A year’s voyage, with help from his friends

Islander Peter Reich can be seen these days piloting his 37-foot power boat, Teddy Bear, around local waters. Both the boat and the pilot now have the pride of accomplishment for completing nearly a year-long voyage, what’s known as “America’s Great Loop.” 

Setting off last May, the experienced mariner had planned his route meticulously. According to America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association (AGLCA), boaters doing the Great Loop are on a 6,000-mile journey that circumnavigates the eastern part of the U.S. and Canada, cruising up the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, through the New York State Canals, into the Great Lakes, down the inland river system, across the Gulf of Mexico, and around the southern tip of Florida. 

In announcing that Mr. Reich had received his “BaccaLOOPerate degree” from AGLCA, the association stated, “Approximately 200 boats complete the Great Loop each year, making it a feat more unique than swimming the English Channel or climbing Mount Everest.”

Planning the trip also involved coordinating the schedules of friends from the Island, 28 in all, who would rotate in to keep him company and help with the work.

When he committed to the voyage last spring, important life moments were on his mind. His close friend Andy Reeve, a longtime Shelter Island volunteer firefighter, had just died, and Mr. Reich himself had survived cancer that required stem-cell replacement treatments. “You should do the things you want to do,” he said at the time.

Mr. Reich completed the Great Loop aboard Teddy Bear, a 1984 37’ Lord Nelson Victory Tug power boat, returning to Shelter Island earlier this month. A few days later, sitting in his office — which looks like the interior of a boat ­— in the house he built himself on Menantic Creek, he reviewed photos from the trip that brought back meaningful memories.

New York Presbyterian hospital overlooking the Hudson River, he said, was where he’d convalesced in the bone marrow unit after his cancer treatment. “I spent months on that floor,” he said, “looking out at the Hudson.” He snapped a picture from the boat to capture the sense of accomplishment that he was passing that same spot on the river where he’d tried to picture himself back then.

He takes pride in showing the details of the house he built, not least because he was legally blind at the time. The second time he had stem cells transplanted, they were from a donor and resulted in a graft-vs.-host reaction, causing him to almost completely lose his sight for a year and a half. So a highlight of the trip this year was meeting up with the eye surgeon who restored his sight. “I’m now 20/20,” Mr. Reich said.

The voyage offered moments of quiet and self-reflection, which he welcomed at times. “I’m totally fine alone,” he said. “I did more legs solo than I’d planned, 1,415 miles out of the 6,600 total.” At other times, he welcomed the companionship and assistance of a series of crew members — mostly Island friends who joined him for different legs of the trip.

Amber Brach-Williams stepped away from her supervisor’s duties to crew a couple of times. The journey gave Mr. Reich a chance to re-connect with some Islanders who’ve moved away, like Bob De Stefano Jr. in upstate New York, and former Town Clerk Dorothy Ogar, who’s retired to Florida.

Mr. Reich’s wife Lauren joined him for the first four days of the trip, but had to cancel later visits due to health issues. He made a few return visits to the Island during the year to see her, also joining friends for a Viking funeral for Andy Reeve.

Jon and JoAnn Westervelt took a turn, and Mr. Reich recalled a special conversation they’d shared at the time. The autopilot on a boat is often referred to as Mother, with some skippers naming it Otto as a bit of a pun. The Westervelts and Mr. Reich decided they should christen it Andy, in honor of Mr. Reeve, and enjoyed saying, “Andy’s got the wheel tonight.”

John Cronin, another experienced mariner, joined him for a few legs, including a Great Lakes crossing. Debbie Winston Weaver did three stints, including a rough one where she had to pump out water by hand that was coming in at a gallon a minute.

Mr. Reich recalled a time waiting for rough weather to clear, when a group of boaters compared notes about challenging and frightening voyages they’d endured. “Nothing fazes me on the water,” he said. “I spent five days on a lifeboat in the North Atlantic.”

The only stressful part of the trip, he said, was coordinating the schedule of friends and family who’d volunteered to crew for him. His partner in the Reich-Eklund construction business they’d started, James Eklund, was unable to join him because of surgery. But when Mr. Eklund and his wife, Linda, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, Mr. Reich flew home to surprise them.

A few weeks ago, Teddy Bear crossed her wake off the 69th Street pier in Brooklyn, near Mr. Reich’s brother’s house. Anchoring for the night behind the Statue of Liberty, he was treated to a fireworks extravaganza in the skies above the statue that a private group had scheduled for that very night.

And when Teddy Bear returned home, James Eklund fired a cannon on Mr. Reich’s lawn to greet him, while John Kenny, John Cronin and Jon Westervelt, all of whom had served as crew, pulled in the stern line to help dock her, as many of the friends who’d joined the trip or waited at home gathered on the lawn to celebrate the arrival. 

While he seems happy to be back on the Island and definitely satisfied to have completed this year’s challenge, it doesn’t take much to get his gaze lifted beyond the horizon. His visits with friends down in Florida have him thinking of mooring down there next winter. It would also be nice, he thinks aloud, to get to the Dry Tortugas off Key West. 

“And maybe,” he said, “in the summer of ‘27, doing the Down East Loop, up the Hudson, to Lake Champlain, on to Montreal … around Nova Scotia — and back,” he adds with a smile, “to Shelter Island.”