We Finished The Loop

June 8, 2015 – July 12, 2018

We did it! We finished our Loop on July 12, 2018, crossing our wake at the Statue of Liberty where we had started our Great Loop on June 10, 2015. It didn’t take us that long to do the trip, but it took us that long to finish.

This July, Brian and I set out on Pearl from our pier on Dymer Creek in White Stone, Virginia, to finish our Great Loop Adventure. We passed the Statue of Liberty on July 12 and raised our golden burgee to proclaim our accomplishment. We had flown a white AGLCA burgee while traveling on the Loop, but when we finished, we earned the right to fly the gold one. 

Here is a brief summary of the trip. We started the Great Loop on Pearl from Essex, Connecticut, planting our wake at the Statue of Liberty on June 8, 2015. That year, we traveled for six months on the boat. We went up the Hudson River, through the Erie Canal, across Lake Ontario, through the Trent-Severn Waterway in Canada to Georgian Bay, through the North Channel, into Lake Superior, and down Lake Michigan to Chicago. In September, we continued south with a caravan of Loopers on the major rivers and waterways until we reached Mobile, Alabama, in early November. Then, from Carabelle, Florida, we crossed the Gulf of Mexico for 18 hours on a calm, starry night, reaching Clearwater the next morning. Soon afterwards, we left the boat near Lake Okeechobee and returned to Connecticut for the winter, just the opposite of what most people do.

Brian went back to work until April 2016, when we returned to Florida with our two cats and continued the adventure. The best dolphins are in Fort Myers, and we got to see them twice: when we arrived in November and again five months later when we left. We went down to the Keys, circled around Florida, and traveled up the ICW along the Atlantic coast until we reached Virginia in June. To make a long story short, we saw a house we liked on a creek in Virginia and owned it within a week. That’s where our Adventure paused while we sold our Connecticut house and completed the renovations on our Virginia house. Two years later, in July 2018, we boarded Pearl for a month and finished the Loop, crossing our wake at the Statue of Liberty on July 12!   Hooray!!

The interesting thing about finishing the Great Loop was the great sense of completion that Brian and I both experienced when it was over. We felt like we could put it behind us and move on to new adventures. Surprisingly, neither of us had realized how important it was to finish it until we actually did! 

Another unexpected outcome of the long trip was that it really did change our lives! Each of us had spent many hours in contemplation (because that’s what you do on a 7,600 mile trip at 10 miles per hour). Separately, we both reached the conclusion that we wanted to return to the Chesapeake Bay area, and when we discovered this house on Dymer Creek in Virginia, we were ready to commit. A wonderful result of that decision is that we now live closer to three of our children.

Now, every morning we look forward to the beautiful sunrise over Dymer Creek. We are so glad this is how our trip turned out.

Take care,

Ellen & Brian Clarke

and Pearl 

Wrapping Up Our Loop 2016

It’s the middle of August and we’re back in Unionville, Connecticut. I haven’t written since the end of May, partly because the Internet was frustrating and partly because we got very busy. A lot has happened in the last few months.

I’ll cut straight to the end of the story: we bought a house in Virginia! 

All during the 2016 segment of our trip, we hurried up the ICW so we could spend extra time in Virginia, intending to explore the lower Chesapeake Bay and the rivers that feed into it. From south to north, the big rivers in Virginia are the James, the York, the Rappahannock and the Potomac. After seeing the James and the York, we traveled to beautiful Mobjack Bay and on to the Rappahannock River. We stopped in Urbanna, a small town on the Rappahannock that’s famous for its annual Oyster Festival in November, and that’s where the magic began. 

Our new house on Dymer Creek, Virginia

In early June, we had an appointment in Deltaville, Virginia, to have the after-cooler flushed and the oil changed. We had a few days to wait, so we explored Urbanna and met Alana, the mother of Lauren’s good friend from college. As it turned out, Lauren has been to Urbanna at least ten times! Alana has a nice shop in Kilmarnock, and she’s also a realtor. When we told her we were thinking of retiring to the Chesapeake region in a few years, she arranged to show us around the county. Several creeks feed into the Bay in this area, and there are gorgeous houses with fantastic views on all of them. Without even trying, we found a house that we both love. Within a couple of days we had made an offer, signed a contract, and retained the contractor who was already working on the house. The siding and roof had already been replaced and the interior had been gutted. We docked Pearl at the pier at the house and stayed for a month, choosing appliances, countertops, cabinets, doors and flooring, and deciding where the plumbing, electric, HVAC, electronics, and gas should go. Zillions of decisions. In early July we drove back to our Connecticut house. It’s already on the market, and hopefully, someone will see it soon and love it as much as we do. 

Pearl in Deltaville, Virginia

High power lines over the Rappahannock River

Rappahannock River Rainbow

Even though we’re excited to be returning to the Chesapeake region, we’re sad to be leaving Connecticut. It has been a great place for us, but this new place feels right. It’s exciting to be setting off on a new adventure, including possibly boating on warm days in January! We have a whole different lifestyle ahead. 

Our Great Loop adventure isn’t over yet, and we plan to finish next summer. We’ve left Pearl down in Virginia and only have to make it as far as the Statue of Liberty. A year ago at this time, we were in Lake Michigan, traveling down the Wisconsin side of the lake. What a beautiful summer it was! I’ve been remembering the Trent-Severn Waterway, Georgian Bay, the North Channel and Lake Superior. We feel so fortunate to have been able to do this trip, see those places, and towards the end, find this gorgeous property in Virginia on the Bay.

Pearl on Dymer Creek,
with the Chesapeake Bay
just visible through the gap.

Our advice to Loopers:

            Make it your own trip.

            No regrets

            Eat food with flavor

            Tip generously

Until next year,

Ellen and Brian Clarke

on Pearl, 37’ Nordic Tug

Great Loop 2015 & 2016

Four Days on the Boat, James River, Cape Charles and York River

The weather has changed for us. It’s raining on our trip now just like it has rained on everyone else’s trip. It’s not bad, however, and we’re enjoying a quiet ride up the York River to see what we can see. It’s not a very long river, so later we’re just planning to turn around and return to the historic Yorktown park to tie up at their dock. 

Pearl on the York River

It’s been only four days since we both returned to the boat and got underway again, but it seems longer. On Friday we did a dozen errands while we still had the rental car, then we returned it and headed out around noon. We went up the James River to Kingsmill, a marina at a resort near Williamsburg. On the way we passed the “ghost fleet” of old WWII ships that are kept in mothballs until they might be needed again. The dockhand at Kingsmill told us that when he was a boy, there were 150 ships, and just after WWI, there were more than a thousand, but now there are only about 10, maybe a dozen. Also on the James River is the Newport News ship building center, where a mega-long aircraft carrier is under construction, and under cover from prying eyes and satellites. 

Ghost Fleet on the James River

Another view of the ghost fleet

Saturday we got an early start to get to the Chesapeake Bay near Virginia Beach. We pulled in to Chesapeake Beach (which is not the same as Chesapeake where we exited the ICW) to pick up Lauren and her friend Parker at a marina. This was the first time anyone in the family had met Parker, and so far, so good. From there we traveled out to the Bay, going over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel again as we headed north to Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore. It was a scorching hot and sunny day, like baking in an oven, but it was a beautiful ride. We saw dolphins and pelicans and rescued a mylar balloon from the Bay. It was obviously meant for my sister Mary, whose birthday was yesterday, so we sent her a photo.

Happy Birthday Mary

Cape Charles is a charming colorful little town, but very isolated. We had a wonderful dinner at the marina restaurant with cream-of-crab soup with a dab of sherry, crab cakes, scallops, fish tacos, and fried oysters. Afterwards we walked into the little town, which is about 6 blocks by 7 blocks total, but is well-maintained, not at all run-down like so many other small towns we’ve seen. It has a beautiful white sandy beach and we saw a gorgeous sunset over the Bay. We had ice cream. The marina was shooting off fireworks as we walked back to the boat.

Sunset over Cape Charles

Sunday was another very early start so that Parker could get back to Chesapeake Beach by 10 to go to work. He is a SEAL in the Navy, stationed in Hawaii, but working in Virginia Beach for several weeks. Brian and I dropped them off, turned around and headed back to the Bay, crossing over the Bridge-Tunnel for the 4th and final time. Black clouds followed us from the southeast as we headed northwest to the York River. It was tropical storm “Bonnie” making her way along the coast, but only giving us some drizzle. It was a nice quiet cruise, a very quiet marina, and a quiet night - except when Charlie escaped out the door and Brian chased after him. Brian didn’t catch him, but he came back anyway after an hour or so of exploration, meowing at the screen door to get in. What a relief that he found his way back, and that he came back at all. We have heard stories of other family-cats that were lost along the way.

Brian’s jet-lag from Europe finally caught up with him this morning, so he slept late and we started out around noon. Now we’re having a gentle ride up the York, just looking.

Brian with George Washington  at Yorktown.

This monument marks the surrender of the British at Yorktown,
paving the way for American independence. 

National Anthem at PAX River

Tuesday, May 24, 9 a.m.

After a very nice weekend with Brandon and family, I’m back in St. Mary’s at Lauren’s house. Nelson is here, too, having just driven from Albuquerque to Lexington Park in three days. He has completed all his paperwork to join the Air Force OCS and could start his training in either mid-August or January. The date is very uncertain at this point. 

Here in Lauren’s townhouse in Lexington Park, we are in the flight pattern. From time to time, the jets overhead are so loud that Nelson and I just stop in the middle of a sentence and stare at each other until they go past and we can hear again. The interesting thing is that the birds here are also the loudest I have ever heard. Perhaps they have all gone deaf, or perhaps they are trying to compete with those huge gray birds that streak overhead.

Every morning at 8:00 they play the National Anthem at the navy base. We can hear it perfectly here at Lauren’s house. I like to go out on her back deck where the sun is shining to listen. Then they play Reveille. Afterwards, I sing/hum the National Anthem for the rest of the morning, my own version that has been adjusted for humming in an alto voice, but is really a medley of several tunes. In the evening they play Taps.

In New England, our small harbor-towns shoot off cannons at sunset. In some harbors, we toot the boats’ horns, and in the Florida Keys, they blow into their conch (say “konk”) shells. It’s fascinating to hear all those off-key notes honking into the sunset. 

Lauren, Nelson and I are going out for chocolate milk shakes at lunch today to celebrate her completing another class toward her masters degree. We have planted flowers in her flower pots. I’ve been catching up on the Blah-g. Brandon and Hermione are anticipating the end of the school year in about three weeks, Jena is planning her wedding in California, and Brianna is wrapping up her work in preparation for graduate school at Harvard beginning in August.

Brian is due back in Norfolk at midnight Thursday. He's been in Abu Dhabi and Berlin for work. I’m leaving here Thursday morning for the four-hour drive with the two cats (and they were awful – they meowed almost the whole time!). On Friday morning we have a few errands to do before we return the rental car, then we’re on our way again.

St. Mary's County, Maryland - Old Home

I’m visiting our daughter, Lauren, in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, while Brian travels to Abu Dhabi and Berlin for business. This is where we lived for 13 years and where three of our five children were born. It really does feel like home. I am sitting at Lauren’s kitchen table, listening to jets, jets and more jets, but it is so cloudy and the clouds are so low that I can’t see them even though they are low and right above me. This goes on every day. Lauren calls it their airspace, like jet-class or jet-practice. 

Apparently it has rained here in Maryland for at least a month. Our friends on the Melinda B are way ahead of us and were in the rainy weather for weeks. We, on the other hand, have had fabulous weather almost the whole time. Perhaps Maryland’s weather will suddenly clear up when we arrive on our boat in a few weeks. Even Norfolk, where it has also rained and rained, was nice while we were there. Brian is in Abu Dhabi where it is 100° today and so clear that he can see 50 miles!

Here comes another one! How can jets be so loud and so low but still I can’t SEE them? Even the birds fly up out of the trees when the noise begins.

I feel like I have been lifted right out of my boat life and inserted into another. Yesterday I got the bank statement done and checks written. I did about 8 loads of laundry, including things that need to hang up to dry instead of being baked and shrunk in a laundromat’s dryer.

We want to spend about a month in Virginia, going up and down the big rivers, plus going up the Potomac to D.C. and visiting Virginia’s eastern shore. Even though we lived in Maryland for 20 or 30 years, we never explored the Virginia waters, so we are really looking forward to it. The rivers are the James, the York, the Piankatank, the Rappahannock, and the Potomac, plus Mobjack Bay. Aren’t those great names?

Now it is quiet again - and the clouds have thinned. Everyone is hoping for sunshine.

Haiku Snapshots

At the beginning of the trip, I read “Dreaming Spies” by Laurie King. In it, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes travel to Japan on a ship, and another character introduces them to Haiku. Using only 17 syllables in a 5-7-5 style, it uses words to create vivid verbal pictures. When I missed out on taking photos of some birds in the water, I decided to try to write a Haiku about them instead. If it’s done well, it can be an excellent substitute for a snapshot and would have been especially valuable in the days before the invention photography.

         Shallow, narrow bay,

         Black birds sway on flimsy stakes,

         Waving in our wake

Here are a few more:

         The anchor is set

         Work is done, safe in harbor

         Let the night come on

         Sipping scalding tea

         Boat rocks gently, Monday wakes,

         Sitting with my cats.

         Big unknown country

         We were warned to be afraid

         But folks are friendly

What's in a name?

If you want to keep people away, choose names like “dismal” or “alligator” or “mosquito”. They will not come. 

So far, the Dismal Swamp entrance is just beautiful. The Pasquotank River is as still as it can be, with just a light breeze. The trees grow right out of the water - remember, a marsh has grass and a swamp has trees. They are lovely at this time of year.

We’re just moving along. I’ve got a chicken breast in the crock pot with hopes of making green chicken enchiladas for supper tonight. We have several leftovers plus pimento cheese in the fridge for lunch. And we still have some excellent chocolate cake from the Spoon River Restaurant in Belhaven for afternoon snack. 

It’s always Spring on this trip. It’s been Spring since we left Florida and started heading north, following the mild weather, the flowers and the new leaves. 

That’s about it; couldn’t be better.