"America's Great Loop is, first and foremost, an idea. The idea that you can navigate, thanks to locks and canals intended to aid commerce, all the way around the eastern half of the U.S. in your boat." ~ Boat U.S.

This guy from Deadwood, South Dakota 

has his own way of dealing with all of the controversy back home.

and Ren Man agrees 100%.

'Livin' the Dream' usually involves...

a boat on the water...

just about anywhere in the world.

Like here...

or here...

and on a smaller scale, here.

And then that one adventure on a much larger scale.

Many full moons ago,

back in April...

we chartered a Grand Banks named Clipper One,

docked in Sarasota, Florida.

We introduced our hashtag #greatloopwarmup...

because of the hope to one day be a Looper. 

Our four day cruise...

south...

to Crow's Nest Marina in Venice...

provided a competition between the sunset... 

and the full moon...

for the prize of the exclamation mark to a perfect day one.

Our junket continued south...

on day two...

and was filled with sights and sounds of...

as well as...

 plenty of reasons to stay alert...

and enjoy the show.

After a full day of cruising...

 to South Seas Marina...

we enjoyed a walk on the infamous beach...

(how sweet is that bench marker)

and a prearranged dinner with friends from Texas...

who happened to be docked at Captiva as well.

What are the odds?

Day three we headed north and retraced our journey 

to dock for the third night at Cape Haze Marina.

There are other choices in that area so do your research.

This solo (Ren Man and I = one boater) adventure taught me one important fact.
I have a lot to learn about boating and the rules of boating
 in order to earn my first mate status. 

The list of rules for 'good boating etiquette' would make Emily Post look like a slacker. 

Fortunately, My Captain Oh Captain has known these rules since his younger years,

and kept us in good graces with the bridge operators and other boaters. 

At one point,

 a bridge is replaced by a small ferry...

giving cars a time saving option  

across the Intercoastal Waterway.

Meanwhile, after four days of continuous 'changes in lattitude',

we definitely had changes in attitude (all good❤️)...

and an action list 

for future Great Loop warmups.