Crushing Greg’s Dreams
Not on purpose, of course! Apparently he spent the morning fantasizing about taking KJ down through the Panama Canal and up through the Great Loop. Right up until he mentioned it to me and I came up with the following pesky details:
1. Where is the lowest bridge that must be cleared with no alternate route around it?
The lowest bridge that cannot be avoided on the Great Loop/Great Circle Route is 19.1 feet at mile 300.6 on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal after the Chicago River/Sanitary and Ship Canal and the Calumet Sag Channel join south-west of Chicago. This is the AT&S; Railroad Bridge which is shown on the charts as a swing bridge. It is inoperable and no longer opens. THERE IS NO WATER ROUTE AROUND THIS FIXED BRIDGE FOR GREAT LOOP CRUISERS.
Which means KJ won’t be making that trip. Greg quickly bounced back after deciding he “really only wants to do the northern part of the trip anyway, so when can we leave?” I think my guy is having a leeeetle trouble readjusting to work after a three week vacation which included a great cruise…
experience
There isnt a bridge that you can`t get round with the right kit! If you load onto a truck and travel a thousand miles its not much different to sailing and staying/mooring at 6 knots? or is it? :o))
Ummmmm…yeah. Oops! Sorry, Chuck, silly me. No, of course Greg would never consider leaving his beloved job just to go gallivanting about the world on some old boat!(Memo to self: Greg’s boss reads the blog. Keep the job-quitting comments under the radar!)
what about a coastline cruise up to alaska, this spring? Oh… and th ejob quitting…..NOT!!!!! – Chuck
Don’t encourage him, Carolyn! He’ll be quittin’ his job and heading out before you know it…we gotta work a few more years just to save enough for the fuel!
I used to row on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and I can tell you it is anything but sanitary. How about coming into the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence Seaway? Infinitely more scenic and probably cleaner to boot. CT