First Week on the Loop!

Wow. I have no words to describe the first weekend on America’s Great Loop besides pure magic. From dozens of dolphin sightings to new restaurants and anchor spots, we packed a lot in and have been absolutely loving life.

Evan’s dad arrived Tuesday and was a huge help in the last-minute projects we wanted to tackle before leaving the comfort of Stuart, Florida. We had a delicious send-off dinner Wednesday night at CoLab Kitchen before pulling up to the fuel dock Thursday morning where some divers cleaned our hull one last time. From there we topped off our fuel and water tanks, then made a 13 nautical mile cruise through the St. Lucie River and the ICW to Jensen Beach. With winds coming directly out of the south, we anchored north of the Causeway Boulevard Bridge and held strong all night.

At about noon on Friday, I took the helm to head to Vero Beach while Evan worked for the afternoon. Twenty-six nautical miles and five hours later, we made it to Vero Beach City Marina and rafted up to S/V Slacker on a mooring ball. The Vero Beach City Marina requests that cruisers raft up in the mooring field to accommodate more boats. We had a blast sharing drinks and stories across our bows and later enjoyed an incredibly delicious Valentine’s Dinner at Riverside Cafe. Fun fact: Country singer Jake Owens is originally from Vero Beach and claims Riverside Cafe as his favorite hangout!

Early Saturday morning we were off again with plans to reach Cocoa, Florida, by sunset. For 48 nautical miles straight, following winds pushed us north, keeping us at a steady 6 knots for eight hours. We knew we would start to see many dolphins, but we were unprepared for just how many and were in complete awe when a dolphin began swimming with us for 20 minutes straight. What is it about dolphins that keep you captivated with each and every one that passes? Although a straight shot north, we were completely exhausted by the time we anchored north of the Hubert Humphrey Bridge near Griffis Park in Cocoa. Similar to our anchorage in Jensen Beach, we held strong through the night in a thick, muddy bottom. 

To cap off our first weekend on America’s Great Loop, we again cruised 48 nautical miles north to one of our favorite towns in the U.S.: New Smyrna Beach, Florida. This cruise brought quite an assortment of wildlife, from manatees and dolphins to blue herons and pelicans. We celebrated a long but successful weekend with dinner at The Garlic — our No. 1 recommendation to anyone passing through New Smyrna Beach. 

We plan to spend the week here in NSB then continue north to St. Augustine next weekend. Cheers to the incredible adventure only beginning!