IN THE NEWS

2016 Strictly Sail Show in Chicago

Tuskeegee Airman/Captain Jack Lyle, Captain Bill Pinkney, and Captain Edmond Gueringer.

Captain/Skipper Lance Lovely Completes The Great Route!

The circumnavigation of Eastern North America by water is known as the Great Loop. Also referred to as the Great Circle Route, the trip varies from 5,000 to 7,500 miles (8,000 to 12,000 km) depending on the options used. The boats used range from personal watercraft to 60-foot-long (18 m) yachts. Both sailboats and powerboats are used but the most common boats are 34–45-foot (10–14 m) recreational trawlers. The main factors that govern the size of the boat are the limited draft (5 ft, 1.5 m) in some locations on the loop and the height of one bridge (19 ft, 5.8 m) in Chicago. People traveling the Great Loop are known as "loopers." The number of people attempting this voyage is growing with the baby boomers reaching retirement age. In 2007, more than 150 boat owners notified America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association (AGLCA) that they were planning to attempt the loop in the coming season.

Most Great Loop cruisers travel the loop counterclockwise, taking advantage of the downstream currents on the Illinois, Mississippi, Tombigbee and Black Warrior rivers to Mobile, Alabama.To avoid summer hurricanes and winter ice, most Loopers head north in the spring, spend the summer in the Great Lakes region, and head south on the rivers in the fall, arriving in Florida after the beginning of November.

Captain David Ward (in black shirt, front.)

Captain Paul Thompson III (on left)