Two questions regarding the Great Loop

[O C Diver]

Another approach that is quite common with Loopers, is to buy a proven looper boat, do the Loop, and sell it. Most invest under $150K finance it and then put it on the market near the end of the Loop. Ideally you loose modestly between buying, selling, boat loan interest, and broker's fee. Curtis Stokes does a good business flipping Loop boates, having sold the same boat a number of times. It's not for everyone, but just another option.

Scan the linked page below. Boats that have done the Loop are tagged in the upper left corner.

Buy Trawlers for Sale - Curtis Stokes Yacht Brokerage

Ted

 

[fgarriso]

Bill,

If I was to pick out, or design the boat that had the perfect engine room, it would have the following. Remember this would be IMHO, and may not work for everyone.

1. Full walk in access with water tight doors on both ends.

2. 6'- 6.5' of head room so you wouldn't have to duck under things.

3. The layout would have a single 6 cyl diesel of 300-400 HP. With full walk around service room and guard rails. The engine would be like a CAT or John Deere that had 3 small cylinder heads for easy removal and replacement. I would want spare cyl packs that would have replaceable sleeves with piston and rods with bearings. I still favor mechanical operated injection systems for their simplicity. The newer electronic controlled engines have their advantages and issues.

4. I would want a Northern Lights 15-20Kw generator in a sound box, and then a smaller 4-5 Kw for night use. Still keeping in mind full access for for service.

5. 1000 to 1500 gal of fuel in two tanks with oversize fuel lines, and fuel polishing and transfer system. In that way you could pick and choose where and when to buy fuel.

6. Lots of 12VDC and 120VAC lights, you can never get enough light.

7. Tool boxes with a work bench and cabinets to store spares and supplies.

8. High gloss white paint everywhere.

9. Air intake and exhaust systems that have 12VDC fans with auto shutdown systems. The intake and exhaust should be vented above the main house to prevent down flooding.

10. Automatic Halon fire systems with VERY loud alarms.

11. large 8-D battery banks on pull out trays for easy service.

I know this is just a starting point, and would need several options added but is a good place to start.

 

[fgarriso]

If you can fold up and sleep in a drawer, don't eat much, likes to cook and dont want to get paid, we might be able to work out a deal.

Let me think about this.

It needs to be a large drawer. I am 6' 230 lbs.
I need to eat to maintain my size, or buy all new uniforms.
Pay is flexible $75 to $200K may work out depending on the hours of service. I may find an Engineer for $60 to $150 K.

When do you want to start ??????????

 

[OldDan1943]

Let me think about this.

It needs to be a large drawer. I am 6' 230 lbs.
I need to eat to maintain my size, or buy all new uniforms.
Pay is flexible $75 to $200K may work out depending on the hours of service. I may find an Engineer for $60 to $150 K.

When do you want to start ??????????

Not even in your dreams. LOL

 

[fgarriso]

Not even in your dreams. LOL

Good done deal. Just send my annual salary to my wife plus 25% surcharge. ( She spends it all anyway )

The surcharge is because she always over spends.

 

[OldDan1943]

Good done deal. Just send my annual salary to my wife plus 25% surcharge. ( She spends it all anyway )

The surcharge is because she always over spends.

English is your second or third language? LOL

 

[moparharn]

Great laundry list for an engine room

Only problem is is sounds like 75 feet and 750,000 dollars. ?. You never really know. There could be an affordable boat in my size range that has something close to this. This kind of set up would give me peace of mind at sea, and a whole lot less swearing when working on the mechanical systems. I like to swear, but don’t care for the frustrations that lead to it. Moisture issues and a dirty bilge/below decks are big turn offs for me. I think both represent a lack of proper maintenance and care for the boat. Over time and left unchecked it spreads like a cancer and destroys the boat.

 

[psneeld]

Having worked on some larger boats (up to 65) but with standup engine rooms, etc.... big doesn't mean easy.



Almost all of them have been harder to work on than my current boat (because I have laid out all the systems to be accessible).


Some boats come factory that are easy and some near impossible...again...size has little to do with it...even though it should.

 

[fgarriso]

This a picture of what I am talking about. Clean, good layout, 6' headroom, everything accessible.
On a 50 footer

 

[OldDan1943]

Remember when you are putting on stores for your loop trip, they do have grocery stores along the way.

 

[psneeld]

Nice if you can get it....can't see all systems but maybe all nicely accessible.

This a picture of what I am talking about. Clean, good layout, 6' headroom, everything accessible.
On a 50 footer

 

[moparharn]

I might have to report you!

That is some of the best boat porn I have ever seen!
I can only imagine the price tag associated with an engine room like that.

 

[moparharn]

Not to jump too far off this engine room conversation

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2002/president-42-3548064/?refSource=standard%20listing

I thought this boat was really nice. I don’t know anything about them, but what beautiful boat. It also has a nice engine room. A few miles from my house.

 

[hollywood8118]

This a picture of what I am talking about. Clean, good layout, 6' headroom, everything accessible.
On a 50 footer

its a nordhavn isn't it?
hollywood

 

[charles]

Two good questions Cap.


My wife and I did the Great Circle Cruise the loop as many say in 5 seasons.
We did not miss much!. At the end of each season we left the boat in a yard where ever we stopped, had it hauled and shrink wrapped. One or two seasons we did not know exactly where we would stop, just found a place on the way---easier than it sounds.
If you want more detail contact me.


You do want to make it comfortable for your wife, as comfortable as is needed and I cannot stress this enough. My wife really enjoyed the trip.


I suggest that the most dangerious thing that one can have on a boat is A SCHEDULE. Period. It will make life miserable for you---and your wife. You will go when you should stay and stay when you should go.
On more than one occasion we stayed at anchor for a week or more through bad weather, just slow down and enjoy it.


My wife's rule was that if the wind was 10 MPH we are staying here! She was always right.


Another thing do not be ashamed of leaving in the morning and turning back due to uncomfortable sea state, not that i did NOT say dangerious, just uncomfortable. Recall that you are there to have FUN, not be miserable or scared.


Once in the North Channel we turned back 3 days in a row and just enjoyed the new anchorage each day.


About the multi year trip, why not? For instance I was told by a boating friend in the Chessy that we had spent one week there for EACH DAY most cruisers and that was just that year, the following spring another two or three weeks.


CCC

 

[ben2go]

All this boat talk about 50 feet length, 17-foot span, walk-in engine room, 6-foot draft. I can't believe I would ever consider doing the loop on a 28-foot boat with a 8.5-foot beam, less than 3-foot draft, 38hp engine, no flybridge, and bare minimum electronics. I must be a madman.

 

[psneeld]

Doing the loop in a boat that can go places others can't certainly merits thinking about seriously. The loop based on time and exposure/schedule in big water.


If I we're gonna do the loop, I would seriously consider extremely shallow draft/even trailerability....but that's me.


Crossing an ocean or a cruise to Alaska....a BIG boat. Sure not the same as being "close" to the water....but I have cruised enough on big and small to know the advantages/disadvantages of both.


There are always multiple ways to look at any challenge....and tradeoffs. ..


Thus my comments on "musts".....

 

[ben2go]

Doing the loop in a boat that can go places others can't certainly merits thinking about seriously. The loop based on time and exposure/schedule in big water.


If I we're gonna do the loop, I would seriously consider extremely shallow draft/even trailerability....but that's me.


Crossing an ocean or a cruise to Alaska....a BIG boat. Sure not the same as being "close" to the water....but I have cruised enough on big and small to know the advantages/disadvantages of both.


There are always multiple ways to look at any challenge....and tradeoffs. ..


Thus my comments on "musts".....

You mention some of the reasons I am building a boat over buying. When the locks close for repairs, I can easily trailer my boat around them without missing much if anything. When I want to go else where, I can tow there with a one-ton truck. When/if, it's a dry year, I can still float on (Modest Mouse reference).


When I learned about gunkholing and the GL, many stories I read where people couldn't go with their boats because of a deep draft. I decided to buy/build a boat to reach those shallow places. If I would have stuck to my original plan, I would be building Sitka with an 11-inch hull draft with the outboard up. I'm settling for a 30 inch draft so I'll have some fuel economy.

 

[moparharn]

I have a background in sea kayaking. I prefer the big water, and when done like to go coastal for swimming. A small boat will not work for me unless there is great headroom, wide side decks, walk in engine room, etc etc. I have had smaller boats my whole life minus my current Bertram 35 and Commander 36. It is time for some room. A four foot draft should work fine for me. Nearly all of my favorite spots in the Great Lakes will accommodate that. Two staterooms with two heads and one dry shower, spacious saloon, spacious galley, big swim platform with transom door and walk around outside security, quality driveline, eight knot cruise, bow thruster, and good sea keeping. All for say...... on the house! Perfect.

 

[psneeld]

Many of my requirements for a comfortable liveaboard...and certainly a loop boat can have them. Am living on one right now that pretty much fits that description.


But after 8 years of living and cruising on her....I am not sure if I would loop it or prefer something else...just for looping then sell.


Have given it a tremendous amount of thought and still thinking.



When you say "big water" I am getting mixed thoughts...much of the loop has components of "big water" but what most of it is about is "little water" unless you skip a lot of it.

 

[moparharn]

Big water

My preference for kayaking is well offshore and in big waves and deep water. I kayak in the ice during winter and enjoy the raw beauty of it all. It is exciting and not to be approached without some hard and fast rules. I am not reckless, just expressing a personality trait more than a boat requirement. Most of my boating other than a loop or cruise will be in Northern Michigan. Given my lack of fear in big water I would not be surprised to see some in whatever boat I purchase. Whatever I purchase must have some degree of big water capability and general good sea keeping/seaworthiness. I have some lifelong experience with Great Lakes maritimers who have traveled the world, but mostly the Great Lakes in commercial shipping. The level of respect the salties give a Great Lakes gale is not to be underestimated. Even Lake Erie will beat you senseless, and given the lower speed of what I am looking at the boat must be able to handle it until I can get to better water. I owned a Commander 29 flybridge once that was so scary in a following sea that I sold it as quickly as I bought it. I do not like screaming from the crew when I am trying navigate. My current Bertram eats everything up. Yeah, that’s right, everything. Great boat, just too small in all the right places. Fuel consumption is too high for a loop also. Sorry for the long explanation. Bill

 

[BandB]

Doing the loop in a boat that can go places others can't certainly merits thinking about seriously. The loop based on time and exposure/schedule in big water.


If I we're gonna do the loop, I would seriously consider extremely shallow draft/even trailerability....but that's me.

Wifey B: That's a reminder of how much value our RIB had on the loop as we could go cruising in all those additional areas in it. All it requires is 2' of water.

 

[JLD]

I guess that I'm abnormal, as I just want to do half a loop, when I retire in the next 2 - 3 years!

We have been thinking about an express cruiser, Sundancer 360/380, and running from the Chesapeake Bay, up the Hudson, across the Erie Canal, the Trent Severn, the Georgian Bay, and finally down Lake Michigan to Chicago. Figure this would be a nice 3 month, 2500 mile excursion. Then haul the boat home to either the Chesapeake Bay or maybe down to Florida.

Been thinking the last couple of weeks, however, that maybe it would be fun to have an Island Packet 31/32 sailboat, do a full refit, truck it to Chicago and then sail up Lake Michigan, sail the Georgian Bay, drop the mast and motor the Trent Severn, the Erie Canal, restep the mast and sail from Albany down the Hudson, back to the Chesapeake Bay.

So many choices, so little time!

Jim

 

[ben2go]

I guess that I'm abnormal, as I just want to do half a loop, when I retire in the next 2 - 3 years!

We have been thinking about an express cruiser, Sundancer 360/380, and running from the Chesapeake Bay, up the Hudson, across the Erie Canal, the Trent Severn, the Georgian Bay, and finally down Lake Michigan to Chicago. Figure this would be a nice 3 month, 2500 mile excursion. Then haul the boat home to either the Chesapeake Bay or maybe down to Florida.

Been thinking the last couple of weeks, however, that maybe it would be fun to have an Island Packet 31/32 sailboat, do a full refit, truck it to Chicago and then sail up Lake Michigan, sail the Georgian Bay, drop the mast and motor the Trent Severn, the Erie Canal, restep the mast and sail from Albany down the Hudson, back to the Chesapeake Bay.

So many choices, so little time!

Jim

Unless something happens, I plan to leave SC and spend a year to 18 months doing roughly half the loop, maybe 3/4. I've seen a lot below KY along the Miss down and around FL back up to SC. My idea is to pull out between St. Louis, MO and Paducah, KY and trailer to Columbia River in Washington state to do the inside passage up to Alaska.



I agree. So many choices and so little time.

 

[O C Diver]

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2002/president-42-3548064/?refSource=standard%20listing

I thought this boat was really nice. I don’t know anything about them, but what beautiful boat. It also has a nice engine room. A few miles from my house.

That's a very nice boat.

Do you have a budget for your trip yet? Earlier in the thread you were indicating that some of the boats mentioned were out of the price range. Then you indicated you would be staying in marinas. It's none of my business, but you might be surprised what you can spend in a year on a fast boat doing the Loop by day and staying in marinas at night. I not telling you what boat to buy or how you should spend your money, but there have been a number of people that were focused on the boat purchase and blindsided by everything else cost.

Ted

 

[moparharn]

Good points all of them.

Ted,
You raise a thoughtful point. I suppose I have not give this enough thought. I assumed that I am going to spend money whether inland or sea. Marinas are probably not cheap, and neither is a fast boat. I hope to find a slow boat with an excellent single engine. We would be on the hook 10-30% of the time if I had to guess today. I am seven years away by my best guess. Every single word I have written in this thread is a best guess. I am doing this to tap into excellent resource such as yourself. The more input into this now, the more likely this dream is to happen. Including my wife in this investigative process is also key. We will need to do some cruising in the next seven years with a first, or possibly last, trawler. I shared the listing on the local trawler because I thought it was really nice. The price is currently a no go, but maybe someday who knows. That LePage looked like a good first trawler, but time spent here makes me question that. Right now I am in sponge mode. Asking and listening. Thank you so very much for sharing your knowledge with me. All of you. I am grateful and I hope I have not frustrated to many of you with my ignorance.

Does anyone know if there are trawler rentals is vacation spots. I would assume there is something in Georgian Bay and maybe the keys?

 

[O C Diver]

Does anyone know if there are trawler rentals is vacation spots. I would assume there is something in Georgian Bay and maybe the keys?

These people are well regarded and a number of people on this forum have used them.

https://www.swfyachts.com/

Ted

 

[Bigsfish]

Once again Ted is spot on. I have heard nothing except good things about these people from friends who have used them. A good way to learn.

 

[ranger58sb]

Ted,
You raise a thoughtful point. I suppose I have not give this enough thought. I assumed that I am going to spend money whether inland or sea. Marinas are probably not cheap, and neither is a fast boat. I hope to find a slow boat with an excellent single engine. We would be on the hook 10-30% of the time if I had to guess today.

We gain fuel economy just by going slow... when sea states permit. But then it can become a trade-off between fuel costs and marina costs (go slow, better fuel economy but make less mileage, stop in marinas more often, etc.) unless that whole anchor-out thing works. I could save more by anchoring out 75% of the time, but that's sometimes a hard sell.

-Chris