- Oct 3, 2006
- 4,404
- Boat Info
- 280 Sundancer, Westerbeke MPV generator
- Engines
- twin 5.0's w/BIII drives
America's Great Loop
- Thread starter xplorer
- Start date
xplorer
New Member
Ylwjacket, We are at the Tarpon Springs Municipal dock through Sunday then we're moving down to Clearwater.
Doug - There are many outstanding legs of the trip but two that really stood out are the Trent-Severn Waterway/Georgian Bay in Canada and the Tennessee River. On the other hand and at the risk of raising someone's ire, I wish I were somewhere else when we did the Calumet Canal south of Chicago (it was like boating in a tidy bowl and signs posted every 1/4 mile reminding 'No human contact with water'!!) and the 'divide cut' on the Tenn-Tom.
Doug - There are many outstanding legs of the trip but two that really stood out are the Trent-Severn Waterway/Georgian Bay in Canada and the Tennessee River. On the other hand and at the risk of raising someone's ire, I wish I were somewhere else when we did the Calumet Canal south of Chicago (it was like boating in a tidy bowl and signs posted every 1/4 mile reminding 'No human contact with water'!!) and the 'divide cut' on the Tenn-Tom.
xplorer
New Member
Petep - Gee, that's a great question (how does the 450EB stack up to the DA for this type of trip). Probably comes down to personal choice - both are well suited for the loop. The EB gets you a little higher off the water so the view is a bit better especially when travelling the GIWW, ICW and canals. The other big advantage with the EB is that bow access for line handling when locking and docking is down the center rather than around the sides. I know the wife loves the EB because she can stand in the bow well while holding lock lines without feeling like she will be pulled off the boat!!
The DA is probably better equipped to handle inclement weather operations (wiper, defroster, etc). The hard top is also a big plus. I'm sure there are others.
The DA is probably better equipped to handle inclement weather operations (wiper, defroster, etc). The hard top is also a big plus. I'm sure there are others.
DragonAnchor
Member
Mike & Cathy
Thank you for sharing your adventure. I look forward to more updates!
Being a fairly new boater, the Great Loop is not something I had heard of before or would consider right now, but it is great inspiration for the future.
Thank you for sharing your adventure. I look forward to more updates!
Being a fairly new boater, the Great Loop is not something I had heard of before or would consider right now, but it is great inspiration for the future.
Petep
Member
Mike, My wife and I have been enjoying your posts- keep them up. Tell me, do you ever worry about "lugging" those Cummins 6cta's? I often wonder when you run the boat at 10-11 mph for a long period, if they soot up? Most of the time my turbo's are spooling and I'm running @ 2210 or 2250 rpms and we do an occasional slow-cruise at around 1,100 rpms-which seems to be alot of your days. My Cummins mechanic always said to me "spool-em" and "don't lug them", any comments?
ghuskin
New Member
- Jul 10, 2007
- 1,089
- Boat Info
- SRV225 Cuddy Cabin, 1983
- Engines
- 228 Mercruiser w/ pre-Alpha1 "R" Drive
xplorer,
We arrived in St. Ignace on the 19th. I know the winds were pretty tough at that point in your trip, and am glad that all went well for you.
It was nice to read your recount of the trip, and to see all the wonderful photos. Our family trip included an overnight stay on the island. There we ran into some folks that just pulled into the marina and was setting all his lines. I offered my assistance, and while speaking with him, he indicated that there was a group of 4 ragboats that were making the same loop.
This was the first time I'd ever heard of anyone doing this, and thought what a wonderful journey. My 7 yr. old son thought the same thing and asked if we could go to Mackinac Island by boat. (I guess the first mate wants a bigger boat?)
I know what a great way to make a short story long.
Look forward to reading the rest of your journey!
Gregg
We arrived in St. Ignace on the 19th. I know the winds were pretty tough at that point in your trip, and am glad that all went well for you.
It was nice to read your recount of the trip, and to see all the wonderful photos. Our family trip included an overnight stay on the island. There we ran into some folks that just pulled into the marina and was setting all his lines. I offered my assistance, and while speaking with him, he indicated that there was a group of 4 ragboats that were making the same loop.
This was the first time I'd ever heard of anyone doing this, and thought what a wonderful journey. My 7 yr. old son thought the same thing and asked if we could go to Mackinac Island by boat. (I guess the first mate wants a bigger boat?)
I know what a great way to make a short story long.
Look forward to reading the rest of your journey!
Gregg
Pairadice
New Member
- Oct 16, 2007
- 23
Xplorer,
I read almost your entire Blog in one sitting yesterday and I have to say that it is my dream that you are living. A wonderful well documented journey. The people you've met and the places you've seen are priceless and will last forever.
Congratulations.
Royce
I read almost your entire Blog in one sitting yesterday and I have to say that it is my dream that you are living. A wonderful well documented journey. The people you've met and the places you've seen are priceless and will last forever.
Congratulations.
Royce
- Oct 4, 2006
- 2,335
- Boat Info
- 2003 280DA and 1995 Sea Ray 175
- Engines
- Twin 4.3l and 3.0l, all w/ AlphaI GenII drives
Xplorer, I too just got finished reading all of your posts from top to bottom (Looks like the Western, FL post is due up next?) Fascinating reading. I never knew there were nearly so many locks; never even considered them. Heck, I never even knew you could go from the East coast through the interior of the US, all by boat?!!
I would have loved to see more pictures of your "open water" crossings where you mentioned 5-8ft. waves. I've always wondered what it would be like, and what they would like like, to be on a boat in that kind of weather. One that can handle it, of course.
Love your photos of fog and rainy days too. It's those times that most of us are indoors and miss the beauty of those kinds of "dreary" days...*Especially* on the water.
I would have loved to see more pictures of your "open water" crossings where you mentioned 5-8ft. waves. I've always wondered what it would be like, and what they would like like, to be on a boat in that kind of weather. One that can handle it, of course.
Love your photos of fog and rainy days too. It's those times that most of us are indoors and miss the beauty of those kinds of "dreary" days...*Especially* on the water.
xplorer
New Member
Petep - That's a great question. We were also concerned about running the Cummins at a load factor less than70-80%. We talked with Cummins reps (including their technicians that we trusted and had them perform 1000 hour service on the engines even though they had only 460 hours as we didn't want to chance this critical servicing to folks we didn't know somewhere along the loop), independent diesel mechanics with excellent credentials and loopers who had run their diesels at less than recommended load levels.
The bottom line came down to this -- "You do what you have to do to make it work"! This includes when running under the recommended load factor stay out of the turbo charger range which means for us below 1400 RPM. Our preferred slow operation is 1300 RPM which gives them as much loading without the overcooling effects that the turbos would cause at 15-1600 RPM. We also use an additive (Marvel Mystery Oil) in the fuel to add lubricity and help keep the injectors functioning and Startron Diesel Additive (we didn't use a biocide as we're burning fuel regularly). I am not a chemist but we have seen improvement in both fuel efficiency and lower emissions (soot) while using these.
We will at the first safe opportunity run the engines to 80% loading for as long as we can (over 20 minutes and preferably an hour) before returning to slow operations if dictated.
We have seen no degradation in engine performance or operating characteristics over the last 490 hours operations. As a matter of fact we ran the last 181 miles in just under 11 hours (avg speed 16.5 MPH which was comprised at running either 10.5 MPH or 21+ MPH). The fuel burn rate was actually a little better coming across Florida's Big Bend than what we experienced running outside from Cape May NJ to New York Harbor.
Thanks for the question,
Mike
The bottom line came down to this -- "You do what you have to do to make it work"! This includes when running under the recommended load factor stay out of the turbo charger range which means for us below 1400 RPM. Our preferred slow operation is 1300 RPM which gives them as much loading without the overcooling effects that the turbos would cause at 15-1600 RPM. We also use an additive (Marvel Mystery Oil) in the fuel to add lubricity and help keep the injectors functioning and Startron Diesel Additive (we didn't use a biocide as we're burning fuel regularly). I am not a chemist but we have seen improvement in both fuel efficiency and lower emissions (soot) while using these.
We will at the first safe opportunity run the engines to 80% loading for as long as we can (over 20 minutes and preferably an hour) before returning to slow operations if dictated.
We have seen no degradation in engine performance or operating characteristics over the last 490 hours operations. As a matter of fact we ran the last 181 miles in just under 11 hours (avg speed 16.5 MPH which was comprised at running either 10.5 MPH or 21+ MPH). The fuel burn rate was actually a little better coming across Florida's Big Bend than what we experienced running outside from Cape May NJ to New York Harbor.
Thanks for the question,
Mike
Sorrento 25
New Member
Love the Tarpon Springs update! I've been refreshing that page 10 times a day since the last update. I'll be following this thread and the log very closely now that you are in W. FL where I'll be moving in Jan. Been boating in midwest fresh water my whole life and I can't wait to experience saltwater boating in FL!
