Learning at the Looper Rendezvous

Our major point for attending the rendezvous was to learn from others what to expect and prepare for when getting ready to do the loop. This rendezvous had over 200 attendees at various levels of experience. Some had completed the loop at least once, some were currently on the loop and stopped off in Myrtle Beach to attend the conference, some, like us, had a boat and were in various planning stages preparing for the cruise, and some were just dreaming or trying to convince their spouses that this is what they should be doing. Like our experience at the smaller gathering at Port St. Joe, we knew that this would be a rich learning environment. Of course the learning experience had to take a back seat to the opening reception. Learning is great, but drinking and socializing is a whole lot better. And loopers really know how to drink (and eat!). After the reception we headed back to our villa and retired for the evening.

Monday morning we arrived at the conference center and got some coffee and lots of vendor freebies. There were two sets of sessions held concurrently, so Jane generally attended one while Larry attended the other. But there was a discrepancy in what we learned. At the end of the rendezvous Larry had over 20 pages of notes, Jane had 6. Maybe he just attended the more intensive sessions, but who knows. Anyway, the first session Larry attended covered the leg from Myrtle Beach to Norfolk, VA. Jane attended a session detailing what cruisers need to know to begin the loop. At the next session Larry listened to a talk about cruising the Chesapeake Bay and Jane attended an interesting session about a grandmother who single handled her boat on the loop. The grandmother's accomplishment is really noteworthy given her age and the fact that she did this in a sailboat. We broke for a terrific lunch, then returned for separate men's and women's sessions where the men talked about engines and carrying firearms aboard, and the women talked about how to decorate the boat (and the men!). After all of these sessions we went down to the marina for "looper crawls." The crawls allow us to board some of the vessels that were brought to the rendezvous. We boarded two boats and got to meet and talk to the owners. We returned to our villa, cleaned up and went back to the center for a great dinner. 


The next morning we returned to the conference center, had some coffee, and learned of the day's events. There would be no scheduled dinner this evening which would provide a break to allow us to dine at one of the local restaurants. The loopers who came by boat announced that they were going to have a reception and bonfire down at the marina that evening and everyone was invited. This appealed to us because it afforded another opportunity to meet and befriend people who were doing or have done the loop,and we would still have time to go to a restaurant. All we would have to do is put together some type of appetizer to bring to the gathering. Before everything got started we headed to a nearby grocery to find something to bring to the reception. Nothing inspired us and Larry wanted to do something "Louisiana". We finally decided that with the full kitchen that we had we would do a jambalaya and bought all of the necessary things to put together.

We returned to the conference center and attended seminars dealing with cruising Delaware, New Jersey, New York and the Hudson River (Larry) and one dealing with how to choose the right boat for your needs (Jane). Jane attended the next morning session on cruising Lake Champlain, and the Rideau, Trent-Severn, and Erie Canals while Larry went to a Potomac River to Washington D.C. We will definitely be going to DC as a side trip while we are on the Chesapeake Bay, but will probably skip  cruising in Canada, preferring instead to cruise the lower Great Lakes and spending some time in Ohio with family. It's a tough call to skip Canada, because it is so beautiful, but going over to Canada also appears to be more of a hassle than we may want to put up with. We broke for lunch and both attended an afternoon session on crew management and watch keeping. Instead of attending the afternoon's in-water demonstration on life vests and life rafts and doing the "looper crawls" again, we headed back to the villa to make our jambalaya.

With our jambalaya prepared we headed to the car just as it started raining. And it poured! We got to the marina just to see everyone scrambling from the rain. Jane took the jambalaya and Larry an umbrella and we headed down to the piers announcing that we had food. Soon we were invited aboard KAOS which is owned by a looper couple from Canada. They used to cruise with their kids and so the boat's name became an acronym for "Kids Aboard Zero Sex." After an hour aboard, the weather cleared and we all headed to the the bonfire are for more food, drinks and other people. We had a really great time and everyone wolfed down our jambalaya until just a small bowl was left for us to take home. It turns out the jambalaya was

a real hit because we overheard everyone talking about it the next day and approaching us to tell us how good it was. We guess we now know what we will be making for many of the pot-lucks we will undoubtedly encounter on our trip.

On the last day of the rendezvous Larry attended a morning session on cruising Lake Michigan while Jane went to a discussion on the AGLCA'sRogersville, AL cruising session and a group discussion. We found the Chicago-Rogersville presentation to be really interesting, because it is all done onthe inland rivers which are a lot different. Here water levels, currents, multiple locks, and tow traffic are major considerations and something we are not very familiar with. However, the one important thing we did learn was that steel barges are many times stronger than our fiberglass hull and it is best to avoid them! After lunch there was a group picture. We went back to our villa and packed the car so we could leave early the next morning. The rendezvous finished that night with a reception and an awards dinner. The ride back to Louisiana was a lot less interesting than when we came, but that's how we like it.