Preparing for the trip

Captain Jerry has been making the final preparations to North Star, our 32 foot Cape Island down east trawler. We are anxious to leave our landlubber lives behind and begin our long awaited journey around the Great Circle. Join us as we travel 10, 000 kilometers: through the historic Trent Severn Waterway; the pristine waters of Georgian Bay; the North Channel of lake Huron; and hop from beach to beach on lake Michigan. We will visit Chicago and begin our trek along the rivers: Illinois; upper Mississippi; Ohio; Cumberland: Tennessee; Tenn-Tom Waterway and the Black Warrior. We will have transited through 68 locks at this juncture. We have chosen the inner route from Mobile Alabama to Tarpon Springs Florida and the shorter Ocheechobee Waterway to reach the East coast of Florida. We will skip over to the Bahamas to wait out the winter before heading North on the Atlantic Inter Coastal Waterway.
The 10 years of researching and planning are finally at an end and we invite you to come along on our adventure.























Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Alton Marina

Alton Marina is the best marina we have ever seen and they only charge Loopers $1.00 a foot. Patty, the Harbour Looper Ambassador took 4 of us shopping for groceries and cheap liquor on the Missouri side.  She gave us a small tour of the historic district with the large century homes.  Robert and Patty then piled everyone in their vehicles to go out to dinner. 
The Captain and I were then invited to a local resident houseboat for a night cap. Little North Star draws a lot of folks with her unique lines and we usually end up with a new friend to talk to.  Boaters are so friendly and helpful.
We topped off the evening with a swim in the pool and a hot tub.
The temperature is supposed to climb to the low nineties again today so we will stay put and join everyone for dinner tonight.  We can not cook on our boat because this marina does not allow open flames and North Star is strictly a propane boat.  There are grills available but the camaraderie is more important to us.
We will leave tomorrow and try to stay at Hoppie's Marina 50 miles down river where Loopers meet for a seminar given by the marina owners.
Host Patty and Robert with Mike and Gayle, Leigh and Murray and I
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