October 12-18, 2013 - AGLCA Rendezvous, Jeff's Birthday, and the Tennessee River

We started the day excited to be in route to Joe Wheeler State Park.  We were actually running early for the long anticipated America's Great Loop Cruiser's Association (AGLCA) Fall Rendezvous.  Every year the AGLCA sponsors two Rendezvous - one in the spring in Norfolk, VA and one in the fall in Rogersville, AL.

It is an opportunity for Loopers to get together and socialize, to take classes relevant to the trip, and to meet industry professionals providing various services to Loopers.  We had long looked forward to the opportunity to catch up with buddy boats that we hadn't seen in a while.  In fact, we arrived at Wheeler Lock and a group of 8 looper boats were in route right behind us. 

Wheeler Lock awaits.

 

Eight more loopers catch up to us.

We lock through together and

arrive at Joe Wheeler en masse.

A bunch of other Loopers were already there, and we enjoyed

 walking the docks looking at boats and meeting new Loopers.

It seems every Looper has great stories, and the story of this shredded

burgee was no exception.  The owner was caught in a wind shear

 and was grateful it didn't do much more damage. 

We spent the evening enjoying docktails and then the seafood buffet at the on-site restaurant.  We awoke to a beautiful sunrise over the marina and spent the day cleaning the boat and getting ready for the official Rendezvous start.  On Monday registration began followed by a wine reception and the Introduction of Loopers at the evening dinner.

 

Tuesday was Jeff's birthday and just before lunch the emcee announced it to everyone.  Jeff got to be first in the chow line while everyone sang Happy Birthday - poor guy... talk about eight shades of red...  After lunch while we were in class, Barefoot'n and Bucket List "decorated" the boat with toilet paper and trash bag balloons.  During the Looper Crawl that afternoon several buddies came by to celebrate with us.

The unsuspecting birthday boy...

The first siting of SeaGlide's decorations...

Buddies onboard - Barefoot'n, Pazza Bella, Bucket List, and Blue Heron

 

The twizzler cake. 

 

Awesome gift of Spray Nine from Sun Gypsy.

This cleaner is fantastic! Especially when it comes to cleaning fenders.

 

On Wednesday there were more classes, and we went to dinner in town with friends.  A local bed and breakfast sponsored a concert for Loopers; so, we went to enjoy the music.  Then on Thursday there were still more classes, and Jeff won one month's free dockage in Dunedin, FL.  The perfect prize for us, as we plan to leave the boat for a month and go home for the holidays.  Now, we just have to get to the coast and make the gulf crossing before Thanksgiving.

 

SeaGlide was on the Looper Crawl this afternoon, and we had lots of guests touring the boat.  We enjoy sharing SeaGlide with folks - she has served us well on this trip, and we believe that the manufacturer has done a great job!  North Pacifics are mainly a west coast boat; so, there seem to be a good many folks on the east coast curious about them.  People see the ads in magazines, but don't have much of an opportunity to take a look at them.  There should be more of them on the east coast in the coming years; in the meantime, we enjoy showing her off.

 

SeaGlide's salon ready for the Looper Crawl.

 

The week seemed to fly by, and we enjoyed the final awards dinner as we said goodbye once again to lots of our buddies, many of whom were preparing to go different routes.  Friday we all started leaving in groups as we had to lock through Wheeler Lock that could only take so many boats at a time.  We signed up to leave with the second group; however, the heavy fog delayed everyone's departure.

 Group 1 headed out as the fog finally started to lift.

 

Group 2 pulled out about an hour later as it shaped up to be a beautiful day.

We pull out of our slip, waving goodbye to our buddies,

 and joined the group heading to Wheeler Lock.

 

Going into Wheeler Lock.

 

Exiting the lock.

Fall colors starting to make an appearance.

The group arrives at Wilson Lock.

 

Closeup view of a bees nest at the floating bollard.

 

 

Going down...

 

Exiting the lock. 

SeaGlide the last to exit.  

The entourage heads out

just in time as a tow heads toward the lock. 

 

Slowly the group started separating as everyone headed their own direction.  We chose to anchor out in route back to Grand Harbor Marina.  We learned that our buddies, fellow North Pacific owners of Inch n Along, had been unable to start the loop as planned.  As luck would have it, they were now ready to start, and we planned to meet them back at their home port to be with them as they started their adventure.  It was good to be back on the loop again, and, as usual, we settled into a beautiful anchorage with a perfect view of the western sky awaiting sunset.

Fishermen and eagles at Union Hollow

Anchorage on the Tennessee River.

Our view over the Tennessee River. 

 

We took our time the next morning leaving the anchorage as we didn't have far to go to get to the marina.  From that point on we would be on the next leg of the adventure - the Tenn-Tom Waterway.