New member, rookie sailor

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Hello, I am looking to retire and get a small trawler and do the great loop with my wife.
We are both rookies, no boating experience. Don't want to make dumb mistakes. Looking for sage advice.

 

[ScottRhodes13]

Make sure you listen to what your wife has to say about this. For too many of us, it's our dream, not hers.

 

[Davil1]

+1
Make sure you listen to what your wife has to say about this. For too many of us, it's our dream, not hers.

Sage comment

 

[kmacdonald]

Don't listen to your wife unless you want to stay at the dock.

 

[amapola]

Welcome aboard and greetings from SW Florida! As the wife, I agree. Life aboard must be a joint dream or it won't last. My advice is to start boating locally and gain experience before making a leap to the Great Loop.

 

[rgano]

Welcome aboard. Some of us here have lots of Loop, or most of it, experience and can help. There are also groups like America;s Great Loop Cruisers' Association which specialize in the topic.

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard. Take some boating classes.

 

[psneeld]

Many here didn't do the loop till after decades of serious cruising/boating experience.

Some people have done the loop as their first cruising experience and had a ball... I know a few that ended in disaster. No telling how many start and never finish...or even get started.

I wish you luck and you will need it if you decide to do the loop as your first serious cruise.

Now.... most of us usually say the loop is nothing more than a bunch of day cruises all linked together. And that is true in my mind. However, experience teaches you to plan ahead so weather, maintenance, life issues, etc...etc don't that a monkey wrench in at the worst time of cruising.

So while boating and the loop isn't all that tricky, complicate or dangerous.... one has to be keenly aware of pending dangers/issues and that is either an inherent personality trait or comes with lots of experience. I would suggest you look at buying and start with local cruising, gradually widening your radius until you have dozens of cruises that would mimic a days loop cruise before you start out. Some people get good in a year, maybe less....and some realize it is not for them or they are not for it.

 

[Mambo42]

Welcome aboard

 

[booomer4600]

Hello, I am looking to retire and get a small trawler and do the great loop with my wife.
We are both rookies, no boating experience. Don't want to make dumb mistakes. Looking for sage advice.

I did the loop in a sail catamaran. It's very relaxing. I went down from Chicago to Mobile Bay in about a month. You need to clear a 17 foot bridge in Chicago. But it's very beautiful. The current will push you along for most of the trip. The locks are really great. They have slip poles to tie off the boat so you can't mess up. After a storm the water levels will go up to twenty feet high. Good time to sit still and let it drop back down. The Marina's a long the way will generally have a loaner car to get supplies and go shopping. You will be bumping the bottom as you try to get into anchor spots. The charts can't keep up with erosion. You need a small second anchor to hold the back of the boat because the current going by will pull the boat away from shore into the current. Get and use AIS. The barge traffic can't stop or steer around you. They are over twenty barges lashed to one tug boat. Only pass them in a straight part of the river. Fun trip. The Gulf of Mexico was calm for weeks.

 

[auskiwi]

Agree, make sure your wife is onboard with your dream, my wife actually suggested we do the loop, cant get better than that, 50yrs married.

 

[mvweebles]

......Don't want to make dumb mistakes. Looking for sage advice.

Can't help you with dumb mistakes. I make them all the time. And you'll get a befuddling smorgasbord of sage advice such as:

Don't get a boat that's too small.
Don't get a boat that's too big.

You need a nordhavn/selene/kadey krogen
Almost any boat will due

You can drive a fast boat slow but you can't drive a slow boat fast.... .except you shouldn't drive a fast boat slow too often.

Bring plenty of spares.
Don't bring too many spares.

You need a standup engine room.
Standup engine room is nice but not necessary

Gotta have full walk around side decks for line handling
99% of time boat is docked/anchored. I'd rather have a large saloon

Twin engines give you redundancy
Single engines are easier to maintain so you don't need twins

You need a big/fast dinghy
A small dinghy works fine.

Change your oil every 100 hours
Change your oil every 250 hours

Bring plenty of provisions.
Don't worry about provisioning.

You need years of experience to run a boat.
Just do it - it's not that hard to run a boat.​

Welcome aboard. Follow your nose and focus on the lifestyle, not the boat. When you're old and decrepit, confined to a wheelchair with a colostomy bag and drool stains on your open-back hospital gown, the memory that will pierce the dim fog won't be a boat: it will be the places and good times spent with your wife and the friends you made along the way.

Try not to overthink this. Be realistic with your budget and try not to scope-creep too much You can't avoid dumb mistakes. But you can embrace them and learn from them.

Peter

 

[psneeld]

Peter.... excellent summary of literally taking advice from TF.

Starting to think of TF as going to an addiction meeting. We all have the same problem but different views, strong opinings in many cases and often need a moderator to keep us on track.

But what works for one, certainly doesn't apply or work for all.....

 

[Finally Fun Again]

Hello, I am looking to retire and get a small trawler and do the great loop with my wife.
We are both rookies, no boating experience. Don't want to make dumb mistakes. Looking for sage advice.

Been in your 'boat'. We had small boats (bow rider on lake) and my dream, after chartering in the BVI's 3X, was to buy a trawler and cruise. Hubby agreed. We spent 3 years taking lots of TrawlerFest classes, I took a week long class with a female Captain and 3 other ladies aboard a Trawler learning how to check the oil, navigation, docking...all hands on. I highly recommend chartering a trawler (available still in BVI's) and trying it out. Take every class you can and walk a lot of boats before deciding what you want to live aboard on. We did all that, found our 'perfect' boat (50'DeFever) and took off. Cruised for nearly 6 years from Canada (Rideau/Richelieu Canals) wintered in Key West and Bahamas for several years and then off through the Caribbean to Grenada and back (insurance reasons), Those were the best years of our lives. First year is FULL of 'oh sh,t' moments, but were the most hilarious. Here is my blog if you want to read about our decisions, our locations, our travels. Just Do It. Finally Fun!. Sharon

 

[Moonfish]

Can't help you with dumb mistakes. I make them all the time. And you'll get a befuddling smorgasbord of sage advice such as:

Agree with psneeld, great summary post! In fact, it should be required reading for first time posters on TF!

 

[grandbanksbayfield]

Hello, I am looking to retire and get a small trawler and do the great loop with my wife.
We are both rookies, no boating experience. Don't want to make dumb mistakes. Looking for sage advice.

Go to the Ontario North Channel and charter a boat for a week and see how it goes. Anchoring, underwater shelves of rock, where to get fresh milk if you run out, count your meds before you leave, see how the boat you chartered fits. Think about the mail adding up at home and how you would get it if you were gone for months. Be sure the boat has good AC -- summers are getting miserably hot even at high latitudes. Take a folding cart with you because grocery stores are no longer in town where the marina is - no they are out on the main highway 1 -2 miles away. In spite of all this, we cruise the Great Lakes extensively in our GB32 and have a great time. You might too!