Andiamo-Ranger 29 and The Great Loop

As always, tons of great info and pics on your loop blog. I have to say I'm a little nervous about Lake Michigan though...yikes !!! Still looking forward to doing the trip.
 
Suggestion for Loop through Lake Michigan to deal with the prevailing West wind:

Passing the Mackinac Bridge consider traveling west to:

Manistique, MI

Feyette Harbor MI in Big Bay De Noc (Remote Snail Harbor with dock...limestone bluffs)

Rock Island a WI State Park (Scandinavian boat house that is a must see)

Washington Island, WI with great anchorage in Detroit Harbor (Shallow water sand anchorage with Marina dockage as alternative.) Interesting island with lots to check out but semi-remote)

NW shore of Door County, WI with several harbor stop-over locations. (Sister Bay, Egg Harbor, Chambers Island) on the way to Sturgeon Bay, WI. Bay Shipbuilding where 1000' oar boats were made......Travel Lifts that you see all over the world are based here.

Pass through Sturgeon Bay ship canal into the main body of Lake Michigan with protection from prevailing west winds as you cruise south.

Algoma, Kewaunee, Two Rivers, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Port Washington, Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, and Waukegan before arrival in Chicago provide safe harbors that are close together if weather is compromised.

Wish we were back there to travel through this water wonderland.
 
Your blog is top notch.

I'll get our boat back there one way or t'other.

Jeff
 
Jeff;

Thanks for the kind words about the website. I have it an extension of the boating experience.

About Lake Michigan and the option of going down the lake's western shore; we definitely considered it and knew of loopers who did that option and had a great time. We chose the western shore after reviewing the weather predictions and learned that during the time of our travel, the lake would have predominately south and southwest winds and locals told us that there was no advantage, that it would be rough on both shores. Loopers and locals alike say Lake Michigan is often very tame during August, but also this season the weather has been cooler and more windy than usual.

Now, we are off the lake, through Chicago, which was glorious, and traveling the length of Illinois to the junction of the Mississippi and the Ohio Rivers. There, we go up the Ohio River to the Tennessee River and take that south. More to follow.
 
This would make a good book, with all the charts and points away. Stops fuel and the great things you have learned on the way. I will buy the book when you get all done for shure....
 
Greetings Tugnutters;

The cool weather has been chasing us southward since Lake Michigan and leaving Chicago. We have traveled the Illinois Waterway & River from Chicago to the Mississippi River that took us from the dense urban setting downtown Chicago, through the adjacent heavy industrial area where the water is probably still heavily contaminated and down a set of locks and through America’s bread basket of corn and soybeans. We have met more people doing this adventure, the great loop, as the different routes have joined at Chicago. From the Mississippi River to Kentucky is about 300 miles of no basically no services for recreational boaters, one sort-of-marina with fuel. It was a long stretch of easy boating, going with a 4 knot current and easily doing 80 to 110 mile days. The fall thunderstorms are rumbling through the region every few days with cold fronts behind them that are reminders of the season to come.

In September, we travelled over 900 miles but still did not feel we were rushing the trip. So far, Andiamo has taken us over 4,600 miles since launching the tug in Florida in February. Today, we are on Kentucky Lake. near Paducah, that nearly extends through Kentucky and Tennessee in a north/south direction. We did this portion of the trip in the fall of 2008 and all the way to Mobile Bay, Alabama.

There is a Cutwater 28 here who is also doing the loop

Lots of photos and excerpts from the journal are posted on the website: www.andiamo-ranger29.com
 
Greetings Tugnutters;

Andiamo is now in Mobile Bay, Alabama and has completed the western portion of the Great Loop. This portion of the trip was a traveling through the rural countryside and wildness of Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. Some loopers only endure this part as there are very few marinas, fewer places for fuel, almost no cell service, and anchoring is required. For us, this part has been delightful with an abundance of wildlife and incredible cruising. We have spent the last week cruising with Ken and Pauline Moran on Shipperly, a Cutwater 28 and have enjoyed their company. Andiamo has taken us nearly 1,000 miles this month and nearly 5,600 miles since starting the loop in February.

Tomorrow, we turn east and follow the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway into Florida. We have 450 miles to go to cross our wake at the beginning of this adventure in Tarpon Springs, Florida. We will fly home, for good, on Thanksgiving Day and the tug will be trucked back home to Seattle just before that.

You can see photos and portions of our journal at: www.andiamo-ranger29.com
 
Hi John and Laurie,

I am enjoying every posting, and all your photos, as usual!

I was a bit surprised to read about your 1,000 mile week, I think it was, and see you were in an ideal section for that. It sounds like that was a fine area, calm and relaxing, with increasing wildlife and fall colors as you continued south.

The battery issues have me baffled but I expect you have them resolved. I am impressed how you keep up with the maintenance so well and can figure out what to do with each potential challenge early on. Losing your water was something I experienced once and never managed to figure out what caused that. Do you recall what caused it on Andiamo?

Enjoy your last section of the Loop and thank you so much for taking the time to post so regularly and with very helpful information!
 
Enjoyed following you on this incredible journey...good for you both!! Trip well planned and done. Will welcome you home. Happy and safe remaining travels
 
Anne;

I will answer your questions on this forum as others may be wondering what happened to the house batteries and how Andiamo's water tank was suddenly empty. First, about the house batteries. Andiamo has 4 AGM's, new in January 2014 that are wired in parallel. Everything was great until being at anchor two weeks ago, the voltage dropped suddenly from 12.6 to 10.8 volts when the array of electronics was powered up without the engine running and the VHF and chart plotter gave low-voltage alerts. The diagnosis: one of the four batteries is bad. A load test will determine which one (or two). The fix: replace the bad one.

Second, about the water loss. Andiamo was comfortably cruising with a half full water tank in the morning and was suddenly dry at lunch. We cannot hear the bilge pump run when the engine is running. When water was put in the tank in the afternoon, the bilge pump started to run. A visual check by the hot water heater showed one of the T-fittings in the group of clear, plastic hose fittings had slipped off a hose, probably due to extended heat and vibration of a year of heavy use. The fix: re-attach, tighten down the hose clamp and check all the hose clamps (found some ones that took a few turns). A hint: there may be a leak at a hose clamp if water pump cycles when the system is pressurized and a faucet is not used. More cycling in a shorter time - the bigger the leak.

These issues are just normal and expected. These boats are great. They have a myriad of complex systems that need attention and we accept that as owners and cruisers. Hope this helpful.
 
Thanks so much John,

I had not thought of a battery 10 months old failing, so need to learn more about batteries. I figured that a bad battery would show up much sooner, especially given the constant use on your trip. I appreciate how you monitor your systems and caught that when you did. All that prompts me to learn more about about electrical issues.

Regarding the sudden water loss ...I asked Ronnie about the pump that seemed to be running excessively on the R29 compared to the R25 and it turned out there were a couple of loose clamps.

Your experience reminds me of the importance of being able to get them tight enough. I carry spare clamps, but have not been successful in tightening them enough. I find it most difficult to tighten various caps enough so your experience reminds me to keep looking for ways to tighten, and untighten, caps and clamps.

Thank you for your examples and follow up.
 
Hi Anne,
You may want to purchase Nigel Calder's book " Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual. This book is very detailed. Maybe a bit more detailed than one needs, but you will get terrific insight on everything you may want to know and then some. You can get it electronically, so with an iPad or Kindle it will be at your fingertips. A great read when in the V-berth at night with no cell reception, no internet and no TV. Guaranteed you won't need Ambien when reading this, but you will learn a lot.

Mike Rizzo
 
Anne,

You mentioned not being able to tighten your hose clamps enough. This inexpensive little tool makes it easy as long as the clamp was put on with the screw in position for direct access: Kissler 08-0430 Torque Wrench. There are other tools like it out there. I found it on Amaxon along with some others. A torque wrench is a good idea because, believe it or not, too tight is just as bad as not tight enough when it comes to hose clamps.

Hope this helps. 🙂
 
Thanks, Mike, for the book suggestion. I looked through it awhile back and it seemed very detailed given my minimal knowledge, so passed on it. However, I will take another look given your suggestion.
 
Mike, Judy and pooches,

A belated welcome to Tugnuts, and thanks much for the tool suggestion. I know that is one I will get, learn to use and have in the toolbox!

John, sorry for highjacking...back to Andiamo news now...
 
Greetings;

We have finished this great boating adventure of exploring America’s east coast, Great Lakes, the inland river system and Florida that is all connected by water by crossing “our wake” in Tarpon Springs, Florida on Tuesday, November 11 at 1030 hours. We have joined the 200 or so boaters a year that do this adventure. Now, we can fly the gold burgee of the American Great Loop Cruiser’s Association.This 6,000 mile trip was started in Tarpon Springs in the first week of February. This last section ended with a 160-mile, 20-hour crossing of Florida’s Big Bend, from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs, and that meant running all night, a first for us, and the last 60 miles, Andiamo was in a following sea with 2-4 swells. However, we were safe and the tug was great. We did this crossing with 12 other boats as the weather window was very short and the next one will be in a week.

So, we will return to Seattle on Thanksgiving Day and the tug will be put on a trailer and trucked back home. We have been living in another universe while doing this adventure. It is time to go back to the universe in the Pacific Northwest. Between November 11 and returning home, we will likely cruise Florida’s west coast, visit friends and perhaps do a road trip.

The website will be updated soon so stayed tuned for the final chapter of this saga.
 
Awesome. Congratulations!
 
Congratulations John and Laurie!!

It was a pleasure reading your blog and also having you as our "advance scout" while following up with Roam. You reports made anchorage & marina selection very easy.
Hopefully we will get to the PNW and cruise your territory soon.

Mike & Jess - ILLUSIONS
 
WOW!

Thank you for allowing me and, I suspect, many more like me, to live vicariously through your adventures. Congratulations!
 
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