Sunday Summary #64

Southern Hospitality + Déjà Vu

Hi ,

Welcome to Scho & Jo’s 64th Sunday Summary. This edition of the Sunday Summary was written aboard PIVOT while we cruise from Beaufort to Charleston, South Carolina.

Last Week.

Following our time in Darien for the Blessing of the Fleet Festival, we headed to Sapelo Island for a night before heading to Savannah. On our way to Savannah, our engine stopped mid-cruise. We dropped the anchor, opened up the engine room, and determined the problem was that we needed to change our fuel filter. Nothing too serious, but it did raise our heart rate and anxiety for the remainder of the cruise. We’ve been experimenting with the amount of time between changing our fuel filters since it’s recommended by our previous owner to change it every 50 hours. It had been 115 hours and our engine wasn’t getting enough diesel causing it to turn off. We bled the fuel filter and continued on our cruise for the last remaining 2 miles. Elliot changed the fuel filter the following day.

Heading to Savannah, we were a little nervous. We were about to meet two viewers at their home. We’ve never done that before and didn’t know what to expect. This was also our first dock since we stopped in Vero Beach on our southbound cruise, making it 89 days since we had last hooked up to power on a dock. So we were excited to dock PIVOT but were also nervous about the unknown.

Leaving Adrian and Karen’s house, I was left in tears. We stood on the flybridge waving goodbye in awe of the kindness, generosity, and hospitality we received from two viewers, now friends. Putting our lives on YouTube for the world to see puts us in an interesting position when people know more about us than we know about them. We didn’t know what to expect going into taking up someone’s offer to stay at their private dock. What we certainly did not expect, was leaving with a renewed outlook on life. Adrian and Karen reminded us of the importance of taking risks, embracing change or the unknown, the value of a strong team, and that a positive attitude is everything. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we’re so grateful to have had. I think some of the most beautiful moments of traveling come from meeting new people during your travels that you wouldn't have met otherwise. The experience is so great that your life is forever changed and there's no going back. Thank you Adrian and Karen for such an unforgettable stay!

We left Savannah and made our way up to Beaufort, South Carolina - our third state on our loop! We anchored in the same spot from our southbound trip. It's right off the ICW, so we don’t have as much boat traffic or wake and it has two free docks just a short dinghy ride away so we can take out Ollie. On our last night in Beaufort, we reached out to the other Loopers in the area and invited them to a Looper dinner at Heart Wood Fired Pizza. 12 people on 6 different boats shared their Loop stories, where they started, and the challenges they’ve overcome thus far. It was a wonderful evening full of laughter as we met so many great people.

"A mind that is stretched by a new experiencecan never go back to it’s old dimensions."-Oliver Wendell Holmes

This Week.

We are currently headed to Charleston, where we’ll be staying for two nights. Then we’ll be continuing north to Georgetown and Myrtle Beach. Similar to our past two weeks looking forward, we have no real plan except to continue north with the Looper Rendezvous on May 2nd in Norfolk, VA as our current goal/plan. We’re excited to revisit Charleston and Georgetown as they were some of our favorite towns and for some time in Myrtle Beach where we’ll be doing quite a bit of boat work.

 Videos. 

Incase you missed it, here are all the vlogs we’ve released since our last Sunday Summary:

Tons of WILDLIFE on the Indian River towards New Smyrna Beach on the Great Loop (day 18)

We Ran AGROUND on the way to St. Augustine ( always a student )

A BREAKDOWN, fantastic meals, and an unexpected night cruise, just another day on the Great Loop!

 Blogs. 

One of the frequent questions we're asked is what is our budget for the Great Loop? We decided to share our monthly expenses on America’s Great Loop in a comprehensive blog post each month. You can find our March budget and stats here:

• MONTHLY EXPENSES ON AMERICA'S GREAT LOOP - MARCH 2022

 Great Loop Recommendations. 

We are looking for recommendations for destinations and spots along our Great Loop to go see, visit, and enjoy. It's been a real challenge for us to keep track and stay organized with the many wonderful recommendations we've received thus far. So we've created a Google Form to help us stay organized. Thank you to everyone sending us recommendations so far! We really appreciate it.

 Gratitudes. 

We’re so grateful to call Adrian and Karen friends. They left a lasting impression on our hearts and we’re so happy Adrian reached out to us, twice, inviting us to stay with them.

Get-togethers aren’t fun unless people actually show up. We’re so grateful to Jill, James, Tracy, Stuart, Art, Sharon, Michelle, Mike, Melanie, and Justin for coming out to dinner with us.We’ve met so many great people on this boating journey of ours and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know this group of people a little bit more. If you would have told me that we’d be meeting incredible people in the next year and the common thing between us all would be boating, looping, and the desire for adventure, I probably would have looked at you strangely. Although boating has a hard learning curve and is a constant teacher, I’m so glad we took the jump and decided to tackle America’s Great Loop as our next journey.We've had déjà vu traveling these waterways as this is our third time traveling them. It's been really enjoyable cruising as we know what to expect. The unknown no longer scares us although that doesn't mean we let our guard down and are not cautious. Scenery and towns are familiar and it provides a feeling like home. Because we know the routes and anchorages, we're able to enjoy our surroundings and be more present.

Peace and love,Jenn + Elliot