GL: New to list

[LRZeitlin at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/13/07 12:00:38 AM, Vinnie writes:


> My wife and I are sailors presently but the Loop is in our near future.  We
> have someone interested in our Hunter 40 and are on the hunt for the
perfect
> Trawler. 
>
If you like sailing, there is no need to give up your present boat to do the
loop. Sailboats tend to sell for a lot less than trawlers of equivalent size
so you will avoid a considerable financial beating by keeping your present
boat. There are plenty of opportunities to sail. Probably 2/3 of the loop will
not
even require you to lower the mast. My wife and I did a large portion of the
loop in a sailboat in 1990.

I don't know where you live, but assume you start in New York. The trip up
the Hudson has no bridges that would cause you any difficulty and sailing is
delightful. Lower the mast and deck mount it on wooden supports for a trip
through the Erie or Champlain canals. You can raise it again or leave it down,
depending on your pleasure for the Great Lakes. We raised ours and had great
sailing until we hit Chicago. The mast must be lowered again to do the rivers
down
to the Gulf but once in the Gulf, it is mast up and sailing time for over 2000
miles round Florida and up the ICW through Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, the
Jersey Shore and back to NYC. Whatever your starting point, the Loop can be
done in a sailboat. A 7 kt. maximujm speed is just fine. Our cruising speed
was 6
kt. Plan on making no more than 60 miles a day and a slow boat is ideal. You
get to smell the roses.

Larry Z





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