The Endorphin Voyager Sets Sail: Endorphin Voyager Crossed Our Wake!

We crossed our wake! We are now Gold Loopers!

Karl, Mackie and Salty completed the Loop in Sandestin, Florida at Baytowne Marina

November 10, 2019

We woke up this morning and looked at each other and said, "Let's go home!" We traveled 90 miles from Orange Beach, Alabama to Sandestin, Florida to reach our home port at Baytowne Marina, on a beautiful, warm, sunny day. We were filled with mixed emotions when we crossed under the bridge into the Choctawatchee Bay with only 10 miles to go! We were proud of ourselves for accomplishing what we set out to do almost 11 months ago. We traveled 5,511 miles, stayed in over 110 marinas, anchored in beautiful remote areas, weathered a few scary storms and fog, but more often enjoyed beautiful sunny days, watched so many gorgeous sunsets, sunrises and full moons, visited small towns and large cities and tried to do as much as we could to learn about those places by visiting their parks, museums, restaurants and walking tours! We learned so much history of America by visiting forts, battlegrounds, southern plantations, Williamsburg, Charleston and Annapolis.

We certainly improved our boating and navigation skills! After crossing the open Gulf of Mexico, we traveled down the west coast of Florida, through the beautiful Keys, then proceeded up the East Coast of the United States. We traveled mostly through the protected waters of the ICW, and stopped along the way in so many charming coastal towns. We loved the Carolinas, the Outer Banks and the Chesapeake Bay! A highlight of the trip was passing the Statue of Liberty in New York on our boat! After spending a week in New York, we proceeded up the Hudson River, to the Erie Canal, crossed Lake Ontario, and traveled through the Trent-Severn Waterway, Georgian Bay and North Channel, spending 6 weeks in Canada. Anchoring out, fishing, swimming, hiking and paddle boarding in the beautiful, clear pristine waters and shores of Canada was amazing! We visited Mackinac Island, only accessible by boat! Then we continued through Lake Michigan to Chicago and headed down the Illinois River, Mississippi River, Ohio River to the Tennessee River at Paducah, Ky and Grand Rivers, Ky where we enjoyed seeing our family! We loved being in our "home" state of Kentucky, where we grew up, via our own boat! We then moved south through the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway all the way to Mobile, Alabama. We negotiated through over 100 locks, and learned how to communicate with the Tow captains, pushing their huge barges on the river systems! We effectively and luckily dodged the debris that was is in the river systems, due to the high flooding that has happened this year. Seeing places and things from a boat gives you a different perspective!

We stopped at all these places!

The best part of our adventure was meeting new friends along the way! By flying the AGLCA burgee, boaters would recognize each other on the open water and in port! Whenever we pulled up to a marina, fellow Loopers would jump out of their boats and help us tie up! We enjoyed their company and sharing boat stories. We would help each other by sharing our experiences and exchanging information and ideas with them. We really never felt alone! Loopers know how to have fun! We would often join each other for "docktail" parties and dinners!

What will we miss about the Loop? Getting up in the morning, drinking coffee and planning our day! Reading about our destinations and studying the Guide books! Plotting our courses! Everyday was different and challenging! What would our next port be like? Will we have enough groceries before we find another market? How long will we have to wait for a lock opening? Coming into a new place and finding an interesting Farmer's Market, music, art or festival happening! Experiencing eating the local foods and soaking up their culture! The sense of adventure! Making new friends!

Sandestin Beach is so lovely!

Sandestin Beach

When we began this journey on January 5th, we asked ourselves, "Can we do this?" And we did it, came full circle! We are blessed and thankful to have had this opportunity. It truly has been a trip of a lifetime! But more that that, we learned so much about ourselves and our partnership together! We are still happily married, I am pleased to report! We have been asked, what are you going to do for an encore? For now, we are happy to be safely home! But one thing we do know for sure, there will be plenty of boating experiences in our future!