From Ft. Pierce, we planned for a sprint of near-daily travel to get us the final couple hundred miles to our Loop Finish Line in St. Augustine. The route takes us through Eau Gallie, Titusville, Daytona, and Palm Coast before we arrive back where our Loop started, thus crossing our wake. It seemed straightforward, but of course Mother Nature laughs in the face of even the best laid voyage plan.
We start up the east coast of Florida, beginning with crossing Biscayne Bay to get back onto the ICW. Making our way past ridiculously extravagant homes and boats, we stop in Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Stuart before arriving for a month long stay in Ft. Pierce. There we completely slow down, enjoying just living and visits from friends.
We leave the Florida mainland behind and cross over to the Keys, visiting Key West and Bahia Honda before an extended stay in Marathon. Finally, we wrap up our island hopping in Key Largo as we start making our way back to Florida’s east coast.
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Continuing south down the west coast on the way to the Florida Keys, we start hitting the big cities of classic warm-winter Florida: Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Punta Gorda, and Naples. We wrap up the west coast of Florida by traveling back in time in Everglades City and keeping an eye out for crocodiles at an anchorage in Everglades NP.
Having completed the Inland Rivers, we slow waaayyy down as we enter the Gulf of Mexico starting with a stint in the boatyard ‘on the hard.’ We then relish being back on the ICW as we cruise along Florida’s ‘Forgotten Coast’ of the Panhandle while keeping an eye on a weather window to make ‘the …
Started the Inland Rivers leg of The Great Loop from Chicago on Oct 4. Part 1: Illinois River to Alton IL… starboard engine problem limiting our speed. Part 2: Mississippi and Ohio River… record low water levels and bigger locks and tows, and started on the Tennessee River and took a side trip on the …
Part 1 recap: We traveled down the Illinois River, discovering along the way that our starboard engine had a problem and so were limited in how fast we could go. We left off in Alton, IL, right before joining the Mississippi River. In Part 2, we navigate the Loop segments of the Mississippi and Ohio …
The Inland Rivers segment of the The Great Loop starts with the Chicago Lock and driving the boat right through the heart of the city. It’s a whole new way of cruising and a rigorous schedule with travel almost every day. Cold temps chase us, but we get to enjoy the fall colors along the …
Back in the US, our last stop on Lake Huron is Mackinac Island. From there we proceed south down Lake Michigan, starting on the Michigan side and then crossing over to the Wisconsin side to Chicago, our final destination on Lake Michigan. Weather proves our biggest challenge, and we get visits from old friends friends …