Great Harbour Trawlers
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    • News >
      • California Humpbacks Perform Rare 'Triple Breach' (Video)
      • Betrayal in Georgia? Anchoring Rules Appear Worse Than Ever
      • Ga. Wreck Removal Delayed Again: Anchor SNAFU
      • Chesapeake's Tangier Island: Enjoy it While You Can
      • Robert Peek, Beloved Deep Creek Lockmaster, Has Died
      • U.S. Agency Warns of GPS Interference
      • Rudy and Jill's ICW Tips
      • A TT35 Day at the Sausage Factory
      • Cat or Monohull Sailboat Versus a Trawler (Images, Long)
      • Loopers Warned To Linger Post-Sally
      • Coast Guard Shallow Draft Navigation Survey
      • Forget Lithium for a Moment: Why Old-Fashioned Batteries Explode
      • Tracking Hurricane Laura Live (Streaming Video)
      • The Downsides of Cruising (Comprehensive)
      • Circumnavigator Who Eschewed Instruments Dies at 104
      • Maritime Liens: Don't Let Your Boat Get 'Arrested'
      • Gulf Stream Is Slowing Down
      • Attention Cruisers, Perseids Meteor Shower Peaks Next Week
      • Ladies Publish Great Loop Tell-All
      • New NOAA Model Forecasts Another Sahara Dust Cloud Arriving This Week (Animation)
      • TT35 Demonstrations Set for Next Week
      • Prep for a Busy Hurricane Season
      • It's a Marina! It's a Mooring! No, It's a French Design (Video)
      • Giant Floating Chain Saw To Rip Up Wrecked Car Carrier off ICW
      • Lock Sked Final: Great Loop Doable, But...
      • Georgia Caves, Defangs Draconian Anchoring Law
      • Heads Up, Boaters: Here Comes the Red Dust from Africa
      • Bahamas Changes It's Mind: Keeps Covid Test Requirement
      • Insurance? Tell All or Risk Claim Denial
      • Gulf 'Dead Zone' Bigger Than Connecticut
      • GPS Spoofing Mystery: AIS Crop Circles & Ghost Ships
      • Yanmar To Install Fuel Cell Propulsion in Boats
      • Bahamas To Boaters: Welcome Back, Wear a Mask
      • Covid Concerns Fuel Coast Guard Retention Drive
      • Birthday Gift for Her 70th, a TT35
      • Above Average Hurricane Season Forecast
      • Foreign Boaters Get Some Relief as Restrictions Eased
      • Catalina Island Reopened for Arriving Boats
      • When a Boat Isn't: Supreme Court Decides
      • Coast Guard Adopting 'i911' for Your Location
      • Makeover: Storm Early Warning System Explained (Video)
      • The Reality of Quarantine in Paradise
      • 92-Footer Sinks Off California
      • New York to Loopers: You May Be Out of Luck
      • Badass Origins of Boating Law
      • Can Cannabis Save Florida Waterways?
      • Tale of a Terrible Boat
      • Boating and Social Distancing (Video)
      • Powering Through a Mexican Gale
      • Bahamas Says Stay Away, Get Out
      • Composting Heads Are a Good Option
      • TT35 Ad Campaign: The Un-Tug
      • Coronavirus Song: 'Drone Shot of My Yacht'
      • Smuggler's Run: Florida's Own 'Mini-Loop'
      • Virtual Tours of Old Ironsides
      • BoatUS to Gulfport, Don't Break Law
      • Luperon's Swimming Robber or Maybe Not
      • Georgia Begins Undoing Anchoring Ban
      • Gulfport Joins the War Against Cruisers
      • Video on D.R. Consulting Gig
      • Reward Increased in Hunt for Dolphin Killer
      • Our Favorite Fugitive Arrives in Mexico
      • Humungous Crane To Slice Up Wrecked Car Carrier
      • Avoid Getting Screwed by Georgia; Just Go Around
      • Radar Detects 'Fowl' Weather in Keys
      • Old Abe the Naval Architect
      • $20,000 Reward in Dolphin Killings
      • Great Lakes Search for Sunken Planes
      • Great Harbour Advises D.R. Boatbuilder
      • Despite Sewage Apocalypse, Mayor Blames Boaters
      • Loopers Will Need NY Certificates
      • Dorian Dog Story 'Spiked'
      • $209,000 for 61-Foot Hatteras MY
      • Refloating Effort Progress
      • Free Bahamas Cruising Guide
      • New Florida Anchoring Bans
      • Propane Fire
      • Psychedelic Fibers Advance Knot Theory (Video)
      • Wanted on the Waterways 1/4/2020
    • Ken Fickett's Blogs
    • Cruising in the Time of Covid: Think Outside The Loop
  • Owners
    • Moving Aboard
    • The Odyssey Begins
    • The Search For Adventure
  • Home
  • About
    • A Family Affair >
      • Ken Fickett
      • Becky Fickett
      • Travis Fickett
      • Jessica Fickett
    • Mirage Manufacturing
    • Factory Support
    • Careers
    • Contact
  • Boats
    • TT35 >
      • TT35 Specifications
      • TT35 Key Features
      • TT35 Design Discussions
      • Towing Resources
      • PRESS
    • N37 >
      • N37 Specifications and Layout
      • N37 Photo Gallery
      • N37 Brochure
    • GH37 >
      • GH37 Specifications and Layout
      • GH37 Photo Gallery
      • GH37 Brochure
    • N47 >
      • N47 Specifications and Layout
      • N47 Photo Gallery
      • N47 Brochure
    • GH47 >
      • GH47 Specifications and Layout
      • GH47 Photo Gallery
      • GH47 Brochure
    • GH74
  • Great Design
    • Trawler Truths >
      • Trawler Truth 1
      • Trawler Truth 2
      • Trawler Truth 3
      • Trawler Truth 4
      • Trawler Truth 5
      • Trawler Truth 6
      • Trawler Truth 7
    • Design Discussions >
      • Twins vs Single
      • Shoal vs deep draft
      • Stability vs Ballast
      • Fishtail Rudders
      • Space Age Core
      • Core Materials
      • Unsinkability
    • Economy
    • Our Naval Architect
  • Construction
    • Lamination
    • Interior
    • Rigging
  • Trawler Times
    • News >
      • California Humpbacks Perform Rare 'Triple Breach' (Video)
      • Betrayal in Georgia? Anchoring Rules Appear Worse Than Ever
      • Ga. Wreck Removal Delayed Again: Anchor SNAFU
      • Chesapeake's Tangier Island: Enjoy it While You Can
      • Robert Peek, Beloved Deep Creek Lockmaster, Has Died
      • U.S. Agency Warns of GPS Interference
      • Rudy and Jill's ICW Tips
      • A TT35 Day at the Sausage Factory
      • Cat or Monohull Sailboat Versus a Trawler (Images, Long)
      • Loopers Warned To Linger Post-Sally
      • Coast Guard Shallow Draft Navigation Survey
      • Forget Lithium for a Moment: Why Old-Fashioned Batteries Explode
      • Tracking Hurricane Laura Live (Streaming Video)
      • The Downsides of Cruising (Comprehensive)
      • Circumnavigator Who Eschewed Instruments Dies at 104
      • Maritime Liens: Don't Let Your Boat Get 'Arrested'
      • Gulf Stream Is Slowing Down
      • Attention Cruisers, Perseids Meteor Shower Peaks Next Week
      • Ladies Publish Great Loop Tell-All
      • New NOAA Model Forecasts Another Sahara Dust Cloud Arriving This Week (Animation)
      • TT35 Demonstrations Set for Next Week
      • Prep for a Busy Hurricane Season
      • It's a Marina! It's a Mooring! No, It's a French Design (Video)
      • Giant Floating Chain Saw To Rip Up Wrecked Car Carrier off ICW
      • Lock Sked Final: Great Loop Doable, But...
      • Georgia Caves, Defangs Draconian Anchoring Law
      • Heads Up, Boaters: Here Comes the Red Dust from Africa
      • Bahamas Changes It's Mind: Keeps Covid Test Requirement
      • Insurance? Tell All or Risk Claim Denial
      • Gulf 'Dead Zone' Bigger Than Connecticut
      • GPS Spoofing Mystery: AIS Crop Circles & Ghost Ships
      • Yanmar To Install Fuel Cell Propulsion in Boats
      • Bahamas To Boaters: Welcome Back, Wear a Mask
      • Covid Concerns Fuel Coast Guard Retention Drive
      • Birthday Gift for Her 70th, a TT35
      • Above Average Hurricane Season Forecast
      • Foreign Boaters Get Some Relief as Restrictions Eased
      • Catalina Island Reopened for Arriving Boats
      • When a Boat Isn't: Supreme Court Decides
      • Coast Guard Adopting 'i911' for Your Location
      • Makeover: Storm Early Warning System Explained (Video)
      • The Reality of Quarantine in Paradise
      • 92-Footer Sinks Off California
      • New York to Loopers: You May Be Out of Luck
      • Badass Origins of Boating Law
      • Can Cannabis Save Florida Waterways?
      • Tale of a Terrible Boat
      • Boating and Social Distancing (Video)
      • Powering Through a Mexican Gale
      • Bahamas Says Stay Away, Get Out
      • Composting Heads Are a Good Option
      • TT35 Ad Campaign: The Un-Tug
      • Coronavirus Song: 'Drone Shot of My Yacht'
      • Smuggler's Run: Florida's Own 'Mini-Loop'
      • Virtual Tours of Old Ironsides
      • BoatUS to Gulfport, Don't Break Law
      • Luperon's Swimming Robber or Maybe Not
      • Georgia Begins Undoing Anchoring Ban
      • Gulfport Joins the War Against Cruisers
      • Video on D.R. Consulting Gig
      • Reward Increased in Hunt for Dolphin Killer
      • Our Favorite Fugitive Arrives in Mexico
      • Humungous Crane To Slice Up Wrecked Car Carrier
      • Avoid Getting Screwed by Georgia; Just Go Around
      • Radar Detects 'Fowl' Weather in Keys
      • Old Abe the Naval Architect
      • $20,000 Reward in Dolphin Killings
      • Great Lakes Search for Sunken Planes
      • Great Harbour Advises D.R. Boatbuilder
      • Despite Sewage Apocalypse, Mayor Blames Boaters
      • Loopers Will Need NY Certificates
      • Dorian Dog Story 'Spiked'
      • $209,000 for 61-Foot Hatteras MY
      • Refloating Effort Progress
      • Free Bahamas Cruising Guide
      • New Florida Anchoring Bans
      • Propane Fire
      • Psychedelic Fibers Advance Knot Theory (Video)
      • Wanted on the Waterways 1/4/2020
    • Ken Fickett's Blogs
    • Cruising in the Time of Covid: Think Outside The Loop
  • Owners
    • Moving Aboard
    • The Odyssey Begins
    • The Search For Adventure
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Ladies Have Their Say in Great Loop Tell-All (Free Download)

By PETER SWANSON
Loopers have always amused me in an endearing way. First-time Loopers fuss as if it were a journey to darkest Africa back in Victorian times. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to lose your way on the 5,000-mile circle route; in an emergency you’re rarely too far to swim ashore, and no matter where you land, you are in the United States of America (or, at worst, Canada).
 
Okay, okay…I admit it. I was wrong to be so dismissive. Years of managing seminars at TrawlerFest proved to me that even if the worries were overblown, they were no less real. And, dare I say it, this was particularly true among many of the wives.
 
Now comes Susan Costa aboard Lucky Me, who has organized an anthology of stories from 35 Loop women. The name of the book is Ladies on the Loop. Costa, a fellow Bay Stater, is an energetic person who has also published Cruising the Bahamas with Lucky Me  with husband and co-author Greg Costa. She was helped in her current endeavor by Kim Russo, executive director of the American Great Loop Cruisers Association.
 
Costa describes her book’s 35 co-authors thus:
 
“We are Captains, First Mates, Admirals, Wives, Partners, Cooks and at times even hired Crew. On the Loop, it doesn’t matter if you are young or old, rich or on a budget, newly boating or an expert – we are all in this together and equal. And these women often had the most interesting stories; how they started the Loop, overcoming sickness and fears, concerns about leaving family behind, finding incredible joy along the journey, personal growth, and of course, the friendships they made.”
 
I finagled an advance copy of Ladies and was able to read it as Hurricane Isaias was bearing down on Florida.  I was prepared to pan it. Not to you, dear audience (I do have some sense of diplomacy), but to the cynic that lives inside my own head. To my surprise, though, the book was good, and it is good because it is valuable. Ladies has answers to so many questions that uninitiated would-be cruisers will have about the Loop, the ICW and cruising in general. Its stories provide the warmth and comfort of a well worn sweater.
 
Many if not most Loopers are empty nesters with perhaps a dog displacing those grown children, but what about the family that made the journey with their older disabled son…on a 27-foot sailboat no less? Of couse, it wasn’t easy, but these three found great joy among the “community of compassion” of fellow boaters.
 
There was inspiration aplenty, but also down-and-dirty practical advice about all manner of things: How to cope with the holidays, how to displace the primal urge to shop (you know who you are), how to get your old mutt to pee on the foredeck, how to this, how to that, how to the other thing. One of the authors was listed only as “Anonymous” and she had a lot to say about how relationships can go very wrong underway.
 
Susan Costa has graciously given us permission to distribute Ladies of the Loop, having apparently forgiven my tongue-in-cheek dynosaurian suggestion that she follow up with publication of a calendar.
 
 Download Ladies of the Loop as a PDF
 


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