/ˈwändər/

wan·der

/ˈwändər/

walk or move in a leisurely, casual, or aimless way

Wander Indiana is our home state slogan, we Hoosiers are getting skilled at wandering the rivers.

By the time we hit Mobile, AL in late fall, we will have been on the rivers (Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee & Tenn-Tom) 4.5 months. Most loopers spend about 2 months on the river portion on the trip to be in synch with the seasons. We left home earlier the the typical timeline, so with no schedule, no set agenda, wander is what we do.

The Cumberland River, Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake all south of Kentucky are new to us and now we head south on the Tennessee River into Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. Our boat was purchased at Aqua Yacht in Mississippi, a stone’s throw from Alabama and Tennessee (really!), in 2017 and David motored her home in the spring of 2018. His days on the Tennessee were long covering 100+ miles per day. Our typical travel days have been 20 to 40 miles per day and that makes for a good balance of cruising and down time.

Over the past 10 days, we have moved only three times and traveled 49.1 miles. It has been relaxing to say the least. We have been able to enjoy our dinghy and if you join us on Facebook (Mann Aboard), you will know that we went by dinghy back to Holiday Hills Resort, a place David vacationed with his parents nearly 50 years ago. We also have caught some great sunsets, and enjoy tooling through the marinas and nearby waters by the marinas. Many places we would never be able to take Now or Never.

For the past several weeks, we have marveled others love for the water, and the lengths they will take to get to the water from their homes. Photos of monstrous stairs leading from homes to the water. We have been thinking we might climb them once and then possibly never again. Our conclusion is quickly becoming that the homeowners may feel the same way. Rarely do any of these stairways to the clouds have boats on their docks!

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We are starting to meet up with loopers. Some completed the loop years ago, others partially through, some planners, some dreamers, and some long term cruisers hiding from hurricane season. We met up with a family we had met several years ago who were also in the planning stages of their loop. They completed their loop last week and are taking their boat back to their home port in Alabama. We are definitely slow planners!

Remy has enjoyed the down time and the state park grounds we have wandered through, leaving her mark just about everywhere, and finding good swimming holes. She is also appreciative of the marina electricity to she can have her a/c and fan!

The marina’s we have encountered have been very nice for the most part and such a change from the Ohio River. Most marina’s we have stopped at have gas docks, pump out stations, free WIFI, boat rentals, ship stores, bath houses, lodging, laundry, restaurants, courtesy cars, and beautiful grounds. They are a destination and not just somewhere to store your boat. We have found the people along the rivers to be very welcoming and inclusive in sharing their fun, a nice change from the crazy world of today.

We’re enjoying slow looping or what others have called sloopers. Our boat will be pulled the first week of August at Aqua Yacht Harbor, where we purchased her. She’ll get a bottom job (painted and ready for salt water) and a variety of other small maintenance jobs while she is out of the water. We will travel back to Indiana, thanks to good friend’s and kids helping us get home for a short bit. This rental car shortage is really throwing our plans for a loop! We have 150 miles to cover in about 10 days and look forward to friends joining us for part of our travels.

Cheers!  D, T & R