Day #500 - Reflection and Cogitation

Day #500; Loop Miles to Date = 5,558

Wow! It is really hard to believe that we left Chattanooga 500 days ago. And even though we move through this adventure at 8-9 miles per hour, the time has really flown by. From a different perspective, we have experienced 100's of small journeys, each one different from the next. Some have been interesting if not exciting, while others have been spectacular and invigorating. Regardless, all have been memorable. We have thus far covered only about 60% of the geography that encompasses the loop, so we are excited that we have many more wonderful experiences ahead.

At this time, we won't offer a full post-mortem on our trip thus far, but suffice it to say that we can echo the sentiment that most all Loopers express...the people that you meet and get to know become the most rewarding aspects of this undertaking. We have made life-long friends, and we very much look forward to more travels with them, while also looking forward to the many great people we have yet to meet. We are attending the AGLCA Rendezvous at New Bern, NC in April, and will have the opportunity to meet many in the 2017 class who we have not yet had the chance to meet.  

One continually evolving observation pertains to the endless variety of boating environments that we experience. It is difficult to describe the number of variables that we have managed through 500 days. Some days, the plan is simple and offers very little in the way of surprises. Other days, it is complex, and/or the variables surprise you in unexpected ways. While we know we have many unplanned or unknown situations yet to challenge us, a generalized sample of what we have experienced includes:

• Rivers, bays, sounds, channels, creeks, inlets, oceans, and of course the Gulf.
• Current, tides, wind, shallows, narrows.
• Locks, barges, tows, cargo carriers, bridges, and way too many recreational boats offering huge and inconsiderate wakes.
• Anchorages, fixed docks, floating docks, pilings, piers, walls, rafting.
• Weather management, route planning, dinghy and dog management.

Through it all so far, our boat has performed marvelously. An abundance of routine maintenance has kept us in "ship shape", and we've only had 4 instances where we've needed professional help to resolve an issue. Only 2 of these were unplanned...the other 2 were long term maintenance investments that we chose to make.

Finally, for you stats geeks out there...here are a few summary tidbits on our travels thus far:

• We have spent 465 nights in 86 different marinas. We had hoped to anchor out more often, but many times the challenges of managing our 2 dogs has dictated that marinas were much simpler. (Only 7% of our nights have been at anchor...we were anticipating this to be closer to 15%)
• 21 nights were at anchor in 18 different anchorages
• 14 nights were spent on 5 different free walls
• Only 6 days have been spent at boatyards getting work done on the boat, and we were always able to spend our nights on the boat.
• We've consumed 2,386 gallons of diesel fuel, at an average price of $2.12. Thus, we have averaged 2.33 mpg, with an average burn rate of just over 3 gallons per hour, including generator usage.
• Knock on wood...we have not yet run aground...we bumped the bottom a couple of times in soft conditions, and spent a night or two sitting in the mud in a shallow slip, but no hard groundings requiring assistance.

So...we'll leave it at that for now. We are camped out in Jacksonville for another week, and then will gradually start our trek north. We are excited for the Spring and are really looking forward to the northern part of our adventure over the next 8 or 9 months!

Thanks for reading...'til next time.