Saturday June 25 2nd half- Sunday June 26, 2016
We started the Great Loop on Monday, May 4, 2015 when we crossed the Elizabeth River from Portsmouth to Norfolk. It was the first day of the annual spring AGLCA rendezvous. On Saturday June 25, 2016, we crossed our wake, making us officially Gold Loopers! I had purchased a gold burgee in anticipation of the event, and hoisted it while Jim was doing laundry. I looked up, and our neighbors, Mel and Doug on Claranelle were snapping photos of me untangling the burgee halyard.
What a thrill to have travelled so far, around the Eastern half of the United States! We had travelled over 6,000 miles on SV Heron, our 1980 Pearson Pilothouse. We had gone up or down through over 100 locks in Canada and the US. On side trips we had explored the country by car, and we had visited Bermuda by air and the Bahamas by cruise ship. We had met new friends and reconnected with old ones. It has been an amazing trip, and we are proud to fly our Gold Looper burgee. About 100 boats complete the Grest Loop every year. We highly recommend the trip!
After Jum returned with the clean laundry, we walked a few blocks to Still. We had enjoyed the restaurant’s small plate menu at the start of our journey, so it was fitting to celebrate there at the end. We were joined by Riley, my brother’s new step son. Fun evening!
On Sunday, Jim toured Norfolk while I took a cab to an urgent care facility to take care of the insect bite on my foot.
Two nights at Portsmouth’s Tidewater Marina.