Live de Life on the Great Loop

Grahamu

I will try and post our monthly summaries on this thread starting with August 2023. Our first planned day on the Loop turned into a weather day due to strong winds on Lake Simcoe so our journey started on Monday August 14/23 from Lefroy Resort and Marina and on August 31/23 were anchored in The Pool which is at the end of Baie Fine the longest fresh water fjord in the world. We are now in The North Channel for a few days.



Above is our track for the month. There is a small gap of 20 miles due the transponder accidently being turned off.
Summary for August.
317 miles, 47 engine hours, 17 genset hours, 130 galls of diesel approx.
8 nights on a paid dock, 2 nights on a free dock, 8 nights at anchor, 5 weather days (unable to travel)
I filled the fuel tanks in Honey Harbour and so will have a better readings of fuel usage on the next fill some where in Michigan.. There are no sight gauges on the tanks just a gauge at the engine panel.
The admiral has opened a Facebook thread under "Live de Life" and is posting to it regularly, this our only social media sight. You can also see our real time locations and cruises on the app Nebo Global, free app,
That's it for the first post, we are presently in Little Current and another weather day.

YYZRC

I thought maybe you were portaging for a bit there! Glad things are going well for you so far and I hope you keep updating here as Facebook is awful. 

mattie

Very cool. Enviable life experience.

LaRea

Graham is that screen shot from Nebo?

Grahamu

Yes, Nebo, I get daily and monthly summaries .

LaRea

I just watched some drone video of The Pool and Baie Fine.  It looks spectacular!

Willhound

That area is consistently named one of the most spectacular boating spots.

Grahamu

The north east Anchorage on South Benjamin Island is probably the highlight of the North Channel, spent 2 nights on anchor just amazing 

Grahamu

Today we leave Burnt River, ON in the North Channel which marks the furthest North we will travel on the Loop. Lat 46.10.69. We will be crossing the border into the US and clearing at Drummond Island, about a 5 hour cruise.

Grahamu

Filled the fuel tanks in Petoskey, MI. 180 gallons for 476 miles and 165 engine hours. I had estimated 0.4 GPM for budgeting the trip so am very close in GPM but I had estimated CDN$8.25/Gallon and it was $6.64/Gallon, a 20% savings. If prices stay the same that is a $3,500 under estimate. We are in Charlevoix,  MI for a couple of days. The Michigan marinas are top notch and after September 11 are half price, paid $35.00 for the night including 50 Amp service,  thought we might be anchoring some nights but will take advantage of the price. Weather is a problem on Lake Michigan and will be sitting out more weather days than I would like but we will not be leaving Chicago until October 16 due to lock closures so will pick our days.

LaRea

Do you run the genny underway? 

Grahamu

@LaRea, very rarely underway, I have a single burner camping butane stove that we use to boil the kettle or heat up a saucepan. If we are on anchor usually half hour in the morning and evening. 

LaRea

So you are getting a legit 2.6 mpg ... nice!

Grahamu

Here is the summary for September. We are nearing the end of our journey on Lake Michigan and this summary ends in Michigan City. Only anchored twice on this leg, the marinas in the north had some good discounts and places we thought we would anchor sometimes had high overnight winds. We are now in Hammond Marina, IN, for $203.00/week and will be here to around the 17th of October. Over 200 loopers waiting at this end of the lake for the locks to open. Diesel here is $3.99/Gal, filled up at that price.

Willhound

Following you on FB. Sacha does a great job with her pics and travelogue. Really appreciate the effort, probably as close as I'll ever come to doing it.

mattie

So awesome. 
I'm not on the 'book of faces'  I'll get my wife to follow on FB.

mattie

Grahamu

We got confirmation today that we have been moved up to flotilla 4 leaving Sunday. Need to get an oil and filter change along with tranny oil and fuel filters done today. Looking forward to the river systems. I'm not a FB guy either so Sacha is the social media person, I passed on @Willhound comments , she thanks you.

TonyG13

@Grahamu - Is Flotilla 4 this Sunday (10/8)? Or next Sunday (10/15)? Is there an update on the Amtrak bridge or will you clear it anyway?

Grahamu

@TonyG13, Flotilla 4 originally was due to leave the Joliet free wall on Oct 04 but the lock operators asked the AGLCA to delay everybody for 5 days as there were still some problems with the Dresden Lock. So we will leave Hammond, IN on Sunday to be on the wall for departure on Monday morning Oct 09.
I have heard the bridge maybe unrepairable making it impossible to go through Chicago downtown for most boats. I'm sure there will be a lot of pressure on Amtrak to fix it.

Grahamu

I have been remiss in not posting our journey down the river systems but there was always something to keep us busy. It has not been my favourite part of the loop. We did meet many loopers and have had some buddy boats also some great towns and remote anchorages. But it is over a 1000 miles of river banks, constant attention to navigation, and a lot of long days at the helm. The backlog in Chicago did not help but the flotillas worked well although you had to keep moving so those following had a safe place to for the night. We came into Mobile, AL yesterday and are now safe and secure at a marina in the bay. Some nasty weather coming in for the next few days so I will put together some details of our journey so far. Attached is a brief summary so far.
On another note the admirals Facebook page "Live de Life" which was public is now private, some ******** posted porn on it. She now has to approve any new person wanting to see her posts.

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The top speed is a hiccup when Nebo went down for a day.

LaRea

Interesting.  How do they coordinate the flotillas?  Does AGLCA do that?  Are the boats grouped by cruise speed?  I'm wondering if the go-fast boats might kick it up on plane during parts of that "1000 miles of river banks."

Grahamu

AGLCA organized 25+ flotillas of 12 to 15 boats per day and then a volunteer would become the leader and communicate with the lockmasters and determine rafting positions in the locks each day. After 3 days the groups started to split up with faster boats going ahead. Depending on distance between locks and commercial traffic some had to wait for slower boats to catch up. We were averaging 8 knots and in the lower river sections a number of faster boats gave us a slow pass, delivery captains for the most part also did that but we had 4 or 5 that just barreled by.
I was amazed at how high flood waters get in the rivers and shore erosion and fallen trees litter most of the rivers. To be standing on a dock and trying to imagine flood water 40 ft higher is mind boggling.

Grahamu

Stats for the river section:
1,331 miles from Hammond Marina, IN to Grand Mariner Marina Mobile bay, AL.
182 engine hours, 23 genset hours, 543 gallons of diesel, average price US$4.50.
Paid dockage 23 nights, at anchor 11 nights, free dock 2 nights. Average docking price US$1.40/ft.
3 GPH including genset, 2.45 MPG. Note engine hours include morning warmups and idling waiting for locks, we had 4 nights of below 32F. when cruising I set the RPM at 1750 and the MPH varies depending on downstream or upstream currents. Maximum speed was on the Mobile River at 12 MPH (falling tide) and slowest at the beginning of the Ohio River of 6.8 MPH. 

Willhound

As a stats junkie I love this. Congratulations on reaching salt water. Any plans on a longer term stay somewhere, like the Keys? Or just cruise around as the mood and weather strikes?

PickleRick

Got any crab pots on board and some raw chicken legs?

Grahamu

@Willhound, we are booked into Faro Blanco, Marathon, for the month of January.  Will be meeting friends on the west coast of Florida on the way down . Hoping to find some great anchorages and seafood.

PickleRick

Faro Blanco is walking distance from Ire Island eats!!!


Ever been to Marathon before? 

TonyG13

This is awesome! Please keep up the posts when you can.

How are you handling anodes going from fresh to salt water? Or are you just using aluminum as the catch-all?

Grahamu

@TonyG13   yes aluminum  which the PO used as well. They had not been changed since Florida a year ago, the main one on the transom was well worn but the shaft and bow thruster ware still good but changed.
@PickleRick yes many times in the eighties and recently on a road trip. Looking forward to all of the coast and keys

PickleRick

If you want any more recent recommendation spots to snorkel, paddle board or fish that are all near shore dont hesitate to ask.  By far my favorite place to visit.   Would love to go there by boat one day.  


So stock up on blue crab while you're up on the gulf!  To me they taste better than lobster or stone crab. 

Cableguy Greg

Sent a request for your Facebook page. Love watching people do the loop. I have some friends from Pittsburgh that started their journey last October, made it to the Erie Canal then turned back south for the winter due to the Illinois River lock closure. They weren’t going to be able to make it back to Pittsburgh before the marinas on the Ohio closed for the season, so they wouldn’t have dockage or fuel to get back up river.