VIDALIA — A large yacht docked off the Mississippi River bank in Vidalia for several days inspired rumors of visiting Hollywood stars, but the 82-foot 1989 Chris Craft instead belonged to a couple taking a boating tour of the eastern United States.

The Australian couple on the boat, Geoff and Jenny Bradley, was making what is known as The Great Loop, a trip that involves traveling along the U.S. coast and then taking inland waterways — including the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River — to complete a circuit.

The Bradleys had stopped in Vidalia for several days because they had problems with some of the hydraulic equipment on their boat, said Cappy Stahlman.

Known amongst themselves as “Loopers,” those who have completed the trip have formed an informal network, Stahlman said, and the Bradleys contacted him because he had previously completed the loop.

The Bradleys were able to leave Wednesday morning after receiving some help from some people at the Riverview RV park who were good with mechanics, Stahlman said.

The couple had already planned to spend a couple of days in the area when their stay was unintentionally extended, Stahlman said.

“You can get off the Mississippi River at Cairo, Ill., and work your way down to Mobile, Ala., from there, and a lot of people choose to do that because it is three days quicker to get to Mobile, but I am trying to get more people to come down this way,” he said. “These people are tourists.”