Completing America’s Great Loop: Becoming Gold Loopers
Community
Mar 22, 2026
Over a Year Out On the Great Loop
Meet Karly and Evan. High school sweethearts from Iowa who just completed America’s Great Loop aboard their 36-foot 1985 Marine Trader Europa. A 6,000-nautical-mile journey around the Eastern United States and Canada. They left Stuart, Florida, in February 2025 and crossed their wake just over a year later, completing one of the most iconic cruising routes in North America.
Karly and Evan both grew up along the Mississippi River in Iowa. Boating was always part of their lives: fishing, waterskiing, and family days on the water, but nothing close to living aboard full-time. In high school, Evan first learned about America’s Great Loop and asked Karly if she’d ever do it with him. Most people complete the loop after retirement, so she said: yeah I’ll do it in 40 years when we’re retired
But life had other plans.
Dreams Don’t Chase Themselves
Work eventually brought them to Florida, and being surrounded by boats every day changed everything. Suddenly, the dream didn’t feel like something that had to wait decades. They made a decision: if they wanted this life, they had to make it happen themselves. Dreams don’t chase themselves. So they began boat shopping, switched their careers to fully remote work.
When they finally left Stuart and began heading north on the Intracoastal Waterway, every day felt like learning something new. They navigated the Atlantic ICW, crossed the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, passed around New Jersey into New York Harbor, and then made their way up the Hudson River. From there, they crossed the Erie Canal and Lake Ontario into Canada, traveled through the incredible Trent-Severn Waterway and Georgian Bay, continued down Lake Michigan to Chicago, and eventually followed a network of rivers all the way to Mobile Bay, then crossed the Gulf and returned to Florida.
One Moment Stood Above The Rest
Cruising past the Statue of Liberty.
That was when it finally sank in. They had made it from Florida to New York by boat.
Of course, cruising comes with its own learning curves. Weather dictates everything on the water, and it took months before they truly trusted their ability to read it. But when everything does line up perfectly? That’s when the magic happens. For powerboaters like them, the perfect day means glassy water, clear blue skies, and dolphins swimming alongside the bow.
Their Advice?
Their biggest advice is simple: start. You will never be fully ready, so you just have to go for it. They left before their electric upgrade was finished, but they knew they needed to leave the docks.
You can always find an excuse to wait, but someday may never come!
