Great Loop, what boat?

Two of our regular members have recently sold or are trading their Sea Rays for great Loop cruisers. I was fortunate to see brokerage listings and surveys on 2 great boats for the trip. One is a 49 Grand Banks and a 55 Fleming and it would be hard to beat either one.
 
Bill, Hopefully someday.
Karen's retired, I'm procrastinating. Can't walk away quite yet. We are planning on doing 1400 miles of it next year. 2 1/2 months, and see how it goes. Go back to work for 8 or 10 months, and then maybe kick the lines off for good. We spent a lot of time on the boat this year, about 1200 miles, We've been practicing :)
 
I'm not joking when I say that I passed (barely) a canoe making the loop! He and his partner were doing like 5knots south of Peoria, IL. I may have a pic
 
After seeing a lot of boats and researching our needs for a couple years this ended up as our choice. Sold the 2006 44 DA in the Spring and got this late June. Going into winter storage this week. Will soon begin minor modifications and maintenance needed (bright work most notably). Loop next Fall after I retire if all goes according to plan. For us, the ability to go faster than displacement speed, walk around deck for locks, galley up configuration, double helm stations, 4 foot draft and two heads/showers were key. And yes, the mast must lay back into a crutch for the 19' fixed height bridge in Chicago. A special thanks to member Frank Webster for his counsel on the CAT surveys etc. He is a valuable resource to many here and we say THANKS!!!
 
While I am years away from ever attempting the loop, I would be scared of something like this...

Seriously though, the current in that river is visibly fast, not sure what the guy was thinking going sideways...

[video=youtube;bq-ZE6VVehQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq-ZE6VVehQ[/video]
 
MasterFab said:
Fleming 55 or 58 would be the ideal boat for me, but I have to check if they are too tall. If I recall, the lowest bridge is something like 19 feet. I'd want one anyway, even if it couldn't do the loop.

Dale
Click to expand...
No doubt to the Fleming. Lowest bridge is 19' in the Chicago Sanitary Canal. Air draft on a 55' Fleming is 16' per their website.

But I bought my sneaker boat with the express intention of doing the loop in 2018. The accommodations are better than anything under 50' and the enclosed/climate controlled deck is perfect for the variable weather. I can do 7 knots at 2.5 nmpg or I can go fast and get, well, less than that :). Most guidebooks say plan on doing 50 miles per day, so I could do that in two hours or seven. It will depend on the day. The decks are all walk around for line handling in locks. I do need to add a platform lift though and upgrade the nav system, but I have a few years.
 
Last edited:
Excellent. Either way, sounds like you are covering alot of ground. Have you thought about setting up a website blog? You can post updates and pictures of your trip for us 9-5'ers so we can take the trip virtually.

my3sons said:
Bill, Hopefully someday.
Karen's retired, I'm procrastinating. Can't walk away quite yet. We are planning on doing 1400 miles of it next year. 2 1/2 months, and see how it goes. Go back to work for 8 or 10 months, and then maybe kick the lines off for good. We spent a lot of time on the boat this year, about 1200 miles, We've been practicing :)
Click to expand...
 
If we're talking Searays only, then 48 Sundancer. If not just Searays, then a quality express-style yacht with enclosed all-weather helm such as Grand Banks Eastbay 55SX, Hunt 52, Sabre 54. All are well made, beautiful inside and out, easy for a couple to run and maneuver, and functional for great loop conditions. Reasonable air and sea draft, can run economically at both displacement and planning speeds, and have all the creature comforts to truly enjoy the trip...

Then again, if I could do the trip, I would happily leave tomorrow in my current boat!
 
k-nutz said:
While I am years away from ever attempting the loop, I would be scared of something like this...

Seriously though, the current in that river is visibly fast, not sure what the guy was thinking going sideways...
Click to expand...
What a waste of a nice vessel. Idiot probably caused $50K in damage...
 
Interesting points.....


"Trawlers: Are very popular (if not the most popular) vessels for cruising the Great Loop.
The main reason for this is they provide the most living a-board space and comfort of any
boat of comparable size. If you are cruising on a budget, a small (full displacement hull)
Trawler with a small single engine offers the very best in comfort and amenities, as well
as economy.

Cruisers: Live a-board size powerboats such as Cruisers and semi-displacement hull
Trawlers (and any other vessels capable of planning) will be your very most expensive
type vessel to take around the Great Loop. These vessels simply were not designed for
fuel economy, nor were they designed for slow speed. For an example, years ago, a
cruise down the Erie Canal (at 10mph and less) in my twin-engine 32' Chris Craft Cruiser,
cost me $200 a day in fuel, and that was long before gas reached even $3.00 a gallon"
 
Do Over said:
Interesting points.....


"Trawlers: Are very popular (if not the most popular) vessels for cruising the Great Loop.
The main reason for this is they provide the most living a-board space and comfort of any
boat of comparable size. If you are cruising on a budget, a small (full displacement hull)
Trawler with a small single engine offers the very best in comfort and amenities, as well
as economy.

Cruisers: Live a-board size powerboats such as Cruisers and semi-displacement hull
Trawlers (and any other vessels capable of planning) will be your very most expensive
type vessel to take around the Great Loop. These vessels simply were not designed for
fuel economy, nor were they designed for slow speed. For an example, years ago, a
cruise down the Erie Canal (at 10mph and less) in my twin-engine 32' Chris Craft Cruiser,
cost me $200 a day in fuel, and that was long before gas reached even $3.00 a gallon"
Click to expand...

Simply not true, or very misleading at best. I have had this battle with my Trawler-owning Dad for years. My fast boat CAN go slow. And with two engines is more maneuverable and enjoys healthy redundancy in systems that his single screw trawler does not. At 7 knots he gets 3 nmpg and I get 2.5 nmpg at 7.5 knots (that's the slowest I can go with both engines in gear; and let's not even get into the whole ridiculous "tie off a shaft" conversation). The thing is that I can go fast if I want to.

Trawlers and slow cruising yachts have many economic benefits, and are surely the most popular boats that do the loop, but the notion that a fast cruising boat is somehow "not designed for slow speed" is B.S..

By the way, did you know that in the Trawler community that all fast cruisers, particularly those who do not know or follow the rules of the road, are generically referred to as "Sea Rays".
 
Yeah if you have ever been on a Fleming 55 I can't imagine you would want any other boat for this task. But really if you are sticking to hull speed or slower any decent sized 30'
plus boat will get enough fuel economy to do the trip. I would not personally do it in a 320, too small for my tastes, and limited water tankage too. Min size I would want would be 45 feet to live on for months at a time, I would want two heads, two cabins, a water maker or filtration system, generator, internet hot spot and sat tv.
 
Sticking with Sea Rays, and if were just my wife and I, I think I would be most comfortable on a Sundancer with diesels and at least a 420.
I really used to love the looks of a boat with a flybridge and the more open feel of their salons, but I think I would rather not have all the up and down at this point. Having to worry a lot less about clearance is a big plus for me too.
 
MasterFab said:
Fleming 55 or 58 would be the ideal boat for me, but I have to check if they are too tall. If I recall, the lowest bridge is something like 19 feet. I'd want one anyway, even if it couldn't do the loop.

Dale
Click to expand...

I fell in love with the Fleming 55a few years ago at the Miami boat show. Then I discovered its fuel consumption was not very impressive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,170
Messages
1,427,774
Members
61,080
Latest member
Jfeg
Back
Top