45°52′2″ N 84°42′55″ W

We are now at at very nice marina in St. Ignace, MI. We also stopped here about a week ago on our way to see Bo & Molly.

There is a very interesting boat in the slip beside us. Chris & I were having a wind-down drink on the Lido deck (i. e. Ananda’s aft steering station) & we invited the Captain to join us for a drink & to gam a bit with us.

If you have not heard of the term “gam” before, it basically means boaters getting together & telling stories of their adventures.

Anyway, a gentleman named Bren is the Captain of this boat & he is from Maine. Bren named his boat “Tjaldur” which is Scandinavian for “Oyster Catcher”. He told us that he used to live & work in Alaska. He admired the small fishing boats there & patterned his boat and chose the name after them.

Bren built this boat entirely by himself in his backyard. It took him 5 years to build & now he is doing the Great Loop trip in it. The Great Loop is basically a boating trip that involves traveling waterways from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico. “Loopers” (as the travelers are often respectfully called) will travel the Hudson River into the Erie Barge Canal, through the Great Lakes (Erie, Huron & Michigan) down to Chicago & then into the Mississippi River & down to the Gulf of Mexico. Then they cross to Florida & go up the Intercostal Waterway & on to the eastern Atlantic US states. They can also travel the along Canada’s east coast &!the St. Lawrence River as part of their loop. There is no set starting or end point. You start wherever you are & basically travel the waterways in a “circle” until you arrive back at your starting point. Depending upon your schedule & your resources, you can do the loop in a few months or it can take you over a year to do it.

Bren has a beautiful boat & he is on an amazing adventure. I asked him when he planned to complete “his loop”. He did not know for sure. He said he will know when he gets home. I’m envious.

Fair winds & many happy adventures Bren!