Great Loop on a Pontoon
- Thread starter SEMPERFI8387
- Start date
TomS
Well-Known Member
I'd seen this article before and I found it interesting, however the whole point of doing the loop is to take it slow and enjoy the experience, people, places, etc. It's not a race ;-)
Spoiledrotten
Well-Known Member
That is an interesting read. And that is a BIG loop! 
lakeliving
Well-Known Member
Kudos to that guy. Makes sense when you read the article why he hauled a$$ the whole time. I've never heard of the loop until this story. Now I'm intrigued....
SEMPERFI8387
Moderator
Yeah, I've been interested in traveling the loop. Probably a retirement goal... :blink:
lakeliving
Well-Known Member
Your fuel expenses would be less than $100 with your current setup!
SEMPERFI8387
Moderator
And that's full throttle like the guy in the article!! :lol:
TomS
Well-Known Member
The Loop is definitely on our bucket list, thus looking at Ranger Tugs for the mission B)
Fewer people complete the Loop each year (~100) than climb Mount Everest. And, it's a lot more relaxing
At 6000 miles, even @2mpg for a trawler, that's $8k in fuel alone. Diesel is usually $1 or so cheaper than gas, so diesels are the engines of choice. Many areas are speed limited or no wake, so you travel at less than 10 knots a lot of the way. The open water sections are something you won't be able zip through either with ocean swells and such, Lake Michigan waves, etc. The biggest thing is you can't PLAN to be anywhere at any particular time or day, since the weather will always dictate, sometimes keeping you in port for a week or more waiting it out. Just don't be in a hurry.
Fewer people complete the Loop each year (~100) than climb Mount Everest. And, it's a lot more relaxing
At 6000 miles, even @2mpg for a trawler, that's $8k in fuel alone. Diesel is usually $1 or so cheaper than gas, so diesels are the engines of choice. Many areas are speed limited or no wake, so you travel at less than 10 knots a lot of the way. The open water sections are something you won't be able zip through either with ocean swells and such, Lake Michigan waves, etc. The biggest thing is you can't PLAN to be anywhere at any particular time or day, since the weather will always dictate, sometimes keeping you in port for a week or more waiting it out. Just don't be in a hurry.
Spoiledrotten
Well-Known Member
SEMPERFI8387
Moderator
Is this something in your area or in the marine industry, cause where I live it's .50-.60 cents MORE a gallon.
TomS
Well-Known Member
If you go to a marina along the ICW diesel is definitely cheaper by quite a lot. I'm not sure if that has to do with OTR taxes or why. You can check prices real time on ActiveCaptain at a lot of marinas along the coast. For example, diesel was $2.22 on the water in Ft. Myers Beach today. Some of the places also give wholesale discounts for buying several hundred gallons at a time, which some of the pocket tugs and even small trawlers can carry.
When you buy 3000 gallons along the way that savings adds up fast!
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SEMPERFI8387
Moderator
Hahaha..... when we went to Annapolis, I remember checking out some of capacities on the "boats" we toured. I laughed when I saw 3-4000 gallon capacity and thought there goes that plan. I guess if you have to wonder how to pay for it, it's out of your league. :lol:
Yeah, I forgot about "road taxes" bumping up the price. That means our marina is really raking us over the coals ....
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Remediation
Well-Known Member
I supplied gas to an Indian Lake Marina years ago. The fuel did not have the road excise tax on it but I had to charge a DNR tax for marina fuel. As I remember, there was not much difference in the tax burden.