The Great Loop

There is a group of people who like to travel by boat around the eastern United States in what is called “the Great Loop.” They travel down the Mississippi and the Tom Bigbee Waterway from the headwaters of the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. At that point, they enter the Gulf of Mexico. They carefully navigate the gulf down the west coast of Florida to Ft. Myers and cross Florida on the Cross-Florida Canal system, even traversing across Lake Okeechobee, to make their way to the Atlantic Ocean. At that point, they go up the Intracoastal Waterway all the way along the eastern seaboard to New York City. Then it’s on up the Hudson River and across the Erie Canal and into the Great Lakes system. Crossing the Great Lakes brings them back to where they started.

port medina
port medina

It’s about 5,500 miles altogether and the “loopers” take about 6 months to make the trip. Traveling slowly around the Great Loop they make new friends and see a side of America very few of us ever will. Probably the best site to learn more about living on the Great Loop edited by John C. Wright, or as he is better known, Captain John. He runs a website chock full of the most interesting information. With everything from boating costs, to what the best boat size would be to make the cruise, it never fails to provide you with something new to learn. Visit it at www.CaptainJohn.Org

Another great site is America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association at www.Greatloop.org

Recently I discovered a great blog written by a couple of real adventurers. They have a beautiful trawler called the Beach house. their blog is stuffed full of real-life experience and the wisdom that comes from living and traveling the waterways and oceans of the Great Loop. visit the site at Trawler Beach House,

If you want a great idea for a starting place when planning a trip around the Great  Loop Try Duckworks Magazine. At DuckworksMagazine.com you can also find a pant-lode of great boat building information.  The articles have a lot of ideas for building a trawler of sorts out of an old sailboat.  The advantages are numerous, like great economy, stability, and best of all….cheap. I like cheap.  check out the site.

If it’s real ocean living you desire, then maybe living on a sailboat is the way to go. Many folks live full-time and even part-time on sailboats from Alaska to the islands of the Caribbean. Many find it is not really that expensive. All you need is food, a little gas, and of course, insurance. If you study a map carefully you’ll see that you can sail from Florida to South America and never be much farther than 40 or 50 miles from shore. A good site to learn about living on a sailboat in St. Croix is www.Billdietrich.me. Bill has put together a fascinating blog of his personal experiences living offshore.

YourNewBoat.com can help you find a used boat that might get you around the loop. BIf you’re interested in building your own boat there are dozens of sites offering plans and personal blogs of the building adventure.

One of my favorites is Triloboats.com. Dave Zeiger has just about come up with one of the craziest boat designs I’ve ever seen… And just about the easiest to build! Together with his partner Anke Wagner they have proven that it’s still possible to escape the rat race and enjoy the open seas.

He has started with the simplicity of a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood and, using that basic form, designed a perfectly simple boat. I’ll bet even Philip Bolger would have enjoyed this design. His site has even got personal blogs with pictures of the building process. It’s a fun site to visit. And it shows what’s possible with a little (ok maybe a lot) of hard work. As I studied the square ship I realized that, if it’s good enough to tackle the Alaskan off-shore waters, then it would be a perfectly good platform for a “protected waters” riverboat. It might be just the thing for a great loop adventure.

Our Blogposts

October 16, 2020
Storage and Space Saving Ideas for Boats

Congratulations! You finally got the houseboat you've been dreaming of. Building a houseboat is indeed challenging, but by now you should know that the challenge doesn't end there. We all know that storage space on a boat is limited, and keeping your boat spacious is a task one should regularly do. Living on a houseboat […]

Read More
October 16, 2020
Checklists, Removal Costs, and Getting Ready: A Quick Guide on Moving Into A Houseboat

Thousands of people are living in houseboats all across the UK. This is because living in one poses many advantages, especially for those who plan on cruising the waters continuously. From the freedom it affords you to its financial implications, there are just many reasons as to why one would want to move into a […]

Read More
July 23, 2020
Build a Floating House

Welcome. You're probably here wondering how to build a floating house? Well you have come to the right place. Come find out how to build a tiny floating house as well as many other fascinating things.

Read More
July 1, 2020
Do you want to build a boat?

If the answer is yes then this blog is for you. And why not? People have been fascinated with boat building, especially building their own boats, since the dawn of time. Probably one of the first fights Adam and Eve had was because he wanted to build a boat. It’s a primal instinct really. I think […]

Read More
July 1, 2020
Building a Houseboat

There are opportunities in everyday life to learn about and study houseboats. House boats appear in many worlds, walks of life and cultures. Man's want to live on the sea apparently has no bounds. And can also be a bountiful way of living. In this post i am bringing together average people with the common […]

Read More
July 1, 2020
Dreaming of a Houseboat

ContentsRecently, I caught the bug to live on a houseboat.The urge to live on the water can be overwhelmingCan you decide which houseboat to live on?Would you like a Shantyboat?What’s a Narrowboat?Sailboat Conversion to Houseboat? Recently, I caught the bug to live on a houseboat. Actually, I’ve been having houseboat dreams since I was 18. […]

Read More
All rights reserved Build a Houseboat 2020.
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram