Favors' Great Loop Trip: March 2006

Goodbye Florida... Hello Georgia – 3/31/06

As they told Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz... you're not in Kansas anymore – well we're not in Florida anymore either. After a remarkably educational, nature absorbing, sun enriched, guest packed 3 months. We left Florida on March 31st to the friendly, less expensive, confines of the Georgia ICW.

As we navigated the last few miles of Florida we were escorted by dolphins quite often and spotted the largest bald eagle we've ever seen.

St. Augustine, FL – 3/29-31/06

We just spent 3 great days at Oyster Creek Marina in St. Augustine, the oldest city in the U.S.A. Founded in 1567 there is a lot of history here. We enjoyed walking all over the city trying Cuban food and getting some much needed excercise.

Just down river from the marina is a Mainship builder. Jim went for a tour today and learned a lot about how some of these boats are put together.

We're starting to experience larger tides – 6 feet from high to low tide making navigation more of a challenge.

Tomorrow, Friday we head further north to anchor at Cumberland Island. Soon we will leave Florida and enter Georgia for the next week.

New Smyrna to St. Augustine, FL – 3/28/06

The river scenery has been surprisingly beautiful. The stretch from New Smyrna to St. Augustine was a nice change from the asphalt jungle of southern Florida.

Grandpa Larry and Donna Make Their Way to Kismet in New Smyrna, FL 3/27/06

Our last guests, for a while, Jim's Grandpa and his wife Donna came over from Mt. Dora, FL. We had fun catching up with each other, telling stories and jokes. It was a treasured visit for us.

Looks like the end of company for a while as we continue to head north. We plan to be in Beaufort, SC for a "Looper" rendevous April 9th. We are looking forward to meeting up with a lot of people we have met on this incredible journey so far.

We are staying another night in New Smyrna and will head for St. Augustine, FL early tomorrow morning.

Coco to New Smryna, FL - 3/26/06

Sunday we took off from Coco for New Smyrna Beach where we heard there was a city dock, no power or water but it is free.

It was a beautiful cruise, lots of natural beauty and people out for a Sunday afternoon of fishing and fun. This part of Florida has captured our interest. It is so unlike the southern part of Florida along the ICW.

We picked up 6 weeks worth of mail that was held for us here. We look forward to mail day, as you can imagine, especially when it has been held for so long. Letters from friends, magazines etc. Mail days are fun.

John & Terri - 3/25/06

It really is a small world! As we were cruising north we phoned the Andersons, who are staying at a friends condo in Melbourne, FL on the ICW. They watched as we passed to anchor out on the Banana River at the base of Merritt Island. They joined us the next day when we docked in Coco. It was a fun filled evening of conversation and dinner out.

Teegarden's Visit Kismet - Vero Beach, FL 3/22-23/06

After much planning and scheming we were in an area close enough for Jim and Janice, during their vacation in FL., to drive from their condo in Ft. Lauderdale to where we were docked in Vero Beach. They spent the night and it was sooooo good to see them.

Surprise Visit from Jeff and Denise - Stuart, FL 3/20/06

We spent a couple of extra days in Stuart getting a fuel pump fixed and were able to connect with our friends from Charlevoix who were down visiting relatives in Sebring. Jeff and Denise drove over to the marina where we were on a mooring ball and stayed for drinks and dinner. It was just like being on the boat in Charlevoix.

Jimmy & Christina Litz – Wedding 3/18/06

Jimmy & Christina Litz

Barbara Jean Targal

Gina & Mart Targal

The Targal family

Lisa & Skyler

Jim Favors & Skyler Nelles

Jem Targal & Lisa Targal Favors

The bride was beautiful, the groom handsome. They are obviously very happy and in love. We all celebrated like crazy. The Targal family danced up a storm with, at one point, Barby doing the "Tootsie Roll" with Skyler. We were all sad that our dad, Kami Targal, could not be here with us all. We will all remember being together this weekend and helping this young couple start their new lives together.

Back to Tarpon Springs for a Wedding 3/16-19/06

We left the boat on a mooring ball in Stuart, FL and rented a car to drive across state to attend the wedding of Jimmy Litz and Christina Targal, our niece. We stayed at Lisa's brother Mart's house in Dunedin. Skyler joined us there along with brothers Ken and Malinda and Jem and his son Jay. We had not seen our son Skyler since we left on our trip back in September. We were looking forward to this reunion. Lisa's mother, Barby has been staying at Mart and Gina's since the beginning of the year and it was wonderful to see her again as well. We had 4 days of fun and laughs.

Looking Back and Forward 3/15/06

We find it hard to believe we've been away from most family and friends for 6 months now. We've traveled from the 45th parallel and as far east as 77º.

We had a grand time exploring along the way. Too much to see and not enough time. Who would have thought.

We made it back from the Abacos on Monday. We left at 7:00 am for the 55 mile trip directly west to the Lake Worth inlet. The seas were 3-5' and manageable. It took up to 3 hours. The roughest seas were coming into the inlet to the lake from the ocean. We cleared customs and spent the balance of the day cleaning ourselves, the boat inside and out and 3 weeks worth of laundry. Needless to say we did not do much work while in the islands.

The bittersweet news... we started our 3 1/2 month trip back to northern Michigan yesterday. Bitter in that we really only have 3 1/2 months to visit the entire east coast. The sweet is that we'll be seeing family and friends along the way (where were they all when we came down the river system?) which makes the trip more meaningful and the best will be when we get back to wonderful northern Michigan.