America’s Great Loop A Great Adventure For Newtown Couple

By Nancy K. Crevier

Pete Wilson is a speculation builder in Newtown, but what he and his wife, Joanne, are building right now is not a house, but the memory of a lifetime. Along with their dog, Buddy, the Wilsons set off June 2, from Stratford, in their 39-foot trawler, The Tony M., a Mainship 350, on what is known as America’s Great Loop, a circumnavigation of Eastern North America by water.

With the building industry slacking off and Joanne having retired in 2008, the Wilsons decided to take a look at their “bucket lists” in 2009, to ward off boredom. Between the two of them, they had already crossed off a number of items on their lists. “Pete has remote helicopter skied in the Canadian Rockies, piloted helicopters, skied in Europe, completed a ski safari in France, done cross-country motorcycling and snowmobiling, and is an avid fisherman and clammer,” wrote Ms Wilson in a recent email. She has completed five bike tours through Holland, Ireland, and Austria, and together the Wilsons have toured Hawaii, England, and Italy by car, and most of the western National Parks. But still on the list was America’s Great Loop.

America’s Great Loop had landed on their lists following a 1995 cruise that took them on what is known as “the Short Loop.” That watery path takes travelers out of the Long Island Sound to the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers, through the Erie and Oswego Canals, into Ontario and the St Lawrence seaway, the Richelieu River, Lake Champlain, back to the Hudson, and finally home again. They completed that loop in a SeaPro 204, a 20-foot walk-around cuddy cabin, with a fishing interior and a 200 horsepower Mercury outboard on the stern. “At the time,” said Ms Wilson, “we thought what we were doing was the Big Loop. When we found out what the Big Loop was, we knew we wanted to do it someday.”

It is the kind of trip that they knew appealed to their sense of exploration, discovery, and certainly their love of problem solving.

Taking on America’s Great Loop is not a whimsical feat, though. The Loop follows between 5,000 and 7,500 miles, depending on the route selected. Open water, rivers, lakes, canals, and locks must be navigated, with each body of water having its own personality and Mother Nature ruling the roost overall. “Navigating and living on a boat takes knowledge, planning, and patience,” said Ms Wilson, and is a continuing education. Mr Wilson’s extensive boating experience was key to the decision to undertake the adventure.

“Pete began his boating career in early childhood aboard his grandfather’s 48-foot schooner. He sailed with him for many summers,” she said. At age 8, he and his father built a sailboat and at age 14, Mr Wilson got his own “hand-me-down” boat, before graduating to powerboats. “Pete is an exceptional captain, taking all aspects of a situation into consideration,” Ms Wilson said.

The Wilsons put together an itinerary for insurance purposes. In June, they would travel from the Boardwalk Marina in Stratford to Burlington, Vt., on to Quebec and the Ottawa River to Kingston, Ontario. In July, they would navigate the Trent-Severn Waterway, cross Parry Sound to Little Current near Manitoulin Island, and end up in Kagawong, via the Benjamin Islands. “Surprisingly, we’ve kept pretty close to it without realizing it,” said Ms Wilson on August 7, just a few days after completing the last lock on the Trent-Severn Waterway and entering the Georgian Bay.

With granite outcroppings and underwater “islands,” the bay is a test to any captain and crew to safely make it through without ripping a hole in the boat. “We’re in an area called Thirty Thousand Islands. We think that number is an underestimation,” said Ms Wilson. “There are many rocks right under the surface. Both of us are constantly on watch for anything that doesn’t look right.”

By August’s end, they plan to be on Lake Michigan near Chicago. The colder months will find the couple heading ever southward. “Our plans are to travel to the Gulf of Mexico by December. We will stay in Florida and the Bahamas until March. Then we will make our way back to Newtown,” said Ms Wilson, anticipating a spring 2011 arrival. That section of the trip will lead them through Georgia, South and North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey.

 

[naviga:h2 style="line-height:10.0pt"]A Seaworthy Ship [/naviga:h2]

But before taking to the water, the Wilsons knew they would need a seaworthy ship. A year ago they started to seriously look for such a boat, and in September 2009 they came across the trawler in Rochester, N.Y. “It was in pristine condition and had just completed The Loop, so it was perfectly outfitted for the trip,” Ms Wilson said. “It has an accessible transom, cockpit, decks, and swim platform, and good living accommodations,” she said.

But even “good” living conditions on board a ship require adaptability. “We had a large kitchen with a five-burner stove [in our Newtown home] and now our small galley has a two-burner stove, a sink, and about one-square-foot of counter space,” Ms Wilson said. Basic provisions are stored in the galley or in plastic bins in the “guest room.” A small refrigerator limits the amount of fresh vegetables and other perishables that can be stored, so good planning and frequent buying trips are needed to restock. Fruit is hung in a hammock in the galley, and a small freezer offers some chance for variety.

They sleep on board every night in a queen-sized berth; other living areas are nearly a moot point. “Our life on the boat revolves around the rising and setting sun. After breakfast we depart, moving the boat between four and 12 hours,” she said. A postdinner walk on land with Buddy precedes bedtime. “We’ve watched TV five times since we left June 2, and don’t miss it….”

Operational cost was also a concern, although they felt that based on research of what others spent on The Loop, that it was actually more affordable than their Newtown living expenses.

“We chose a trawler because of its economical mileage,” she said. The trawler, christened The Tony M. in honor of Ms Wilson’s late father, Tony Mistretta, gets better than three miles per diesel gallon. This summer, they have paid the equivalent of just under $3/gallon US for fuel.

 

[naviga:h2 style="line-height:10.0pt"]Navigating Locks [/naviga:h2]

Other costs, outside of living expenses, include $300 for a season pass to through the Canadian Locks, and $350 for an overnight stay at the Parks Canada wall, while awaiting entrance to the lock.

Navigating locks has been a learning experience that began with the first one the encountered in 1995. “Now we have it down to a routine,” said Ms Wilson. “We pull into a lock, I grab the stern line and wrap it around the black cable that extends down the lock wall, while Pete leaves the helm to wrap the bow line around another black cable. Then we fend the boat off the grungy lock wall with our wooden, cleated poles,” she said.

At lock seven of the Ottawa Flight Locks, eight locks that raise boats from 134 feet at the Ottawa River to 213 feet on the Rideau Canal, gave them a new thrill on June 23. “We were in lock seven when the earthquake struck,” said Ms Wilson, referring to the magnitude 5.0 quake that rattled the Toronto and Ottawa region that day. “That was a first.”

They count themselves lucky to have avoided other severe weather, so far. When Mr Wilson’s Droid phone or the marine weather radio suggest foul weather, they tie up at dock, rather than anchoring.

It is not all work and no play for the couple, though. “This is definitely a pleasure cruise,” said Ms Wilson. It is not a cruise such as one taken on an ocean liner, but rather a “working our way across North America adventure.” Experiencing the culture of an area is part of that adventure, and has included jazz festivals, sidewalk sales, museums, a tour of Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and a visit to Casino du Lac-Leamy in Hull/Gatineau, Quebec. They celebrated July 4 with fireworks over Boldt Castle, a 124-room “castle” built in the early 20th Century by self-made millionaire George Boldt, near Alexandria, N.Y.

They revel in the beauty of the regions through which they have traveled. “The scenery is outstanding,” said Ms Wilson. “The Georgian Bay and The North Channel are the ‘Caribbean of the North,’ with its blue water; no sandy beaches, just rock. The water is crystal clear.”

And of course, they have met other “loopers,” with whom they hope to keep in touch.

Generator problems tied them up in New York in mid-July, and led to a grueling three days, including one in which they navigated 13 locks. “That was unusual,” said Ms Wilson, but the motivation that got them through was the need to get to Peterborough, Ontario, rent a car, and drive to their daughter’s wedding in Jay Peak, Vt. The mountaintop wedding provided the couple with a joyous reason to take a break from the physically and mentally grueling day-to-day work of shepherding a large boat along The Loop.

The responsibility of captaining a boat 24/7 is sometimes overwhelming. There are safety concerns, and they constantly try to cover all of their bases so that they can sleep well at night. “We learned to slow down,” said Ms Wilson. “Otherwise, the days’ travels become a blur.”

Tight quarters and limited company could spell disaster for some couples, but the Wilsons feel that they have built on their ability to function as a team. “To survive on this trip you must like each other and enjoy each other’s company,” said Ms Wilson. “There are many days we don’t speak to anyone else but each other and our dog.”

Boredom at bay, Joanne and Pete Wilson are traveling onward, elated to dabble their feet in the many waterways of Eastern North America. For updates, visit tony-m-trawler.blogspot.com, where Mr Wilson regularly posts the highlights and photographs of the trip.