Fourth of July Near the Oil Spill

We had not had Bavarian Cream out for a while, because she was partially dismantled as we performed a number of updates, repairs, installs, and routine maintenance over the past couple of months (more on these tasks later). With the 4th of July falling on a Sunday this year, we decided that we should put the boat back together, get a crew together, and take the boat down the river to Lake Maurepas for some swimming and relaxing on the water. We did not expect to encounter any oil from the gulf oil spill, but oil was reported in Lake Pontchartrain which is separated from Lake Maurepas by a six mile canal, so one never knows. We invited some of the kids, but only Milana and Tracy showed up.

We had the boat ready to go and cast off shortly after they arrived. It was a sweltering day, but very windy, so we fired up the genset and started the air conditioning and some fans so we could duck out of the heat when it became too uncomfortable (oh, how nice it is to have a bigger boat with all of the systems when you're older!). As we cruised down the river, Larry got to demonstrate all of the new toys and gadgets that we recently installed and play some more with the gps and navigation software. We went past the Prop Stop which was in full swing and then headed on out to the lake. With 10-15 knot ESE winds kicking up whitecaps, conditions on the lake were not the most comfortable. We rolled our way over to the shallow water where everyone anchors and swims in waist high water, but stayed in a little deeper water because of the waves and the fear of dragging the anchor and becoming grounded. As expected, we had trouble setting the anchor, but finally succeeded on the fourth try after paying out 60' of chain rode for the 3 feet of water we were in!

With the boat holding OK, we went swimming. And no oil! The wave action made swimming difficult, so we tethered inflatables to the boat and just relaxed in the water and drank beer, ate snacks, listened to music, and had some great conversations. After a couple of hours in the water, it was time to eat. Because it was windy and we were grilling, we decided to pull anchor and go into the calmer waters opposite the Prop Stop. We anchored with about 30 other boats and proceed to make dinner. We decided to eat inside in air conditioned comfort. We dined, consumed several rounds of drinks, and conversed until someone noticed there was not much light outside. When we went out we were surprised to find that the sun was setting and we were the last boat in the anchorage. The anchor was hauled and we proceeded at nearly full speed back to the house. After all, it was the 4th of July and our neighbors have great fireworks displays. We put the boat in the slip and invited Milana and Tracy to watch the fireworks, but they felt they needed to head home, so Jane and Larry watched the fireworks from their deck and then walked down to a neighbor's 4th of July party before calling it a day.

Going to Indy- Again!

It's that time of year again with Memorial Day arriving and us making our now annual pilgrimage to Indianapolis for the Indianapolis 500 Indycar race. This is one of our short vacations that we look forward to every year, and this year we were particularly excited. The race had a new qualifying format that glued us to the TV for two straight days the week before the race. Pole day produced an exciting duel between the top teams, Team Penske and Target-Ganassi. Interestingly though, the top nine positions also included some drivers from the smaller teams which are always darkhorse favorites. After the new pole shootout session was over though, Helio Castronoves (Jane's favorite because of his stint on Dancing with the Stars) and Will Power (one of Larry's upcoming favorites) from Team Penske and Dario Franchitti (who Jane will tell you is married to Ashley Judd!) from Target-Ganassi filled out the front row. So some of the qualifying was business as usual, but some of the top drivers really had a difficult time qualifying (Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick, and Paul Tracy). The results would provide for an interesting race.

One of the highlights we have enjoyed the past few years is the Miller Lite Carb Day which is held on the Friday before the Sunday (May 30) race. This meant that we had to leave Louisiana on Thursday. So up we get at 3 a.m. to leave by 4 a.m. to drive the 854 miles to our motel. It's really not as grueling as it sounds, though. We put on some good music from the satellite radio, take turns driving stretches, and pack a gallon of Larry's Bloody Marys. Before we know it we're in Indy! We arrived at our parking lot on Carb Day around 10 a.m. And the weather, unlike the rain we experienced last year, was perfect. The race field practice began at 11 a.m. and it was interesting to see the times the drivers posted with their race setups. Some of the very fast qualifiers were considerably slower and vice versa. It proved that the race should be a lot tighter and interesting than the qualifying times would indicate. After the practice session was over we got to watch the Indy Lites Firestone Freedom 100 race. For the very first time a woman was on the pole, but she was unfortunately knocked out of the race on the second lap. Since they only go 100 miles, it only takes about 45 minutes to complete the entire race, including yellow flags. After the race we watched the Pit Competition. For a while it looked like a couple of the smaller teams would prevail, but eventually the competition was won by Helio Castronoves and Team Penske (again!). After the Pit Competition we walked over to the Miller Lite Stage to see this year's band, ZZ Top. It took us almost 20 minutes to get into the gate, it was so packed. To make matters worse, cars were trying to get out of the gate and an ambulance with lights flashing was trying to get in. On top of everything, everyone was drunk!

The state troopers had their hands full. When we finally made it in we started walking over the golf course to get to a spot where we could see the band. When we finally got to the top of the levee that borders the concert area, we found that we were almost behind the stage! We couldn't see the band and the speakers were directed toward the main crowd and away from us, so the audio was poor. After about 45 minutes in the grueling sun, 3 beers, and watching everyone around us deteriorate in drunken stupors, we decided to leave. We absolutely did not want to engage this crowd at the exits or on the highway. We made it back to our room and cleaned up, then we went out to a great little Mexican restaurant we found last year and enjoyed a great meal.

On Saturday we made our way south of Indianapolis to visit our friends, Sherrie and Danny Johnson. We met Sherry and Danny when they visited Milana and Tracy over the past couple of years, and had them and Danny's parents over to our place in Ft. Walton Beach when Danny graduated from school in Pensacola last year. They have a lovely house, very well off the beaten path, and after we got caught up on recent events they suggested we take a short drive to the French Lick resort area for lunch. We were in for a real treat because the focal point of the area is two, very old grand hotels that have undergone extensive restoration. The first hotel was called West Baden Springs Hotel (http://www.frenchlick.com/hotels/westBaden/index.jsp) and featured the largest, single-spanned domed roof in the world. It was awesome. After lunch we roamed the interior taking in the magnificent artwork and period pieces. The photo gallery of this beautiful resort can be viewed at the link above. We left and toured the grounds and then ducked into a rival hotel, The French Lick Springs Hotel that has also been restored to its former grandeur (http://www.frenchlick.com/hotels/frenchLick/index.jsp). The decoration and restoration were just awesome. We were shown the general resort village and then made a stop at the French Lick Winery where free samples were freely flowing (http://www.frenchlickwinery.com/). We don't know if they can ship their goods, but if you get a chance to visit, stock up on the "French Lick Red" which is particularly good. Sherrie and Danny took us back to their place where we said goodbye, then we headed back to our motel. It was a really great day and visit.

Sunday, race day! We wait all year for the excitement of this day. We arrived early at the track to avoid the aggravation of race day traffic, and set up our chairs by the car and read newspapers and people watched until it was time to go to our seats. The pre-race festivities don't really begin until around 11:00 a.m. so we have about 3 hours to kill. We walked over to some vendor stands and purchased some souvenir t-shirts for the kids and grand kids, then went back to the car to load everything up that we would be taking into the race. We enjoyed again the festivities with Indiana natives Florence Henderson's rendition of "God Bless America" and Jim Nabors singing "Back Home Again in Indiana." These annual performances always gets the crowd excited. The national anthem and flyover didn't work out so well this year. The singer's (Jewel) microphone didn't work until half way through the anthem, and we guess the air force jets couldn't hear her either, because they came roaring over the track about 30 seconds after the singing was over. Anyway the "most famous words in all of racing" got the engines started and the field was off with a Jack Nicholson waving the green flag a couple of warmup laps later. The race was exciting with the usual crashes and pit action, but no more so than previous years, with the exception of the final portion of the race where fuel strategy produced a lot of position changes. Dario Franchitti (and Ashley!) finally won (his second) with some surprising performances in the top 10 positions.

We headed back to Louisiana on Memorial Day and made it home in the early evening. We will miss the race next year, because we will be on our looper cruise somewhere between the Chesapeake Bay and New York Harbor. Life's tough...

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.

Goin' to Myrtle Beach for a Looper Rendezvous!

O.K. We wanted to go the the America's Great Loop Association's (AGLCA) rendezvous last fall in Rogersville, AL. We were new members and just figured that we would show up and register on-sight. We had reservations for lodging at the state park and felt we were all set. About a month before the meeting we saw on the website that the event was "sold out." Dumbfounded, we innocently called the association only to have them laugh at us on the phone and inform us that there was a limited number of attendees and there was no space for us! So, we were left out in the cold. Larry figured, incorrectly, that when you are a member of a group, all members would be welcome to the association's major meetings. At least he was never shut out of a pharmacy association meeting his entire career. These boaters are in a class by themselves.

Well, the AGLCA also has a spring rendezvous and this year it was in Myrtle Beach, SC for the first time. Not wanting to be left out again, we reserved our spots in October of last year. We called the resort and reserved lodging. We are so smart! So off we head to Myrtle Beach last week. The trip over was just that, a real trip. We got caught in all of that lousy weather that roared through Mississippi and caused so much devastation. We stopped for gas in Meridian, MS on our way to Atlanta. It was raining hard, when suddenly everyone started running out of the convenience store screaming that a tornado was coming our way. We probably should have sat tight until the squall line passed, but Larry turned on the radio and learned that it was 17 miles southwest of use, heading northeast. He figured that we would be heading east so we jumped in the car and headed out to the interstate. What is it about men and direction? We were heading northeast for Tuscaloosa and the storm was right on our tail. Very little chance of running out of its path. We listened to the radio and as we passed various exits the announcer proclaimed that the worst of it was 3-5 miles behind us. We could only do about 60 mph, because of the rain, and found out later that the storm was running up to 70 mph! Every time the announcer announced a town the storm was directly over, Jane would say that was the town we just passed. It went on like that for almost an hour and then we finally rode out of it's path. All the time we were running from it, we saw traffic heading directly into it in the opposite direction. That night we saw a lot of video about some of the traveler's encounters, and it wasn't pretty! We were so lucky.

We spent the night in Augusta, GA. Our highlight there was a really great Mexican restaurant that we thoroughly enjoyed. The next morning we headed for Myrtle Beach. We arrived early for check in with the registration and reception starting around mid-afternoon. Remember how smart we were for registering back in October? Well, Jane went in to get our room only to come out and say that they didn't have any record of us and thought we were in the wrong place! We were sent over to the meeting sight to talk with the head of the AGLCA. Jane had all of our confirmation info, and started talking to various people to sort things out. The resort coordinator finally put it all together. Seems our early registration was with the company that previously owned the resort but went bankrupt. When Jane pointed out that we had already paid the first night's lodging rate as a deposit, the coordinator called the registration desk and told them to find us a room and comp the first night. When Jane arrived back at registration, she found the clerk on the phone talking to a superior about whether the coordinator had the authority to authorize such action. When she turned around and saw Jane, things were resolved in a hurry. We were not given a room in the high rises that we expected, but a two-bedroom villa on one of the holes on the golf course! This place was huge with an enclosed patio, king-sized master bed (room for Jane to romp!) and very nicely decorated. So, we were happy campers.

Spring Has Finally Sprung!

It was a long, cold winter! We can't remember one being so cold and miserable, but the last few weeks have turned our thoughts back to refocusing our energies on getting the boat ready to do the loop next year. The posts to the blog have slowed primarily because the winter weather slowed us down to where we really didn't have too much to report. In the Baton Rouge area we received measurable snow no less than three times since December which set an all-time record. Jane was ecstatic when snow fell, but Larry, having lived up north for the better part of his life, knew better. Making any progress on some of our projects was tough. We would have 2 to 3 days of nice weather and start working like crazy, then all of a sudden the weather would turn nasty and we wouldn't fell like doing anything until the next nice spell. It was so cold we would just vegetate until the next thaw!


One of the things we tried to finish up was the decking around our new boat slip. As you'll recall, we had the boat slip enlarged and covered last summer and the dock finished up on each side of the slip on the lot we own next to the house. We're not really sure why it escaped our attention, but we knew we wanted a boarded walkway around the slip, but failed to include this in the original work order. We we're just so happy to have a really decent slip for our boat that we just didn't think to include the walkway. Larry has done a lot of decking around both lots, so he just announced that we'd install walkway later. Well, what he failed to realize was that most of his decking projects were done around 10 years ago when he was a tender age and could physically function! The decking involved digging a lot of post holes and trenches for support runners, mixing and pouring concrete footers, and cutting, leveling, and nailing over 100 2 x 6's. This was to be accomplished with his puny, already-surgically-repaired shoulders. Well that lasted about one week, then Jane, being the concerned, dutiful wife that she is decided that she would step in and do a lot of the grunt work (probably with the anticipation that it would be easier than rubbing Larry's sore parts every night and listening to him moan and complain!). Well, Jane worked harder than a dozen illegal immigrants or two dozen soul brothers. She did most of the digging which saved Larry a lot of rehabilitation. Larry ran electric power from the house for shore power to the boat and power for the boat slip lights and outlets. We finished our project at the end of March. The walkway is 4' wide on each side and 5' across the back. With power to the boat we are able to run all electric systems for the first time since we bought it without the generator. This is nice. All said, the finished project is first rate. We are now trying to get a contractor to do some dirt work for use to finish everything off.

With the freeze across the southeast wiping out a good portion of the tomato crop, Jane started clamoring for a garden to grow some vegetables. We had some extra planks from the boat slip project, so Larry put a 8' x 6' garden box together which we filled with 1600 lbs. of topsoil.

And yes, we did get the van stuck in the yard trying to get the dirt over to the box to save the back breaking chore of carting it over from the house. Larry had to winch the van out of the soft mud (remember we live on a reclaimed swamp!) with a come-along and a beer-drinking neighbor driving while Larry winched. Just another one of those Livingston Parish everyday occurrences! And while we're writing about this, Jane buried Larry's knife under the garden box. Yes, that would be the pocket knife he's carried with him for over 30 years and is his most prized possession. If he had to choose between the knife or his wife......

At the beginning of March we went on a buying spree for the boat. We wanted to upgrade the electronics, so we purchased a new VHF-DSC radio and a remote microphone for the flybridge station. The radio is a commercial grade model with an AIS receiver which will allow us to see the coarse, bearing, speed and closest-point-of-approach for most commercial vessels. Their name will appear on our screen, so instead of radioing "hey big red tanker bearing down on us" we will be able to call them by their name and ID and when we call our DSC radio will send our lat/lon to their screens so they know who and where we are. This isn't really needed on Lake Ponchartrain, but will be useful in the Chesapeake Bay, New York Harbor, Great Lakes and the major rivers. The radio also supports a hailer/foghorn speaker which we bought to mount on the foredeck. We also equipped the boat with Sirius satellite radio (thank you, Joey!) so we have a wide variety of listening options when we don't have TV. We also bought two new computers, a netbook and a laptop that we will use on the boat to navigate with. So, Larry has been fishing cables through the bowels of the boat to get all of this stuff set up. In doing these projects on thing becomes obvious, the boat may have some age on her, but the quality of her constructions is awesome. She's a real beauty!

Jane decide that she wanted a new mattress on the stateroom bed. She felt that a 4" memory foam would be just the ticket. So off to Wal-Mart she went to make her purchase. Got the foam pad on the boat and opened it up only to find that it was a full instead of a queen. So we've got to return this thing. Trouble is, once you undo these pads they puff up to ungodly dimensions and getting them back into the box to return them takes an army of arms, legs, and butts to contain the things (god, they make you feel so silly!). Anyway, by the time Jane got back to the boat with the tape, Larry had the animal corraled and we were able to return it.

We had been searching for a boatyard to have the boat hauled out for some bottom painting, new zincs, and overall inspection of everything below the waterline before we take off. We figured we might have to take the boat to New Orleans or further to find a good yard. Some locals suggested the Lizard Creek Boatyard  which is located on a cut through the swamp off of Blood River. We were a little leery until we rode over and talked with the owner and some customers. Seems to have a pretty good reputation, reasonable prices, and a wide range of services. So, we will probably haul the boat out June after we get back from the Indy 500.

Well, that brings the blog up to date since our winter postings. We are getting ready to do some traveling and get into the final planning stages for our trip. Should be a hoot....

A Looper Gathering in Port St. Joe

Fort he past month we've been working pretty hard on the boat and boat slip. We got a bunch of new Christmas presents for the boat that had to be installed, wired, cabled and configured. And if we weren't installing something, we were reading about how to use it with one of the umpteen user manuals that came with the goodies. We needed a break. And that was when we received a timely announcement from the American Great Loop Cruising Association (AGLCA) about a looper gathering in Port St. Joe, FL. This gathering appealed to us because 1) Port St. Joe is one of the stops we will encounter when we do the loop, 2) there would be a seminar and speakers discussing cruising topics we wanted to learn more about, 3) we would hopefully be able to meet and talk to some more experienced loopers, 4) the Port St. Joe venue is about a 2 hour drive from our place in Ft. Walton, and finally and most importantly, 5) there was going to be a low country shrimp boil the night before the seminar!

So we drive up from Ft. Walton Friday afternoon so we can attend the shrimp boil. We check in at out lovely hotel, the Port Inn, and unpack. We then decide to ride over to the marina and do some exploring because the time for the shrimp boil is fast approaching. We ride out to a jetty park adjacent to the marina and walk around looking at the boats. With just a few minutes before the shrimp boil is about to begin, we head over to the marina's conference room. Going inside we find about a half-dozen people and after introductions are told that we were the last couple they were expecting. Our thought was this was going to be a real flop. We go outside to a porch where they are boiling shrimp, grab a beer, then suddenly, as if on cue, about 30 people start to appear on the boat docks heading toward the conference room. Then we can't meet people fast enough. Shortly thereafter, someone announces it's time to eat and platters of boiled shrimp are served up. We gorged ourselves on shrimp, boiled potatoes and corn, and a really fabulous deer sausage, all the while talking to our fellow diners and updating them on our status and learning their stories. It was a real hoot! Since the shrimp boil was the only thing on the agenda for the evening, we headed back to the hotel after about two hours. We enter the hotel with some other loopers only to find out that they are located just across the hall from us. They invite us over for drinks, and we arrive, wine bottle in tow, and the evening degenerates from there. What was really wonderful about the hole evening was that everyone was bending over backwards trying to help us with our cruising plans for the loop. Close to midnight and with the wine bottle empty, we headed back to our room.

We stayed at the Port Inn in PSJ which is one of the nicer hotels. It was an old hotel/inn near the water and town center that was totally remodeled with all of the amenities. One of the things the hotel is noted for is its breakfast. Not one of those cinnamon bun and piece of fruit breakfasts, but a full breakfast with a dedicated server. We wandered down the the breakfast area the next morning to offerings of scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, two kinds of sausage, cheese grits, biscuits and sausage gravy, Belgian waffles with fruit toppings, assorted pastries and breads, fresh fruit, juices, and some of the best coffee we had tasted outside of the French Quarter. We must have forgotten how much we ate and drank the previous evening, because we really filled up with with the breakfast goodies. Off to the meeting only to be greeted with another continental style breakfast of pastries, juice and coffee. Still reeling from the hotel breakfast we opted only for small cups of coffee.

The meeting began with a presentation about the crossing from Carrabelle, FL to Tarpon Springs. This one talk was one of the main reasons we came, because the "crossing" is about 170 miles over open Gulf of Mexico waters 35-40 miles offshore in a single day, or broken up into a three-day, 200 plus mile cruise nearer to shore. We don't have much experience cruising on open waters far from land, so we discussed and anguished over this one leg often. The speaker was known to more experienced cruisers as a sort of "weather guru" who dispensed advice as to when the crossing would be most favorable. We listened intently as to whether to cross offshore in good deep water with a favorable weather window, or take the longer route with skinny water, lots of crab pots which have to be dodged, few marinas and good anchorages, tidal considerations, and 3 relatively consecutive days of good weather.

After the talk was over we pretty much decided that with our faster boat the offshore straight shot was the better option. It was also comforting to learn that no looper has ever been lost on this leg....

After a break we listened to another speaker talk about cruising from Tarpon Springs to the Keys. Our journey will coincide with this section only as far as Ft. Meyers, then we jump into the Okeechobee Waterway and find our way through Florida's interior to the east coast. While the talk was interesting, it's hard to follow someone else's itinerary, because everyone has their own preferences and interests when doing these trips. He did provide some interesting pointers, though, and had some really cool navigational software. Following this was a presentation by the Coast Guard and Auxiliary on navigational rules, safety and their new Rescue 21 system. We were reassured about our offshore crossing with Rescue 21 talk. Although most boat VHF radios have a range of around 25 miles, this system allows the CG to hear distress calls up to approximately 90 miles offshore. Good to know if you get in trouble. While the audience has tremendous respect and appreciation for what the Coast Guard does, the question-answer session was very pointed when discussions ensued about how some enforcement officials conduct themselves during routine boardings and inspections. We think that basically there's always someone out there ready to rain on your party and that's just the way things will always roll. After the Coasties came a talk (or pitch!) by the local Sea Tow representative who also said that they can also can hear us and will come to our aid up to about 50 miles out (now we're starting to think about major offshore runs!). The seminar finished with a quick talk about cruising to the Bahamas which is something we may try after our loop experience.

We broke for a buffet lunch at the marina's restaurant. Although we were still full from our breakfast and shrimp boil, we convinced ourselves to be hungry when platters of fried shrimp, broiled shrimp, BBQ ribs, fried catfish nuggets, smoked tuna dip, potato and green salads, and chips, crackers, and salsa were brought out. No sooner was a platter emptied than another arrived. In fact, there was so much food that Larry couldn't find room to have a beer with lunch! After lunch a senior editor from one of the major boating magazines gave an interesting talk about his experiences working 35+ years on commercial ships. We had read many of his articles and upon leaving commented about one article that dealt with cruising in the FL panhandle and our mutual love of shrimp and grits (why can't we break this food thread?)

We had planned on returning to Ft. Walton Beach after lunch to watch the Saints play the Cardinals in the playoffs. That morning, however, they announced that there was going to be a dinner at a nearby local restaurant and it would be good. Since we didn't have anything else pressing and hadn't expected the gluttonous lunch, we signed up to attend. So now we were looking for a place to watch the game when our party friends from the night before invite us to watch it with them. Seems they obtained permission to use the hotel's morning breakfast area and big screen TV to have a wine and cheese party and watch the game. So off we go, but were only able to find room for a couple of drinks (just to sociable!). The game ended with the Saints winning and about 15 minutes before the dinner began. We dined on prime rib, crusted grilled snapper, or chicken penne, salad, potato or rice, and bread pudding for dessert. After the meal a door prize drawing yielded 2 prizes (3 total) and goodbyes were said. We were looking for the food escape door and an end to this gastronomical madness when one of the couples asked us what was our biggest concern about doing the loop. We looked at each other and responded, "Trying to keep up fellow loopers when it comes to partying." The response we got was, "That's just what we do......"