America's "Solo" Great Loop -Ep#3

[@kirbythomas5468]

I commend you for taking on this large of an endeavor! Thank you for filming and sharing your experience!

[@bettymartel1960]

Very nice I'm living my dreams thru your vidios

[@RF-ci7ng]

Great to watch your adventure. A boat tour would be great and also a little about you and your back ground 👌

[@tascosaeagle]

It’s been 55 years since I was on granddads fishing boat . I’m loving the lessons you’re explaining !

[@HelpatHomeJim]

You are seeing some crazy wind. Do you remember what the speed was? Oh well, you are doing a great job. I'm enjoying watching you do everything because it lets me know that one of these days my wife and I can do it together.

[@sadlerlove]

Enjoying your videos. Thanks for allowing us to come along on your adventure. I single hand my Nordic Tugs 37 FB and I have a remote for the Sidepower bow and stern thrusters which really helps with solo docking. The remote allows you keep the boat against the dock as you come down from the flybridge and as you step off to secure the lines. Looking forward to your next videos!

[@MV_Checkmate]

I have a remote but I seem to always forget to use it. Ha.

[@sadlerlove]

@@MV_Checkmate Me too, so I leave at the helm. :-)

[@Tootsie74]

I just found your channel and watched episode 18 then decided to go back and start from the beginning. I just wanted to comment about Aunt Catfish restaurant, where all the waitresses call you cousin.😅 I lived in Daytona for a couple of years and that was my favorite restaurant. Whenever I pass by there on a road trip to Florida, I always stop there. It's my favorite. The salad buffet is incredible with their baked beans and coleslaw and cornbread. Just love that place. I'm loving your videos. People can learn so much from your experiences. Thank you so much for showing it all! You're a brave and humble man.

[@johnschieffelin3226]

Nice cruise, very glad to hear the vibration problem was indeed the prop, not a shaft problem. Suggest going online to find a good backpack for bicycle trips and/or baskets off the handlebars and off the rear fenders. Still amazed you are tackling the Loop in a boat where it takes to much time to make it from the flybridge to the bow or stern in hairy docking situations. Strongly urge you fit the boat with a remote Dockmate device (I think that's the name) which will make docking so, so much easier.

[@AdventuresCG]

Looking forward to meeting you on the loop. There are a couple of us doing it single handed.

[@teachingrounds]

Who repaired your prop and who was your diver? You never know when you need people to help you. Thank you for doing this and posting your content. We like your humility

[@AutomotiveAvocation]

Good call on the prop vibration 👍👍 If you’re not in a hurry you might as well be cautious and take your time!

[@ironichumorist]

cool to see you get on the bike. i live in tokyo and you would be stunned to see the folks here well into their 80s biking for their daily essentials. most dont have cars here and i do all our household shopping and errands by bicycle or on foot.

[@vics945]

I’m enjoying the trip with you Captain. Hang in there! Stay safe.

[@teachingrounds]

Love the content .. can you give us a quick tutorial on how you use side scan sonar?

[@CluelessGent]

Navigating the Great Loop is one adventure that I don't see myself ever doing in this lifetime. I thank you so much for letting me go along with you on this channel so I can experience at least some of it. I look forward to following the remainder of your adventure!

[@RSmith-yu2yj]

Enjoy your videos. Do you have a video where you talk about the boat or a walk through video? Thank you!

[@MV_Checkmate]

Not yet!

[@SingleSpeed427]

Just watched the first 3 videos. Pretty fun, and inspiring. I started looking into Meridian 391s a couple of months ago. Wondered if it was something I could handle by myself. I want to do what I call the Great Lakes loop at some point. Until then, I just want to hang out on Lake St Clair and neighboring bodies of water. Coming from a 29' Express Cruiser so it would be quite the upgrade. I feel like my experience would be similar to yours. I know enough, but might comically fumble along the way. Lol😅

[@motorv8N]

Great episode - nice catch on that bent prop. See you again down the water way.

[@jerplane400]

Great job on docking even without the video proof! Heck yeah man, keep the videos coming! Really enjoy riding along (virtually)!

[@BobEstler]

Thanks for sharing, I am looking to solo the loop in another year or two so I look forward to learning from your experience.

[@gary9674]

Glad to see your doing ok, and feeling more in control.

[@ralphbonghi-po3mm]

Glad to see you’re settling in. Looking forward to your next video.

[@AdventuresofHappyOurs]

Looks like they removed the sunk vessel at sisters creek free dock. It was pretty much right under your boat a couple years ago. They had it roped off for a while.

[@guygilbert6588]

I’ve been thinking of doing the loop solo in my 36’ Grand Banks. I will be interested to see how you handle locks, especially grabbing the lines on lock walls and dealing with the Erie Canal locks that you have to open and close, yourself.

[@JamesNichols-v4e]

What is the year make and model of your boat

[@gordmccormack]

Another great video, looking forward to the next!

[@Figment078]

in your first video I was wondering why your head-mounted gopro never seemed to turn and look aft when you were maneuvering... now as you departed halifax I noticed the display with rear-facing camera. That's pretty nice, I might need to get me one of those.

[@danielprice9997]

Looks like progress! Good for you. Wishing you success.

[@johnmarschalk1977]

Grits bar amazing! Petty's use to eat there during the races. Not sure if they still go, but met Richard there for the July 4th race years ago. Thankfully people were respectful, other than staring at him, while he ate. Mad dash for autographs once he got up to leave

[@carpediemwithLesli]

Glad to see that your prop was repaired!!

[@Captain_Clark_CDoryAdventures]

Keep em coming Captain. 😎🤙

[@projecttrawler]

Is there a reason you didn't put any kind of treatment/ antifouling on the prop after they fixed it? Great video!

[@projecttrawler]

@Navy1977 I put propspeed on mine but you could put bottom paint or something, the barnacles will grow crazy being bear brass

[@projecttrawler]

@Navy1977 and it's probably not brass it's more likely that it's bronze. But I could be wrong. My wife tells me I am all the time. Lol

[@djpar3492]

They will be fine, the boat is running daily.

[@MV_Checkmate]

Yes, because I will be driving almost every day and having something like PropSpeed done correctly would have delayed me a couple more days and thousands more. For a looping boat bare props are just fine.

[@AlwxEdwards]

Next episode!!???

[@neilgonzalez305]

Great series so far. Are you in a 391C Meridian? Did I notice solar panels on your bimini top? I have a 2009 391C Meridian myself.

[@MV_Checkmate]

Yep, a 2006 Meridian 391 upper helm. Have two 400W flexy panels and my Starlink panel attached to my top with those 110 lb neodymium magnets. Placed large metal washers underneath to hold to. I also added 150 lb fishing line on each as a safety precaution.

[@neilgonzalez305]

@@MV_Checkmate Thank you for your response. Do you have any pictures of this setup for reference? I am looking to add solar charging also.

[@MV_Checkmate]

@@neilgonzalez305 I will be doing a piece in one of my upcoming videos covering the solar and Starlink. Stayed tuned.

[@carpediemwithLesli]

The entrance to the C&D canal is crazy as well! Boaters have no courtesy to trawlers and they make you bounced left and right!!!

[@craneville5446]

Stay positive and take ever moment you can to learn but most important is to never hold back when you are under pressure because that is when instants take over for the right action with the boating experience you have.. Sorry all but we all was new one day!!

[@Steve-qn8gn]

This is a gem, you went from “I slid it in there perfectly, I’m patting myself on the back” to “I’m glad the people came running cause the current was taking me into them.’”.

[@MV_Checkmate]

Yep, I slid it in there perfectly, then before I could take it out of gear and walk down the steps and climb over the gunwale the current had already taken my 20 feet backwards. Was very glad the people on the dock grabbed my railing and lines. One of the downfalls of managing a flybridge boat solo.

[@bettymartel1960]

Hope all yall ok in strom

[@kevinyoung5575]

Been to Aunt Catfish. Good stuff.

[@richbowie76]

👍👍👍

[@dianesilas4243]

Well done you. How many nautical miles did you do so far?

[@MV_Checkmate]

About 700 to date.

[@theabsolutetruth2024]

Safe travels.

[@johnchance1959]

Relax, don''t work to find problems, and quit worrying about traveling solo. If you are still on the water in two months you will be amazed how your outlook has changed for the better.

[@rl8992]

Get a good pack pack , probably a cooler style and a basket for the bike. Good job.

[@RogueBohemian]

The more experience, the less time it takes to adapt to a different size boat. A truly experienced captain, you wouldn't notice any adaptation time because there wouldn't be any needed. You're luckier than you are experienced at this point.

[@MV_Checkmate]

I’ll take lucky over good any day. Ha.

[@RogueBohemian]

@@MV_Checkmate You'll need all the luck you can get, then.

[@allenharris2549]

Invest in at least two more cameras and some mounts and tripods. To a non-boat person like myself, visualizing what you describe is difficult. You Tube is visual. Learn where and how to position your cameras to show us. Thank you for telling us where you are geographically. Good luck.

[@MV_Checkmate]

Couldn’t agree more. I’m still trying to find my groove with making videos and keeping it from becoming a chore.