A25 Easy Victor has started the loop.

[Robdog.1]

Left Punta Gorda FL this morning under clear skies and slack wind and arrived I'm Fort Myers on the Caloosahatchee River under clouds and thunderstorms! Averaged 7.16 kts over 6hrs and 10 mins. All systems operated perfectly and I'm now enjoying the $2800 Dometic 10000BTU AC/heat unit that I reluctantly replaced!
Really think I'm gonna love this boat.

[DougSea]

There's no price you can set on working A/C!

Sounds like an all around excellent start to your trip. I'm looking forward to hearing more!

Best wishes for a safe and enjoyable journey.

[Robdog.1]

Thanks Doug! I'll be traveling in stages every week or so. I'll try to keep AOG updated along the way!

[NickScheuer]

Faire Winds, Robdog!

[jcollins]

Looking forward to your travel log. Mine is very short this year.

[Robdog.1]

Guess I need to learn to blog. Biggest challenge seems to be getting to and from airports! I'll keep AOG updated as I go, thanks for the well wishes.

[Binford]

Looking forward to this! Sounds like a great trip. Being a life-long Nor'westerner (and fairly new to boating), the "loop" is something I'm not all that familiar with. I'll be enjoying learning about it as you travel it.

Have a great time!

[jcollins]

Guess I need to learn to blog. Biggest challenge seems to be getting to and from airports! I'll keep AOG updated as I go, thanks for the well wishes.

You can start a blog or just use our cruising forum to start a post and update as you have time.

[ScubaPete]

I don't know if I'm allowed to reference another website here, but anyway....... If you're doing the Great Loop, be sure to join the America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association (AGLCA). There are numerous blogs and a boat load of information about the entire "process". There are many who have done the loop in stages as you are planning to to, so use their experience to your advantage. You are living my dream right now!!!

http://www.greatloop.org/index.php

[Robdog.1]

Thanks all! I'm a recent member of AGCLA, getting lots of good info there. Everyone I talk to about this trip says " I'd love to be able to do that". As Skipper Bob says on his site, "you'll never have enough time or money to do the loop the way you want to, so just do it". So true.
I've already met the greatest people, helpers, free rides, borrowed bikes, retired 500 ton tug captain and so many others in just 2 weeks of cruising! I've also seen a lot of airports and cab drivers!
I'll keep posting as the trip progresses,
Cheers,
Rob

[DougSea]

I don't know if I'm allowed to reference another website here

Absolutely. We're a non-commercial info source for owners and fans of Albins, so as long as it's "on topic" it's pretty much allowed.

We do draw a bit of a line on blatantly commercial links, but again, if they're on topic we will probably allow them. For example, links to various marine vendors (like WM or Defender) are a common part of many posts as members describe some item they've used or are looking at. On the other hand a "Follow this link to a great investment opportunity!" will be gone so fast it will make your head spin!

[gregw]

Have a great journey, safe travels!

[jcamill55]

Rob did you ever get a autopilot? If so which one ,and how is it working.jim

[Robdog.1]

I didn't get the autopilot, decided to wait and see if I would really use it. It seems like I wouldn't need it much from the cruising I've done so far, mostly all ICW. I use my chartplotter, iPad and stereo the most!

[Robdog.1]

We left Ft Myers after taking on 4 gallons of fuel after 8.4 hrs of cruising, yielding aprox .5GPH at 6.5KTS.
This boat and the little Yanmar 3JH3E ROCK!
LaBelle FL last night, heading off to Clewiston for lunch.