September 18 - The "Final Chapter"
Monday, September 18th:
THE FINAL CHAPTER
We thought it would be appropriate to close the "Adventures of Integrity" with a final chapter describing the days that ensued after we completed "The Great Loop." So, here you are: the last chapter.
Those who followed the "Captain's Log" carefully noticed that a couple who was interested in buying Integrity came to visit us in Jacksonville, FL, in early April (check out Captain's Log for Day 341). They were Gerry and Linda Etzold from Annapolis, MD. Well, to make a long story short, we wound up selling them the boat. But it was under the contingency that we deliver Integrity to the Norfolk, VA area. They would meet us there and take the boat the rest of the way home.
We, of course, were delighted to have another cruise aboard Integrity even for only a couple of weeks.
However, we had things to do to get ready. Yes, we had completed the Great Loop, as this picture of the new AGLCA Veteran burgee (the gold one) attests:
Integrity was safely berthed at Hinckley Yacht Services in Savannah waiting for some routine yard work:
We had about a weeks' wait for the yard to haul the boat, so we did some off-loading of stuff and some maintenance work of our own. Late one afternoon, one of the worst thunderstorms either of us had seen came up. There were tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings for the area. Yes, "warnings!" Not "watches." (Warnings are worse than Watches..)
Much of Bill's work was in the engine room. We realized we had never posted a picture of him in "the holy place," a.k.a. "the hobby room." Here he is:
And another view of Bill stretched over one battery bank, cleaning out the aft shower/sink sump pump:
Our good friends, Lenny and Roxanne aboard Summertime, had been spending the last few days in a nearby yard waiting for repair parts for their boat. The parts finally came, and we all had a farewell supper together. They were headed for their home in Delaware:
Over the several days we were in Savannah we were visited by many of our friends and family.
Importantly, our Webmaster, Chaz, and his bride Gael:
And mutual friends Bob and Mary…
Our friends from Birmingham, Tommy and Karen…
Our daughter, Lisa, and her friend, Lee. Lee is 6 ft, 4 in. tall, and is the only person we ever had aboard whose head touched the overhead (ceiling) in the main saloon (the saloon height is less toward the rear of the room):
Except for normal dirt and the usual brown moustache, the hull was in great shape. Integrity's hull was power-washed and she was set on blocks:
We had packed "Froggy-the-Jeep," our only remaining car, full. We started with the two bicycles and wondered if there would be any room for "stuff":
Yes, there was room for a lot more "stuff." We were amazed!
After a period of time at home, and visiting Ruth's family in Fort Wayne, IN, we returned to Savannah to provision for our trip to Norfolk. We hooked up with good friends Jim and Pam Shipp on Silver Boots. We had all agreed to "buddy boat" part way to Norfolk. We got together for a "Farewell-to-Savannah" supper at "The Crab Shack" on Tybee Island near Savannah. It is a funky, fun place with good food in a very relaxed, outside dining area. Here we all are with the BIG alligator:
On June 2, 2006, at 2:00pm we slipped the lines on Integrity and bid Savannah goodbye. Florence Martus, "The Waving Girl", gave us her traditional wave goodbye:
We rendezvoused very soon with Silver Boots and cruised slowly to Bull Creek. We anchored near Silver Boots but decided not to raft together because it was quite windy. We slept well, happy to be cruising again.
For the next several days we slipped into a routine: underway about 7:30am, breakfast and lunch on the way, sometimes Integrity leading, sometimes Silver Boots leading, but always in radio contact and usually in visual contact. About 4:30 or 5:00pm we would stop, Silver Boots would drop anchor and we would come tie alongside.
We passed through some of the pretty areas again. The South Carolina coast presents a pretty scene, if not somewhat eerie:
We cruise past Charleston and her famous waterfront homes:
After about six nights of riding on the "hook," we pulled into Dock Holidays Marina in North Myrtle Beach. We had stayed here before:
This is our "picture-of-a-picture-of-the-marina":
We connected with former Loopers we had met in April, 2005, and we all went to supper together. Of course we had to have a picture. Guess where we had supper?
That's us on the left, Jim in the yellow T-shirt, Pam with the anchor on her shirt, then Mark and Flo-Ann.
Just north of North Myrtle Beach is the only pontoon bridge on the Great Loop. It opens only every hour, and doesn't open at low tides (it runs aground half open). Needless to say, you have to plan your passage through very carefully:
We left Silver Boots in Southport, NC while they visited friends -- and we continued alone.
A couple of days later we found ourselves anchoring in Mile Hammock Bay. This bay belongs to Camp LeJune but they let civilian boats anchor here when they aren't conducting exercises. There is this old ghost of a landing craft tied here:
We were happy to again visit the little town of Oriental, NC. It has a lot of charm and a nice shrimp fleet, but not much else. This was June 11th, nine days into the trip:
We did a long run the next day and stopped at Dowry Creek Marina, near Bellhaven, NC. Great marina - we had stopped here before also:
The next day we traversed the Pungo-Alligator canal, went up the Alligator River (downstream is "up"). It was pretty quiet but not very interesting:
We continued all the way to Coinjock, NC, near the NC/VA border. Tropical storm Alberto was coming, and we wanted to be as protected as possible. Coinjock Marina served well, although the winds and blowing tides put the dock under water.
After a couple of days hunkered down waiting for Alberto, we were off to Norfolk. In downtown Norfolk is this buoy, number 36, that marks the northern end of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway:
We continued out Hampton Roads, the name of the harbor for Norfolk, and across to Hampton, VA, our agreed meeting spot for Gerry and Linda.
Hampton is the home of the Cousteau Society Headquarters. This is what it looks like; that is Jacques' Land Rover parked in front:
Gerry and Linda arrived as planned and we took advantage of the photo op:
We spent the day unloading the remaining stuff on the boat into a rented van. There was a LOT of remaining stuff. Thank goodness Gerry and Linda helped. Then they loaded their stuff aboard.
We had a symbolic "changing of the watch," duly captured on magnetic media:
Gerry and Linda seemed quite happy with their new boat:
Pretty soon we helped them untie and they eased out into the thoroughfare in the Hampton River:
They paused for a minute for our final picture and their farewell wave. We were sad:
So, that's the final chapter in Integrity's cruise of "The Great Loop." Ruth and Bill are boatless and quite sad. However, we will buy another boat someday, and who knows…
Farewell, good friends! Smooth seas and happy days to you all.
.. Bill and Ruth
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