Navigating the Great Loop: What It Taught Tiara About Cruising | Andrew Bartlett

Some adventures change the way you see the water. Others change the way you design for it.

In 2024, Tiara Yachts’ longtime design director Andrew Bartlett and his wife, Kate, stepped off the dock in Saugatuck, Michigan, to trace America’s Great Loop at an unhurried pace. A year-long sabbatical meant months of quiet miles on a route that would take them through the Great Lakes, inland rivers, the Gulf and Intracoastal Waterway, Canada, and even onto a blue‑water hop to the Exumas. 

They returned with clearer convictions about what matters most when you live aboard for an extended period of time: intuitive handling, true livability, and an energy plan that lets the water be the soundtrack (without the constant hum of a generator). 

Their trip not only taught Andrew and Kate what the water could mean for feeling capable and simultaneously untethered, but also the driving force behind some innovations at Tiara Yachts. 

“We wanted to combine our love of the water with something epic—something challenging, something that makes memories. It was the right chapter of our lives: empty nesters, still physically strong, with Tiara encouraging me to expand my boating experience.” — Andrew Bartlett

Why the Great Loop 

An epic adventure. The Great Loop is a counterclockwise navigation of the eastern United States waterways. You chase 70 degrees Fahrenheit by heading south down the river system in the fall, staying in Florida and/or the Caribbean in the winter, heading up the east coast in the spring, then Canada in the summer. 

Within The Great Loop, there is a ribbon of rivers, canals, and coastlines that invites exploration. For the Bartletts, it offered unconstrained time to observe how small decisions add up across thousands of miles. While their platform for the sabbatical was a salty, efficient 32‑footer christened “Tortuga”, the behaviors they studied translate directly to Tiara’s EX series: where you reach for a handhold, how often you move along the side decks, where the afternoon sun hits, how a helm chair feels at hour seven. 

A few cruising principles crystallized:

• Predictable handling. When wind and current meet the constraints of close living quarters, a smooth ride and easy handling are more than a “nice to have”; they become a “must have.”
• Comfort compounds. A design that creates a comfortable environment without a generator, with ample storage, especially when spending a year aboard, makes a trip like The Great Loop feel more attainable.
• Service access is seamanship. When strainers, filters, and valves are easily accessible and where you expect them, a 10‑minute morning check easily becomes a habit that you can do while you drink your coffee.

The Route at a Glance

The Bartlett’s Great Loop trip began in Saugatuck, Michigan, and unfolded through the Great Lakes and inland rivers to the Gulf and ICW, then across to the Exumas before the northbound run on the Atlantic ICW into Canada and back to the Great Lakes. Andrew and his wife Kate kept an easy pace, most days at an easy six to seven knots with fuel use that rewarded patience, roughly seven miles per gallon at displacement pace. This steady pace not only meant drinking in every drop of serenity the water had to offer, it meant, with other “loopers” keeping a similar pace and route based on the seasons and the weather, meeting a steady stream of new friends along the way.

“An epic adventure… chase 70°F—south in fall, Florida or the Caribbean in winter, up the East Coast in spring, Canada in summer… with a built‑in network of future friends.” — Andrew Bartlett

Boating Highlights by Region

Great Lakes

During the first and final legs of the journey, the terrain was more familiar as they navigated Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, along with its many friendly harbors, which had been navigated for the last 35 years of Andrew’s life in the marine industry. Favorite waypoints of this stretch of The Great Loop included Mackinac Island, Killarney for fresh‑catch dinners, and the North Channel’s tucked‑away anchorages where silence arrives before sunset. Although Andrew and Kate weren’t strangers to this part of the journey, experiencing it fully immersed in their surroundings without the transient nature of a day trip made it feel brand new. 

Inland Rivers

Here in the inland rivers of Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Tombigbee, wide horizons give way to close quarters. Barge traffic, changing currents, and frequent locks demand calm focus rather than speed. The Bartletts found that preparation made everything easier: fenders out, lines pre-rigged, and each person’s job decided before calling the lock. Free walls and small river towns became easy, friendly stopovers, and a front-row view of how the working river moves. 

Gulf Coast & Intracoastal Waterway

From Mobile Bay, Loopers typically follow the protected Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) east until the canalized route ends near St. George Sound. That gap, Florida’s “Big Bend”, requires heading into open Gulf water to reach Tarpon Springs, either as a longer overnight, or as the Bartletts selected, a series of day hops to ports like Steinhatchee or Cedar Key, depending on draft and weather. Once past Tarpon Springs, protected ICW returns and continues south toward Fort Myers and the Okeechobee Waterway. 

The Exumas

The Bartletts set aside time for an Exumas interlude, which is a common extension for Loopers wintering in the Bahamas. The Exuma chain stretches roughly 120 nautical miles and offers lee-side protection on the Great Bahama Bank with ocean swell on the Exuma Sound side, plus a mix of marinas and classic anchorages. The Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park (a no-take marine reserve) adds moorings and low-impact options, while George Town serves as an informal hub with an annual cruisers’ regatta and reliable shore support before boats fan back out through the cays.

Atlantic ICW & East Coast

Northbound on the Atlantic ICW, tides and bridge clearances set the cadence more than sea conditions. Fixed spans are typically 65 feet, but there are dozens of opening bridges, especially in Florida, with restricted times, so most cruisers plan days around verified schedules and tides. Offshore “windows” between inlets can shorten miles when conditions allow; otherwise, the ICW’s marked route delivers a predictable lane with services at regular intervals.

Life Aboard: Comfort, Storage, and Flow

A season aboard clarified what design really delivers. From Andrew’s perspective as a builder of boats, upright sightlines and supportive helm seating read as stamina, not styling. While Andrew’s Loop boat wasn’t a Tiara, the lessons show up in the Tiara EX 60: full walkaround access and quick pilot house door egress make it easy to step out and set a line, translating to calm line‑handling in real places, including locks, tight docks, and windy afternoons. 

In the galley, full‑height refrigeration and honest prep space supported proper meals, which matters when days string together; private cabins stayed quiet and dry, so mornings began as they should on a vessel that is traveling The Great Loop, with no alarm clock, calm and serene. Most telling, the interior faded into the background. In his words, the best spaces “let you stop managing the boat and simply live on it,” a principle that continues to inform Tiara layouts.

Rhythm, Places & Practicalities — Andrew’s Takeaways

Weather set the boundaries; planning did the rest. Andrew frames movement around comfort on the trek, not the day on the calendar. On the Loop’s varied waters, that mindset turned long days into straightforward ones: bridges, traffic, and communications became choreography rather than drama, and lay days read as discovery, not delay. In this view, progress is an outcome of conditions and crew comfort, not a goal becoming an ethos echoed in Tiara’s low‑effort helm ergonomics and clear sightlines.

Places that linger. The hush of granite coves in Ontario’s North Channel, the easy fellowship of George Town in the Exumas, and a riverfront tie‑up in Beaufort, South Carolina that reinforced a simple idea: when a boat supports simple living, the setting does the talking. 

Maintenance as seamanship. Routine checks on bilges, strainers, fluids, and belts help a liveaboard vessel stay consistent when components are where hands and eyes expect them to be. Weekly pauses for filters, zincs as needed, steering linkages, and software updates kept surprises rare. Small rituals, big payoff with an approach that mirrors Tiara’s insistence on logical systems layouts, and a repeatable maintenance routine. 

Numbers that matter. Accepting the Loop on its own terms simplified the math. At six to seven knots, efficiency and comfort aligned, so range and fuel stops were straightforward with a generous reserve. Clearance stayed top‑of‑mind through river spans and along the ICW, with a plan B ready when timing or tide tightened the window. Quiet energy, lithium batteries supported by solar, no generator, changed the feel of anchorages after dark; the soundtrack belonged to the place, not the systems.

Advice for aspiring Loopers. “Know your boat. Own it for a few years if you can. Take a couple of two‑ to three‑week cruises to shake things out. Learn which weather and sea states your hull dislikes, and don’t move on those days.”  — Andrew Bartlett