Day 2-340 We cross our wake in Mobile Bay

     We had planned to spend two nights at Dog River Marina, but the weather was so beautiful that we decided to take advantage of the weather and go for it... Go for it we did! Besides, the excitement of crossing our wake was WAY too much!

      We easily adapted to get back to checking the tides before departing, and found that we would be riding a falling (out going) tide for 3.5 hours after we left the Dog River Marina, and then later in the day we would probably be going into the current as we approached our destination at Biloxi, MS. We also continued to enjoy seeing many pelicans and cormorants, and the Admiral was back in form telling me not to go too close to the markers so that I wouldn't "scare" the birds. Evidently it scares her more than the birds. Well, in all honesty I did hit one once but that was a different matter...

     We also saw the familiar shrimp boats with their ever present flotilla of (mainly) sea gulls and pelicans. Pure greed in action...

      For the first 6 miles we retraced our path from yesterday east back out to the Mobile Ship Channel and headed south to the Intra Coastal Waterway. Once we were in the ship channel we were passed by what looked like a new car carrier (ship). It was not until the ship passed us that we could actually see that the cargo was railroad cars. It looked like there were 7 tracks on each of two decks. Judging from the modest length of the carrier, my guess was that there were about 10 cars in each row or about 140 cars in all. Anyway, this was definitely a first for us...

      We went south in the Mobile Ship Channel for about 12 miles before turning to the west to head toward the Intra Coastal Waterway. About 3 miles later MAGIC HAPPENED! We crossed our wake to complete America's Great Loop. We slowed the boat to idle speed and took the remote control for the auto-pilot with us down to the bow of Lucky Us. The picture of me (below, left) shows me with the original America's Great Loop Cruising Association (white, for Loop in progress) burgee that has flown on the bow since we began the Loop on May 31, 2013. It has gotten very faded, but the tear is a recent addition. At the rate that it was finally falling apart, it is a good thing that we crossed our wake...

     No single photograph nor indeed a few words can hardly express the feeling of actually having completed the Loop. So, I won't really try, but here are a few numbers:
1. travel from League City, TX to start the Loop = 572 miles
2. Our trip around the Loop including side trips like the St. Johns River in Florida, going up the Potomac River to Washington, D.C. and going to the Thousand Islands = 6,330 miles
3. Our estimate of the distance to return home is 535 miles (slightly different route) = 535 miles.

For the whole trip our estimate is a Grand Total = 7,437 miles.

The picture at the left shows the Admiral with our new gold burgee that signifies "Loop Completed".

   Also, our best estimate of the number of days is about 355 days (plus additional time on the boat in Wilmington, NC where we left Lucky Us for the winter. ...and every minute, mile, etc. has been well worth it!

      Back to reality, since we still had about 53 miles to go across Mississippi Sound to our destination of Biloxi, Mississippi for today. The clear skies continued, but a westerly breeze of about 12 mph came up for the afternoon. We passed one tow in the ICW, and we also passed a USCG Buoy Tender that was replacing one of the channel markers. Otherwise, the rest of the trip was very nice but uneventful or perhaps when compared to the Wake Crossing, it just seemed ordinary.
   So, there you have it! We have closed the Loop by crossing our wake, but the trip and the blog will continue for 2+ weeks as we travel home at a "leisurely" pace.

     In Biloxi we are staying at the Point Cadet Marina, which is owned by the City of Biloxi, and it is between the Golden Nugget Casino and Resort and the water (Mississippi Sound). The picture at the left shows the marina as we approach from the south. We went to Bubba Gump's in the casino for dinner, and of course, the designated gambler (aka the Admiral) did spend a few minutes playing the slots on the way out. You gotta love those casinos... You cannot even go from the front door to the front desk without going across the casino. They do not miss a bet when it comes to giving you opportunities to spend money.

       The marina office is on the third (top) floor of the building that also houses the bathroom and laundry. It has a commanding view of the marina and also Mississippi Sound in the background. Lucky Us is at the end of the pier in the middle. We are on the outside of the T-head so we were a little expose to wakes coming in through the entrance on the right.

     Who knows? A lot of people cross their wakes and just keep on going to other adventures...