Can I Loop?

08/10/2026

Every boat-shopping conversation I have ends up at single versus twin. Redundancy versus simplicity, fuel, cost. Fine argument. But I've come around to thinking it hides the question I'd actually want answered first:

Where is the running gear, and what's in front of it?

Capt. Chris Caldwell — he and Alyse train cruisers and he writes on this — makes the point plainly on his own site: on a lot of single-engine trawlers "the propeller is above the bottom line of the keel giving it and the rudder terrific protection in case of a grounding incident." And in his Great Loop boat-buying piece for Southern Boating he won't even pick a side on engine count — "Singles or twins both work" — while noting singles usually draw more water and twins usually draw less.

So the two things trade against each other, and neither of them is "engine count":

• Protection often favors the deep-keel layout — the keel takes the hit first. • Draft often favors twins — smaller wheels, less water. His numbers for the Loop are 5' or less, with 4' or less opening up more side trips and anchorages. • And it's a hull-and-installation property, not an engine-count one. His own page separates full-displacement twins, which can get real keel protection, from planing hulls, which don't.

Here's why it matters to a buyer: a listing will tell you "twin diesels." A listing will not tell you whether those shafts and props sit tucked up behind a keel or hang out below it. That's a haul-out photo or a straight question to the owner, and it's free. The Loop is a lot of skinny, murky water — that's the hazard you're actually planning around.

I'm not going to tell you how any particular model is configured down there. That's exactly the thing I'd rather have an owner or a surveyor who's had it on the hard tell me. But it's on my ask-list now, before I'd spend $2,000–3,500 on a survey:

• Is the running gear protected by the keel, or exposed below it? • Any haul-out photos from the last year? (One picture answers it.) • Has she been grounded, and what did it cost?

That's the sort of homework Can I Loop? is built to do — www.caniloop.net if you want to see a sample.

— Jesse

08/06/2026

Most Loopers cruise one day in three.

That's not my number — it's on AGLCA's own FAQ, and I'd read past it a dozen times.

Which means the published 653-day average isn't measuring the Loop. It's measuring how long people choose to take. At 50 miles a day, a 6,000-mile Loop is about 120 days of actually moving. Four months.

Everything else is weather, provisioning, a lock schedule, and a town you liked.

If you're planning and that average has been worrying you — there's no schedule you're behind on.

https://www.caniloop.net/fb

07/31/2026

AGLCA publishes its Loop completion stats every year. I've never seen five years side by side.

Two things that only show up when you do:

Mainship has been the most-finished make five years running. Carver is the only make that grew every single year — 9, 10, 17, 19, 20.

Also worth knowing if you're shopping: the average Loop boat is 41.3 feet, and 88% of the fleet is under 50 feet.

Their numbers, not mine. Full table and the caveats — these are member-reported crossings, so treat the totals as a floor — here 👇

www.caniloop.net/what-boats-do-the-great-loop

07/28/2026

07/27/2026

Everybody checks height and draft on a Loop boat. The one I see people hand-wave is range — and it's the one that strands you.

Here's the trap: the brochure range is a fantasy number. It's usually figured on a full tank at some efficient speed, no reserve, flat water, clean bottom, light load. Real range is a different math, and you can rough it out from the couch:

• Start with usable fuel, not tank size — knock off a reserve (I plan to never run a tank below ~10–15%). • Get the boat's real gallons-per-hour at displacement cruise — not the planing number, not the spec sheet. The owners of that exact model/engine combo know it cold; ask them. • Range ≈ usable gallons ÷ GPH × your cruise speed. Then knock it down again for current, wind, and a dirty bottom.

Why it matters: parts of the Loop have real gaps with no fuel for a long stretch, and a boat that "does 300 miles" on paper can be a lot shorter in the real world.

I'm not going to quote you a GPH — that's boat-specific and I'd rather send you to owners than be confidently wrong. But run your own honest number before you fall in love with a listing.

That's the kind of homework I'm building Can I Loop? to do — www.caniloop.net if you want to see a sample.

— Jesse

Vet a used boat against the Great Loop's hard limits — air draft, draft, range — and see the model-specific risks before you buy or pay for a survey.

07/23/2026

A few people have asked what I've actually been building, so here's the short version. What do you think?

You paste a boat listing. It checks it against the Loop's hard limits — air draft, loaded draft, range — flags what that specific model does that a survey won't catch, and hands you a one-page brief to give your surveyor.

The part I'm actually proudest of isn't the pass/fail. It's that when a number can't be verified, it says "unverified" instead of pretending. That's the whole point.

Still building. Swipe through →

07/22/2026

A real one from my own boat search this week: I'm looking at a boat where the listing's air draft is listed as the exact same number as the beam. Same figure, down to the inch. That's no coincidence — somebody copy-pasted.

So what's her real air draft? Turns out nobody's actually measured it. On the Loop that's the number — it's what decides whether you clear the bridges — and it's the one listings get wrong more than any other.

Lesson I keep relearning: get a tape on the actual boat. Don't trust the listing.

Anyone else caught a listing number that was flat-out wrong?

07/21/2026

Coming from ski boats, I figured the survey was the big test you had to pass. Turns out it answers the wrong question first. A good surveyor tells you whether a boat is sound — hull, systems, moisture, wear. Essential. But it's a condition report, not a Loop-readiness report — and the two things that most often kill a Loop dream aren't condition problems: (1) Can the boat physically do the Loop? The controlling fixed bridge is charted around 19'6", the rivers and Erie get skinny, and some runs have no fuel for a long stretch. (2) What does that specific model do that bites owners? Both are free to check — before you ever pay for a survey. Do the free homework first, so your survey dollars go toward a boat that already passed the two tests the surveyor was never going to run.

07/21/2026

Quick note for anyone shopping right now: the used-boat market has swung toward buyers. The post-pandemic frenzy is over — brokers are describing patient, value-conscious buyers and a lot more lowball offers landing (J.D. Power's Q1 2026 marine report and several broker write-ups all say the same thing).

That's good news if you're buying. But here's the trap I keep reminding myself of: a price cut on the wrong boat is still money lost. The Loop doesn't care what you paid. It cares whether the boat clears the fixed bridge (charted around 19'6"), handles the skinny water at its loaded draft, and makes the fuel-less stretches — and whether that specific model has a known headache that'll eat your savings the first season.

So in a buyer's market I'd spend the leverage on the right boat, not just a cheap one. Confirm the real numbers on the actual boat, find owners of that model and ask where it hurts, then negotiate hard. That's the homework I'm doing on my own search, and it's what I'm building Can I Loop to do — caniloop.net if you want to see a sample.