Great Loop Boats: Choosing the Best Boat for the Great Loop

Looking for the best boat for the Great Loop? Learn how to choose a Great Loop boat based on size, fuel efficiency, draft, liveaboard comfort, cost and cruising capability. I base my strategy on my experience living aboard boats for more than 5 years, and cruising parts of the ICW, Chesapeake Bay, Outer Banks and Europe.

Choosing a Great Loop Boat

The Great Loop is a nearly 6,000-mile cruising route through the rivers, canals, Great Lakes and inland waterways of the eastern United States. Choosing the right Great Loop boat requires balancing size, fuel efficiency, draft, comfort, cruising capability and cost. After years of cruising and living aboard different boats, I developed ten criteria for selecting a boat specifically for this trip.

What Makes a Good Great Loop Boat?

For my Great Loop plans, I wanted a boat between roughly 25 and 30 feet that could be transported by trailer, provide protected steering, offer comfortable long-term living accommodations and operate efficiently over thousands of miles. My requirements included a displacement hull, dedicated sleeping cabin, separate shower, functional galley, adequate headroom, room for a dinghy and onboard electrical and plumbing systems capable of supporting extended cruising.

My Great Loop Boat

Those requirements ultimately led me to a 1986 Albin 27 Family Cruiser, an older pocket trawler that I am completely restoring and modifying for extended cruising. Motor City Boat Werks documents that process along with other boats that could make practical Great Loop cruisers

Join me FRIDAYS 5pm EST from the Boat Werks

Follow my pocket trawler restoration step-by-step as I rebuild my boat back to something specifically designed to do the Great Loop in my retirement.

See the Entire Build

Great Loop Boats: Choosing the Right Boat for America’s Great Loop

Choosing the right Great Loop boat is one of the most important decisions when planning America’s Great Loop. This nearly 6,000-mile cruising route travels through rivers, canals, lakes and inland waterways, making boat size, draft, fuel efficiency, comfort and operating cost important considerations. In this episode, I share my 10 rules for choosing a Great Loop boat, based on years of cruising and living aboard sailboats and trawlers. I cover trailerable Great Loop boats, displacement hulls, fuel-efficient cruising, protected helm stations, sleeping accommodations, galleys, showers and the systems needed for extended living aboard. I also explain why I ultimately chose a 1986 Albin 27 Family Cruiser and how I am rebuilding this small pocket trawler for extended Great Loop cruising.

The “right” Great Loop boat is the one that best satisfies your personal criteria. Watch my video to here my requirements.

Want to Restore a Great Loop Boat?

The MotorCity Boat Werks How-To Library brings together the practical techniques I use for amateur boat building, including fiberglass and composites, Coosa Board construction, mockups and templating, structural fabrication, woodworking, interiors, tools and materials. These videos and articles document the methods, materials and lessons learned from real boat-building projects. Every video is on topic, hands-on, concise and detailed. I show what works, what doesn’t work–real lessons learned from 30 years building boats. My videos are made for the amateur with information presented for the novice builder, competent amateur, or experienced craftsman.