The Final Entry in Our Blog !!

Green Turtle Bay (GTB) to Knoxville. GTB Marina is a very nice marina, and most Loopers find their way there. We stayed at GTB for about 10 days, and had a wonderful time.

We left IRISH AYES at GTB for a few days while we traveled to Las Vegas for a military reunion. While we were there, we took a side trip to Hoover Dam, an absolutely amazing sight. Eric from KENTUCKY WILDCATS was visiting from Florida so he got us to Nashville on Saturday so that we could catch a VERY early flight on Sunday to Las Vegas.

While at GTB we met Gary and Bobbie who live in Clarksville, another great Army Family. Gary and Bobbie were kind enough to drive all the way to Nashville airport to pick us up upon our return, put us up for the night at their home in Clarksville, TN, and then after breakfast on Friday morning, they got us back to our boat at GTB.

Upon our return to GTB on Friday (21 Sept) Mike and Cathy on XPLORER were there. It was good to see them again. There were 15 looper boats there at GTB (at last count), many of them making their way to Joe Wheeler State Park for the Fall AGLCA Rendezvous in mid-October.

We left GTB on Monday 24 Sept to begin our trek back to Knoxville. We began traveling with XPLORER again and made our way along some of the most beautiful scenery we have seen on this trip. If you have the opportunity to travel the TN River by boat, you will see that it is as beautiful as any waterway we have seen in our trip along the Great Loop.

One of the more unusual sights we saw along the way was a mobile home built on stilts. Now that was a first. From GTB Bay to where the Yellow River and Tenn-Tom meet was all new to us, and it was absolutely beautiful. From there to Chattanooga was familiar territory to us, but the trip was no less beautiful than what we had previously seen.

We traveled long hours for several days, but we did not mind so much on the river system. It’s quite different than traveling long days on blue water. The weather was beautiful and not too hot, and we made it through all 8 locks on the Tennessee River with no waiting. Now that is the first time that has ever happened for us!

We were traveling with Mike and Cathy from XPLORER when we crossed our wake at the Yellow Creek and Tenn-Tom junction, and it was a moment of mixed emotions. At this point, we technically completed this great adventure that we set out to do on 6 October 2006.

We anchored at Densons Island at mile mark (MM) 125 on 24 Sept. From there we made it to Panther Creek at MM 218.1 and anchored the night of 25 Sept. On 26 Sept we left Panther Creek and anchored across from Elk River at Crutchfield Branch at MM 285. On 27 Sept we stayed at Goose Pond Marina in Scottsboro, AL, one of our favorite stops along the water way. We had dinner with Lou and Peggy, friends from Scottsboro, at the marina restaurant. This restaurant serves very good food and was very busy for a Thursday night. From Goose Pond Marina, we made it to the Chattanooga Yacht Club where we stayed for one night. Our last stop before making it back to Knoxville was Paint Rock Creek at MM 576, one of our long-time favorite anchorages.

We made it back to our slip at Fort Loudoun Yacht Club at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, 30 September. As we were beginning our turn into the marina, an unbelieveable, and ironic thing happened to us. On the radio we heard the song by John Denver, “It’s Good to be Back Home Again.” How about that for a welcome home! We were welcomed by several very good friends with a “Welcome Home” sign and food and libations. It was great to see old friends again and to share some of our adventures with them. We will have tales to tell for a long time.

Mike and Cathy on XPLORER traveled with us all the way to Knoxville and will keep their boat here while they go home for a while. They will begin their travels again headed for Florida upon their return.

We have to say that we are sorry to have this adventure come to an end. Over the last 12 months, we traveled 6,721 miles. We had no idea what we were in for when we began this trip, but it turned out to more, and better, than we ever imagined and was an adventure of a lifetime.

So, for those of you who are still reading our blog, this is the end. We will miss our fellow Loopers, especially Mike and Cathy whom we have traveled with for 3 months. They have become more like family than friends, and we know that we will see them again. We will also miss being in a different place every few days and meeting new people and seeing new and different things almost daily. We will feel “Looper deprived,” as one fellow Looper called it, for some time.

Thank you for your good wishes, your prayers, and your friendship. We will miss you all. Fair winds and following seas to all of you.

Mike and Pat Sullivan
October 6, 2007