So much has happened since we left Panama City, and returned home. We sold our beloved Seanna. We had the best of intentions to return to her and set sail again, but the lure of the Great Loop weighed heavy on our hearts. During our cruise we met some "loopers", and their stories were always on our minds. 

So we were home discussing our future, and working to build up our cruising kitty, when we came to the realization that we just had to do the loop. The Great Loop is a 6000 mile inland and coastal journey that circumnavigates the eastern half of America. The loop can be done with a sailboat, but we felt like a trawler was the most comfortable way to do the loop.

With the sale of Seanna, we began our search for the perfect trawler. Unlike our search for a sailboat, we didn't have a clue on what we wanted. We researched, took a few road trips, and spent a lot of time on the Internet. Finally we were beginning to get an idea of the sort of boat that would meet our needs. After a trip to Kemah Texas, we decided that the Gulfstar 44 MC  was the right boat for us. We made an offer on one in Kemah, but we weren't able to agree on a price. We found a boat in Michigan on the Internet, but it seemed too far away, and how could we get the boat to a harbor nearby? I talked to the owner on the phone, and the way he described the boat, I felt like we had to go see her. 

One of the many things I love about Robyn, is that she is ALWAYS ready for a road trip. So off to Bay City MI. The boat was exactly as represented by the owner. We told Mark, the owner we would go home and talk about it on the way home. Before we got out of the parking lot, I asked Mark if he would be willing to help get the boat from Bay City to Muskogee Oklahoma. He told me that he was hoping to sell the boat to someone far away that needed help on the delivery. The romance of Mark getting to cruise his boat over a thousand miles really helped us negotiate a price we couldn't walk way from!

For the next month we arranged the purchase of the boat, and planned the trip to Oklahoma. Mark and one of his friends took the boat from Bay City to Chicago. I replaced his friend in Chicago, and we proceeded to deliver the boat to Oklahoma. Now I feel like I am a very confident sailor, but I had no clue as to how to operate a twin screw trawler. With Mark's fine and patient instruction, by the time We got to Memphis, I felt like I could handle her easily.

When I met Mark in Chicago, the weather wasn't very cooperative, so we stayed an extra day at the Chicago Municipal Marina. When we left the Marine, we had to go out into Lake Michigan and go to a lock between the lake and the Chicago River. The lock, even though my first, was uneventful, but very interesting. Exiting the lock, we proceeded through the heart of the Chicago high-rise downtown district. From there we entered the Illinois River that took us to the mighty Mississippi. I actually was pretty apprehensive about the river of Huck Finn with it's turbulent reputation. It didn't help matters that we had gone down the Illinois during historically high river levels, that continued into the Mississippi.

In reality, the mighty miss, is truly the "Big Muddy". We didn't encounter anything so bad as the river's reputation, other than there are very few marinas, or decent anchorages on the river. Robyn's uncle Pat met us in Memphis, and crewed for the remainder of the trip. Mark's plan was to go all the way to Muskogee, but a Bob Dylan concert got in the way. Pat and I dropped Mark off at the Little Rock Yacht Club, so he could catch a flight home for the concert.

Pat and I continued for several more days, and made a huge 100 mile push on the final day to safely deliver Robyn's Nest to Three Forks Harbor marina in Muskogee, Oklahoma.  All in all, we traveled over 1000 miles by river. The trip did nothing but convince me further, that we had made the right decision on our future cruising plans.