The Loopers and the Key West Mystery Photos

I took this picture a few weeks ago in our marina here at Banana Bay in Marathon Florida. The people standing on their boat are Fred and Linda. They invited everyone in this small marina of about 20 occupied slips to celebrate something special. They had just completed a circumnavigation of the eastern United States. They are members of a group of boaters who endeavor to travel by water from anywhere East of the Mississippi, or on the Mississippi for that matter, in a loop that takes them down the Miss and around to their starting point. They are Loopers.

Here is the route the Fred and Linda and thousands of others have followed to complete "The Loop". Start at your home port, or anywhere you wish, and follow the loop. The Manglesdorfs wanted to finish their loop in the Florida Keys so they powered their boat to this very location last winter then started running North past Miami, past Charleston, up the ICW to NYC, up the Hudson to the old Erie Canal, across to Buffalo, through the Great Lakes to Chicago, down the Chicago River to the Miss, South to the Tennessee-Tombiggee Waterway to Mobile, then back to the Keys and to Banana Bay. The trip took them a year. Some loopers savor the trip and take two years. Others take a longer route and bypass the Erie Canal by running up the Hudson to Gaspe (I think) then down the St Lawrence Waterway to Lake Ontario. With speculation that Cuba might soon be open to US travellers, the loop now might include a diversion to Havana.

This is our our group of Banana Bay pirates. We gather here almost ever night to watch the sun set into some palms to the West. Not the most spectacular sunset but one that includes comeraderie, tall tales, and cocktails without the risk of DUI. Most of these boaters attended Fred and Linda's celebration. Some of them are loopers themselves, having completed the loop in years past. One couple, Jim and Mary on their boat -Sales and Nails, are in the process of completeing the loop. Before they retired,  Linda was a successful saleswoman and Jim was involved in construction. Not everyone who has a fabuluos boat is fabulously rich; just full of fabulous dreams. If you are interested in learning more about the great loop, go to http://www.greatloop.org/

This is Mandy ready for a trip to Key West to watch the Pat Daily show at Sloppy Joe's Bar. She wanted to wear something nicer than shorts and T-shirt so she dressed up a little. She looked so good that during the show someone felt her ass. We think it was a guy - but maybe not.

The Key West Mystery Photo contest is over already. I assumed that a few players would get a few answers correct then someone would answer a few more until one player would have answered more than any other; perhaps four questions. But Tom and Jerilynn (the top left of our follower photos) correctly answered all but four leaving no way for anyone else to surpass them.

To see their answers and my comments go back to the Key West Mystery Photo page and click on 'comments' at the bottom.