October 8-21

October 8-13 Back on the air again. As I mentioned in my previous post we traveled to the Dominican Republic to attend the wedding of the daughter of our good friends Max & Judy Pasko, also fellow True Value Store owners. The travel to and from the island was uneventful but as usual long waits at the airport. The trip from the Punta Cana airport to the Resort and return involved riding with a driver that missed by inches, pedestrians, bicycle riders, motorcycle riders, horses, large potholes in the road and all sorts of other objects both large and small while maintaining a bullet like speed. As a little bit of added drama the police arrested the driver. and who knows what for, as the driver could not speak a lick of English and we couldn't understand any Spanish. The bride and groom are pictured at the resort

October 14-21 Sunday the 14th was to be a day of rest after arriving back at the boat around 3am from Nashville where we arrived from the trip home from the Dominican Republic. Well that was the intention, but I remembered that I had signed our boat up for the Looper Crawl i.e. the equivalent of open house during the Looper Rendezvous. So most of the day was spent cleaning the boat. You may ask what is the Looper Rendezvous?. Well it is a meeting of the Loopers to find out more about the journey southward. Approximately 250 people will attend(there is a waiting list). Some Alumni, mostly current Loopers, and some wannabees. Approximately 80 Boats are in attendance. The morning consists of seminars such as crossing the Gulf, traveling along Florida's Coast, visiting Florida's keys, the Bahamas and all sorts of nuances experienced by those that have traveled before us. The afternoon agenda also involves a seminar and then some fun takes place. Kayak racing, vessel safety checks, and dinghy racing and the aforementioned Looper Crawls. First things first. I did not participate in the Kayak race or I probably would have upset my Kayak as one contestant did before he approached the start line! I also did not sign up for the dinghy race as my 2hp dinghy (yes they do make motors that small) would only win a prize for being the smallest dinghy entered. However examining the rules of competition spelled out driving the dinghy backwards blindfolded, aided by a sighted helmsman. John from Our Time decided we could make a fool of ourselves as well as anybody else. We used Johns dinghy (9hp motor and reverse gear) and promptly drew a crowd as we went around in circles before finally rounding the buoy and then managed to go around in circles several more times before crossing the finish line. I think the organizers used us as shills because the crowd soon grew and the contestants grew from 3 boats to nine or 10. My vessel safety check did not turn out much better. I thought I had everything in order. But I forget to check the expiration date of the flares in my emergency kit. The flares had expired Sept 30. Better to find out now than when the Coast Guard is on board. The Looper crawl on our boat was well attended. We had a steady stream of people. Some current Mainship owners as well as people looking at Mainships and also people deciding what type of boat they want to purchase to do the Loop. A great opportunity to look at many boats if you are undecided about a boat. On Friday after the Rendezvous about 50 loopers took a bus trip to Huntsville to visit the Space & Rocket Museum, the Botanical Gardens and the Art Institute. Very interesting day but not enough time at the Space Museum. By the way Werner VonBraun and his team of rocket scientists resided in Huntsville. Friday night was a little tense as the threat of storms and tornadoes was present. Several boats were rafted off one another and the docks were filled to capacity. The wind blew and a little rain fell but no harm was done. Saturday the 20th was another beautiful day. We are anxious to get back on the waterway again. The day was spent prepping the boat for its continued journey. This evening we had dinner on our boat with our friends John & Gail from Our Time. We will be parting ways tomorrow. They will be heading south on the Tennessee tomorrow and our journey will continue up River to Chattanooga. We hope to see them again in Florida, if not then the Bahamas