The First Week
December 8, 2023
Tomorrow will be one week officially on the Great Loop. We’ve traveled 107 miles at an average speed of 5.4 mph and gone through 7 locks. We are motoring at this point because it is very difficult to sail while navigating these inland rivers. We can’t wait to put our sails up - hopefully across Mobile Bay.
Thankfully our fuel mileage is exceptional at around 11 miles per gallon. This may not sound great compared to your average car, but there are many loopers with large boats that get 1 mile per gallon. Novella will likely prove to be one of the most economical vessels for completing the loop, from maintenance to dockage to fuel costs.
Our main goal this past week has been escaping winter, but we’ve only had minimal success so far. We are totally exposed to the elements while underway, and yesterday morning was 32 degrees when we began.
Our most unpleasant night was spent in a small marina that was totally exposed to the wind, bashed against the dock for much of the night while surrounded by boats that had been neglected and sunken in their slips.
We are now at a marina in Columbus, MS for the next week due to weather and work obligations. After this, things will get more interesting. There are stretches with no services for boaters and we will be anchoring at remote overnight locations downriver for 1-3 nights in a row so we’ll be choosing our weather windows carefully. We are hoping to spend Christmas in Mobile and take a bit of a break there if the weather is enjoyable. If not, we’ll head east along the Florida panhandle and then south to find warmer temps.