Browsing: Great Loop

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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John Hauck, 82, Completes Great Loop Again, Alone

John Hauck, 82, just completed the Great Loop, again, by himself. Hauck finished the Loop, crossing his wake, 132 days after he left Demopolis, Alabama, on his Rosborough RF-246 named Grumpy. For Hauck, the second Loop came almost two years after he completed it the first time, on Aug. 2, 2019, after he had cruised 6,303 miles in 110 days. He spent most of the time by himself on that trip, although a lady friend joined him for a short spell. A retired Army special forces major who flew Cobra helicopter gunships for the 101st Airborne in the Vietnam war, Hauck…

Cruising Life
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Erie Canal Closed at Lock 17 in Little Falls, NY

The Erie Canal is closed at Lock 17, in Little Falls, New York (between Albany and Utica), because the door is stuck. Canal officials bought in huge cranes from Pennsylvania to work on the lifting mechanism that operates the lower lock gate. The lift-mechanism on the guillotine-style door on Lock 17 is broken. Apparently the cranes will be used to deal with the counterweight. In a Notice to Mariners, the New York State Canal Corporation said “the full repair is expected to take an extended period as mechanical parts, specific to this historic infrastructure, must be designed and custom fabricated.”…

Cruising Life
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Mississippi Reopens After Crack Found in Memphis Bridge

The Coast Guard has reopened the Mississippi to river traffic three days after it was closed because of a structural crack in the Hernando de Soto Bridge in Memphis. More than 45 tugs hauling 700 barges had been waiting for clearance on both sides of the bridge. We don’t have any word about how many recreational boats also were affected by the closure. The Coast Guard closed the river to all traffic between mile 736 and 737 after a crack was found in one of two 900-feet-long  horizontal steel beams that are critical to the bridge’s integrity. Authorities said repairs…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Grumpy About Half Way Through Loop, Again

Here’s an update about John Hauck, the retired Army Special Forces major and helicopter pilot who says he’s going to celebrate his 82nd year by completing the Great Loop, solo, for the second time, on his 25-foot Rosborough Grumpy. Hauck completed his first trip around the Great Loop on Aug. 2, 2019, crossing his wake back in his home port of Demopolis, Alabama, traveling 6,303 miles in 110 days. He started his second trip, also in Demopolis, on March 10. Earlier this week, Hauck was tied up at the marina at the Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Virginia, having run…

Cruising Life
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CBC: “No Plan” To Reopen Border with Canada

The U.S.-Canadian border is still closed, leading to a lot of frustration by cruising people in both countries, including many who want to enjoy some of the most beautiful parts of the Great Loop on the Canadian side. On the west coast, cruising boat owners also want to go above the San Juans, or just over to Victoria, and are waiting for word that the border will reopen. The problem is, nobody seems to have a grip on when that will happen. Here’s a new story from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) that says there actually is no plan right now: The…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Grumpy Takes on the Great Loop – Again

John Hauck, a retired Army Special Forces major and helicopter pilot, doesn’t know when to quit. Not even two years ago, on Aug. 2, 2019, he completed the Great Loop on his 25-foot Rosborough named Grumpy when he was 80 years old. Now he’s at it again. Earlier this week, Hauck loaded Grumpy at the dock behind his lake house in Titus, Alabama (pictured above), and trailered it 125 miles to Demopolis, where he launched it in the Tombigbee River to start the loop one more time. He will turn 82 next month. “You guessed it,” he wrote on his…

Destinations
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Good News for the Erie Canal…Maybe

There seems to be the prospect of good news for people planning to cruise on the historic Erie Canal this summer. It is scheduled to be open from mid-May to mid-October, according to Gil Quiniones, the president of the New York Power Authority; the Authority has owned the New York State Canal Corporation since 2017. First opened in 1825, the Erie Canal runs 363 miles from Albany, on the Hudson, to Buffalo, on Lake Erie, a crucial waterway for cruisers on the Great Loop. (Another section runs up to Lake Champlain, leading to Canada, for anyone cruising to the St.…

Boat Reviews
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Beneteau Swift Trawler 41: A 24-knot Family Cruiser

Beneteau’s new Swift Trawler 41 is the Goldilocks of coastal cruisers: It’s large enough to hold a crowd, but it’s small enough to be handled easily by a couple. The Swift Trawler 41 does indeed have a lot of living and entertaining space, inside and out, but it’s also a seaworthy cruising boat, giving a stable and comfortable ride throughout the speed range. And it’s easy to handle around a dock, with bow and stern thrusters. Experienced cruisers also will appreciate the side door next to the helm that gives immediate access to the starboard side deck, for help with…

Cruising Life
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Lock Closures on Illinois River Start on July 1

The Illinois River stretches 327 miles, from Chicago down to Grafton, Illinois, where it connects to the Mississippi. It’s a major part of the Great Loop; in fact, it’s the only way to get from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico. But there are eight aging dams and locks on the river, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has scheduled closings this summer and fall for long-overdue maintenance. Some of the closings, when no vessels will be able to transit, start on July 1 and run as long as Oct. 29. Here’s the…

Charter
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Spend a Night, or More, on a Grand Banks in Beaufort, NC

Jan and Lee Rychel finished the Great Loop in January, 2019, on their Grand Banks 46 Shangri-La, but they didn’t want to give up their lifestyle. In fact, they liked it so much they wanted to share it. So they opened an onboard B&B, called Bed & Breakfast On A Boat, in Beaufort, North Carolina, and they’ve now expanded it to include chartered overnight cruises and trawler training. The Rychels have been living on board since 2016, when Lee retired after more than 30 years in the home furnishing business. He had grown up on the Great Lakes and had…

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