Hi All! We’ve been pretty quiet for a while because nothing much has been going on!

Since December 10^th our home has been at Epping Forest Yacht and Country Club. EFYCC was originally the winter home of the Alfred duPont family. Built in the 1920’s, the 58-acre estate is nestled on the east bank of the St. John’s River and is a unique mixture of Gothic, Spanish Renaissance, and Baroque architectural styles. Located at the River’s widest point, Dupont reportedly chose the location for its abundance of wildlife, beautiful oak trees and it provided a wonderful place to berth his beloved yacht, Nenemoosha.

The Club truly is spectacular, and we feel fortunate that we’ve been able to spend some time here. We did try to secure a slip back in the summer on our way north. Keith, the dockmaster, was very nice, and told us they would accept reciprocity with SDYC but advised us that the docks were still under repair and the harbor also needed dredging from hurricane damage.  He advised us to check back again on our way south. So, we did and here we are. EFYCC normally does not allow transient, long term or live aboard moorage, but they made an exception in our case because dredging of the entrance hasn’t been completed and they have many vacancies until the dredging is complete. Having a 3’ 8” draft can certainly be advantageous. How lucky are we?

It’s been nice to “nest” for a little while. Not having to make those “do we stay, or do we go now” decisions, and if we go where to go, feels good. But we’re getting antsy. Scout is scheduled to get her bottom painted on January 20^th at the Huckins Yard here in Jacksonville, so we’ll be staying here for a while longer. Then, back to making decisions when and where to go. Will let you know as soon as we figure it out. We always have a plan, but the weather dictates our schedule.

In the meantime, we took a little look in our rear-view mirror. On a winter’s day in late 2017 I brought home the book “Honey Let’s Get A Boat” and said to Michael … maybe we should do this Loop thing. He thought I’d lost my mind and, to be honest, I wasn’t so sure I hadn’t.  But the seed was planted and began to blossom.

By early July 2018 we completed the sale of our home and most everything we owned in San Diego and headed east in search of our perfect boat. We looked at hundreds of boats online, personally viewed several, in different parts of the US, had accepted offers on three Mainships, and completed two sea trials before finding “the one”. In October 2018 we purchased Scout, formerly known as Carry Forward, in Palacios, Texas. OMG! It’s really happening!

After some time in the yard for repairs and bottom paint we took “Scout” to Kemah, Texas to prepare for the journey.  On January 9, 2019 we set off on our wonderful “water world adventure” of cruising the Great Loop.  It’s hard to imagine that one full year has passed. Although we had an unavoidable two-month delay in Stuart Florida and things didn’t go quite like we planned. We didn’t make it all the way around, but we have had an amazing journey. Through our posts, we’ve enjoyed keeping you informed as we cruised along, and we really love hearing back from you. It helps keep us connected.

Scout has been a wonderful boat and has successfully taken us approximately 3,539 nautical miles through ten states – Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. She has also added about 507 hours to her single Yanmar 370hp diesel engine.

We both agreed that, if we had to choose, our top five places (in no particular order), would probably be Oriental, NC., Apalachicola, FL., Beaufort, SC., Saint Michael’s, MD., and Oxford, MD. Our least favorite spots seemed to be anytime we were in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay.

Of 365 days, we traveled 104 days, stayed in marinas/yacht clubs/quay walls for 335 days and anchored/moored just 30 days. We were surprised and thought we would anchor much more than we actually did. Some of the reasons for marina stays, I think, are because we weren’t in the right weather windows. When we left Kemah, Texas in January it was cold! We were in the south in the summer and it was hot! It’s just more comfortable to be dockside with power rather than try to stay warm/cool with the generator running. Plus, Snooki and The Duke needed to do doggie business daily (even though they can use their pee/poo pad in an emergency). AND, we like the sociability of being dockside.

We found our average price for diesel was around $2.94 a gallon. The average price for docking was about $80 per night for Scout at 40 feet. The highest we paid was $165 per night in Annapolis during the boat show (yes, they told us they were taking advantage of us) and the least expensive (except for a couple of free nights)  was $25 in Houma, LA and the prices were everywhere in between. The per night pricing is based on boat length and on short stays – one or two nights with Boat US and/or AGLCA and/or MOTA discounts. Generally, if you stay a week there’s a discount and staying a month will give an even greater discount.

We discovered that we preferred cooking and eating on the boat over going to restaurants and, when we could, we usually grocery shopped and did laundry every three to four days. Hmmm, how boring are we?

We’ve seen a lot, learned a lot, and met lots of lovely people. We still want to complete the loop, so our plan is to head north in the spring and try again. Unfortunately, there are seven lock closures scheduled on the Illinois Waterway starting July 1, 2020 through October 31, 2020. The locks will be closed for much needed maintenance which will essentially close the waterway. So, we will need to make some decisions on how and when to go. Stay tuned as we start our second year on the America’s Great Loop Adventure…..