May 1, 2005 - One week till departure

Well it's one week till we "Drop the Lines" and leave our homeport at South Shore Harbor in Clear Lake , TX and start our journey that will take us on a whole new adventure into the future.  We plan initially to cruise to Mobile where we will stay approximately a month so Cyndi can tend to some business in Texas -- Doctors, graduations, christenings & friends.  This first portion of our trip will be down the Gulf Intracoastal Water Way GIWW.  It will be approximately 520 miles and take 7 running days.  We plan to start with 2 long days (totaling 237 miles) and then slow down and  take a few lay days so that we should arrive in the Mobile area around May 17th.

This last week will be hectic trying to get the boat ready so I'll try to give a little report of the happenings during the week.

May 8, 2005 - Houston to Shell Island (Port Arthur)

We've "dropped the lines" and we are on our way.  At 7:01 am we left the dock.  We were ably assisted dockside by Jim & Doris Lee of Almost Paradise.  They greeted us at 6:30 am with a Bon Voyage gift basket of Goodies and helped tie down loose ends.

It was a little sad to leave familiar places for the unfamiliar surroundings out on the water.  While leaving is a little uncertain it is also very certain that an adventure and dream fulfillment await us.

Special thanks at this time for former dock neighbors who helped us over the years Bill & Dottie - Big Kahuna, Greg - Highland Fling, Jim - 5 Star & Rhapsody, Bobbie (No river east of the Mississippi runs North!!) - Queen Anne, Roger & Shan - Shani, Al & Debbie - Island DeFever, and Tracey & Rosie - Just Rosie..  Also, many thanks to Cap'n Larry & his sidekick Robert for guidance and repair work.

We left to gray overcast skies and calm seas in both Clear Lake and Galveston Bay. The Bay had 1 ft. seas and 15 knot winds from the south. Our first day took us down the Houston Ship Channel to Galveston where we made a left turn and headed to Shell Island anchorage which is just East of Port Arthur, Tx. We made great time and in the Neches river we got behind a large Ocean Tanker being maneuvered by tugboats.  The Captain made a decision to hang behind a slow moving barge since "the barge captain knew what he was doing" and we could just idle around instead of dealing with the situation.  BAD Decision -- The tanker was long gone and we, the Captain & Admiral, were stuck idling behind a Towboat who was obviously paid by the hour and had no home to go to.

Finally pulled into the anchorage in the rain, anchored according to the forecast of southerly winds and got settled.  Only problem was the wind & rain blew from the North and we got very close to the bank.  The anchor drag alarm stopped going off and, except for being close to the bank, we seemed OK. Wind finally did shift the East and all was good.

May 9, 2005 - Shell Island to Intracoastal City, La

Early morning at Shell Island was gorgeous.  We were the only boat anchored overnight and left at 7:00 am with a beautiful sunrise over the swamp/marsh. We encountered a lot of tow traffic in the am but very little later on. We waited a short time at Calcasieu lock and were able to float thru (didn't have to tie to the sides). We arrived at the Leland Bowman Lock outside of Intracoastal City, La. at 6:20 pm and finally locked though at 8:20pm.  Coming out of the lock it was dark and I couldn't believe that I had no panel lights.  I could not see the gauges.  I made do with a flashlight but after having the boat painted we have never been out in the dark and I never thought to check to see if I had lights.  I did check the running lights so they were OK.

Finally, at 8:30 we found Shell Morgan docks and tied to a rusty side pier, used all my fenders but had electric.  Tired as I was I climbed up top and got my Satellite dish set so We could watch the Dallas Mavericks play the Phoenix Suns. What a mistake.  The Mavs lost by 25 points and played worse than the score.

May 10, 2005 - Intracoastal City to Morgan City, La

We took on 360 gallons of diesel fuel at $ 1.695 per gal. (incl. sales tax).  This is up from about $ .88/gal. we paid 2 years ago here. The Admiral figured we had some long, tiring days so we slowed down on day 3.  A short trip to Morgan City, La. (64 miles).  We arrived early and stayed at the free city dock.  We were on the face dock between 2 Shrimp boats.  We met and had dinner with Trawler List friends Charles & Pat Culotta and swapped cruising plans as we both plan to cruise up the East Coast next year.

May 11, 2005 - Morgan City to Houma, La

We left Morgan City, cleared Berwick Traffic Control (you have to check in and out with traffic control in the area).  They monitor all river activity.  I am told that they monitor from a building in town via TV cameras.

I started to experiment running on one engine only for easy passages.  So far the initial results should show savings. As time goes on I'll be able to better measure the results.

We arrived in Houma early afternoon and decided to take a lay day on Thursday to rest up and celebrate Cyndi's xx birthday. Houma was nice and we got together with Iris & Jimbo who are cousins to Cyndi's childhood friends.  They drove us to dinner both nights and celebrated Cyndi's birthday. We had dinner at Cafe Milano (1 mile from dock) and the food was Northern Italian and wonderful.

May 13, 2005 - Houma to New Orleans, La

We left at 7:00 am again under clear sunny skies. Water temperature was 76.4 and air temp 70.5 degrees.  We had an uneventful passage to New Orleans. We saw 3 gators in the swamp and took the Harvey lock into New Orleans.  The Harvey Lock was not crowded and we saw no tows leaving and we were put into the lock soon after arriving.  After checking with Gretna Traffic Control (they control and watch traffic on the Mississippi), we traveled down the mighty Mississippi river to the Industrial canal and lock.  While on the Mississippi and with the current our normal cruise speed of 10-11 went up to 16-17.  It took us about an hour to transit the Industrial lock and surrounding bridges. We were caught in a mild squall as we entered Lake Pontchartrain but after going around the airport we were soon in our slip at South Shore Marina.  Our slip faced Bally's Casino and was between a 55 Ft. Bluewater cruiser and a 70 Ft. sailboat racing machine.

After 5 days we have transited 398.4 miles.  It has been a great week

 May 14, 2005 New Orleans to Gulfport, MS

To day we left at 8:35 and headed northeast across Lake Pontchartrain to the Rigolets which will take us to Mississippi Sound, the area of water between land and The Gulf of Mexico.  The Rigolets is on the eastern end of Lake Pontchartrain and is a much prettier transit than going through the Industrial Canal and Gulf Outlet Canal. The latter two are pure industrial in nature while the Rigolets is a winding passage though some beautiful green areas. Two bridges required calling for openings while the others were fixed bridges that we easily cleared.

Mississippi Sound had only a slight chop and the passage to Gulfport, MS was nice.  After fueling up (221 gals. @ $ 1.94) we were met by DJ, the Harbormaster, and assisted into our slip which was on the first row and faced the beach & Mississippi Sound. The nice thing about this municipal marina, other than price, is that DJ delivered us a morning newspaper and pastry for the 2 days we were here.  He also runs a very clean and organized facility.  No chairs, table etc. are allowed on the dock but there are nice facilities nearby.  In the afternoon we tried out our Dahan folding single speed bikes that we had bought at the Texas Mariners Cruising Association (TMCA) garage sale last month.  Later in the day Tom & Ann Caywood (they brought our boat back from Florida with Cyndi) stopped by.  They have since "retired" from boating and are living the land cruising life in their RV.

May 16, 2005 - Gulfport to Pascagoula, MS

Today we left Gulfport on calm seas and another gorgeous day.  Water temperature was 77.4 and air temp was 74.3.  We cruised among the beautiful barrier islands off the coast of Biloxi to Pascagoula, MS.  Here, we entered the Bayou Chico channel after being met at the entrance by Rocky, one of the members of the Singing River Yacht Club.  He guided us through the shallow entrance channel to the club docks. It was close to high tide (thanks god) since we didn't touch bottom but we barely cleared it.  The entrance channel was to be dredged last month but the Sturgeon are spawning so the dredging had to be put off until later.  A few of the Club members stopped by the boat and we chatted about boats, cruising, etc.

May 16, 2005  - Pascagoula, MS to Dauphine Island, AL

It's 8:30 am and I'm drinking coffee, writing the Captain's Blog and enjoying the early morning.  Sunrise was around 6 am and it has been calm with light winds and lots of birds.  We'll hang around here doing boat chores until the tide gets high enough for us to go out through the channel. High tide is at 4:50pm but I'm hoping to get out around 2pm.

We dropped our line at 3pm (high tide) and motored slowly out the channel.  Obviously we left either too early or the tide was not as high as the previous day.  When we got out to the shoaling area of 100 yards I felt us bottom out  "in the muck".  Well, I powered ahead and we slipped and slided thru the mud and out of the channel to higher water.  Problem was, though there was large noises and vibrations coming from the port side aft that sounded like the struts were coming off.  On the starboard side there was unusual noise and rattles.  I looked in the aft bilge and there was no water (good sign as water coming into the bilge from outside is a problem).  I did see 2 large nuts that, upon searching found the steering mechanism bolts had no nuts so I hand tightened these to the bolts.  They soon vibrated off so I got out the wrench and tightened them down.

Assessment, we turned the port engine off, monitored the starboard engine and ran at lower RPM's and looked for an alternated destination.  Dauphine Island is at the entrance to Mobile Bay and they had dockage at the fuel dock and were 21.5 miles away.  We motored on one engine and while we still had some vibration and "clanging" on the starboard side the boat ran well and no water came in.  We ate at the Marina and slept well.  Dauphine Island has been rebuilt since the hurricane and will be on our list for future stops.

May 18, 2005 - Dauphine Island to Fairhope, AL.

We left Dauphine Island at 8 for the 3 Hr 31 mile trip to Eastern Shore Marina in Fairhope, AL.  Again we ran on the one engine only and the boat ran fine.  I constantly monitored the aft bilge to make sure we were not taking water and that the steering assembly looked OK.  After arriving at the marina we took 2 mechanics out for a sea trial to assess possible damage before we pulled the boat.  The current assessment is: 1) Port shaft is probably out of alignment and needs truing up; 2) one or both props probably need truing up. 

There is a backlog in the yard so we are going to pull the boat on Monday and assess any other damage to the underbody, struts, rudder, etc.

We have settled into the marina and life here. Fairhope is a quaint little town with lots of boutiques, restaurants, etc.  There seems to be flowers on every corner and the town is very clean with lots of activity. The town seems very livable and is on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay and few miles from Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Pensacola.

May 23, 2005 - Eastern Shore Marine, Fairhope, AL

The boat was pulled today and, thanks for good things, it wasn't as bad as we thought.  The final verdict is that the shafts are straight, within tolerances, the struts, cutlass bearings, engine alignment, etc. are OK.  The problem is the port prop is severely dinged and the starboard prop is slightly dinged.  The spare props were put on and the old ones will go to the prop shop to be retuned.  A short run in the channel indicated no vibration and next week we will run at cruise speed to make sure that all is OK.

As said before, the town of Fairhope is really neat.  It has flowers on every corner and the town is very clean and the people friendly.  The restaurants are good but the weather is hot (95 degrees today. Cyndi flew back to Dallas last week for some "stuff" - graduation, christening, birthdays etc.  She is driving back Friday with friends for Memorial Day weekend.  We're not sure what we'll try in the area but are considering lunch at Grand Mariner (across the Bay) or at Lulu's (Buffet's sister) in Orange Beach.  They are both have docking facilities for dining.

May 27, 2005 - Eastern Shore Marina, Fairhope

Cyndi came back today driving with good Dallas friends Steve & Mary Wininger. Although it rained most of the weekend off & on we got some good shopping in.  We toured Orange Beach and Gulf Shores one day and saw how much damage caused by last year's hurricane is still left and the massive amounts of work yet to be done.  We lunched at Lulu's (owned by Jimmy Buffet's sister) in Orange Beach .  It is the former bait shop restaurant that was destroyed in a hurricane a few years back. It was rebuilt in a new location right on the Intracoastal Waterway (MM 120).  The food and service was excellent and they have live music every day. There is a play area for the kids and a large marina (Homeport) is scheduled to open this summer.  It looks nice and I'm told it will be $ 2.00 per foot.  We later went to meet dock mates at Cousin Vinnies in Daphne but it was closed and ended up at Manci's next door.  Food was good and the restrooms are a "must see".

Some favorite restaurants so far in Fairhope are Gambinos (Italian), Sandra's (lunch), Ravenite (Pizza), Pub (wireless internet, food & beverages), Wings (Sports bar in Daphne for ball games) and Andre's a delicatessen wine shop with good cheese & wine selection.

June 2, 2005

Gorgeous day today.  Lisa & Bobby Porter came down from Tuscaloosa for the weekend.  Cyndi & I worked with Lisa for 20+ years and they now live in Alabama and Bobby (husband) has the boat fever. We had a great dinner at Gambinos (not associated with the crime family per a note on the wall) last night.   The Italian food was excellent and a good time was had by all.

June 3, 2005

We left the dock at 10:30 am for a leisurely cruise to Dauphine Island which is at the entrance to Mobile Bay. We were originally going to go to Lulu's at MM 120 then over to Dauphine but after checking with the chart plotter that would have meant a 65 mile day ( 6 1/5 hours) plus lunch time so we opted for the 31 mile run.  Bobby drove most of the time while Lisa & Cyndi dragged the deck chairs up to the bow and do what woman love to do most - TALK. Actually, depending on the people, talking and shopping are very close.

Dauphine Island was originally established by the French in the early 1700's as the first European settlement in the Louisiana Purchase. They originally named it Massacre because of the many human skeletons found. When the group realized the island's potential as a defense post, the name was changed to Dauphine, the title of the eldest son of Louis XIV. For Two centuries the island served military purposes only.

In Dauphin we walked to the General Store, gift shop & Ice Cream shop ( approx 1 mile)  (The marina 1$/ft/night has no courtesy car). After dinner at Barnacle Bill's (right at the dock) I had a good Verizon connection and to bed early.

June 4, 2005 ( Birthday Day)

Mobile Bay was not like glass today and a little choppy with southerly 10 knot winds.  We went into Dog River to eyeball the repair facility and then we docked at Grand Mariner to have lunch. Good plan bad results - Grand Mariner restaurant does not open till 5pm.  We proceeded across the bay to Eastern Shore.  We bounced over the chop with beam wind and seas.  Saturday Night we had dinner at Eastern Shore Cafe.  Wonderful home cooked food with a gourmet twist. It's owned by 2 young chefs and is open daily for breakfast & lunch and weekends for dinner.

June 7, 2005 (date approximate - can't remember days)

During our stay here we have gotten together with AGLCA member Marge Griffith & her friend Gordon.  Marge has the 41' Linssen named Cinderella.  Marge recommended Eastern Shore Marina and Fairhope to us. So we have stayed a month and are glad we did. Marge liked it so well that she sold her home in Florida (after the hurricane last year) and bought a home here.

On Tuesday Marge & Gordon picked up Tom & Gerry Clare from Sea Knight and Cyndi & I for lunch in town. We had a delightful lunch at Sandra's and then Marge, acting as tour guide, chauffeured us around Fairhope and took us to her new home for a visit.

June 10, 2005

Today tropical storm Arlene is off the coast of Pensacola and generating winds around 40-70 mph.  To be deemed a hurricane the storm must have winds of 74 mph.  Even though the winds are not real strong the weather people issued a hurricane watch and estimate the possibility of a Category 1 hurricane (winds 74-95 mph and storm surge 4-5 ft.). This is opposed to hurricane Ivan last year that was a Category 3 (winds 111-130 and storm surge 9-12 ft.) As a precaution, and while the weather was still nice, we put a few extra lines and fenders on the boat and removed or tied down items that may get blown away with the wind.  I took the motor of the dinghy and moved the dinghy to a sheltered area.  During the night the rain started and by morning we had a steady rainfall.

June 11, 2005

We woke up to the rainfall and watched the weather news.  The forecast was still for a borderline hurricane with an estimated landfall between noon & 2pm.  The eye was forecast to come up Mobil Bay (We are at Fairhope on the eastern shore.  The storm never did achieve hurricane status and made landfall just east of Pensacola.  The winds, clocked at 55 mph by Pensacola had deteriorated by the time the storm came over us and left us with  a good old fashioned rainstorm.  However, as high tide was at 2pm, and a significant amount of rainfall came, the storm surge kept the water rising to just below the fixed docks - about 2 ft. higher than normal. This meant readjusting fenders and dock lines.,

June 12, 2005

What a difference a day makes.  Around 10am the sun was out and shining brightly.  Mobile Bay and the river was still churning and muddy from the storm surge.  But, the day was beautiful.  If you didn't look at the water you would have never known that we had a significant storm.

June 16, 2005

Well, today was the day we were to leave Fairhope and head north on the Tombigbee and TennTom Waterway.  Because of the recent rainfall from tropical storm Arlene the water and debris level is excessive.  According to the Demopolis Yacht Basin website yesterday both the Coffeeville & Demopolis dams are flooded and --Get this "Risk level for boat damage is HIGH".  Therefore, we have opted to stay in Fairhope through the weekend and leave on Monday - assuming the water level is OK and we don't get much rain.

Ed, the harbormaster at Easter Shore said the debris had passed Demopolis and the current is running at 6 knots which means that if I run the boat at normal 10 knot cruise speed our through the water speed will be 4 knots.  With that in mind Demopolis is 230 miles from where we are today.

June 20,2005

Today we fueled up first thing at Eastern Shore ($ 2.22 gal.) and left at 9:10am to head North toward the Tennessee River -- 500 miles away.  Checking the river level it is still high but below flood stage and the debris level has decreased. As we leave Fairhope we say good bye and hope to return for the winter.  We head across Mobile Bay to the Port of Mobile.  It is a busy commercial port with a lot of history. Mobile has been ruled under six flags since the Spanish sailed  here in the 1500's. It is the site of the Presidential announcement of the construction of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway in 1971, and for the concluding ceremonies marking the official opening of the Waterway, June 1, 1985. It is mile 0.0 of the waterway.

Bear with me for a little history of the waterway we are about to cruise on. The Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway stretches 430 miles from Mobile to above Birmingham, AL.  We will be cruising the Lower Tombigbee which is 216 miles from Mobile to the Black Warrior River in Demopolis, AL. At Demopolis we start cruising the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.  The Tenn-Tom forms a 234 mile long, 300 ft wide and 9 foot minimum depth navigation. It's made up with a series of 10 locks, each measuring 110 ft by 600 ft. It will lift us up a total of 341 ft from the water level at Mobil to the water level in Tennessee.  By connecting the Tennessee River to the Tombigbee, the Waterway cut as much as 650 miles off the transit mileage from mid America to the Gulf Coast.

The Tenn-Tom was completed in 1985 at a cost of $2 Billion Dollars (with a "B"!).  More dirt was moved to build it than was moved to build the Panama Canal.

Our first cruising day up the river was 72.7 miles to Bates Lake where we anchored in 16 feet of water.  It was a beautiful anchorage just off the waterway.  We traveled most of the day with Rick Barkley & Joan from Noble Lady, a 44 ft DeFever.   Once we got the anchor set we turned on the Genset to have it stop after 45 minutes.  We never did get it going and ended up not having air conditioning and "roughing it".  The temperature did get into the 60's and I slept comfortably on the aft deck.

The tranquility of the night was awesome and all we needed was the music from Deliverance.

June 21, 2005

Today we left at 7am for a 67 mile run to Bobby's Fish Camp in Silas, AL.  We had our first lock, the Coffeeville Lock & Dam. The rise was only 12 ft opposed to a normal lift of 34 ft.  This rise is due to the high water level on the river from Tropical Storm Arlene. We again traveled with Noble Lady.  We averaged 7.4 mph and had our best ever fuel consumption of 1.54 miles per gallon.

June 22, 2005

We did not have power at Bobby's or genset so it was another warm evening with a gorgeous night on the river. The moon rose over the boat as a orange/pink ball. There was fog on the river early in the morning due to the high moisture content in the air.  It soon burned off and we got underway for a long trip to Demopolis. The river was muddy and warm as we traveled the 97 miles to Demopolis.  One highlight of the trip was an alligator sighting (&pictures) at MM 143.  Also, we ran at one engine to conserve fuel.  We arrived at Demopolis Yacht Basin at 6pm, took on fuel & water, cleaned the crew, gave the cook a night off and ate in the restaurant.  Excellent food and we again had good company from and swapped tales with Noble lady.

June 23, 2005

Today we left at 7:30 am for another long (90 mile) day from Demopolis to Marina Cove in Carrollton, AL. We went through 2 locks today. The Heflin Lock & the Bevill Lock.  We saw a beaver crossing the river (no pictures) and had a long hot run.  We arrived in the marina about 5:30 and after cleaning up had an excellent filet in the tranquil cave.

June 24, 2005

We left at 8:30 today for a short run of 29 miles to Columbus, MS. We transited 2 locks and arrived at Columbus Marina where we were met by owners Chuck & Barbara Bigelow. During the portion of the trip we crossed the 1000 mile threshold since we left Texas on May 8th. This historic, for us, mark came at MM 326.8 and 10:32 am.  We were just short of Luxapalila Creek.

After arriving I discussed the genset problem with Captain Chuck (owner) and Ron Hilson from Bar_Ron.  The consensus was to check the cooling system water (something I had never checked).  I put a mixture of antifreeze and water in the genset and it seems to run OK now.  We'll see how it does as time goes on.

Tonight the cook was off and we went into Columbus and saw some of the historical antebellum homes and ate at Harvey's Steakhouse.

June 25, 2005.

Took a lay day today and went to town for breakfast and am trying to get the website updated so that I can transmit it tonight if I can find a fast land connection. So far, after 7 weeks on the waterways the trip has been enlightening and a daily learning experience.

June 26, 2005

Today we awoke at 4:30 am and I closed the bridge isinglass due to a light rain. Since we planned a 60 mile run with 4 locks today and an early start I was concerned.  At 5 am (hard to believe I was up then <Gr!>) I was checking the weather channel, NOAA weather radio and the web weather charts.  At 6:30 am we left Columbus Marina and headed 24 miles toward our first lock - Aberdeen. We arrived at 9:15am and left at 9:30 after locking up 27 ft. This is unbelievably quick.  The rest of the day went much the same with a quick lock through at Glover Wilkins - ( 25 ft in 16 minutes and Fulton - (25 ft in 15 minutes).  Our only wait was at Amory lock with a lift of 30 ft.  We arrived at 10:55am but didn't start the locking process until 11:35.  This 40 minute wait was due to the time it takes to lock a towboat with 12 barges through a lock.

All in all, despite the rain it was a delightful 9 hour trip.  Coming out of the 3rd lock we were warned of shallow spots due to sand shoaling. At the 3rd shoaling area we were met by one tow passing another and taking up most if the waterway.  Thank God the river is wide as we communicated with both tows and managed to keep our bottom out of the mud and out of the tow's way.

WE arrived at Midway Marina in Fulton, MS and were met by Lou, the temporary dock master (the owner's were away).  He helped  us get docked and hooked up for electric and water. He was very gracious and the marina is nice with a hot tub, lap pool, wireless internet and nice people.  We got together with Rick & Theresa from the 60 ft Jefferson Rebel Yell that we had met in Fairhope. We caught up on old gossip and ended up eating Mexican food with them and 3 other live aboards from the marina.  A nice night was had by all. The next day Cyndi & Theresa went to Tupelo, MS for a girls day out that consisted of haircuts, shopping, lunch and whatever the girls do.

June 28, 2005

We left early again (6:49am) for a 56 mile trip to Grand Harbor Marina on Pickwick Lake.  The trip entailed 3 locks with quick lock throughs. The first two (John Rankin & Sonny Montgomery) had 30 ft. lifts while the last James Whitten had an 84 ft lift. This ended our locking on the Tenn Tom with a total lift of 341 ft.

At this point I will add some interesting trivia on the waterway that we just covered.

June 29, 2005

Leaving at 7:25am we almost immediately entered the Tennessee River.  At this point we have covered 1,126 miles from Texas. We arrived at our first lock at 8:15am where 3 tow boats were locking through.  We waited 1 hour and 50 minutes for our turn.  After circling for an hour and the tow preceding us entered the chamber, the lockmaster suggested that we tie up on the entrance wall while we waited our turn.  This was nice of him and we took advantage of it.  This was our first experience locking this far (52 ft) down.  It was uneventful and we came out of the chamber at 10:32.

While in the chamber we noticed some white smoke from our starboard engine that we need to have checked.  Our oil looks OK with no evidence of water. Perhaps it is the turbo chargers.  I called Pebble Isle and discussed the situation and we feel it will be OK to make the 2 day 95 mile run to them where we will be staying a month.

The Tennessee offers a lot more scenery and civilization than the last 400 miles.  The river is winding and beautiful with very little traffic -- commercial or private.

We arrived  at Clifton Marina in early afternoon and were met by Tammy, the marina manager, who helped us dock and get settled.  The marina is very pleasant and has a nice courtesy car that we used to go the Kountry Kitchen in town for dinner.  Another night off for the cook.

June 30, 2005

Left at 8:20 for a 63 mile run to Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville, TN. This will be our last run for about a month as we have family commitments  -- Niece Aimee's wedding and niece Jamie's 16th birthday (surf lessons with Aunt Cyndi). Author's note: it is Jamie taking the lessons and Aunt Cyndi observing (not taking) from a distance.

July 4, 2005

Here we are at Pebble Isle Marina.  The staff here and the local people have been real nice and welcomed us. Last night there was a fireworks show with many of the boats out on the lake to watch.  I'm not sure how smart Cyndi & I are as we watched them from the fuel dock--sitting on how many gallons of gasoline????

Also, yesterday Cyndi & I rode up over the hill to town on my 49cc motor scooter -- what a sight that must have been.  I will try to get pictures. Also, it was Cyndi's first scooter ride.

July 6-20, 2005

We took time away from the boat for family stuff. Cyndi took niece Jamie from Colorado Springs to Surf Diva lessons in LaJolla CA for her 16th birthday.  We followed up on the West Coast with niece Aimee's wedding.  It also was in LaJolla and some pictures are shown in the "About Us" Family section of the site. While we were gone we left the boat at Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville, TN.  We were never worried about it as the people there were very helpful and checked our lines, etc.

While on the Pebble Isle area We came to have a whole new appreciation for "House boating". We've never seen so many houseboats being from the Texas coast.  Starting at Midway Marina in the Tenn-Tom the houseboat and then pontoon boat population greatly increased. And, these houseboats just don't sit there, they are used and cruised. We have passed several boats that hail from as far away as Chicago and Florida.

After coming back from California we had a little scare.  It seems that we smelled something and I chalked it up to the glue smell from repairing part of the headliner in the aft stateroom. Then, the forward air conditioner shut off and I didn't hear the circuit breaker blow.   We the started looking around and I smelled smoke, checked to access panels and found 3" flames coming from our Starboard side 30 amp input connectors.  I blew out the flame and turned off the shore power.  Bottom line is the plug fused together and arced from either old fittings or too much power running through the cable. We now have new cables and adapters and only run 2 air conditioners at a time.

August 1, 2005

Picked up Cyndi's cousins in Nashville and returned to Pebble Isle last night. This am we loaded the motor scooter on board and filled up with 156 gallons of diesel at $ 2.19 per gallon and headed up river towards Clifton, TN.  The Tennessee River is one of few rivers in the US that actually flow North.  Since it was Sunday and hot we passed what seemed like thousands of houseboats, pontoon boats, ski boats, kayaks, etc.  The big thing seems to be getting on a fancy inner tube and be pulled around.  Despite the river traffic we covered the 62 miles in 6 hours and were met at Clifton Marina by Tammy (Manager) and Gene (Owner). We had a nice evening and met some of the local people hanging out, as boaters do, on the picnic tables.  Since this is a 99% houseboat and pontoon marina, one of the gentleman told me that I had the nicest pontoon boat he seen there in a month.  I took it as a complement and told him that the pontoons were hydraulic and retracted at the dock. We both had a good laugh and became fast friends.

August 1, 2995

We left at 10:15am and it is again hot & humid. We had a lot less traffic today being Monday.  We saw several fishermen that we slowed down for but only a few jet skies & other boats.  As we approached Pickwick Lock a sudden squall blew through the are and apparently went on its way.  We locked up to Pickwick Lake and the lockmaster came out and told us that it was getting nasty and rough in the lake and that we could stay in the chamber if we wanted.  Looking though the open gates we could see whitecaps getting larger so we said we would stay.  The lock personnel had to do some maintenance on the lower door so we locked down, they performed the maintenance, locked up and the new squall had passed.  We motored out of the lock chamber to a smooth lake and went a few miles to our berth at Pickwick Landing State Park.  The marina is real nice and 3 dock boys came to help us tie up.  We ate at the restaurant but would have been better off dining in. The only good part was that Cyndi's cousins paid the bill.

August 2, 2005

We left at 8:00 and planned to stop at Florence, AL. We were there at 12:40, called the Wilson lock and they said we could get right through but didn't know about Wheeler lock.  We continued past Florence to the lock, went in at 1:00 and were out at 1:30. We were lifted 93 feet.

Once through the lock we headed toward Wheeler lock. Wheeler Lake is the shortest and deepest lake on the TVA system.  Gorgeous homes (Mansions) line the shoreline and the lake has the largest concentration of homes per mile in the TVA system. We arrived at Wheeler lock and were told the wait would be 2 hours.  So, we eyeballed some of the nice homes and returned to the lock around 90 minutes later.  We were then told that the wait would be 3 hours.  The reason for the long delay was that a tow was locking down that was too large for the lock chamber and required the tow to make 2 trips.  We finally arrived at the Joe Wheeler State Park marina at 6:05 and grilled out some pork chops. The lake was quiet and peaceful.

August 3, 2005

We left Wheeler and proceeded upstream in a large lake that narrowed about 5 miles out.  We passed TVA's Brown Ferry Nuclear Power Plant.  This plant started operation in 1974 and, at that time, was the world's largest nuclear generating plant. On arrival at Ditto landing no one answered our Channel 16 VHF calls so we hung around in front of the fuel dock blocking the channel. At one point I even yelled (if you can imagine that I really have to yell) into the microphone and figured if they didn't hear the radio they would probably hear me downstream.  Eventually someone came and showed us where to dock. The people, once located, were very helpful and the 50 cents per foot dockage was nice. Since there were no locks today we covered the 56 miles in 6 hours. Tenderloin filets from Sam's topped off the evening.

August 4, 2005

The weather was milder today when we left at 8:40am.   Water temp was 85.4 degrees and air temp was 79.3. The scenery on the Tennessee River is very beautiful and we are starting to see more activity (housing, boat houses, boat ramps etc.) on the river. We made good time to Guntersville Lock and found out there was a "double" locking down UGH!! However, miracles never cease.  We called the lock to request a "lock up" expecting a long delay.  Much to our surprise the lockmaster said he would lock us through  the auxiliary lock since the double would take a long time. We thanks him profusely.

We locked up 39 feet to Guntersville Lake which is the 2nd largest lake in the Tennessee River System. It is 68,000 acres and 76 miles long. as we exited the lock and headed towards the lake we passed a Gray Bat Cave on our port side. It houses between 20,000 and 45,000 gray bats and is one of several bat habitats maintained by the state. Also noted in the Lake was much Milfoil and Hydrilla.  These are aquatic plants with significant root systems that can entangle propellers and stop a boat.

We arrived at Goose Pond Colony marina, filled up with 269 gallons of fuel at $ 2.16 per gallon. Louis Letson, co founder of the "Circle of Friends" boating list and a local "dock dignitary" stopped by and we swapped stories and friends.

 August 5-9, 2005

We took a few lay days and did the tourist thing.  We stopped at unclaimed baggage in Scottsboro which is reputed to handle most of the unclaimed bags generated by the airlines. I also headed down to Alred Marina and visited with Gerald Driggers on Lucky VII which is a sister ship to Fet-Esch.  Gerald has his boat looking great and I got some good ideas and want to take Cyndi to see it on our way back down the river.  Also, Gerald is an interesting guy with a lot of knowledge about the Seamaster boat.

On August 7th we took Cyndi's cousins to the Nashville airport and came back to enjoy the boat with just the 2 of us. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time with her cousins, it was just time to move on.

On Tuesday we had an impromptu dock party with several transient boats. Included among them were Chip Lucas, boat captain and his crew of David & Denise and Pat & Nyler (sp?).  Also present was the much acclaimed "Diesel Don" and his wife Connie and fellow boaters Phil & Kathy (34' PDQ Trawler Cat Pea Cay) and Don & Gwen (42' Krogen Travelin Man).  We ate at the Dock restaurant and the food and conversation was wonderful.  It was good to get back into the boating world.

8/10 -8/14/05

We left Goose Pond and had an uneventful trip 54 miles up river to Nickajack Lake and Hales Bar Marina. The marina is nice but has short finger piers (34 FT) and are working on a longer transient dock.  We were just able to reach the power and had no water hookup.

After another Mayfly invasion, I cleaned the deck and we left as the fog was lifting and headed toward downtown Chattanooga.  It was a short 34 mile trip that wound through tall cliffs and canyons. There is a lot of civil war history in this area and too much for me to remember and go into detail on.

WE arrived and docked right on the waterfront in downtown Chattanooga.  Wow!! This is a river city.  The riverfront has just been redone and there are both floating and concrete docks.  The docks are below the 2 aquariums (yes 2) 1 is fresh water and the other is salt water.  In fact the salt water has a giant tank that replicates the Flower Gardens Reef off the Texas coast.

The city is alive!! Lots of people are in the downtown area all day.  They both live, work & play here. Close to the docks are a couple of coffee shops with free wireless internet and the city has placed art sculpture pieces throughout the city.  There are parks for the people on both sides of the river.  Chattanooga, with it's art galleries and restaurants will be on our list of must stops.

The down side is the lack of a courtesy car and only a small grocery store with limited hours within walking distance. Also, I don't think there are any marine supply houses close by.

8/15/05

Today was a short trip up river of 25 miles to Soddy Daisy, TN.  We docked at Shady Grove Harbor Marina. This is a small marina run by Randy & Terri Bass and Randy's brother Joe Bass.  We tied at the fuel dock and took Terri's car to the Super Wal-Mart to replenish supplies. After a late afternoon shower things cooled down and we settled in for the night.

8/16/05

After a breakfast bar breakfast (gr!) we left the marina and turned onto the Tennessee River. We quickly started following a Coastal Cruiser called Sea Rose. Since we ultimately would end up locking through Watts Bar lock with them we settled down and followed them at 9 mph. When we arrived at the lock we were told they had divers down doing maintenance and it would be 2-3 hours till we could lock up.  Art & Barbara from Sea Rose tied up to the mooring outside the lock door and called us on the VHF to raft up with tem.  We took them up on the offer and tied to their boat and joined them for some lemonade.  What could have turned into a long, hot & tedious wait ended up to be a nice afternoon and 2 new friends.

After locking through we arrived at Euchee Marina.  It is set off the Tennessee in a lovely embayment.  The dock boys helped us dock and, after tying up and hooking up power, we went up to the Wetlands Club for a cold drink. It is a nice club, beer or BYOB only and sits over the restaurant and has a great view of Watts Bar Lake. After a shower and general cleanup we ate at the restaurant and the food was excellent and will be worth a return visit.

8/17/05

Today we arrived at Fort Loudon Marina in Lenoir City, TN (25 miles west of Knoxville at the entrance to the Smoky Mountains. We plan to stay here for a month and catch up on some chores, see my old Dive Buddy Bruce Robison (from Knoxville), go to a horse show and generally hang out hoping the weather cools off. Statistics to date 1) 102 days since leaving Clear Lake, TX.; 2) 1,764 miles traveled; 3) 1 night at anchor; 4) Niece Aimee married in California and Niece Jamie turned 16 with Surf Lessons from Surf Diva's in L Jolla, CA -- Thanks to Aunt Cyndi and 5) Numerous nice people met along the way along with very few "yahoo's".

 Bruce Robison stopped by with some packages we had sent to his house. He just returned from taking a group of people to Africa on a safari (www.worldfilmsandtravel.com).

Fellow cruisers at Ft. Loudon are Bob Bruneman --Marabob, Tom & Gerry Clare-- Sea Knight , Mark Richter & Joyce Schofield--Winnie the Pooh, Jim & Sally Woodward--Moby Duck and Clyde Honeycutt--Mamacita. As usual, the cruisers are super helpful.

Major project so far has been to replace the House and Start battery banks.  Gone are the 6 - 12 volt deep cell batteries and 2 giant 8D batteries (130#'s each).  The new batteries are 10 Stowaway deep cycle golf cart batteries that make up an 8 battery House bank and 2 battery start bank. Mark Richter, Mark's Mobile Marine, engineered the change and made up the battery cables  and provided electrical guidance. 

Also, the battery charging system is being redone.  The Genset needed a new belt so it's alternator could charge and the port engine alternator needs replaced. The old Charles battery charger has seen better days and I just bought a new Guest 3 stage charger on EBay. Fet-Esch also has an Ample Power regulator that is not doing what it should and is frying the batteries when turned on so it needs to go.  The new charger will take the place of the both the old charger and regulator. It acts like 3 separate chargers and will put 25 amps to the House battery bank and 5 amps each to the Start bank and Genset battery.

Friday August 26, 2005

Today we rented a car and got off the boat for a weekend.  Our destination was Shelbyville, TN. and the Tennessee Walker Celebration Horse Show.  It is a 2 week affair that is the standard for Tennessee Walkers and its winners are the World Champions. I had heard about this show for years from a former boss but never was able to attend. It was interesting and good to see old friends Floyd & Beverly Sherman and Alan & June Silver. We were able to see Floyd's daughter Kelly ride and take 2nd place in her category. But, listening to the crowd, she was robbed and should have gotten first place and the World Championship trophy for her class.

Monday, August 29th, brought the power of nature home.  It was the start of hurricane Katrina making landfall on the Louisiana/Mississippi coast.  It was initially thought that New Orleans had been spared because of a change of direction.  How wrong that was. Here we set, 3 days later with our eyes glued to the TV watching the destructive power of Nature. We were lucky here (500+) miles away in that we had some strong winds on Tuesday afternoon that caused us to double up our lines but very little rain.

Watching the scenes unfolding daily is mind-boggling. Just 117 days ago we left Clear Lake on this extended cruise and crossed the Gulf Coast from Texas to Mobil, AL (See Inland Rivers tab for map).  Along the way we saw the raw natural beauty of the Gulf Coast and the Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coastline. We saw the concrete and glass growth.  We met the wonderful local people and spent time in their communities. We stayed on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, Gulfport Municipal Marina, Singing River Yacht Club in Pascagoula. We also stopped, 2 different times, at Dauphine Island and enjoyed the raw natural beauty of the barrier island at the entrance to Mobil Bay.

Many of these places are now gone and I suppose some will be rebuilt in due time.  As with 911 and the Indian Ocean Tsunami, many, if not all, people's lives have been changed.  We can be only grateful today for the hand we have been dealt this week. A few moths ago it could have been us mixed up in the rubble on the Gulf Coast.  The lesson for us, today, is that life is fragile and each day should be enjoyed and lived to it's fullest as "You don't know what is around the corner."

Our Love goes out to all of you even if we don't say it often.  We are grateful for Family, Friends and Acquaintances and thankful that they are safe today.

9/1/2005

Today the weather changed.  It is 60 degrees this am with fog rolling across the warm waters of the marina. This weekend we are heading to Asheville, NC to see the Smoky Mountains, Biltmore Mansion and visit with Mike McDonagh (an old friend from Elizabeth City, NC) who I have not seen in 27 years. We drove through the Smoky Mountains on the way over and stopped to photograph 2 baby bears playing in the trees. What a beautiful stretch of nature the Smokies are. 

What a treat to see and visit with Mike after years apart.  We went to the Hendersonville Apple festival on Friday night and toured the Biltmore House on Saturday.  It is the Vanderbilt Mansion that has been restored and open to the public.

September 7, 2005

We had to leave Ft. Loudon Marina today since all transient slips had been reserved for a wooden boat tour tomorrow. This was known to us in advance so we planned a 40+ mile trip to Knoxville, TN. We left in the morning and wound upstream on the Tennessee River.  As we cruised up this glorious river we passed house after house that seemed to get larger the closer we got to Knoxville. When we arrived in Knoxville we cruised past the University of Tennessee Boat Club (rowing), Neyland Stadium (football & 2nd largest college stadium in US), Knoxville free docks, Calhoon's Restaurant, Volunteer Marina and the downtown private airport. We traveled past the end of the Tennessee River to the Sea Ray factory on the French Broad River.  The Tennessee is formed by the Holston River and the French Broad Rivers. At this point we turned around and headed down river and tied up at the Volunteer Landing free docks between the Southern Railroad Bridge and the Henley Auto Bridge. The 2 docks are each 150 feet long but provide no water or electric service.  There is a large sign that says "Boat operator must stay with boat at all times" but it is apparently not enforced. Right at the dock is the excursion train that runs on weekends only and travels  1 1/2 hours upriver to the point where the three rivers meet.

For those not into football or girls basketball, Knoxville, is Home to the University of Tennessee Volunteers.  The City, in fact the State, is awash in the color orange and if you didn't know better you would think that the State Flag is Orange with white "T". We stayed at the free dock 2 nights and toured the city via foot and the free shuttle buses that criss cross the city.  Leaving the boat we walked up a giant hill that could be nicknamed "Cardiac Hill" like the one at the University of Pittsburgh. We took the shuttle to Market Square and had dinner. We also took the shuttle around the campus area and into old town which is being refurbished with lofts and townhouses.  It should be nice when completed.

On Friday we traveled back to Ft. Loudon.  Since we were now going with the current we picked up a couple of miles per hour and therefore used less fuel on our way back.  After seeing and thinking about the people ravaged by the hurricane and the beauty and peacefulness of the river, we are very fortunate to be where we are today. Who knows where we go tomorrow but, for today, we are here (at Fort Loudon Marina) and enjoying life and our little place in it.

September 17, 2005

Sad to say that our stay at Ft. Loudon Marina came to an end today.  We have enjoyed the month here and the little side trips that we have taken. The marina people lead by Brett & Beverly and the worker bees have been really nice. The restaurant, run by Sally was a treat for "cook's night out". We are going out with a bang though.  We had a squall blow through early this morning 2 am and the wind, blowing off the beam of our boat, pushed one side of the finger pier loose from the main dock.  The finger pier opened a v hole -- being connected with a bracket on one side and an 15 inch gap on the other.  The yard crew was on it early today and fixing it as we left.

Today we went 23 miles up Tellico Lake to the Sequoyah Indian Birthplace Museum. This honors the Cherokee tribe and especially Sequoyah who, in the early 1800's,  introduced a writing system to the Cherokees so they could become literate. Tonight we are docked at a dock at the museum which is situated in a little cove.  No electric or water but a gorgeous location. There was a full moon out tonight and the cove stayed lit up and sparkled all night.  It was very quiet & peaceful.

September 18, 2005

We left early at 7:45 am and headed up as far as we could (make that were willing) to go up the Little Tennessee River.  We went to the power lines at mile Marker 32 and turned around.  This last 10 miles was beautiful and pristine. When we left the water temp was 79.3 and the air temp was 61 degrees.  As we cruised up river we saw the beauty of the Smoky Mountains open up before us and woodlands all around the river.  There were a few anchored boats and a very definite calmness in the air.

When we started downriver the calmness suddenly disappeared as our engine warning horn blared.  The starboard engine was overheating.  We shut the engine down and I went into the engine to assess the situation.  Problem-- there is a hole in our engine and the water/antifreeze mixture ran out. For you techies, an elbow in the water cooling system rusted through and developed a hole through which the coolant ran out.  After my heart stopped I called "Diesel Don", the resident diesel mechanic on the Tennessee River. After discussions, we agreed to meet around Chattanooga on Tuesday or Wednesday.

We met up with Clyde & Pat Honeycutt on Mamacita at Ft. Loudon, took on diesel fuel at $ 2.99/gal. and started downriver. That evening we anchored out at Little Paint Creek (MM575.9).  The anchorage is 25 miles from the lock.  It is a narrow cove with trees on both sides and very little housing.  Pat & Clyde joined us for dinner and a quiet evening.

This is only the 3rd time we have anchored out on this whole trip so I publicly thank Pat & Clyde for getting us involved in anchoring.

September 19, 2005

We pulled anchor leisurely at 9:00 am and headed 38 miles down river on 1 engine.  Since we arrived at our predetermined anchorage early Clyde wanted to explore other opportunities so, naturally, we tagged along behind him.  We found a different anchorage and anchored at 1:00 at Piney Creek in Smith City, TN.  After settling into our routine, Clyde picked us up in his dinghy and we explored the surrounding area for a couple of hours.  Again, it is hard for me to relate what it feels like to be engulfed within these natural settings.

September 20, 2005

After pulling anchor we headed downriver towards Chattanooga and Island Cove Marina on Chicamauga Lake. Coming out off the Watts Bar lock we saw a sturgeon on the surface which is very unusual.  I don't know the reason or if it was injured in some way.  While passing the Hiawassee Nature Preserve we saw a bald eagle perched proudly on a tree with its white chest pumped out.

We pulled into Island Cove and were put at the end of "E" dock. This is the worst dock in the place. Our first impressions were very negative because of the dock.  Later, we walked around to the other side and saw some real nice docks and some beautiful views.  We met Denny & Carol Gustafson on Temptress.  They offered, and we accepted, a ride to lunch and store visit. Not having wheels can be problematic so this gesture by people is really nice.  We went to lunch, the bank, the supermarket and fruit stand.

On Tuesday, Diesel Don stopped by (remember the hole in the engine) to diagnose our engine problems.  Finding s are we will meet Don at Goose Pond where he will replace the elbow (after pulling much other stuff off the engine), replace the shaft coupling blocks and check out if the shaft needs replacing. If the shaft needs to be replace we will have to go somewhere else to be hauled as Goose Pond does not have a travel lift.

That night we had an excellent meal at Sydney's restaurant at Island Cove.  The food was very good and a wide selection was offered.

September 22, 2005

After 2 days at Island Cove we headed downriver toward Nickajack Lock.  We anchored, alone this time, at Little Cedar Creek anchorage.  It is a wide open cove with the river on one side and high hills on the other 3.  There was very little river traffic and an occasional train. 

We ran the genset for a while to charge up the batteries (even though I have an 800 amp hour battery bank). At night, I slept on the aft deck so I could hear the anchor drag alarm if we started to drag anchor.  This is probably totally unnecessary but I am still nervous about anchoring out -- but getting better the more we do it.  I know that this will pass as anchoring our lets us truly enjoy the environment, gets us back to nature, is cheaper with no marina fees.

September 23, 2005

After enjoying coffee as part of the natural surroundings, we pulled anchor and again headed down river on 1 engine.  Our destination today is Goose Pond Colony.  We had a very uneventful day, pulled into the fuel dock at 12:45, topped off our tanks with 330 gallons of diesel fuel at $ 2.70 per gallon.  With us carrying 600 gallons of fuel perhaps I should lock it up at night <gr!>. 

We were met at the dock by Marge Griffith of Cinderella. That evening we enjoyed a nice meal at the Dock restaurant with Marge Griffith and friend Gordon Cooper and Louis Letson. A good time was had by all. The food and service at the Dock was excellent - as usual.

September 25, 2005

Reflecting on the hurricane events of the past month. It's hard to imagine the damage done by Katrina & Rita. In reflecting on our schedule since May we transited from Texas across the Gulf to Mobile, AL up the Tenn-Tom to the Tennessee River and then North to where we lay today in Scottsboro, AL. We anchored at Shell Island across from Port Arthur, docked on Lake Pontchartrain, Gulfport, Pascagoula, Dauphine Island and Fairhope.

September 27, 2005

Today we left Goose Pond and headed downriver towards Ditto Landing Marina and eventually Joe Wheeler State Park Marina for the AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruising Association) rendezvous. We were having a great trip until we hit the Guntersville Lock.  There a "Double barge" just arrived to lock up river.  A Double barge is a combination of Town boat and barges that is too big to get into the lock at one time.  The procedure is to load part of the barges and tow in, lock up, push the barges aside and go back down to retrieve the remaining barges. This locking procedure took 3 hours today so we had to idle the time away.  After we locked down we had a quick trip to Ditto Landing in Huntsville, AL.

September 28, 2005.

The weather today is overcast and cold (65 degrees).  The forecasted rain by passed us and left us with wind & cold.  We left late (10:45 am) and cruised downriver to Joe Wheeler Park. At the park there were already a large contingent of "Loopers" here.  Approximately 14 boats are already here with 70 boats and 250 people expected.

For dinner, We ended up sharing burgers on Mamacita with Clyde & Pat Honeycutt.

September 29, 2005

Today & tomorrow will give us a chance to meet the early arrivals and tap their brains as to the best places that they liked as they cruised the Loop.  Most of the people have extensively cruised to country and have a wealth of experience that they are more than willing to share.  We had an impromptu cocktail party on Thursday and a covered dish dinner on Friday.  The people are from all walks of life with different varieties of boats that all have a common goal -- Cruise the Loop from Florida to Canada, through the Great Lakes and down the Inland River System back to Florida.

These early days also give us time to give the boat a thorough cleaning inside and out prior to the "Loopers' Crawl".  The crawl is where you open your boat up for other people to visit.  It is really a neat thing and, even though it means a lot of people going through your boat, you get to meet the people, share your boat and ideas, and experience a camaraderie with fellow boaters.

October 2, 2005.

We are know into October and still cleaning the boat.  The Rendezvous officially starts tomorrow and we are looking forward to it.  After that it will be a trip to Aqua Harbor in Iuka, MS. to replace the engine shaft couplings and send out the 2 1/2" stainless steel drive shaft to be trued up.  Then it will be on to Midway Marina (www.midway-marina.com) in Fulton, MS (by Tupelo) where we will leave the boat from October through February.

The AGLCA Rendezvous has been deemed a huge success.  There were 60+ boats and 230+ people (final numbers not available). The boats ranged from 25' sailboats to 53+ powerboats and a few large power catamarans. The people were boaters first and from all walks of life.

The program was mixed and varied from Fred Myers and the Tenn-Tom & Tennessee River, Tom Conrad on Crossing the Bend and a 2 person presentation on Florida cruising. One good addition this year is that marinas sponsored the pre dinner happy hours.

October 7, 2005

The rendezvous is over and we are getting ready to leave on Sunday.  On Friday night Cyndi slipped going into the salon of Fet-Esch and twisted/sprained both ankles and knees.  She went down hard but, luckily, Eva Stob, a nurse was there and we determined that nothing was broken and only bruised muscle, bones and EGO. Now, instead of leaving Sunday we will probably head out on Tuesday.

October 13, 2005

We left Wheeler State Park yesterday and breezed through the Wheeler & Wilson locks.  They were both ready and open for us so we just cruised right in, tied to the bollard and locked down.  This was good since Cyndi's ankles & knees are still troublesome and the less time spent on them the better.

Today Aqua Harbor pulled the boat and removed the engine shaft couplings and shafts.  The starboard shaft has been loose in the coupling and I think the coupling will have to be replaced and the shaft trued up by welding stainless steel onto it and machining it down to tolerances.  As a precaution, and since the boat is out of the water, both shafts and couplings are being checked.  We were pulled at 9 am and at 5 pm, two 2" ss rods were stuck back in the shaft holes, the boat returned to the water and maneuvered to our slip on the transient dock with a outboard work boat.  The coupling should be in next week and we should be good to go by the end of the week.

We rented a car for the weekend and toured Corinth, MS and Iuka, MS on Friday. We did only car touring as Cyndi still hobbles. There is a lot of Civil War History in this area, the towns are quaint and you could spend some time exploring the riches of the past and present.

Corinth gained a reputation for being a hide-away for several mob affiliates and home to a notorious group from Alabama that became known at the "State Line Mob". Quickly renamed "Little Chicago", Corinth's nightlife became one filled with many "questionable" activities. In 1964, Bufford Pusser pinned on the badge of the McNair County Tennessee sheriff and immediately pursued avenues to rid the Mississippi-Tennessee state line area of criminal activities.

Boat has been repaired and we plan to leave tomorrow.  We have had a good time the past 10 days and have met many Loopers on the docks. We have gotten to spend time with Bill & Joanne van Lenthe of Picobello.  They have taught us several card games and we have showed them Double Nine dominos. It's amazing what little things can do to give us humor, levity and meaning to life.

October 23, 2005

Today we left Aqua Harbor and headed downriver towards Midway Marina in Fulton, MS.  We got 8.5 miles to the start of the Divide Cut and decided the vibration was too much to continue.  We returned to Aqua and on Monday (10/24) we did a sea trial with Tony (Service Manager), and Dustin (Mechanic), Bill van Lenthe (Canadian friend from Picobello), Cyndi & myself. The final result was extreme vibration coming from the port area (engine, coupling, shaft or prop). As I write this on Tues. am (10/25) I am awaiting to be pulled from the water and appropriate repairs started to eliminate the vibration. The Aqua Harbor people have been extremely responsive and I'm sure I'll be able to summarize progress in the next few days.

October 25, 2005

We were pulled Tuesday and the port prop sent back to the shop to rework 2 of the 4 blades that were not in proper alignment. The shafts and couplings were switched from each side to the other.  We spent the night in the travel lift/water plugged in to electric. On Wednesday am they pulled us, finished bolting in the couplings and replaced the port prop. We did a sea trial and the boat still vibrated but less than before.  We went back to the dock and they realigned the port engine (with feeler gauges this time). At 5+ pm they finished and we decided that we would do a final sea trial on Thursday when leaving.

October 27, 2005

Tony (Service Mgr) and Dustin (Mechanic) arrived promptly at 8:10am and we commenced with the sea trial.  The vibration is mostly gone and that remaining is possibly due to shaking of the engine. We will have the engine serviced over winter and see if this theory holds.

FINALLY !!!!l, at 5:12pm we pulled to the dock at our winter resting place - Midway Marina, MM 394 Tenn-Tom Waterway, Fulton, MS (www.midwayonthetenntom.com). 2,409 miles since we left South Shore Harbor Marina, Houston, TX on May 8, 2005.

Midway is really a neat place and we are happy to be here.  It is 9 hours from Dallas, has a bunch of neat people living aboard, a  good weekend restaurant on site, a fine group of story tellers in the morning coffee room and an outstanding staff ready to help with any problems.

My best friend, Tony Veader, ended up working in the area so he picked us up and drove us back to Dallas on October 29th.

November 1, 2005

Since, we still have chores to do to leave the boat for the winter we drove back to Midway on Tuesday Nov. 1st. Our plan is going well and we are taking the weekend off and driving to Columbus Marina to visit overnight with Bill & Joanne van Lenthe on Picobello.  They are our Canadian card playing friends we met and spent time with at Aqua Harbor.

This site was last updated 04/17/06