Great Loop

Welcome.  We’re King and Sharon Cole from Austin, Texas and Gary and Vicki Kinzie from Longmont, Colorado. 

The four of us spent our last two vacations boating in Canada and Alaska.   During that trip we first heard about boating on America’s Great Loop or the Great Circle Route.  We said we thought we should learn more about the Loop and such a lifestyle -  and started looking for a ‘Loop’ boat.  As we told friends and co-workers of our retirement and boating plans, we were asked, “WHERE are you going and WHAT are you doing?”

What’s the Great Loop? It’s the name given the route that generally goes from Florida up the U.S. east coast (either in the Intracoastal Waterway or in the Atlantic Ocean), through the Chesapeake Bay, to New York, into the inland waterways (Hudson, Erie, Oswego, etc.), through parts of Canada (Trent-Severn, Georgian Bay, North Channel), into the Great Lakes, the south through various rivers including the Mississippi (and the Illinois, Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, Tombigbee, Mobile), into the Gulf of Mexico, and around Florida.

Vicki and Gary start our journey in Jacksonville, Florida and venture up the east coast.  We have plans to walk through national historic sites, parks and churches, research our Revolutionary War ancestors, enjoy regional produce from local markets, stay safe and learn lots!   Welcome aboard.  Come explore with us.  

Gary, Vicki, King and Sharon