Harbor Hosts are volunteers who lend a helping hand to other Loopers as they pass through their home ports. Members in need of local knowledge or assistance, or who just want to say hello to a Harbor Host on their way through, reach out via phone or email. Harbor Hosts provide advice and information on local services and things to see and do. Some go above and beyond by offering rides for provisioning, or will meet you at a marina to enjoy Docktails. Many Harbor Hosts have also provided written Harbor Guides about their areas.
When our boat was in Huntsville all last year, we depended on the local Harbor Host – Dave McConnell. Dave was a great resource for so many things. He fed us one night in his home and we went out to dinner multiple times. Dave does Frank Sinatra gigs and we managed to hear him sing at a very old and authentic Italian restaurant and at a bar in a nice Hotel downtown. Very fun! He was always so good about keeping an eye on Spring Fling especially when the weather was bad and checking on her and letting us know that all was well. He offered to drive us to provision for the boat too.
Loopers are a very helpful and caring group and tend to keep track of one another through a device known as NEBO. When we left for this Fall adventure, we left Ditto Landing and headed to Lucy’s Branch Marina just beyond Joe Wheeler Marina. The Fall Rendezvous was taking place and we thought we would try to get a little ahead of the pack. We made it through the Joe Wheeler Lock, but were unable to connect with the Wilson Lock – the big huge lock that was being worked on until we were right near the lock. At that point, we were told that we would have to wait a few hours to get through the lock and at that point it might be dark. We chose to find a little cove and anchor for the night to be near the lock and hopefully get through early in the morning. Unfortunately, we had a call that Pate’s mom had been taken to the hospital. So the next day we headed back to Ditto Landing where we knew we could get a plane ride to Massachusetts.
When we came around the bend to Ditto Landing, Dave was there and took pictures of us as we entered the marina and helped to catch the lines and tie us up too! He had been tracking us and knew we were headed back. Dave hasn’t started his Great Loop adventure yet, but he should be taking off soon for all ports south soon. He will be a solo looper on his boat Last Mango. Dave was a great Harbor Host!
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