America’s Great Loop
We’re not doing the whole Loop… at least not yet.
This first year is our “toe in the water” version of America’s Great Loop—taking things one stretch at a time, starting in Florida and working our way north to the Chesapeake. Think of it less as a race around the eastern U.S. and more like a slow, meandering chapter filled with warm mornings, questionable docking decisions, and whatever we decide to cook (or find) along the way.
We’ll kick things off in Florida, easing into life aboard and shaking off any “land habits” we forgot to leave behind. From there, we’ll wander up through coastal Georgia and the Carolinas, learning the rhythms of the ICW—watching depths like hawks, timing tides (probably not always successfully), and discovering the kind of small towns you’d never find any other way.
By the time we reach North Carolina and Virginia, we expect to feel a little more like cruisers and a little less like newbies—ready to take on longer days, bigger waters, and the ever-anticipated arrival into the Chesapeake Bay.
This isn’t about checking off miles—it’s about figuring out what this life looks like for us. Slower mornings, new anchorages, meeting people along the way, and learning as we go.
Florida to the Chesapeake: our first Loop segment, our learning curve, and probably where we fall in love with it for good.
Aboard MV Tortuga 