What Is ‘The Great Loop’ In Boating And How Long Does It Take To Sail?

Boating has a rich and fascinating history across the North American continent, from coastal ocean boating to navigating the many inland rivers and canals. Many of these bodies of water feed into each other, creating a single seamless waterway that encompasses the entire eastern side of the continent, including the United States and Canada. This seamless route is known as the Great Loop, and not only is it possible to travel along its entirety, many boating enthusiasts do so just for the thrill of it.

There’s an entire subculture of individuals, known as “Loopers,” cruising the approximately 6,000 miles of river, ocean, and other assorted bodies of water that make up the Great Loop. Anyone can tackle it from anywhere on the route, and with whatever type of boat you think you can make work. All that said, sailing 6,000 miles isn’t exactly a leisurely trip, with a run of the Great Loop lasting 12 days at the bare minimum, and usually much, much longer than that.

The Great Loop consists of various bodies of water located both inland and off the east coast of the North American continent. Depending on the precise route you take along the Great Loop, you could hit waterways all over the place, including Chesapeake Bay, the Erie Canal, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and much more. All together, it’s up to a total of 20 different bodies of water.

What’s interesting about the Great Loop is that it doesn’t have any official starting point. Loopers will typically start a run from whatever waterway is most convenient or interesting for them, then follow the route counter-clockwise along the map. Technically, you could do it in either direction, and plenty of sailors have, but it’s generally easier to go counter-clockwise so you’re moving with the current on the inland rivers.

Whichever direction you go in, and wherever you start from, traveling the Great Loop can be a lot of fun for boating and marine enthusiasts. The Great Loop is dotted with various attractions, like harbor towns, marine life sanctuaries, and scenic views that would make for an interesting day trip. Just remember to follow safety signs like the red and green colored buoys in the ocean, and heed advisories from Coast Guard cutter ships.

While navigating the Great Loop can be a great time, it’s not a challenge to undertake half-heartedly. After all, we’re talking about navigating around a third of North America on nothing but a boat, often without optimal conditions like a headwind for your sail. This is not a casual weekend vacation activity, and should be treated seriously.

In the first place, the actual time it takes you to sail the entirety of the Great Loop can vary wildly depending on your intentions, your vehicle of choice, and the time of year you depart in. If you’re just looking to get the whole thing done as quickly as possible, you can navigate the Great Loop in as little as 12 days, with a slightly more relaxed sailing voyage lasting at least 120 days. 

However, the majority of Loopers will typically take about a year to finish the whole route. This is generally considered the optimal approach, as you’d experience a variety of different climates as you travel from north to south. Many Loopers will start their voyage at the northernmost point during the warmer summer months, traverse the inland rivers in the fall, relax along the southern coast in the winter, and make their way back up the east coast in the spring.

It’s also not technically required to navigate the entire Great Loop in a single go. Some hobbyist Loopers will pick their favorite season and starting point, travel for a month or two, then pack up and return home until they’re in the mood to continue from where they left off. It could take as long as 12 years to finish the route at a leisurely pace, though obviously, speed isn’t really the point in that scenario.