"Blame Canada, Blame Canada!"

Or, if you prefer, "It's up to you, New York, New York"

There is surely enough blame to go around. 

For those among you who were still hoping, it's now official.  We will not be Looping in 2020.   😖

Being able to enter Canada is a prerequisite to the section of the LOOP we planned to complete this year.  The Canadian border remains closed to recreational vessels due to Covid19 concerns, with only vague references to any possible opening date.  And Looping without seeing the Canadian north shore of Lake Huron is a Loop incomplete, IOHO.     So, take off, you hosers! 

The option to avoid Canada in favor of the Erie Canal, Buffalo, NY,  and Lake Erie is similarly off the table.  In their finite wisdom, the New York Canal Corporation suspended offseason lock maintenance activities when the state went into lockdown in March.   And they are now saying it will be, like maybe late August before the work can be completed and the canal fully reopened.  So, say we like hit Buffalo on Sept 1st and we ran like full throttle across Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, past Mackinac Island, and the entire length of Lake Michigan, we might, like maybe, make Chicago before the snow flies. (and burn, like, 2,000 gallons of diesel in the process). Like, no, thank you.

And then there are the Illinois river locks closed by the Corps of Engineers for major maintenance until October.

SO..............................

We have decided to spend the rest of this season cruising the Chesapeake.  There are several seasons of destinations here and enough history to fill multiple libraries.  So we will not be bored.  And we will have ample opportunity to better know our vessel and ourselves. 

In the Fall,  we will place Irish Lass is storage and return to Spokaloo for the winter. (Yes, really.)  Then in Spring 2021, we will return to the Chesapeake and get to Looping.

But stick around, there is much more to come!