Where and When?

I guess we've been a little busy this week with New Years and family stuff since it has been a bit over a week since we made the first posting on our blog. Also, this is new territory for half of us so we are hoping and anticipating that the learning curve will shallow out soon.

Two of the most frequent questions we get are "can we come visit you" and "where are you going to be and when do you think you are going to be there"? The answer to the first is "sure" but we know from many conversations with other Loopers that it is really tough to give specifics because Mother Nature is very fickle. One of the first things that experienced loopers teach other loopers is that flexibility is required by all visitors as the weather dictates the journey. If it ain't good, we ain't going. In this same vein there is usually a tacit agreement between the Captain and the First Mate... aka... the Admiral that the boat doesn't move because of weather issues unless BOTH  agree that it is "good to go".

So... back to the where and when. These dates are guesses at best because if we find an area we like, we may spend an extra few days. Because we are starting our trip from Mobile, AL in early February we expect to be on the west coast of Florida during March and transiting to the east coast during that month. By April we expect to be heading up the coast of Georgia, South and North Carolina.

One of the Great Loop slogans is: Do the Chesapeake Bay during the month of May because later in the summer season it can get quite warm and humid. We believe them!  After exiting the north end of the Chesapeake Bay we will try to be in New York harbor around the first week of June. After a few days in NY city we head up the Hudson River seeing sites along the way including Westpoint. Can't wait for that!

Near the end of June we'll be in the Erie Canal as we boat through the first half only. A crossing will be made on the eastern end of Lake Ontario and we'll probably be celebrating the 4th of July with other Loopers in Ontario, Canada. After transiting the Trent-Severn Canal we'll end up in the Georgian Bay portion of Lake Huron followed by North Bay. We are told that this area is very picturesque and similar to our Northwest San Juan Islands and Desolation Sound in Canada.

Most boats typically re-enter the US in Upper Michigan during the first week of  August. We expect to tour the upper third of the west coast of Lake Michigan and then cross over to the Wisconsin side to see what is along the coastline of Bob's birth state. The first week of September should find us near or at Chicago. Since the U of Washington Huskies have a football game against Illinois at Soldier Field on September 14, we may stick around a little longer than typical.

The next potion of the trip involves the Illinois River, a portion of the Mississippi River, and then up the Ohio River to the Cumberland River. A series of locks will take us into Kentucky Lake followed by the Tennessee River during the month of October. We'll stay in this area until November first as we have a hurricane insurance restriction that keeps us above the 32nd parallel until then. From there it is all downhill through the Tombigbee River system back to Mobile.

As you can see, some areas are very accessible and others fairly remote. Some may join us for a week or so and fly in and out of different airports and others may choose to drive in to meet us for a few days. Either way works for us. Please go to expedia.goneboating for reservations!

Nautical Defintion of the Day: [from seatalk.info]
ADMIRAL:
1. A commissioned officer in the Navy with a rank above Vice-Admiral, designated by four stars in the US Navy.
2. The form of address for any flag officer of the Navy.

From Great Loop jargon;
3. Term typically applies to the spouse of the Captain of the boat. She will often have several other ranks including First Mate, Chief- Mess Cook, Deckhand, but  if  its really, really important the rank escalates to SecNav.... Secretary of the Navy.... ever watch NCIS?