Cruising the Inland Waters of The Great Loop

SV Cavalier and her crew of 3 will soon begin a new era of sailing the tranquil waters of the Inland Waterways along selected routes of the 6000+ nm of "The Great Loop".

Vessel Name: SV Cavalier
Vessel Make/Model: Island Packet/41'SP Cruiser Motor Sailer
Hailing Port: Langston, AL
Crew: Vic and Kathy Martin, Jake (the Boat Dog)
About:
We are a ' 70-Something' cruising couple from No. Alabama, sailing with our sea-loving Golden Retriever Pup, Jake. We are seasoned sailors of 40+ years aboard 4 sailboats accompanied by 3 dogs. Our mission is to explore the historical inland waterways along The Great Loop. [...]
Extra: SV Cavalier is currently located on beautiful Lake Guntersville (the Tennessee River) in NE Alabama, ready to begin another era of sailing the Inland Waters of The Great Loop, hopefully covering much of the Great Lakes and beyond!
Home Page: Kathleen Martin
Social:
14 July 2013 | McMullen Cove, KFNP
13 July 2013 | Thunder Bay, KFNP
12 July 2013 | Black Bay, Cloudy Cape, KFNP
09 July 2013 | Northwestern Glacier
06 July 2013 | Seward
26 June 2013 | Pete's Cove, Nuka Island
25 June 2013 | Port Chatham and Port Dick (Sunday Harbor)
24 June 2013 | Seldovia, AK
21 June 2013 | Seldovia, AK
16 June 2013 | San Juan Is., Tutka Bay near Homer
15 June 2013 | Peterson Bay, Kachemak Bay
14 June 2013 | Homer, AK
09 June 2013 | Port Graham, near Homer, Mainland AK
07 June 2013 | Ninagiak Island, Hallo Bay, Alaska Peninsula
05 June 2013 | Kukak Bay, Alaska Peninsula
03 June 2013 | Amalik Bay, Alaska Peninsula
02 June 2013 | Amalik Bay, Alaska Peninsula
31 May 2013 | Amalik Bay, Alaska Peninsula
Recent Blog Posts
12 October 2019 | Langston, Alabama

Change of Plans

Dear Followers:

02 October 2019 | Langston, Alabama

Preparations Well Underway

WELCOME TO THE MARTIN FAMILY'S FIRST BLOG POSTING ABOARD S/V CAVALIER:

22 August 2017 | Squalicum Harbor, Bellingham, Washington USA

Vic's Last Tribute to Capella III

As taken from Capella III's 2017 LOG BOOK, Vic's final entry:

21 August 2017 | Squalicum Harbor, Bellingham, Washington USA

The Great American Eclipse

TO JULIA who asked over FB: "Where's Skipper??" This photo portrays him as just drying out in the cockpit after a swim in 69 degree water, being preoccupied with our latest shrimp catch. He's a busy Boy aboard Capella III!

21 August 2017 | Bennett Bay (Mayne Island), Vancouver Is., BC

Customary Crisis

The nostalgia is already beginning to set in. We're nestled into a rather 'suburban' setting here in Bennett Bay, a Local's Playground featuring kayaking, swimming, paddleboarding, general boating, beachcombing, hiking, golf and now, sailboat-anchoring (ours). We've obviously seen the last of our REMOTE [...]

19 August 2017 | Comox Harbour, E. Vancouver Island, BC

COMOX, a City "DownUnder"

We sorely deserved this R&R in the lovely, manicured city of Comox just after coming off a taxing week in the Labyrinth of the 'Back Route.' It's our first landfall under the 50th Parallel (Latitude) in Capella III so we're pretending we're Explorers Extraordinaire since we made it 'down-under something'! [...]

Change of Plans

12 October 2019 | Langston, Alabama
Kathleen Martin
Dear Followers:
I regret to inform you that we must alter our plans for our 600nm Tennessee River Trip to Knoxville and back. On day 3 Vic informed me that he was experiencing intensified symptoms of previous prostate ailments and felt that he could not endure a month-long trip, especially while not under a doctor's care. We immediately headed back home, as the month-long cruise diminished into a 5-day sail. We stopped in Goose Pond, AL to overnight where Vic was able to get a dr. appt. for Monday a.m. We do hope that he can be scheduled for surgery SOON, if necessary, and we hope it won't jeopardize our upcoming Antarctica trip Dec. 25-Jan. 17th.
Thank you for your interest in following our journey, but please keep this URL handy. There may be some beautiful pictures taken from "Down South" of interest to you in the near future. So it goes... VKJ

Preparations Well Underway

02 October 2019 | Langston, Alabama
Kathleen Martin | Hot hot hot
WELCOME TO THE MARTIN FAMILY'S FIRST BLOG POSTING ABOARD S/V CAVALIER:


Our ETD is Sun., 6 October 2019, Destination Knoxville, TN. Cavalier will sail from Guntersville, AL (homeport) R/T to Knoxville, TN through the Tennessee Valley via the beautiful Tennessee River, a journey of 600nm. ETA back to Guntersville is 8 November, completing a 32-day leg of a Great Loop by-way...if the Sail gods permit.

If you would like to follow our journey on the sailblogs webite, click on:
https://www.sailblogs.com/member/svcavalier

Vic, Kathy and Jake (The Cavalier Crew)

Vic's Last Tribute to Capella III

22 August 2017 | Squalicum Harbor, Bellingham, Washington USA
Vic/beautiful, sunny
As taken from Capella III's 2017 LOG BOOK, Vic's final entry:

21 August, 0830-1400, Pt. Roberts to Squalicum Marina:
"Motored. Set Up Go Pro camera for time lapse camera from 0930-1120 to capture solar eclipse at 1021. Got dimmer and cooler but not DARK...only 91% eclipse. Suitable time for a tribute to Capella III on her last voyage with us. She took care of us always. Our warm refuge on often a dark and stormy night when Mother Nature was having a tantrum. I'm sure she shared our delight (especially Skipper's) when porpoises escorted us on our bow with the sails filled 'full and by'. She laughed with us when the whales flew, the birds dived and the bears played on the beach. All we can say is THANK YOU. I think the natives have it right when they say all things have 'Spirit' and are part of a Grand Plan. Capella certainly seemed alive to us. We will miss her." vmm

Crew: Vic, Kathy and Skipper (the Boat Dog) Martin
***LAST LOG ENTRY***

PHOTO: Morning Sun

The Great American Eclipse

21 August 2017 | Squalicum Harbor, Bellingham, Washington USA
Kathy/absolutely gorgeous
TO JULIA who asked over FB: "Where's Skipper??" This photo portrays him as just drying out in the cockpit after a swim in 69 degree water, being preoccupied with our latest shrimp catch. He's a busy Boy aboard Capella III!
Our 'out of the way' segue to Port Roberts to clear customs resulted in a lovely morning sail into a quiet harbor and a successful 35-minute custom-clearing process. From there we sailed onward to Bellingham with a favorable current, averaging an EXCELLENT speed of 7kts and experiencing a 91% total eclipse of the sun in the Strait of Georgia through a homemade pinhole camera! Who could ask for anything more?! We arrived in Bellingham at 1:30pm with heavy hearts, as usual, sharing a kleenex as we pulled into Squalicum Harbor. These final moments at the end of a memorable 3-month, an-almost 2000nm journey always leaves us with bittersweet sentiments and gives us pause to reflect on all the fabulous adventures along the way. This indeed is a personal eclipse for us, a transition from our beloved Capella III, an end of an era, into another era of adventure in ANOTHER boat traversing the Great Loop. Leaving Capella III is hard to write about, but the 'Ecliptical Change' we're embarking upon holds an excitement that somewhat helps to temper the loss.
For those scratching your heads, unaware of our change of plans, here's the update. We leave Capella III with our broker in Anacortes' WA to sell her, to pursue our next dream of "trawling" the Great Loop, a 6000+mile LOOP from the Great Lakes around and down the East Coast, through the Gulf of Mexico and back up the river systems to the Great Lakes. This journey requires a vessel that handles low bridges and multiple locks...and a captain with good river and shore navigational skills! So our Capella III will be traded in for a trawler to do the job more effectively. Meanwhile, we will spend our winter in our cozy home on Lake Guntersville in Langston, Alabama in search of 'the right boat', and planning and staging our new era of adventure through the Great Loop.
A heartfelt THANKS is sent out to those who sailed with us and to those who have followed us on the blog so faithfully. We thoroughly enjoyed having you along for the ride and reading your supportive comments. See you next summer on "The Great Loop"!
s/v Capella III Crew, Vic, Kathy and Skipper Martin

P.S. Vic's final tribute to Capella III as taken from his last entry in his Capella III LOG BOOK will appear as our Very Last Blog Posting, following this one. You won't want to miss this one:)! km

Customary Crisis

21 August 2017 | Bennett Bay (Mayne Island), Vancouver Is., BC
Kathy/ sunny, warm, windy
The nostalgia is already beginning to set in. We're nestled into a rather 'suburban' setting here in Bennett Bay, a Local's Playground featuring kayaking, swimming, paddleboarding, general boating, beachcombing, hiking, golf and now, sailboat-anchoring (ours). We've obviously seen the last of our REMOTE anchorages:( This may be our final 'anchoring out' because tomorrow we complete the last leg of this memorable trip, a 30-mile trek into Bellingham, WA where we clear customs and proceed to Squalicum Harbor, Bellingham, WA to begin the process of readying our boat for the 'nostalgic sale of Capella III'.
Oh, wait...not so fast! Vic has just contacted the US Customs and Border Control to make sure all of our ducks are in line to make tomorrow's custom-clearing into Bellingham a no brainer. The Customs Officer curtly informed Vic that Bellingham has not been a Port of Entry since 2006, a fact that our Douglass Bible (2009 publication Cruising Guidebook) inconveniently neglected to mention. Our new choices for clearing customs are Pt. Roberts, Seattle, Friday Harbor and Anacortes. Pt. R. is closest, 10nm NORTH of us, however, we are heading 30nm EAST to Bellingham! Checking the charts it became clear that we have a very early get-up tomorrow to be in Pt. Roberts by 8am (2+hrs motorsail) and will be experiencing crosscurrents which implies there will be many drift corrections which will add time to the distance. The good news is, a favorable current exists until NOON from Pt. Roberts into Bellingham, so if the customs guy is fast and friendly and gets us back on the water quickly, we may be able to make this Eclipse-Day Cruise into Bellingham by tomorrow afternoon after all, on schedule and legally! Meanwhile, enjoy this cool photo of a ringed seal rookery we encountered along the way today!

COMOX, a City "DownUnder"

19 August 2017 | Comox Harbour, E. Vancouver Island, BC
Kathy/absolutely gorgeous
We sorely deserved this R&R in the lovely, manicured city of Comox just after coming off a taxing week in the Labyrinth of the 'Back Route.' It's our first landfall under the 50th Parallel (Latitude) in Capella III so we're pretending we're Explorers Extraordinaire since we made it 'down-under something'! :) We've enjoyed the strolls and cuisine in Comox, but we've not taken one photograph to prove it! However, we did some lounging about in our cockpit where the cameras reside near the shrimp on the barbie, and sure enough we found some photo-worthy subjects. Enjoy!

PHOTO: A Blue Heron with Attitude
Route of Capella III, 2017
SV Cavalier's Photos - Main
1 Photo
Created 2 October 2019
No Photos
Created 23 June 2017
Seward to Dutch Harbor back to Seward, May 5-August 1, 2015
35 Photos
Created 27 May 2015
random photos of trip from Seward to Geographic Harbor and Prince Wm. Sound
1 Photo
Created 27 May 2013
photos from May 15-Sept 1 in western and southcentral Alaska
No Photos
Created 31 July 2012
a movie presentation of the prolific bears and beautiful scenery in Kake
2 Photos | 3 Sub-Albums
Created 6 June 2011
12 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 4 August 2010
composite of pics of Capella III, various locations
7 Photos | 6 Sub-Albums
Created 28 March 2010

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27 May 2013
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The 11th Voyage of Capella III, 2017