GL: Sailboats doing Loop

[Stan and Annie]

Umberto--we just completed our second Loop on a Catalina 27 sailboat.  This
time around we were in the company of a 3 other sailboats--a 23' Juneau (with
a couple aboard), a 25' Catalina, Rozinante (a single hander), and a 26' Snap
Dragon, Snappy (also a single hander), all of which completed their loops as
well.  Two of us had blogs.  Ours is stanniec.blogspot.com.  Even though we
ended our trip in Chattanooga the week before Thanksgiving, we've not yet
updated the blog.  The 23' Juneau's blog is pogopelli.blogspot.com.  They also
ended in Chattanooga but haven't updated their blog either.  The holidays are
interfering!

None of us had refrigeration and used ice chests.  Two used porta-potties, and
two had manual heads.  We have a 14 hp diesel, the others all used 9.8hp
outboards.  We all used Korean single burner butane stoves.  One boat also had
a portable propane grill.

We dropped our masts in Catskill, NY, just before entering the Erie Canal.  We
then restepped our masts in Penetanguishene, Ontario, after the Trent-Severn
and before transiting the Georgian Bay.  We dropped them again outside of
Chicago but didn't put them up again this time.  On our first trip, we
restepped the mast at Joe Wheeler Park in Alabama, but we could have done it
anytime after Chicago.  However, not having to wait for bridges to open this
time made it a plus to just leave the masts down.  There is just not much
sailing to be done on this trip actually, so we didn't miss having it up on
the inland waters.

Feel free to contact either of us (Pogopelli through their blog) for more
info.  It is a wonderful trip (that's why we did it twice, the first time in
2005).

Stan and Annie Connally
also known as Stannie
S/V Kokopelli