Captain's Choice completes the Great loop

64 weeks vacation for $22,300.00. Not a bad deal overall.
 
Congratulations Mark, and Karen! And thank you for patiently tolerating and answering the questions I've dumped on you since we've met.
 
$22k for over a year long trip sounds fantastic to me. I hope to make this exact trip at least once in my life time but wow. Sounds amazing.
 
Mark, thanks for sharing, it was great meeting you and Karen and following your blog.
 
Mark & Karen, congratulations!! hats off for such a great adventure. This is also in my bucket list.

Couple of questions: I can see that your boat is a 400 sedan bridge.... did you have any issues because of the height under the various bridges along the corridor?. Also, I can see that most boats doing the loop are trawlers..... did you ever feel that you were in the wrong boat ???
Thanks
 
Congrats on completing the loop!! Great summary too!
I just wanted to add that your wife's writing is excellent. What a great read! I will enjoy reading how it went from the beginning. Great pics too!
 
Last edited:
JimmyDubai said:
Mark & Karen, congratulations!! hats off for such a great adventure. This is also in my bucket list.

Couple of questions: I can see that your boat is a 400 sedan bridge.... did you have any issues because of the height under the various bridges along the corridor?. Also, I can see that most boats doing the loop are trawlers..... did you ever feel that you were in the wrong boat ???
Thanks
Click to expand...

A boat must be able to clear 19.1' on the Cal-Sag south of Chicago in order to complete the loop. The lowest bridges we encountered were in the western Erie Canal - 15.6', which we clear when I fold down my Radar pedestal. The rest of the Erie Canal is 21'. Most loopers do not travel in the western Erie. My boat's air draft is 16.5' to the top of the radar and 15.1' to the top of the bimini with the radar down.
We never thought we had the wrong boat. We were the only sea Ray 400 sedan bridge in the looper class of '17 that I am aware of but there were other sedan bridges. We traveled with loopers in everything from Big trawlers that draft too much water to do the Canadian canals to sail boats to twenty-something express cruisers. We did not travel with but there were 2 guys on jet skis doing the loop last year. What you do the loop in is a personal choice. You are right that most do it in trawlers, but there is life after the loop, and a trawler may not be what you want then. That is why many loopers buy a trawler to loop and then sell it right after. Many of these folks don't own a boat that they could loop with. There's a lot to think about if you are going to buy a boat to do the loop and then keep it afterwards. We were lucky that we didn't have to buy a boat to loop in, we had one that worked perfectly.
 
Last edited:
my3sons said:
A boat must be able to clear 19.1' on the Cal-Sag south of Chicago in order to complete the loop. The lowest bridges we encountered were in the western Erie Canal - 15.6', which we clear when I fold down my Radar pedestal. The rest of the Erie Canal is 21'. Most loopers do not travel in the western Erie. My boat's air draft is 16.5' to the top of the radar and 15.1' to the top of the bimini with the radar down.
We never thought we had the wrong boat. We were the only sea Ray 400 sedan bridge in the looper class of '17 that I am aware of but there were other sedan bridges. We traveled with loopers in everything from Big trawlers that draft too much water to do the Canadian canals to sail boats to twenty-something express cruisers. We did not travel with but there were 2 guys on jet skis doing the loop last year. What you do the loop in is a personal choice. You are right that most do it in trawlers, but there is life after the loop, and a trawler may not be what you want then. That is why many loopers buy a trawler to loop and then sell it right after. Many of these folks don't own a boat that they could loop with. There's a lot to think about if you are going to buy a boat to do the loop and then keep it afterwards. We were lucky that we didn't have to buy a boat to loop in, we had one that worked perfectly.
Click to expand...
Fair point! I think you made the right decision
 
my3sons said:
On August 3, after 7992 miles, we crossed our wake in Buffalo NY, completing America's Great Loop cruise. It has been a dream of ours for years and we consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have been able to make that dream a reality. For anyone who is thinking about doing the loop, I urge you to take on one of the last great boating adventures, cast off your lines and head off into the unknown. You will be rewarded with a journey like no other, will meet untold numbers of like minded cruisers, and will make friendships and memories to last a lifetime.
A tip of the cap to fellow CSR members we met along the way: The gang from Lake Michigan who allowed us to crash your rendevous last August in South Haven, Jeff and Wendy then again contacted us when in Ft Myers, thank you for taking time from your vacation to catch up with us. Sistership owners Kurt from Chicago and Bill from Beaufort, your kindness and local knowledge were much appreciated. AJ and Amy from Gimme Time, it was fun having docktails along the Trent Severn in Canada when we both were looping. To the many others that recognized the CSR burgee flying from our light staff and would say hello or shout out on the radio, it was nice to know we had friends in places we had never been.
Click to expand...
Congratulations! Plan on doing it in 6 years
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,118
Messages
1,426,544
Members
61,035
Latest member
Lukerney
Back
Top