Jones Creek

Last night we talked about leaving early enough so that Coast Guard boat would not mess up our timing at Gunterville Lock.  We pulled out of Ditto Landing shortly before 7:00 a.m. to find them already gone.  A while later we heard them call Guntersville Lock on the VHF radio.  The lock master had a commercial tow in the lock, that we heard had greenhorn deck hands on board, so the Coast Guard would have to wait until they were through, about an hour and a half.  Perfect timing.  That's just about when we would get there.  At 9:50 a.m. we were tied in Guntersville Lock with the Coast Guard buoy tender "Ouachita" out of Chattanooga.  They had some trouble with the wind in the lock.  They were supposed to tie port side and the lock master instructed us to tie all the way forward starboard side because we would go out first.  Starboard side was our planned tie up anyway because of the wind.  After holding back while "Ouachita" was trying to tie off, they finally opted for starboard side also.  We got permission to tie starboard side behind them as we told them we would have the same wind problems, but we would still have to exit first by going around them.  All went well, and they left us in their wake shortly after exiting.  We saw them a couple more times during the day tending to buoys, but we never did catch up to them again as they rounded the curve beyond Jones Creek where we have anchored for the night. 

Ditto Landing

It was another peaceful anchorage overnight.  Last evening we kind of wondered when the wind picked up for a little while, of course in the direction straight into the anchorage.  Just enough to keep the bugs away and the temperature down though.  We lifted anchor out of there just before 6:30 this morning.  A virtually uneventful day.  No locks.  Just the fairly open water of Wheeler Lake with a southeast wind making it a little choppy in places.  Talking to the Decatur, Alabama bridge tender and watching the turtles were about all of today's traveling activities.  Speaking of Alabama though, I think I forgot to mention that we arrived back in Alabama about a half hour into our trip yesterday, leaving Mississippi behind until the fall again.
Fifty seven miles and just over nine hours later, we were pulled in to dock at Ditto Landing where Linda promised Ray a lasagne dinner since we would be plugged into shore power for the first time since Sunday morning.  Once the boat was cleaned up and dinner was in the oven, we took a walk around the campground here, trying to stay in the shade.  Amazing how much different the wind is when you are on the water.  We got back to the boat just in time to take dinner out and let it rest.  Right about that time we saw a tow out in the river coming close to shore, then it backed up and things were said over the intercom.  Linda's curiosity finally got the better of Ray and convinced him to walk over to the bike path to check it out.  Come to find out it was a U.S. Coast Guard buoy tender boat anchoring/tying to shore for the night presumably.  We waved to them, checked out their apparatuses, and headed back to the boat for that dinner Ray was waiting for.

Decatur

This is kind of a practice for Patty.  They were definitely making cat food today and the wind was blowing the smell our direction.  I went down below to see if Spike was smelling it.  He had his head poking out before I even got down there.

Second Creek

After getting the dinghy back on board and the anchor off the peninsula, we backed on off the "beach" to head east around 7:30 a.m.  A wide open Tennessee River was pretty much all there was to see except for a few tows pushing more barges than they do on the Tombigbee, but it sure is beautiful scenery no matter how many times you do it.  At 2:45 we were in Wilson Lock for a 93 foot lift.  Originally we planned to stop at Six Mile Creek, but again we felt it was early enough and it wasn't one of our more favorable anchorages in the fall.  It just worked then to brace for the storm.  Continuing on, we had a slight delay at Wheeler Lock because an up bound tow was just pushing out as we arrived, but we were in and going up by 5:30.  Just beyond the lock after our 48 foot lift, "The Second Noelle" anchored in Second Creek after a 57 mile day of travel.  Our anchorage greeters consisted of a beaver and a couple turtles.

Waterfall

Monday night was a nice quiet anchorage in Fulton, Mississippi once it got dark and the local skiers went home.  We departed there Tuesday morning at seven o'clock along with "Byrd Ketcher" and "Vela Narcosis" so that we would not mess each other up in the locks leaving at different times.  An hour later we were in Rankin Lock for a 30 foot lift.  We had a short delay at Montgomery Lock for another 30 foot lift, then had to wait about 20 minutes in Whitten Lock for "Mystique" to catch us for an 84 foot lift.  Once we were out of there we bumped up our RPMs a little bit, wanting to get to our favorite anchorage, and getting almost nine miles per hour at times.  We even overtook a tow for the first time since having the new engines.  I think that was our fastest speed since then too.  We also left "Byrd Ketcher" and "Vela Narcosis" behind a little bit.  We always say not to tell anyone about our favorite anchorage, but we invited them to join us since they invited us to anchor with them the night before.
Once they arrived Ray dinghied to them rafted together and took a long line to shore to secure them from swinging in the small anchorage.  Shortly thereafter Kurt and Sharon from "Byrd Ketcher" swam to shore with their little dog Bart on a throw cushion.  Bart and Sharon were shivering from the cold water and Wanda from "Vela Narcosis" said it was too cold to swim over after only getting one ladder rung into the water.  So Linda dinghied over to pick her up.  Her husband Dennis stayed aboard to have a couple of drinks, maybe to get the courage, before swimming over.  When he did, he dove in with a plastic baggie in his hand that none of us could figure out the contents of.  He arrived with wine in a tonic water bottle and a plastic cup, so proud that it didn't even get wet.
We had fun telling stories, some on shore, then we moved onto their boats once the air cooled and the bugs started coming out, making a few trips with all of us by dinghy.  No one was brave enough to swim back.
This morning Ray got their line off shore for them and said good-byes for us as they are heading downstream on the Tennessee River, and we're heading up.  Yes, we made it to the Tennessee River at 4:20 yesterday afternoon. 

Fulton

What a fulfilling day on the water.  We called Stennis Lock before lifting anchor at 5:45 this morning to make sure there was not any commercial traffic to hinder our timing.  That didn't seem to do us much good, as we didn't get into the lock until seven o'clock for no apparent reason.  Four hours later we got into Aberdeen Lock just in time to catch "Byrd Ketcher" and "Vela Narcosis", a couple of sailboats that were at Demopolis when we were and we locked through with them a couple days ago.  Two and a half hours after that the three of us got a 30 foot lift from Amory Lock, then an hour later another 25 foot lift from Wilkins Lock.  We originally planned to anchor just north of there near Smithville, but since it was so early we decided to move on.  So just before 5:00 p.m. we were in our fifth lock of the day, Fulton, still with the other two sailboats.  Not too long after that we anchored behind them near Fulton, Mississippi, just off the Tenn-Tom in a place we have never dared anchor before.  It is pretty open and exposed, but the winds are supposed to be pretty light again tonight.
A lot of our entertainment comes from nature, and today was no exception.  Before we even pulled out of the river where we anchored we saw either a beaver or otter swimming.  Next we saw a raccoon at the first lock.  We're not exactly sure how he got over on the dam side, and he looked like he didn't either, even finding himself balanced on top of a door.After that it was an alligator.  We wonder how far north they do get.  Baby loons were so cute.  Even smaller than ducklings.  Fortunately and unfortunately we saw a dead decaying dog floating down the river.  Fortunately it was not a human body like it looked like at times.  A snake,bald eagle and some goslings were just a few more of the things we got to witness in what turned out to be almost a 12 hour travel day.

Columbus

We thought we were in no rush today so we didn't roll ourselves out of bed in time to depart Sumter Recreation Area until about 7:45 this morning.  The plan was to make it to Pickensville Recreation Area.  We got through Bevill Lock with perfect timing as we heard a tow in it headed north earlier, then a pleasure craft headed south.  So the doors were open for us with giving him a 15 minute warning.  A few miles after the lock was our intended destination for the day, but it was covered up in holiday weekend warrior boaters, and it was early so we decided to push on.  Besides, "The Bar-B" did not leave Demopolis today, so they will never catch up to us anyway.
Starting at about 2:15 p.m. we were skirting back and forth over the Alabama and Mississippi border for about a half hour until we stayed in Mississippi where we will do so until just after we turn onto the Tennessee River.
Shortly after five o'clock we turned off the Tombigbee River into a cutoff river near Columbus.  We have anchored in this river a few years ago, but have never been on the north side of the bridges closer to town.  It took almost 45 minutes of slow going, but decided to anchor about a half mile northwest of the Highway 45 & 82 bridge.
We were settled in for a little while when Ray decided we had a beer emergency after restocking the cooler.  He said "I don't know what I was thinking when I estimated enough beer for the rest of the trip.". Maybe he was going by how much we drank out of it lately with all of the landfall we have made to drink in those establishments.  Now that we will be at anchor until we arrive in Chattanooga it is a little different.  So we decided to hop in the dinghy and go back a half of a mile to that bridge, then walk about a quarter of a mile to the Chevron convenience store.  We are getting wiser though, we called ahead to make sure they sold Corona Light.  Not wise enough to remember the trash though in our big hurry to get this done before dark.  That ended up being no problem at all.  The only problem was that the store only had regular Corona in a 12 pack, and only two of those.  I guess it all worked out for the best though since they fit perfectly in the little cart we brought along.  We didn't find a need to take Matt up on his offer if we needed anything.  He was another weekend warrior boater that came by and talked to us.

Sumter

It was a sad morning leaving "The Bar-B" behind.  Maybe they will catch up to us in a couple of days.  They pushed us off at seven o'clock and it was another fairly uneventful day.  We knew there were quite a few pleasure craft heading north between the ones we knew were departing Demopolis and those that we heard on the VFH radio.  A few tows passed us heading south and around noon we could hear some chatter on the VHF radio with Heflin Lock.  It sounded like there was a north bound tow in the lock and quite a few pleasure craft waiting for their turn.  Two hours later, the lock master was still kind enough to hold the lock for us.  That was a wonderful thing as there was another tow headed south that would have held us up for at least a couple of hours.  Today's lesson was that the early bird did not necessarily get the worm. 
An hour later we pulled into Sumter Recreation Area for what is predicted to be a very calm, but cool night.  Did I mention how chilly it was this morning?  Record lows.  We were chilly until we pulled into Heflin Lock.
We immediately went to shore to scout out a picnic table and grill.  We didn't know what kind of luck we would have on this holiday weekend.  It ended up not being a problem with only a couple campers and a couple fishermen.  We grilled our steaks and okra (thanks Sharon!) Over wood coals.  Not the best job ever, but edible.  One huge s'more topped it off though.

Demopolis

What a peaceful night on the river.  Not a single tow went by after one that sounded like it was about ready to break down before we went to bed.  The fog wasn't quite so bad Thursday morning so we got to pull up anchor at six o'clock for once.  It was a quiet day on the river too.  Four tows passed us going south, but other than that we did not see another boat of any kind, not even a fishing boat.  Therefore our entertainment was the sighting of two pigs, a squirrel, a turkey, a bald eagle, and of course some turtles.  Nine hours later we were in Demopolis Lock where the lower end was 12 feet above normal and the upper side was three feet above normal.  Forty five minutes after that we pulled into the Demopolis Yacht Basin fuel dock where there was a bundle of debris to take on over 181 gallons of fuel.  A half hour later we pulled into slip A10 for a couple of nights.
We got to use the shop truck to go to town for dinner to eat great chicken wings at Batter Up.  There were a couple deer to greet us when we pulled back into the marina.
Today was a day of chores; washing the salt off the boat, grocery shopping and laundry done to last until we get to Chattanooga, etc.  We had a nice spaghetti dinner compliments of "The Bar-B" as our send off.  They are going to stay here a little longer, but we have to get back for appointments so we will be moving on tomorrow. 

On the Side of the River

This morning seemed as though it was going to be a repeat of yesterday morning.  Ray swore that at 4:45 a.m. it was clear as a bell, but when the alarm went off at five o'clock it was foggy.  It ended up being only an hour delay compared to when we wanted to leave though.  The sun did not break through for long this time though as a very dark cloud passed over us shortly after departure and drizzled just a few rain drops on us.  From then on it remained cloudy, but felt like such a relief compared to yesterday's heat and humidity.  About three hours into the trip we reached Coffeeville Lock where the lower gauge read 20 feet above normal.  Therefore we only lifted about 13 feet instead of the usual 33.  That is still ten feet lower than two years ago.  Shortly after exiting the lock we pulled over to Bobby's Fish Camp where we swore we would never stop again since we would never need fuel at that point with our new fuel consumption.  We didn't figure in all this current against us though.  We probably would not have needed to under normal conditions.  We made the conscious decision to try to get to Demopolis before fueling since they have the best price.  Making sure we would make it there now though, we took on 80 gallons.
The sun did peak out once in a while today amongst the few showers on and off.  Our speed increased ever so slightly once we were above Coffeeville Lock.  The upper gauge there showed this pool to be one foot lower than normal, but there was probably still about a one and a half mile per hour current.  Even so, there is not much choice other than to anchor on the side of the river before our next stop.  That's what we did after 62 miles of travel today, where we usually do behind some red buoys.  The only problem is, those buoys must have been wiped out during some kind of flooding as there are not any here.  Just as we were setting anchor though, the tow "Ashleigh" came downstream, so we announced to him over the VHF radio that we would be anchoring here for the night and asked that he pass along that information to any other tows he came across.  He said he would, and as of shortly before bed time, there have not been any more to pass by.  We will see what the rest of the night brings.  Hopefully a peaceful night's sleep as there is absolutely no wind to worry about.

Old Lock 1

We finally departed David Lake two hours after Ray advised Linda to get up because the fog was lifting.  There was nothing to be seen out any windows, but supposedly it was better than it was previously.  Once we were underway it didn't take too long for the sun to break through and warm up the day.  With the southeast winds, they were mostly behind us, but not always with all of the twists and turns of this lower Tombigbee.  We were glad for the slight push we got from the wind however since we barely averaged 5.5 m.p.h. at 200 more RPMs than we usually run.  At one point we passed a river gauge that in 2011 read 20 feet.  This year it was 15 feet above normal. It was a long day finally getting into Old Lock 1 anchorage just before sun set.  The last hour with the sun glaring off the water made it even more brutal to watch for debris.  We anchored in the larger opening at Old Lock 1, where it is usually about two feet deep at the most.  Now it was almost 18 feet.  "The Bar-B" rafted to us for the night but we did not even bother to go to shore for our traditional campfire.  It was just too late and we were all too tired.

David Lake

Yesterday we left Fairhope at seven o'clock to find a "light chop" on the beam that was pretty uncomfortable.  It got a little better as the tide changed so the wind was not against it anymore.  We got into the Mobile ship channel behind an incoming ship and had no incidents except a huge dredge turning around in front of us as we went through the city.  It was a long ten hour day to go 56 miles and drop anchor in David Lake.  The Tombigbee River is about three feet above normal at this pool so we had some current and debris against us, but nothing like two years ago.
This morning we were up early with a six o'clock departure planned.  Mother Nature was not going along with that plan as the fog is quite thick.  Nothing like sitting around watching fog burn off, albeit slowly.

Fairhope, Alabama

"The Bar-B" did not want to leave too early this morning with another fairly short travel day ahead, so we pulled out of Saunders Yachtworks just after nine o'clock.  It was an uneventful 33 mile trip, of which about two thirds of it were in Mobile Bay.  It started as a light chop and progressed into a more moderate chop, but was not too bad with it being on the stern most of the time.
Impressively, "The Bar-B" pulled into slip 5 at Eastern Shore Marina before we pulled into slip 4 beside them around 2:15 p.m.  They have had belt and alternator problems for the past two days now, so it sounds like the guys are going to get to go shopping instead of the girls.  Hopefully the girls will get their turn though since we plan on staying here through the weekend.  Ray says we better enjoy this weekend, because after this we are going to be running harder/longer days to get back up to Chattanooga now that the rivers don't have the threat of flooding that they did.

Saunders Yachtworks

Yesterday afternoon was fun taking all of us; Barbara, Cliff, Heidi and the two of us to shore in our dinghy.  Heidi collected seashells, Cliff took pictures and video including a sting ray that swam right towards him in knee deep water.  That was one of three we saw, along with hermit crabs.  The sand dunes were pretty and all of our bare feet loved the soft, white sand.  After shrimp creole for dinner on the boat, we took the dinghy back out to fish.  Caught one lady fish, but mostly played with the pods of dolphins.  Finally took some sunset and boat pictures before retiring kind of early.  About an hour after being in bed, a Florida Wildlife Officer approached our boat to tell us our solar yard light was not bright enough for an anchor light.
In no hurry for a short travel day, we got up and made breakfast before our nine o'clock departure.  It was not long at all before we were in Alabama.  Nineteen miles and three hours later we pulled into Saunders Yachtworks.
After waiting about 45 minutes at LuLu's Restaurant, where we dinghied to for dinner, and then found out it was family night, all six of us had a bad meal and we all ordered something different.  Nothing had any flavor.  We were originally making fun of the bag of Golden Flake potato chips that came with some meals.  Come to find out, those were the only things worth having.
Across the ICW is Tacky Jack's there in Orange Beach/Gulf Shores, Alabama.  We wondered why it was practically empty and LuLu's was so packed.  LuLu's did have a great band playing.  When we got to Tacky Jack's though, it was karaoke night.  We thought that might have been the problem, although it did not end up being the worst we have ever heard, it was certainly not the best either.  Ray & I have made a decision that it is not worth stopping at Saunders any more.

Perdido Key

We left Ft. Walton Beach at a little after seven o'clock again this morning.  It was a busy day on the VHF radio with several PAN-PANs.  One was in our particular area of travel today being an overdue kayaker with a dog near Pensacola from last night.  We kept our eyes on the look out all day and also listened to the good samaritans and the navy helping in the search to no avail so far.  After 49 miles we dropped anchor in Big Lagoon near Perdido Key.  Ray already has the dinghy down ready to take us to shore where the Gulf of Mexico is just over the sand dunes.

Ft. Walton Beach

On Monday we left Pearl Bayou shortly after seven o'clock once we got the dinghy back on the swim platform from Ray taking the girls to shore.  They are driving both vehicles to Fairhope, Alabama where they will leave one car, then both ride in one car back to meet us in Ft. Walton Beach where they will leave that vehicle so they can travel by boat for a few days.  We traveled 74 miles to Ft. Walton Beach Yacht Basin where it is a $60 flat rate per night no matter what the length of your vessel is.  We told "The Bar-B" we should add the lengths of our boats together and divide that by $120 to see how much that would be per foot and they would owe us the difference.  We were unable to stay at the free city dock because it is being repaired from the storm damage of last fall.
We spent two nights here to get laundry done.  On Tuesday we walked to town to do a little window shopping, then all six of us piled in Clifford's convertible to have dinner at McGuire's Irish restaurant.  It was the best meal we have had in the area.

Pearl Bayou

Happy Mother's Day!  It was an early morning for us compared to lately.  We pushed away from Apalachicola's "free dock", where we moved to yesterday because Apalachicola Marina was supposed to have two larger boats coming to the dock we were on, at seven o'clock.  Almost immediately we spotted an alligator and a bald eagle that was the first of five seen today.  It took us just over eight hours to travel 57 miles and drop anchor in Pearl Bayou near Panama City.  We forgot that we traveled into the Central Time Zone at White City so we arrived an hour earlier than we thought.  Ray had to get the dinghy down to go retrieve the girls of "The Bar-B" on shore as they drove their vehicles to meet us.  Tomorrow they will drive to Fairhope, Alabama to drop one vehicle off, then drive the other vehicle back to Fort Walton Beach to leave so they can travel by boat for a few days.  After our rib dinner on the boat we took the dinghy exploring and fishing.  The only thing landed was a lady fish.  The other unknown one got away.  Me and my fish stories.

In the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

It was a pleasant crossing this time. We left Dunedin just before 10:00 a.m. yesterday and are now in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway headed to Apalachicola.  The seas were never over a foot for the entire crossing, so we played cards, enjoyed watching all of the dolphins play in our wake, and did some fishing.  Two ballyhoo bates came up bitten in half, one completely gone, one with a king mackerel, and one with a barracuda.  We did not keep either fish.  The sunset was beautiful, there was no moon, and the pictures Ray showed me of the sunrise was spectacular.  I missed that while I was on my three hour nap shift.
We plan to nap when we get to Apalachicola as Barbara and her daughter Heidi will not be arriving by car until later this evening.  Heidi's beau rode with Bob on "The Bar-B", so we know what kind of celebration this could turn into.  We also plan to stay in Apalachicola for a couple of nights to recuperate.  I'm sure Spike will appreciate that as he is still under the couch and I'm sure won't come out until the engines are off.

Time to cross the Gulf

We have had an outstanding week in Dunedin, Florida.  We did not realize what a great town we have been missing all these years.  We did lots of walking, bike riding and finally dinghying today.  We plan to stop here from now on. 
The time has come to move on though.  We plan to pull out of Dunedin Marina around ten o'clock tomorrow morning to start our overnight venture across the Gulf of Mexico to Apalachicola, Florida.  We should be there some time early Friday afternoon.  Praying for calm seas and fair winds as predicted.

Dunedin

No hurry today for our ten mile trip.  Bob & Barbara came over to the free dock in Indian Rocks Beach to see us off at 9:30.  Not long after we were underway the overcast skies started spitting some liquid on us.  Thankfully it was a light drizzle through the time we pulled into the transient docks at Dunedin Marina.  Unfortunately the transient docks are not inside the protected basin so we are subject to passing wakes.  With the continuous rain all day though, there wasn't too much boat traffic to bother us today.  During the lightest rain we walked up to the city office to check in and inquire about the possibility of moving to an inside slip soon.  If the others that have to move first are waiting for good weather to cross the Gulf of Mexico like we are, it might not happen.  The forecast for the week ahead is not giving us an opportunity as far as it looks right now.  Having never spent time in Dunedin we are looking forward to exploring if the rain will let up enough.