Getting Breaking Awave Loop-Ready

August 3-September 10, 2026

When we got back to Traverse City from Escanaba on August 3, we had just over a month before we planned to leave on the Loop. We had already done most of the big preparation work, but there were still plenty of smaller things to finish on Breaking Awave, plus everything we needed to deal with at home before being gone for a year.

And then there was the question of how we were actually going to fit all of our stuff on a 37-foot boat.

One Month to Go

Our preparation cruises had done what we wanted them to do. They helped us get more comfortable with the boat, but they also gave us a pretty good list of things we still needed to fix, change or learn. The dinghy was definitely on that list.

Our Power Island trip had taught us about the kill-switch lanyard, the importance of having more than one oar, keeping the prop away from rocks and how much harder it is to lift the dinghy with the lifting harness when the boat is rolling. The outboard needed attention after hitting the rock, including replacing the shear pin, and several of the dinghy’s grab handles and attachment points needed repair. Greg worked on those with Hypalon adhesive, and we added a second oar.

There were plenty of normal boat jobs too. We fueled up, pumped out and kept working through the maintenance we knew we needed to understand. Andrew from Trawlers Great Lakes showed us how to do our first oil change, clean the strainers and get more comfortable with what we were looking at in the engine room. We weren’t trying to become mechanics; we just wanted to know enough that every unfamiliar sound or switch didn’t immediately feel like a major problem.

Greg also corrected the washer/dryer’s external venting, connected Nebo to the boat’s electrical system and kept working on getting Starlink set up the way we wanted it. Julie took on a different part of the preparation, deep-cleaning virtually everything and measuring what seemed like every cabinet, drawer, closet and odd little storage space on the boat. That turned into a lot of storage ideas and, of course, a lot of Amazon orders.

We still couldn’t completely move aboard because Breaking Awave had two remaining charters with Trawlers Great Lakes, so on August 6 we headed home and started working through everything we needed to get done there.

There were also the usual things that had to be taken care of at home before being gone for a year. We kept up with work and had our aFit quarterly planning meeting, while also trying to fit in time with family and friends before leaving, including DeLanee’s BabyQ, a concert, a visit from Julie’s cousin Mark and his wife Linda, and some time out with friends.

Jess and Alec were also moving out of their apartment and into our house while we were gone, so we helped them move and worked through what needed to happen for them to take over the house for the year.

It was just a busy month. We were doing normal work and home things while also getting everything lined up so we could leave, and meanwhile the pile of things waiting to go on Breaking Awave kept getting bigger.

Packing for a Year

By September 9, it was time to start pulling everything together, and that was when we started to wonder how any of it was actually going to fit.

We had boat supplies, tools, engine oil, a washdown hose, power strips, small shelving units, cleaning supplies and spare parts. We had computer equipment, camera gear, bike tools and parts, speakers, folding chairs, rugs, pillows, towels and bedding. We had a second dinghy oar and even a dehumidifier for Florida, which felt a little ridiculous while we were still packing in Indiana, but we knew we would eventually need it.

Then there was all the normal stuff: clothes, shoes, toiletries and the smaller things you don’t think much about until you start packing for a year.

By the time we loaded the car, it was completely full. At that point, all we could do was hope Julie’s measurements were right.

Moving Aboard and Final Preparations

We left for Traverse City on September 10. This trip north felt different because we weren’t going up for training or another preparation cruise. We were going up to stay.

Once we got there, everything had to come out of the car and find a home somewhere on Breaking Awave. Shelving had to be put in place, equipment connected, clothes put away and storage spaces arranged.

For a while, the boat looked like everything we owned had been dumped into it, but little by little it came together. Julie’s measuring paid off. Clothes fit, equipment fit, supplies fit, the shelving worked, and spaces we thought might be too small turned out to be surprisingly useful.

What impressed us most was how well everything fit. After seeing how packed the car had been, we expected the boat to feel much more crowded than it did. Instead, it actually felt pretty comfortable, and that was probably the first time it really felt like we had moved in.

There were still a few things to finish. The Starlink setup was one of them. Greg installed a step-up converter under the stack so the Starlink Mini could get the higher, more stable voltage it needed instead of relying directly on the boat’s roughly 12-volt system. That turned into one more learning experience involving wires, converters and a multimeter.

There was also the final oil and filter work, fuel-filter maintenance and plenty of last-minute organizing. By September 11, though, we were basically there.

Over the previous year, we had gone from learning about the Great Loop to spending time aboard someone else’s boat, taking formal trawler training, cruising independently, finding Breaking Awave, bringing her home and then spending months learning how she worked. We had practiced docking, anchoring, longer passages and dinghy handling, and learned more about weather, electronics, connectivity, maintenance and boat systems than we expected to know when we started.

We had also learned how to live aboard together.

There was still a lot we didn’t know. Things were going to break and plans were going to change, and there would definitely be more calls to Tim asking some version of “So…what is it doing now?” But by then, that didn’t feel like a reason not to leave.

By the end of September 11, nearly everything had found its place. The refrigerator was stocked, our clothes were aboard, the electronics were working, the boat was fueled and the projects we really needed to finish before departure were done.

After months of measuring, fixing, installing, organizing and learning, Breaking Awave finally felt ready.

And so did we.

The next morning, we would leave the dock.