The Great Loop

What is this "Great Loop"?

The Great Loop.  Here's a map:

This is how it works:  You travel in a counter clockwise direction.  The summers are spent in the North, exploring Georgian Bay's 30,000 islands, taking in the endless vistas of the North Channel and making your way from north to south on Lake Michigan.  

In the autumn, you start by travelling right spanking through downtown Chicago (which was a BLAST!), then down the river system, including the Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.  There are lots of interesting side trip to take along this route if time and inclination permits. 

Once the hurricane season is safely past the winter is spent in the South, hanging around Florida and, with the right weather conditions, maybe the Bahamas. 

Once spring hits the bow is pointed North and travel is up the intracoastal waterway, which is a protected passage of rivers, lakes and canals along the East coast of the the States.  The route passes through old charming cities like Charleston and Savannah, Chesapeake Bay and one can take a side trip right to Washington DC and explore the U.S. capital while staying at "home" on the boat.  It goes right through New York harbour, right past the statue of Liberty, then up the Hudson River.  From there a canal leads back to Lake Ontario and crosses back into Canada where we'll maybe (hopefully) check out the Rideau canal (and Canada's capital city). Variations can take you through Lake Champlain up to Montreal and the Ottawa and the Rideau Canal from there. Then the Trent-Severn Canal and we're home.  Back in Penetanguishene.

People start the Loop from anywhere on the circuit.  It takes about a year in general but some choose to do it in smaller segments doing a little bit each year.  At the time of this writing we're "half looped", or probably more accurately," three quartered looped", making it as far up the East Coast as North Carolina.  Someday, we don't know how, we'll finish the rest.