The looping life is a fascinating eco-system. There are few constraints. You must have a boat, a way to pay for your adventures, and a desire to be on the water for the majority of your time. If those can be fulfilled, the loop accommodates wild variations in almost everything else.
Looper boats are big and small, trawlers and “fast boats”, brand new and several decades old, very fancy and quite austere. Some boat owners are “all in”, meaning that they have sold their “dirt homes” and are living on the boat full time. Most of these folks have larger boats with comfortable living areas on board. The homiest of these floating homes have table lamps. Yep. You heard that right. On a boat.
There are even sailboats! One of them has two kids being home-schooled on board and the other is being single-handed. Two very different sets of challenges.
Boaters on the water and locals on land are amazingly unique. And interesting. And fun. And, in general, very kind and open and helpful.
Loopers that we have barely met have had us on their boats for coffees and happy hours and route planning sessions. Others have invited us to go out to dinner with them. We try to pay it forward when we can.
Locals have been surprisingly hospitable. An oyster bar owner in Chestertown came running after us on the street, yelling “Wait! Friends! You forgot something!” When we turned around, he gave us bonus donuts from his wife’s restaurant.
Another local in St Michaels invited us to her home for drinks. She was charming and the visit was deeply satisfying. This trip is restoring my faith in humanity.
Traveling strategies are also highly variable. While most people take about a year to do the loop, some go much faster. Others pick a part of the loop and do it over and over again.
Some like to “sprint and drift”, meaning they will travel fast for a longer distance in a day and then stay in a place for several days. Others move a little bit every day and stay one night at a time. We mix it up.
Some will travel in all kinds of weather (like us), and others will not travel until Predict Wind shows “all blue all the time”, meaning clear skies, no waves, and very little wind.
Some stay in marinas and eat in restaurants most of the time. Others take advantage of free docks and anchorages and cooking on board. Some favor big cities and all of the tours and activities that they offer.
Others prefer the charm of small towns or the natural beauty of being on the hook.
On the loop, as in life, it takes all kinds.