In a message dated 12/11/07 12:00:24 AM, Nappy writes: > As am planning the Gt.Loop, also on a 26 foot sailboat...a C&C26...would it > possible > to get some more information about your trip? > Did you post on a web-site? a personal blog? do you have any advice for > someone attempting > the trip on a similar boat as yours? > Outboard or inboard engine? Battery bank? solar/wind power, refrigeration? > We looped in a 23' Westerly Nomad sailboat in '89 and '90. The Westerly, an English twin keel boat, has less overhang but about as much accomodation as the C&C 26. The engine was a 14 hp Volvo MB10 inboard spinning a 14 x 8" two blade prop. This is more power than needed for a boat of this size. We could have done nicely with an engine of half the power. A 26' sailboat will reach hull speed with about 7 hp so a good 4 stroke 9.8 hp outboard would do as well. We averaged 40 to 50 cruising miles per day with occasional bad weather layovers. We kept the mast up for about 3/4 of the loop. Since there is ample opportunity to sail you may want to treat the trip as a long sailing voyage rather than a 6000 mile slog under power. That means that you will probably want to keep your electrical useage to a minimum. Our boat had a propane stove, a manually pumped head (but with a LectraSan) and a nifty Danish oil lamp for evening illumination. Our battery was a #27 deep discharge DieHard that gave us plenty of reserve power. No additional starting battery was needed since the Volvo could be hand started with a strong spin of the crank. Backup electrical power was provided by a Solarex 10 watt solar panel. This was enough to keep the battery fully charged during periods when we didn't run the motor. Wind power was used to propel the boat, not charge the battery. Bear in mind that this simplistic cruising style was in the days before GPS, cell phones, chart plotters, and laptops. Communication was by a handheld VHF and CB radio. A technophile might want more power, say a 20 watt solar panel and perhaps another battery. The entertainment center was a boom box and a sack full of tapes. We could pick up PBS FM broadcasts all along the route and get more than our fill of country music. We had no refrigeration other than a well insulated cooler. We shopped at supermarkets for frozen food, popped it in the cooler, and it stayed fresh for several days to a week. Once in a while we had to buy a bag of ice cubes if the weather was particularly hot. Parmalat and ultra pasturized milk stays fresh for about 4 or 5 days even without refrigeration. Surprisingly we ate well during the trip. You can do gourmet cooking on a 2 burner propane stove if you are a culinary wizard like my wife. Frozen steaks served as surrogate ice cubes in the cooler and they were cooked when they thawed. We broiled steaks on the back deck in a portable hibachi. Charcoal is available everywhere on the loop. We towed a SportYak dinghy much of the way. In bad weather, we simply hoisted it aboard and tied it to the deck between the companionway and the mast. The SportYak only weighs about 40 lbs so it was no hassle. We had a 2 hp Evinrude as a dnghy motor and as a "backup" for the Volvo. It actually would move the sailboat at about 3 knots but fortunately we only had to rely on once in an emergency. That's when I inadvertantly forgot to switch the main engine fuel pickup to a full tank and the engine died when coming into a town dock. A dinghy is very useful on the loop, even if your boat is small. We anchored out about 80% of the time. About once a week we stayed at a water side motel for the advantages of unmoving beds and hot showers. An AAA Triptik of towns along the route gave us advance information on the best motels and places to eat ashore. It was an embarrasment to buy fuel since we used so little. We would pull up to a fuel dock alongside a 40 footer and take 10 gallons to his 300 gallons. So looping in a 26' sailboat is quite enjoyable as long as you realize that you are not going to have room for a 42" HD TV. Today, I would do it the same way except I would add a cell phone, a handheld GPS and my iBook laptop with GPSNavX and a chart CD. Not that you really need it. It's hard to get lost. The laptop would let you surf the web via wi-fi and see movies on DVD. Come to think of it, perhaps I would need a 30 watt solar panel. Larry Z ************************************** See AOL's top rated recipes (http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)