The Great Loop, Any HP Boats Do It?
 

Been watching some YouTube videos of people doing the loop in cruisers but has anyone run it in a go fast boat? Not going to be in my near future but was curious if I should make plans on going cruiser route or plan on doing go fast route.

on my bucket list to :D It would be cool to do it in a percormance boat. didn't Berkely Breathed do it in his Cougar or something like that? Not sure what I would prefer but a big part of me is saying big 'ol lumbering cruiser .. . . . .

I think an ideal boat would be a 30' twin step Cig Mystique w/ 496's. reliable power, great cruising speed, rough water capable, and a small enough size for the Erie canal. This is definitely on my bucket list. I would love to do the loop in a go fast!

It is on my list of things to do when I retire. The problem with a performance boat doing it is one section there is no place to get fuel for 400+ miles. So unless you have that kind of range, it is not feasible.

lots of no wake zones, rent a trawler

Diesel go fast cruiser.

Either a restored 40 Magnum, Formula 400SS, or Nor-Tech 43 Monte Carlo.

Yes it is on my bucket list too.

Just curios, what area on the loop is this the case?

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there's a 30 foot cat that I know that can be fitted with 400 gallons of fuel evenly weighted in the boat.
consists of twin 150 gallon built in + bow and stern fuel cells.

if you want to be out of the elements, the same cat can be fitted with a canopy
www.predatorpowerboats.com

where to sleep in a 30 foot cat?
the cabin can be built out to sleep in.

will not rock left or right as much as a deep-V

can be fitted with small outboards , say twin 150HP Merc 4 strokes
like this all new 150 http://www.mercurymarine.com/engines...urstrokes/150/

will not be super fast in the loop, but will be much faster than cruisers.

and when the loop trip is completed, sell the engines and replace with 300XS and you still have a 100+MPH cat

on my bucket list as well :)



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I have done 90 % + of it in various go fast boats over several years. Most of it was done in the 1990's. The two pieces I'm missing are the Hudson between Lake Ontario and Troy where there are 50+ locks which I refuse to do and from Chicago to where the Ohio River meets the Cumberland. I have all the charts and always planned ahead with the boat in a marina each night and me in a comfortable bed in a hotel room. LOL I have lots of archived pictures and have written about some of the legs in the past. Very interesting to do ….. but once is enough. LOL

Bob

Here are a few pics from the time I went from Cincinnati down the Ohio River and Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway to Mobile, AL in the Formula 419.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2858/1...cfa1a239_o.jpg
IMG_2882.JPG by bobthebuilder707, on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3674/1...6c496f3c_o.jpg
File0010 by bobthebuilder707, on Flickr

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5537/1...d97af091_o.jpg
File0002 by bobthebuilder707, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7378/1...e8b7b97b_o.jpg
File0007 by bobthebuilder707, on Flickr

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2827/1...c1e822ec_o.jpg
File0003 by bobthebuilder707, on Flickr

Bob, you are my hero. I love reading the stories about your travels. You put a lot of thought and details into your stories.

Last November we rented a 43' Grand Banks out of Sarasota for a week (to see how well we liked that sort of thing) and took the inter coastal down to Sanibel and back. It was cool, but it was much too slow for me. The scenery just doesn't change that fast at 8 mph, and there was plenty to look at. I would think that on the great loop there would be stretches of hundreds of miles that could be pretty boring. Even a boat that planed out at 30 or 40 mph would be better, in my opinion. That said, a boat that would do that would be plenty cozy so maybe it would not be worth it.

Renting a trawler for a week or to to test the waters is a whole lot better than buying one and then finding out that it is not for you.

FWIW:
www.greatloop.com
www.greatloop.org
www.captainjohn.org

The lower Mississippi, from memphis Tenn. and south, seems to be where there is a lack of fuel/marinas-according to the websites listed. I think it is great that Bob has done most of it. Perhaps he can chime in on Marinas/fuel in these areas?

back in 96 my parents had a 56' Bluewater cruiser and we found classes and a group of people that were going to navigate the great loop the next year. we attended the classes and added extra fuel tanks to the boat but then the trip was canceled do to storms that were happening at the time the trip was supposed to start so we never ended up doing it. Our route was going to take around two months to get from Memphis, tn to New York city then leave the boat there till the next year and do the rest of the loop. Seeing a lot of the sites along the way. Would have been a cool trip to do.

What is the speed record around the loop?
If someone wants to do the great loop in a fast boat and pay the expenses me and chris will take them on the trip and they can be with us setting the speed record around the great loop.

If it is around 5,000 miles and we could average 80 mph when running the trip could be done in around 3-4 days. I'm sure the record is probably a month or more, so we could run 8-10 hours a day stop several places to see sights stay in hotels each night and have a few days of just stopped taking a break and could still do it in less then two weeks and set the record.

What would be really cool is to find a poker run one weekend in New Orleans or somewhere around that area and then find one in new York, Chicago, Detroit or that area the next weekend and hit both of them on the way.

Tyson, that is not a speed run. Bring lots of bail money as you will end up in jail every day. LOL The locks will just kill your average speed and will look more like 20 MPH instead of 80. LOL Any poker runs would only make up 2% of the total mileage. Forget that and get on with breaking my KW - Cancun - KW record or San Fran to LA or Chicago to Detroit would be more meaningful.

Bob

Expenses:
The great loop around 5000 miles
add 500 miles for scenic detours to see stuff and spend 10-14 days doing the trip staying at hotels.

5500 miles at 1.5 mpg= 3,666 gallons * $5.00 per gallon diesel just to be safe. $18,333
dockage 13 nights $50.00 per night average. (some free, some expensive) $ 650
Hotels 13 nights 3 rooms $150.00 per night average. (some cheep, some more). $ 5,850
Food drinks ect. (stopping at restaurants for lunch and dinner) snacks on boat ect. $ 4,200
sites, tours, museums ect. on the way $ 1,000

total $30,000
3 seats / $30,000 = $10,000 per person.
or possibly four seats / $ 30,000 = $ 7,500 per person.

that would be a cool trip for 8-10k any takers?

the boat gets better mileage then that and fuel may not be that much but just figuring high..

we don't really care about setting it as a speed record, but would be a cool trip to do and i'm sure would be the speed record if we did it no matter how long the locks take. Do you want to go with us when we beat your kw-cancun record next year?

Big,
There is NO WAY you can do that trip in 10-14 days! The Erie canal alone has over 50 locks.
....but I would sign up for your trip:D

You sound pretty confident and I do believe you have the equipment to do it …. if and when you get your situation with the props sorted out. I have previously declined your invitation to go along on that ride and my answer is the same. No thanks. If you and Chris can do it then the record should be yours without me tagging along. All the best,

Bob

I did a little research on the locks, it looks like the record through the erie canal is around 31 hours, and people usually make it in 40-60 hour range because of waiting on locks. I had figured two days of getting through the locks but may have to add a day or two. but with out the locks the run could be done in 3-4 days so depending on how much site seeing someone wanted to do it could be done in 7 days if you tried hard enough. So a 14 day trip or maybe a few more days would be a nice pace.

keep in mind I was not posting this stuff trying to set a speed record, was just saying it would be a cool trip and would probably be the first reasonably fast boat to do it so It would be a record if we did it.

I called a few people that have done the loop, one that gives classes on it and the great loop association. looks like the record is 53 days. there was someone that did almost all of it in 20 days and then lost an engine with only 600 miles left going up the east coast.
the shortest distance someone has done the loop in was a little over 4,000 miles.
I would not go up the intercoastal unless it was at a place that made it shorter and did not have any no-wake zones so the only speed limits and no wake zones would be some of the erie canal and a few short stretches on the rivers.
There would be a few places you would want to add a few hundred miles, like Key West, you do not have to go that far down but would probably want too. Maybe Washington d.c. And probably run around some in new York city.

As far as records go I would say that there could be 2 different records around the shortest possible route, one would overall time to do the whole trip and the other could be shorted amount of hours on your engines. The second you could still stop and see the sites as your time would only be added while running, the other would be bragging rights. And if you could travel down the east coast with reasonable water conditions in a upper 30 or lower 40 footer you should be able cut a lot of time off the trip, right?

I foresee the longest part would obviously be the Erie Canal with all the locks.

I believe there was a story about 2 college girls that did the loop in a aluminum boat with a tent on it, it was in a boating magazine I subscribed to a long time ago, I'll have to see if I can dig it up.

This guy here did it from LSC to the Ft Myers area. 4 vids total. Quite a charter.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qHDqv7uBs3M

There was a guy that did it in a 24' pontoon boat in 56 days and two guys have done the whole loop on jet skis. I don't know if someone could pay me enough to do it on a jet ski.

To me, it would not be about setting a record, unless someone wanted to sponsor the $$. It is still on our bucket list, but in a diesel boat (like the Formula 400SS that Tom A. mentioned). I would plan on staying aboard for almost the entire trip to save money and meet the locals. Our plan is to spend an entire YEAR doing it.

Had a friend that did the entire Mississippi on a ski, north to south. Said it was fun, but wouldnt do it again.

Best resource on the Great Loop. http://captainjohn.org/ Gives details on the areas with no fuel and every other detail needed. Plan on departing north bound from northern Florida or South Carolina in the Spring if you plan on doing it in one season. I hold a masters license and Captain tour boats for Erie Canal Cruises along the historic Erie Canal (http://www.eriecanalcruises.com/). We meet all sorts of Loopers from around the world on the canal. On my Bucket List too.

FYI, The Erie Canal has 34 locks between Albany and Fairport, approx 365 miles. There are a total of 57 locks on the entire canal system but loopers only need to go through the 34. It's about 7 days to cross the state and you are 100% right that in no way can the loop be done in a few weeks.

There is plenty of free dockage along the canal at municipal concrete walls. Power and water are also available and those fees are next to nothing when compared to standard rates. You do need to pre buy a canal pass, 2-day, 10-day or season pass and for vessels over 39' its $100 for the season.

These two stories / threads will give you a bit of the flavour of what it is like to travel some distance on the inland waterways as part of the "loop". It covers about 1,100 miles on the Ohio, Cumberland, Tennissee, Tenn - Tombigbee Waterways and Mobile Bay. My advise is to to avoid any of the river systems in the spring of the year as all manner of debris is floating southbound particularly in a year of flooding and high water. I chose to travel the the Tenn - Tom over the Mississippi as there are long stretches on the Mississippi without fuel and is mostly commercial traffic while the Tenn - Tom is more friendly to pleasure boaters.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...-part-1-a.html

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...tombigbee.html

One of the generic boating magazines did a story on a pair of sisters in college that did the great loop in a small aluminum skiff and they stayed in a tent on the bow. I believe it was an editor's kids. It was a good story and showed anyone can do it in any vessel.

Is there an echo in here????:poopoo:

Had this run on my list also. Did research on it. Docked next to a guy at a offshore race that had done it and talked with him a lot the night before the race. Think he did it in about 6 months in a old school Chris Craft like 50' or so. Gave thought to traviling from Detroit during vacation from work leave the boat in storage were my vacation time ran out so on and so on untill complete. Retired now havent thought about it much untill last week when my brother was in Cumberland lake mapping the bottom for Google.

Lol. ... your all forgetting most go fasts are shiny $hit boxes!
I bet there's only a handful of oso members that own boats that could be continuously run for 200+/- hrs without breaking, sh1tting, spewing, or leaving them stranded.

your also not considering weather. When it rains in a trawler, nbd, turn on the wipers, watch the radar if needed and plug in the crock pot!!!

In a powerboat, put on your poncho and send me a pic

let me know we wood love to go we have a Pachang 32 we are working on that is to cool .

Sorry, I just skimmed over the replies lol. I'll have to start reading replies more thoroughly.

O 400+Miles we need fuel this mite not be good for us we have a pachanga 32 with 260's it fun we love it

So what do most HP boats get fuel wise vs a express cruise or a trawler.

Varies quite a bit in both categories of boats. Biggest thing for the bigger cruisers/ yachts is larger fuel tanks

On my bucket list too. On a 75 Predator, with a captian to pilot her while the wife and I sip drinks watching the world go by.

I can plan on a safe 175 miles with contingency fuel. Our friends with a 56' Trawler plan on 3200 miles... with a DAY of cruising range left in reserve. :)

....but when are we going? Maybe we should do a Sandusky - Niagara falls trip and see how you like it? I'm certainly no Bob the builder, but I have made a few 100-200 mile jaunts over open water in a go fast. The trip across Lake Erie could be fun!

Or could do a run up to Port Huron?

There are many OSOers with mild reliable power, and strong outdrives, and that doesn't count the OB powered boats. These can Loop as well as most gas-powered slower boats. We wouldn't be running them at WOT.

As for rain, there is an entire community of touring motorcyclists that have perfected rain gear at speed. Plus, back when sailing ships ruled the water, sailors dealt with the rain. It's mostly us modern softies who get all worried about it.