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Pearls Aboard OYSTER

Pearls Aboard OYSTER

An America's Great Loop Travel Adventure Blog

  • 2025 Great Loop Pearls
  • Great Loop Journey Summer & Fall 2024
  • Fall 2023 Adventure Wrap Up
  • Summer Triangle Loop 2023
  • Spring Blogs 2023
  • Journey Kickoff 2022 Posts
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Loop Journey 2025 Kickoff Vlog

2025 Great Loop Pearls

AMERICA’S GREAT LOOP JOURNEY 2025 – Let the good waves roll!

Great Loop Journey Summer & Fall 2024

5 Rivers, 3 More States, & A Hurricane Nipping At Our Bow!

  • 2025 Great Loop Pearls
  • Great Loop Journey Summer & Fall 2024
  • Fall 2023 Adventure Wrap Up
  • Summer Triangle Loop 2023
  • Spring Blogs 2023
  • Journey Kickoff 2022 Posts
Updated on May 24, 2025May 24, 2025Uncategorized

Loop Journey 2025 Kickoff Vlog

What a great start we’ve had to our Great Loop journey so far! Ten days in, and Jeff and I have already made it to …

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Updated on May 21, 2025May 21, 20252025 Great Loop Pearls

AMERICA’S GREAT LOOP JOURNEY 2025 – Let the good waves roll!

Jeff and I are SO very happy to be back on our Loop! We’ve spent yet another fun & fabulous winter with family and friends …

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Updated on October 6, 2024October 6, 2024Great Loop Journey Summer & Fall 2024

5 Rivers, 3 More States, & A Hurricane Nipping At Our Bow!

One of the neatest parts of participating in the America’s Great Loop journey is all of the many “firsts” we get to encounter. Here we …

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Updated on September 15, 2024September 15, 2024Great Loop Journey Summer & Fall 2024

CHICAGO!!

We can’t believe it. We made it to ~ and through ~ the great city of CHICAGO! Neither Jeff nor I had ever visited before, …

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Updated on September 3, 2024September 3, 2024Great Loop Journey Summer & Fall 2024

MAGICAL & MIGHTY LAKE MICHIGAN! Blog and Vlog

“You should be off Lake Michigan and in Chicago by September 1,” many Great Loop sources advised. Others gave a maximum date of September 15. …

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Updated on September 1, 2024August 31, 2024Great Loop Journey Summer & Fall 2024

Oyster Discovers Pearls in MICHIGAN! Blog & Video

Well, shiver me timbers and blow me down! Michigan state is full of surprises! While Jeff and I have only yet cruised halfway down its …

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Updated on August 29, 2024August 28, 2024Great Loop Journey Summer & Fall 2024

SERENDIPITY! Lake Huron’s North Channel Blog & Vlog

The word “serendipity” has always been an all-time favorite of mine. It has a playful, hop-scotching ring about it, doesn’t it? More than that, its …

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Updated on August 18, 2024August 18, 2024Great Loop Journey Summer & Fall 2024

GEORGIAN BAY, LAKE HURON REFLECTIONS Blog & Vlog

Do you remember that old fashioned multicolored globe in your third grade classroom? You know – the one you loved to spin and explore all …

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Updated on July 27, 2024July 26, 2024Great Loop Journey Summer & Fall 2024

PURE & RUGGED GEORGIAN BAY Lake Huron, Ontario

HOME TO EPIC BEAUTY & THE MOST ANCIENT ROCKS ON THE PLANET! Jeff and I had heard the same sentiment from fellow “Loopers” over and …

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Updated on July 25, 2024July 24, 2024Great Loop Journey Summer & Fall 2024

THE BIG CHUTE Our Wild Boat Ride Across A Road!

The 240 mile journey of the Trent-Severn Waterway in 10 days was really fascinating, but Jeff and I have to agree that the grand highlight …

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https://youtu.be/DvJl8tji0cY

AHOY & WELCOME!

Trish and Jeff
Trish and Jeff

OUR WORLD IS OUR OYSTER!

When Jeff and I purchased our 40 foot 1974 DeFever Trawler OYSTER in August of 2022, never could we have imagined how much joy she would bring to us these last few years Our sweet girl may have needed a good bit of tender loving care at first, but boy, has she ever purred along the waterways with ease and grace despite her age. Jeff and I like to think that Oyster is pretty happy with us, too. Together ~ both she and we ~ have found not only a renewed sense of purpose and discovery, but a wealth of new adventures, too. Thanks for coming along as we share all our cruising fun and foibles!

WHERE HAVE WE BEEN THE LAST FEW YEARS?
HERE’S A RECAP…
(but see blogs for details!)

FALL, 2022
Jeff and I were able to come to know our Oyster and gain our sea legs as we ventured from Bucksport, Maine in Penobscot Bay. We travailed the New England coastline down to the Long Island Sound where we reluctantly “put her up on the hard” (meaning: store her out of the water) at Petzold’s Marina on the Connecticut River. It was tough to say goodbye to her for the winter - we had just finally gotten to know one another!

THE “TRIANGLE LOOP” SUMMER & FALL 2023
After receiving some much needed cosmetic care along with a few extra special perks like a new generator and other fancy items, Jeff and I launched Oyster anew. This would be our first true adventure together. We traveled the New York waterways up into Canada’s Rideau Canal and back down through Lake Champlain to Connecticut. The trip in total was over 800+ miles and included over 130 locks. Such an enthralling way to begin!

THE TRADITIONAL “AMERICA’S GREAT LOOP” PART 1
SUMMER & FALL 2024

Jeff and I traced last year’s wake through the New York waterways (Long Island Sound, Hudson River, Erie & Oswego Canals, but this time crossed Lake Ontario to enter Canada’s Trent Severn Canal system as opposed to the easterly Rideau Canal. This fantastic journey took us into Lake Huron, where we explored the stunning and immaculate Georgian Bay and North Channel before heading back down through Lake Michigan.

From Lake Michigan we entered the mid-U.S. river system that took us all the way from Chicago down to the Gulf of Mexico. Talk about incredible! When we finally crossed the Gulf of Mexico to work our way to our little Port LaBelle Marina along the Caloosahatchee River east of Ft. Myers, Jeff and I felt like experienced sailors for sure.

ON OUR WAY TO “CROSS OUR WAKE” AND BEYOND!
SUMMER & FALL 2025
Woohoo! We and Oyster will complete our AMERICA’S GREAT LOOP adventure together in New York City Harbor. This is traditionally called “crossing your wake”, which means that we will have ended where we had begun. At that point we will have earned the right to exchange our white America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association white burgee (flag) to proudly bear a fancier gold one. Yessirreee!!

But our travels will not end there. Once again we will travail the Northeast coast to hang out and explore more of Maine. And yes again, Oyster will winter in Connecticut again.

SUMMER & FALL 2026
THE “DOWNEAST LOOP” AROUND THE CANADIAN MARITIME PROVINCES? We sure hope so!

COME ABOARD OYSTER WITH US!

AHOY & WELCOME!

THE POETRY OF PEARLS

The heart of a man

is very much like

the sea.

it has its storms,

it has its tides

and in its depths

it has its pearls

too.

~ VINCENT VAN GOGH

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