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We did it, we crossed our wake! It was one of the coldest days of our trip but the day was filled with excitement!

Although no two loops are the same for any boater, it was unique for us to cross our wake outside of Fort Myers Florida. Most boaters cross from their home ports or the place where they bought their boat, but for us it was really one of the furthest places from home on our loop. It certainly was an eerie feeling traveling in waters for the 2nd time – something we hadn’t done for over six months after heading north up the Hudson River in June 2024. The accomplishment will take some time to settle in. Along the way, we certainly encountered our share of challenges. We certainly can enjoy the thought that both we and the boat were able to overcome them to accomplish this journey.

Florida has been getting some unprecedent cold weather. We wanted to take out time exploring the northern west coast of Florida but not wearing pants. So, we decided to move quickly to the keys making just a few stops. We have never been to Sarasota so decided to give it a try.

We had visited Tarpon Springs years ago during a land vacation. So, we did not plan on stopping during this trip or staying three days. Weather made us stop. The cute town, great marina and fun things to do had us staying some extra days.

The ‘gulf crossing’ is one of the most highly anticipated sections of the Great Loop.  Loopers need to make a choice of routes to get from Florida’s panhandle to the west coast of Florida. The two route are quite different: ‘the crossing’ – a single 150 to170 mile crossing from Carrabelle, FL to Clearwater or Tarpon Springs or the ‘big bend’ – a 260 mile crossing that is spread out over several stops and days along the coast.

After a few nights in a hotel provisioning and finishing up some projects on Three Sons, we were ready to be back on the water.

While we were home in the cold with family and friends celebrating the holidays, Three Sons was ‘on the hard’ getting a much deserved spa treatment.

Once we hit Mobile Bay, the change in scenery was a stark comparison to the world behind us. We left a remote, isolated area with nothing but fresh water, curvy rivers, tiny creeks, woodlands, trees and very little signs of human life on shore and we entered an expansive bay with lots of huge barges, high rises, houses, retail and salt water.