Speakers
Ben & Laura Stein
Nevin & Paula Saylor
Looping 101 Track
A panel of Gold Loopers will offer tips and answer any lingering questions you may have about Looping.
Location: Hibiscus Hall A
Ben Stein is the editor and publisher of Panbo.com, the marine technology hub. Ben and Laura have boated for over 17 years, first on Lake Michigan, then on the Great Loop 1.5 times, and now in SW Florida. The Stein family started their first Great Loop from Chicago in August of 2016 and finished in October of 2017. They started again in July of 2018 and landed in Ft. Myers in March of 2019. They traveled with daughters Molly and Madelyn. Prior to the Loop, they explored nearly all of Lake Michigan by boat. The Steins serve as AGLCA Family Ambassadors and Harbor Hosts. The Steins reside in Ft. Myers and are happy to help when you come through the area.
Nevin and Paula reside in the relatively small community of Indiana, PA (one hour east of Pittsburgh). They are retired music educators, teaching their entire careers in Western PA.
Nevin began boating at age three with his family. Their boat was a 16 ft Chris Craft with a 35 hp Johnson Sea Horse engine. Upon their marriage in 1984, Nevin and Paula began their boating ventures as a couple in the Annie B I (Imperial tri-hull with a 70 hp Evinrude). They raised their three children, boating in PA and Ontario lakes in this vessel. In 2008, they purchased a Regal 2250 cuddy cabin. They quickly got the bug for “bigger water”. They began towing this boat (AB II) to the Sandusky, OH area, boating in Lake Erie. This began their plus-two era, and they quickly moved through AB III – Annie B V (Regal 28 Express, Regal 3560, Carver 360 Sport Sedan). They soon began exploring yet larger ventures. In 2019, Nevin got his captain’s license. The pandemic introduced them, through YouTube, to the Great Loop. They became addicted to nightly viewings of What Yacht To Do, Scho and Jo, Stay Cool, The Ramblers, Boating with Boogaboo, and many others.
Two years before Paula’s 2023 retirement they began their exhaustive search for the “perfect Loop boat”. They say there is no perfect one, but we’re happy with our choice, a 2004 Silverton 43MY (aft cabin). The purchase occurred in the winter of 2022 in Racine, WI. The first official journey of the Annie B VI was bringing it around the mitten of Michigan and back to her new home in Sandusky, OH in June. The summers 2022 and 2023 were devoted to Loop preparation.
Their official Loop adventure began on August 26, 2023. Nevin and Paula retraced their boat purchase route and worked their way back to Racine, Wi. This was their staging area for the famous October 2024 lock reopening on the northern part of the river system. The Annie B VI was a dream. There were no major boat problems on their Loop adventure. The two major obstacles were a Panama City Beach tornado that resulted in Captain Nevin’s broken leg (a minor 8-week delay). Fast forward one year and five days and they crossed their wake at Son Rise Marina in Sandusky, OH on August 30, 2024.
Nevin and Paula concur that: “The indisputable highlight of our Loop adventure was building relationships with other Loopers!”
Kay and Robert Creech have been AGLCA members since 2007. The Creeches started cruising to Florida with friends in 2000 and have been boating in coastal North Carolina since 1968. They cruised The Great Loop from 2008 – 2009 on their 43’ 1990 Jefferson Sundeck, C-Life, which they purchased in 2006. The Creeches cruised approximately 32,000 miles on C-Life, including The Great Loop, Chesapeake Bay, and Southport to Florida. They won the True North Harbor Host of the Year Award in 2012 and 2019. They received the Ron and Eva Stab Volunteer of the Year Award in 2021 and also served on the Advisory Council for AGLCA. The Creeches are Harbor Hosts in Southport, NC, AICW 309. Robert started doing chart review in 2010 in Marathon, Florida, using flip charts, and still presents chart reviews and other topics at AGLCA events.