Day 219 - CLODs — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 9, fuel purchased 0, slip fee $75, daily high temperature 76°f

It has been raining on and off all day. We moved the boat 9 miles from the Top Rack Marina to the Waterside Marina in Norfolk for the America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association Rendezvous. Over 250 Loopers, past Loopers and future Loopers will be together for four days to share experiences (a few lies) and learn more about the route ahead.

There was one low bridge between us and the Waterside Marina. It is a railroad bridge that is almost always up. Guess what? It was down and we waited 30 minutes for a coal train to cross over and the bridge to open again. You can never be in a hurray on the Loop.

We have put the Weber Yachts for sale signs on CL. Perhaps a future Looper wants to start from Waukegan in September.

Please notice not only the Weber Yachts for sale sign but also the Weber Yachts flag proudly flying on our antennae. Curtis Stokes walked past us today. He is the current king of Looper boat brokers. All glory is fleeting.

.Our very good friends Bev and Dave Feiges from Cloverleaf have swallowed their anchor after forty years of living abroad boats full time. They are selling their boat and moving ashore. They will become CLODS – cruisers living on dirt. Here are some thoughts from Bev and Dave regarding shifting gears in life.

In one week, I will no longer have to:
1. Climb a ladder, or two ladders or walk a plank to enter my “house”
2. I will not have to shop for months of necessary supplies, like 3 giant packages of toilet paper, or paper towels, or soaps and cleaning supplies, medicines, beer, coke, root beer and wine, meat, chicken and fish for the freezer, everything edible, since we don’t know when we will find the next Costco or grocery, and how far we will have to shlep every thing.
3. wait sometimes for months for mail to catch up.
4. keep daily and sometimes hourly watches on the weather.
5. Lose phone contact for hours, or days or even months- I go back a long, long time to when our only contact was listening to the marine operator once a day to see if anyone needed us.

Bev and Dave clean up pretty good when they go ashore.

I will also not be able to see something different around every corner, or over every horizon, or meet such a variety of adventurous people on the move. I I will not experience different cultures, food, see what the world under the water looks like, or experience parties on a beach in the moonlight with instant friends speaking in many different languages.

Cloverleaf is for sale.

Yes, life will be easier considering our age as we change from living on a boat and constantly moving, to living ashore where everything, like shopping, and doctors, and entertainment will be at our fingertips. But oh, how we will miss our former lives of grand adventure. We celebrate what went before, grateful for every moment we had, and even more grateful we are still here, when so many of our friends are not. Life is not over, we have just shifted gears.

We will be at the Waterside marina for five days. The ACLCA provides dinner on Monday and Wednesday night. We we found a hamburger special deal restaraunt tonight. All buyers $7.99. There is a ferry that crosses the harbor to a German Bier Garden restaurant. That might be a winner one night.

It is curious that at the entrance to the Waterside welcome center is not a welcome mat but a cannon. How welcoming is a cannon pointed at you?

I mentioned that I have become a boat broker for Weber Yachts. On Monday I have a client from France flying in to view the trawler I have listed, B to B. He is interested in doing the Loop. The owners of B to B are French Canadian. Perhaps this is meant to be. They can chat each other up in French. I will smile and nod and take his deposit.

Bonus photo.

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote of the day.

“Don’t grow up too quickly, lest you forget how much you love the beach.”
Michelle Held

Singer-songwriter, Michelle Held’s music harnesses all that encompasses the city, from hard-bitten soul to an ethereal grit. Virtually self-taught, she honed her skills at coffee shops and open mics. With appearances at the DIA; TV and Radio spots on WDET, NPR and WXYZ TV20, she has carved out a place in the Detroit music scene. Detroit Metro Times says, “It’s her voice that adds the X-factor, that little bit of welcome strange.” Her singular voice, razor sharp candor and intricate guitar style honors the past yet owns a timelessness that rings through each song