See full version: Stories about people sail boating for fun
The Great Loop has become hugely popular among boaters in recent years. When we first traveled down the US East Coast in 2007 we didn't hear the terms "Great Loop", "Looping", or "Loopers" a single time. These days it seems every boater we meet is flying the AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruising Association) flag.
The Great Loop takes water highways and turns them into the destination. It's equivalent to saying: 'My wife and I are going to buy an RV and drive I-75 round trip. We are going to spend each night in a parking lot just off the expressway. We will visit roadside attractions and small towns along the way. No one does this because it sounds horrible. And yet, that's exactly what the Great Loop is. A road trip with no destination.
4. It burns people out.
Nearly every looper we meet is on their first "cruise". Many of them have even bought their boat specifically for doing the loop. In other words, Loopers are generally inexperienced cruisers. This is not always the case. Some people go around and around the loop. Some people are just made to move. But the rest of them get burnt out, decide boat life isn't for them, sell their boat and move into an RV. Why?
This actually might be a good reason to do the loop, because if more people were aware of how widespread our toxic waters are, perhaps there would be change. According to this study, Chesapeake Bay is dirtier than an unflushed toilet bowl. Deleware Bay struggles with pollution. In the Hudson River, our fun game was to count condoms. Erie canal water, gross. Chicago Sanitation canal? The name says enough, Illinois river? nope. The sad truth is that for the vast majority of the loop, going swimming means risking getting sick. here
"The strangest thing I've ever seen was off the coast of Africa when the sea and the sky all just became the same. They were not just the same colour, but the sea and the sky visually became just one thing. here
The sea was like a mirror, unusual for the Atlantic, and a thick fog had surrounded us for days. We were collecting core samples from the seafloor, and I was working nights. here
In a busy shipping lane it's a serious business, and in a very real way it could be life or death if you miss a ship that hits you and sinks you. more
"I was on late racks (where you sleep in because you were on watch from 0000-0400) and was thrown out of my rack and banged up my side really well on the air conditioning unit on my way down." — Reddit user Coastie071
"Merchant seaman here. I have traveled worldwide with over 50,000 miles under my belt, having crossed the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans multiple times. more
It is interesting to note that the names for jobs of men responsible for working a ship (boatswain, coxswain, seamen) are of Anglo-Saxon origin, while those of officers (Captain, Lieutenant, Admiral) are of Norman-French origin. This is an indication of a class distinction between roles on board. here
It was not always possible to fill ships’ crews with volunteers, especially in wartime, so the law allowed gangs to seize men and force them to join a ship. Pressing peaked in the 18th century but it was still going on as late as 1850. here
The main rations were salt beef or pork, cheese, fish, ale and some form of ship's biscuit. The quality of food deteriorated because of storage problems, lack of ventilation, and poor drainage. It was also affected by the presence of rats and other vermin on board. more
Over a period of hundreds of years, seafarers from the age of the early explorers to the time of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, shared many common experiences. Men working at sea had much to endure; cut off from normal life on shore for months, even years, they had to accept cramped conditions, disease, poor food and pay. Above all, they faced the daily dangers of sea and weather.
Seamen could be ‘tarred and feathered’, tied to a rope, swung overboard and ducked or ‘keel-hauled’, dragged round the underneath of the ship. Flogging was the most common, with the whole crew often made to watch. A rope's end was used, or the infamous ‘cat o’ nine tails’. A seaman found guilty of mutiny or murder would be hanged from the yard arm. more
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