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Old 08-25-2018, 12:58 PM   #11
BandB
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City: Fort Lauderdale. Florida, USA
Join Date: Jan 2014
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As Diver pointed out, at best it's a sampling. Someone mentioned it was as if people were on a mission and I think some are. They take the shortest route and miss so much. However, there is one forced mission and that is forced by climate. You really only have 4 months to do the northern portion, from the Hudson to the Illinois.

I think there should be more attention to the inland rivers. We stopped on the TN River so we could then explore it and the Cumberland and next time we intend to do the Ohio and Missouri and then the Arkansas.

I think many loopers don't see much of what is on land where they go as they're on so quickly to the next stop. I'd suggest more emphasis on land attractions.

Diver's the only other looper we've known recently to see Lake Superior. Back to his description of sampling. What we did on each lake was listed all the places we'd like to see. Then we'd say, we have 20 days for this section and that means we have time to really see 7 locations so we'll pick these 7 this time through.

We didn't loop as if it's our last time, or only time, just our first time. We fully intend to do it again in probably 2020 or 2021. First time was 2016.

You can't do the NE coast and the loop in the same year. Can't even do the Chesapeake justice. They all need separate trips. Climate dictates. The year of the loop you need to be ready to hit the canal on May 15. That doesn't give you much decent temperature to get there. We made that trip as a delivery type run, exploring the coast other times.

Someone mentioned St. Lawrence vs. the Erie route, which is mostly overlooked as an option. Many loop boats are not conducive to the trip around Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. It does require extra sea worthiness

Also, it takes more time than the Erie route to Lake Ontario or to Lake Erie. We did this trip this year as part of going up and back down the coast, not part of the loop.

I'd say the treatment of other places and routes is important as the emphasis is generally on the shortest route. That means no Lake Ontario, no Lake Superior, no Georgian Bay, no Lake Cumberland, Ohio or most of the Tennessee.

I look at the loop as the time to explore cruising grounds apart from your norm. If you're an East Coast cruiser then don't waste May on the East Coast. If you're a Lake Michigan cruiser then don't spend loop time on Lake Michigan.
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