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The Journey

What is “The Great Loop”?  

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The Great Loop is a circumnavigation of the eastern United States and part of Canada.  It is a 6000 +/- boat journey that, for us, starts in the Great Lakes (Lake Michigan), travels south through Chicago and onto the inland rivers passing through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and out to the Gulf, across to Florida, down to the Keys, a side-trip to the Bahamas, then back to Florida, up the eastern coast utilizing the intra-coastal waterway, through the New York State Canals, the Canadian Canals, the “Thousand Islands” and Georgian Bay,  and then back to the Great Lakes where we will close our loop – or “cross our wake” – and be back home in Lake Michigan.  

Our loop will consist of:

  • Traveling through at least 15 states and 3 countries –  USA, Canada, and the Bahamas
  • Take us on/through numerous waterways including;
    • Lake Michigan (home port = Seng’s Marina in Manistee Michigan)
    • Illinois River
    • Mississippi River
    • Ohio River
    • Tennessee River
    • Tenn-Tom Waterway
    • Mobile Bay
    • Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
    • Gulf of Mexico
    • Straits of Florida
      • cross the Gulf Stream
    • Atlantic Ocean to the Bahamas
    • Atlantic Intracoastal waterway
    • Chesapeake Bay
    • Atlantic Ocean again, from Cape May to New York Harbor
    • Hudson River
    • Erie Canal
    • Oswego Canal
    • Lake Ontario
    • Trent-Severn Canal
    • Georgian Bay
    • Lake Huron
    • and back home to Lake Michigan!

Generally, the Loop is done counter-clockwise so that, for the most part, you are going with the current in the inland rivers.  It is also a seasonal route; as you want to be “falling down” the inland rivers in the fall, spending the winter south in Florida/the Bahamas, “springing up” the east coast in the spring, and spending the summer in Canada/the Great Lakes.

Although the Loop has been done is as little as 6 weeks and as long as 12 years, the vast majority will complete their loops in about a year – which is what we intend to do.

We will be starting our Loop in early September 2024, and our goal is to complete our Loop and “cross our wake” in May or June of 2025.