Special Mid-Week ClubBuzz: Pat and Steve Stanley are going for The Loop!

A member adventure edition
Pat and Steve Stanley
The Great Loop

Good evening, <<First Name>>,

I was delighted to receive this note from Members Pat and Steve Stanley this week. With their permission, I am sharing it with everyone.

When they return we’ll have them share their journey with the members live in one of our Speaker Series events.

On behalf of The Club safe travels. Looking forward to having you back.

Kevin

We have been enjoying an adventure on our 2001 Mainship 390, “Calypso.” We purchased this boat to take her on “The Great Loop” (see http://www.great loop.org for more detailed information). Our adventure began on 19 January 2022 and to date, we are more than halfway through this journey. It’s been an adventure of a lifetime! Here’s a map of our progress to date:

We are following the general guidelines from the American Great Loop Cruising Association (AGLCA) which recommends a counterclockwise voyage traveling up the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway during the Spring, across the Great Lakes and Canada over the Summer, and down the rivers (Chicago, Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland, and Tenn-Tom) during the Fall and across the Gulf of Mexico in the Winter. So far, we’ve traveled over 2600 nautical miles through 2 countries (the US and Canada) and 11 states (Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, and Indiana). We’ve met LOTS of other “Loopers,” and are having a BLAST!

Here are a few highlights of our trip:

We took possession of “Knot Ready” in St. Petersburg, Florida and did some repairs before we launched her as “Calypso” on January 19, 2022.

We literally started The Loop after splashing that day.

Typically each voyage is less than 50 nm but our longest trip was from Everglades City to Marathon, Florida.

This was a 70 nm trip which took 10 hours.

We’ve enjoyed many “dock tails” and meals with other Loopers, who will become lifelong friends.

We went sailing in Annapolis with friends who we met in Mexico during our cruising days on S/V Ahelani. They drove us to Washington DC so we enjoyed a day in our nation’s capital.

We’ve seen MANY beautiful sunrises and sunsets. This one was in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

We traveled through portions of the Erie Canal and the 45 locks of the Trent-Severn Canal. This is a picture of 5 Looper boats waiting on The Big Chute lock wall before Port Severn, Ontario, Canada. This lock actually lifts the boats out of the water, carries them across a road, and drops them back into the water on the other side!

We’ve seen really interesting sites, including Mushroom Houses in Charlevoix, Michigan

We’ve enjoyed the hospitality of several yacht clubs and American Legion Halls. This is a picture of the White Lake Yacht Club in Whitehall, Michigan. They are a very friendly family-oriented club.

We are just over halfway through our Great Loop adventure and we are having a wonderful time. We plan to sell Calypso after we cross our wake in St. Petersburg this December. Subsequently, we’ll return to the SF Bay Area and hope to join The Club at Westpoint’s cruise-outs on board our Nordic Tug 42, “Seven Bridges.” We look forward to seeing you all then!

Pat and Steve Stanley
M/V Calypso &
M/V Seven Bridges