Migrating Loons

  Before we officially started our Loop, some might recall, we had a few issues with water infiltrating the boat. After a lot of trial and error, it was finally resolved, much to our relief. Everything went well for a while, we had zero issues, and then, as everyone knows, things will start happening. Some of it was normal wear and tear, some of it was user related (or other) and all of it was a learning experience. - Electronics will fail When we were on the Trent Severn Waterway we lost our GPS/Charts on our Lowrance device. We both automatically jumped to the conclusion that our "electronic chip" was at fault, and that we would need a new one. We always carry paper charts on the boat and have a magnetic compass, so it was easy for us to fall back on those until we could buy a new chip. We weren't very worried about it.  Once we got the USA/Canada/Mexico charts, we quickly realized we had a totally different issue. The chip was not the issue, it was the GP...

Haul out at Demopolis Yacht Basin We are now back at home, looking at the snow falling. It's mind boggling to think that we were in Alabama just a few days ago, staying on our boat in the boat yard...  (It seems a bit early in the season for so much snow - even for Canada!!!) View from our front window We had a lot of work to do before we were ready to catch our flights back home to Canada. Demopolis, Alabama is down south, but it still has cold days and nights in the winter, so we wanted/needed to winterize it so we don't come back to any nasty surprises.  In the past, we got our marina to do the work when they hauled us out, but we wanted to see if Papi could do it. And, yes! he did all the work himself. This trip has been a huge learning opportunity for him, and he has done an outstanding job on everything he has tackled. (I have an awesome husband). We stayed at the Kingfisher Marina (affiliated with the Demopolis Yacht Basin) while we took the time to coordi...

M.V. Sea Loons We have now been living on our boat for almost 5 months. We've had "highs" and "lows" and have questioned our sanity at times, but we are so happy we continued on through the challenges we've had.  Some people may think we are on a big vacation, and I hate to disappoint them, but doing the Loop is actually alot of work and effort - but, it is worth it! We still think of this as our "Grand Adventure". Travelling on a "smaller" boat however, has been an "eye opener" on many things. Here is what we think of this experience so far, on our boat, a 1977 Seafarer Coronet. (It is often the little things that make a big difference.) Upgrades we are glad we did: Anchor roller and Rocna anchor New fridge and counter in galley Real mattress (foam we cut to size) Dinghy with engine and dinghy davits Gear/equipment we would NOT do without: Coffee maker (5 cups - works on the inverter!) Instant pot (3qt) Ic...

Civil War monument in Columbus Columbus Marina provided us with a nice place to rest and relax a bit before our final stretch of the Tenn-Tom. We took advantage of the courtesy vehicles a few times to re-supply, and to go get jerry cans of gas for the boat at the nearest gas station. The marina was having technical issues and none of their fuel pumps were operational. I'm glad we only needed nine "five gallons" to top up our fuel. We had held back our departure by two days due to really bad weather being forecasted. We are glad we did! We had tornado warnings early morning on the day we left, it would have been extremely stressful to be at anchor during the heavy rains and winds. By the time we left, the sky was still grey and the winds were light, but it was still a good day to travel. A couple who were at the marina at the same time as us where told not to go to close to shore with their paddle boards - there are (apparently) alligators there! We...