A Little Loopy

Chesapeake City to Cape May NJ ANCHORAGE: 14.0 mph; 72.4 miles; 5:10 hours Cape May Anchorage to Utsch's Marina: 0 mph; 0 miles; 0 hours West of Coast Guard Station, Cape May ANCHORAGE When crossing the Delaware River and Bay, it felt so lonesome and unforgiving. There is nothing to see or hear and I really missed the Chesapeake Bay.  Jim is having the time of his life! He really loves this crazy stuff! The wind and tide were major hurdles and we needed to time everything ‘just right’. After what seemed like forever, we saw the canal to Cape May and the dolphin guided us in. We anchored west of the Coast Guard station and felt the waves of the busy channel the rest of the day and into the night.  The next morning, we woke to find ourselves anchored just off course of the  Around the Cape Paddle . The event was put together by Desatnick, a surfer, who was told he would never walk again. All funds go toward helping people with spinal injuries.  If you could paddle something, there wa

  St Michaels to Chesapeake City: 11.6 mph; 64.9 miles; 5:40 hours Chesapeake City ANCHORAGE This was a travel day and pretty calm. We were on the hook for the night; Chesapeake City offers a calm anchorage and overnight docking on the City Dock if you are lucky enough to claim a spot.  The  Chesapeake Inn has a side bar with live music and we met our first Looper Friends: Mary and Jeremy, panacea , out of Key West - even had dinner with them - they're a hoot and she makes the BEST guacamole! Hope we see them again along the route. MAKING LOOPER FRIENDS: I sent Mary a message through the Nebo App, and all I said was "Hi Looper." If making friends as adults is scary - think about how scary it must be for the little people.

St Mary's to St Michaels: 13.9 mph; 84.3 miles; 6:10 hours; Higgin's Yacht Yard At this time, it isn't the fanciest marina but it is the perfect location to downtown. We were a block away from the middle of Talbot St and a block from the Chesapeake Maritime Museum. Walking the town is an absolute must. The museum pass is for 24-hours and you really need two days to see everything it has to offer. On Thursdays, the community offers free music in the park and we had perfect ‘seats’ on the bow of LegaSea. The owner of Higgins has big plans for the boatyard and adjacent property. I look forward to returning and seeing how his plans took shape.  Meet some 700 Club and Tammy Faye Bakker Fans then bought wine glasses from the local thrift store. There is an olive oil and vinegar shop in town that I absolutely loved! The best Balsamic Vinegar! The grocery store is little but has what you need. LESSON 1: Buy a collapsable utility wagon to carry heavy groceries from the store to the

Potomac River, MD Aqua Creek, VA to St Mary's MD: 12.0 mph; 65.5 miles; 5:28 hours; Avg Speed 12.0 mph St Mary's River ANCHORAGE June 21, 2021 and it's the first day of summer! Woke up ‘excitement-early’ and headed out of the Creek around 7:45am. It was a cool, breezy, slightly hazy morning making for a great travel day. Heading down the Potomac River we saw a 150’ Mega Yacht named Elisa (OMG! 45.5M and so beautiful), picked up & let go of a crab pot and later we dealt with the dinghy.  We always drop anchor in this basin just past the College dock. You can tie to the dock during the day but not at night. We deployed the dinghy with some trouble but we had the oars ready … then I saw them … all of them … STINGIN’ NETTLES EVERYWHERE! I have never been so focused on rowing to a dock. Nettles are awful! Why were they even created? It looks like what the Bay of Souls might look like - UGH! I am very aware of those prehistoric-critter-nightmares! Jim put his legs in the wat

I love the Creek.  The Curry Family had us over for dinner … and the entire community showed up! How much fun was that! I cannot thank the Curry Family enough for such a special night. We have the best friends and community on the planet! Sound carries on the creek. Right now I’m listening to bunch of laughter coming from Jack’s Garage - something about us and an over under bet. Who knows what they are up to! I'm sure money is involved! Did Linda just say something about Life Insurance Policies? I really love these people. We think we have everything covered and every checklist has been checked three times. Our adult children are perfectly capable of taking care of things here. Pearson has turned into a wonderful man and will take care of the yard and house maintenance. Sara has blossomed into a beautiful young lady and will take care of the house and animals. We even have a renter for the River House. I guess all I need now is a perfect bourbon and a good nights sleep. Our goal to

I was granted a Leave of Absence from SCPS for the 2021-22 school year. Not an easy letter to write but a load off my mind and it settles health insurance. I have been working since I was 15 when dad wrote a letter to Burger King giving me permission to work (I wanted concert tickets to see Foreigner 4 with the Police ).  I have NO IDEA what it is like to NOT WORK. Jim is supportive; he suggested I look at this as 'testing retirement' - that I can do. Teacher friends have a LOT of questions and I am still figuring out answers. "It's so unlike you..." is a common comment. Is it really? Ok, maybe it is unlike me because I am a thinker and planner - Looping has a lot of Plan A, B, C, D ... maybe an E ... PAPER CHARTS I think this is a most disturbing only because it is a change. NOAA no longer provides paper charts; instead, they have a list of independent companies that will create the charts on-demand. The prices are outrageous and none of the packages are REALLY p

Reality is setting in, lists are being made, questions are finding answers, and responsibilities are being managed for when we are on the Loop. The kids want to know if Keenan will be with them for Christmas. Really? That's their biggest question? Our trip is no longer a secret; there are a lot of moving parts: health insurance, retire vs leave of absence, what if I decide to become a boat-floating teacher and never return to the classroom? Lots of, “What if…” questions with HR and Benefits. I’ll wait until January 2021 to tell my principal and provide a written R equest of a Leave of Absences to HR for approval. I am patient; anything could throw us off course like: another round of the pandemic closing the world, a change in political leadership destroying a financial portfolio (Jim says it won’t but I worry - but we are talking about Biden! I'm good at worrying enough for everyone - it's a gift). Right now, I need to plan a halloween costume and tend to R2T2. Jim won’t

Some sort of schooling will begin soon and yet another YouTUBE video popped up about a couple’s journey crossing their wake. Just like that, the Loop drifted onto my charts. Once school started, and a few more videos popped up, I had several serious conversations with myself: If I decided to begin the Loop, would I be doing it for the love of the adventure or as an escape from this what-the-devil-is-a-jamboard style teaching? Turns out that I really like online teaching, it’s fun and completely transparent. Parent involvement is 100% and there is NO WAY they can NOT see their student’s struggles with problem solving or academic behavior. As for the student’s, their questions were deep and meaningful - I loved the relationship. Leaving teaching for a year would not be an escape. I was doing this for a totally different reason: for Jim. He has done so much for me and all he has ever wanted was this Loopy thing.  If I took a leave of absence, what would happen to my health insurance? Shou

Geez, what else would 2020 throw our way? Jim surprised me with the gift of a lifetime - a never splashed, 2010 T2 Hobie Cat. I named her the R2T2 . Did he REALLY just give me a Hobie? Was he trawling my CraigsList searches? How could he have known the joy this little boat would bring? SAILING IS A LOT OF THINGS: Sailing is laughter, tears, fun, hard, effortless and a challenge. Sailing, in short, will teach you the life lessons you need to get through the day: leave the dock - return to the dock - doing both gracefully is a bonus. Sailing also teaches you about friendships: there are those who praise and those who tease - pick the friends that makes you a better sailor. Every parent should toss their 9 year old on a Sunfish and push them off the dock - what's the worse that could happen? Really. We discussed the potential to panic-so-wear-a-life-jacket issue so all a parent would have to do is loudly coach 'em through - kiddos get it quicker than we think. This sailboat is the

All lines broke loose when a pandemic hit the world March 2020; the USA was the last leg of its journey. Countries closed - it was insane! Toilet paper, cleaning products, lamb, and yeast - gone from the shelves. Democrats yelling at Trump for closing the border too early then yelling at him for closing them too late and STILL wanting the Mexican border to remain wide open - insanity! Jim’s engineering work continued its pace from the Global Headquarters located upstairs. March 15th I was stuck at home with no idea what was happening because the world had shut down for a lock-in. Spring Break turned into May. What is a teacher without a classroom of little humans? May slowly turned to August. To keep my mind active, and trying to stay quiet for Jim to work in peace, I conducted a thorough and detailed study on a subject close to my heart - Bourbon. I had Netflix, HBO documentaries, Amazon Video Prime, notes, personal connections, lists and questions, a flow chart - thank you google. IT

After the Lookout Point Panic, Jim suggested I take swimming lessons.  Well, nothing is available for adults; so, I joined the local recreation center and began to swim 3 times a week before school. I didn't want to panic again during a situation that simply required a level head.  Once a week I would try to swim in the 12’ section of the pool - still an issue but I managed. My swim partners were all 70+ years of age and encouraged me to keep practicing; in return, I learned all about their lives and grandchildren. It’s good for the soul to listen to the joy in someone's heart. Jim began to ‘entertain’ the idea of the Loop in earnest. YouTUBE videos titled the ‘Joys of Looping’ would randomly pop up in the search; there was a theme, all the videos included one reluctant-boater who was magically converted to the ways of the sea. He’d just look over at me and smile. I acted like I didn't care but I was watching from the corner of my eye saying nothing. Actually, I was looking

Somewhere, around 2017, we were cruising the Potomac River off Point Lookout, Maryland. We circled around off the north side of the inlet leading to Lake Conoy looking for anchorage. The depth finder showed 4 feet of water, we dropped anchor and I jumped in … but found a hole the depth finder missed. I’m sinking fast and watching the sun disappear as I’m waiting to hit bottom and push off towards the surface. The problem was that the bottom wasn’t showing up; I panicked in pure-on-only-paige-can-be-this-crazy-style and eventually broke the surface, choking and yelling, “Dead man float! Deadman float!” I looked over my left shoulder and saw land so I back-floated myself toward the safe shore, all the time mumbling and crying, “Dead man float.” After a while, I looked to my right and saw Jim Beck, standing next to me in 3 feet of water just watching and waiting for me to settle down so he could help. He always saves me. Safely ashore, I must have walked that little beach picking up every

  (The Original House Mr. Beck built) 2013-14 or so, we were living in Centreville, Virginia when a woman came to the house to give us an estimate for replacing the gutters; well, when she told me the price, I thought I was about to lose my ever-lovin’-mind and said she MUST be smoking crack. Instead of addressing the outrageous quote, I turned to Jim and calmly announced that I was moving to the creek and would he like to build me a house. He said, "Yep" and started drawing. I’m like that sometimes; if I KNOW something is right and good, I can make a life changing decision and move forward without a second thought.

2010-11 Jim was temporarily transferred to Hawaii for an engineering project. We found it was cheaper to buy a damn boat than rent an apartment - swear. The ‘reasonably priced’ apartments were up the mountain. Who wants to live up a mountain in Hawaii? He owned and sold a 40+’ monster boat named Janeve . If you asked what kind of boat, I’d answer: white. She had a timeless beauty with wood flooring and great lines - a real beauty. When Jim returned from Hawaii, he told me we wanted another large boat for “weekends” on the water. Well, I could do weekends - no rouge sharks or squid in the Potomac River. I was also smart enough to understand that boat money needs to be reinvested in another boat. Once boat money hits a checking account - it disappears - seen it happen to many great boatless boaters. Jim found a 38’ AFT Cabin Sea Ray named LegaSea  in Maryland - she was the one. Not near the beauty of Janeve but updated and slick. After a lot of checklists, we brought her to Aquia Cree

In 1995 Jim asked if I wanted to loop with him; well, I really had no idea what he was talking about and thought he was having a midlife crisis? I told him to lower his voice because we couldn't have sexy talk around the kids. After a blank stare and a deep breath, he explained that the Great Loop is 6,000 miles of connected waterways allowing boaters to travel the Intra-Coastal Waterway as north as Canada, through the Great Lakes, down to the Mississippi/Tennessee River, Gulf of Mexico, around Key West, to only return travel north back to Virginia. Jim explained the goal was to ‘cross your wake'. Bless his heart, the smile on his face was beautiful. I am pretty sure my response was I thought he had already crossed his wake and lost his mind. He was still smiling - I hadn’t said no. Now, my Jim Beck is a patient man - this wasn’t the first time he had mentioned a boating adventure. When the kids were a little older, he asked me if I wanted to get loopy and sail around the islan