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Great Loop Escape
Lock up the house. Buy a boat 2,000 miles away. Travel America’s Great Loop.
What could go wrong?
When the pandemic closed the world, Glen and Julie went looking for a way out. With ocean crossings already behind them, they traded their mountain home for Stardust, a boat waiting 2,000 miles away, and set off on America’s Great Loop. What follows is a true story played out along a 6,000-mile ribbon of rivers, canals, lakes, and the Intracoastal Waterway winding through the eastern United States like a secret the country had been keeping.
Come aboard as they wrestle churning currents inside locks where one wrong move means fiberglass meets concrete. Travel with them from the sparkling waters of the Florida Keys into the murky Dismal Swamp, up the Hudson River, and through the Erie Canal. Watch the Great Lakes turn from glass to gale in the space of an hour, then follow Stardust south from Chicago into the powerful currents, enormous locks, and intimidating barge traffic of America’s inland rivers.
Along the way, mechanical failures refuse to wait for convenient harbors, carefully made plans unravel, and the closed Canadian border forces a decision that changes everything.
Through it all, strangers become friends, small towns become favorites, and a couple with eight years at sea behind them discovers how much there is still to learn—and the irresistible pull of one more adventure.
The Loop promised an escape. What it delivered was far more than they ever imagined.
What could go wrong?
When the pandemic closed the world, Glen and Julie went looking for a way out. With ocean crossings already behind them, they traded their mountain home for Stardust, a boat waiting 2,000 miles away, and set off on America’s Great Loop. What follows is a true story played out along a 6,000-mile ribbon of rivers, canals, lakes, and the Intracoastal Waterway winding through the eastern United States like a secret the country had been keeping.
Come aboard as they wrestle churning currents inside locks where one wrong move means fiberglass meets concrete. Travel with them from the sparkling waters of the Florida Keys into the murky Dismal Swamp, up the Hudson River, and through the Erie Canal. Watch the Great Lakes turn from glass to gale in the space of an hour, then follow Stardust south from Chicago into the powerful currents, enormous locks, and intimidating barge traffic of America’s inland rivers.
Along the way, mechanical failures refuse to wait for convenient harbors, carefully made plans unravel, and the closed Canadian border forces a decision that changes everything.
Through it all, strangers become friends, small towns become favorites, and a couple with eight years at sea behind them discovers how much there is still to learn—and the irresistible pull of one more adventure.
The Loop promised an escape. What it delivered was far more than they ever imagined.
330 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 11, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 22, 2026
A thank you for your book.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I haven’t completed the loop, but was able to experience the ride from Lake Michigan to the gulf with a good friend of my fathers on a 37ft sailboat with the mast lashed to the top of the cabin. The day before we reached our stopping point near the gulf at a small marina, we were boarded by armed Coast Guard , and searched. The skipper,(that’s what I called him), said that was very odd, as it had not happened on any part of the loop. After a brief search, with dogs, we were allowed to continue. That evening , we reached the marina. The next morning,Skipper was to fly home to North Carolina and my self home to Indiana. We were packing the next morning when there was a shout for all boaters to come up to the restaurant, as something strange was happening. It took us a little bit to get there, and as we walked in, we saw on the big screen television the second plane hit the WorldTrade Center. I really enjoyed our time on the rivers,the locks, and the feeling of freedom.Your book brought back many memories. Thank you.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I haven’t completed the loop, but was able to experience the ride from Lake Michigan to the gulf with a good friend of my fathers on a 37ft sailboat with the mast lashed to the top of the cabin. The day before we reached our stopping point near the gulf at a small marina, we were boarded by armed Coast Guard , and searched. The skipper,(that’s what I called him), said that was very odd, as it had not happened on any part of the loop. After a brief search, with dogs, we were allowed to continue. That evening , we reached the marina. The next morning,Skipper was to fly home to North Carolina and my self home to Indiana. We were packing the next morning when there was a shout for all boaters to come up to the restaurant, as something strange was happening. It took us a little bit to get there, and as we walked in, we saw on the big screen television the second plane hit the WorldTrade Center. I really enjoyed our time on the rivers,the locks, and the feeling of freedom.Your book brought back many memories. Thank you.
October 3, 2026
good story! well writeñ No glaring gratical
For a story as long as it is I could not put it down until I finished
The
Ron.
By the way
Ease be careful of Reno’s balls and dogs. They chew on the, to the point of wearing their down. Oren I opening the pul chamber. The live part of their teeth. PAINULL. AND
LETS ACTERIA INTO THEIR BODIES. EVENALL CAN KILE. RON GAMMON. BORDED IN VERANY DENISTISTRY
RBBER BALLS DONT HAVE TE ABASVE N COVER
For a story as long as it is I could not put it down until I finished
The
Ron.
By the way
Ease be careful of Reno’s balls and dogs. They chew on the, to the point of wearing their down. Oren I opening the pul chamber. The live part of their teeth. PAINULL. AND
LETS ACTERIA INTO THEIR BODIES. EVENALL CAN KILE. RON GAMMON. BORDED IN VERANY DENISTISTRY
RBBER BALLS DONT HAVE TE ABASVE N COVER
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews