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We left Goose Pond Marina in a seven boat caravan heading to and through the Nick-A-Jack Lock to a secluded cove where most of us rafted together for the night.This cove, Little Cedar Mountain, provided a rock cliff on the side of the mountain and served as a backdrop for a relaxing evening. We quietly watched the sun set on the bow of Bella Luna's boat as well as being their guest for a North Carolina Crab Cake dinner.The morning…

We arrived early at Goose Pond Marina. Everyone was excited to use the loaner car to go to the famous Unclaimed Baggage Center. Actually there were so many of us we had to borrow two cars to visit this store plus make a stop at Wal-Mart (of course).We left Goose Pond Marina early after a scrumptious breakfast aboard C-Life.

   Not more than ten minutes after helping each other tie up chairs, tables, food and drinks appeared on the dock. Everyone was eager for Happy Hour and with this group it truly is "Happy." We were really excited when Louis and Diane on Bella Luna invited us to travel up the Tennessee River to Chattanooga with their caravan. Most of them have been traveling together on and off (mostly on) since they left North Carolina where three of the boats…

Our destination today was the Free Dock in Guntersville. It was more than big enough for all seven of our boats and plenty more. We helped each other get tied up. 

A beautiful fifty-four mile cruise to Guntersville today.  It is starting to get very hilly with cliffs and valleys.We saw the famous Bat Cave today at the bottom of a huge cliff.This photo of Bella Luna (below, left) shows how big these locks are when lowered.

We are traveling with six other Looper boats up the Tennessee River to Chattanooga. Our first stop on the way is Decatur, a short twenty-nine miles from Joe Wheeler State Park. It was a short run for us and with an important Michigan/Michigan State football game in progress it felt more like a Sunday afternoon when we congregated on Bella Luna to watch the game and have Margaritas. After the game we had dinner in the restaurant/bar right in the…

After eleven fun filled days at the beautiful Joe Wheeler State Park in Alabama we are off with a group of six other boats upriver to Chattanooga, Tennessee. We got up early, got organized and headed over to get a pump out. After sitting still for awhile we are itching to move and see some new territory. Thank you AGLCA for a wonderful week at the Rendezvous.

We have worked on saving our dinghy since July and have not had much success. So we bit the bullet and ordered a new one. The guys had a fun project putting it together. 

It was the last night of a fun filled four days. We met old friends and made some new ones. We laughed, we played and we even learned a few things.One of the things we the women learned was what a "Full Bouquet" means. (It is this hand waving thing you do when the captain has an "attitude problem"). We got our table to demonstrate our new skill. We were all very impressed when Fred Myers received the Skipper Bob…

We Loopers sure know how to have fun at the Rendezvous. Between the receptions, Looper Crawls (this is where we have tours of each other's boats), Kayak and dinghy races we pack in a lot of great times.The Kayak races  were very popular and many turned out to have a chance to win. The dinghy race was a little more challenging. The driver was blindfolded and turned facing the motor of the dinghy and had to drive the dinghy in reverse while…

The first evening of the AGLCA Rendezvous brought some attention to the "River Rats." We are a group of boaters who were caught up in the flooding of the Illinois River after Hurricane Ike ravaged much of the south. Many of us were stuck or held up much longer, at docks, marinas and anchorages, than we had planned due to portions of the river being closed and locks with debris or mechanical problems.Shortly after the initial flooding it occurred to…

Yes, this boat, Dad's Idea, is doing the Loop. This is definitely a dream in the making. Followed here by Lil Looper, Ron and Eva Stob's boat (they are the founders of AGLCA).We toured a lovely steel boat Amalia, owned by Leslie (below) and Greg Marsh.

Joe Wheeler has been a great stop for a number of reasons, one being that we've been able to tie up to a dock off the beautiful Tennessee River to enjoy some amazing scenery, morning fog and sunsets. The other reasons being opportunity to participate in the America's Great Loop Cruising Association's (AGLCA-It's not really a cult, it's just a great boating club) Fall Rendezvous where we are able to renew some old acquaintances and also make some new ones…

On Monday we left the great state of Tennessee, however we remained on her river as we head southeast into Alabama on our way to the American Great Loop Cruiser's Association's Fall Rendezvous. We've not been on this part of the Tennessee before and we are finding it to be increasingly beautiful as we travel further up stream. We saw our first step lock while on this river system (see below).After sixty-eight miles we found a home for the night…

Sunday we left Clifton, Tennessee and headed out to Diamond Island to anchor for the night. Diamond Island is just this side of Shiloh National Park, the location of one of the bloodiest battles during the Civil War. For us, to anchor out, on the Tennessee River as the water flows calmly by, is an experience we thoroughly enjoy. The stars, sunsets, jumping fish and refreshing fall breezes all make it worth the effort it took to get here.We took…

We arrived at the Clifton Marina in Clifton, Tennessee on Saturday morning with thoughts of going into town for lunch. Clifton is a Mayberry type town founded in 1840. It now has one barber, one bank, one gas station and two restaurants which we found out don't open until 5 PM, so no lunch in Clifton today. Everyone here is very friendly and helpful and they all waved to us, as we walked the mile from the marina into town,…

We stopped at Densons Island three years ago and were happy to return again for another beautiful evening on the hook, in paradise. We woke up Saturday morning to fishing boats buzzing back and forth on the river all eager to claim a vacant spot to fish.

Unusual sights while in Tennessee. Not sure what the building was, the guidebook says that it is an abandoned dock that was sunk when they flooded the Tennessee River.This submarine like sailboat really caught our eye. Looks like its seen better days.

We had always heard that Pebble isle was a place that we must visit while on the Tennessee River. We had heard how nice the owners and staff were to all the boaters who come their way. And this is exactly what we found when we stopped for a short visit Thursday. Tami and Randy (see below with cinnamon rolls), part owners of the marina have a genuine warmth which they extend to the boaters who visit their marina.Before we…

We left Green Turtle Bay on Tuesday late morning and followed friends, on Victory, to and anchorage off the Tennessee River, Sugar Bay. It was a short, wavy ride (almost reminding us of Lake Michigan) about 14 miles, and overcast with a little rain which we haven't had much of lately. It was a welcome, peaceful night.Wednesday morning we cruised to Leatherback Creek where we anchored out again. Tomorrow we will be at Pebble Isle Marina for a chance to…

We had a couple of fun Happy Hour get-togethers while at Green Turtle Bay. The first one was while there were about twenty Looper boats here and another smaller one, the day after many of them left, when new Loopers arrived.Our last night here we went to Patti's Settlement restaurant, famous for their two-inch port chops. The group that went to Patti's was a small reunion of... Good News, Foreign Exchange and Shore Thing were all stuck with each other on the…

Green Turtle Bay was seen as the place to get to be out of the rivers and the flooding situation that we all recently experienced. So for many of us it was a feeling of relief to be tied up in this Looper friendly marina.Three days to clean the boat, change the oil, get excercise, swim in the beautiful new indoor pool, provision the boat, rest and socialize. We had breakfast with fellow Loopers we had just met, Mojo and…

Sixteen more miles up the Ohio River from Lock 52 and we entered the Cumberland River and the beginning of our descent into the south. This part of the cumberland is a beautiful meandering river that runs thirty miles before it meets the Barkley Lock and Dam. Barkley Lock has a lift of 57 feet. This is one of the larger locks on the Great Loop trip.We had only one mile to travel to get to Green Turtle Bay Marina…

Excited to be close to a three-day rest at Green Turtle Bay Marina we woke to heavy fog that would not burn off for three hours after our scheduled departure time. However the fog created its own beauty as the boats we were anchoredwith, and the morning sun, would dodge in and out of view due to the varying thickness of the fog moving through.Finally when the fog finally burned off all five of us pulled anchor and headed to…

Once the fog lifted we pulled up anchor and headed back out into the swirling Mississippi River. When we reached the Ohio River we said goodbye to Mistress as they were continuing down the Mississippi River to New Orleans to complete their Loop.It was a sharp left hand turn onto the Ohio River where the water calmed down and is a shade of blue instead of the muddy waters we have recently experienced. The turbulance of the Mississippi stops here…

Our first heavy fog during this trip so far. When we first got up we could hardly see the other boats and out of the channel it was even worse. We had to wait until 8:45 to leave the anchorage which means that we will probably not get as far as we had hoped today.

We left Hoppie's this morning with very little fog. The nights are getting cooler now with the daytime warming up nicely to somewhere in the seventies. Our main problem most mornings now will be the fog and how long it takes to lift.There was a caravan of six of us who left Hoppie's this morning bright and early. Mistress, Grettatude, Our Turn, Seque, Blue Max and us. We helped each other navigate the turbulent Mississippi River by radioing notices about…

As we inch south we leave Grafton for the start of the Mississippi River. Today we traveled in a five boat caravan all the way to Hoppie's which is south of St. Louis. We traveled through two locks, past Alton and St. Louis with its iconic arch.Hoppie's Marina is a famous Looper stop. It has been in business for 74 years.View across river from HoppiesAlmost immediately after arriving we walked into the little town of Kimmswick, a cute little town…

We are Grafton bound for our first mail pick up day and a stop at the end of the Illinois River. The last seventy miles of this river are remarkably beautiful with abundant wild life, rock bluffs and small river towns. Once in Grafton we made a trip to the local post office where our son, Bart had sent our first batch of mail.Art and Nancy, a couple we met through our blog, came to meet us while we were…

After two nights anchored out at Bath Chute the Coast Guard finally opened up the last portion on the Illinois River so we pulled up anchor mid-day and headed down stream for a short 42 mile day. Progress!We anchored off the side of the Illinois River with the Norfolk Southern Railroad Bridge as the backdrop. This makes three days without being off the boat. Here is Jim fending off a huge log from the back of the boat.Today we went…

Monday morning finds us, along with seven other Loopers, still anchored here in Bath Chute. We are all waiting for news that the river is finally open -  as of 10:00 am it is still closed. Six inches to go before they open this section of the river. If we get word of it opening mid-day we could leave and move a little bit south.Early this morning we had a thunderstorm and a downpour of rain but it appears to…

We got up early to assess a minor engine concern and after changing fuel filters we departed Peoria for our anchorage 61 miles south called Bath Chute. The waters in this stretch are still in flood stage, however very navigable. When we came upon the Peoria Lock and Dam we could see that it was mostly underwater as we had heard. They had lowered the wickets so we floated over the dam area (to the right of the lock), it…

We were the first boat to leave Heritage Harbor on Friday morning after we heard that more of the river opened up down stream. We left for Peoria and our first mail pick-up on the trip.Today was a special day as it is our Anniversary (sixteen years). Three years ago we celebrated this day on this very same stretch of water at Hamm's Holiday Harbor, a very rustic marina. We were happy to be going to IVY Marina in Peoria…

Our trip to Heritage Harbor in Ottawa was only 46 miles and took us eight-and-a-half hours. The weather has continued to be hot and sunny. We went through three locks total. The first lock was a piece of cake, easy in, easy out and no waiting. Locks two and three were another story. The tug and barge traffic had backed up some because of the lock and river closures we caught ourselves right in the middle of barges locking through…

After the Illinois River subsided some, making boating down the river safer, the U.S. Coast Guard opened up enough of the down stream waters enabling us to leave Joliet. We departed the free dock along with Good News leaving three boats behind, Foreign Exchange, Toronto; Amy K, NY; Shore Thing, CT and Markelle of FL. We left early and headed down river to Heritage Harbor in Ottawa, Illinois.

We arrived here last Wednesday and planned a couple of nights stay at most. In reality, tomorrow we will have been here a week now. Jim says that it is time to go.We have been waiting for better reports from the powers that be on the river as to whether we can get very far south or not. Every morning we wake to different lock or river closings or delays. The aftermath of the flooding has put a little wrench…

Last night, we had a Looper get together on Andy and Mary's boat, "Good News." We all brought food and grilled out. These impromptu parties are the best. They always involve good food and lively and informative discussions. We think that since we all must share a passion for boating and adventure (or why would be out here doing this?) so right away we have a commonality which is always an icebreaker when meeting new people.This morning Mary, Charlotte and…

Going on three days on the free wall in Joliet. Five boats left here this morning which left three of us, Kismet, Good News, Foreign Exchange, for most of the day until Amy K arrived late afternoon. Jim had a great idea on how to use up our box full of small change. There is a Harrah's Casino just across the river from where we are tied up. It was a short, but fun way to get rid of that change.Also…

Other than the two days of heavy rain we've had hot or warm, sunny weather. It was in the high eighties yesterday. The water levels have been another thing altogether. Basically, the remnants of hurricane Ike flooded much of the upper river system, therefore we had to stay in Chicago for three extra days before the Chicago lock opened to let us into the river.Yesterday, when it finally opened (this is a little lock - only a two-foot drop) we…