Flotilla

In December we decorated the Loon for the Crystal Coast Flotilla which included a cruise through Morehead and Beaufort.  Our crew of Jackie, Mike, Anna, Randy, Judy, Connie, Mick, Mollie, Charlie
and even baby Tripp braved the cold and helped us win a prize for most patriotic!

Fall Project

In the fall, we had the boat out of the water for Randy to do some maintenance and refinish the stern of the boat - a labor of love!

Summer 2013

We didn't take any trips this summer but enjoyed spending time with our family and friends on the Loon.  We had many good times which included days at Shackelford and plenty of cruises down Taylors Creek.

LOON IS FINALLY HOME!

Loon arrived in Atlantic Beach at 12:30pm on Saturday, May 4th.  After travelling 1,971 miles, the last 100 miles proved to be the worst for weather.  Doug Fletcher joined me for what should have been a long, one day trip, but turned into three days.  Arriving at Southport on May 2nd around noon, we set out from Southport Marina for a 13 mile trip up the Cape Fear River to Snow's Cut.  We knew the wind would be blowing northeast about 25-30 knts directly in our face making for a slower trip with lots of spray.  What we didn't realize (but we should have, Lesson Learned) was that the tide was coming in fast AGAINST the northeast wind.  Result...6-7 foot seas in the middle of the Cape Fear River.  It was a scene right out of "Deadliest Catch"!  The boat was riding up the front of each wave and crashing into the face of the wave behind it.  As we did, water was breaking over the bow of Loon and washing out the back.  Thank God for self bailing boats.  I would have a photo to share if I could have taken my hands off the wheel long enough to take one.  Doug and I decided the safest thing to do was to retreat to Southport Marina from whence we just left only 30 minutes before.  We docked, enjoyed the afternoon with a burger and wings at The Provision Company with plenty of cold beer and Long Island Ice Teas.  I learned that Doug has a passion for those drinks.  Later that evening we enjoyed a nice steak on the grill, a few drinks and good conversation as we watched the sun set.  The next morning we woke to the same strong northeast wind, but the tide was flowing out the river in the same direction as the wind.  We left at 6:00am and while there were no large waves, we were only making 5 1/2 mph against the wind and current.  We made it to Snow's Cut in about 3 hours where we entered a more protected area of the ICW.  The wind continued blowing northeast all day long but we were making forward progress.  In fact we calculated we would arrive in Morehead City around 7:30-8:00pm on Friday evening.  The sun would be setting but it would be light enough to dock at the floating dock behind Sanitary Restaurant.  As we arrived at the final swing bridge near Onslow Beach, we were informed the bridge had a mechanical problem and would be closed for several hours.  The only option was to turn around and find a marina or drop the anchor.  Something I didn't want to do in these heavy winds.  With the assistance of Active Captain, we found Swan Point Marina in Sneads Ferry only three miles away.  The entrance to Swan Point is very narrow and there was the current and wind running across it which made the entry and docking very difficult.  As I approached the entrance I gave Loon a burst of forward throttle, came in hot along the floating dock, threw her in reverse while Doug threw our lines to the Marina owner Evelyn, her daughter Tina, and another person.  We were securely tied to the dock in about 15 seconds!  It looked like a pit stop in a NASCAR race!  After that, we all had a beer.  Evelyn and Tina loaned us their car and we grabbed some groceries for dinner and were back in time for an impromptu Happy Hour hosted by the Marina and attended by other stranded sailors.  The next morning we awoke to the same strong northeast winds we had fought for the past two days.  Problem was there was a catamaran docked in front of me and a 36 foot trawler close behind me.  After untying the lines we slipped out from between the two boats only to be blown around and against some pilings.  Using the pilings as a pivot point I turned Loon around and we headed out.  The bridge was operational except we arrived at 7:02 am and the next scheduled opening was 7:30.  We had to hold tight until then.  After passing the bridge we entered the Camp Lejeune firing range.  Yes, they actually fire live rounds across the ICW!  There is a very large sign (see photo) with flashing red lights that says STOP DO NOT PROCEED - LIVE FIRING IN PROGRESS WHEN FLASHING!  Lucky for us the lights were not flashing.  When we arrived in Swansboro, I felt like I was almost home, but we still had 22 miles to go.  At noon we went under the Atlantic Beach Causeway Bridge and 30 minutes later we were met to cheers from many well-wishers as Loon made her way down the canal behind Bayview Blvd.  I must take a moment to thank a number of people who have helped make my dream come true...
Leslie Quarrier - My broker who guided me through the purchase of Loon
Pat - My wife who was hesitant about this whole idea of cruising but has since come to love it.  I think!
Mark Mothena - A longtime friend who accompanied me on the shakedown cruise down the Tenn-Tom.
Mike Carey - A friend and former co-worker at BB&T in Florida who ferried Pat from the airport and all over the Tampa Bay area until I met them in Sarasota.
Doug Fletcher - My good friend who accompanied me on the final leg and lets me keep Loon behind his house.
Joe Degnan - A friend on Bayview Blvd who has graciously provided me with a temporary slip until Loon's permanent slip is ready.
Sue and Verne Sisson - Great friends in Raleigh who always had a place for us to stay and provided transportation to and from RDU for our early morning flights.
And finally, Thanks to all of you that followed my journey through this blog and shared in the excitement of this wonderful trip.

Tow Boat US

It was a  cold morning - about 50 degrees when we left at 6:30 am. This is our last day of this leg and we are headed to Southport, NC where we will leave Loon until Randy can get back to finish the final leg home. We achieved a milestone today as we crossed into NC at 10:52 am. It's been a great trip with lots of interesting places and people along the way.  With only 85 miles to go, Randy and Loon have traveled 1,861 miles since beginning the trip from Aqua Harbor Marina in Iuka, MS on December 3, 2012.  We had to add a little excitement to the last part of the trip.  About eight miles from Southport we were in a narrow channel and ran aground.  The tide was coming in and we considered waiting but were anxious to get to our destination of Southport so we called Tow Boat US and they were there in about 30 minutes and easily pulled us into deeper water. Southport Marina is a beautiful spot with the downtown area easily within walking distance. As we were deciding where to eat dinner, another boater came by and introduced himself as "Sailor Joe" and told us where he was going for dinner and seemed to want some company.  So we met "Sailor Joe" at Fishy Fishy and had a good meal as he enjoyed telling us about his adventures while sailing alone from Portsmouth VA to Ft Lauderdale every winter for 19 years!
Almost Home!

Bucksport Marina

Thankfully the wind had calmed down during the night and we were able to leave on schedule this morning. Clear skies but cold so forced to stay inside to drive today. We traveled 70 miles and stayed at Bucksport Marina in Conway, SC.

Charleston, SC

Heading to Charleston today for the weekend! This will be a nice break since we haven't had  much free time since this trip is a mission to get Loon to Atlantic Beach. Our friends, Emily and Philip Warr, live there and Connie and Mick Heavener are coming for the weekend.  Its not unusual for the water depth to fluctuate. You can see from pictures taken, today we experienced a high of 75.2 feet and a low of 1.8 feet! A little concerning considering we draw 3.5 feet so we probably have dredged the area for the boats behind us! Crossing Charleston Harbor was very rough with wind in the mid 20's but once we crossed we had a very nice dock at Tolers Cove Marina where we stayed for 3 nights.   We had our first guests on board with Connie, Mick, Erin, Emily, Cate, and McLaine. We had dinner at Emily's and Pat stayed on dry land at their house for the weekend and Randy and Grady went back and stayed on the boat.  We had a wonderful dinner in downtown Charleston Saturday night at the Charleston Grille. Luckily our plan was to leave Monday morning because the wind was so strong Sunday it would have been impossible to leave.

Port Royal, SC

We got an early start and had a short travel day in order to spend time in Port Royal, SC this afternoon.   The current was very strong when we were docking and Randy had to turn the boat  around in a tight area. This was the hardest situation we've had to dock in but Randy handled it great. There was a sailboat docked behind us and it did give the man on the boat a little scare!We really liked Port Royal Landing Marina and it will be on our list to visit when we are back in this area. The marina had bikes and a courtesy car so we were able to run some errands. Randy took the bike and rode to the nearest BB&T where he worked for awhile and then came back and washed the boat.  After a couple of days of heavy salt spray Loon really needed a bath. They had a nice outdoor restaurant where we had dinner with Grady under the table. We've found that marinas are very dog friendly places and Grady has been less trouble on the boat than at home.