Preparing for a Long River Cruise

WyLaWay rests at the West Haverstraw Marina in New York, on the Hudson River.

By Captain Lawrence A. Martin

began cruising after ninth grade so miles in six days. We camped on The late Bob Reib, author of the Skip- in an elegant wooden boat: an islands and had such a good time that per Bob guidebooks to the Great I 18-foot Old Town wood-and- we invested in a new 19-foot Four Loop cruise, said, “Don’t buy the canvas canoe. Our Boy Scout troop Winns runabout with a custom can- biggest boat you can afford. Buy the paddled rivers and lakes in northern vas camper top. We had protection smallest boat in which you can be Wisconsin for 10 days. I was hooked. comfortable.” During high school, I taught canoe- We now cruise in a 1999 Rosbor- ing and rowing at a YMCA summer WyLaWay is relatively small, ough, a 25-foot sedan cruiser we camp. When my wife and I moved to but perfect for us. It’s bigger bought in 2003. It is a traditional Minneapolis for graduate school, we on the inside North Atlantic trawler built in Hali- bought a Sawyer fiberglass cruising fax, Nova Scotia, and powered by canoe to use in the Boundary Waters than on the outside. twin four-stroke, high-thrust, 50- Canoe Area and Quetico Provincial horsepower Yamaha outboards. I saw Park. against sun and rain, and a boat for one of these trawlers for the first time Our next “cruise boat” was a 14- skiing and wakeboarding. We used it in 2000 while vacationing in Florida. foot bass boat we bought from a rela- for 13 seasons — cruising as far south I researched it on the Internet and tive for $1,000. In 1990, my 11-year- as Keokuk, Iowa. followed the used Rosborough mar- old son, wife and I traveled from St. Fuel costs are a big concern for ket for over a year before taking the Paul to Dubuque, Iowa, in it — 270 or long-distance cruisers these days. plunge. Rosboroughs are so sturdy

16 Big River Magazine / January-February 2008 and seaworthy that the Canadian government uses them in its Coast Guard and Fisheries Department. We named this beautiful boat ­WyLaWay — after our names, Wynn and Larry. WyLaWay is relatively small, but perfect for us. It’s bigger on the inside than on the outside. We ini- tially wanted a cabin on the water: an affordable, seaworthy, long-distance cruiser — salty, comfortable, with good fuel economy. We wanted a boat we could use in almost any weather and could pull on a trailer, to extend our cruising options. I’m thankful to have a cruising partner who loves it as much as I do. Wynn has become a dependable and safe pilot. It is great to have an able first mate to read the charts, keep the Wynn and Larry celebrate the evening before closing the loop on Labor Day 2006 at Grafton, Ill. boat off the lock walls, help with nav- igation and share the piloting. side of Lake Huron. Then through the Planning & Preparing Small Boat Channel, among 30,000 When we started preparing for our The Great Loop rocky islands of Georgian Bay to grand adventure, our list soon grew In February 2005, Wynn and I begin the North Channel and past Macki- to more than 200 items. Planning a planning and preparing for a trip we nac Island to Mackinaw City, Mich., cruise is as simple as writing your list. had long talked about — the “Great where we were weathered in for Preparing for the cruise is consider- Loop,” circumnavigating the eastern about four days. ably harder. Planning a menu is not United States and Canada. Then we crossed about 80 miles the same as preparing the meal. We began our Great Loop about of Lake Michigan to Door County, We decided to sell the house and seven months later, at Hastings, put our life in storage. We had cars Minn., on September 22, 2005, and to store and furniture to give away. returned 51 weeks later, putting over The two most essential river We had decades of business paper- 7,000 miles safely under our keel. cruise planning tools are the work to shred and a dearly beloved We headed down the Mississippi dog whose health began to fail. Sadly, to the Ohio River, Cumberland River, Army Corps of Engineers’ Augie Doggie passed away in August Barkley Canal, and up the Tennes- river charts and Quimby’s and never went to shore in the new see River to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Cruising Guide. dinghy we bought for him. Waterway (Tenn-Tom). We traveled We took a Safe Boating course from the Tenn-Tom to Mobile, Ala., then the St. Paul Chapter of the U.S. Power followed the Gulf Intracoastal Water- Wis., and down the west side of the and Sail Squadron. We also took Red way east to the Florida Panhandle. lake to Chicago. Lake Michigan was Cross first aid and CPR/Automatic We struck out across 90 miles of open the roughest water we encountered Electric Defibrillation (AED) courses. water in the Gulf of Mexico on New on the whole cruise. We spent two A year later I repeated the first aid/ Year’s Eve day to Steinhatchee, in days “weathered in” for every day we AED courses for my captain’s license, Florida’s “armpit,” then turned south could comfortably and safely be out and 10 hours later I found one of to the Keys. Then we headed up the on the lake. my best friends semi-conscious in a East Coast via the Atlantic Intra- We cruised through downtown life-threatening situation. I used my coastal Waterway to Manasquan, N.J., Chicago on the Chicago River and fresh first aid training to check stroke and out into the Atlantic Ocean for down the Illinois Waterway to Graf- symptoms before I dialed 911. the final 40 to 50 miles into New York ton, Ill., where the Illinois River enters On Day One of our 7,000 mile Harbor. the Mississippi River. Here, on Labor Great Loop cruise, we asked a worker We took the Hudson River to the Day 2006, we “closed the Loop” at Lock 5A how to get behind Latsch Erie Canal, to the Oswego Canal to — having circumnavigated a very Island at Winona, Minn., to anchor the east end of Lake Ontario. We large “island,” the eastern third of the for the night. He told us to cross on crossed 60 miles of Lake Ontario to United States. the upstream end into the back chan- Kingston, Ontario, on June 28, 2006, We took two weeks to cruise nel. We did, and we hit a closing dam then headed west via the Trent-Severn the final 596 miles from Grafton to that wasn’t on the chart. We stud- Waterway to Georgian Bay on the east Hastings. ied the chart, backed off the rocks,

January-February 2008 / Big River Magazine 17 of the time. We traveled only about one day in three. We also tried to never cruise more than six hours a day. When you have cruised in the heat and sun for more than six hours, you get tired and become dangerous to yourself and others. We pre- fer to cruise at 7 to 9 mph, though our boat is capable of 16 or 17 mph. Before we left, our family doctor predicted: “This year will change you forever.” He was right. We live more simply now. Our condo has less than a third of the space of our former suburban home. We like it better here. We walk to our favorite restaurants, our food co-op, church, coffee Larry fuels the boat at Hoppie’s Marine Service, downriver from St. Louis. shops, the YMCA and book- stores. We work less. We went around the downstream end of for every body of water you are not drive less. We worry less. the island and entered the anchor- intimately familiar with. When we We kept our Toyota Prius and got rid age safely above the wing dam there. cruised America’s Great Loop, we of our SUV. I ride the bus occasion- Fortunately, the boat was not dam- used over $2,000 worth of charts and ally. We rent a car when we need a aged. Lesson 1: make sure the guy guidebooks, which we bought for second vehicle. We dress more simply. you ask for “local knowledge” knows half price from a Maine couple who’d We are happier. what he is talking about. Lesson 2: in recently completed the loop. And we are better mariners. I was skinny water, double-check the chart In Ft. Myers Beach, Fla., we bought proud to be told by a Coast Guard a Garmin chartplotter for about $600. enlisted man that our boat is “very We live more simply now. A chartplotter uses GPS technology to well-found” (well-equipped and safe), show you exactly where you are on and “you are people we won’t have Our condo has less than a digital chart. I installed it myself in to go looking for in the night.” He a third of the space of our two to three hours. On the first day, saluted me. I choked up, eyes moist. former suburban home. it saved us from making wrong turns So, go cruising as soon as you can. three times! Prepare. Know your limits. Know We like it better. your boat’s limits. You are your broth- Floating School ers’ and sisters’ keeper. Maintain a before you head in, then take sound- Our education continued throughout safe amount of water around you and ings with a lead line and approach the trip. There is an especially daunt- beneath you — and no water above cautiously. Lesson 3: if we hadn’t ing 250-mile stretch without a marina you. Be safe! F 8 been so tired and excited about start- or fueling station between Hoppie’s ing the trip, we might have used Marine Service, about 25 miles down- Captain Larry Martin lives in St. Paul. He is interested in your ques- more caution finding our first night’s river from St. Louis, and Green Turtle tions about river cruising. Email him anchorage. Bay Marina on the Cumberland River. at [email protected] or call The two most essential river cruise We buddied with a larger boat for him at (612) 360-1027. planning tools are the Army Corps of safety and were able to leverage the Engineers’ river charts and Quimby’s river current to save on fuel. How- Photos courtesy of Larry and Wynn Cruising Guide. Quimby’s gives essen- ever, we arrived in Paducah, Ky., with Martin. tial information about marinas, and a full holding tank and no bathroom locks and dams, their addresses, open on shore during the night. Les- Visit www.big-river.com for links to phone numbers and mile markers; son 4: a full holding tank is as hard to resources for cruising the river, and points of interest; and distances on tolerate as an empty fuel tank! excerpts from the Martin’s Great Loop over 9,300 miles of navigable rivers. While boating the Great Loop, we planning list. You will need up-to-date charts stayed in marinas or at anchor much

18 Big River Magazine / January-February 2008