#26 Happy Birthday to Cheryl!

Cheryl, who is ageless and so doesn’t need birthdays, nevertheless wanted to celebrate this one with a hiking trip up to Huckleberry Knob just off the Cherohala Skyway. If you’ve never been there it’s worth a trip, especially to see the…

#25 58 days!

(As I write it's 58 days to our tentative departure date of November 1st.) It has been a surreal experience the past 16 or so months watching Butch prepare the boat for our Looping adventure. His list was a mile long and for the first several…

#24 Countdown!

Have you ever been in (or to) a drag race? I think I see two parallels between this boating adventure and my old drag racing days. Let me try to explain... Have you ever been in (or to) a drag race? Like on a regulation drag strip with…

#23 Pure Michigan!

Since the age of two, my family has camped together for two weeks in northern Michigan (my home state). For me, it is the only tradition that has stood the test of time. I cherish the memories made and hope to create many, many more. Two…

#22 KnoxPalooza 2025

Hanging out at the docks is a big part of the boating life; you get to meet the most interesting people there. This summer at our marina we ran into a couple of folks who also hope to head out on this Great Loop adventure either this year or…

#21 What was I thinking?

Writing that last blog post making the astounding claim that the boat was about done? Ha! Boats are never done! I’ll be working on something on this boat the day before we sell it. As I said in an earlier post, we get one thing done and then…

#20 Almost done?

One of our dockmates is Tom, who sells moonshine in mason jars and lives on a houseboat a couple of boats down from us. Every time I see him he asks how the work on the boat is going and I tell him “Almost done!” Well, finally, that actually…

#19 Sixty miles!

When’s the last time you drove 60 miles? Wasn’t too bad, was it? As it turns out that’s how far it is from West Palm Beach Inlet to the west tip of Grand Bahama, one of the larger islands at the north end of the Bahamas. With any luck…

#18 What do you do when the holidays are over, the sun is low, there’s ice on the river... but you still have boat fever?

In December we took a quick trip down to Florida to get some sun and warmth. Venice Island has become a favorite so we booked a place and off we went, with my bike in the back so I could ride the Legacy trail and the trail around the island…

#17 Cows!

The boat refit is coming along great, we’re making progress like NASA did when putting a man on the moon: unlimited hours of work and an (almost) unlimited budget. I go to sleep at night thinking about how to troubleshoot and fix the balky…