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Molly’s Great American Loop
  • betty staugler
  • betty staugler

Molly’s Great American Loop

We’re Betty & James, along with Luna cat and Moki dog we are cruising America’s Great Loop aboard our boat the Molly Brown. She is a 24’ C-Dory TomCat. We expect it will take us 8 or so months to complete 😀. Read more
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  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    26 attempts to get everyone facing the right direction
    This was pretty far away and we were on plane. Amazed it came out so well!Cape Fear Memorial BridgeStamped in the sidewalkNice looking Post OfficeOriginally Bulluck Hospital211Molly Brown 🙌Battleship North CarolinaAfternoon napF-22 Raptor flying in pairs all afternoonBurgwin-Wright Museum House & Gardens1st Baptist ChurchBellemy Mansion Museum of History & Design ArtsRandom sign on the River Walk

    Wilmington

    April 19, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    Spent the day in Wilmington tied up at one of three city day docks. Cool city with lots of history and interesting architecture. We did a lot of walking!! It’s spitting rain now so we’re off to pick out an anchorage for the evening.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    Good Morning!!
    These are a children's book layed out page by pageWar MemorialCome on Mom... Lets go!!!Dragonfly gardenRuins described next pic

    Belville Riverwalk Park

    April 20, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    Anchored across the river from another nice park for the quick early morning pup trip to shore. This one has a really pretty trail. Short and right along a busy road but Moki didn’t care. I really like how the last couple parks are not over done.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    Storms rolling in
    Farmers Market stop. We met this guy the day before.Practicing her catdog on a boat position

    Adventure Island

    April 20, 2024 in the United States ⋅ 🌩️ 75 °F

    Easy day today with quick stop in Wilmington for the farmers market then slow cruise hopping a couple spoil islands to our final resting spot. Moki got to play with a nice Labradoodle named Goose on the beach. We are amazed at how the outgoing freighters pull out the water as they approach with it rushing back in after they pass. Storms moving in tonight with rain predicted for tomorrow. Only one picture today. But it’s a good one! Edit* found a couple more pics from our stop in Wilmington.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    This deer was right at the trailhead which is conveniently by the marina.
    Cool plant. Some kind of moss maybeYellow pitcher plantCool lookout. The kids were having fun running up and down itOtter visitorAnd then there were two otters

    Carolina Beach State Park

    April 21, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    Today is cold, rainy and windy! We are at the State Park for a few days. Moki has been doing a lot of whining and seems uncomfortable so I’m going to try to get him in to the vet nearby tomorrow. Went for a trail walk between rain drops. Spotted a deer and some pitcher plant. They have nice trails here and there’s much more to explore. This evening sitting on the boat we had a visit from two otters. Caught one munching on a fish. Getting down to 49 tonight. Still raining.. no sunset.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler

    Carolina Beach State Park day 2

    April 22, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    We were able to get Moki into the vets only 1.5 miles away. Can’t say enough good things about Carolina Beach Animal Hospital. They took him right away. Surgery was not the outcome I expected but it was the best option and they made it happen today. Even drove us back to the marina. He’s resting comfortably now back on the boat. We will be staying here until Saturday to help with the post op. On a good note we’re here long enough to receive a package which our daughter sent this morning. Minor things like our Canada Pass for cruising this summer.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler

    Carolina Beach State Park day 3

    April 23, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Luna was a busy girl today watching over Moki and potentially sending emails while I was away from my laptop. She’s such a helper! Lol 😂 . Shout out to the owner of Capt. Charlie’s Adventures who drove us to the vets. Nice guy. He and his father do ecotours out of the marina. They visit Venice Florida regularly. His dad was excited to hear about Cortez fishing village. Moki is sleeping allot but otherwise doing well. James rode his bike for the first time and plans to do so again tomorrow. $$ finally well spent. Pretty sunset tonight.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    It rolled in the sand for quite some time.
    Sunset in the making

    Carolina Beach State Park day 4

    April 24, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    We’ve officially stayed here longer than any other stop! Moki is doing well and we got another otter visit tonight. Calculated the mileage from this app compared to our Garmin chart plotter. Impressed!! Over 1170 miles it’s only 24 miles off. The double arrow mileage you see is total miles including side trips of walking, hiking, etc. So those need to be subtracted. The app runs in the background on my phone and takes a point every 5 minutes provide I’ve moved far enough along. We end up with points on lands but I’m able to move those manually and the perfectionist in me needs to do that. But still 24 miles is great!Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler

    Carolina Beach State Park day 5

    April 25, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    It’s a 🦜, it’s a ✈️, it’s Super Moki! Better than a cone. It’s a surgical suit. Not much to write about today so I thought I’d share a Molly Brown encounter…
    Random person: Nice boat. Are you Molly Brown?
    Me: No. Molly Brown was on the Titanic.
    Random Person: Huh 🤔 … But she wasn’t a main character right?
    Me: 🤦‍♀️    Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    Venus flytrap. Only naturally found in a 70 mile radius around the park.
    Sundew is another carnivorous plant. The sticky drops trap insects. We have in Florida

    Carolina Beach State Park day 7

    April 27, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    Decided to stay thru the weekend and start back out again on Monday. So today I did the Ranger’s guided hike. Got to see the Venus Flytrap which I looked for but missed on earlier hikes. Always helps to go with someone who’s in the know. This has been a good stay. $24 a night (senior discount). Power, water, showers & laundry. It’s right off the ICW and miles of trails for entertainment. Groceries close by too. It’s shallow getting in so outside of a bunch of day boats there is only us and a guy in a sailboat the next dock over staying onboard. We’ve enjoyed the down time. But we’re also ready to make some tracks.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    Cheers!

    We moved!!

    April 29, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    Day 50 and we are making tracks. Allot of tracks… 53 miles worth today. Didn’t plan to go that far but my anchorages 1, 2, and 3 were failures in either wind protection, nesting birds, dredging, and/or aquaculture. So we are tucked under a bridge at a state boat ramp. I believe it’s called Shrimp Lady Lane. No waves, no current and not busy here at all.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler

    Beaufort NC

    April 30, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    Another high miler at 55 today. This morning we had a nice easy cruise but then the winds picked up so we got on plane. Went thru Onslow bridge which is under construction and pretty tight and the Camp Lejeune stretch of the ICW. We arrived around 3pm dropped anchor and called it a day. We are anchored off Carrot Island which is part of the Rachel Carson Reserve. It’s pretty and there’s wild horses. We are planning to hang out around here for a couple days.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    Were the little boat in front of the big boat
    Boardwalk overlooks inner marshThe inner marshHow is one supposed to work under these conditions ?!?Inner loop trailPrickly pear flowerMore inner loop12

    Beaufort day 2

    May 1, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Today we cruised Taylor Creek. Up and back…for all of 7 miles. We checked out the boardwalk and inner loop trail on Carrot Island. Pretty trail with very dense vegetation in places. We saw more horses. Luna wanted to kayak to shore but then changed her mind when she got there. Typical cat 🐈‍⬛ lol. We are at anchor around the corner from yesterday’s spot inside Taylor Creek with lots of other mostly sail boats… actually they’re all sailboats ⛵️🤷🏼‍♀️. The beach and downtown are paddle strokes away. Just started to sprinkle and we have us a 🌈 rainbow. Secchi 1.8 in 3.1 meters.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    Molly Brown at the NOAA dockKarenia brevis the organism that causes Florida red tideCyanobacteria (aka blue green algae)On the screen is Gamberdiscus which causes ciguatera fish poisoningCool stuff happening hereAnd anther horse to round out the day

    Beaufort day 3

    May 2, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

    Today I visited with colleagues from NOAA at the Beaufort Lab. We are working on a project together so it was a great opportunity to meet up and get some things done. For the second day in a row we traveled a whole 7 miles! Headed north tomorrow.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    Our Vandemere commissioner friends
    Nice deckingSeveral docks with finger pier next to a kayak launch. Boat ramp down cut to side of our boatThey have a Star Wars may the fourth be with you fundraiser event here tomorrow.

    Vandemere Waterfront Park

    May 3, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 82 °F

    Nice ride today to Vandemere a small village with ~250 people and a beautiful recently improved waterfront park with day docks. I joked to James when we arrived that the chamber would be there to greet us. Well it was a town commissioner who was volunteering his time to build bathrooms. Super nice. Even offered to let us use his golf cart if we needed to do a supply run. We later met another town commissioner also volunteering on the bathroom project and were invited to stay on the dock overnight (it’s strictly a day dock). Anyways super nice folks. So we now have the park to ourselves… all 8 acres of it! It’s very peaceful here. Tonight’s sunset was spectacular and for a really long time. It was over land but just amazing. Pictures don’t do it justice and I took a gazillion. Secchi 1.1 in 2 metersRead more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    Just a guy walking his goatMy first car was a 73 Nova. This one was a couple years off2The Struggler's 🤣On tap for tomorrow

    Washington

    May 4, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

    Nice side trip up to Washington at the recommendation of Blue Days Bill & Becky. We had hoped to meet up with them for a couple days but our schedules didn’t align after our extended stay inCarolina Beach We are here for two nights. Have met the boaters around us. Super nice. Luna is a real hit in the dock. There was a classic car show along the waterfront today which was fun. James and I enjoyed dinner and a bottle of wine at a local restaurant that is a farm to table this evening. Good food, nice presentation, great service, and music provided by another James who was excellent. Tomorrow we are going to check out the pub next door. And do some domestic duties.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    Underground Railroad museum
    Pretty flowersTook him a long time to warm up to the bearMore pretty flowersI think they're conspiring. Definitely up to no good.Trying hard to behave with other dogs in the taproom. So hard!Not much of a sunset tonight

    Washington day 2

    May 5, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    Washington is pretty chill on Sundays. Much quieter than yesterday. Shops that open do so late. We had a nice easy morning then popped on over to the Taproom next door this afternoon. It briefly rained and there’s a chance of rain pretty much all week. We are on the move again tomorrow.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    Old city hall. Now a museum and senior centerTrivia poster located at the local pub.No sunset and breezy

    Belhaven

    May 6, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    43 mile jump to Belhaven today getting us closer to the ditch to the Alligator River (on our way to the Dismal Swamp). Cute little town and very boater friendly. We were greeted with a welcome pack by a nice lady Diana who also is willing to take folks to the store for provisions (we didn’t need any). In the pack was a walking trivia brochure. You had to find posters on buildings to answer questions about Belhaven. It was fun. Not sure what all else is in the pack as it was the right size and shape for sleeping so Luna has commandeered. One other boat on the city dock with us tonight.. a couple from Quebec so James got to practice his French again. **Belhaven btw is known as the birthplace of the Atlantic ICW. It was the last section completed in 1928 with the ribbon cutting taking place at the River Forest Manor, a mansion in town located on the riverfront. River Forest is now operated as a manor and marina.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    Front viewLand 🙌Back viewComing back from land

    Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge

    May 7, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    We made it to the north end of the Alligator River today. 53 miles with most on plane getting us here just before lunch. The open water was a bit sloppier than the animals prefer so they commandeered the best seats in the house. We are now at anchor in a marsh with kayak access to a road for Moki. This was a perfect spot for James to change the oil and do some other tuning and tightening. We’ve also been hearing F-22s above all afternoon. The air is now still and we contemplated crossing Albemarle Sound but quickly nixed that idea. Tomorrow is another day.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    Dirigible HangerLuna got some quality time on land

    Mid Atlantic Christian University

    May 8, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    We left our anchorage by 7:30 this morning and had a pleasant crossing of Albemarle Sound. Not smooth but not rough. Our goal today was Elizabeth City. We arrived at 9:30am! Yes 9:30! We stopped at the free dock at the Christian University and stretched our legs and contemplated staying. But the high for today was 90 degrees 🥵 so we opted to keep going for the breeze. Elizabeth City BTW is VERY boat friendly. They have four free docks that allow docking for up to 48 hours. And there’s a group called Rose Buddies 🌹 who welcome boaters as they arrive. Pretty cool!Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    James really enjoyed today!!Someone's take on dismalTannons look almost like marble off the motorsSouth Mills lock8' rise4' vertical elevationBridge is US 17It's a tough lifeIt's so tough when the fan is pointed directly on youPretty 3 mile trail (old US17)Pretty but strong and wreaking havoc on my allergies. They're everywhereLuna on her canopy perch

    Dismal Swamp Welcome Center

    May 8, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 86 °F

    We had a great day slow cruising the Pasquotank River to the Dismal Swamp canal. Locked thru solo while chatting with the lock tender who was very friendly. We were told we were the only ones in the swamp canal although at least one other boat was expected to lock thru at 3:30 (3 did). We are now on the Welcome Center dock for the night and may stay here tomorrow so we can check out the state park. There’s one other boat on the dock with us. The other two boats were going straight thru tonight. Moki and I walked a portion of the Dismal Swamp Trail tonight. It’s super pretty and connected to the Welcome Center. We got sprinkled on which felt good. Chance of a storm tonight. We’ll see. James had his best day of the trip. He’s in his element! 58 miles total today and docked by 3pm. Secchi here .3 in 2.1 meters.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    Walk over bridgeOld moonshine still from prohibition replicaWhere the ticks live..We saw 🦌 and wild 🦃So pretty!Old vessel for floating timber. ReplicaBoardwalk with interpretive signageBridge opening for 5 boats to pass thruBlue shirt kids. About 20. Good job Moki!

    Dismal Swamp State Park

    May 9, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    This morning Moki and I went over to the State Park and hiked a couple trails. There were two school buses and kids grouped by shirt color on a field trip. They were everywhere but the activities were very organized. The trails are really pretty and we had a great time until we discovered the TICKS! So many ticks! I must have pulled 50 off Moki 😬. A few on me. And I’m still looking. I’ve never seen this many before. So we are now underway headed to a park right before the lock. Civilization.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    4' vertical clearance but new bridge under constructionPhoto taken by the other boat on our arrivalTurtle checking us outMoki all sploot. You can see the scum around motorsThe shoe. There was only one so far game.Mallard family with dad watching outside of pic

    Welcome to Virginia!

    May 9, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 84 °F

    We exited the swamp this afternoon and are on the free dock at Deep Creek Lock Park (aka Elizabeth Dock) located between a swing bridge and the lock. Will lock thru in the morning. The water here is pretty stagnant but the critters don’t seem to mind. We’ve seen several turtles, a family of ducks/ducklings, and a couple herons. Moki scored a child’s shoe on our walk this evening. He always finds the best stuff. A dog water bowl in Florida. Actually a nice one. A deflated football in South Carolina. Still playing with it. And now this! We are sharing this dock with another boater and there’s a nice park adjacent. Some stats. Day 60 and we’ve been underway 44 of those. Shortest day moving 1 mile. Longest 73 miles. Total miles to date 1583.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    Pretty view from their backyard
    Had to wait on a trainSent to us by another looper on NeboAir craft carrierNavy Police with machine gun mounted on front of boatNavy ship pulled out of waterSame navy ship. Different angleEmblem on yet another Navy shipLuna knocked down a cicada and they both tortured itMoki making himself right at home

    Kenny & Sharon in Lanexa

    May 10, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    We locked thru the Deep Creek lock at 8:30 this morning and made our way to Sea Angel Kenny and Sharon’s dock for a part 2 visit (we also saw them in Okeechobee). They have a beautiful place on the Chickahominy River right off the James River a tributary of lower Chesapeake Bay. 73 miles but mostly on plane got us here at 1:15 although we had to pass thru some heavy commercial and military areas in Norfolk. Lots of cicadas thrumming when we arrived on the dock. We are having a nice visit and enjoyed dinner out with Kenny, Sharon and some of their neighbors. The dog and cat really appreciate having a yard to run around in and explore. We will be here a few days. So many more pictures to come.Read more

  • betty stauglerMolly’s Great American LoopTraveler
    Fish fry at fire dept
    Moki helping with the laundryLuna enjoying the sunSharon getting the boat readyBoat ride while James took a napMolly BrownWhat a cute couple!Moki really enjoyed the boat rideBeaver 🦫 visit at the dock

    Kenny And Sharon’s day 3

    May 12, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    We’ve really enjoyed our visit here. Yesterday James and I went to the farmers market, hit a few stores and did our laundry. Ooh clean clothes 😀. We were expecting a visit from my son Joe, his wife Erika and daughter Olivia but they were in an accident on the drive over. Fortunately everyone is ok although Erika needed stitches and their truck was totaled. Hopefully we’ll get to see them later once things settle. We’ll be in the Chesapeake Bay Area a couple weeks. Last night we went out for a fish fry at the local fire department. Quite the turnout!. This morning Sharon made waffles for breakfast. Their son and daughter-in-law came for Mother’s Day and we all had a nice dinner together. Also took a boat ride up River from their house. Capped our evening with some ice cream and good conversation. Prepping boat now to continue on our journey tomorrow. This was a great stop! Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms reading this!!Read more

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