Thank you for the tip. Nice to hear from you. We have it down pretty good now but that is a great way to think about it if you get confused.

Thank you for commenting. It is definitely interesting out there. We like Lake Barkley and Green Turtle. One of these days we will have to take the side trip up to Nashville.

Thanks for your service! We hope you enjoy your retirement. If you don't get to do the whole loop Michigan is awesome by boat. Tennessee River is beautiful too! Thanks for watching!

Thanks for your comment and clarification. I’m not sure why I have trouble getting it right. Maureen very helpful with contacting the tow captains for instructions.

Thank you for watching! It is very exciting and interesting travelling the rivers.

Thank you. Thank for writing! Enjoy your boating this summer!

We love it here too! The river is so beautiful! thank you for writing! Are you a boater?

Thank you Brad. Great explanation!

It really is. 🙂

Traveling up and down the rivers is an amazing experience for sure. 🛥️

Thank you for clarifying this. In our experience there seemed to be some Captains that say pass me on my 1. Maybe they are trying to make it easier for us to know what to do. So, I always reply with what I think they want me to do. I clarify that they want me to pass on their starboard side and my port side. They usually reply confirming yes in some way. I feel better clarifying before we attempt to pass. We have had a captain tell us to wait until we get around the next corner and of course we do. We have all the respect in the world for Tow Captains!

That's probably what is going on, I do the same, honestly. You'd be amazed at how many pleasure boaters don't know which direction they are going, let alone what to say on the radio or understand the lingo. I'll keep an eye out for the M/V Freebird on AIS!

@@joshthuline1044 Sounds great! What is the name of your boat?

I run the E.W. Thompson

@@joshthuline1044 We will look for you this year!

Correct! Thank you for clarifying.

Thanks for watching! We like to stay away as far as we can but sometimes it's a narrow channel and we need at least 5 water depth.

Wow! That's a big yacht! Thanks for sharing your experience. Where is your home port?

Tell us more. We have not headed that way yet. What is a Crew Boat?

@@FreebirdonTheGreatLoop its an oilfield service and supply boat. They are approximately 35-120 feet long that can travel over 35 knots and produce wakes 10 feet high. Im afraid to try and pass one anymore after sliding back down a wake when reached the crest

@@danwaller5312 Wow! I think i would stay behind that one too. Thanks for the warning!

Freebird is diesel powered and is surprisingly efficient at our slow cruise speed of 9 mph.

Are you talking about the red and green marker numbers? One whistle and two whistle passes originated in the days before radio communications were used on boats.

Glad you did! 😃

Congratulations! We hope you enjoy your new Voyager! We have not had any trouble and ours goes up and down with no problem, but we don't use it. We thought it was in a bad spot to watch tv, so we mounted one in the corner to the left of the booth. Ed said the power supply for the motor that runs the lift is located in the pilot house, under the seat, right next to the stairs going up to the pilot house. Where did you buy her and where are you going?

@@FreebirdonTheGreatLoop Thanks! We LOVE it so far! I will look into getting access to that motor. I love your tv location better though. How did you run the power cord for it? We bought ours at Green Turtle Bay Marina, and we'll be cruising her up the Ohio to home in Louisville. We plan to do some short Ohio river trips first, then do the loop in Fall '25! Your videos are great to help us plan!

@@jdworley2925 Ed said it was a pain. He removed the back cushions along the booth and the interior panels in corner concealing the air-conditioning duct work going to the AC vent. Power is tied into the outlet behind the booth on port side wall. Hope to see you out there one day!

I must admit, it is very confusing. With our experience most of the captains will tell you to pass on their one or two. There are a few that say pass on the 1's or pass on the 2's even when overtaking. If you clearly hear them say "I'll see you on the one" I still would clarify they mean your 1 because a lot of them mean their 1. To add to the confusion a lot of the time you can't even understand exactly what they are saying due to bad radio or a mumbled answer. That is why I always try to interpret what they say and then clarify by using port and starboard, response. Most the time you can guess what side they would like you to pass on by looking at their position in the channel. I usually clarify by saying: Ok, So you want me to pass on your port and my starboard, correct? They almost always say Yes, that is right.

one whistle is pass on their starboard side, 2 whistles is pass on their port side...arrow channels get confirmation with other vessel@@FreebirdonTheGreatLoop

Appreciate the information for pleasure craft, but just to clarify if meeting ( head to head) on the 1 means port to port, 2 means starboard to starboard. If over taking the over taking vessel will use their whistle, 1 whistle means the vessel over taking will leave the other vessel on her port side and vice-versa with the 2 will leave the other vessel on her starboard side. I have been in towing industry as a Capt for 20 years. Also use the rules of the road book and being a Capt the biggest thing is if you can't see the wheelhouse of the towboat we can't see you even with radar the cover tops splatter the radar with false echos. Here is a link to the colregs rules of the road. .www.navcen.uscg.gov/navigation-rules-amalgamated

When you are overtaking or passing head on you always look at it from your vessel, when they overtook that vessel and said they are over taking on the 1 they were wrong, they overtook him on their 2, they looked at it from the other vessel which you don’t want to do

Sure! We would be happy to help if we can. We are the AGLCA Hosts at Island Cove Marina, just north of Chattanooga. What would you like to know?

Which marina would you recommend in Chattanooga to keep a loop boat in preparation for completing the loop. I’m based in Atlanta so Chattanooga feels like a good choice. Secondly, where would you recommend buying a loop boat in Chattanooga?

@@johnmcgee2618 We recommend Island Cove Marina in Harrison, TN because they have a good service department and can haul a boat out. Tracy Green is a good broker. He is honest and well connected with the marina and any boats in the area and out of the area. He can answer any of your questions. Here is is contact information: Tracy Green Gulf Coast Yacht Group tgreen@gulfcoastyachtgroup.com 423-227-0659 cell

It can take a long time to pass a long tow with many barges. You don't fly by, you just go a little faster then the tow to pass. Your line of vision is blocked by the towboat and barges and if he knows you are going to pass him he can tell you if it is a safe time to do so. He can see if another towboat or another boater might be coming from the other way or another hazard.

@@FreebirdonTheGreatLoop Gotcha.

They should use their blinkers….

Thanks for your comment. Valid opinion.

You are absolutely right. This video shows all towboats pushing barges. We slip once in a while because we grew up in Michigan where tugboats are prevalent. They are used to push around freighters.

Sorry, I’m guilty of saying tugs many times throughout the video.🤯🛥️