Which took place at Joe Wheeler State Park in Alabama. It’s a huge state park, with camping, cabins, a big marina, a lodge, all the “stuff” a state park has. It’s a typical state park operation in that everything is a little run down, maybe a little dirty, functional but not exceptionally high class. The Great Loop organization, however, is one of the best run and most enthusiastic associations I’ve ever come across. The whole point is to facilitate and dispense information about doing the Loop and man, do they do a good job. The presentations were informative and entertaining; I took so many notes it’s going to take me days to go over them here at home. Everyone was super friendly and full of questions. It was fascinating to meet so many people and see all the different ways they were going about doing the Loop. We all wore name tags with either “completed” “in progress” or “planning” on it so that people knew your Loop status. We met lots of retired or about to retire couples, including a 75 y/o guy, just divorced after 43 years, who was just getting started and isn’t planning on actually leaving on the Loop for several more years, which means he’ll be almost 80. I hope I’m still planning adventures at 80!
We also got to tour a 65 footer, which was polished to a shine and opulent on the inside. Seven air conditioners, for instance. Capacity 1600 gallons of fuel. So I did some calculations. He told me it burns about 100 gallons per hour at 22 knots, which is 25 mph, which is .25 miles per gallon. So for him to do the Gulf crossing at 180 miles, he’s going to burn 720 gallons, which, at $3.50 a gallon, is $2520. If he were to bring the boat from Cape Coral to Knoxville, like we did, that’s about 1500 miles. That’s $21,000 just in fuel. And he’s doing the Loop, at 6200 miles, not all of that is at speed so that will help, but even so he’ll burn potentially about $86,800 in diesel. If it takes him 12 months that’s $7,200 a month in fuel. Not to mention the insurance, maintenance, and docking fees he’ll spend.
Sheesh.
I’ll stick with my little bitty boat, thanks. (Last year a 94 footer did the Loop.)
I came home with a lot of new ideas, but fortunately most of those are icing on the cake. Things that will be fun or convenient to have or know about, but nothing new as far as the cruising part goes. Some of these people are buying their first boat ever, and they’re looking at 40-50 footers. They are going to be overwhelmed, I think, which may make it not fun for them. After touring all those boats we’re both very happy with ours. Cheryl thinks ours has the best layout inside and I like the size and simplicity, compared to one even another 10 feet longer.
We even bought a boat while there, a RIB inflatable dingy. Needed one, I knew what I wanted, and they had a special price on the last day so we snagged one at a good price. The one at a special price they had there on hand actually sold on the last morning, but they let us buy one at the same price from the factory. They are even delivering it to the house, which was an issue if we had ordered one.
Being at the rendezvous with all these enthusiastic people did pump us both up to get this show on the road; the enthusiasm was contagious. And we learned a lot about places off the beaten path to check out. So for now we’ll work on the boat, take it out at every chance we get, then about a year from now with any luck at all, we’ll head south following the sun.
Cheryl says:
I raised my hand when they asked who in the room was a “reluctant partner”. Butch was so excited to rush home and provision MoonShine for an immediate departure that I had to recruit people at our table to help me keep him at the convention. Butch was like a kid in a candy store, me- more like a deer in headlights. I was surprised that there were people at the Rendezvous who knew even less about boating than I do! That in itself, made the experience a winner for me. I guess I did learn a few things along the 1,500 trip home from Cape Coral.
The experienced boaters were very kind, gentle, and supportive of us novices. We were able to freely display our ignorance in a judgement free environment and by doing so, actually got answers to some of our most vital questions: Best advice to doing laundry at crowded marinas? (Get a boat with laundry facilities on board. Have your husband do it). How to keep bugs off the boat? (Buy a Thermacell and don’t keep cardboard onboard). How to arrange getting your hair colored when you’re away from home for so long? (Certainly not MY question!)
Since I’d never been on a motor yacht until we started shopping for MoonShine with a moderate budget, I was in awe of some of the boats on display at the Rendezvous. I went on the 65 foot yacht that Butch mentioned four times. In all honestly only three of those counted because the first time I got a bit disoriented and was merely wandering around trying to find my way off. That yacht was absolutely gorgeous so I went on it several times to see if there was anything at all I could afford for MoonShine. The counter top pad I found being used in the kitchen! I could buy that! But the owner of the boat had no idea where it’d come from and a Google search pulled up nothing similar. Darn it anyway.
The Rendezvous is probably the first time Butch and I haven’t had differing views concerning a boating experience. It was certainly enlightening and energetic. Like Butch, I too felt the excitement and possibility of doing the Loop. The experience encouraged me to continue learning about the process and about MoonShine. Butch and I took MoonShine out the other day. The refitting Butch has done has made her more beautiful than ever. We both still love her and are very happy with our choice of boats. This outing I felt more confident and relaxed than ever- I think Butch even noticed. Maybe I’m not such a reluctant partner after all. Life is good!!
The lodge:
Just a few of the boats there:
Our new dingy, a ten footer, and we have a Yamaha 15 to go with it, thanks to the gallant generosity of Jeff down in Naples.
Fellow Loopers, I think there were over 200 of us there.
The last night group photo. We are in there somewhere!
“We can know what is true without any doubt. And yet our knowledge is not guaranteed to produce behavior that is aligned with that truth.” Sam Harris
Our experience of the Seven Seas members was very much the same – warm, friendly and willing to share. Not in the least judgy.
I’m thrilled you’re doing this; happy to read it and remember :). Happy cruising!