Great Circle Loop Voyage

I have all the east coast editions and I just checked with the boss to make sure he has the Great Lakes edition. I consider them indispensible, and like Waterway Guides the best of those I've seen. There are lots of resources available such as ActiveCaptain and Marinas.com, etc., but I like to have a hard copy that I can leave open as I approach areas and marinas so I can glance down instead of depending on my memory as I'm doing a dozen other things.

I joined the AGLCA about a year ago and can't begin to tell you how much knowledge I've gained just from the morning e-mail each day.

I've done the trip and found it to be a pretty easy one, overall. Most of it is following a narrow river where you can't really get into trouble with depths. There were a few area's and they were well marked. Stops were pretty easy to figure out by looking down your charts.....Whether it be for an anchorage, or a marina. Although the marina's were usually either too close to your last stop or a bit far away. I'd call ahead and ask the marina's if there were any lock issues and if they have space. I planned and did do about 90-100 statuate miles per day on average.....this was at 10.5 knots primarily (or less).

However, there were some days where it took over 4 hours to get through one lock because of two sets of commercial barges and tugs. Plan on barely making it the 60 miles across the Ohio from the Miss. because there are a lot of barges going through those two locks on the Ohio. Usually on the Ohio river on South, they run 15 barges and 1 tug, and it takes 4 lock throughs and pulling them through by hand to get one tug/barge setup through and that takes about 2 hours, well if another one pulls up while you're waiting, you're going to be waiting for that one as well. Pay attention to the VHF as you can usually here where the tugs are locking through and what direction they're going in..... If there are slow boats locking through with you and the next lock is 10 miles away or less, you're going to be waiting for them to get to the same lock before they lock everyone through, so there's no sense racing to the next lock to wait, just keep pace with them.

The Great Loop List is a good resource as well.

Great-Loop Info Page

The river US Army Corps of Engineers river charts can found free on line.And then you can just print them out yourself.

Navigation Information Connection

The US Army corp of engineers chart books are cheap enough as well. They're about $30 each and all bound and joined together as an alternative and probably cheaper than printing them yourself when you consider the price of ink......

Sounds great. Air draft is 17 feet, radar mast lowered 13 feet. Draft is 5.5 feet. Beam 20 feet. Exact LOA is 79,5 feet. It has 4 Volvo IPS, cruise speed 25 Kts, range with 2 IPS at 12 Kts, 1200 NM, DP capable.

So, the boat could go from Quebec to New Orleans on its own keel. What a dream of a trip.

Thanks a lot gentleman. Will start planning ASAP.

Cheers

I was surprised to see that air draft. Given that I believe you could make the Trent-Severn if you'd like to do scenic instead of fast. I'll be bringing a 56' w/ 5' draft and 18' airdraft through in July. However, check Rodgers post on the other thread about current flooding on the Trent. That may affect your decision if you're going through soon. (In fact I see Rodger may have PM'd you about it).

No, it is a European build one off with 4 x IPS, with flexible airdraft to do rivers in Europe. By switching two IPS off, you can go nicely for trolling, but with all 4, it is a thoroughbred. But the Lazzara was the idea behind it.

At time of buy, whe were thinking about Lazzara. But the warnings on Yacht Forums turned us away. Thats why I like YF so much But it belongs to my son. I am not a fast mover, I like Blow Boats. (Older Pilots take more time, doing it)

Pilotage requirements

First thing you find out as a foreigner, when studying the Great Circle Loop, how big your country in fact is. One can spend years on your inland waterways and never visit the same spot again. We are really looking forward to that trip. Makes me remember, reading (as a young boy) the books of Mark Twain about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and their journey on the big river.

Second thing which suprises me, how easy pleasure boating on your inland waterways seems to be, as far as bureaucratic barriers are concerned. I was expecting much more paperwork and bureaucratic trouble.

Even with my unlimited commercial ticket, I would not be allowed to command a 80 feet boat (commercial or not) on national inland waterways in Germany. We have a 15 Meter (49 ft) LOA upper limit for driving pleasure boats on inland waterways. Above that, you need a commercial skipper licence, as if you would drive a 300 feet inland cargo vessel.

The water police is checking the vessels for length, they make law enforcement with radar guns at speed limits, fine illegal parking (mooring). Thats why a lot of German inland boaters keep their boats in the Netherlands.

Saint Bureaucratius, the holy Patron of all civil cervants in official positions.

I'm the opposite. After doing the Ohio, Tenn-tomm, Tennessee, etc. to Mobile. I'd rather take the Mississippi next time, because with all of the locks and waiting for each barge to get locked through for 1 barge (3 hours, 4 lockages, 15barges/1 tug, 4 at a time.) The Tenn Tomm is very very slow......The Mississippi, there are no locks until New Orleans, and you fly with the current.

This thread has been untwined of unrelated posts, which have been intertwined with another thread on the Great Loop. Great Scott, you'd think a thread on pilotage could stay on course!

I'd never heard about 'cancer corridor' or 'cancer alley', which led me to check further and I found an interesting tidbit "In 2002 Louisiana had the second-highest death rate from cancer in the United States. Although the national average is 206 deaths per 100,000, Louisiana's rate is 237.3 deaths per 100,000. At the same time, the death rate from cancer in the area dubbed cancer alley was lower than the rest of Louisiana, as well as the national average."

I am getting a bit confused, as my postings about this subject live in 3 different threads now.

But please allow one more question. How much time should a foreigner like me, spend on this trip, lets say from Quebec via the Great Lakes down to New Orleans. We neither want to rush things, nor we want to miss the highlights, this fascinating route will bring us. The advice of professionals who have done this trip personally, is much better than info given by a book.

Our dream was, to travel either the Atlantic Intracostal waterway or up the Lawrence River via the great Lakes to Chicago. Both parts together would most likely take to much time. Being able to do this part of the Great Circle Loop down to New Orleans sounds unbelievable enough.

My wife and I still remember or trip to New Orleans in the early seventies, when we saw the famous trumpet player Al Hirth in concert (in Bourbon Street) and listened to our absolute favorite play, JAVA !!!!