This blog is a record of our our Great Loop adventure, and will allow family and friends to follow us over the year.  The Great Loop is a circumnavigation of one-third of the United States and the great lakes in Canada. It is a journey of between 5000 and 6000 miles, roughly covering an area from the Atlantic Coast, to the North Channel of Canada, to the Mississippi River, to the southern tip of Florida. It commonly takes one year to complete the trip. Andy and I met in 2005, at a fraternal organization called Eastern Star. I was a prairie girl having grown up in a small farming community, which I had left to go to University. Andy was older and more boat-wise, having grown up on the shores of Lake Superior.  As we discussed our future together, Andy mentioned that on his bucket- list was the dream of owning a tug, similar to the pulp tugs he had been on as a youth. A tug didn’t really appeal to me—as it reminded me of the show “Beachcombers” from the 1980’s.   To help him in the pursuit of his dream we attended several boat shows, and finally purchased a 1995 Carver Voyager 370 in 2009.  We used this boat on the Red River which flows through Winnipeg for our first year, in order for me to get accustomed to life on the water.  The following 5 years we moored our boat at Winnipeg Beach on Lake Winnipeg.  Here’s where we first started getting serious about planning for the loop. We both took several courses offered by the Canadian Power Squadron. We also began scoping out the great loop route and checking out marinas, locks and scenery.  We drove this in segments, as our holidays allowed- Minneapolis to St Louis, Wilmington to Norfolk, St Louis to Mobile Alabama, across the Florida canal system and Lake Okochobee, Stuart to Myrtle Beach,  Myrtle Beach to  New Jersey.  In Canada we had also checked out portions of the Trent Severn waterway.

We came to realize that our gas guzzling Carver, was likely not the best choice of a boat for this trip- So the hunt began for the “perfect” Loop boat.  In June of  2014, we found her in Parry Sound.  A  35 foot 1985 PT  Sun deck with Perkin diesel engines.

The picture is from the day we purchased her in Ontario, and from where the adventure will begin………..