Carrabelle, FL to Grand Rivers, KY

Total Miles Traveled 3033

https://share.garmin.com/RickVicars

What a great cruise to the Keys and back!  We left our home port at Green Turtle Bay Marina, at Grand Rivers, Kentucky on October 5^th, 2020.   We cruised 3033 miles to Key West and back and arrived at Green Turtle Bay June 7^th, 2021. 

We met our friends Dan and Angie m/v Seahorse at breakfast yesterday and Dan ask if I kept track of the miles we have traveled since starting the Loop.  I have kept a logbook every year but have not kept a running total of the miles we have cruised…….so this morning I recorded each year the miles we have traveled after returning to Green Turtle Bay.  I knew we have covered a lot of miles across the waterways but didn’t realize the total would add up to 23,751 miles! 

This has been an amazing experience, not only the scenery and the places we have visited, but the people we have met during our travels.  I have exchanged boat cards with 326 boaters that we have met during our travels, some of them are becoming very good friends that we cruise with and visit with every year.

It has been a while since my last update but since we’ve been cruising the same places the past few years, I decided not to update the blog as frequently as in the past.  This may change this summer as we are planning to cruise the Ohio River to Pittsburg Pennsylvania.  We hope to start this new adventure around the middle of July and return to Green Turtle Bay in early autumn.

After a week at one of our favorite stops in Carrabelle Florida, we departed the marina on May 7th and traveled 86 miles to an anchorage at Pearl Bayou, near Panama City.  On May 8^th we cruised 69 miles to another favorite anchorage in Destin Harbor.  We were anchored here with our friends on m/v Trust Me, m/v Forever Young, m/v Cra Sea Horse, and m/v San Souci.  This is an awesome anchorage with several restaurants, and a waterfront walkway.

After a week at Destin, we cruised 52 miles to another anchorage at Ft McRree near Pensacola Florida.  The Blue Angels are stationed here and on certain days they fly over the anchorage during practice.  Its an awesome experience with them flying only a few hundred feet over our boat…ear protection is a good idea.  On May 14^th we cruised a short distance to our favorite anchorage near Orange Beach, Roberts Bayou.  This is a vey protected anchorage and an awesome Bar and Grill, Pirates Cove.  We anchored here with m/v Forever Young and enjoyed a few days at the beach and restaurant.  There was also a boat poker run going on so we saw quite a few nice boats come and go.

Nope not an explosion, they're burning off a sugar cane field. 

The river levels finally dropped enough for us to start our way North.  We departed Roberts Bayou on May 16^th and cruised 65 miles crossing Mobile Bay and anchoring at Briar Creek. From Briar Creek we cruised the rivers and passed through our first lock at Coffeeville, Alabama on May 18^th.  We are cruising the Tenn-Tom waterway and this part of Alabama is very secluded with very few anchorages along the river.  From our anchorage near the lock, it is over 100 miles to the nearest marina and cell service is very spotty.  We cruised to a safe anchorage at Bashi Creek.  Later in the afternoon, two sail boats arrived and anchored behind us.  On of them hailed us on the radio and said they notice our port of call was Grand Rivers Kentucky and asked what marina we were heading to.  Turns out they are both from Green Turtle Bay, but we have never met.  Since there are several locks to pass through we decided to travel together to the Tennessee River.

 Anchored at Bashi Creek with s/v Island Bound and s/v Imagine That

Passing a tow on the waterway

Just before the lock at Columbus, MS is a barge unloading facility. 

 

Whitten Lock is the last lock on the Tenn-Tom Waterway, an 84-foot lift to Bay Springs.

We arrived at Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina on May 25, almost the same date as last year. We met our good friends Charlie and Robin m/v Lower Place, we haven’t seen them since the Keys.  Other looper friends came in during our stay, m/v Priorities, m/v Corkscrew, m/v Cra Sea Horse, and m/v Chasing 80.

We rented a car and drove to Indianapolis for our grandson’s graduation from high school.  Our grandkids are growing up fast and are now young adults.

Grandson Jayden and Granddaughter Sophie……..Congratulations Jayden!!

After returning the car we stopped at Abe's local diner in Corinth, MS for breakfast.....what an awesome meal and super friendly people.  Thanks for the recommendation Charlie!

Who says there is no Big Foot....sculptured with a chainsaw from a tree.

We departed Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina on June 5^th and planned to travel with m/v Chasing 80.

We were held up at the Pickwick Lock for a couple of hours waiting on a barge. Our friends discovered a mechanical problem and had to return to the marina so we continued on to another favorite stop on the Tennessee River at Clifton, TN at the Clifton Marina.  We arrived on Saturday and the marina was packed but they made room for us.  The people here are very friendly, we usually stop going south in the fall and north in the spring. 

We departed the marina a daybreak, anchored one time on Kentucky Lake and arrived at Green Turtle Bay on June 7^th.  Although m/v Corkscrew left Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina several days ahead of us, we pulled into a slip next to them on our arrival.  They are heading to their home port at Nashville, Tennessee.