The Great Loop

[Tony B]

I will be putting my Allied 39 ketch up for sale this week and will be buying an older trawler for the trip.
Are there any good FREE forums on the web? Somewhere I can get some fun and useful info for the trip? Also, which is the best forum on here to hang out on for planning the trip?
I am hoping to do this next year. I will play leap frog with my vehicle so that I can drive or fly back and forth to work. I work in the Gulf of Mex on the rigs and platforms - 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off schedule.

[Wavewacker]

Tony, I think it's Greatloop dot org, there are several sites about different routes, fueling and other things along the way. This site, IMO, has the best coverage of boat issues staying aborad.

I have been investigating the same thing and a boat to do it with. What I can't find so much about is where you can go gunkholing and get away with it so to speak. The rivers in my area are well traveled in the summer and the farmers usually try to run people off if they see them. State law allows free travel and going ashore along any river, that boundry is what is usually disputed with land owners. And, it's usually the party types (kids) that are run off. In some areas, local police either don't know what the law is or ignore it as they will tell people to move along.

[capngeo]

I want to do the loop myself... I've been sketching on the back of napkins a design for the ideal boat... So far I keep coming back to a cat with a self-stepping mast.

[GordMay]

See McDonough Marine's "Mileage Charts and Waterway Maps"

Here ➥ McDonough Marine

http : //www . mcdonoughmarine.com/MAPS.HTM#map_eastus

[Tingum]

Get something with a full keel or skeg to protect the props and rudder. Single screw much safer than twins. Best to have the rudder hung on the end of the keel. I like to get off the beaten track so we did the trip with a full keel bullet proof aluminium trawler. I could not believe the stuff we saw flaoting in the main channels. Even a house! Also consider low air draft if you plan on doing the Trent Severn.

[capngeo]

What is the air draft on the Trent? I’ve seen pix of the railway there and its been on my bucket list ever since!

[Tingum]

The minimum is 6.6M or 22'. However the rr bridge screws up regularly and drops the clearance to less than 14'. The lowest clearance on the loop is in the Chicago River, but you can slip down the eastern approach with 21'.

[Wavewacker]

And a draft of less than 5 feet is recommended, but that is for the main channels I would think. I know that some of the rivers and marsh areas would require alot less, and for gunkholing I'd like a cat with just a few inches, not more than 18" and beachable for those mud banks.

You won't be sailing in much of the Great Loop as I understand it, I'm thinking 70/30, 70% motoring. And there is a stretch of the lower Mississippi where you'll need a 400 mile range for fuel, otherwise it will be trucked to you....$$$$. Guess that would be up river, cause you can float at a good clip heading down in some places, right along with the houses, refrigerators, propane tanks and maybe a car or two.

[Tony B]

Originally Posted by Wavewacker

........ cause you can float at a good clip heading down in some places, right along with the houses, refrigerators, propane tanks and maybe a car or two.

Say what you want, but it's always nice to sit on a porch and have a car handy to get you around.