Monday, December 31, 2007

"Crossing our wake" (and Happy New Year!)

Hello all:
Today is an auspicious day for us: we are "closing the Loop," or "crossing our wake," or in non-Loopers parlance, we have now completed the Great Loop around the eastern half of the United States in our beloved Winnie W.

Looking north on the Matanzas River, the town of St. Augustine and the Hwy 312 bridge is just coming into sight. Under the bridge & to the left is the San Sebastian River.

When we bought the Winnie W. in 2002, she was docked in a marina on the San Sebastian River in St. Augustine. We immediately brought her back to North Carolina; now, in 2007, we have proceeded counter-clockwise from our home port in North Carolina up the east coast, through New York state, across Canada, through the Great Lakes and inland rivers, and around Florida to where we started this journey in 2002.

Crossing our wake as we enter the San Sebastian River, passing Marker #1... Hooray!

So tonight we will toast the Winnie W, ourselves, and our family and friends as we bring in 2008 in St. Augustine, where the Winnie W became part of our family and we embarked on this great journey.
Best wishes for 2008! Kathie and Doug (and Hank)

3 comments:

Team Brazo said...

Congrats on the "Crossing".

Happy New Years!!

Second Wind said...

What an auspicious way to begin 2008 and what a milestone to have accomplished! Heartfelt congratulations and warm wishes for whatever adventures come up next for you. We have loved every minute that we shared the Great Loop adventure with Winnie W, and we hope to see you again soon.
Bob and Liz
Second Wind

sando said...

Kathie/Doug/Hank and Winnie W: What a pleasure to have met all of you. We loved your blog and we are inspired, now more than ever, to rush toward retirement so we can also cruise the "loop."

We arrived home yesterday afternoon after an exhausting 9 hour drive. It is bitterly cold here in NC, although I can't say it was much warmer in St. Augustine.

We ordered the parts for our engine repairs and will be returning soon to get Tagalong back up and running. Engine upkeep is a never ending project.

sara and oscar
Tagalong