After my plans for the 2022 Great Loop trip fell through, I removed most of the things I had installed on FELIX for the Loop. This turned out to be very lucky – FELIX partially sank (one hull, which had contained most of the things I installed for the Loop, and then removed) during Hurricane IAN near the end of 2022. I am in the process of re-installing most of what I removed (the extra solar panels, batteries, inverter, refrigeration, etc.
I plan now to leave on the 2023 Loop trip May 1, as I have an engagement with a band, Rios Rock Band, playing on the boat April 29 for a large group of friends. Also, since four of the locks on the Illinois RIver are closing June 1 of 2023 for four months, I will be doing the Loop in reverse (Clockwise) to get past those lock BEFORE June 1, then complete the Loop at my leisure.
Since re-floating FELIX with the help of some awesome friends, I have replaced most of the destroyed deck, fixed the mangled roof, replaced the battery, and generally cleaned up the mess from the one hull being on the bottom for a few days. Still left to do to restore FELIX to its former glory is to replace the outboard that was underwater, repaint the decks, and repair the fiberglass damage on the port full from being bashed against the dock during the hurricane.









