If I learned anything about the 2015 Great Loop cruise, it’s this: peaceful and rewarding can instantly turn into a rolling nightmare and sometimes you don’t see it coming. But let’s explore peaceful and rewarding first. We left Deltaville and anchored out near Oxford, Maryland on a calm day. The anchorage was surrounded by mansions. … Read more

Weather was probably the most important unknown we faced when cruising. Wind speed and direction, wave height and speed, long and short-term forecasts—all this information impacted our schedule. We’d listen to reports from all the weather sites plus a few cruiser broadcasts, but as you can guess, none of them were one hundred percent correct. … Read more

For me, one of the highlights of our cruise in 2015 was the gentle, scenic Great Dismal Swamp, and when we left North Carolina and entered Virginia we still had hours of it ahead of us. But I’m one that loves protected waters, and as they say, there is sometimes a lull before a storm. … Read more

One of the great things about that 2015 Great Loop cruise was meeting new friends, but in Oriental, North Carolina, we actually found a long-time one. Judith Lynch had been a planner in San Juan Capistrano, CA when Mark and I were both on the city staff. We became close friends as she was a … Read more

As you know from the blog name, I really like calm waters. The leg from Bull River in South Carolina, all the way to Oriental, North Carolina, was my kind of cruising. Protected waterways, no forays into the Atlantic, beautiful scenery, and abundant anchorages. Well—-there were a few marinas in there, too and at least … Read more