Hard to believe it is the last leg of our year + long adventure and we are in familiar waters travelling up the Trent Severn Waterway from Trenton, Ontario Lock 1 through to Lake Simcoe, Lock 41. Homecoming naturally muted, anti-climatic even, given Covid and we are under quarantine for 14 days (14 days are up end of day, Wednesday August 26th – not that we’re counting down the days, hours & minutes!).

Quarantine on a boat is remarkably easy – stay on the boat! And don’t let anyone else on the boat!

With those 2 simple rules we can easily maintain a 6’ + social distance. The extra precaution the Parks Canada / Trent System required were for us to wear our masks through the locks. And locks are ‘touchless’ this season so staff are no longer handling lines for any boats and can safely keep their distance from boaters.

We had cleared Canadian Customs late in the day on August 13th. Locks were closed to traffic at that point so we stayed overnight at the bottom of the first lock just outside of Trenton. The next day was long and hot, and a Lock Master had called ahead to the Town of Campbellford docks to see if they were willing to accommodate us (a boat with 2 people in quarantine). They would, same rules applied, stay on the boat with the exception of being able to tie our lines and plug into power.

The following day was another long day to Peterborough – Wayne reminiscing about fishing trips as we cruised through Rice Lake, wishing he could drop a hook! The Otonabee River – with speed limits – was as long it was in previous trips! and we again ran out of time to get through any more locks. So bottom of Lock 20 in the basin at Peterborough was our home for the night. Beautiful evening, lots of local people out fishing, picnicking….

Next day started overcast for the Peterborough Lift Lock. It was only operating with one basin due to a mechanical issue. So it was a slow start as we waited for it to descend and the operational basin opened for us. It turned rainy and cold, and the deckhand had enough by the time we arrived at the top of the lock at Lakefield. Later in the afternoon, coming from the opposite direction was Ken Jennings, in his boat Tardis, from Lagoon City. Ken and his wife Georgi had completed the Loop several years earlier and they are AGLCA Harbour Hosts for the area. He saw our burgee and came over to talk over our experiences, and offered to shop for us. No need for anything but we did get some peaches from him, a nice treat!

From Lakefield we made it to the top of the Bobcageon Lock 32. It’s a great run through some of our favourite areas, through beautiful Young’s Point, Stony Lake, Love Sick Lock and Lower Buckhorn Lake where we are picked up cruising by on the Reach Harbour Marina webcam:

We also pass by the home of fellow Loopers, Rex and Irene Bilger / Tina Marie, who live and boat on Upper Buckhorn Lake. We could make out Tina Marie in a smaller bay… they had arrived home a few days before us and were in quarantine as well.

Arrival at Bobcageon, we made our way to the topside of the lock and there was plenty of room for us to pull over and stay. No objection from the local Lock Master, in fact one of the staff was very accommodating, offering to shop for anything we needed. She did mention that staff at Fenlon Falls were more concerned with quarantined boats / people coming from the US so another reason for us to stay put. Nice night in Bobcageon and very quiet compared to most typical summer evening.

We thought we might stop at the bottom of the Kirkfield Lift Lock however, the Lock Master made it clear he had instructions to hurry us along and so we carried on through the last series of locks heading to Lake Simcoe. Encountered the least professional behaviour from any lock operators in our entire trip in this final stretch on the Trent Canal; an unfortunate bi-product of Covid 19 concerns. However! Lake Simcoe cooperated with wave heights just 1 – 2 ‘ and light winds from the northwest.

As we enter the channel to Lagoon City we pass right by the home of Ken and Georgi Jennings (M/V Tardis). They happen to be out in their yard on the water and cheer and clap as we go by…. and by the time we dock and tie up Red Dog, Ken has dropped off a bottle of bubbly for us to toast our achievement and he takes our picture for us retiring our slightly battered Looper white burgee / flag with a new gold one!

So 425 days, 6,519 nautical miles / 10,492 km, 2,624 gallons of diesel fuel, 112 locks, unknown # cases of beer, and 1 pandemic later…. we wrap up our Great Loop! We’ve heard it so often – “you will make great friends, lose them, find them again with great joy in a new setting, with new experiences to share over docktails”. And have to agree wholeheartedly – a marvellous trip on its own, made even better by sharing our adventures with the boaters we met along the way.

THE END (except for future adventures…..)

PS. After we got home we informed the AGLCA and they sent along their ‘diploma’. Also received interest in our story from the local Milton Champion, and the article in MacLean’s was published! And Mom returned all the postcards she received from us along the way, so lots of ways to remember this trip….

Counting on the scheduled opening of all NY Canal System locks by August 10th, we peel ourselves away from our slip at Donovan’s Shady Harbour Marina on Saturday, August 1st (coincidentally, Barb’s 60th birthday!). Hard to leave Donovan’s behind – it was, despite Covid-19, a lot of fun with local boaters and fellow Loopers waiting for the NY system to open. Hoping we remember how to boat it’s been so long since we were underway! and planning to pace ourselves along the NY system to stage ourselves just before Oswego close to opening day.

It’s our last day of tidal current, so left mid morning to get that extra push from rising tide as we head north on the Hudson River. We pass Albany, NY and through our one lock of the day at Troy, NY and that’s it: NO MORE TIDES and 100% fresh water! Ok, fresh is a relative word – it’s murky brown and our lovely, clean Red Dog is already sporting a brown stripe at water level.

After Troy we arrive at the start of the Erie Canal, built between 1817 and 1825 that provides a water route all the way to Buffalo NY on Lake Erie. Tons of history on the NY Canal System, mostly about commerce getting people and goods moving efficiently with the occasional military engagement to spice things up. In a ‘normal’ year, this system is open in May, typically very busy and worth taking some time to see … worth a separate trip another year!

Normally there is a fee to use the canal (very reasonable, maybe $75?) but this year it’s free. The whole system is very inexpensive as just about every town and lock has free docks and walls to stay at. This year, we passed several towns where they did not put docks in – high water damage from the previous year plus Covid.

First night out we are aiming for the free town dock at Waterford, NY. Great spot, normally very busy apparently but not this year with short season on the canals and less boat traffic in general due to Covid. We pay $10 for power…. a bargain as it’s a lovely spot. Walked the town with history walking tour map in hand and found Waterford to be very quiet. Had dinner out with same folks we’ve been travelling with on and off: Rex and Irene on Tina Marie and sailboat Loopers Debbie and Harold on Columba.

We left Sunday morning to head through a series of locks that are quite close together. Great scheduling as every lock was open and waiting for us. There are different setups to secure our boat. Easiest are the pipes or cables – just wrap our midship line around it and good to go. Worst are their lines dangling from the top. Need to grab at bow and stern, remember to wear gloves, and hang on…. pretty good ride though.

We stopped at Lock 8 overnight at the lock wall while the other 2 boats (Tina Marie & Columba) carried on a bit farther. Had one power pedestal at the lock and we had it, and the lock wall, all to ourselves. We were getting tornado watch alerts so had every possible line & cleat option engaged. Have never had Red Dog so secure, happily not necessary.

We were also a bit concerned with the path of Hurricane Isiasis, supposedly tracking up the Hudson with strong winds and a lot of rain (4” – 6” in a day). One of the places we had been by in our travels was Southport, North Carolina, home of one of the nicest Looper Harbour Hosts we had the pleasure of meeting a couple of times – the Creeches. They live and keep they boat here – happily they are ok, not sure about the condition of their boat though.

We tied up at another town marina managed by the town of Little Falls, NY, and planned for 2 nights here to wait out the forecasted rain. Very nice town, picturesque and the people running the marina were terrific. Great landscaping, clean facilities, and 3 boats there. Met for the first time Loopers that had just begun their adventure from home port in Virginia, now modified of course due to Covid.

Had a whole wet, rainy day at Little Falls and walked the town: great library, 1/2 of it is an old home where all the rooms have been converted to quiet reading rooms but still preserve the decor of the 1880’s. Big mills have been converted to shops and restaurants, and oddly, the movies theatre was open for business?!

We planned for an early start the next day but came up against our first delay – in preparing for all the rain, the Canal System had shut some gates, redirecting water flow. No doubt a good thing but we got a late start and next stop was at Rome, NY.

We had not planned to stop at Rome as everything we read suggested difficult tie up at older pilings and not a lot of water depth at the nicer, newer town docks. We stopped regardless, running out of options for the day. We did have the funkiest tie up of our whole trip we think. Old pilings, not quite vintage 1817 but close…. fortunately nothing 2 nimble 60 year olds couldn’t handle.

Rome is a nice town, we did not expect to see much of it except for our second delay on the canals. This time it was a new bridge and they were restricting traffic. So we had a morning at Rome – happily Fort Stanwix is within walking distance and on the way to the Fort we found to an amazing Italian grocery store. The store was definitely vintage, tall narrow doors into the shop with original shelving and the front doorknob somewhere around my knees. Great bread, cheese, pickles and salami!

Despite delay we made it through 2 locks and got to Sylvan Beach, at the east end of Oneida Lake. Another free wall, no power though this time (we’ve been spoiled!) in a summer resort town. Great beach, authentic ice cream shop, a permanent carnival that did not open this year – reminded us of Sauble Beach meets Coney Island!

Early the next morning we cross 22 miles of Oneida Lake and we stop for fuel ($2.19/G) at Brewerton, NY and on to 3 Rivers Junction. This is where the Seneca, Oneida and Oswego Rivers intersect and we turn north (yup, heading in the right direction!) up the Oswego to the town of Phoenix. For those American Loopers heading to Lake Erie, Huron or Michigan and with a low draft, they headed further west to Buffalo. It’s also the route to visit the Finger Lakes Region, a trip for another time!

Phoenix has done a great job of making over its town dock / marina. Free with power and water, laundromat steps away, next door a bakery with sticky buns and cinnamon rolls, and a great market with fresh fruit, veg, and bread open daily. We arrived on Friday the 7th with plans to stay until Monday the 10th when all Oswego Locks will be open!

Turns out Friday is one day of the week that local kids, organized by a lovely woman, drum up business for local restaurants. The ‘Bridge House Brats’ provide menus from all restaurants nearby, we select and pay for our dinner, and the kids deliver them to us at picnic tables spread out in the park. Also live music and homemade pies. How can you go wrong!? All fun and games until you get Emma the domineering 9 year old bossing her older sister around. We suspect she has a great future….

On August 10th we headed through all 7 Oswego Locks and were told to expect a transit from 7am to 3pm so we made arrangements to stay in Oswego. Good news, we had a much shorter transit and arrived at 11:30 and debated making a run across Lake Ontario. Did not, too late in the day for us … waited for a good crossing a couple days later.

Walked the town and saw Fort Ontario, a small Maritime Museum, re-provisioned for a couple things anticipating quarantine in Canada, and checked out the pharmacy.

We waited until the 13th to cross from Oswego, NY to Trenton, ON. Worth the wait – had marvellous run across a flat Lake Ontario with very light winds. Left at first light just before sunrise and arrived on Trenton at 3:30pm. Yes folks, we are back in Canada!

Easy run through the Murray Canal, 2 bridges to swing for us with a $5 fee for both bridges – collected in a cup that the bridge tender sticks out on a long pole – who says low tech does not work! Hope she’s wearing gloves and wiping down all those $5 bills but otherwise, meets all the Covid safety precautions!

In Trenton we call the Canadian Border Services Agency to check in and clear customs. The CBSA Officers managed to track us down (quote from central call center: Trenton is small, they’ll find you!) and we have our clearance #’s.

So… starting 14 days of quarantine as we head up the Trent Severn Waterway. See you soon!

XOXO, B&W

Well the NY Canal System – our route home – got a late start to their annual lock maintenance due to Covid. A lock that currently prevents through traffic from the Hudson River to Lake Ontario on the Erie and Oswego Canals is scheduled to open August 10th. So what do Loopers do for a month at a small marina on the banks of the Hudson River? Well apparently 4 weeks can go by in a flash …

Donovan’s Shady Harbour Marina, in New Baltimore, NY is a great place to stop. Red Dog’s slip out on the north dock (the Nature Reserve): eagle(s), deer with fawns, weird fox with no fur…. suspect mange? Nice and quiet, perfect spot.

Our neighbours, local boaters, generous with info on places to see, where to shop, best restaurants, dinghy runs to local farmers markets, evenings with live music, etc. There was a friendly exchange of favourite beers last day so hey, who could ask for more than that?!

We also had lots of company – several Loopers, some we met for the first time, and others were familiar faces. All of us heading north had to pass by Shady Harbour Marina, so logical stop. A pool, bocce court, horseshoe pit, great restaurant, courtesy car to reprovision, common barbecue/ picnic table area all available to keep us entertained. There were rules for number of people in the pool, tables set up for social distancing, and of course our newest addition to our wardrobe – the mask, ever present.

So between bocce tournaments, dinghy rides to neighbouring towns, farmers markets, berry farms that actually served amazingly fresh Thai food & local beer, prime rib Fridays at the restaurant, a pig roast with live music, a jerk chicken competition and a farewell potluck the day before Loopers started north, the days seemed to melt away in 90+ degree weather. Even had time for some rug hooking!

The delay in NY did create a couple of administrative issues (we had planned to be back in Ontario waters by mid-June) but in the scheme of things, extensions on a Cruising License for Red Dog to be in US waters and OHIP extended absence, were minor.

We had Red Dog hauled out of the water to clean and paint the bottom of the boat. Everything in good shape, just a bit ‘furry’ with a coat of ?? and a few barnacles. Not quite as bad as Pirates of the Caribbean barnacles, but did require some scraping.

Given our experience in spring of 2019 doing the painting ourselves, we decided to get the marina to do the painting. Very happy with that decision!

Paint needed to cure so we were set up on blocks for 2 very hot days (record high temps in the high 90’s and a fan, no air conditioning on land). Nearby neighbours Kathy and Mike, Loopers on Happy Trails, were on the hard for 3 weeks as they did a lot of work, including painting, themselves.

As the marina crew painted, we had a chance to wax some of the hull that is always awkward to get to. While working under our swim platform the light caught traces of the original home port decal for Red Dog. It was Castleton, NY and it turns out that is about 4 miles up the Hudson from New Baltimore. We talked to a few of the local boaters and our marina owner, Brian Donovan, and they remembered our boat! We looked up the original bill of sale for Red Dog and confirmed – the first owner in 2006 was a local boater, no longer in the area unfortunately. Would have been great to have a chat and share experiences. Small world again, Red Dog home for a visit!

Wayne excited at the prospect of greater speed with a clean hull! We’ll be sooooo slippery we’ll just slide along at a whopping 7.5 knots (that’s ~8.5 mph, yippee!).

A few other ‘spa’ treatments for Red Dog – dinghy motor got a tuneup, our canvas zippers and straps repaired (relentless sun hard on nylon straps and zipper thread). And Red Dog not the only family member to get the spa treatment!

And so the month wraps up, and Loopers starting north. Last evening together and goodbyes to good friends and great company.

Cheers everyone! Getting close… only 10 more sleeps from August 1st and back in Canada shortly after!

XOXO, B&W

June 30th finds us departing Great Kills Yacht Club at 10:15 as we try to ride the tides into New York City. We pass under the Verrazano Bridge and that brings us into the Upper Bay just south of Manhattan Island – Jersey City, NJ to the west and Brooklyn, NY to the east. It’s amazing and we are so lucky to be doing this in our own boat…. but we are definitely disappointed that we are not going to stop and our plans to be tourists in the Big Apple are on hold.

Next up Statue of Liberty…. But wait , just a quick weather update:

It was wonderful cruising around the base of the Statue of Liberty, even as a storm approached. As we got a bit closer we could see 2 other trawlers circling the base – turns out to be fellow Loopers: Brian & Dorthea on Sequel, last seen on the Tennessee River in the fall of 2019, and Joe and Robin on Sea Lord, last seen in Columbus, Mississippi. Very small world… they were leaving to head up the East River to tour around Long Island Sound. We were heading up the Hudson River, so a couple of pictures and promises to catch up later were exchanged.

Despite a very quiet (boat traffic quiet, not New York City quiet!) Upper Bay and Hudson River, we managed to end up in the middle of a search for a female who fell into the Hudson at Pier 74. We hear this on our radio just as we are passing Pier 72 and out of nowhere a Coast Guard Boat, a helicopter, and several police cruisers are all converging on the pier with sirens wailing. A few exciting moments but by the time we cruised by the drama was all over, the woman had been found unharmed (well as unharmed as swimming in the Hudson River in New York City can be… but if Jason Bourne can survive it, anyone can).

And so we carry on up north on the Hudson, past Yonkers, NY to the west of us and the last of New Jersey to to east of us. It’s a beautiful area called the Pallisades with 500’ cliff walls lining the shore (so NJ is not just about beaches and TV series).

It’s June 30th and we are travelling under the Mario Cuomo bridge on the very day that our boat insurance stipulates that we need to be north of it (~latitude 40 degrees N) to be insured for named storms. Timing was perfect – so precise in fact that you would think we planned it ….

Now we are well north of NY City and the Hudson River is beautiful – broad, winding, cliffs, castle-like homes up above the valley. First landmark we pass is the historic Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, NY. Too bad it’s closed for tours, would have loved a T-shirt. Opened in 1826, known for harsh conditions, and a creepy fact: Edison introduced the electric chair at Sing Sing. But on the plus side, it has amazing views and hot real estate right on the banks of the Hudson River!

We stayed at a beautiful spot at Croton-on-Hudson, a town on the east shore, so facing west for great sunsets (again).

July 1st – Happy Canada Day! And we are travelling through some beautiful sections of the Hudson, including an 11 mile stretch called the Hudson Highlands that cuts through the Appalachian Mountains.

We passed West Point, the US Military Academy (first fort built in 1779, critical to the defence against the British in the Revolutionary War). It’s the oldest, continuously occupied military post in the US. Great names for parts of the river around here: World’s End, Martyr’s Reach, Wind Gate, and Devil’s Gate. Glad we had much better conditions than those early sailors who named these points along the river.

Also caught a glimpse of the Vanderbilt mansion, now a museum, passed the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the town of Poughkeepsie, home of Vassar College (founded in 1861 for those progressive women pursuing post-secondary degrees). Our stop for the night was at Norrie Point State Park Marina. Great sunset, and a red and white dinner of spaghetti, with a choice of a fine red or white vintage out of a box, in honour of Canada Day.

Topography along the Hudson River changed again, from mountains to rolling hills as we passed the town of Catskills (remember the Dirty Dancing movie?) and on to our temporary home for a month, a marina called Donovan’s Shady Harbour in New Baltimore, NY.

We booked for a month as we wait for the NY Canal System to open up for through traffic on August 10th. Normally the canal is open from late May / early June but maintenance of locks was delayed due to Covid. Good spot for some TLC for Red Dog….

Take care everyone, XOXO, B&W

Well it has been a long time between updates…. did not appreciate how much of a valley the Hudson River Valley is – so for the past month have not had cell service that would upload new blog posts. Oh well, here’s what we were doing a month ago!

The town of Cape May, at the southeast tip of New Jersey was our first taste of the famous Jersey Shores – 141 miles of beautiful coastline on the Atlantic Ocean – essentially one long sandbar. Cape May is a lovely touristy town – we saw the first of MANY ferris wheels – all of them empty as New Jersey was not yet ready to lift Covid restrictions as we passed through.

Great little cobblestone pedestrian downtown lined with shops and restaurants…. surrounded by very elaborate Victorian gingerbread B&B’s.

Only negative was an unwelcome $6 US / person charge to walk the beach!!!! We did not fork over the cash…. prefer to chalk that up to the principle of the thing rather than being somewhat, hmmm, parsimonious, but in any event it was too hot and we were heading to one of the few free beaches in Atlantic City anyway in a couple of days.

We had the option to move north on the Atlantic Ocean or along the interior, sheltered ICW. We ended up experiencing both as we first had a great 5 hour run on a flat Atlantic Ocean from Cape May to Atlantic City. There are several inlets from the ocean into New Jersey communities, fortunately one of the safest and largest is at Atlantic City.

We arrived at the Golden Nugget Farley State Marina, owned by the State Parks and managed by the Golden Nugget Casino. The ads for the marina combine the word ‘tranquil’ and ‘630 slips’ in the same sentence which we thought was pretty funny for a casino run marina. But Covid restrictions included casino closures until the end of June so the place was empty. It was so ‘tranquil’ that when we radio’d our arrival the tranquil marina manager said “pick a slip, any slip”.

Well with no casino to contribute to, we ordered an Uber to take us to THE famous boardwalk we all know from endless games of Monopoly (and the free! beach). Neither of us had a good sense of where to go so a local suggestion for a destination on the boardwalk was the Biergarten – outdoor patio right on the beach. That’s what we told the driver and that in fact is where we safely ended up. But not before I was convinced we were going to be abandoned in the worst part of town possible. Not understanding the driver, we seemed to be heading for boarded up buildings in a very scary neighbourhood on Atlantic Avenue. Well that actually IS the way to The Boardwalk – Atlantic Avenue is one street back from the beach and is no longer hot property!

The bright side – an amazing ipe hardwood boardwalk on an amazing beach. The bier was also good! So in fact a happy ending ….

Next day conditions not as nice on the Atlantic so we decided to take the inside ICW route, despite cautions about shallow spots that are a problem with 5’ – 6’ tides, markers out of position, and crazy New Jersey boaters and fishermen that all claim the narrow AICW as theirs. We had heard New Jersey boaters were some of the most inconsiderate boaters in the US – would have to agree but by this far into our journey we are pretty much unfazed by being ‘waked’ and cutoff. We also experienced the best of boaters as we were heading around a fishing boat and he redirected us out of 2’ deep waters to stay off of a shoal….. or maybe that’s the least he could do as he had no intention of budging from the center of the channel!

We were contacted by a reporter with MacLean’s magazine – writing a positive story during these challenging times with Covid – and we along with another couple, Jacques & Karen Campbell (M/V Gyp C) were providing Nick some of our experiences. Just along this stretch of the AICW north of Atlantic City he asked us how difficult it was to navigate, and we had told him it was really quite easy given chart plotters, charts, Navionics. Just as we say this, we end up in a tricky spot and had to pause the conversation so we did not head off in the wrong direction! Timing is everything.

We spent a couple of nights in a small restaurant / marina in Forked River, NJ. That was interesting as the restaurant was just opening up after Covid closures and was BUSY! Good live music though, and we did happen to be beside a cowboy boater. That’s actually an accurate description – he arrived after we did, so we got to watch him back into his slip really quickly (oh-oh) only to reach down and pull out a lasso (oh-boy) and nailed the dolphin / piling perfectly (oh-yeah!) and came to a dead stop.

Our last stop on the New Jersey AICW was at the north end, town of Brielle. Exciting times – there was nothing tranquil about this spot! We were parked at the fuel dock, it was a busy Sunday, tides rip in and out twice a day, commuter trains were frequent and right behind us…. transient overnight dockage fee was the price of admission to the Sunday afternoon matinee!

Normally going with the current gives you right of way as you have less control. Except in New Jersey – the commuter train with a lift bridge ran frequently enough that there was a traffic jam waiting to get through the narrow channel from both directions. First come, first served!

Next day we have the last open Atlantic Ocean run of our trip into New York. It’s so calm we can see schools of fish – so many ‘bait’ fish that they change the colour of the water. Must have been thousands of them. A nice way to say goodbye to the Atlantic!

And that took us to a typically good spot to stay at to visit New York City from NJ. An AGLCA sponsor, the Great Kills Marina is a well known marina for transient Loopers. Our experience was not ideal, it was $2.00/foot during Covid and we were not allowed off our boat, so unable to even walk around and explore the local sites. A positive, it is in a very sheltered bay, and so we managed to avoid a thunderstorm at anchor, but felt it was really not great value. Another year maybe, with time to stay here and commute into New York City, would be a more typical Looper experience.

Anyway, a quiet night to ourselves and then we’re off to pass through the big smoke tomorrow….

Take care everyone, XOXO, W&B

Hello everyone… after the Neuse River kicked our butts and we had our unplanned stop at Oriental, NC, we got tucked into a nice marina in Belhaven, NC a little further north. Thought it would be for an overnight stop but ended up being 3 days due to some ‘unusually’ windy conditions. However, to compensate we had the BEST laundry facilities of the whole trip. You might think that’s inconsequential but not according to the laundress. Big, clean, free, and empty… the town was small but very nice, golf carts to get around and local people in town stopped to chat – golf cart a giveaway that we were marina tourists!

Next up – the Dismal Swamp – in 1763 George Washington suggested the Swamp be drained and a canal built to connect the Chesapeake Bay and Albemarle Sound. Plan was commercial – drain the swamp, harvest the trees, and then farm the land. Best smelling swamp we’ve ever experienced! Wild honey suckle and roses lined the swamp and with a bit of a breeze, rose petals floated on the surface of the water – it was lovely. That was on the surface; below the surface things go bump in the dark…. water is coffee coloured and you cannot see below the surface. So we did experience a couple of (fortunately) gentle bumps as we hit logs (?) along the way.

Leaving the swamp there is a lock (we were the only boat locking through) and a Lock Master that is worth mentioning. A character for sure – he had many conchs donated to him over the years and could play it like a virtuoso…. actually play tunes on a conch! More to come, we got a thorough history lesson on the swamp (excellent), the US Navy presence in Norfolk (really interesting, and his dad was in the Korean War), his retirement savings (not good), his health care (very concerned), and of course his take on US politics! No time for religion …. lock opened and away we went. (A very sad update, this gentleman passed away unexpectedly since then; selfishly, we were fortunate to have had the pleasure of locking through with one of the most colourful Lock Masters we’ve ever met).

We had stayed at the Dismal Swamp Visitor Center dock with one other boat travelling behind us, home port of Norfolk, VA. We asked about places they recommended we see / stay and they gave us some good advice. It was a weekend and they suggested we head on through and not stop! Had been some Black Lives Matter demonstrations recently and there was also another organized Trump supporter boat parade planned that would end in Norfolk and celebrate locally. So we just passed on through Norfolk, could not have been a greater contrast to the quiet of the Dismal Swamp – we appreciated the mini-lesson the lock master had provided on the US Navy as we passed by many, many ships ….

And some things do come in 3’s…. 1) we had missed a Trump supporter boat parade by one day on our arrival from the Bahamas to the US. Florida marina said there were ‘thousands’ of boats… we chalked that up as a bit of exaggeration. 2) we left Charleston, SC the morning of a similar parade, not wanting to get caught up in the chaos of a lot of boats in a confined space. Which brings us to 3) smack in the middle of the parade – however we were the only boat going north, and the parade was streaming by us going south. Our first look at it – what appeared to be a large obstruction in the water – was, with binoculars, a wall of boats strung across the James River …. fortunately once under way, the parade was organized and was only 3-4-5 boats wide. An experience for sure, thousand plus boats not an exaggeration.

We headed across the James River and stayed at Hampton, VA. This was our alternative to Norfolk so really just across the river. As we left the next morning Red Dog, visible to other vessels with AIS, was hailed on radio by US Navy Patrol Boat 225 to stay clear of the submarine transiting the James River returning to Norfolk home base. Apparently crossing in front of the sub is not allowed – very cool to see it!

So now we are in the Chesapeake Bay and we know from other Loopers that this is a place where boaters could spend a full season and still not see it all… not for us unfortunately. With museums closed we took a complete pass on a planned trip to Jamestown and Williamsburg, VA – so much history in this area from early 1600’s and through the American Revolution. A shame to miss it all, will need to revisit as it’s still on the list of places to see! Same for Washington DC – have been there before, but would have loved a visit by water….

Heading north, a couple of nice stops on the west / Virginia side of the Chesapeake: Deltaville, VA (met a couple with a boat from Charlevoix, MN who actually did a Power Squadron boating course many years ago with Jan and Bob D’Alcorn aboard Wings), and Solomon’s Landing, VA (torrential downpours/ free and easy boat wash!).

Gave that clean boat another salt water scrub though as we left to cross to east / Maryland side of the Bay to a great, quiet & empty anchorage in the San Domingo Creek behind the town of St. Michael’s, MD. Short dinghy ride to get to a dock where the crab fishermen dock, & you arrive at a beautiful town – think Niagara-on-the-Lake and you get the idea… Apparently has one of the best maritime museums on the Chesapeake featuring the ‘watermen’ history and lifestyle (These are the blue crab fishermen… still active – we know from all the crab pots we’ve dodged along the way!). Museum …. closed. Still really enjoyed St. Michael’s as we anchored in a great spot to visit the town and walk around.

From St. Michael’s, MD we crossed back across the Bay to Annapolis, MD home of the US Naval Academy. Normally open for tours, closed for now – really disappointed with that….the grounds were closed as well, apparently random tourists strolling around are frowned on. Regardless, Annapolis a great city – built in a circle around key buildings (State House and a church) and streets radiate out like spokes in a wheel. Good walking and good restaurants. Wayne found a Yanmar dealer (our boat engine is a Yanmar) so kid in candy shop….

Leaving Annapolis we crossed the Bay again to a perfect anchorage, Still Pond, last stop on the Chesapeake for us. June 21st, 2020 – first day of summer and our 1 year anniversary on the Loop. We had left Lagoon City, our home marina, a year ago on June 21st, 2019. Still Pond anchorage lived up to its name – arrived Father’s Day Sunday so appeared busy to start but by 5pm we had the inner bay to ourselves. Sat watching bald eagles and another great sunset. A couple out in their dinghy in the afternoon stopped and asked if we had been in Bahamas… turned out we were at the same dock for a couple of days. Small world, fun to catch up and compare notes – they also suggested the Delaware City Marina so we saw them again next night.

Early start next morning as fog was just lifting and we headed north to the C&D Canal that joins the Chesapeake Bay to the Delaware River and Bay. As we were heading up to the Canal we heard on the radio that it was closed due to fog. We continued on, assuming (correctly as it turned out) that we would arrive at the entrance of the canal by the time the fog lifted. It’s an easy 14 mile run across the canal to Delaware City Marina.

Where we met Tim, the dock master. Clearly a ton of experience – tied us up with boat and current doing all the work. And he hosted a Zoom Captains meeting to help us decide when to cross the Delaware Bay to our next stop at Cape May. Showed us the weather apps he uses, gave very clear directions on where and when current (6’ tide) would help us and then slow us down, where we could expect windier conditions and when to leave / arrive. And he nailed it, very helpful sharing his knowledge and experience.

Had a terrific trip across the Delaware River and Bay:

By 12:00 we were tied up at Cape May, New Jersey marina right beside 3 other Looper boats! Mini reunion as one is Tina Marie who left Annapolis before we did, and the other 2 are Loopers we last met in the fall of 2019.

Next leg of our trip is up New Jersey into New York City. Looking forward to it… stay safe everyone,

XOXO, B&W

Hello everyone, hope all are staying well…

This is a last bit of the Bahamas, can’t resist sharing an aerial view of Red Dog captured by KelzEscape.

Well after an uneventful crossing on May 4th from Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas to West Palm Beach, Florida, we stayed overnight at North Palm Beach Safe Harbour Marina. Arrived back into a busy USA with varying degrees of COVID-19 precautions visible. Apparently the day before a boater parade of Trump supporters arrived at West Palm Beach – 1000+ boats according to the marina staff. Glad to have missed that! but happy to see marina staff in masks, handing out bottles of hand sanitizer and ‘free’ 6-pak of beer. Wayne grabbed the last 6-pak of Budweiser! What more could we want!

Fellow Canadians on the Loop – Irene and Rex Bilger M/V Tina Marie, from the Bobcaygeon area on the Trent Waterway had been in the Bahamas at the same time as we had. We had first met them along the inland rivers in the fall of 2019, and even though we knew they were in the Bahamas, we never did connect by boat with them in the Bahamas. They crossed back to the USA a day ahead of us so this was the first time we caught up to them again along this stretch of the Florida ICW and north….

We stopped overnight at one of Kelly & Rob’s favourite anchorages, Hobe Sound on the Florida ICW. Nice spot, a bit crowded, and one of the other boats was our sister ship, a blue 34′ Mainship that we had met at Fort Myers and compared notes with… Twelfth of Never. We had a shared dinner aboard KelzEscape along with Indigo Seas. Rob generously shared his catch of the day – a dolphin fish he caught crossing from Bahamas to Florida.

Next day we passed through the St. Lucie Inlet where we were sorry to say goodbye to Linda & Simon on Indigo Seas at Stuart, Florida as they have decided to head back home to Texas instead of continuing on with the Loop. Too much uncertainty for many boaters who wanted to start the Loop in 2020 – Illinois River lock closures, delayed New York Canal System opening, Canadian border not open, and general Covid-19 concerns. Expect to see them summer 2021!

Carrying on north, we passed through the Fort Pierce Inlet, and on past Vero Beach (would have loved to stay under normal circumstances – it is fondly referred to as Velcro Beach by those who hate to leave it!). We picked back up with Tina Marie, and along with KelzEscape, anchored at a spot off of Pine Island, north of Vero Beach. Very quiet, a tiny bay surrounded by large Florida homes, not a person in sight….

We were REALLY hoping to pass Cape Canaveral when there was a Space X launch scheduled and there was one planned! but it got scrubbed due to weather. Despite that it was very cool to see the NASA building and launch site. We could see the building looming large forever…. and we were not even remotely close to it – just massive.

Another town we would have loved to stop was New Smyrna; instead, anchored at Rockhouse Creek, just north of the town. Tina Marie stopped overnight to visit with friends and we and Kelz were at a busy, but really nice anchorage. Understand why it is so popular, with the tide, sandbars showed up and then disappeared. Take advantage of them when you can!

Next day passed by Daytona Beach – might have been nice to stop under different circumstances. However compensated with a lovely stop for 3 nights at Palm Coast – a resort that KelzEscape has stayed at the past couple of summers. They picked up their car and were very generous chauffeurs, so stocked up again on all the liquid essentials but there are empty store shelves for paper, cleaning products and limits on the amount of meat you can buy. Said another sad goodbye to KelzEscape as they had arranged for a boat cleaning (yes, boats are getting spa treatments long before people!) and stayed for another week or so.

Travelling solo! we headed north to Jacksonville, FLA aiming for a free dock to stay at overnight in Sisters Creek. We were the last to arrive and take the final spot in the dock but you’d never know it – next morning we have the place to ourselves! first sighting of a pink flamingo in the wild – only one so seemed odd but beautiful.

Sorry to have missed St. Augustine – it was on the top 10 list of places for us to visit by water; to compensate we did stop at Fernandina, Florida instead – a smaller, quieter version of St. Augustine – walked around the small downtown with masks on – very quiet, almost deserted. Highly recommended restaurant was closed unfortunately.

Next morning was a quick 6 mile run to Cumberland Island, Georgia along side of Rex and Irene Bilger, M/V Tina Marie. Amazing, one of our favourite stops – great history, most of the island owned by the Carnegie family who later abandoned it and a subsequent fire destroyed the family home. So now it is a State Park and the ruins are left as is…. wild horses roam the island and are everywhere! The island has everything you could ask for – great beach on the Atlantic side, wildlife everywhere, great hiking trails, boardwalk thru’ marshlands, and perfect anchorage with dinghy docks available to us. The park was technically closed so with about 15 – 20 boats anchored, there were very few people to actually see on the island.

We really enjoyed Georgia – we managed to avoid the dreaded no-see-ums that can apparently fit through our window screens – and found some really beautiful, remote anchorages surrounded by salt marshes. We thought it was funny that the anchorage was described as well protected from wind (in grass???) but then realized with an 8’ tide that yes, top of our boat would be down close to the top of tall grass at least at low tide. Fun to watch a little fishing boat zigzag around the creeks – you’d swear they would be passing by us but nope, off one of the many tributaries.

Only Georgia regret – not going upriver to Savannah. A bit out of the way but mostly did not want to play tourist….

Next stop was anchorage in South Carolina and a very different story. It was a sunny Sunday and EVERY boater had apparently busted loose that day. Boats everywhere, hundreds (very slight exaggeration) of seadoos, party boats, fishing boats, boats pulled over for speeding, Wayne swears he got flashed (I thought she was changing her top).

Anchored in a nice spot but busy well into the evening. It was just before Calibogue Sound, almost directly across from Hilton Head’s PGA Harbour Town golf course. If you are a fan, you will have seen the red and white lighthouse on TV. I thought Wayne should do a dinghy ‘drive’ by as that was going to be the only affordable way to get up close to the PGA course (marina at Harbour Town a bit expensive!). Woke up next morning to thinking we had apparently anchored on top of a crab pot – how could we have not seen that? but no, it’s a jellyfish bigger than a grapefruit disguised as a crab pot – dozens of them floating by…

Next stop was Beaufort, SC (Bew-Fort) not to be confused with Beaufort, NC (Bow-Fort). Great little town – we stayed at Lady’s Island Marina and visited downtown by dinghy early in the morning to avoid anyone. Amazing churches and graveyards and they had a beautiful park along the ICW with the history of the town laid out on bronze plaques – handy given museums are still closed.

We were also fortunate to catch up with a sailor we met in Fort Myers. Don’s boat was tied up directly behind ours in Fort Myers where he and Wayne spent many afternoons in their favourite watering hole. Don had a favourite burger place with a patio right behind the Beaufort marina, so off we go with antiseptic wipes, hand sanitizer and masks for a very good burger.

Another night at anchor – Steamboat Creek – half way between Beaufort and Charleston. A peaceful night out with Tina Marie, many dolphins and pelicans.

We had contacted the local Charleston, SC Looper Harbour Hosts, Jerry and Jenny Reves for information and recommendations for the city. Jerry and Jenny were our Chattanooga side trip organizers so nice to touch base. Neither of us thought about the Memorial Day long weekend so we ended up staying at a marina on Patriot’s Point across the river from downtown Charleston unable to book in the heart of the city unfortunately. The marina is co-located with a Naval Museum in a decommissioned ship, so Wayne and Rex had a tour. City officially started opening up again on the weekend and it was noticeable at the marina / resort. We heard the resort was 90% booked after being virtually empty for last 3 months and it was evident – pools busy, lots of families….

We did Uber over to downtown, walked the very walkable downtown – great architecture, no high buildings (church spires to dominate the skyline). Much still closed (thankfully so not tempted) including museums, churches, some restaurants and the large market. We still managed to enjoy what we saw, shared a horse carriage ride with Rex & Irene with a very entertaining history teacher/ driver – easy way to soak up the history of the city, sampled a couple of pubs, ate at a well known seafood restaurant named after my father (Hank’s!), and tracked down a sweet grass basket for a beautiful memento.

Heard from our KelzEscape buddies that there was a boat parade planned for Charleston on the holiday Sunday. Initially thought it was a Memorial Day parade with boats all lit up, expect fireworks later …. instead local boater next to us said it was a planned political boat parade for something like 1,000 Trump supporters. Either way, we wanted to avoid hundreds of day boaters! So we headed north (past Fort Sumter for Civil War buffs – so small an island / Fort for such a large role in Civil War history – first shot of the war apparently) to another peaceful anchorage on Sunday night (Minim Creek, SC). Unfortunately this time we did experience the buggiest of evenings. No problem keeping them out, bigger than no-see-ums, but woke up to literally thousands of them dead and dying all over our boat. We started our day with a coffee and vacuum cleaner…. not fun.

First half of holiday Monday was lovely – described as one of the prettiest stretches of the ICW with moss covered cypress trees and osprey nests everywhere. Lived up to its reputation.

And then we hit another crazy boater section. Note to self – never travel through Myrtle Beach on a holiday Monday, or perhaps any weekend (or weekday?). Seadoo rental places all along the ICW – near misses with some of them thinking they were in floating bumper cars and no ‘rules of the road’. Seriously, Wayne was sure we were going to witness a death at one point – very close call with a woman and child cutting right in front of a fast fishing boat. Good reflexes by fishing boat saved their lives (and it’s debatable whether she was even aware she cut them off). We also heard as we approached our marina a radio call to police to rescue a woman being assaulted on a boat…. oh, happy holiday weekends!

Good news though, nice marina – Myrtle Beach Yacht Club, fuel price $1.29/gallon for diesel (can forgive a lot for that price!). Stayed one night, coming back from a walk, we ran into Kim & Bill M/V Sand Dollar (Loopers aboard a 40′ Mainship – we first met them at Port Washington, Wisconsin on Lake Michigan, and crossed paths again at Green Turtle Bay Marina, Grand Rivers, KY) – nice to catch up. Next day we carried on, listening to weather reports on tropical storm Bertha. It really hit south of us, but monitoring for heavy rain, thunderstorms and wind….

We wanted to stop at Southport, NC – another Looper Harbour Host we would have liked to catch up with – Robert & Kay Creech – but marinas full likely due to weather concerns so we headed on by…. Unfortunate, but it meant we stayed at the Carolina Beach State Park marina for 2 nights which we loved. Very small, cannot take boats any larger than us, and only 2-3 of our size. Basically a small fishing boat marina for people who spend weekends at the State Park. Very relaxing for an extra rainy day stop.

One more anchorage at Mile Hammock Bay before arriving in Beaufort NC; nice anchorage but MUD bottom, chain absolutely thick with it. And it is in a military zone. Camp LeJeune, where they do helicopter and VTAL (aircraft that takes off and lands vertically) training – well into the evening.

And so we arrive in Beaufort NC, another amazing town with deep maritime roots and history. Joined a Historical Society tour of some of the original homes, Courthouse, jail and Apothecary – very knowledgeable docent Shirley, approximately 90 years old, led 3 of us with masks on. Homes along the waterfront dating back to mid-1700’s, all quite beautiful and large having been built by prosperous sea captains. Of course pirates too…. and another very old cemetery with headstones dating back to early 1700 – filled with both military (Revolutionary & Civil wars) and sailor’s families. Definitely worth a stop.

We left Beaufort NC this morning hoping for a 50 mile day to an anchorage. However woke up to strong north winds as a cold front passes through. Got so far and then entered the Neuse River (more like the song ‘Moon River, WIDER than a mile….’). After slogging it out for 1/2 hour on the Neuse River and re-coating our boat from water line to upper helm windows with salt spray, we called it a day and are nicely tied up to dock in Oriental, NC.

Hoping for fairer winds tomorrow and we head north towards our next adventure on a section of the loop called “the dismal swamp”. Can’t wait!

Take care everyone. Stay safe. We will continue to take precautions as we pass through US States that are more or less trying to return to ‘normal’ conditions. Hope y’all do the same….

Love to all, XOXO, B&W

Hello everyone, well we are on our way to Florida today, May 4th. We chose our day well…. the most amazing conditions with winds light and variable, and seas almost calm as we pass over the Gulf Stream. We’ve dubbed it the ‘beer run’ but we’ll get to that, so back to April 16th….

COVID-19 Update: while at anchor at Great Harbour, Berry Islands, more stringent measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 were announced by the Bahamian government that included how they wanted pleasure crafts to proceed. The options were to 1) shelter in place, 2) find a place to leave your boat and fly home, or 3) leave the Bahamas.

Sheltering in place would become increasingly difficult as there was to be no shore access, only marina access where provisions were to be delivered to your boat (not at all practical since there was no easy way to order food for delivery). Leaving the boat here for an extended period of time also not appealing for a number of reasons. And so basically the Bahamian government is really encouraging all of us to leave and to do so directly without stopping anywhere. If unable to do that, we were to file a request for an exit plan with minimal stops enroute. So like good citizens that we are, we submitted a request to leave the Berry Islands with one stop at Grand Bahama Island (Freeport and Lucaya). Sounds quick and efficient, doesn’t it?

Efficient it might be but it’s taken 2+ weeks to actually leave! Leaving safely in good weather was the hiccup. We ended up staying at the anchorage at Great Harbour for more days than expected (8 in total). We went to shore once to see if any fresh produce available but nope. The ‘mail boat’ that also delivers food was off schedule, likely related to Bahamian rules of complete shutdowns of any non-essential services on weekends, including grocery stores.

Other than that short excursion, we entertained ourselves fishing, reading, rug hooking, watching movies and old episodes of Doc Martin (really need to get Seasons 5+ when we get home).

Wayne’s pickerel-ninja fishing talents put to good use – had to rescue a seagull that he caught in his fishing line. It flew across the line and somehow got completely entangled and crash landed in the water. But good news: seagulls float, Bahamian seagulls are smaller and cuter than Ontario seagulls, they clearly do not weigh too much as 8lb line enough to reel them in, and they have friends. That last part is good for the gull, not so much for boaters (a flock of gulls circling your boat wanting to help their buddy can have consequences). Anyway a towel over it’s head – so glad we watch those nature rescue shows – and we were able unwind the line from it’s wing, leg and body and let it fly, fly away!

We crossed over to the island of Grand Bahama on April 16th under less than ideal conditions as our ‘living room’ got trashed again despite best efforts to tie everything down that we could.

Freeport and Lucaya are the main tourist towns and normally there are many marinas to choose from – however none of them were accepting new transient boaters. Luckily as part of the new exit strategy for boaters, one marina has been designated as safe harbour on each of the larger islands that are typically used to launch a trip back to another country. Happily for us Grand Bahama Yacht Club is the designated marina at Lucaya and has a pool, nice grounds and they shuttle boaters to a grocery store for us to do our own shopping.

Still practiced social distancing, typically a small group of boats arrive together from somewhere and they hang out together. For us that meant we continued to enjoy the company of fellow Loopers, Linda and Simon on Indigo Seas, and Kelly and Rob on KelzEscape.

Takeout meals still possible Monday – Friday so we had a couple of pizza dinners, and also great meals from a restaurant called the Flying Fish that we could access by dinghy as they did not deliver. Given the Bahama liquor stores have been closed since mid-March, enterprising restaurants have been selling whatever stock they have, so we picked up a couple of bottles of wine from the Flying Fish. And of course a somewhat flourishing black market has sprung up, someone with connections to the empty hotels on the island.

However! And this is the crucial part – there is no beer to be had anywhere! At first we heard that yes, a case could be acquired for $85 or so but that turned out to be a cruel hoax. No beer, so strict rationing went into effect on Red Dog. Tricky though – how many days before we get a good crossing to the land of plenty? Apparently many days – we arrived on April 16th and we left today, May 4th. Hence the urgency for a beer run to the USA! Plus it sounds so much less intimidating – just out for a beer run rather than a 60 mile Gulf Stream crossing!

In the meantime though, for entertainment, we were able to dinghy along an inland canal from the marina to the Dolphin Experience – closed of course but we could dinghy right up to the training area and watch the dolphins workout. The staff put on a bit of a show for us, allowing one of their dolphins out of the pen right beside our dinghy; with a big splash and a laugh, one of them soaked Wayne and then headed back into the pen for well deserved fishy treat.

Wayne also snorkeled with a borrowed wetsuit that made the 85 degree water just perfect! Got up close and personal with lobster – tickled them with a spear however lobsta’ season ended March 31st so they were probably just out for a stroll.

Watching the weather forecast for a good crossing in a couple of days, we left the marina on May 2nd for a 3 hour run to the West End, a community at the west end of Grand Bahama where boaters stage for a crossing back to the USA. We stayed at a very protected anchorage call Ginn Sur Mer. It was to be a residential / tourist development but after a great deal of investment, it stalled in 2013 due to some legal issues. A shame as a lot of work done to create a canal system – but now it is available as a great anchorage so good for boaters!

We made good use of our extra, last day in the Bahamas, exploring the beach side of Ginn Sur Mer. Luckily it was a fabulous beach for shelling – a lot of our favourite coral and some sea glass picked up here.

And so, sadly, up at 05:30 for a 60 nm run across to Florida. ‘Sadly’ for both hour of the day and for leaving the Bahamas! Have loved what we have seen, very sorry to have missed so much (about 1/2 of our ambitious plans we started out with – so maybe next time round?!), grateful for marvellous travel companions, and extremely thankful that we have stayed healthy here.

Well gotta get our yellow quarantine flag up and get ready for US customs so bye for now! stay safe and healthy everyone.

XOXO, W&B

PS. Cleared US Customs via their CBPA (Customs and Border Protection Agency) app and a subsequent video chat; I had some concerns about Canadians entering the USA in a pandemic as borders are closing around the world but no problem at all – a quick call and the US Customs agent asked if we had a good time in Bahamas!

PPS. Arrived safe and sound at West Palm Beach marina and we’re helped in by dock staff. Handed us 2 bottles of hand sanitizer and …. at check in received a 6-Pak of beer! Must have heard Wayne was coming…. the beer run was successful!

PPPS. Fishing on our way. KelzEscape caught a dorado – apparently fish for dinner tomorrow at our next anchorage.

Happy Easter everyone! Hope this update finds everyone well… we are doing fine and still enjoying the warm weather.

This weekend is the second time the government has ordered a complete shutdown in the Bahamas – the first weekend shutdown of everything (except hospitals and essential security services) was announced late afternoon on Friday the 3rd of April starting that night. No groceries, no fuel, etc and it took the very social Bahamians by surprise. According to a government official explaining actions, “There ain’t no vaccine, except the stay-at-home vaccine”. No debate about that!

Things opened up again on the Monday morning with advance notice of an extended, 5 day, complete shutdown over the Easter weekend. So shopping was curtailed and there was a schedule based on your last name …. which of course created long line-ups as people restocked for the Easter weekend and more. From the start liquor stores have been closed – that is likely very challenging for many, including boaters!

The government is also clamping down on inter-island travel, aimed at protecting the outer islands from any infections. Right now there are 3 islands with Covid cases, predictably New Providence (Nassau), Grand Bahama (Freeport) and Bimini. There is still boat traffic for boaters like us with some very limited marina access when not in total shutdown. Apparently the government is working on plans for how boaters like ourselves can move (as many want to go home) with specified marinas taking in transient boaters, open for fuel, water, and access to groceries. We’ve signed up for updates from the Canadian government and there has been references to progress being made, no details yet.

As for us, based on what we knew at the end of March, we thought we would turn the pointy end of Red Dog north and move slowly back north spending the month of April getting up to the northwest corner of the Bahamas, ready to head back to Florida at the end of April. We had hoped to explore new areas but not practical at this time so we’re retracing our southbound route to some extent with some different anchorages, and ultimately leaving from Grand Bahama instead of our arrival island of Bimini. Hoping for some signs that the Covid curve starts to flatten in the US. To that end, here’s what we’ve been up to…

As we were leaving Staniel Cay on March 27th we met our pals Linda and Simon on Indigo Seas in their dinghy. Told them we were heading north a total of 6 miles to a recommended anchorage in Pipe Creek, close to Thomas Cay and Over Yonder Cay so they decided to tag along. It’s known for the beautiful waters – colours ranging from palest green (“gin clear” is the local expression) to the deepest sapphire, with everything in between. Lived up to its reputation!

Bottom not the best for anchoring- we bounced once before setting. We use what’s called a “lookie-see” bucket Wayne made (a pail with a transparent bottom, very handy) to check if our our anchor set. Was good but not great. Indigo also challenged and then a 3rd boat arrived, a sailboat from Montreal with same results. Wayne dinghed over to check they were ok and heard they had just sailed up from Georgetown – a place we had wanted to get to but did not – a large bay where hundred of boaters spend their entire winter. According to these folks, things had gotten ugly in the bay at Georgetown with Covid rules, sailor was laughing that people would have come to blows if it weren’t for the 6’ rule!

Indigo Seas did some snorkelling around Pike Creek, we walked a small beach and explored the anchorage by dinghy. Only stayed the one night and continued north the next day.

Indigo Seas had missed Warderick Wells Cay, the Exumas Land and Sea Park headquarters, on their trip south so we headed there to tie up to mooring balls. Linda and Simon had an offering to leave at Boo Boo Hill, they carved their boat name into a piece of wood for the weather gods…. unfortunately the park staff told us all beaches and hiking trails were closed so no access this time round. We were fortunate that we had stopped on the way south so got to explore Warderick Wells, enjoy pot luck cocktail hour, etc.

We also stopped at Shroud Cay again, this time anchoring out at the north end of the Cay. Shroud was one of our favourite stops because of the high tide dinghy runs through the mangroves , watching for turtles and stingrays. Lots of turtles, no rays this time. The speed limit through the mangroves is 4 knots – we could not keep up to the turtles!

There are 2 different trips through the mangroves. The second one to the south is a bit more shallow than the northern one – turns out we have a lighter dinghy than Indigo Seas does…. or we did not time high tide very well! Linda slogging through dragging Simon and dinghy through the shallow parts and then catching a ride…

Just behind our boat where we anchored at the north end of Shroud Cay was a nice coral reef to snorkel – lots of fish, beautiful and strange coral heads to float over – all within a short swim behind Red Dog. Good thing we snorkelled first before being greeted at our boat by the relatively tame barracuda… lots of teeth, suspect lots of attitude as well, not what we want to face off with in the water!

March 31st, reluctantly we left Shroud Cay and the last of the Exuma Islands to head back to the very nice marina called Palm Cay at the southeast end of New Providence Island. We were thinking we needed to be into a marina early April in case new rules rolled out limiting our access to a marinas and reprovisioning. Arrived back to a very different vibe – marina extremely quiet, and then the government announced the first complete shutdown.

KelzEscape, another boat we have been hopscotching the Bahamas with had arrived a day ahead of us (we are featured in a KelzEscape video on YouTube if interested, just type in KelzEscape – 2 references to us in Season 2, Episode 7, Great Harbour Cay, Berry Islands – about 2 and 9 minutes into their video they do for family and friends). Good to have company from fellow boaters that had the same / lack of close exposure to anyone…

We celebrated Wayne’s birthday at Palm Cay – lack of shopping opportunities meant I did sacrifice the Bacardi Pina Colada cake-in-a-tin I was saving to share with all of you…. must say it was delicious.

Wayne had his very favourite meal – steak (the Cab1, Randy what does that mean?, never mind, it’s delicious!) and beans. Despite clothes not considered a true gift for some people, Wayne does have a new T-shirt – long sleeve so maybe sacrifice sleeves to make face masks?

Indigo Seas preferred to go into Nassau harbour to anchor. Both good and bad…. apparently eerily quiet in downtown Nassau, cruise ships, streets empty. However when they went to leave for a good weather window to travel it was during the weekend shutdown and the Harbour control refused to let them leave.

Weather looked promising April 8th to cross back over the Tongue of the Ocean north of New Providence and back to the Berry Islands. We had 2 days before the extended Easter weekend shutdown and another weather front to blow through so figured ok to move. A terrific trip – smooth, large rollers underneath us and very light wind on our stern. Had thought we would anchor on the east side of the Berry Islands among some apparently beautiful anchorages. However, wind to pick up over next day and we were having such a beautiful run we decided to haul all the way to the Great Harbour anchorage.

And now for a weather update…. by Friday, April 10th winds building and clocking around from N > E > S > W back to north again for another round as fronts pass through the area. Weather understatement of the year: “unsettled”. Friday night we watch the most amazing light spectacle to what we think is to the north and east of us. The sky would light up, reflecting off of clouds, could not hear the thunder, and have to say, it was very calm. Radar showed a storm tracking that would narrowly miss us.

But it didn’t …. just as it’s really dark we do get a taste of the storm. One second not there and the next, torrential downpour, high winds, lightning and thunder. In under a minute we have swung from facing the south to the north, skipping the west altogether it was so fast, and dragging our anchor. Wayne starts the boat, puts it in neutral, and fortunately he can see backwards out over the stern to keep us on a straight path, travelling at about 2.2 knots backwards dragging anchor all the way. We have rain gear and spotlights ready at back door so after closing all windows I throw gear on, step out and am instantly soaked, despite my Newfoundland Sou’Wester (I must have the flimsy tourist version??) and rain gear. I head to the bow and see with spotlight we fly past a catamaran still at anchor. SOOO fortunate to pass by them, between them and shore without fouling their anchor or hitting bottom. We were the second boat to zip by them when our anchors let loose. We get the anchor up and basically zig zag our way back out to clear waters and ride out the storm. Then reset the anchor and get a good nights sleep (that last part is actually a joke).

And so we are staying put for a couple more days – both weather and official shutdown period happen to conveniently coincide – until we lift anchor and set off for Grand Bahama Island, our next stop.

We consider ourselves to be so very fortunate to continue to be safe, healthy, and from all accounts our families and friends are also taking great care to remain free of the COVID 19 virus. All the best everyone!

XOXO, W&B

PS. Special thoughts, wishes flying along with 30 knot SE winds to Bern💕

Well guess we need to catch up! First off, hope everyone is staying healthy. We are both doing well, having been under a self imposed quarantine of sorts on Red Dog through last couple of weeks. Despite global pandemics and all the associated challenges, we have bravely carried on….. and too much uncertainty to predict what the future holds. This morning (Mar 24th) the Prime Minister of the Bahamas announced a curfew until the end of March except for essential services. Marinas still open for boaters to fill water and fuel, grocery stores open with some guidelines, etc.

As for what we have been doing – it seems pretty selfish to say we’ve been simply enjoying our trip but that is the case. So read on if you can bear to see what a couple of tourists have been up to….

After more days than we planned / expected in the Berry Islands due to high winds and seas, we left February 28th at 06:30 with a 1 day travel window to Nassau, New Providence with about 8 other boats.

At various points in the trip we are in 12’ of water up to > 9000’! Little bit of a drop off! as we leave the shallow waters around the Berry’s and cross what is called the tongue of the Atlantic Ocean. Apparently water depths do have an impact on conditions – got rougher and rougher and the final 15 nautical miles had Wayne steering all the way, through 1.5 – 2.0 meter stern starboard seas. Got to see what our cabin looks like with the furniture rearranged all by itself. So 9 hours after we started out we were happy to see the entrance to Nassau, where you must request permission to enter the port, thankfully granted! (it seems ironic that the worst thing about boating in the Bahamas is the actual boating…).

On our way to our marina, we pass by the entrance to the well known and expensive Atlantis Resort – looked like we could have stayed…. beside the 200′ yacht. Carrying on, we got to our marina, tied up, let our stomachs settle over a cold one (yes, that works) and sat back to watch the tourist boats fly around.

We only had the next day planned for seeing Nassau: grocery shopped at a plaza that looked like, and priced like Whole Foods, walked downtown to the Straw Market, fought our way through the cruise ship crowds (there were 4 ships docked), walked up and around the pink Government House, official residence of the Governor General, and bought Wayne a pair of sunglasses and a Bacardi Pina Colada rum cake in a tin for me. Technically it will last in the tin until we get home….

We headed out after 1 day, sacrificing learning more about the history of Nassau, visiting museums, etc for a couple of days at a resort on the southeast side of New Providence – Palm Cay Resort and Marina (home to 3 different catamaran rental companies). Lovely spot, voted best marina in the Bahamas several years in a row. Fuel dock sticker shock after relatively low prices in the US: $3.78/G plus 12% VAT. Expert dock hands – they had very specific instructions for tying up Red Dog in the slip we were in…. probably took 15 minutes to be tied up to everyone’s satisfaction!

Good news, Starbucks coffee shop onsite where we have an expensive pancake breakfast; they also have a restaurant onsite, a separate building on the beach by the the beach club, pool and bar. Great venue, food good….

A couple of days later, March 4th, we cross from New Providence to Highborne Cay, one of the more northern Cays in the Exuma chain. First anchorage, recommended by several people, was a bit rough & rolly so we picked up and moved to another more protected spot for a couple of days. We are joined by Indigo Seas – Linda & Simon – fellow loopers met in Fort Myers, Florida. Caught a great sunset with Indigo Seas. The anchorage off of Highborne Cay is a perfect spot to dinghy north to explore Allen Cay, home of the endangered Bahamian iguanas. Not at all shy, they stampede the beach in search of tourists with food. A shame really, people have actually managed to change the natural behaviour of these iguanas. We had no food, they quickly turned away…

Weather forecast was for another front to pass through with high winds (is everyone as sick of references to wind as we are?? Tropical breezes, my a….) so we headed into Highborne Marina, well protected from the good ‘ole eastern Trade Winds. Remember the Nina, Pinta & Santa Maria? We now appreciate just how fast Chris Columbus and those ships must have scooted from Spain to the New World with trade winds at their back!

Luckily we are at another marina with bikes to explore the island, beaches with great facilities, a nice restaurant, a resident parrot and a lot of really friendly little birds. They would fly right into the cabin if we left the back door open; came in to see one perched on the side of a bowl of nuts – too friendly for Hitchcock. Dock hands great – lots of laughs. We had a concrete sailboat come in next to us – 4 German guys. We’re sure they were marvellous sailors, but really struggled to get docked, coming in sideways, ramming into posts. After much instruction from the dock hand they get tied up and he says to them “welcome to Cuba” – greeted by silence, a thank you, at which point the dock guy realizes they don’t speak English and says to us he wasted his best joke on them. When these same sailors left, they said they were “off to Nassau today, Germany tomorrow”. So maybe they did have a sense of humour! Had a potluck one night with other boaters – lots of recommendations of where to go and what to see as we head further south.

Leaving marinas behind for awhile, we head south to Norman’s Cay on March 11th, anchoring out just on the western shore of the Cay. Not much going on – it (and other cays) have a little runway for local planes. Apparently Bahamians can thank drug smugglers for one thing – leaving behind the infrastructure for future airstrips! At the next Cay south of Norman’s – Shroud Cay – are the remains of Camp Driftwood, used by the CIA to keep tabs on the drug smugglers.

Shroud Cay was the next stop, first Cay in the Exuma Land and Sea Park. Its a no take Park, so no fishing, shelling, feeding wildlife (also no cell coverage or internet). Costs $0.50/foot to anchor with some mooring balls available for $25/night. Very reasonable. And amazing – at high tide we took our dinghy from the west to east shore through mangroves – several routes. Turtles, sting rays everywhere – wonderful. One of our favourite stops.

From Shroud, still heading south in the park, we pick up a mooring ball at Warderick Wells Cay, home of the park headquarters. Luckily arrived on a Saturday, March 14th, and attended the weekly cocktails on the beach. Small world – a young couple and their 3 year old daughter from Chapleau, Ontario were there. I mentioned spending summers at a bush camp on Pineal Lake our father worked at in the 1970’s – Sheppard & Morse, which no longer exists. Amazing coincidence, they lived on Sheppard and Morse Road! 6 degrees of separation or something…

2 days at Warderick exploring and hiking around the island, great views from Boo Boo Hill where boaters leave offerings to ensure smooth sailing (worth a try!). As we were leaving the park March 16th and listening to their daily radio broadcast they announced the Park was closing due to Covid-19. We were beginning to wonder if Bahamas was immune, unfortunately not. Still able to boat, moor but the headquarters was closed to the public.

So on to next stop, mooring balls in a beautiful bay off of Cambridge Cay. Great central location for us to launch the dinghy and explore ‘the Aquarium’ a favourite spot to snorkel, hike trails over to the other side of the Cay to see Bell Rock, and to wait for high tide to experience ‘the Bubble Bath’ at Compass Cay, a natural round basin with a slight gap in to the east that lets water pour in at high tide and bubbles up around you. Also good spot to hold out another couple days of uncomfortable winds. And we had company! One boat we had done some travelling with so great to catch up with them, cocktails and Kelly (Rob and Kelly White, puppy Jaxson, M/V KelzEscape) made great spaghetti sauce for dinner one night. They have been great to pass on tips of what to see as they are a couple steps ahead of us.

From Cambridge we headed to Staniel Cay on March 21st, now out of the southern limit of the park, and back into civilization. Pretty much out of any clean clothes so it’s been a laundry stop as well as grocery stop. By the way, they have a very interesting business model – it’s a laundromat with a bar and liquor store. Laundry done, one bottle of rum and 2 cases of Bud Lite later our pockets are lighter by $213!!! US!!!! That’s $43 for 3 loads of laundry (that I did, not dropped off!), $30 for rum (a bargain), and $140 for 2 cases of beer (to be cherished). Groceries are bought at one of 2 competing stores – the Pink store, or the Blue store. Both tiny but between the two they have just about everything, produce best just after weekly mail boat or air delivery. Helps explain the prices….

We’ve enjoyed our stay here at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club marina but it is almost empty – mass exodus of many boaters back to the US due to uncertainly around Covid. The bar and restaurant, normally hopping, very quiet. Dinner is served at a single seating at 6:30 pm. You place your order by 4 and then go to the bar for a drink and they ring a bell around 6:30 when dinner is to be served. Great ambiance, good food, great value as every meal is served with fresh bread/rolls, soup, salad, entree, dessert and coffee. Liked it so much did it two nights in a row. Hardly anyone around though – as a health check, dining room and bar only open to resort or marina guests. So that leaves about a couple hundred boats anchored in the area not able to come in for meals or the bar. Going to be (another) very tough year for the Bahamas.

While here at Staniel we dinghy overtop of a sunken airplane (vintage 1970’s – ish) and we also head to Pig Bay where the ‘wild’ swimming pigs come out seeking treats. Very good swimmers, discerning palates – our offering of orange peels was beneath some of the older pigs but younger ones were not so picky – and kinda cute, for pigs.

We also snorkelled at Thunderball Grotto – at low tide you can swim into a grotto filled with fish, and beautiful corals. The Sean Connery 007 movie in the 1960’s, Thunderball, was filmed here. The bar has old pictures with the film crew on the walls. Did not see Sean….

We were able to catch up with fellow Loopers here at Staniel – Linda and Simon on Indigo Seas are from Texas. We first met them at Bimini, crossed to Bahamas same day, anchored with them at the north end of Highborne Cay, explored Allen Cay, visited iguanas, and have played hopscotch with them as we travel around.

And so now we are thinking we will force Red Dog in a northerly direction starting tomorrow (March 27th), first time northbound since last June! No rush, as there are parts of the Exuma Park we did not see and want to…. and we’ll gradually wend our way to Grand Bahama Island and Freeport. As another Looper used to say “we’re winging it” (we miss Steve on Bunganuc II!).

Stay safe & healthy everyone! XO W&B

Ps. Wayne thinks Corona Beer should start selling 19 paks!