Monday, March 31, 2014 – 9 PM – Leg 1/Day 1 of The Great Loop – 36.8 Miles

After several days in the Miami/Biscayne Bay area, it was refreshing to finally get underway to appease the excitement. Having arrived at the starting point several days earlier, the opportunity for some sightseeing around the area as well as directing the finishing touches on the boat consumed the bulk of the time. Yet, the excitement has been building. Visiting the Aquarium, Villa Vizcaya, and a basketball game at the arena were nice distractions after the last 6 months of preparation it took to get to this bon-voyage point. Today, the excitement bursts into reality.

The boat, a 1983 37' Prout Snowgoose, has been completely detailed, repainted top to bottom, new varnish applied on all deck and interior wood, the engine completely rebuilt and painted, and lots of smaller details all prepared for the start of this adventure, The Great Loop of America. This quest is comprised of 111 legs over a 9-month period traversing 4500 nautical miles. The intent is to go up the Atlantic Coast through the Intracoastal Waterway, through the bays of Chesapeake and Delaware, up the Hudson River, across the Erie Canal, through the Great Lakes into Chicago, down the Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Ten-Tom Waterways, back out into the Gulf of Mexico, and cutting across central Florida through the Okeechobee Waterway to end up back where I started.

The wait had been almost 20 years to do this trip and I have finally gotten off. Life, kids, work, and mostly never making up my mind to do so have kept them from happening, but today is the day the adventure started and oh my, what a day. The weather was overcast but warm in the 80's, just perfect for shorts and a t-shirt.

The trip progressed nicely all day and since it seemed like a marina was never more than a few hundred feet away, it also didn't feel like a high adventure, but adventure it is. Alone for the very first time in my life. I have been a dad, mom, son, pastor, business owner, and employee; I now get to just be me, alone and finding out if I even like myself.

This first leg was 36.81 miles according to the charts. The boat mozied along at around 4-5 knots and it took just over 9 hours. I thought the boat would never reach the first bridge on Biscayne Bay, it just seemed to take forever. Traffic was modest and it was a day of watching the skylines go by. Miami to Fort Lauderdale is really one big metro area stretching along the coast. Two stops were made along the way; one to eat lunch and the other to see if the fish were biting around the Middle River area. The answer to that is that they stayed away from the hook in droves, but there is still leftover fillet from the sea bass caught yesterday. That was dinner, pan-fried in butter with garlic and a side of asparagus, washed down with some sweet tea.

At the end of the first leg, I pulled in to the Lighthouse Point Marina and topped off the tank before heading offshore. Currently, the boat is anchored out about a mile east and a mile south of the Hillsboro Inlet in 22 feet of water. It is quiet, it is very calm and the gentle rocking should make for a blissfully restful night.

Thank You, God, for this opportunity at long last. Keep my loved ones safe and the wind and waves gentle before us all.