About Us

Hello,

Welcome to the blog about our Great Loop journey aboard Arabella.  We are Capel and Karen English and currently live in Sandy Springs, GA, which is a suburb of Atlanta.  We're not Atlanta natives, but after 29 years of living here, it's home.

Capel grew up in Warrenton, GA (population 1500) and holds bachelors and masters degrees mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Karen grew up in Louisville, KY, obtained a BS in chemical engineering at the University of Kentucky and a masters degree in chemical engineering from the University of Louisville.

Capel spent most of his career in engineering and technology.  He recently retired from InVeris, a supplier of military and law enforcement training systems.  Karen's career was spent in engineering and market development for personal care products and flexible packaging.  She recently retired from Printpack, a flexible packaging manufacturer.

We are often asked if we're 'big boaters'.  While both of us enjoy going to the beach, scuba diving, and enjoyed our ski boats on the lake, we are not 'big boaters', until now.

Our Great Loop Journey began in late 2019 when we started doing research on the trip and joined the AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association).  Since then we shopped for a boat, went on a Taste of the Loop cruise, decided when to begin the trip, and bought a boat.  Arabella, our Meridian 459, is currently at Kingfisher Bay Marina in Demopolis, AL.  We plan to start The Loop in the fall of 2022.