Entrepreneur Debi Starnes serves as president of EMSTAR Research, Inc., a research consulting organization based in Atlanta. Outside of her work in the Atlanta area, Debi Starnes recently completed North America’s Great Loop, one of the great boating feats pursued by many of the sport’s aficionados.
A boating expedition that encompasses more than 5,000 miles and over 20 states, the Great Loop takes adventurers from the Canada in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south. Along the way, cruisers have the opportunity to see some of the great monuments of North America, from the Statue of Liberty and the Canadian Heritage Canals to the skyline of downtown Chicago.
The majority of boaters “cruise the Great Loop” in counter-clockwise fashion, starting with the Great Lakes and traveling down several rivers to the Gulf of Mexico. Cruising the Great Loop is typically best done starting in mid-May, when the snow and runoff in the Erie Canal begins to dissipate. Similarly, boats must leave Lake Michigan by early September due to high winds and low temperatures.
A boating expedition that encompasses more than 5,000 miles and over 20 states, the Great Loop takes adventurers from the Canada in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south. Along the way, cruisers have the opportunity to see some of the great monuments of North America, from the Statue of Liberty and the Canadian Heritage Canals to the skyline of downtown Chicago.
The majority of boaters “cruise the Great Loop” in counter-clockwise fashion, starting with the Great Lakes and traveling down several rivers to the Gulf of Mexico. Cruising the Great Loop is typically best done starting in mid-May, when the snow and runoff in the Erie Canal begins to dissipate. Similarly, boats must leave Lake Michigan by early September due to high winds and low temperatures.