 11 a.m.

We were now back in New Jersey waters for the first time in over a year! Naturally, one of the ferries chose this very moment to signal that he was about to back out, but we snuck past him and then entered a dredging area. Suddenly, we heard on the radio: “Trawler ahead of me, trawler ahead of me, what are your intentions?” Pat said to George: “Is he talking to you?” We took a look around but we didn’t think so, because all we saw was a small trawler approaching us, and the announcer didn’t even identify where he was. Suddenly, we heard another repeat of the previous announcement! George then got on the radio and told him our location. The elderly captain then demanded that we move aside because he felt he needed more room in this tight situation. When George informed him calmly that we would continue on our course, and that we had plenty of room to pass each other safely, the other captain uttered a number of profanities at George! Ah, it was so good to be back in New Jersey again! Now we felt at home!

We continued though the Canal and into and through Cape May Harbor in record time. Now we made our way out the wide Cape May Inlet into the Atlantic Ocean. We marveled then at the color of the sea-water which was a tropical blue-green color similar to the waters we saw in Florida. It was an absolutely clear, beautiful day with winds out of the northwest and 2 – 3 foot seas. We had a pleasant trip north, and noticed a change in the landscape of Atlantic City’s sky-line which we could see from many miles away – a huge new casino/hotel being built near the “Showboat”.

We entered the Atlantic City Inlet and tied up at Gardner’s Basin by 4:15 p.m. After relaxing for awhile, we decided to stay on the boat rather going out to dinner, and elected to play “Train Dominoes” and to eat appetizers and small pizzas accompanied by celebratory cocktails for our last night on board.

6/7/10 – Bear, Delaware

Calvert Cliffs.

Cove Point Light.

Cove Point Natural Gas Terminal.

Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Looking west.

Looking east.

We left the dock at 5:40 a.m. for our 100 mile trip up the Bay. Winds were predicted to be out of the northwest at 10-15 mph with sea heights at 3 feet, with both wind and waves to diminish as we continued north. Things were fine as we left the harbor and entered the Patuxent River, but as we rounded the point and entered Chesapeake Bay, the wind was actually from the northeast, and we ended up taking the wind and waves directly on the nose. This was not the most pleasant travel situation, but we forged ahead this way for about 5 hours while passing the Cove Point Natural Gas Terminal, the Cove Point Nuclear Power Plant, and the prehistoric Calvert Cliffs along the way.


Conditions eventually calmed down past the Annapolis Bay Bridge, and it continued to get nicer and nicer as we headed north up the Bay through the Elk River and then into the C&D Canal. We arrived at Summit North Marina around 4 p.m., and had a meatballs and spaghetti dinner aboard with an early bed-time, as tomorrow would be another big travel day.

6/6/10 – Solomons, Maryland

Since the weather forecast predicted small craft warnings for winds out of the southwest with gusts to 25 mph and thunderstorms with possible tornadoes for later in the afternoon, we thought that it would be wiser for us to stay in port today. We then cancelled our reservation at the Annapolis Yacht Club, and then decided to amend our itinerary and make a 100 mile run to the C & D Canal tomorrow, since things would improve then.


After a quiet morning we walked to “The Captain’s Table” restaurant for an early Sunday dinner. George had their fabulous She-crab soup, and we even ordered another quart to take back to the boat with us. We have eaten here many times over the years, and have always enjoyed their “down-home” cooking and casual atmosphere. The predicted thunderstorms did appear in the late afternoon, and we were even under a tornado warning for about 45 minutes, but we did escape the major wrath of this system, and happily conditions calmed down as the evening wore on.

6/5/10 – Solomons, Maryland

Point "No Point" Lighthouse

Fly over near Patuxent Naval Air Station

Coming in for a practice landing.

Since we (especially Pat) are early morning risers, we pulled away from the dock this morning at 6:20 a.m. for our 62 mile trip to Solomons Harbor Marina. The winds were supposed to be out of the southwest at 10 – 15 mph, but it was more westerly, which meant we again were taking the waves on our stern quarter to port beam, giving us a rocking motion. The conditions were very handleable, however, and after we passed the Potomac River, the waves lightened up, and we used our autopilot for almost the whole trip.


As we approached the Patuxent River and the Patuxent Naval Air Station, a large Navy transport jet was practicing a series of take-offs and landings right over our boat! On one of these maneuvers Pat almost jumped out of her skin as the plane came roaring in for a landing a couple hundred feet high over our fly-bridge as George kept shouting: “Get a picture! Get a picture!”

A little while later we listened to the Marine Weather on the radio for tonight and tomorrow’s forecast. Tomorrow’s weather especially sounds somewhat questionable with small craft warnings and winds out of the southwest with gusts up to 25 mph and strong thunderstorms predicted, so we will have to monitor this situation as to whether we should move on tomorrow, or stay put in Solomons for another day. We shall see!

When we got tied up at the marina, we found out that the dockmaster, Bill, had also been in Marathon, Florida for a number of months this past winter, just as we had. What a small world! Pat then headed to the hotel’s laundry (there is a Holiday Inn on site), and George headed to Washburn’s Gourmet Grocery Store to do some shopping. This store and the restaurant, “Captain’s Table”, are two of the main reasons for making Solomons one of our favorite stops on the Chesapeake. Since it took so long to complete our chores, we decided to stay on board tonight and made a pork chop dinner with ice cream for dessert.

6/4/10 – Deltaville, Virginia

Navy ship in drydock.

Navy ships everywhere.

The container ship CMA CGM NEW JERSEY

Aircraft carriers small . . .

. . . and big

Our friend Judy (on right) and her friend Agnes.

We made an easy departure from Waterside Marina at 5:40 a.m. and headed out into the Elizabeth River. This passage is very interesting because both sides of the river are lined with commercial ships of every description, as well as numerous U. S. Naval warships lined up at Norfolk Naval Base, the largest naval installation in the world.


A security zone is strictly enforced by patrol boats near the berthed Navy ships, and it is fascinating to hear some of the bridge crews talking on the radio about their intentions to pull out to sea or vice versa. We even heard one ship talking to a recreational vessel to get out of the way as it was pulling in! Truly any smart person would not want to be in the way of one of these destroyers or air-craft carriers!

We had a pleasant crossing of the Hampton Roads area where the “Monitor” and “Merrimac” had their Civil War sea battle, and then we entered the very wide lower Chesapeake Bay. Our trip north was very pleasant and we arrived at Dozier’s Regatta Point Yachting Center on the Rappahannock River at 2 p.m. This was a very lovely facility with pool, captains’ lounge, courtesy car, newspaper and continental breakfast in the morning, etc., and we would like to spend more time here on our trip south in the Fall.

We then got “Reflection’ and us cleaned up for the anticipated visit of our dear friend, Judy Hagerstrom. Judy has lived in this area for the past 20 years, but she and her deceased husband, Jack, have a special place in our hearts and were mentors to us when we all lived in Brick and were fellow members of the Bristol Sailing Club which we joined over 36 years ago!

She and her friend, Agnes, arrived at 6 p.m. for cocktails, and despite their mutual knee and hip problems, they were able to climb aboard and take a tour of “Reflection”. We had a great time catching up on all our mutual activities, and you couldn’t meet two more amiable, up-beat, active senior ladies than these two. It was then time to go out for dinner, and Agnes (at the age of 91) was our driver! She really knew her way around these rural roads, and we had an enjoyable dinner at “Cocomo’s”.

We returned to the marina about 10 p.m. and we said our “good-byes” to Judy and Agnes with hugs and kisses all around, and plans to see them again in the Fall, and maybe in Florida in the Winter!

6/3/10 – Norfolk, Virginia

"Great Bridge" bridge

"Great Bridge" lock.  Lock 104 on our Great Loop Adventure.

Norfolk harbor

The following series of pictures are of the cruise ship "Enchantment of the Seas" which made a 180 degree turn in front of our dock so it could head out to Chesapeake Bay.

... and away she goes.

At 7:45 a.m. George called the Great Bridge bridge-tender and told him that we were pulling away from the dock at Atlantic Yacht Basin for his 8 a.m. opening which would then coincide with the opening of our last lock on our journey (#104), the Great Bridge Lock. We tied up quickly at the lock and were then lowered only 2 – 3 feet - quite a difference from some of our other locking experiences!


After the lock opened we were now grouped together with two other powerboats and one sailboat for our last timed bridge opening, plus one more highway and three possible railroad bridge closing/openings depending on train traffic. We eventually made it through pretty well, except for an approximate ½ hour delay for a train with 99 coal cars at the Norfolk Southern Bascule Bridge!

The area became very industrial with many shipyards and other marine facilities along the way. We then stopped at the Ocean Marine Yacht Center in Portsmouth for fuel, and then headed across the Elizabeth River to Waterside Marina in Norfolk , where we arrived at 11 a.m. We couldn’t believe that it took 3 hours to go 12 miles!

George took the opportunity to clean the outside of the boat this afternoon while Pat worked on our blog and made phone calls, and in the evening we walked into the Waterside Festival Marketplace. We have been here many times before, but we were surprised to see how quiet it was tonight. Many of the restaurants appeared closed, and we finally went to the Outback Steakhouse, which was open. We had a very nice dinner, and eventually the restaurant filled up with a mostly young crowd, but as for the rest of the establishments we couldn’t tell if they are only open on the week-ends, or if their being closed was a sign of financial difficulties.

6/2/10 – Great Bridge, Virginia

We left the marina at 6 a.m. for our 73 mile trip to Atlantic Yacht Basin. The winds were light and the sun was coming up when we left, but as we traveled across the mighty Albemarle we noticed several dark cloud banks, and then the wind picked up from the northwest – not the direction predicted. Conditions got lumpy, and the clouds got darker, but we made the crossing safely and without any rain.


In 2008, we took the Dismal Swamp Route north, but on this trip we decided to take the sparsely populated Virginia Cut route which is 3 miles shorter and takes the boater up Coinjock Bay, Currituck Sound, and the North Landing River nearer Cape Hatteras and the Outer Banks. Our decision was also based on the fact that we also had several timed swing bridges we could get through today, and with this marina’s location being only 12 miles from Norfolk, we would have only one lock and a couple of timed bridges to go through tomorrow, so that we could get there early in the day.

When we tied up at 2 p.m., we watched the boats waiting for the Great Bridge Bascule Bridge to open (once an hour) and then the Lock opening up right after it. It was a very busy spot, and we were glad we decided to wait to go through until tomorrow morning. Besides, we had to finish off our “Train Dominoes” game! (George won handily!)

6/1/10 – Columbia, North Carolina

Alligator- Pungo Canal

This is the stern wash from "Reflection" - notice the color of the water.  The natural tannins in the canal water turn it as black as coffee.

We cast off our lines before 7 a.m., and continued north up the Pungo River and reminisced about our anchorage in this area two years ago. “Reflection” then entered the 20 mile long Alligator- Pungo Canal. This narrow waterway is scenic, but the boater must be wary of the many stumps and snags located along its banks and stay to the middle of its channel. Considering our recent prop/shaft adventure, we were very careful en route.


There were a number of sailboats motoring slower than we on this stretch, but we were always considerate, and called each on the radio requesting permission to make a “Slow Pass” with minimal wake. Each was gracious as expected, and we ended up being a forward “look-out” for the vessels behind us as we spotted and moved around a number of “dead-heads” (stump obstructions, not individuals!) in the water.

We then finally entered the wide Alligator River and then headed for the Alligator River Swing Bridge which is very close to the entrance of the somewhat notorious Albemarle Sound. Our destination today was the Alligator River Marina, just beyond the bridge. When we made our turn west into its channel, we rocked and rolled our way into the harbor as now we had the wind hard on our beam. Conditions calmed down immediately as we cleared the break-water and we were tied up safely only a short time later.

Many additional transient boats made their way in here all afternoon, as this was the only fuel stop and dockage for 86 miles! We started playing a game of “Train Dominoes” late in the afternoon, and only took a break around 6 p.m. to pick up burgers at the marina’s grill. There we met a couple who hope to do the “Loop” next year in their newly- purchased Monk trawler, “Journey”.

Tom and Melissa live in Swansboro, North Carolina, and since he is a Harbor Host for the American Great Loop Cruisers’ Association, he invited us to call them on our way south in the Fall. This was only Melissa’s fourth day on the boat, and Pat was stunned to learn that her responsibility was taking care of the engine room! That’s quite a turn-about from most cruising couples, but since Tom has knee problems, she was quite willing to take on this job. We traded stories with them and another gentleman who was “captaining” a one million dollar Regal powerboat from Florida to Stamford, Connecticut and then we returned to the boat to continue our game with George in the lead.

5/31/10 – Belhaven, North Carolina

As we left River Dunes on sheltered Broad Creek and made our way into the large waters of the Pamlico River, we had to keep our eyes open for the many crab pots in the area which were very hard to see in the bright morning sun-light.


The ICW path then led us north into the Pungo River and many miles later to a 90 degree turn near the town of Belhaven, which we had earlier considered as a destination. However, after reading about the storm barrier in front of its docks which only offers moderate protection from wind and waves, we decided to go on to the Dowry Creek Marina for its shelter from the southerly winds which pick up every afternoon.

This was a small rural marina run by a sole woman, and we were helped to tie up with the assistance of some of the boaters who stay there. They had a small pool and we were invited to a late afternoon get-together there, but we opted to have our own Memorial Day dinner of barbecued ribs aboard.

5/30/10 – Oriental, North Carolina

River Dunes Harbor Yacht Club

More River Dunes

The fishermen started pulling in early this morning at the marina for fuel, so we took this as our signal to start moving! Our trip today took us past busy Morehead City, Beaufort Inlet, and the city of Beaufort (“Bo-fort in North Carolina). Small boats loaded with families and friends were everywhere, and we dodged so many of them, we thought that we were back in New Jersey transiting Barnegat Inlet! Luckily we’ve had a lot of practice!


Our friends, Andrew and Sallyann, aboard the boat, “Freedom”, are staying at our dock at home for this week-end. They are from Kentucky and are on the “Loop” which we traveled with them for six weeks this past Fall from Alabama to Florida. Though they left Florida ahead of us, they have many more legs of their trip to finish before they “cross their wake”, while we will be finishing our trip very shortly. Since they were in the New Jersey area, we invited them to stay at our dock, but we advised them not to transit out of Manasquan Inlet until Tuesday, so that they don’t have to encounter the “crazies” coming in or out from the ocean on this holiday week-end.

After many more miles the scenery really opened up when we entered the Neuse River near Oriental, the sailing “Mecca” of North Carolina, and the beginning of wide Pamlico Sound. We finished up our 58 mile trip at lovely River Dunes Harbor Yacht Club, which is part of a planned community of homes and condos on sheltered Broad Creek off the Intracoastal Waterway. The facilities were lovely as well as the docks and the setting. We spent a quiet evening aboard, but got involved in watching a “Godfather” movie on T.V., and ended staying up much later than we probably should have.