Reflection On America's Great Loop A Baby Boomer Couple's Year-Long Boating Odyssey

Adventure is not just for the young!

"I own a boat!" was the opening phrase to their courtship and eventual married life. Little did Baby Boomer couple George and Pat Hospodar know then that those words would lead to their making a year-long journey of a lifetime aboard their boat, Reflection, almost forty years later.

Reflection on America's Great Loop welcomes and encourages not only fellow boaters, but also armchair adventurers, and dreamers of all ages to join them aboard as they share a lighthearted, real-life account of their travels on the circumnavigation of the waterways of the eastern United States and Canada.

In addition, for those who may consider making this journey themselves, the authors offer insights and tips on:

• Routes

• Anchorages

• Navigation

• Locking

• Marinas

• Free dockage

• Low bridges

• Fuel stops

• Restaurants

• Shopping

• Points of interest and local history

• Border crossings in Canada and the United States

• Local marine weather websites and phone numbers

George Hospodar first began his nautical life by purchasing a 14-foot sailboat, Rum Dum, in 1970. His wife, Pat, joined him in 1971, and together they have cruised more than 24,000 miles aboard their two sailboats, Adventuress and Temptress, and on their motor yacht, Reflection. For 37 years, they extensively explored the coastal waters from Nantucket to Norfolk including Chesapeake Bay, and for several years they were cruising editors for Waterway Guide. Since 2008, they have traveled the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway a number of times, and have completed the America s Great Loop waterway trip through the U.S. and Canada. George graduated from the New Jersey Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science and spent a majority of his career as a consultant in the design, programming, and installation of financial systems for the banking industry. He is a past commodore of the Bristol Sailing Club of Bay Head, New Jersey, was the owner of a marine canvas business, served on the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Marine Trades Association, and is a past president of the Chesapeake Marine Canvas Fabricators Association. George has been a 100-ton U.S. Coast Guard licensed captain for more than 20 years. Patricia Hospodar holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from Rutgers University, a Master of Arts degree in Education from Seton Hall University, and has done additional post-graduate study at Rider University s Westminster Choir College. She retired after 36 years of service as a music educator in the Irvington (NJ) Public School System, where she was the community and Essex County Teacher of the Year and an award-winning middle school choral director whose choirs performed in a wide variety of venues, and in numerous choral festivals and competitions in Canada and the U.S. George and Pat are members of the Marathon Yacht Club and are lifetime members of the America s Great Loop Cruisers Association. They currently divide their time between their home on Barnegat Bay in Brick, New Jersey, and their adopted home aboard Reflection in Banana Bay Marina in Marathon, Florida.