We have seen a lot of boats and met a lot of new people since we started the Great Loop last April. To tell you the truth, when you meet fellow cruisers, spend some time with them and then say goodbye, you wonder if you will ever see them again. We have discovered that the chances are extremely high, that regardless of where these people call home, possibly Kansas or Canada, you WILL see them again! It is one of the wonderful things about cruising. You either maintain contact with these fellow cruisers and make an effort to get together again, or because of our mutual love for the waterways that we travel, we will pass them, recognize their boat, and hail them on the radio with a greeting and discussion of our past times together. On the waterways approaching Vero Beach, we passed 2 acquaintances. One was s/v Windchaser who was our mooring neighbor in Marathon and the other was Tom Goodman and his wife Melesia, harbor hosts in Swansboro, NC who helped us in April of last year when we needed a ride to Best Buy for a new GPS equipped ipad for navigation. Later that same day we arrived at Vero Beach Marina and were docked next to the Nina and Pinta! Back in September of last year, we happened to be tied up about the same distance from them in Peoria, Illinois.
Whenever we meet a new cruiser, either on the docks of a marina or passing them in our dinghies, we will introduce ourselves, get to know each other a little bit and then go through the normal ritual of exchanging boat cards. Boats cards are much like business cards for serious cruisers who want to share their identity by personal names, boat name, port of call, phone number, email address and blog address. The card usually has a photo of the boat and sometimes photos of the captain and mate. Since we started the Loop, Stel and I have collected over 200 boat cards from people we have met. Stel has glued each card into a spiral bound notebook and then written notes about when and where we met, some personal information and then something about their cruising plans. When we sight their boat again, which is often first done through our binoculars, we will rush down to the cabin, grab our boat card book, and refresh our memories about who is aboard, where we first met them and how many grandchildren they have. They are often impressed by our great memories…ha ha!
We continue to work our way up the Florida coast, meeting new people along the way and experiencing sections of the beautiful Atlantic ICW that we have never seen before. As we see more and more marshland, meandering creeks feeding into the main channel and oysters on the muddy banks, it reminds us of home in South Carolina. We look forward to being in home waters, but with mixed emotions. What a trip this has been! Closing the Loop will be bittersweet!
- Passing Tom and Melesia on “Journey”. Tom gave us a ride to Best Buy last April when we were in their hometown of Swansboro, NC
- Passing Brian and Jan aboard WindChaser, our mooring neighbors back in Marathon
- The Pinta and The Niña in Vero Beach Marina
- People lined up for a tour of these replica ships
- Never get tired of photographing dolphins as they swim along side
- At the American Wars Memorial Park in Vero Beach
- Special monument in American Wars Memorial Park
- NASA space shuttle staging building is seen as we cruise by Titusville
- Estrellita anchored in a very lonely place, Mosquito Lagoon…no mosquitoes that night!
- Grilling supper in the very remote Mosquito Lagoon
- Morning pushups or a deck cleanliness inspection….maybe both?
- Anchored for the night in Rockhouse Creek near Ponce De Leon Inlet. Gorgeous white beaches everywhere!
- Burke fished, Stel shelled….and all was good!
- The smaller the dollar, the better….in this case!
- An advantage of anchoring your boat late in the afternoon and then exploring….the crowds are gone!