32: Beautiful Cruising - Selby to Chesapeake City, Maryland

[@mallariculp3551]

I saw the red castle. i find it interesting their boats are just out and about. i’m glad you show them.

[@happychildhood591]

Your video of your Great Loop odyssey is fantastic! Professional quality and very relaxing as well as informative. Wishing you fair skies and calm seas! All the best from M/V Jackpot II...!

[@CruisingOnward]

Thank you so much for your kind words and for coming along with us. Are you doing the Loop too? It seems we've met you somewhere along the way. We wish you fair winds!

[@happychildhood591]

@@CruisingOnward Thank you! Unfortunately at this time I am unable to do the Loop. My beloved wife passed on some 12 years ago. We used to have a very bristol Albin 43' trawler but with her passing I sold the Albin and was without a boat for awhile. Being alone and without my 'mate', I downsized and purchased a brand new Ranger Tug R-31 CB which I really love. She has all the amenities that my Albin had plus more, albeit in a smaller package. I recently remarried and my new wife really loves boating, thank you God..lol..! Our home port is Stamford CT and we boat in coastal NY, CT, RI, and MA. We really want to do the loop but will have to wait until the new wife retires. In the meantime, we spend lots of quality time doing coastal cruising here in the Northeast. We love your Kady Krogen and wish you all the best in future cruising!

[@mallariculp3551]

wow. i want to go there!!!

[@CruisingOnward]

It was a nice stop. The whole crew appreciated the place, especially Sailor since she had good opportunities to really stretch her legs.

[@mallariculp3551]

so when will you get your gold loop flag? and where? do you have to return to Florida for it? what an amazing trip. last question… do you forever after add that flag to your flag pole?

[@CruisingOnward]

That's a bit of a mixed bag. We've covered the entire loop - the Florida, Gulf of Mexico, and midwest rivers portions in both directions (i.e., clockwise and counterclockwise) a few times - so we'll close our Loop at Green Turtle Bay in Grand Rivers, Kentucky. That's where we'll replace our white burgee with our gold one. Speaking of which, we better order one ASAP. 🤓 We'll likely always display the Gold burgee on our boat once we've earned it. Thanks for the great question!

[@mallariculp3551]

@@CruisingOnward😊. Thanks for clarification as to how that works!

[@CruisingOnward]

@@mallariculp3551 Our pleasure! 🙂 It will be nice to fly the Gold.

[@mallariculp3551]

Btw, whose daughters are the girls?

[@mallariculp3551]

28 likes but i still get the first comm. whoo hoo!!!

[@CruisingOnward]

Well done! 😎 And thank you.

[@mallariculp3551]

Approximately how many others are loopers as you travel city to city?

[@CruisingOnward]

That's a great question, especially now because we've really noticed a lot more Loopers as the route has narrowed down to just the Midwest rivers. Between the Hudson River and Chicago, there are dozens of different routes and hundreds (maybe thousands) of different places to anchor or dock. But once you get into the rivers there are pretty much only two routes and the second of those doesn't start until everybody gets to where the Ohio River joins the Mighty Mississippi, so all the Loopers are using a more limited selection of marinas and suitable anchorages. All that to say that while we were between the Hudson River and Chicago, we might run into just a small handful of Loopers and sometimes go days without seeing any. Now that we're back in the rivers, though, we're seeing a lot more Loopers. A couple nights ago we were at a mooring wall in Illinois that had at least 17 other boats. There were so many boats that several had to raft up (i.e., tie their boats to boats that were already tied to the wall). A day later we were in a marina that had at least 19 Loopers, maybe more. We try to travel with smaller groups but sometimes a whole bunch of us end up in the same place. It's still fun, but a bit more of a challenge locking through or finding enough room to anchor or dock.