Pictures from The Silver Foxes
The Silver Foxes boat owned by Jim & Judy Howenstine is about to travel the "Loop"
Our Boat
We spent many months looking for the perfect boat to do the 'loop'. At the time we owned a 31' Formula cruiser style boat and we were spoiled by its quality and cruising speed. We made a list of the things we wanted in a "loop" boat and one thing we knew that we could not go from a cruising speed of 30mph to 8mph, which is trawler speed. We needed two staterooms, as we will have guests traveling with us a lot of the time. We wanted twin engines--we wanted a boat that was easy for Judy to walk around to handle the lines. Many more little items were required, but in the end no boat is perfect and there are compromises that must be made. The model we chose is a 40' Mainship. She was purchased in Oxford MD, which is on the Chesapeake Bay. We brought her home this spring on her own "bottom" via the Chesapeake, the Atlantic Ocean, The Hudson River and the Erie Canal to Port Clinton OH.
The Silver Foxes was the name of the boat when we purchased her. We thought the name was appropriate and thus the name stuck. Besides old seamanship lore says it is bad luck to rename a boat unless you go through an elaborate renaming ceremony which requires several bottles of champagne.
Some boring statistics but may be interesting to some.
Model year: 2004 Hull#174
Power: Twin Diesel 240hp ea (Yanmar Engines)
Length Overall: 41'4"
Length Less Pulpit & swim platform: 36"0"
Beam: 14'2"
Draft: 3'8"
Clearance Height:16'5"
Sleeping Capacity:4 but can sleep more
Displacement: 24,000 lbs w/o fuel & water
Fuel Capacity: 300 gal
Water Capacity: 130 gal
Holding Tank:47 gal
Loop Map
Above map is copyrighted material. Raven Cove Publishing. All Rights reserved
The Loop
The Loop or Great Circle Routes consists of traveling by water around the Eastern part of the United States. Our route will take us from our home port of Port Clinton OH (between Toledo & Cleveland) north to the Detroit River, through Lake St. Clair and into Lake Huron. From there we will pass under the bridge at Mackinac and into Lake Michigan where we will travel the length of Lake Michigan to Chicago
At that point you enter the Illinois River which will eventually carry you to the Mississippi River. Some distance later on the Mississippi you turn left and head a short distance up the Ohio River to the Tennessee River. A right turn then heads you down the Tennessee River to the Ten-Tombigbee Waterway. If all goes well we will end up in Mobile, Alabama about December 1, 2007. Our boat insurance agent frowns on the boat getting there before the hurricane season is over with.
From Mobile we will travel via the ICW (Intra Coastal Water Way) along the panhandle of Florida where we will trek across the Gulf of Mexico for 175 miles to Tarpon Springs Fl and then make several stops along the west coast of Florida before arriving in Key West. After our visit in Key West then we will head up the east coast of Florida and on over to the Bahamas and then in the spring of 2008 we will begin the journey up the east coast of the US traveling via the ICW and crossing our wake somewhere near Oxford MD in the Chesapeake Bay to unofficially complete the loop but our mission won't be accomplished until we reach our homeport sometime next July or August. However this time, as we head up the Hudson River, we will not turn left at the Erie Canal but continue on north into Lake Champlain and on up into Canada to Ottawa and the Rideau and Trent Severn canals which puts you into the Georgian Bay on Lake Huron where we will be able to find our way home through Lake Huron, the Detroit River etc. We should arrive back in Port Clinton about August 1 of 2008
Mileage traveled-approximately 7000 miles
Locks traversed- approximately 235
Fuel Used--unknown but approximately 5000 gallons
At that point you enter the Illinois River which will eventually carry you to the Mississippi River. Some distance later on the Mississippi you turn left and head a short distance up the Ohio River to the Tennessee River. A right turn then heads you down the Tennessee River to the Ten-Tombigbee Waterway. If all goes well we will end up in Mobile, Alabama about December 1, 2007. Our boat insurance agent frowns on the boat getting there before the hurricane season is over with.
From Mobile we will travel via the ICW (Intra Coastal Water Way) along the panhandle of Florida where we will trek across the Gulf of Mexico for 175 miles to Tarpon Springs Fl and then make several stops along the west coast of Florida before arriving in Key West. After our visit in Key West then we will head up the east coast of Florida and on over to the Bahamas and then in the spring of 2008 we will begin the journey up the east coast of the US traveling via the ICW and crossing our wake somewhere near Oxford MD in the Chesapeake Bay to unofficially complete the loop but our mission won't be accomplished until we reach our homeport sometime next July or August. However this time, as we head up the Hudson River, we will not turn left at the Erie Canal but continue on north into Lake Champlain and on up into Canada to Ottawa and the Rideau and Trent Severn canals which puts you into the Georgian Bay on Lake Huron where we will be able to find our way home through Lake Huron, the Detroit River etc. We should arrive back in Port Clinton about August 1 of 2008
Mileage traveled-approximately 7000 miles
Locks traversed- approximately 235
Fuel Used--unknown but approximately 5000 gallons
