Recent issue of Soundings Magazine by Peter Swanson

RALPH YOST, DEFEVER 41 SAY GOOD-BYE

Ralph Yost comes from a maritime family that owned a New Jersey tugboat company. He took a different career path, but never lost the brine in his blood. Retired from the Federal Aviation Administration this year, Yost is going to do the Great Loop with his wife, Celeste, and Striper the Portuguese water dog aboard their DeFever 41, Say Goodbye. After years of cruising and racing sailboats along the East Coast, Yost says he has “had my share of beating my brains out in rough seas” and looks forward to the calm pace and flat waters of the Loop.  That doesn’t mean the year-long circumnavigation of the East Coast will be without challenges. “Commercial traffic on the river systems is not something to take lightly,” he says. “Be prepared to completely understand the Rules of the Road and how to communicate with commercial boat operators in order to ensure safe passages. Assumptions without communicating could be fatal. Last year we heard of one trawler that was swamped by a commercial tow, and the boat rolled over and sunk.” (Search the archives at SoundingsOnline.com for “Moonstruck.”)  Is his choice of a DeFever 41 the best possible Loop vessel? Not necessarily. “We did want to purchase a boat that we could do the Loop in, but we also wanted it for other travels, like to the Bahamas,” Yost says, although less than 17 feet of air draft is essential for getting under bridges along the Loop. “We also wanted a boat in which our dog can be with us anywhere in the boat, including the flybridge,” he says. “We wanted an aft cabin boat because we love to anchor out. We didn’t want to have to sleep in the forward of the boat at anchor and constantly hear the waves slopping up against the hull, or any possible noise of the anchor chain when the boat swings.”

Yost “really wanted” a Lehman 120, but was willing to go with another good engine. “We wanted a boat that was easy to handle, economical to operate” — which meant it had to be single-screw — “was in relatively good condition, drew no more than 4 feet, had lots of house battery power, a good charging system, plenty of domestic water capacity and full walkaround gunwales.”

On The Great Loop:

The good: Other cruising grounds are single specific cultures for that area. For example, the Chesapeake Bay Eastern Shore is one culture, different from the Western Shore. But New England is yet another culture. When you take a boat trip there, that is the single culture you will experience. In contrast, the Loop will take us through the many different cultures of upstate New York, the French Canadian provinces, Midwestern United States, the rivers, the South, East Coast cultures, all in one trip. The scenery will change accordingly.

The bad: Say Goodbye hasn’t gone yet. So far, so good.  

And a lesson: The open-water segments of the Loop — know and understand weather forecasting, as well as your personal limitations for boat operations. Remember that you don’t have to go. Don’t create artificial schedules that drive you to move the boat when you shouldn’t. Don’t allow other events in your life to impose schedules on you. Tell your visitors the only way they can do this trip with you is that they have to “wing it” and be completely flexible.