Was it really that boring?
Could you elaborate on why you found it boring. Really curious to hear a different perspective.
It costs $30,000 or more to do the loop between fuel, marinas, maintenance, food, etc. At that price, a lot of people who did it aren't going to admit that it was anything but the most wonderful experience they've ever had. By far, the typical boater that we saw doing the loop had this experience:
- Retired in the beginning of the year
- Bought a boat in the spring
- Took off on the loop in June
- Listened to Curtis Stokes presentation at the AGLCA rendezvous in October about selling your boat (how many rendezvous have a featured presentation about that at their rendezvous?)
- Sale signs go up on the boat windows by the time they're in Mississippi
- The loop gets completed and they sell the boat
Curtis Stokes is a genius. The same boats get sold over and over - they even sell easier by being a "it completed the loop X times" boat.
If many of those boaters had done something more relaxing and had learned their boat a little more, they'd still be boating...probably in much nicer places.
So why it's boring...
There are parts of it that are wonderful. And my experiences are mine put through the prism of cruising in other areas for 13+ years, mostly full-time or fully-full-time. Specifically:
- The east coast and Chesapeake are wonderful cruising areas and although they are part of the loop, they are the areas that I think are much more enjoyable making up large areas where you can take time and fully explore areas.
- The Hudson River is wonderful - we'll do that again. You don't need to do the loop to cruise that area - there are multiple summer loops you can make between Lake Champlain, the Erie Canal, and back to nicer places south for the winter.
- The Erie Canal is fantastic although I think the western half is much nicer and generally off the loop circuit since 90%+ of loopers go up the Oswego Canal and miss the western Erie. The problem is time - you have to keep moving.
- Georgian Bay and the North Channel are marvelous. Their main problem is that you pretty much have to make the decision to complete the loop if you spend any time there.
(this is where it gets boring)
- The entire state of Michigan is like that Christmas movie where the same 24 hours happen over and over. From a lawsuit settlement over fuel, every marina is regulated. They're all the same. We lost track of where we were a few times - the way you know which town you're in happens by looking at the names on the tee shirts in the shops. Every town has them with the exact same tee shirts - just the town name is changed. There are some exceptions like Mackinac and Charlevoix but they are rare. And really, there's no time to stay a week or more to explore - you've got too many miles ahead of you and some specific dates to meet. Perhaps our mistake was staying in Michigan. I've heard that crossing the lake to Wisconsin is more enjoyable. Again though, time is short and you have to keep moving.
- The major rivers - Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio - are very, very commercial with many tugs and barges. You haven't seen barges until you've been on those rivers. It's common to see a tug and barge on the Chesapeake Bay. On the Mississippi, there'll be a tug pushing 5 barges across and 6 barges long (we saw that a few times). This while moving in your direction in 3 knots of current but going slower so you'll have to pass them. These rivers are, by far, the most dangerous cruising we saw through our 14 years. I believe this section just prior to the AGLCA rendezvous is what causes many loopers to realize this isn't for them and perhaps they should sell their boat.
- Because of the distances between facilities on the Mississippi, you are pretty-much forced to anchor off the river itself. This is a pretty dangerous and scary thing surrounded by many hours of tedious, boring, commercial river views. St Louis is a great stop although you really need to get there by rental car from Alton, etc because there aren't facilities to stop there. Otherwise, there are many hundreds of miles of boring, gray, commercial riverfront, punctuated by passing huge commercial vessels on winding rivers in more current than most people have ever traveled.
- Through the river travel, you'll be subjected to many locks. I found them interesting and fun. The difficult parts to them are the other inexperienced boaters who end up in your lockings. The maneuvers I saw over and over inside these locks was just amazing. Again, this causes the terror, I believe, that ends up with For Sale signs on the boats. If only the boaters had a few years of experience before attempting this major trip. And these locks can be big - 80 feet of drop. Imagine that with boats pulling away from the walls, turning sideways, seeing engine stalls on entering and departing the lock, etc.
- The Tenn-Tom is glorious with many interesting places. We were able to take a break in Bay Springs for 9 nights of beautiful weather, kayaking, dog walking, dinghy exploring, etc (our longest stop on the loop). But you see, that's the problem - it's hard to stop and stay anywhere for a while. With about 6,000 miles to cover, you have to be moving nearly every day. It's rare and difficult to stop for a week and really unwind. Instead, if you get an extra day somewhere, you'll be off again quickly because there are too many miles to make up. I also have to say that the Tenn-Tom is the first place that is reachable by not doing the loop - you can go there in the spring by heading up from Mobile. But if you do that, you'll have much more time to really see the different towns and areas.
- Mobile and the entire Gulf coast is also wonderful. And again, you can easily do that area with comfort and low pressure by just going there and not doing the loop.
I'm sure others have had different experiences. That's OK. It's not something I'm interested in debating. I'm happy to present an alternative view to the many Koolaid-inspired blog postings about doing the loop. If you spent the money and loved the Great Lakes and major rivers, good on ya. I doubt you'll go back but I'm honestly happy that you didn't sell your boat after those experiences (if you were one of the rare ones who didn't sell).
The people were great throughout the journey. But that's true everywhere. We often find ourselves in the middle of large groups because of ActiveCaptain so we see that everywhere. You don't need to subject yourself to so much travel and danger to get that.
My advice is that if you really want to do the loop, get a lot of experience first. Do the east coast from Maine to the Keys a few times. Go to the Bahamas a few times. If you then do the loop, you'll have the ability and experience to be safe. If instead you retire, buy a boat, and run off to do the loop, you, and more likely your wife, will get scared enough to give up boating forever.