How did Shingebiss get her name?

Lots of people ask us about the meaning of our boat name. When i was a child, my favorite story, found in a book called "Stories that Never Grow Old", was the story of Shingebiss. The short version is that Shingebiss was a little duck who lived in the north and refused to fly south for the winter. He fished through a hole he made in the ice. The North Wind tried to frighten him into leaving, but Shingebiss held his own and eventually the North Wind made peace with him. Since our home port is on the Mississippi River in Minnesota, and we bubble our boat in our slip most winters, we decided to name her after the brave little duck. A few years after we chose the name, another boater friend of ours (who just happened to complete the Loop a few years back) gave us a book called "Shingebiss, an Ojibway Legend" which turns out to be the same story told through the eyes of the Native American culture.

So that's how our boat Shingebiss got her name.

Map of planned route

well, here goes my first blog post. We at the heavy duty planning stage of the trip. Captain Steve is hard at work installing new equipment of many types, but my planning has alot to do with telling everyone I know about our wonderful plans. This blog is going to be of more interest to the folks back home and future loopers than it will likely be to experienced loopers. (ha, we haven't even left yet, and i'm already calling y'all the "folks back home"). So in light of that purpose and the fact that I am a total nut about maps of any kind, i am posting a map of our planned voyage. The blue lines represent the route we plan to take and the gray lines represent alternate routes taken by others who have completed the loop. All subject to weather, what we hear from others as we travel and the whims of the day.

As of today, I have less than 20 work days left before retirement. Then I can really get busy with planning.