Lessons Learned

Whenever we would complete a project at work, we would have a meeting and record our lessons learned.  So, as we come to an end of our Great Loop Project the following is a review of boating lessons learned.

July 2011
During our vacation to Alaska with friends Gary and Vicki on their boat, we first learned about the Great Loop and decided we might enjoy living on a boat.  We joined the AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruisers Association) and began receiving the information from their website about trip itineraries, listening to blogtalk radio, and shopping for the right boat.  We even drove to the Looper Rendezvous in Rogersville, AL in the fall 2012 where we met other Loopers, looked at boats and listened to seminar speakers.

January 2013
After shopping and looking at many boats we finally purchased a 1983 38' Gulfstar twin engine trawler. King and Gary worked on the boat for over a year, flying back and forth from Austin (and Denver) to the boat.

May 2014
I retired the middle of May and we sold our house and most of our household goods. Downsizing at this stage in life was always in our plans, so selling the home was a no-brainer. We flew to Norfolk, VA and drove to the boat in Elizabeth City, NC, where Gary & Vicki had taken it from the Jacksonville, FL area.  Everyone begins The Loop in different locations, with a major consideration being the time of year.  Springtime is the correct time for the East Coast.

Captain Chris and Alyce are a couple we met at the 2012 Rogersville AGLCA Rendezvous, who have a business helping new boaters learn everything about Looping in a boat - to anchor, tie up to docks, and navigate.  I thought it would be a good idea to hire them to help us.  King said, "We can learn everything we need to know - how hard could it be?"

Day 1
We left in the rain, heading north through the Dismal Swamp. We planned to stay at the Dismal Swamp Welcome Center, but all spaces were already taken when we arrived.  We continued on in a raining downpour and came to a lock, which was not open.  We attempted to tie up to a bridge wall at the Lock. We managed to catch the bow cleat, but we were going with the current and could not tie up.  The boat was tied, but perpendicular to the wall. We untied and left the dock line behind and turned around back into the Dismal Swamp.  King said that was our best rope. We found a dock and tied up, just a little drenched and minus one dock line.
Lesson Learned - tie up against the current.

Day 2
We made it through the two Deep Creek Locks and felt good that it was uneventful.  Before long, we came to lock three.  That is strange, I said, I thought there were only two locks before we came to Portsmouth.  The lockmaster asked where we were headed, we said Portsmouth.  He said, "you are heading back to Elizabeth City. Portsmouth is behind you".  He said we could turn around in the lock and go back out because the lock doors were not yet closed.  We did a 180' in the lock, a challenge, and headed for Portsmouth.
Lesson Learned - use the chart plotter

Our first lock - Deep Creek Lock.

Day 3
Destination Horn Harbor Creek anchorage, off of Mobjack Bay
We left Portsmouth at 9:00 a.m. and rocked and rolled our way out into the Chesapeake Bay.  We have a large bell that hangs in the sundeck - used for ringing if caught in a dense fog. When the bow of the boat plows into a deep trough,the bell will ring. This means the waves are too big for a comfortable ride. Our bell rang all day - just about every wave. With the extremely rough conditions the anchor started coming loose from the front of the boat. King said he must go out and secure it.  I didn't want him to go out in the rough water, but he crawled out on his hands and knees wearing his life vest.  I said, "I'm scared".  He said I should be out where he was.  All secure, he came back inside. Photo below is from another day when the wind and the waves were calm.
Lesson Learned - find wind and wave weather forecast websites and pay attention to the forecasts.

Day 4
We had a good night's rest at the anchorage.  I was nervous driving the boat while King set the anchor, but all went well. King used hand signals and told me to come forward, turn right, left or stop.  Next morning, we left Horn Harbor.  We carefully stayed in the channel and still ran aground! A passing crab fisherman pulled us off and we were off, headed for Deltaville.
Lesson Learned - stay in the middle of the channel and expect the unexpected. Watch the depth sounder.  Pay attention to the tide tables. If there isn't much depth, go in and out at high tide.

Day 5
Good weather, small waves and something new - lots of crab pots.  We were zigging and zagging and successfully missing them.  King was on the bow of the boat and I was driving.  All I had to do was push a button on the autopilot and turn the boat 10' to keep from running over a crab pot.  All of a sudden a crab fisherman came up in front of our boat, stopped, and started yelling at us to move to the ship channel.  King told him he doesn't own the waterway and that we aren't running over any crab pots. Meantime I am turning the wheel like crazy to avoid hitting the boat that foolishly stopped right in front of me. But, our boat isn't turning.  I am heading straight for his boat and he keeps yelling and doesn't move.  He did move just in time, as King realized at the same time, I had the boat on autopilot rather than being able to manually steer the boat. Photo below is a different crab boat.
Lesson Learned - how to operate auto pilot

Day 6
Deltaville Boatyard was our next stop.  We needed a repair, which after parts were ordered and reordered, took about a week.  We enjoyed the courtesy car and took advantage of the small town of Deltaville, VA.  One night, there was a terrible storm with high wind and waves.  We could not see the boats that were anchored in the bay during the storm.  As the storm subsided tornado sirens started to blow.  The storm was mostly over, but we quickly checked the local weather stations and no alerts were given. Finally the sirens stopped.  The next day we asked the lady in the office if she heard the sirens.  She thought a minute and then answered, "Oh, the town tests the tornado sirens on Thursday nights".
Lesson Learned - don't get too excited

Lesson Learned - hiring Captain Chris and Alyce might be a good idea after all.

Days to follow
The first week was a big learning curve, but we did manage it.  We learned to navigate, learned when the weather and the waves would be a good day to go, and I am proud to say I finally learned to catch a cleat and properly tie up a boat.  King gained in boat engineer skills, repairing and rebuilding many items on the boat.

We continued on up the Chesapeake and out into the Atlantic turning north toward New York City.

We completed our first Loop, over 6,000 miles, and we knew we wanted more.  We stored the boat in Brewerton, NY at Winter Harbor Marina from September 2015 - May 2016.  This was so we could boat a third summer in Canada.

In May, 2016, we took Blue Moon from Brewerton, down the St Lawrence River to Montreal and then back west across Canada and ultimately down to Ft. Myers, FL.  We have covered about 10,000 miles.  Although, we are not master mariners, we would say we are accomplished boaters and enjoyed our Great Loop experience.