Month: January 2020

Follow Gammel Dansk on the Great Loop

If you haven’t seen it, check out this Forum Post. Thanks to PaNNTOA member Dan Stroeing for sharing this amazing story about how he, his wife Mary, and Tori the Seeing Eye Dog joined the America’s Great Loop Cruiser’s Association (AGLCA) and tackled the Great Loop in a 25-foot Nordic Tug. Here’s how the story begins:

Start in August 2018 and follow us down the Mississippi, up the Ohio River, and on into the Tennessee Tombigbee waterway to Mobile Alabama. Then go across the Gulf of Mexico, down the Florida Gulf Coast, across Lake Okeechobee to the Atlantic coast. Next, go marina hopping all the way to New York City and on up the Hudson River to the Erie Canal. From there, head on to Buffalo New York and over to Lake Erie then up the St. Claire River, to Detroit then on to Lake Huron to Cheboygan Michigan, where we put the boat into winter storage.

The Gammel Dansk blog gives you a great sense of what it’s like to cruise the loop in a Nordic Tug and the kinds of things you’ll see along the way. It’s fun, educational, and a quick read. Just click through the dates in the right column of the blog home page. Enjoy! Go to the blog

Happy New Year!

With the holidays behind us, it’s time to look forward to boat shows. Both the Vancouver and Seattle boat shows are coming up quickly. It’s time to find all those cool accessories to enhance your boating experience. And maybe for some of you out there a new Tug is in order! I’ll be attending Seattle’s show on several days to see what’s new and catch up with friends throughout the boating industry.

Our Rendezvous Director, Jeff Brein, is hard at work setting up the venues and vendors for our 2020 Rendezvous in Sydney. We will have more information available as we get closer to the date. I think you’ll enjoy what we have planned for the opening night reception!

Our Web Director, Robbin Young continues to work on website enhancements and content development. I hope you get an opportunity to look through the website periodically and give her your feedback as to the stories she’s added and the enhancements that she’s done. If you have any thoughts or ideas, please feel free to share those with her.

Our Communications Director, Mike Young has organized a second Nordic Tug factory tour which will occur on January 15th. The first tour was a huge success and people enjoyed seeing how their boats are assembled. A big thanks to the Nordic Tug folks for allowing us to see their craftsmanship!

The rest of the Board is working on budget preparation and a host of other administrative issues.

And now I have a request for you!

PaNNTOA is an all volunteer organization. As such it depends on folks to step in and volunteer to make the organization lively, viable and successful. If you have an interest and/or skills that could help our organization, please contact one of us on the board to discuss how you might help. It can be as simple as volunteering to help at the rendezvous, sending us a story or an idea for the website or taking on a board position as they become available. Identifying those who are interested in volunteering now is helpful as it allows us to plan and prepare for future events. This also provides the new volunteer an opportunity to shadow the position prior to assuming responsibility.

And finally, even though it’s winter, look for those weather windows that allow you to get out on your boats and enjoy the beautiful NW waters without the crowds. Carole and I have some pretty fond memories of being the only boat on the dock, and having Sucia Island all to ourselves!

Gary White, PaNNTOA Commodore