Days 148 and 149 - Groovy — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 0, fuel purchased $0, slip fee, daily high temperature 80*f

While John and Priscilla were heading to Miami Airport and Dale and Andy were heading to CL in Ft Lauderdale a tornado/micro burst hit the ICW near us and capsized two large boats. One boat was a catamaran and the other was a motor yacht. Both boats were occupied but fortunately only one person was injured and no one was killed. Dale and Andy were without power until 11 pm.

Our flight from Miami to Boston was less eventful than the Lyft ride to the airport. The flight was delayed initially due to a tardy flight attendant and further delayed due to mechanical issues. We lifted off about one hour late but well within my personal guideline that “any plane that lands on the same day it is scheduled is a good flight.” That means there were no unplanned overnight layovers. When that happens your luggage is usually trapped on the plane and you get shuttled to the cheapest hotel within reach of the airport or get to spend the night at the airport.

We missed the cold weather in Boston. Two days ago it was -9*f and snowing and today it is 56*f and pouring rain. At least it is not snowing.

The best way for us to get from Boston’s Logan Airport to Natick is by limousine bus. It is about an hour ride at rush hour. The bus terminal is only a few minutes drive from Alison’s house in Framingham. Both times we have taken the bus it was waiting curbside for us at the airport. All things in life average out so that good fortune will come to an end some day, but for now we’ll take it.

A question that many loopers are asked is how many boats complete America’s Great Loop each year. Here is the answer

2010 – 92 completions
2011 – 97 completions
2012 – 87 completions
2013 – 71 completions
2014 – 86 completions
2015 – 76 completions

For such an epic adventure that is not a large number of adventurers. More people climb Mt Everest each year than complete the America’s Great Loop. As many as 40 people have summited Everest on a single day.

Several years ago I took the family on a charter sailboat cruise in the Caribbean. We started from Oyster Pond, St. Martin and cruised to Anguilla and then to St Bart’s on a Beneteau 44. We had done the Bahamas and BVI several time before. In St. Bart’s heard that Jimmy was in town. Jimmy Buffett that is. We asked the bartender at the Bagatelle bar at Gustavia harbor if he had seen Jimmy. He said “yes, I saw him about fifteen minutes ago. That is his boat right there.” There was a 30 foot turquoise Tofinou daysailer in a slip with the sails on the deck and someone tidying up. I guess if you are Jimmy you have people that put your boat away. The name on the boat was Groovy. I asked the bartender how Jimmy selected the name. He said Groovy was the name of a long time friend of Jimmy’s ( Larry “Groovy” Gray ) that had recently passed away. Here is a photo of Jimmy sailing on Groovy just outside Gustavia harbor.

Bonus photo – Captain Grandfather John with his two month old grandson Jackson

Carl ( Chef ) Wooden – quote of the day

“Never did the world make a queen of a girl who hides in houses and dreams without traveling.” – Roman Payne, The Wanderess

Roman Payne (b. 1977) is an American-born novelist who immigrated to France in 1999. He is known for his poetic language, his return to classicism (what he terms “heroic” prose), and for his tales of initiation and wandering. Although he writes in English, his life in Paris, speaking entirely French, has influenced his work giving his prose an unusual Latinate quality. He is heavily influenced by Homeric Epic, as well as 18th and 19th Century French and European literature.