Great Loop Cruise Video

After an 8 month refit, a broken foot delay, and switching from Plan A to Plan B, C, D, E & F it looks like we're finally getting under way tomorrow.
Our original plan was to do a shake down cruise in April, then head for Canada via the Erie Canal into Lk. Ontario, the Trent-Severn an onward through the Great Loop counter-clockwise.
Now our plan is instead to head slowly south through the Chesapeake and eventually out towards New Orleans, doing the Loop clockwise at a liesurely pace over the next year or two.

After a couple of false starts we're heading out mid-day tomorrow (Friday). Wish us luck. Tomorrow we're heading from Long Island down to the Hudson River. From there we'll head down to Atlantic City on Sunday, and heading up to the Philidelphia area over the next week for Leg 1 of the trip. If you'd like to enjoy the cruise with us pop onto Valhalladoestheloop dot com, and you'll be looking off our bow. Enjoy.

P.S. I expect to finally be showing off my YF shirt.

Mother Nature, Karma and Canadian austerity joined forces against us. First we've had delay after delay in the yards, and since we have very little experience with this boat we'd be taking a big risk as there are very few facilities that can handle this boat between here and Detroit. In the middle of that the Erie Canal had floods that caused closures, then I broke my foot and wasn't allowed to even stand until about 2 weeks ago. Then we got word that Canada has cut back on the lock-master jobs on the Trent-Severn and it would be almost impossible for our boat to make it from port to port in a day's travel. Finally, with the owner's schedule, it'd be unlikely that we could get out of the Great Lakes before winter hits unless we put the rush on, and that would defeat the purpose of this cruise. So we've set our current destination as New Orleans. In the Spring we'll make the final decision about whether to do the Tenn-Tom or Mississippi or backtrack to the east coast and cover old ground first.
The owner has already done Ft. Lauderdale to Beaufort, N.C. and Long Island out to Detroit. I did the Detroit run with him, and the east coast 27 times, but never at an enjoyable pace. We're both looking to cover new territory and see some of the sights along the way.

Up at dawn, run as fast as the boat and traffic can stand, good weather or bad till dark Deliveries. This time, tourist pace. 2 1/2 months to make Nags Head. On deliveries I've made NY to Miami in 5 days.

Although there are places more severe, the speed of the river is listed between 1.2 and 3 mph. However the Tenn-Tom is the most likely choice. The debris though is a serious concern. Our choices will be heavily weighted by what happens over the winter. Everything about this cruise will be very fluid.

Don't forget the cute guy wearing it. We're finally underway, heading down Long Island Sound to the Esat River on day 1 of leg 1. So far all seems good. With luck................

Yep, the shirt's been blessed. All went well today, except does anyone know a KVH guy in the Jersey City area. No signal. We're in at Newport Marina for the next day to wait out possible thunderstorms, and hope to head down to A.C. on Sunday. My first time staying on this side of the Hudson. There a lot less banging around here than at Chelsea or North Cove. Also, they seem to have more slips for larger boats and easy docking.