Molly’s Great American Loop

[Molly Brown]

The crew of the Molly Brown have begun their Loop. We launched March 11,2024 from Punta Gorda,Florida. Rough plan is to be home sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Betty has set up a travel blog for those that would like to follow along. You don’t need an account to view and comment but you do to follow, which means a notification when she posts. To her credit she group her posts into one so folks aren’t pestered with reminders.

https://findpenguins.com/mollybrown/trip/mollys-great-american-loop


James, Betty, Luna cat and Moki dog

[colbysmith]

I look forward to following Betty's Blog. You guys have fun! I wish I was with you on the cruise. We had a pretty warm winter, most the time, and seems like our spring has already sprung. And now we are back into winter with some snow in the forecast!

[thataway]

What a great app, and wonderful way to share the "Great Loop". I love your photography and that Betty is still pursuing one of her passions on the trip. Go Slow and smell the roses--especially in the small towns which are the "Heart and soul" of America.

Well Done. Say hi to our C Brat friends you meet along the way.

[gulfcoast john]

Hi James and Betty,

Congrats!

You’ve got lots of time to plan. We’ve liked best of 4,300 miles so far, the Triangle Loop into Canada, the Trent-Severn, and the West Erie Canal.

The only way to do both the Triangle Loop and T-S without backtracking or crossing Lake Ontario twice and the East Erie canal twice would entail doing the Triangle Loop counterclockwise (against the current, assuming you can buck a few miles of 8MPH current on your bow approaching Montreal). Most Looper trawlers can’t do that, is why it’s so strongly discouraged. You would pop out at Kingston into Lake Ontario; explore the Thousand Islands area, then only 70 miles to the entrance to the T-S at Trenton.

In your boat, that would save a lot of fuel overall compared to the alternative of looping with the current (clockwise on the Rideau and Richeleau) if want to take in the T-S as well.

Come back another summer to cruise the West Erie Canal one way east to west, trailering an easy peasy 500 miles a day you’d launch at Pirate’s Cove Marina in three days and One Coach back to your rig for $22 each, or alternate town walls on your out and back.

The worst part of the Loop for a trailer boat is trying to cross the Gulf in winter (Nov-Mar). You can count on a northern Artic blast every 7-10 days that takes three days or more to pass and leaves the Gulf stirred up for another three days….and by then the next one is arriving. Big boats have waited for 21 days straight for a weather window at Carrabelle. (Don’t buy the stale bread at the IGA). Put Molly Brown on a rack n’ stack and come back in late March or (even better) in May, when we crossed using the rim route in two easy 150 mile days.

Agree don’t rush! On the other hand, you don’t have to be like us and take a planned 12 years (from 2017) to complete your Loop. We’re mainly doing that because the current record is 11 years.

Safe Travels! We plan to cruise the AICW SC to Waterford in July-mid August, so if you slow down enough you might see us.

John

[Molly Brown]

Hey John….
That’s all fine and dandy but we have no plan so it’s hard to say what we’ll do. I’ll keep the info in mind though. We did buy a seasonal pass for Canada that’s all inclusive. As far as a rack and stack I’m known to stick with the boat so that’s not likely. We’ve crossed Florida Bay numerous times in all kinds of weather so we are confident in being able to handle the Big Bend. We are smart enough to wait for a weather window. Can’t always say that about docking though 🫣

Had a great visit with Ken/Sharon (Sea Angel) and Jim (Blue Rose) in Okeechobee, and just recently with Jeff and Cindy (CPlay) in Savannah. Currently in Beaufort and don’t even know where we’ll anchor up tonight 🤩

Not even a month in but have already traveled almost 800 miles. I keep thinking of the guy I meet early on in a Seapiper 35 that can go 1,800 miles on 200 gallons of gas. But, he can’t go places we do and if we need to do 30 mph he can’t. Everything is a compromise and I the end we consider ourselves very comfortable, plus the boat has been paid for a long time ago.

James and crew

[thataway]

I am really enjoying James and Betty's blogs! If the SeaPiper was getting 9 miles to the gallon, he was using only about 20 hp (which will use a gallon an hour of diesel) and going 9 mph. I doubt that, and suspect he was going more like 5 mph. This is based on having owned a number of small diesel engines in sailboats from 27 to 62 feet in length. For example I had a 35' sailboat which had substantially more surface area, and a 20 hp diesel--also the 38' we built had an 18 hp Saab, with controllable pitch prop. None of these got better than 6 miles per gallon at 6 mph. To get close to 9 mpg, we had to drop down to less than 5 mph. The sailboats had more surface area, but they also had hull lines probably easier to drive than the Sea Piper. But.. who knows?--stick with the Tom Cat!

[Full Circle]

Thanks, John! I have saved your outline above for when we get up there. We had been looking for a way to do it all, and we don't mind the uphill run.

[-Waypoint-]

I second the gallons per hour/ distance. (what Bob said) We owned a 34' sailboat with a 25 hp diesel. Had it for 18 years, took it from the Keys to the Chesapeake twice and many times to the Bahamas. Motored at 5 kts burning about 1 gallon per hour at whatever the RPM was (no gauge). Our C-dory 22 (with new Honda 40's) burns 2.5 gal/ hour at 15+ kts.. More effient on fuel and time than motoring a sailboat around all day. Sailboat 3 hours 15 nm = 3 gallons of fuel. C-Dory 1 hour 15 nm = 2.5 gallons fuel. No bridges to open, anchor it anywhere, no boat yards, no marina dock storage fees, no bottom paint, no rigging, and no sails to maintain. I could go on... I sail my canoe now for the sailing fixation if needed. Go C-Dory!