Welcome to:
At HOMES
with Tim and Beth
Our America’s Great Loop Adventure
Welcome to our website
Our journey began on June 7, 2022 in Delray Beach, FL. Part I of our journey took us from Delray Beach to La Salle, MI. We covered 2,412 miles, traveling 73 days (330.8 hours), visiting 11 states (FL, GA, NC, SC, VA, MD, NJ, NY, PA, OH and MI), and completing 52 locks (Dismal Swamp [2], Erie Canal [35], Oswego [14] and Black Rock Lock [1].
From September 29, 2022 to July 24, 2023, we stored HOMES in an indoor, heated building at Safe Harbor Toledo Beach Marina, in La Salle, MI. We had some work done on HOMES and enjoyed some time at home.
On July 24, 2023, we began Part II of our Loop – Lake Erie to the Gulf of Mexico. We covered 2,382 miles, traveling 59 days (378 hours), visiting 7 states [OH, MI, IL, MS, KY, TN and AL], and completing 21 locks from Chicago, IL to Mobile, AL.
On Feb. 9, 2024, we began Part III of our Loop – our final leg -which covered the Gulf Coast, around the Florida Keys and back up to Delray Beach, where we completed our Loop on April 3, 2024!
We are now Gold Loopers, but our adventures will continue. We are now heading north, with plans to do the Canadian canals this summer!
If you want details of our adventurous voyages, please read our blogs for the details! We post a new blog every Sunday.
You can follow us in realtime by clicking the Nebo Tracker button in or near the menu above.
Our America’s Great Loop
6/7/2022 — 4/3/2024
Our Great Loop took us 5,860 miles (5,092 nm), circumnavigating the eastern portion of North America. We completed the first half of our Loop in 2022, restarted in 2023 and finished in 2024.
Days traveled: 163
Hours underway: 773
Miles traveled: 5,860 (5,091.9 nm)
Longest voyage: 171.6 miles/ 25 hour
Average speed: 7.6 MPH (6.6 knots)
Maximum speed: 16 MPH (14 knots)
Gallons of diesel: 3,214.64
Miles/gallon: 1.82
Locks: 73
States: 16
The Crew
Captain Tim
First Mate and Cruise Director Beth
Our boat: HOMES
Let us know if you have questions!
We are doing this blog for you — our family and friends. We look forward to answering your questions. Below are a few that have already been asked. Feel free to contact us (Defever52HOMES@gmail.com).
Can you actually live on the boat?
Yes. It is like a tiny house. We have a kitchen (galley), a living room (saloon), a stateroom (bedroom) with a queen-sized bed, a guest stateroom with bunk beds, two bathrooms (heads) and a washer and dryer. See photos below. I’ll do a video tour sometime soon.
How far can you go on a tank of fuel?
In total we have 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel. We plan on traveling at 7.5 knots (8.64 MPH), so we can go about 1,800 to 2,000 nautical miles (1,070 to 2,300 road miles). We should be able to get from our current location in Delray Beach, FL to Lake Erie with that amount of fuel. Yes, it is our fault that diesel prices have increased. We bought a Tesla in 2020 and gas prices plummeted. We bought a boat in 2022 and diesel prices skyrocketed. Go figure! At least we’ve had 3 trips to Florida in our Tesla recently.
How do you get electric?
When we are at a marina , we can just plug into electric. If we are underway, we run a 12.5 KW generator (run from the diesel tanks), which keeps the refrigerator, air conditioners, water pumps and battery chargers running. If we are at anchor and don’t want to hear the generator running, we have an inverter. The inverter converts 12-volt battery power to 120 outlet power…so basically battery power.
How do you get water?
When we are at a marina, we just hook up to a hose. When we are underway, we have a 350-gallon water tank. We also have a watermaker (desalinator) that converts seawater into potable water for drinking and cooking.
How do the toilets work?
We have two toilets (heads) on the boat. They flush into a 50-gallon tank, which then needs to be pumped out. All along the Great Loop there are pump-out stations, which cost about $5 to use. Since we are not currently near a pump-out station, we hired a company to come to the marina to do it. That cost us $225. When we are at a marina, we will just use the marina toilets to save time and money.