Sunday Summary #68

Rendezvous + Weather

Hi ,

Welcome to Scho & Jo’s 68th Sunday Summary. This edition of the Sunday Summary was written aboard PIVOT in Hampton, Virginia.

Last Week.

We attended our very first America’s Great Loop Spring Rendezvous in Norfolk, Virginia last week and it was amazing! We spent 4 days attending seminars, meeting loopers in progress, gold loopers (people who have completed the Great Loop once before), people planning for their loop, and learned about upcoming sections of our Loop. The event was very humbling as many of our viewers who attended the event, came up to say hello to us and tell us their stories about how they stumbled upon our videos. We listened to how loopers found out about the Great Loop and what inspired them to take on this adventure whether it is from the loss of a loved one, a grandchild with a message of “take a chance,” or a lifelong dream to complete such a grand boating journey. It was amazing to be in a room with so many people with such a deep interest in doing America’s Great Loop. It was a pretty cool feeling. We also had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people on the Looper Crawl when we opened our boat up for viewing. We even got to meet two of our Patreons, Rob and Lisa, who we later got to know more when we played cards aboard PIVOT one night.

During the Spring Rendezvous, we were able to get our boat checked by the US Coast Guard Auxiliary for an annual, voluntary, safety inspection. For the second year in a row, we passed! We get a sticker for each year we pass which helps let the US Coast Guard know we’ve passed a safety check, although this doesn’t mean we won’t ever get boarded by the Coast Guard in the future.

On our last night in Norfolk, we enjoyed dinner with two of our fellow loopers and viewers, Bill and Patty on Let Time Go Lightly (but we forgot to snap a photo - next time!). We shared travel stories and heard about their love for wine, France, and the family that continues to bring them together no matter where they are in the world. After dinner and getting a tour of their Power Cat Aquila 36, we were left inspired by their dedication to learning, health, and taking on new adventures. We hope to have those same qualities when we're older. 

“People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.”― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

This Week.

We are anchored in Hampton, Virginia waiting out some pretty intense weather expected in the upcoming days. Usually, it’s PIVOT and a bunch of sailboats sharing an anchorage, but we’re all alone in our current spot. A bridge with low clearance for sailboats meant that we are the only boat in our anchorage, so we let out a TON of scope (scope is the chain used to help keep us secure; a good anchor is only half of what keeps us safe and secure). This inclement weather is expected to be here until midweek and we hope to resume cruising north on Friday, but we’ll be following whatever mother nature sends our way and pivoting as needed.

Do you have any questions about how we look at the weather, what apps we use, or how we plan our cruising days around the weather? If so, please respond to this email with your questions. We'd love to hear them and answer them in an upcoming video or blog post.

 Videos. 

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

Shoals, Elliott Cut, and Docking - The trials from Beaufort to Charleston on the ICW

The Great DILEMMA of the Loop (our day in Charleston)

 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. 

Thank you to everyone who said hello to us at the Rendezvous! It was so much fun meeting so many people who watch our videos. It put a huge smile on our faces 😊 To be honest, I'm still processing the whole event. During one of the introductions sessions where everyone goes up to the microphone and introduces themselves to the group, one current looper said their highlight to the loop was Scho & Jo videos because it reminds them of all of the great spots on the loop. Or during one of the Looper Crawl events, we had a couple bring us peanuts and dog treats as we passed them in one of our first great loop videos. We heard over and over again how much people enjoy our videos, couldn't believe it when Elliot cut into our decks with zero prior experience with power tools, or how people felt anxious when at the helm like Jen at the beginning. One of our main goals is to "keep it real" and show the true experience, so it was very humbling and grounding to hear how many people resonated with our stories. Thank YOU!

Peace and love,Jenn + Elliot