'The Great Loop' - 7,500 miles cruising and not one sail

by Lisa Mylchreest on 22 Feb 2010 It's usually not a voyage by sail but the camaraderie is the same. It's not a rally, but there's lots of help from fellow cruisers. It's called a circumnavigation but it doesn't encircle anything. It's a journey that covers up to 7,500 miles of water, yet it's reputed to be the safest voyage in the world. It's called 'The Great Loop'.

Well known to many American citizens, yet largely unknown in the rest of the world, this circular journey through enclosed waters through the Eastern section of North America is becoming more and more popular - with Americans themselves.

Life on the water is an allure for many, but only those with sailing skills - or a large enough wallet to buy a superyacht - can venture across oceans. But those who have a yen to cut the ties and go adventuring, can easily achieve it on the Great Loop - just like Patti and Brad Salvage from Alabama who recently talked to Susan Strickland of the Birmingham News.

Like many other 'Loopers', as those who have completed the journey are called, The Salvages were retired when they discovered that they loved being on the water. Their spirit for adventure shows in their summary statement, 'If you gave us a choice of returning somewhere we visited and loved and going somewhere new, without fail, we will choose the new place and the new experience.' - said by Patti.

So they took just a year and a day to complete their journey, travelling in a 48-foot Jefferson Motor Yacht, and are now back home with many a story to tell.

So what is 'The Great Loop' and where does it go?

One can, of course go either way, but most do it anticlockwise, so that when travelling through some of the great rivers they are flowing with the river. One can also, naturally, start anywhere you like, but assuming a start in Florida, at Stuart, you first head north up the famous Intracoastal Waterway, better known as the ICW.

This takes you along the coasts of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Chesapeake Bay is a wide and wonderful waterway with a myriad of options, and you can even cruise up the Potomac River to Washington.

At the north end of Chesapeake Bay the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal connects to Delaware Bay. The Intracoastal Waterway resumes at Cape May and ends at Manasquan, New Jersey.

Then there is a 30-mile stretch of open Atlantic Ocean to New York harbour. From here, if you are really adventurous and curious, you can continue up the coast, around the Gaspe Peninsula and up the St Lawrence River to Lake Ontario, thus adding around 1,500 miles to the journey.

Next it's up the Hudson River, heading towards the Great Lakes. First there's Waterford and then you can take the Erie Canal to Lake Ontario or Lake Erie or the Champlain Canal to the St. Lawrence.

Canada's Rideau Canal, built in 1832 from Ottawa to Kingston, is also frequently chosen. Most loopers will take the Trent Canal from Trenton, Ontario to Port Severn on Georgian Bay. The North Channel is one of the highlights of the loop. This is the most northerly point on the loop and has the shortest season, just 6 weeks of good warm weather from July 1 to Aug 15th.

Lake Michigan is next with most loopers taking the east side of the lake to Chicago. From here it is down the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, up the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers, then down the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway to Mobile. The route then joins the Intracoastal Waterway going east to Carrabelle, Florida.

The ICW now extends to Fort Myers where loopers can cruise the Okeechobee Waterway to Stuart on the east coast of Florida or turn south to the Keys rounding the southern tip of Florida, returning north to Stuart.

What an adventure, and what a way for those of other nationalities to visit the USA.

So if you're looking for an adventure on water, but don't like the thought of crossing oceans, think about the alternative: Find your way to Florida, buy a boat and don't look back! There's even a Great Loop Cruising Association to assist with all the information you might need to begin your journey. Click http://www.greatloop.org!here to find out more.