We said goodbye to our buddy boats in Killarney and headed out.

It was weird being alone again.

All the decisions were up to us.

When to leave.

Where to go.

What to see.

Bittersweet independence.

Out There

It was another beautiful day.

And we have enjoyed this new landscape.

There are more hills with lush greenery.

It looks a lot like Colorado.

Only closer to the horizon.

You know, if Colorado had hills instead of mountains.

I sat with Sam up in the bridge and we marveled as we took it all in.

We saw a few boats out there.

Doing what we are doing.

And we saw a few fishing boats and local pleasure boaters.

Everyone taking in the scenery.

The Pool

We backtracked to Baie Fine so we could anchor in The Pool.

Even though we are committed to our mission of crossing our wake and finishing the Great Loop, we decided to take a little side trip.

The route to get back to The Pool is a narrow one.

You almost couldn’t see the cut until right upon it.

We saw several sailboats and a tug anchored on the side of the channel.

We were a little concerned that this was a sign that The Pool was full and this was the overflow area.

Sam maneuvered us down the narrow channel, turned the corner where we saw several boats anchored in the basin area.

Panic!

We came all this way and couldn’t stay in The Pool?!?

As Sam went further into the basin, we saw a few spots where we could go.

And now for our second anchoring attempt but first one on our own.

Anchoring

We found a spot 12 feet deep.

We put out about 75 feet of chain (rode).

Sam said he felt the boat catch but I didn’t.

All we could do is watch it for a while to see if we were set.

And we were.

The Garmin chart plotter started to show a smile so we started to show a smile.

We did it!

Sweet success.

Off the Grid

It didn’t take us long to discover that this location forces you off the grid.

There is no cell service.

We have T-Mobile and Verizon.

Nothing.

We sent my mom a detailed float plan when we began the Great Loop.

It is complete with phone numbers of the Coast Guard regions for all the places we intend to visit.

I send her a text when we head out for our next destination and then I text her when we get there.

With no cell service, I haven’t been able to text her that we made it here safely.

Sam tried to call out to the Coast Guard so we could get a message to her but no one answered the Coast Guard line.

Hope she’s not worried too much!

Peaceful Evening

It was about 1 p.m when we got settled into our spot.

A sailboat came in about 1:30 and then that was it.

Our little community enjoyed the peaceful tranquility of being off the grid.

I didn’t expect it to be so quiet.

You could have heard a pin drop.

Then, from out of the silence we heard it.

Dueling banjos.

Remember that song?

Someone in our new community has a sense of humor.

We slept like babies.

Our Thoughts

Our Trip