January 16, 2018
After almost seven weeks in St. Petersburg, we leave the Municipal Marina at 8:10 am. It is somewhat of a gray day and the beginning of the trip is a bit sloppy, but we point our bow towards the Sunshine Skyway Bridge to begin the final leg of our journey back to Okeechobee. We pass under the bridge by 9:35 am, so instead of stopping at Twin Dolphins Marina in Bradenton, we decide to continue. For the next few hours, we pass under and/or through several bridges. Most of the time we have to wait for them to open on their schedule. By 5:30 pm, we have encountered about 8 bridges and are ready to stop for the night. We anchor in Lemon Bay for the evening where we meet fellow Loopers from "Firestorm". They have just crossed their wake, but have yet to hoist their gold flag. We have a quiet dinner and head to bed early in preparation for tomorrow.
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| Heading for the Sunshine Skyway Bridge |
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| On our way to crossing our wake! |
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Once again, dolphins play in our wake along the way!
They are so adorable. |
January 17, 2018
We haul anchor just after another beautiful sunrise and continue to Charlotte Harbor and the Burnt Store Marina where we will meet Dave's cousin Susan and her husband, Dennis. We arrive at about 12:30, settle into our slip and then Dave and I have lunch, along with margaritas at the on-site restaurant. After lunch, we straighten the boat and wait for our company to arrive. When Susan and Dennis arrive, we spend some time chatting on "At Last", and go for dinner. We have an excellent visit, which ends up being way too short, but all good things must come to an end. Our guests leave at about 9:00 pm and Dave and I return to the boat to settle in for the rest of the evening.
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| Another breathtaking sunrise |
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| Dave and Susan |
January 18, 2018
We are very excited about today's destination. We are meeting our friends Dave and Betsy from
Fryedaze and Bonnie and John from
Bon Voyage. They are on their way to Longboat Key for a few weeks and we are meeting in Pelican Bay to raft together for the evening. We leave the dock at 9:30 am. There are small craft warnings in effect today, but although crossing Charlotte Harbor is a bit sloppy, as always, "At Last" and Captain Dave handle it well. We all arrive at the the entrance to the anchorage about 11:30 am. The water is quite shallow here with sandbars, so we carefully and slowly make our way to an awesome spot in the anchorage. John sets
Bon Voyage's anchor. Dave rafts
Fryedaze to her starboard side and we raft
At Last to her port side. As soon as we are all settled, we gather on
Bon Voyage to celebrate the completion (well almost) of our Great Loop! We toast with champagne. Dave and Betsy completed their Loop in 2015 and although, John and Bonnie have not done the Loop yet, we think they might finally be thinking about it.
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| Shallow water and sand bars |
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| Dave, Gail, Dave, Betsy, Bonnie, John |
After catching up and exchanging boating adventures, we return to our respective boats with a plan to have pot luck together on
Bon Voyage. Later in the evening, we share a veritable smorgasbord and enjoy an awesome evening of fun, food, drink, games and friendship.
January 19, 2018
We awaken to a cool morning and a low tide. The Bryants and the Fryes are planning to leave today, but they have to wait until the tide rises a bit to navigate the shallow water in Pelican Bay. They leave at about noon. We are sad to see them go, but are grateful we were able to catch up with them along the way.
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| Rafted together once again |
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| Pelican Bay |
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| Fryedaze leaving the anchorage |
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| Followed by Bon Voyage |
After their departure, Dave and I re-anchor the boat, have lunch, and then dinghy to Cayo Costa State Park which is located on Cayo Costa Cay Island. The island has walking trails, 12 cabins, 30 tent sites, restrooms, and even two cemeteries. We pay a $2 per person charge to be on the island, (it is an honor system) and then we walk a mile to the Gulf beach. We hang on the beach for a while and then walk back to the ranger station for our return dinghy ride to "At Last". It is an interesting island and as we are returning to our dinghy, we see a tram loaded with people and their camping gear headed for the beach. Looks like this group is going to enjoy a night of "roughing it".
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| Walking to the Gulf shore |
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| The Gulf shore on Cayo Costa Island |
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| Gail on the shore |
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| Dave on the shore |
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| Dave & Gail |
After returning to "At Last", Dave and I enjoy docktails and cheeseburger soup and then head off to bed.
January 20, 2018
After coffee and breakfast, Dave attends to a little boat maintenance and when the water rises a little we carefully make our way back towards Charlotte Harbor. We are back tracking a little today and will be staying at John and Marilyn Jorgensen's in Punta Gorda tonight.
Blue Goose, our sister ship, is in Bradenton for installation of hardwood floors, so the wall in back of their house is available for us to dock "At Last". We arrive at 2:30 pm. After getting settled, Marilyn and I go to Publix and she gives me a quick tour of the town. We have dinner together and chat about each of our varied boating adventures. They announce they have decided to start the Great Loop in March, 2018. We are so excited for them. They have a lot of sailing experience and we know they will love doing the Loop in
Blue Goose. It is the perfect boat for the Loop. We can say that with certainty since it is the twin of "At Last" and she has been just awesome on this adventure. We talk a bit about various aspects of the Loop before calling it a night.
TWINS
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| Blue Goose |
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| At Last |
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| "At Last" docked at the Jorgensen's |
January 21, 2018
In the morning we have breakfast with John and Marilyn, chat some more about the Great Loop Experience, and then by 12:30 pm, we leave their wall and head back down Charlotte Harbor. We are getting closer to home with each passing day. We have an uneventful day of travel and we arrive at our anchorage in St. James City at around 5:30 pm. We enjoy another delicious meal from Mazzaro's.....their meatloaf and a salad. The sunset is spectacular tonight and we realize that this will be our last anchorage of our Great Loop trip......the end is closing in.
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| Sunset at St. James City Anchorage |
January 22 & 23, 2018
We leave our anchorage at 8:15 am for a short trip to Legacy Harbor Marina in Ft. Meyers. We arrive by 11:00 am. It is a very nice facility with a laundry, restaurant, swimming pool, and even a workout room. We are planning to stay here for two nights. While relaxing on the stern of "At Last", Dave helps a small cruiser style boat dock behind us. The crew of this boat is in search of margaritas. We chat with the captain as his passengers head to the bar. When they return, they bring Dave a margarita for his help. Not a bad tip for the "dock boy". We walk around the docks and admire all the boats......all kinds and sizes. We enjoy a glass of wine on the stern and then a light meal and it's off to bed.
In the morning, I get up early and do laundry. We walk to Bennett's Fresh Roast Coffee shop. It has excellent coffee and the most delicious donuts. For lunch we meet Denise and Randy, our dock neighbors from the Maryland Yacht Club. We also went to Europe and traveled the Canal du Midi with them in 2014. They still live in western Maryland, but also have a house in Estero, FL. We have lunch at the restaurant, Joe's Crab Shack, in the Marina. We enjoy catching up with each other and after lunch we go back to their house in Estero. We have a great day together. By 7:00 pm we are back on "At Last" preparing to depart in the morning.
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| "At Last" docked at Legacy Harbor in Ft. Meyers |
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| On the docks at Legacy Harbor |
January 24, 2018
In the morning, we walk to the Edison & Ford Winter Estates which are near the marina. These estates boast over 20 acres of botanical gardens, nine historic buildings, including the Edison Ford Museum with its impressive collection of inventions, artifacts and special exhibit galleries. The architecture and furnishings of the gracious, rambling houses are reminiscent of a bygone era.
The Edison Ford Winter Estates
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| The Marina at Edison Ford |
After visiting the Edison Ford Winter Estates we stop once again at Bennett's for coffee and another awesome donut and then we head back to the boat to prepare to leave. We leave the dock at 10:30 am. Ft. Meyers is at the end of the GIWW and we will now be entering the Okeechobee Waterway.
Today we travel to the W.P. Franklin lock. We arrive at 12:45 pm and dock next to "Little Mick". This lock and campground is located on the Caloosahachee River. It is operated by the Army Corps of Engineers. The campground is very popular "in season" and it is well-maintained. The docks are also in good shape. We set out our chairs, have a glass of wine and watch the boats as they lock through. The docking here is very reasonable and if you have a national parks pass, it is half-price. Unfortunately, we did not know this until after we had made our reservations on-line, but now we know for the next time.
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W. P. Franklin Lock
on the Caloosahachee River |
January 25, 2018
We leave the lock at 7:40 am and continue up the Caloosahachee River. At 2:00 pm, we arrive at the Moore Haven City Docks. We are the only boat on the dock for the night. The fee for the night is only $1/foot which is paid at the City Hall across the street. The docks have been redone and are very nice. We just hang out on the boat and check the weather forecast. Winds of over 20 kt. are forecast for tomorrow, so it looks like we might be taking the Rim Canal, which is a little longer, rather than directly crossing Lake Okeechobee. We will decide in the morning. We enjoy margaritas and chili for dinner.
Moore Haven City Docks
January 26, 2018
We leave Moore Haven at 9:15 am. It is very windy!!! Just after leaving the wall, we must pass through the Moore Haven Lock. After leaving the lock, Dave decides we will do the Rim Canal. The high winds will make a direct crossing of the lake uncomfortable and we will be much more protected in the Rim Canal. When we arrive at the Torry Island Swing Bridge, the wind is really blowing. This bridge connects the mainland levee to Torry Island in Lake Okeechobee. It is the oldest swing drawbridge in Florida and is the only swing bridge in the state that has to be hand-cranked open. The bridge opened on the Waterway in 1935, and since then only one family of bridge tenders has been charged with the opening and closing of the bridge. There is quite an art to the bridge's operation. The bridge tender takes a long pole from its locked position on the bridge guardrail. He inserts it into a hole in the middle of the bridge that unlocks the span so it can swivel around on its center pivot. Then he insets the lever into another hole and, walking in a circle, pushes the lever as the bridge moves slowly, smoothly to its open position. It is quite the operation and when Dave hails the bridge tender, he is informed the bridge does not open in winds over 22 mph or more. Today the wind is blowing harder than that. Dave thanks him and we decide we will throw an anchor for the night and hope for calmer winds in the morning. However, we soon hear Dave being hailed by the bridge tender. He tells Dave that if he can find someone to help him, he will open the bridge for us. We stand by until he tells us to advance through, quickly, which we do. It is definitely a struggle for the two men to open the bridge in this wind, but they do so skillfully and we are thankful they did so we can continue on our way. Along the way we see several air boats.
Torry Island Swing Bridge
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| Air boats along the Rim Canal |
The rest of the trip is a bit sloppy and we arrive at the Pahokee Marina/RV Park around 3:00 pm. We have traveled to this marina before by car and know it is in disrepair, but it will do for the night. We dock and check-in. Although the charge is only $1/ft., we must also pay $5 for electricity and various taxes, including a bed tax, yikes a tax to sleep in our own bed on our own boat, for a total of $50.15 for the night. Tomorrow we cross our wake!
January 27, 2018
We leave Pahokee at 6:50 am. Dave has made an appointment for a bridge opening at Taylor Creek for 11:00 am. Today the wind is much calmer and the lake crossing is not too bad when we start out. Higher winds are forecast for later in the day, so we expect the lake to churn up a bit before we get to the Taylor Creek Lock. At 8:30 am, we cross our wake at Port Mayaca. We have officially completed the Great Loop and have earned the right to remove our "in progress" white flag and replace it with our "completed" gold flag. Although we take a photo on the bow holding the flag, we won't put it up until we are back at our dock.
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| The White Looper Flag Flies for a Final Time |
Crossing our wake!
After crossing our wake we continue across Lake O to the Taylor Creek Lock. It has gotten a bit sloppy and we are happy to be at the lock. After finally determining the lock is open and waiting for us to enter, we lock through. Harlow, the Taylor Creek bridge tender is ready to open the bridge for us as we exit the lock. The passing through the bridge goes off without a hitch and now we are only a mile or so from home. The end really is in sight.
Harlow is ready for us at the Taylor Creek Bridge.
After leaving the bridge we travel up Taylor Creek towards home. As we approach the dock, we are welcomed home by friends and neighbors. We dock "At Last", and head to the porch to celebrate and enjoy champagne and hors d'oeuvres with our neighbors, Jan & her daughter Alicia; Andy & Joanie; and our good looper friends, Ralph and Janet. Our Great Loop journey is officially over, but we have many more future adventures planned.
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We are officially back on Taylor Creek.
Here's a pelican to prove it. |
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| Friends waiting at our dock |
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| "At Last" back home |
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| Flying Gold! |
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| Gold Loopers! |
Celebration!
We are back in Okeechobee, but we will be publishing one more post which will summarize our feelings about this awesome journey as well as the trip's statistics.
