We went
through the last lock of the Loop with a boat, Su Sea, we had met first
at Drummond Island going through customs. Three men doing the loop in
sections. They run a boat similar to ours but they run fast all the
time. This lock only gave you one line to hang onto and the Su Sea
smacked her swim platform hard as they were getting tied up! Bad deal!
No more locks until the Mississippi!
Have you ever wondered where all the buoys come from. Well we found out.
The farmers harvest them from their fields and pile them up along the
side of the river for the buoy tender to pick up and place in the
river. :>)
I was at the helm when this big guy appeared in front of me coming around a
corner in the river. I hailed him on the VHF radio like you are
supposed to and asked if he wanted me to hold my position until he
maneuvered around the corner. His reply to me was, “I ain’t that bad a
driver, you do whatever you want to!” Not what I expected to hear!
We tucked in behind MM 59 and set the anchor for the night. We were
greeted by this group of cows that stared at us like we were very odd to
be stopping there. There wasn’t much water under our keel so maybe
they were right!
Since our trip down Lake Michigan when we hit strong beam seas, the dinghy has
not seemed right. It has been rocking back and forth with even boat
wakes. Ken dropped the dinghy while we were anchored to check it out
and sure enough, the rear dinghy davit was broken. Good thing we
recognized it before the dinghy came crashing down while we were
running. The plan is to stop to see if “Little John” touted to be the
best stainless welder in the midwest can fix it tomorrow. Otherwise we
will have to tow it home.
The day ended with another gorgeous sunset taken from our anchorage!
With the dinghy in tow, we headed down river for the last 60 miles of our
wonderful journey on the Great Loop! We crossed our wake at the
entrance to Grafton Harbor Marina which is where the picture at the top
of this blog was taken. Once you complete the loop you trade in your
white looper flag for a GOLD one. As you can see from the picture the
white one has been well used on this trip!
This pirate ship greeted us at the gas dock! The captain made it from an old houseboat and now runs tours out of it.
Missing
from crossing our wake were our good friends Marc and Michele from Marcs
Ark that started this trip with us at Grafton last August. They are
still enjoying Lake Michigan and we miss them.
This has been the trip of a
lifetime! We have traveled 7,237 miles around the Great Loop including
our 572 miles down the Mississippi to start the Great Loop and our side
trip up the Tennessee River to Chattanooga. We have locked through 171
times! Statistically speaking that is pretty darn awesome wouldn’t you
say? This trip is so much more than just the miles traveled and the
locks we have gone through. It is the places we have visited! Each
town/city we stopped at welcomed us with open arms and proudly showed us
what they felt was special about their community. We were never
disappointed!
The very best part of this wonderful
journey are the people we have met along the way! The people in the
towns and most of all the other Loopers! What a wonderful group of
folks! We know that we will have fond memories of all the people we met
along the way and have a special place in our hearts for several
couples that I know have become life long friends.
Tomorrow
we head out on the last leg of our amazing journey - the trip home 572
miles up the Mississippi! We are anxious to see family and friends and
be land based once again! Stay with us while we continue home. We love
having you aboard! Pat
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