The Mango Vol 1 Issue 6

A Flag Fluttering Free Life

Text by Karl H. Kazaks Photos courtesy of Debbie Russell

gold flag flies from Gypsies Palace , Steve and Debbie Russell’s Endeavour 48 power catamaran. The flag indicates that the Russells completed the Great Loop, a multi-path waterway which circles the Eastern U.S. and includes the Mississippi River, the Atlantic Ocean, the Erie Canal, the Great Lakes, and passage under a fixed railroad A

bridge (19.7-foot clearance) on the Illinois River outside Chicago. “More people climb Mount Everest in a year than finish the Great Loop in a year,” Debbie says. “It’s that daunting of an experience! It was very exciting – every day was so different.” It was the lure of daily adventure which led the Russells to live full-time on the water five

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N o v / D e c

2021