With Doug’s impending retirement nearing, concerned friends and relatives are asking “What is America’s Great Loop?” America’s Great Loop is an adventure designed to take about a year–or more exploring the Eastern United States by waterway. The route will take us south to the Florida Keys, north up the East Coast through the Intercoastal Waterway, up the Hudson River, through the Great Lakes, through Chicago, and down the Mississippi River–with lots of stops along the way. Much of the way we will use our inboard motor (a Yanmar Deisel), and hopefully we will get to sail. The trip will be slow (about 5 miles an hour) and there are a couple of places where we will have to remove our mast to pass under bridges. This route will keep us close to land and is traveled by many people every year–there is even an association for these folks, commonly referred to as “Loopers.” After that we may opt for the Bahamas and beyond . . .
Answers to Common Concerns:
- How can we contact you? We will still have phones and internet in most places.
- How will you prepare meals? We have a propane 2 burner stove with an oven and we also have a propane BBQ grill. (We also kept a portable charcoal grill.) We have a water tank, water heater, refrigerator and a very large ice box.
- Do you have heat/air-conditioning on your boat? We have a small Honda generator, a portable airconditioner and space heaters.
- What kind of safety equipment do you have? We have 3 flare guns (and lots of flares), several life vests (even Trouble has a personal flotation device), 3 working marine fire extringuishers, smoke/noxious gas alarms, weapons, 2 vhf radios with distress signal buttons, lots of tools and spare parts for our vessel.
- What if your boat becomes disabled? We will have insurance for towing us to a marina to get repairs done, much like AAA for your automobile–and we have a dinghy with a small electric motor (12 volt) that also has sails and can be rowed as well.
America’s Great Loop Map – https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1nV-lUkJ4eTi51hm1LH3wr5vCu20&hl=en&usp=sharing
SV Tumbleweed Paradise, Michigan 