Greetings Dave, Jeff & all staff We wanted to send a quick update. As we readied ourselves for the rendezvous in Little Current early August a decision was made. We are doing the ‘Great Loop’. We officially started our trip at the Wiarton Marina in Ontario on Georgian Bay August 3/14. With lots of family and friends in that area it was the perfect place to leave our truck and trailer and start the journey. And after meeting so many people at the Ranger Tug/Cutwater rendezvous we were even more certain it was for us. After leaving Little Current in Ontario we made our way through the North Channel and spent time in St. Ignace with, of course, a trip to Mackinac Island. The Mackinac Bridge is where you leave Lake Huron and enter Lake Michigan. We cruised the eastern shoreline and worked our way to the southern end and crossed to Chicago. What a trip!! After 4 days in Chicago (where we were definitely out of our element) we entered our first ‘lock’ dropping us into the river system. If you have never experienced ‘river cruising’ in this area you should. What an experience! The ‘tugs’ here are like nothing we have ever seen. The length of barges they push is unbelievable and if not seen with our own eyes we would have thought not possible. Some of them are pushing up to 12 and 14 barges all connected and some stretching up to 1500 feet and more. When they reach the locks they have to separate the barges and push part through then wait to get the remaining barges in. This can cause crazy delays at the locks, but we find it’s all part of the amazing journey. You can try to plan your day but the locks determine if you are going to make it. We spent quite a bit of time at marinas as we cruised Lake Michigan as weather was not great so we are now trying to anchor out as often as possible. Currently we are in Grafton, Illinois at Mile 0 on the Illinois River… and Monday we will be leaving here and entering the Mississippi River. The plan is to be in Florida by early November where will spend the winter cruising the keys and definitely cruising to the Bahamas. In March we will start working our way up the ‘inter coastal Waterway’ and eventually after more locks.. we will pull into the Wiarton Marina in Ontario… completing the ‘The Great Loop’. Our 28’ Cutwater is the perfect boat for this trip. Dockage is reasonable and with our draft & height we don’t have the concerns other boaters have. Again…. We couldn’t be happier with our choice and as always we continue to thank both of your for all of you help. We promote your companies everywhere we go and can’t say enough good things about our boat. It has run beautifully for us not one issue to report. All agree that this is THE PERFECT BOAT FOR THE GREAT LOOP. All the best
Ken and Pauline
