Post
by Chinook » Tue Feb 19, 2019 1:10 am
Your questions do cover a lot. Check out the blog, early posts, for pictures of storage systems. We used the bikes maybe 10 times. Nice to have when we used them, but a big storage space commitment and a chore to get out. I'd say they were worth having along, but we could have managed without them easily enough. We used all sorts of land transport, including Uber, taxi, marina courtesy car and golf cart, light rail, bus (highway cruiser and city), trolley, subway, rental car, borrowed bikes, shoe leather and probably a few others I can't recall at the moment. You get creative, but it's really fun, and not that hard, getting around without your own car. I fished a fair amount, but getting licenses for all those states and provinces is a hassle and becomes rather expensive. Some fished without license but I find I can't enjoy fishing when I'm worried about a game warden showing up. I fished while on the Tennessee River, only caught a big old gar and some shad, nothing worth eating. Things improved in Florida. During our Gulf crossing I trolled a jig and landed a 20 lb king mackerel which was delicious. Made some new friends giving half the fish away, since we couldn't eat it fast enough, and fridge space was limited. Fished in the Bahamas as well, and caught a couple nice mahi mahi and a small yelloweye tuna, also great eating. Problem with fishing on the loop is that you spend a lot of time on the move, often with big distances to cover, and fishing takes time. You don't often get to anchor in a place where fishing is good. Coupled with the license issue and lack of local knowledge, opportunities were limited. I did spring for a flyfishing outing with a bonefish guide on Andros in the Bahamas and had a blast. I had lots of cruising guides on board. Waterways Guides for the whole loop, plus a good number of others. Very helpful in locating marinas, services, anchorages, and places of interest. I had paper charts for the whole loop, probably 2 or 3 thousand dollars worth if all bought new. You can pick up a complete set for 5 or 6 hundred by joining the American Great Loop Cruisers Association and getting on their forum. My paper charts were a real mixed bag, but I really used them a lot in planning ahead, as well as page turning in the cockpit on those long runs. Regarding fuel, there are a couple of long runs where you need good fuel capacity. One is from Hoppe's, on the Mississippi just below St. Louis, over to the Tennessee or Cumberland River. That run is about 220 miles with no on the water fuel docks available. Another long stretch is on the Tenn-Tombigbee Waterway heading down to Mobile, a run nearly as long. The Mac allowed us to take our mast with us (most large looping sailboats end up having their mast shipped by truck all the way from Chicago to Mobile) and raise it once we were clear of low bridge areas (mast down on the Illinois River as well as on the Champlain, Rideaux, and Trent-Severn waterways. We sailed or motor sailed whenever we could, including on Lake Michigan, the Mississippi, Gulf of Mexico, coastal Florida, Bahamas, ICW, Hudson River, Lake Champlain, and Georgian Bay/North Channel of Lake Huron. Motoring most of the time though, since we were going to specific destinations and couldn't afford slow speeds due to poor wind speed/angle.