This past week was all about recharging. After a few days of rough waters, we were ecstatic when fellow Loopers, Kipper and Darlene on Burleigh Girl, invited us to stay at their beach house in the Outer Banks for a few days. Not only had we never been to that area of the country before, but it would allow us to enjoy a couple of days of “land life.” 

From Belhaven, North Carolina, we cruised roughly 32 miles to the south side of the Alligator River, where we positioned ourselves for an early morning the next day. After a night on anchor, we set our alarms for 5 a.m. to travel 45 miles up the Alligator and head east through the Albemarle Sound over to Manteo, North Carolina, on Roanoke Island. This would be our first “side trip,” as most Loopers would cross the Albemarle Sound and go straight to Coinjock, North Carolina.

Upon arriving in Manteo, we got tied up at Shallowbag Bay Marina and celebrated our first birthday while on the Loop! After enjoying some cake for our friend Haley’s birthday (S/V Slacker), we packed our bags and grabbed an Uber down to Waves, North Carolina. 

For the next two days, we settled into the Outer Banks lifestyle. Although we still had to work, we did so with rooftop views of the ocean and were able to take lunch break walks on the beach. We basked in the king beds and enjoyed time in the hot tub, where we were truly able to relax — no creaky boat noises or water conservation to worry about. I may become a broken record over the next 5,000 miles, but we are so grateful for the people we’ve met along the way who allow us to experience special places and moments like these.

All good things must come to an end, but no worries, because we headed back to our beloved boat and prepared to fully cross the Albemarle Sound and reach Virginia. Luckily, there was a perfect weather window Friday morning, so we set those 5 a.m. alarms yet again and made our way north. After the rough experience on the Neuse River, I could not have been happier to have a safe and enjoyable Albemarle Sound crossing. Besides dodging hundreds of crab pots, we really can’t complain about the conditions!

What was even more exciting was reaching our fifth state on the Loop. After 52 miles, we crossed the Virginia state line, which is another completely new state for us. We celebrated by popping some bubbly, which we were inspired to do by fellow Loopers Q and Annie on Gaddabout. This will be a recurring theme for us from now on, each time we cross a state line.

This upcoming week, we plan to utilize free town docks in Chesapeake, Virginia, before some marina time in Norfolk. We’re especially excited to get to Norfolk because we’ll be attending the AGLCA Spring Rendezvous, which is essentially a Great Loop conference. Each rendezvous offers two tracks: A planning track for those who are still in the planning stages of their Loop, and a route briefing track for those who are actively looping. We can’t wait to interact with hundreds of people in the Great Loop community and participate in a Looper Crawl, where we’ll welcome those hundreds of people to tour our boat.

The adventure just keeps on going! Thanks for joining us through it all.