Sunday Summary #96

It shines like GOLD 💛✨

Hi ,

Welcome to Scho & Jo’s 96th Sunday Summary. This edition of the Sunday Summary was written aboard PIVOT who is anchored in Stuart, Florida.

Last Week.

Our last Sunday Summary was written in St. Pete where we stayed on Bill and Margie’s dock. What was supposed to be 3 or 4 nights lead to 10 nights as Bill helped Elliot complete a boat project. The type of person who helps do boat work on someone else’s boat is extraordinary in our book. We now have newly sealed windows, which have been on our boat projects list for a while.

Cruising on the West Coast of Florida led us to visit beaches we had not yet explored for years. We returned to Englewood which had a special memory for Elliot as his family visited the neighboring town to search for sharks' teeth. Returning to this area, we enjoyed a picnic before walking the beach searching for shark teeth.

“Embrace the Pivot” has been an ongoing mantra since purchasing our boat, learning how to boat, and traveling on America’s Great Loop. Our last ‘pivot’ in the final miles of our loop as we finalized our route and where we’d be crossing our wake. Initially, we expected to cruise down the west coast of Florida to Marathon which would have included 3 days of open-water cruising. After looking at the extended forecast, we pivoted our route to cruise on the Okeechobee Waterway through the center of Florida and cross our wake in Stuart, FL. For those who are unfamiliar, Lake Okeechobee is the largest freshwater lake in Florida and one of the largest freshwater lakes in the United States. It’s a large lake that deserves thoughtful planning and consideration since it’s relatively shallow with an average depth of 10 feet (3.3 meters) and covers 730 square miles (1,900 square kilometers) meaning that it can get rough quickly. With every pivot we make, we find ourselves embracing some unexpected benefits along the way including four more locks and one of our favorite anchorages on the loop on the southern part of Lake Okeechobee.

On Thursday, we crossed our wake in Stuart, Florida.

What was meant to be a short cruise doubled in duration due to all the normal ‘pivots’ we’ve encountered thus far on our loop (waiting for locks and bridges, as well as an unexpected train bridge). As we arrived into our anchorage we found the spot where we dropped our anchor just 11 months ago. The anchorage was filled with white caps and heavy gusts of wind but nothing was going to remove these big smiles from our faces. We exchanged our ratted and torn white AGLCA flag for a gold one and popped a bottle of champagne to celebrate. The entire day was filled with memories reflecting back on the past two years, full of ups and downs, learning lessons and celebrations, and meeting new friends. Crossing our wake was bittersweet, but on this day, it was all sweet.

Since crossing our wake, we feel a huge sense of relief and joy. We’re back to living life as two entrepreneurs on a boat schedule and not a looper schedule is so freeing. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that we’ve felt overwhelmed in the past few months trying to juggle everything on our plate including two businesses, life on a boat, a dog, a tight budget, while doing the loop has been exhausting. We’re so grateful for everything the loop taught and gave us, but are also grateful to no longer be on a looper schedule.

This Week.

Since we pivoted and changed our cruising plans from crossing our wake in Marathon to Stuart, we still wanted to spend some time in the Keys this winter. The beginning part of this week will be spent making our way south toward Miami. We’re preparing for two very special visitors, Adam and Kathryn from Adventures of A+K. You may remember seeing Adam and Kathryn while we were in Crisfield, Maryland last fall. They’re returning for more boat life fun aboard Pivot while we’re in the Keys. All of our plans are weather dependent, but we hope to get in some snorkeling, exploring on the SUPs, and playing games. We’ll be mixing the fun with work as we begin the major task of catching up on videos.

"Every ending is a beginning.We just don't know it at the time."-Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays with Morrie

 Videos. 

Here are the latest videos since our last Sunday Summary:

PIVOTING on the Trent-Severn Waterway (Frankford to Campbellford)

 Monthly Expenses. 

Here is the latest monthly expense report:

• January Monthly Expenses on America’s Great Loop

As I compile our February expenses to create our final Great Loop Expense Report, I would love to know if there's any sort of metric you’re interested in seeing. A few people have reached out about gallons of diesel, average fuel burn, or total oil changes on our loop as metrics to help them plan their own. If there are any additional stats you’d be interested in reading about, please let us know!

 Monthly Stats. 

As January has come to a close, here is our Nebo travel log:

Nights at a marina dock: 3

Nights on a mooring ball: 0

Nights on a free dock: 13

Nights on a paid dock: 0

Nights on a free lock wall: 0

Nights on a paid lock wall: 0

Nights at anchor: 15

 From the Eyes of Ollie. 

My parents were so happy this week that I got a pup cup! I also licked a bubbly drink from our boat after they spilled it. I am the deck swab after all, so I’m just tending to my responsibilities. We’ve gone on so many walks together too. Every morning and an hour before it gets dark, we all go for walks which is so nice. I get to meet other human friends and dog friends too. My parents say I’m a gold looper dog now.

 Gratitudes. 

Honestly, crossing our wake has been everything we hoped it would be. We can't encapsulate it all in one email, but as you all have seen our weekly updates over the journey, you've seen what it has meant to us. It hasn't been a vacation, it has been an adventure, and it's weird because we knew it would lead us to the same spot but as different people. We've grown in ways we didn't know we existed, met some incredible friends, and had the feeling of accomplishing a huge goal is one we are relishing. Thank YOU for following along the journey. 

Peace and love,Jenn + Elliot