GL: Towing the Loop

[LRZeitlin at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/2/08 12:00:33 AM, great-loop-request at lists.samurai.com 
writes:


> An excellent suggestion -- a trailerable boat not only has the advantage,
> economically, of cruising with less fuel costs but, as you suggest, of 
> moving
> 'against the current' on a trailer towed by a vehicle with greater fuel
> economy than a boat.
> 
We completed the bulk of the Loop in '89, '90, '91 in a 23' Westerly twin 
keel sailboat during summer vacations from my university using the sail/tow 
technique. The first summer we went from New York, up the Hudson, through the Erie 
Canal dallying a while in the Finger Lakes, to Chicago. We put the boat on a 
trailer in Chicago and towed it back to our home on the Hudson Valley. The 
second summer we trailed the boat south to Mobile, did the Gulf Coast and the 
Florida Keys and up the East coast of Florida to Daytona. We trailed home for the 
winter. The final summer we did the ICW from Ft. Lauderdale to New York. The 
tow car for the first two summers was a IH Scout with a 304 cu. in. engine. The 
last year we had a Chevvy Astro van. The weight of the boat and the trailer 
was 5500 lb. No car problems whatever. We also trailed the boat to Florida on a 
sabbatical, stopping at Disneyland on the way. Later we trailed to Lake 
Champlain for a very pleasant escape from mid summer heat. On all these trips we 
stopped at trailer RV parks for evening sleeps using boat accommodations rather 
than a motel. Cheap, cheap.

Larry Z



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