"Long term travels post retirement" ...in an A25

[hetek]

While surfing the WWW, I came across this blog:

https://gtdtravels.com/

The blog starts at the last post but if you go back to 2019, it documents Gordon's plan to do the Great Loop with his A25, "Adagio".

It is interesting to me in the fact that I myself am approaching retirement age and was thinking about doing the same - the Great Loop. Or at least attempt it. Or a portion of it. Or several small pieces of it. I read the entire blog.

In a nutshell, he set sail from Florida on the ICW and made it as far north as Norfolk, VA, before ending his cruising for the year. He mentioned something about needing to outfit the boat better so it would be easier to single-hand.

Then... nothing. His last post stated that he bought a Skeeter Cat and that he would continue his Great Loop trip with that instead in 2020. Nothing more. I assume COVID put a cramp in those plans.

I sent him a message. Why abandon the Albin? What additional outfitting did he need to do? What was the hardest part about single-handing the ICW? No reply.

For all things "long term travels" in an A25, I would defer to DA. He's "been there, done that", but he had his Mrs aboard. Or Stxray. He attempted The ICW solo, twice but had his troubles too.

Like reading a book with the last few pages torn out.

Just thought I'd mention it.

[WillieC]

Check out Smacksman's videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orb6saZA0GU

[Ambler27FC]

The Smackman videos on YouTube are fantastic. I also enjoyed this video covering the whole loop:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hlv2RNE9eLk.

Never done more than a week at a time, but I’ve imagined the main considerations are:
1) an autopilot you (reasonably) trust,
2) fuel range,
3) septic capacity, and
4) sleeping comfort.

[hetek]

How could I forget to include Smackman? Unforgivable!

Good point about septic. Would be very inconvenient if your fuel supply outlasted your holding tank capacity.

The gent, Gordon, posted an Excel spreadsheet with his entire trip planned out. Fuel, dates, points of interest, restaurants... Hope he gets to complete it one day.

[nebulatech]

Just glanced over Gordon's site. The haul out in Norfolk is where I hauled my boat when I bought it, Elizabeth City public boat landing. Looks better in daylight. The bridge he mentioned was scary to drive the boat over, especially the first time, at 1 am in fog and rain. At least there was no traffic.

[Ambler27FC]

I think about this trip a bit, and two more quick thoughts on outfitting:
1) Bug screens for the southern half of the loop. I’ve read horror stories.
2) A mini fridge. But i hear those fancy coolers and some block ice can work very well.

[hetek]

Sad to see an adventurous trip being aborted, if only to outfit the boat for better single-handed traveling. Why not outfit en route?

The gent that bought my A27FC took the ICW south after leaving Boston, via Long Island Sound, NY, and ended up in the FL Keys, solo! Kudos to him!

He did have to do some repairs on the way: The 4D61 circulator pump gave out just south of Hell's Gate in NYC. He filled the coolant tank with fresh water using the shower hose from the head, until he got to safe harbor in NJ! He had a new pump FedEx'ed to the marina and on he went.

I wondered why Gordon abandoned plans to complete the trip with the Albin and made the switch to a power cat? I Googled the Cat. It is a one-off by a custom builder and was once offered for sale for big bucks $$$. Why the switch at such expense?

[patclem]

I agree with the original poster. strange abandonment. Maybe he got bored or claustrophobic. The power cat he switched over to will be much faster. I plan to loop in a big boat when I retire, probably a KK Manatee. The A25 for us is our warm-up boat for that. If I were going to loop in our boat, here's what I'd do to it, especially for single handing and extended trips:

• Updated AIS VHF (on my Christmas list) and Chartplotter (not sure about a radar)
  Modern anchor - my Fortress has had trouble setting in some conditions
  Auto pilot - I'm actually in the process of purchasing a Sport Pilot. Long runs doing all the steering get OLD
  Spare parts like water pump impeller, filters, extra hoses and bits, wooden plugs for jamming in holes, alternator (at least have a few things like that in hands of friends that could overnight them), etc....
  Refinish the bottom (that's my boat - it needs it but I mostly stay on a trailer)
  We installed a composting toilet already
  We have mosquito screens and electric fans
  Some kind of battery upgrade. I have a CPAP and I worry about it every night I use it.
  Split charger for battery bank - I'd like the engine to charge both batteries while we're running
  We already have an Engel ice chest. I love that thing.
  Make v-berth a permanent sleeping area. Really the little table thingie is an afterthought IMO
  We already added our Mantus grill
  Improve comfort for sitting areas. The benches are OK, but not THAT great for R&R for long periods.
  Of course the aft cabin needs organizing as a garage rather than an actual cabin

OK, that's all I can think of right now.

[glk34]

More room for the loop would always be better but the A25 does have some advantages for us on a budget. We are doing parts of the loop each year in our A25. A compost head is great and the electric cooler getting blocks of ice when possible worked well for us. We typically do 3 weeks at a time, stay out of big water if there is any chance of bad weather. With a couple of 5 gal cans of diesel extra, the A25 has a pretty impressive range. Easy to trailer to the next section or even return home each year.
My thoughts are to do a bunch of practice shorter trips to iron out what you can live with and what you must have. 5000miles is a long way in any boat so we like the idea of breaking it up so no one gets that "wanting to just get home" feeling.
BTW Good list Patclem

Chris
"Iron Jack" 1970 A25

[NickScheuer]

Don't understand the desire to have an autopilot? Maybe useful for stretches on the Gulf, but can't understand how it might be used on the rivers and canals where you're steering from buoy to buoy. I could do fine Looping in an A-25 due to my history of camping comfortably with minimal equipment; not sure about my wife.

[Ambler27FC]

I consider an autopilot like a second set of hands when single handed. Gives you a break on a long drive to get some water, check maps, etc. Even minor wave action can put you off-course pretty quick when hands-off. Not as useful in a tight canal, but large sections of the ICW are relatively wide for our shallow boats. I have used in narrow rivers, but always with extra caution.

[real550A]

patclem- That "split charger" for your batteries consists of what is called a battery isolator, same as used in the RV industry. Easy wire up between your alternator and battery bank. Allows charging of both, but only lets the house drain the house battery, not your starting battery.

[DesertAlbin736]

More room for the loop would always be better but the A25 does have some advantages for us on a budget. We are doing parts of the loop each year in our A25. A compost head is great and the electric cooler getting blocks of ice when possible worked well for us. We typically do 3 weeks at a time, stay out of big water if there is any chance of bad weather. With a couple of 5 gal cans of diesel extra, the A25 has a pretty impressive range. Easy to trailer to the next section or even return home each year.
My thoughts are to do a bunch of practice shorter trips to iron out what you can live with and what you must have. 5000miles is a long way in any boat so we like the idea of breaking it up so no one gets that "wanting to just get home" feeling.

Well, the way it's been going with COVID lately everything is up in the air for 2021 to say the least. We would still like to do some version or portion of the 700+ miles so-called "Triangle Loop" next year, especially & at least the Rideau Canal. 5,000 miles is a long way to go on a small boat for sure. Ask WillieC about how many miles we did from Blaine, Washington to Desolation Sound, BC. Our record for consecutive days afloat so far is 46, or 6 & 1/2 weeks plus a week on the road each way trailering up & back from Arizona. That's about the time I start to get anxious to return home if for no other reason than we have a pool & landscaping to worry about & pay pool & yard service to have taken care of while we're away. We have come home to minor disasters in the past. Will Canada let Americans back in by next summer? Seems pretty iffy at this point, but who knows. Ontario is having their own problems with COVID. At best Canada expects it'll take until next September to vaccinate the majority of Canadians. And who knows what our vaccine distribution situation will be by next summer.

So we will have to be flexible with our plans. Doing a full Great Loop was never on our bucket list & still isn't though. There are several alternate options, say a run over to Dana Point, CA for some SoCal harbor hopping between now & March while the annual grey & humpback whale migrations up the coast from Mexico is in progress. Or the California Delta out of Stockton before the heat of summer hits. Or back to the Pacific NW but stay on the US side for the San Juans & Puget Sound if we're still locked out of Canada. Or a late summer/early fall east coast trip to Erie Canal, Lake Champlain, & Chesapeake Bay, trailering between each location. All TBD.

triangleloopmap.jpg

[DesertAlbin736]

Split charger for battery bank - I'd like the engine to charge both batteries while we're running
We already have an Engel ice chest. I love that thing.

That's what Blue Sea Systems "Add A Battery" switch & ACR relay does. But caution, the Achilles heel of the switch is a minor design flaw in which over tightening cable lug terminals can weaken the internals of the switch. Has to do with the small screws that attach the back plate to the outer housing. I've been told 100 to 140 INCH POUNDS with a torque wrench is the tightening spec. Otherwise it's a good system.

7650.jpg

https://www.bluesea.com/products/7650/A ... Kit_-_120A

[nebulatech]

DA, what is the advantage of that switch over the standard A, B, Both switch?

A few weeks back, I began helping sort a friend's house and starting battery wiring (along with removing and installing 3 99lb batteries under the quarter berth). It was a nightmare. The house system had an A/B switch, and the engine also had an A/B switch (A = engine batt, B = house batts), but the house banks were both tied together, circumventing the house A/B switch. The 3 batteries shared a common ground, which is OK, but the charging cables from the inverter only ran to the house bank, the alternator only goes to the active engine battery, resulting in the engine A/B switch being left on "both," almost completely nullifying any benefit from the switch.

Oh, and all of the cables were black, unlabeled. I got involved because a previous "helper" had reversed polarity on one of the batteries, and the batteries cooked while underway in the waterway.