Voyages of Calypso Poet

To all our friends old and new reading these web pages: We finished the Great Loop Cruise in August 2003, and we continue to cruise the Inland Rivers when we can.  In the summer of 2011, we helped friends bring a boat from Detroit, MI to Little Rock, AR, cruising Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, the Illinois Waterway, and the Mississippi River. In the summer of 2007, we spent seven weeks exploring the Upper Mississippi River (from Cairo, IL to Minnesota). In the fall of 2017, we took the boat from the Arkansas River to Orange Beach, Alabama, via the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. We've been on the Lower Mississippi (Cairo to New Orleans) multiple times: four times from the mouth of the Ohio to the mouth of the White River (which is the entry to the Arkansas River System), three  times from mile 599 to New Orleans, once from mile 599 to the Old River Lock (entry to the Atchafalaya River), and once from New Orleans to Venice, LA and out the Baptiste Collette pass to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Great Loop cruise legs are described in chronological order. Because we started our Loop much farther west than many Loopers do, and because our location meant we had to cruise the Lower Mississippi, we covered many more miles than is typical. In addition, we made what was for us a side trip to the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers (most Loopers go south on the Tennessee and Tenn-Tom rather than take the Lower Mississippi). Having done both, we'd take the Tennessee and Tenn-Tom every time.

Cruise logs for Mississippi River cruises are also here. Having gone to New Orleans by sticking with the Mississippi the whole way and going partway on the Atchafalaya, we recommend the latter.

Calypso Poet spent three years on the Tennessee River, and we're glad to answer questions about this magnificent river, as well as our home river, the Arkansas. It is pretty cool, too, although not as developed.

Map legend

dark green line:Great Loop route in 2002-2003
orange line:Arkansas-Pickwick cruise in 2004
dark red line:Tennessee-Cumberland Rivers cruise in 2006
blue line: Mississippi River cruise in 2007
light green line: Miscellaneous boat deliveries on the Tenn-Tom,
Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas Rivers, and Gulf crossing
red cube: Our home port, Little Rock, Arkansas