AquaFennatic Great Loop Blog: Joe Wheeler State Park AL to Grand Harbor Marina MS

Oct 19^th – It was another hot and sunny day. After breakfast we attended conference sessions covering travels from Tarpon Springs along the Gulf ICW to Key West then up the Florida Keys as well as Florida’s East coast. We also attended a session providing information on the Bahama’s side trip, which we plan to take. A group picture was taken of all the Rendezvous attendees by the pool … it was a big group! After our sessions were completed for the day we boarded a bus to a large horse farm and went for a hayride to tour their race horse barn. We then saw a live Polo match, had dinner and then were entertained by a live band called Uncle Shoals which allowed us to dance the night away. We stayed until the last bus was ready to take us back to the boats.

Oct 20^th – It was a hot and cloudy day with some rain and chances of thunderstorms throughout the day. Today we attended conference sessions covering travels from Jacksonville Florida north along the ICW to Beaufort South Carolina continuing on to New Bern North Carolina. Afterwards there was a conference session Q&A with lots of interesting questions followed by Docktails by the pool and our final dinner which marks the official end of the Fall AGLCA Rendezvous. Afterward we gathered around a group of people with musical instruments and had a big sing along while we drank bush wackers (like a chocolate shake for adults with 5 kinds of alcohol). We plan to leave the marina in the morning and we are working with a volunteer coordinator to ensure that the 2 up coming locks can handle the traffic leaving the marina. Our plan is to get in front of the crowd, if possible, so we aren’t competing for marina slips and anchorages as we head south. From a statistics perspective we’ve travelled 1880 miles over 112 days and have boating cards for 66 Loopers plus we’ve met others that we don’t have boating cards for.

Oct 21^st – It was a very cool and windy day and for the first time this trip I had to wear pants, socks and shoes … terrible! We travelled 61 miles and went through 2 locks from the Joe Wheeler State Park Marina in Alabama to Grand Harbor Marina in Mississippi. We travelled with 12 other Looper boats through the locks and then we continued on to our destination. After we arrived we obtained a courtesy vehicle from the marina and went to town to purchase some provisions. Our credit card was declined at Walmart and at a gas station thus I called the credit card company and our trip triggered a fraud detection alert which I had to discuss with them to get the card activated again. We had to use a Canadian credit card as a backup, however we’ll most likely get hit with additional fees on the conversion rate. Once we arrived back at the marina “Boat Daddy” (Mike) brought his golf cart over to the courtesy car to help us transport our groceries over to the boat.