'Only In America' by John Mirassou
- Lyall Burgess
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
One of our customers went solar recently aboard their 29ft Tiara Open and mentioned an adventure they had been on back in the day and that we might like to read the book. Boy was he not wrong, what a great read, full of adventure on and off the water drawing on their catchphrase 'Only In America". Which kinda reminds me of the catchphrase we had whilst sailing in the World ARC 2008 - 'It's all about the people you meet along the way'.
In 1987 the three Johns from California made an extraordinary 6,100-mile maritime journey aboard their 17-foot Boston Whaler. They trailered their Boston Whaler across country from Redondo Beach, CA to Ft Lauderdale, FL splashed there and then made their way north to New York across to Chicago and to their finish in New Orleans!
Copies available at AbeBooks
These days it would be better known as the Great Loop and has an association with those completing it being known as "Loopers"! Visit www.greatloop.org for more info.
But in 1987 what an adventure on a small boat before modern conveniences of GPS, ATM's, cell phones or the internet! A lot more reliance on good people and American hospitality.
Some 24 years later the three Johns went on to complete a sequel journey, if not a little shorter, making it 1,100 miles from Norfolk, VA, to Boston, MA in a 19ft Boston Whaler. This trip was designed to test whether the same cultural warmth and random acts of American hospitality detailed in the book still existed decades later. Here's a YouTube reel below used as a pitch for a potential TV series.
