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....