Tidings of Joy: Rendezvous

Jeff and I have just wrapped up four days of the Great Loop Cruisers Association Fall Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park in Alabama. I had no idea what to expect going into the Rendezvous, as this was my first time. Jeff has been to two other Rendezvous prior to this one but this was our first with our own boat. Prior to arrival I was having some social anxiety but after a day or two that started to subside.

We arrived on Sunday night (10/16/16) so we would have a half of a day to get settled in, clean up the boat and make sure we were ready to go the next day. Monday morning we went for a long 10 miles bike ride into town and saw Joe Wheeler State Park and the town of Rogersville. We picked up some provisions and rode back. We attempted to swim but the water was ice cold. It reminded us of the Pacific Ocean and we were quickly in and out. At the pool we met a nice couple from the Bay Area – Randal and Michelle. We talked briefly then headed back to the boat to shower and get ready for registration, cocktail party and our first dinner. We were early to the registration and waited at the table until the director had them open it up. We were the first ones registered, flew down to the ships store for some new charts and quickly back at the boat. That was my first social test. At the cocktail party we recognized people who we had met previously at an anchorage and had cocktails with – Karen and Scott from Michigan. We then joined them for dinner along with a couple of their friends. It was a nice buffet dinner with nice veggie side dishes for me and fish for Jeff for dinner. We had made it through our first half-day.

The second day started off with breakfast and then two very informative morning lectures that talked about our leg from Joe Wheeler down to Mobile, Alabama. The speakers where gold loopers (people who have previously finished the loop) and who have a lot of local knowledge of the area. I took diligent notes the entire time. The second lecture took us from Mobile to the gulf crossing into the western side of Florida. For most loopers this is the scariest part of the loop because it involves a 170mile ocean crossing overnight. For the Tidings of Joy that means a 20hr journey for the two of us. While we have ocean experience we have never cruised that far so the information was very helpful. After our morning lectures we were provided lunch and then attended one final lecture before heading back to the boat for the “Looper Crawl.” The Looper Crawl is when people who have their boats at the Rendezvous open their boats up for other people to walk around and look at. When Jeff first mentioned this to me my first thought was, “absolutely not!” But after some discussion and Jeff telling me how invaluable it was for him when he was here and trying to decide which boat would be best for us, I changed my mind. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and the Tidings looked great. For the first 30 minutes we didn’t have anybody and I was wondering if nobody wanted to see our boat and then the floodgates opened and people began pouring in. We had non-stop people for the final hour and a half. Finally at 5:30 when the crawl was scheduled to end Jeff told me we had 6 people hanging out on the fly bridge. Not looking anymore just hanging out. Jeff went up to check on them and then they realized that it was time to go. I guess they felt right at home. The second night was much like the first we had a cocktail party for an hour and then dinner. This time we sat with some Canadians who we knew – Mike and Maria, our boat neighbors from the dock – Laura and Arty and their friends who we just met. We drank and ate then went back to the boat and crashed early after our long day.

The third day was another full day we had a morning lecture about going to Key West and where to go and what to do there. Afterwards we took a group pictures. Check it out. Jeff and I are in the front row and I’m holding the sign. From there we had another lecture on Florida’s East Coast and then a break for lunch. The afternoon lectures were of great interest to us- Cruising the Bahamas and Up the Tennessee River to Chattanooga. Both trips we plan to do and are heading to Chattanooga as I type. All of the speakers were very well prepared with power points and handouts. I was very impressed.

Wednesday night was a lot of fun. All of the Loopers who wanted to could take a bus into Rogersville to watch a Polo match, go on a hay ride and barn tour, have dinner and listen to a concert by a band from Muscle Shoals. Almost everyone went. First we piled into this school bus from town. You know the yellow ones with green seats that are narrowly placed one behind the other. Boaters aren’t known for being the skinny kind and we were literally all packed tightly into this bus. We had never been to a polo match before so I was looking forward to it. We learned after we arrived that one of the polo teams had a player who held the Guinness Book of World Records as being the oldest polo player in the world at 86 years old. Can you believe it? As the match was going on we took a leisurely hayride to the barn where the horses are kept. It was a beautiful green and white barn and the horses appeared to be happy. We watched a bit more of polo before dinnertime. We sat with our California friends (Randle and Michelle) who we met the first day at the pool. It’s funny because they are pescatarians like Jeff so the topic of food kept coming up. In Rogersville, Alabama and at this Rendezvous there were not a lot of veggie options. I did eat grits for the first time at the polo match. Not bad. Reminded me of polenta. We had fun with the Californians and they graciously drove us back in their rental car so we didn’t have to wait for the bus.

It was the final day of the Rendezvous and I was starting to get burn out. So much listening, learning, socializing, eating and drinking. The morning lecture was again interesting and it talked about cursing from Jacksonville, Florida to Beaufort, SC. Again, very informative and the speaker coincidently Jeff and I had already met in Fort Meyers, Florida when we met the boat there during spring break. We had our final lunch of the Rendezvous then headed back to the boat for a relaxing afternoon before cocktails and dinner. We got a safety check by a nice man from the Coast Guard Auxiliary and then went out to visit a boat on the Looper Crawl called Shell Bell and two people – Jim and Mandy who Jeff knew from last years Rendezvous. We toured their beautiful boat and then invited them over for a drink and to tour ours. We had a nice visit and swapped boating stories good and bad then headed up to the cocktail party. Again we found the Californians who we seemed to have a natural connection with and a couple of their friends. Our final dinner was spent with them. The director spoke and gave out a bunch of prizes then afterwards Jeff invited our table of 8 back to the boat for a nightcap. We had a nice couple on board who just began the loop on their boat Ellis Island, The Californians, and another couple who are planning to do the loop. It was a nice way to end the Rendezvous.

At this point we have traveled over 2500 miles (Jeff asked me to include that) and are currently on a side trip up the Tennessee River to Chattanooga.