I’m thrilled to have my work appear in such a slick, professional publication!
It all started a few months ago when I was reading the latest issue of Passagemaker magazine and saw the list of 2024 Gold Loopers. I wasn’t on it.
This isn’t the fault of Passagemaker, which is an amazing publication for anyone who does distance cruising — or passage making. Honestly, if you’re on the Great Loop because you love to cruise in your own boat — and are not just checking off a bucket list item, eager to sell the boat when you’re done — you owe it to yourself to look it up. You can find their website here. That’s where you can read blog articles and boat reviews, subscribe, and get access to their Trawler Talk podcast. If you have a library card and the Libby app on your tablet, you can probably read each issue there for free; that’s where I usually read it.
Anyway, Jeff Moser at Passagemaker was just reprinting a list of Gold Loopers he got from AGLCA, an organization I dropped out of before finishing the loop for a variety of reasons. (Censorship, blatant monetization/commercialization, and misinformation to benefit sponsors comes to mind. You do know it’s a for-profit organization, right?) Because I wasn’t a member, I wasn’t on the list. (I did note at least one couple who were on the list but never actually crossed their wake. I guess if you’re up-to-date on your dues, it really doesn’t matter. I bet they bought the t-shirts, too.)
I sent Passagemaker a brief email message saying that not everyone who finishes the Loop is on the AGLCA list. Jeff replied. We got into an email conversation. He asked if I’d be interested in writing about my solo experiences on the Loop for Passagemaker.
Of course I would! My second career was as a freelance writer. Back then — in 1991 to around 2012 — I wrote how-to books about using computers, Since then I’ve written about aviation (for my third career as a helicopter pilot) and now write about boating, not only in my blogs, but for other organizations such as Dockwa. I was thrilled to get a chance to write for a gorgeous, professional print publication like Passagemaker. Getting paid to do it was nice, too.
So that’s how the article came about. I had a busy spring so my deadline was in late June. I still managed to miss it by 3 days, but Jeff didn’t seem to mind. I sent text and photos and both were well-received.
The cover of the October 2025 issue of Passagemaker.
And yesterday, while I was checking Libby to see if the new issue was out, I saw it! And it looked even better than the proofs Jeff had provided during the editing process.
Want to read about the challenges I faced as a mostly solo Great Loop cruiser? Check out my article on page 64 of the October 2025 issue of Passagemaker. If you get a chance, let me know what you think.
And if you’re a (mostly) solo cruiser, how about taking a few minutes to share one of your stories about the challenges of solo cruising? I bet a lot of readers here would enjoy it. Just put it in the comments for this post. If I get enough of them, I’ll spin them off as a separate blog post.
I have a 35′ Henriques Sportfisherman that I chartered for fishing for many years. I have been wanting to do the Loop for several yrs. at first with a friend then he passed away, and my wife is a now care provider for her mother so last yr I went on a solo recon mission from So. Jersey to the Rock n Roll hall of fame to see if I could make it across the Erie Canal. I have the same air draft as the lowest bridge so it was basically a trip to check it out and if I could I would continue to my destination before turning around and if not I would ck out the finger lakes.Well around lock 25 one of my diesel engines decided to fail (no oil pressure) I turned around to head back stopping at Ess-Kay Yards for a diagnosis. Meanwhile a pending storm was forcast for the area and they lowered the Canal for flood co ntrol so I couldn’t leave. The engine diagnosis didn’t go well and the engine would have to come out. Since I did not have any resources there I waited nine days for the Canal to reopen to head back to my homeport. After 900 miles total, 450 miles and 26 Locks back to So. Jersey on 1 engine I think I can handle the Loop solo!
I’d say so, too! What a trip!
I’m about 450 miles from completing my solo great loop, having come through St. Louis today.
I think the most challenging aspect has been that I have had to drive the boat the entire way, every day, every mile. It would have been nice sometimes to have someone to spell me at the wheel.
Having the correct boat is key. Some boats, no way I would try to single-hand them through a lock. Others, like yours, and my Mainship 400, are easy to run single-handed.
I would do the loop again, but probably not alone, as there are other rivers to conquer.
First, I’m sorry it took so long to approve this! I have been crazy busy.You might even be done by now!
I’d like to do the loop again, but in a different boat. I’m still thinking about it. I’m also very tempted to trailer mine to the northernmost navigable part of the Mississippi or Missouri River and spend a whole summer on the inland waterways.
Did you manage to get a photo of your boat at the Arch? I came through there so late in the season (early December — what was I thinking?) that there was no one else around.
I did get a picture at the arch, there were 12 or 13 of us that went through the locks together, and one of them was kind enough to offer to take my picture. It makes up for not getting one at the Statue of Liberty, although a Nebo user sent me one of me going up the Hudson at Manhattan that he took from a ferry.
I have finished the loop, as of two days ago. Next summer, I plan to tour the Tennessee River and Cumberland River, and maybe up the Mississippi.