Start to Finish (chronological)

We haven’t been there, we haven’t done it but we got the shirt!  Over 520 boats are registered to do America’s Great Loop this year, many listed here.  Can you find Flying Colors? Here’s a short video clip on “The Loop” we thought you might enjoy: I’ve said my goodbyes, I’ve gotten over the days of…

Ok the first day it was just great to get some firsts behind us…made it through Kinni, under Prescott rr bridge, first lock #3, side by side with big tow right in entry to Lake Pepin, docking in first destination Parkside marina in Wabasha with 5 feet of water and lots of green. Realized how…

Wind gusts to 35 mph made our five locks a test for the captains. A highlight was a tow captain actually invited us to pass his 8 barges so we could beat him to the lock…and he actually powered down the tow so we could make the pass. Experimenting with this nebo link of some…

80+ miles today at 9 knots. A most beautiful part of the river with broad grassy areas, backwaters and migrating waterfowl. The three locks were all waiting for us. Got a call on the radio at Guttenberg and it was a Great Loop harbor host reaching out to welcome us – they saw our looper…

Curt and Marjorie led today, last day of traveling with our friends before they head back upstream on Monday, and we go the other way (at least that is the plan) More marshes today at times felt like we were traveling in a swamp – but the scenery was great. We had time to have…

Our rest day ended up busy. Three more great loopers stopped by to chat. Took 90 minutes to pump in 225 gallons of diesel. Gas dock was slammed as many marinas have low water but Dubuque harbor is deep. Then we spent enjoyable afternoon at the River Museum, then I washed down the boat some…

Curt and Marjorie came to our boat at 7:15am with a card and nice bottle of wine to send us off on the next 6,750 miles of our trip. As planned, they turned north and we turned south out of Ice Harbor, each on our own now. I was not happy when our last lock…

I explored every option to find a dock around Muscatine. Finally got ok from the city to use river side dock that looked good on google earth. After a long day we got in site of it and it was a mess. Most was on land due to the low water. Two teenagers warned us…

Left our anchorage just after 7 am. We actually slept, anchor alarm gave peace of mind, and shiny anchor came up without a hitch. Confidence building. With a long day and a fuel truck scheduled tomorrow I put the boat up on plane and did some wide open throttle runs to get those Cummins diesels…

We enjoyed a day on the wall at the Keokuk Yacht Club.  They are a friendly bunch and their clubhouse was open for drinks and dinner, 100 feet from the boat. They have a burgee collection including one from the St. Croix Yacht Club.   Last week it took all the focus I had to “launch”…