MANITOWOC – When you complete a feat rarer than climbing the summit of Mount Everest, you really oughta write a book about it. So that’s what one Manitowoc couple did.
Back on Sept. 2, 2021, Jill and James Iverson locked up their home, walked down to Manitowoc Marina and climbed onto their boat. The couple — long-time boaters — spent just more than a year navigating America’s Great Loop, a more than 6,000-mile loop that took them down inland rivers including the Illinois and Mississippi rivers to the Gulf of Mexico, around Florida’s coastline, up the East Coast of New York state canals into Canada, before returning to Lake Michigan.
They “crossed their wake,” or returned where they started from, on Sept. 10, 2022. It’s a feat about 200 people or 150 boats a year complete. That compares to 700 people who climb Mount Everest or the 1,000 folks who trek the entire Appalachian Trail each year.
“Our countries, the U.S. and Canada, look very different from the water,” Jill said. “It was a lifechanging experience.”
The adventurous couple recently published a book about their year on the water titled “Exploring America’s Great Loop: Artfully Cruising the Rivers and Canals of North America.” will be at LaDeDa Books & Beans, 1624 New York Ave., from 10:30 a.m. to noon May 25 for a book-signing and to chat about their experience.
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“We didn’t plan on doing a book when we did the Loop,” Jill said. “But as we were going along, I was doing updates for Facebook, mostly to let people know where we were. Our friends kept saying ‘Post more, post more.’ We weren’t going to do a book, and then we thought, ‘Well, maybe we should.’”
Both James and Jill journaled during the trip, and Jill drew in a sketchbook. They thought about self publishing, but instead landed with maritime publisher Seaworthy Publications. They collaborated on the cover art with Don Krumpos and Suzanne Weiss while Susan Murtaugh helped with editing.
The book differs from others about the Great Loop, the couple said.
“There’s all sort of ‘how to’ books about the Loop,” James said. “Ours is a travel journal of two people who have very different ideas of what to do or how it should be. We each have our own take on things. Taken together, I think it gives a holistic view of how it happened.”
James tended to write about technical issues, such as where to find a part if your boat breaks down, Jill noted. She journaled about the scenery, the flora and fauna they experienced as they coasted along.
For example, when they were in the Georgia Coastal salt marshes — with a unique ecosystem — James was focused on the tides to make sure they’d have enough water to float the boat.
“Meanwhile, I’m into the dolphins, the herons, the fishermen and their traps,” Jill said. “There’s really something for everyone in the book.”
They also talk about the experience of living in a boat for a year — not driving a car, eating at a fast restaurant, and missing holidays and family events.
Along the way, they met many friendly Loopers from around the world. They met boaters from as far away as Australia, and families who home-schooled their kids on the Loop.
Folks living in the towns they stopped at along the way were kind and eager to help them.
“They were happy to meet us and tell us their stories and to hear our stories,” Jill said a year ago. “Many of them offered to take us to the grocery store or get groceries for us.”
The couple saw many American icons, including The Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the Statue of Liberty.
Their boat, the Alvin James, is like a miniature 33-foot-long boat, she said. The Alvin James has a single engine and is slow, going about 8 to 10 miles per hour. It has a small kitchen, a comfortable bed, a “back porch” and two steering stations.
Most days they traveled about 40 or 50 miles. Some days they didn’t move at all. Some days they went farther to move forward.
James said they get asked a lot if they visited any place they would like to live.
“We visited so many interesting places,” he said. “But I tell them I really like living in Manitowoc. We have lived in Chicago, New York and the Florida Keys. I enjoy Manitowoc. We are a true port city right on Lake Michigan. You can travel to anywhere in the world from Manitowoc if you want to.”
The couple celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on the boat, and Jill said their experience of living in a tight space and spending so much time together “reinforced I married the right person.”
She also learned to prioritize more and to “do less and have more.”
“Out on the boat, you have a lot of time to think about your life and what is important to you,” Jill said. “I spend more time sketching and drawing now than I did before we did the Loop. Maybe the best way to build better habits is to strip them down to nothing and then let them happen organically, filling your time with people and activities that are important to you.”
Contact reporter Patti Zarling at pzarling@gannett.com or call 920-606-2575. Follow her on X @PGPattiZarling and on Instagram @PGPatti.
