Our summer checkout cruise

We have planned a summer checkout cruise to get warmed up for the Great Loop and ensure everything is working and in place as planned. We will go north to Charlevoix to meet up with our good friends Win and Susan in their Tiara. From there, weather permitting, we will go on up through the Mackinaw Straits and into the North Channel. We have from July 14 to 29 and look forward to visiting other friends we know along the way.

Here is Great Laker at the dock and anxious to go. Occasionally during the summer we get an algae bloom which colors the water green.  The contrast of the water, cobalt blue hull and clouds in the sky drew Elizabeth to take this shot before we headed out for a day on Lake Michigan. This coastal cruiser is rather unusual on the Great Lakes and we constantly get the thumbs up from observers wherever we cruise.  

Great Laker on Spring Lake, MI

Additions to Great Laker

When you buy a boat, no matter how new it is or how great a condition it is in, there are always things you want to do to personalize it and make it ready to fit your needs. Great Laker was essentially ready to cruise. After all, I brought her back successfully 650 miles from Lake Erie. However, I rapidly developed a list of "like to haves" and started work on them over the winter.

Spending a lot of time outdoors in the sun and heat requires some shade. I designed and fortunately found a very capable canvas expert to implement solutions in three areas.

One piece windows cover

Sun deck bimini

Two piece cockpit screen

Use one or both pieces zipped

The pilot house still had open side windows so I added curtains using Sunbrella's yellow fabric.

Pilot house curtains

Additional storage on deck for fenders, a wash down hose, and a back up anchor was needed. The factory custom makes this great deck box to match the boat lines and shipped it out for me to install on the bow.

Bow deck box

We will be anchoring outside of marinas one or more nights on occasion and it is important to be able to monitor the house batteries to know when they might need charging. This battery monitor does exactly that. I installed and mounted it next to the generator start/run panel.

Victron Energy battery monitoring system

When motoring during the day, having clear channel access to music, news and weather is a blessing. Therefore, I installed a Sirius radio receiver and integrated it into the Clarion sound system. Anne will be up to date on business news and market conditions at all times and I will have many choices for music. The electronics are under the pilot house seat.

Sirius Radio Receiver

An Automated Information System (AIS) is required of commercial boats and causes information about their boat name, heading and speed, destination etc., to be transmitted frequently to other boats for display on their chart plotters and radar. I installed an AIS receiver to allow me to track these vessels around me and be sure I am out of their way. It is a valuable and important safety device. I put the electronics over the helm in the ceiling of the pilot house.

Automated Information System Receiver

It also turns out the four round ports that came with the boat were plastic and the sealant used by the factory did not stick to them very well.  They had a tendency to leak in high winds and rain. Removing and re-bedding them would not solve the problem in the long run.  So, I found beautiful brass ports with chrome platting and installed them instead. It was a lot of work, but they stay dry and what a great look!

Stairway port

Shower port

Great Laker's Engine Room

Oh yes, the engine room! The debate over one engine vs two will go on forever, however, the American Tugs all come with a single engine which was my preference. Both sides of the engine are very accessible via hatches, one on each side of the pilot house, using a ladder that can be attached on either side. Being able to easily get to all sides of the engine and related components makes maintenance much simpler.

Hatches to engine room

Starboard side of engine

Port side of engine

The engine is a Cummins 5.9 L diesel with a turbo charger making 380 HP at 3000 RPM. With the hatches in place the engine is very quiet and you can converse comfortably in a normal voice. Actually, you only need about 40 HP to move very economically at a hull speed of about 7 knots, but if necessary the boat will plane at about 18 knots. 

Here are views from down below showing some of the other equipment. The port side includes Racor fuel filters on the left, Northern Lights 6KW diesel generator in the center and an oil changing system on the right. The starboard side includes the water heater on the left and the engine water cooled and underwater exhaust on the right. All of this equipment is built and installed to marine commercial standards, which is rare in private boats of this size and speaks to the high standards used by TOMCO in it's construction.

View towards starboard

View towards port

Great Laker's Interior

Some of you are asking, "What does Great Laker look like inside"? Here are some pictures I took late last year while she was at the dock. There have been a number of interior improvements over the winter which I will cover in a later entry.  

Great Laker is a couples cruiser. She has a raised pilot house, a stateroom and head, and a salon. There is a generous 6 1/2 ft headroom throughout. Since the boat is heated and air conditioned and has screened windows, it is always comfortable, dry and insect free in any weather.

The pilot house has all around windows for 360 degree visibility, and both port and starboard doors for quick access to the exterior for docking and anchoring. This is where we spend time operating the boat and enjoying the vistas. There are seats for two people on both sides, an operations console, and a chart table.

Starboard side

Port side

View towards bow

The stateroom and head are down the stairway to the left of the chart table above.  There is a walk around queen bed, with plenty of storage in lockers, side pockets and drawers.  The head has access from both the stateroom and stairs (for guests) and has a large enclosed shower.

The salon is down a stairway behind the pilot house and has large open windows on three sides and a door to the cockpit in the rear. The galley is on one side with the refrigerator, microwave and stove, and the spacious counter has dual sinks. The settee is on the other side with the table, seating and storage. This area makes into a full size bed as well. Of course there is an entertainment system with CD changer, CD/DVD player, Sirius/AM/FM radio and speakers in the salon and pilot house. It's far from audiophile quality, but quite acceptable.  

Galley on starboard

Settee on port

Getting Great Laker out of Winter Storage

Today we brought Great Laker back home to our dock. The process of getting her out of the building, onto a trailer and then into a sling for lowering her into the water is quite interesting and a bit daunting. Fortunately the marina workmen are very experienced at this and there were no issues.

Note the fabulous buff and wax job on the exterior. I spent many hours up and down ladders getting that mirror perfect shine. Colored hulls are not common on the Great Lakes and this one really draws attention and many compliments.

After getting her into the water and checking out all the systems, I determined that things were a go and we brought her 2 miles north on Spring Lake to the dock. It is comforting to be able to look out the window at any time and see that she is safe. 

America's Great Loop Cruiser's Association

Fortunately for those of us wanting to do this trip, there is the America's Great Loop Cruiser's Association (AGLCA).  The association's primary purpose is to disseminate information and enhance the overall experience for those learning about, as well as exploring and safely cruising America's Great Loop.  Boaters who join the AGLCA can get a white burgee that signifies to others that they are looping.  This promotes getting to know others and making friends along the way.  Completing the Great Loop earns one a gold burgee and completing it more than once earns one a platinum burgee!



ATTENTION:  If you wish to know the location of Great Laker at any time, the AGLCA provides a Looper Locator.  This points to our exact position on a Google map!!!

Purchasing the American Tug

In January, 2011, we purchased a 2005 American Tug 34, which was built in La Conner, WA, and is designed as a couple's offshore cruiser.  In the Spring, we brought her back from Lake Erie to our home on Spring Lake, MI. Here she is the day we picked her up for the trip home. That summer we took a number of trips on Lake MI getting familiar with the boat and learning the boating life style.

Here is picture of our boat leaving a marina in Northport, MI, on Grand Traverse Bay very early in the morning during a trip last August.  We submitted it to the manufacturer, Tomco Marine Group, Inc. and it was selected to be Miss February in their 2012 boating calendar.

Our current dream is to complete a circumnavigation of the east coast, going down the Mississippi, across the Gulf, up the Intracoastal Waterway, and back through the Eire Canal into the Great Lakes.  This will take several months, cover over 6,000 miles and include 115 locks.  We will visit family and friends, explore many areas rich with unique culture and history, and enjoy meeting new friends.  The trip will start in September, 2012.

Preparations for such a trip are quite extensive, and we are busy planning all the aspects of leaving our home and living and traveling on a boat.  Great Laker was in heated storage this winter and the Captain (Larry) spent a great deal of time on board learning all the systems in detail, and making upgrades and adding provisioning needed for her to be a comfortable and reliable place to live.  The Admiral (Anne) is coordinating with those we will visit or those who will join us at various points, and will be ensuring that we can effectively manage our lives while on the water away from home.  We are very excited for this to begin.