I know this blog post is late, as many have been, but I try to compose an interesting blog before I write them, and then sit down to the keyboard. So here goes.

At 12:30 on August 8th 2015, the EdE J and it's crew arrived back at our home port, The Cleveland Yachting Club, 366 days and 6 hours after our departure. We had covered 6085 statute miles, 1000+ under sail, 173 days at sea with an equal number of docks and anchorages, 851 engine hours, 927 gallons of diesel fuel, nearly 100 locks, 13 cruising guides, and 6 chart books. As well as many sets of electronic charts, countless weather reports and literally hundreds of pieces of input from various other cruisers.

We arrived to a decorated dock, blowing horns and a welcome home party of a few dozen close friends all organized by Meghan(who flew in from Florida to Surprise us) and our great friend Debbie.



The boat and the crew are different than when we left. The EdE J had a few more upgrades, and the crew also upgraded, we have more confidence, more skill and a greater appreciation for how lucky we are that we have been able to embark on this adventure and complete it.

EJ and I discussed how we should refer to ourselves, many people who do the loop call themselves loopers, we prefer to think of ourselves as cruisers who have completed the Great Loop. The trip was everything we expected and a continuation of the wonderful experiences we have had in our 30+ years of cruising. We now proudly fly our Gold Looper Burgee right up there with The Cleveland Yachting Club and The Great Lakes Cruising Club Port Captain.



We continue to be amazed that when we chose the boat 30 years ago, we made the right choice. Our Endeavour 42 has for 30 years been a robust and comfortable cruising boat whether it be a floating Condo or a Great Lakes and now Salt water cruiser. It has been solid, safely taking us where we wanted to go and protecting us when the weather changed.

The crew skill growth is also apparent, we are better at docking, sailing, powering and communicating. All the result of increased experience and exposure to a great variety of situations. We offer many thanks to the individuals who crewed part time on the boat and helped make this journey a success, Ed and Meghan are pictured with us, Jake, Greg and Janel could not make it.



EJ and I look forward to our next adventure, completing the loop just makes us want to do more.

Ed and EJ