Uncharted Waters

We snuck away quietly from Karen's dock at about 6:45 this morning.  It was a tight turn around in the canal, but Ray did perfect.  Thankfully the Atlantic waters smoothed as the day went on once we exited Sisters Creek.  They were predicted to be one to three footers so we were going to try to stay as close to shore as possible.  Remember, add them together, and this time they were on the port stern, making it a little rolly.  Ray thought they would get better once we were beyond the Seven Mile Bridge.  The seas flow under the bridge creating quite a current.  He was right.  When we crossed the Bahia Honda Channel though it got quite bumpy, again because of the flow through action between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.  It continually subsided after that, especially when the wind direction changed, which was not predicted but helped us.  When they switched to Northwest the islands helped to block it.
We pulled into Stock Island Marina just after 1:00 p.m. after 46 miles, most of which we have never traveled before.  Bill and Patty were here to grab our lines and greet us.  They had already text to ask if we wanted to go dinghying after our arrival.  We thought that sounded good, especially if we could get in the water to cool off. 
We were not here long at all when we headed out along with Patty's sister Annette and her husband Barney to the sandbar.  It is just a shallow spot of sand just east of here where boats go to anchor and wade in the water.  It felt good.  After a while when Barney could not make Annette a drink because he forgot the vodka he thought he brought, we decided to dinghy over to Hurricane Hole just to the west of the marina.  We recognized places we have been by land.  It always looks so different by water.  Ray and I went ahead and had dinner while we were there.  It was a great place to watch people and fish with fishing boats, rental boats, a dive shop, tarpon, etc. all right there.  By the time we dinghied out of there we just barely caught the cloud covered sunset.
We're looking forward to this new adventure here so close to Key West.  We plan on staying a month before we return to Marathon whenever the weather is right at that time.

Chicken Pox

Happy 52nd birthday to Ray!  How exciting.  He got to wake up in Little Shark River in the middle of the Everglades Swamp.  Nothing but wildlife.  I did make him French Toast for breakfast.
I thought it would be a better idea to wait until the sun was up before we pulled up anchor.  That way the bugs would not be so bad.  So at 7:00 a.m. we headed out.  We could barely get everything done that needed to be done.  We were being eaten alive by No Seeums.  I mean there were swarms of them.  I'm trying to get all of the electronics on, steer the boat the way Ray is telling me to go as he is lifting the anchor, put a towel over shoulders to try to protect myself some, getting it caught in the steering wheel, all while swatting everywhere.  Head, legs, arms.  As soon as Ray could see the anchor he hollered for me to GO!  The guy in the other boat at anchor was on his dinghy/fishing boat bragging to us that they were not bothering him.  He had a full screened jacket and bee keeper hat/hood on.  It took quite a while for them to dissipate.  The floor beneath my feet was literally polka dotted with them.  We both had bites all over us that looked like Chicken Pox for a couple of hours.  We keep swearing we are not going to go there again, but there are not many choices.  Next time we might try Indian Key.
At least the waves weren't bad.  Maybe about one footers all day.  Dodging the crab traps was the worst part once we got away from the bugs.
We pulled into Boot Key Harbor and stopped at Burdines fuel dock.  We decided to put about 30 gallons of diesel in the starboard side.  We have run the generator all night almost every night we have been at anchor because it has been so warm and humid, even at night.  That depleted the fuel from the starboard tank enough to make us list a little bit.  We also wanted to get the free ice you get when you get fuel.  They are willing to give you about two laundry baskets full.  We couldn't even fit one, but we were glad our beer would be cold once we got to our destination and we could start celebrating Ray's birthday.
We pulled away from Burdines at 2:30 p.m., traveled through Boot Key Harbor and the canals to our friend Karen's dock.  She was so gracious to let us have full accommodations including a pool and transportation when we tied up behind her house at 3:00 p.m. after 52 miles of travel.
Since it is Ray's day, he wanted to go to Sunset Grille for a prime rib dinner.  At about 4:30 p.m. Karen drove us there after picking up Terese.  Mike and Cheri met us there too.  It's great to see winter friends again!  The table we wanted wasn't available.  Mike said that he thought the prime rib was better and cheaper at Florida Steak and Lobster House during the early bird special and you get dessert included.  We all loaded up and backtracked.  Ray said it was not as good, but still enjoyed it.  We continued the night without Mike and Cheri at Dockside for some music.  Jay and Nancy and Chuck and Catherine joined us there.

Handed to Us

We had a fun and relaxing extra day in Marco Island.  We walked up to West Marine from Rose Marina where you can dinghy dock for $5.00 per day.  I got some fishing supplies to replace all that was lost on Monday.  They did not have a circuit breaker like we need for the macerator pump though, and we forgot to check about a cup for the First Mate's seat.  Napa didn't have the circuit breaker either, but they did have an in-line fuse for our Auto Pilot replacement parts coming.
We decided we would go to Snook's for dinner, looking forward to the lobster macaroni and cheese.  This is the first place we ever had it.  We were disappointed to find out it was no longer on the menu.  So we just had an appetizer and went back to Marco Island Brewery but we didn't have pizza this time.
At 6:30 this morning Ray lifted the anchor by hand once again.  We traveled through the marked channel among the mangroves by Goodland and out Coon Key Pass.  We thought this way would help keep us closer to shore so the waves wouldn't be so bad.  Remember we stayed that extra day in Marco Island so we wouldn't have to do it in Little Shark River in order to make Thursday and Friday's travel days better.  We didn't say today would be okay, right?  The seas were predicted to be two to three feet with an occasional four footer.  All boaters say that you should add those together.  That was probably close to true.  The good thing was that the waves were directly at the bow.  The bad thing was that we had to slow down to be able to ride them.  It took us almost 12 hours to go 61 miles.  It was like riding a bull for almost that long without the spinning.  Therefore we saw sunrise and sunset.
We got into Little Shark River at about 6:00 p.m.  There was already a boat in there.  We presumed it was one we saw closer to shore today.  Ray dropped the anchor and as soon as we thought it was set we went below deck to escape the bugs.  We ended up running the generator all night as the winds laid down and the humidity was stifling.  It took us a little while to get the air conditioners running.  You see, on a boat air conditioners pick up the sea water and cycle it through for the cooling process.  That pick up/intake is at about mid-ship for us.  If you get air in that pick up line it creates a vacuum and they will not work.  That is exactly what happened.  We came so far out of the water on the waves that air got into that line.  This is the second time this has ever happened to us.

Where did these winds come from?

Last Monday night we went to The Lighthouse as we usually do for their Happy Hour.  We decided to try their pizza for once but it was pretty disappointing though edible.  Ray got picked up at 5:00 Tuesday morning and had a successful boat delivery of a 58 foot Bertram from Ft. Lauderdale to Ft. Myers returning on Friday of last week.  Meanwhile Linda enjoyed herself at Ft. Myers Beach.  A walk was enjoyed each day but the temperatures and humidity were so high that the afternoons were spent inside the boat in the air conditioning.  A couple of puzzles were assembled from the boaters lounge despite the missing and mixed up pieces.  On Thursday Carolyn and Jeff pulled in from Venice with "Liberty" around 4:30 in the afternoon.  They got settled in once they let the three dogs off to do their business after holding it all day.  We relaxed outside eating peanuts and washing them down with adult beverages.  After dark I dinghied them over to Bonita Bills for some good music and dinner.  Of course adult beverages continued.
We made a trip to Walmart Friday morning after Carolyn brought me a delicious homemade breakfast.  Soon after our return to the marina Ray was ready to be picked up in Ft. Myers so we headed back out.  By evening Carolyn had still not fully recuperated from the night before so it was just us and Jeff that went to dinner at the Mantanzas Inn Restaurant.  That ended up being one of our best meals in Ft. Myers Beach.  Now we know.
On Friday night the cold front came in as predicted.  Thankfully the temperatures and humidity dropped, but boy did the winds pick up.  We had paid for a week at Moss Marina and it was time for us to go.  The daily rates were so ridiculous compared to the weekly rate.  A mooring ball is much cheaper.  We debated our decision for a while though.  We were inside a small basin in the marina with a sailboat on our leeward side.  With lines wrapped around pilings to hold us tight to pivot and Jeff on Carolyn's soft side dinghy pushing our bow like a tug boat, we got out of there with no problems.  We picked up mooring ball 23 for who knew how long.  We paid for two nights trying to be optimistic.  That afternoon we all bar hopped and ate pizza on the Upper Deck.  Not the best ever, but it was okay. 
Sunday afternoon we all decided to walk the beach even though we were afraid we were going to get sandblasted the way the winds were blowing in the harbor.  We were amazed at how calm it was on the beach.  With the east winds it was very pleasant and the Gulf was smoother.  That helped us to confirm that we would most likely leave Ft. Myers Beach on Monday.  Meanwhile we ended up at this little biker bar where they were ending a Poker Run benefiting Toys for Tots.  It was fun, entertaining, and they had the coldest beer, although in a can, in their old fashioned wooden coolers.  We made our way to a couple more places all saying that the biker bar was better.  For dinner we decided on Doc Fords.  Jeff had never been there despite reading the series of books.  We had a wonderful time.  We met Judy who was at the end of the bar by herself but decided to stay when we four clowns showed up.  She looked like Ray's mom when we approached.  She said she wanted to enjoy our company rather than go home to an empty house since her husband had passed away about a year ago.  Of course Jeff could relate.  Her husband lost a leg to smoking before succumbing to lung cancer all in a matter of four months.  We could relate to that from Ray's father.  After Judy left we watched the end of the Giants/Patriots game.  That was exciting and Carolyn was happy with the outcome.  The couple on the other side of us started up conversation with us during that time.  Upon introductions we learned her name was Linda.  Just the day before, although I often do, I thought how I have never met a Linda younger than me.  Now I have.  Her boyfriend touted on how Linda was a good name.  We then told them that was Jeff's wife's name.  I think there were a whole lot of spirits with us that night to remind us so much of them.
This morning we decided to go for it.  We untied from mooring ball 23 at 6:45 a.m.  We said if it was too rough when we got to the Gulf we would turn around.  It was not bad at all.  We then said if it got worse we would go in at Naples and take the inside route.  The waves were barely two foot at worst with just a few hitting us just right to get our attention and splash up onto the helm.  By the time we got closer to shore near Naples the waves weren't even six inches so we continued on the outside to Marco Island to anchor around 1:00 p.m. after 41 miles of travel.  I did some fishing while Ray did some napping before dinghying in to shore for dinner.  Finally some good pizza at Marco Island Brewery.
Upon checking the weather again we decided we would stay in Marco for an extra night rather than in Shark River tomorrow.  The weather for continuing on to Marathon looks better if we wait one more day.

No Pot of Gold

We had a fun filled three days in Venice.  Lots of laughs with Jeff and Carolyn.  They were kind enough to take us to the grocery store, lunch, traveling around running errands with them, happy hours and dinners.  Of course we had to spend some time at Jeff's favorite, Snake Island, while Carolyn stayed back and made us a wonderful Prime Rib dinner on Thursday night.  We appreciate all of their kindness and hospitality.  We wanted them to follow us today, but the fretter was not convinced they were ready enough.  We hope they will be behind us shortly.
At 6:45 a.m. we untied from the free dock in Venice, where we had no problem staying for three nights despite the sign posted that stated no mooring between midnight and 6:00 a.m.  There were actually three boats there for last night.  I was not feeling well after one too many pumpkin beers yesterday evening, so I drove in the hopes that I would not have to move around much.  A couple of naps and I was feeling better by early afternoon.  I was glad to be back to "normal" for the short ride in the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico.  A storm was to our west building up the waves a little bit so they were mostly on our beam.

Picture does not do it justice, but we could actually see the
end of this rainbow on the water as we entered Ft. Myers Beach.

Once inside the protected harbor of Ft. Myers Beach everything was calm and we barely got a spit of rain on the boat despite seeing several areas of storm clouds around us.  We pulled into slip B6 at Moss Marina after 64 miles and almost ten hours of travel.  We usually grab a mooring ball here, but next week Ray has a boat delivery job from Ft. Lauderdale to Ft. Myers so I will be here alone for a few days.  Ray was more concerned than I, but then did make a good point ~ it has been record high temperatures down here since we crossed the Gulf last week.  Even while anchored and tied to the free dock we have had to run the generator and air conditioning during the night.  Ray estimated that cost to be about $12.00 per night.  With that on top of the $15.00 per night mooring ball fee, he decided it was not that much more money to dock and have electricity and water.  We will be here at least a week.  If next Saturday the weather is not good enough to continue south we will most likely wait on a mooring ball until it is.

Fresh Water Rinse

It was four nights at anchor in Redington Shores.  On Sunday Ray's childhood friends Scott and Kevin came to have lunch with us.  On Monday we drove over to Orlando to visit Noelle and Abbie.  On Tuesday William and Judy came to anchor with us on "Optimystique".  A trolley ride and walk to lunch at Mike's Pizza at about 1:00 p.m. along with "The Bar-B" continued into a stop at Lulu's to quench our thirst from the hot walk back to the trolley that took us to Wahoo's into dinner.  Scott came to see us again along with his girlfriend Lisa, Barbara's daughter Heidi also joined us when she got off of work.  It was a fun time that lasted a little too late into the night.
Therefore we did not make first light this morning.  William was ribbing us a little bit about that but said second light was okay.  At 7:30 a.m. Ray pulled up the muddy anchor by hand again.  We still have not been able to get the windlass off despite continuous attempts, even again today while underway.  We cruised along trying to keep an average seven mile per hour speed.  Tampa Bay was probably the smoothest we have ever been across it.
Just about the time we got to Sarasota it started raining.  We wanted it.  We had not been able to wash the salt off the boat yet since the Gulf crossing and it's a mess.  When it really poured at the south end of Sarasota Bay Ray got out there in his bathing suit, put some soap on the scrub pad and washed it the best he could with the help of the good Lord.
After that it was even steamier outside.  They are breaking record high temperatures around here and the humidity is just ridiculous.  We continued on sweating all the way.
Once we were through our last bridge opening of two today we called Jeff on "Jeremiah" to let him know we were close to Venice.  At about 4:45 p.m. he dinghied over and showed us how to navigate into the free dock after 61 miles of travel for us today.  We caught up on how everyone's summer went.
After the sun went down and helped to cool it off a little bit we followed Jeff in our dinghy over to his house so he could take the dogs back.  Then the three of us hopped in our dinghy to have dinner at Pops with Jeff guiding us with his local knowledge through the mangroves.  Carolyn from Maryland met us there via car.  We had a lovely late evening again before dinghying back.
We will stay here at the free dock until Saturday or until they kick us off.

Happy Halloween!

At noon we left Indian Rocks Beach along with "Lorelei" to travel a whole four miles farther south to anchor at Redington Shores.  Rob and Naomi came over so we could show them a few pointers for their continued trip south ahead of us.  They will leave here tomorrow.
After that was done we dinghied to shore and walked to Wahoo's for their delicious fish dip and other goodies.  Bob and Barbara joined us also.  We watched the ridiculous Georgia/Florida football game for a while, but then moved on to Seabreeze restaurant where it was quieter.

Success

Another early morning look at the weather predictions, then we all lifted our anchors up from behind Dog Island at first light, about 7:45 a.m. after a restless night's sleep with the water chop lapping at the hull.  The wind direction had changed although not diminished as much as we hoped.  We all agreed to go though.
It started out not too bad.  About one to two foot waves with an occasional three footer in the mix, but they were on the port stern.  That was better than the beam sea that was predicted.

Sunset.  Notice how nice the waves were.

About three hours into our trip our Auto Pilot went out.  Ray worked on it for hours trying to fix it.  Focusing on something other than the horizon and being in the hot cabin and engine room got him feeling a little queasy.  He would take breaks until he felt better, but never did succeed in getting it fixed.  It ended up some prongs were broken at the wiring connection.  Now we'll need a new controller.  Anyway, that meant we would have to steer the whole way which sounds like we're just lazy, but it is tiring, especially in any kind of rough seas.  We did ask "The Bar-B" to take the lead though to make it easier to have a point of reference to steer to.  Out on the open water it is hard to try to keep on a straight course by staring at the GPS.
Supposedly at 11:00 a.m. the waves were predicted to oppose each other.  That didn't happen until about noon, but it helped to lay the waves down.  They stayed that way all afternoon and through most of the night.
We didn't attempt any fishing until about 5:00 p.m. when Ray was finally feeling well enough to drive for the first time.  No luck though for the three hours we tried with fake bait.
We decided we would take three hour shifts each during the night for driving and sleeping alternatively.  I decided to lay down first once it was dark.  The moonrise wasn't going to be until 10:00 p.m. but I wanted to see it, so after two hours of resting I took over the helm.  Since it was the moon before Halloween I quoted Linus with "the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch" as it came up.  That helped to light up the night sky.
Just before 1:00 a.m. the wind changed direction and velocity dramatically.  The seas were getting a little sloppier.  When Ray took over the helm at 1:30 a.m. (late) for his shift I warned him of the change.  I got another couple hours of rest before the waves were too rough.  It was still not too bad, and thankfully the waves were on the bow but our speed was so that they were hitting the hull pretty hard.  They gradually got even worse so that by about 4:30 a.m. we had to slow down to ride the waves better.  We were crashing down on them so hard things started flying around all over the boat.  Unbeknownst to us, that also included our Spot tracking device.  It ended up in a cup holder and therefore was not able to send out it's signal.  We didn't realize this until the sun was coming up and we could see.  By that time we were at Clearwater inlet.  Sorry to those who were watching and got nervous.
Thankfully though, the rougher waves only lasted a couple hours.  We gradually increased our speed back up and were on the Intracoastal Waterway by sunrise.  We pulled into the free docks at Indian Rocks Beach along with "Lorelei" while "The Bar-B" pulled into his slip at Holiday Inn Harbourside right next door after 180 miles and 24.75 hours.  You are not supposed to overnight at Indian Rocks Beach, but we thought we would get better sleep tied to a dock in a No Wake Zone.  We rested for a couple of hours, but not peacefully.  We forgot, No Wake Zones in Florida don't mean much, especially on a Saturday.

The Big Debate

We weathered the storms Patricia threw at us.  The first couple of nights were pretty rocky at Apalachicola Marina.  The 30 mile an hour winds were coming in about the worst direction possible, but at least we were safe.  There were storms when we were here in the spring too when a nice man offered us to come up to his second story brick condo if we didn't feel safe.  He offered the same hospitality this time too, but he wasn't even going to be there.  He left to go out of town but left it unlocked for us.  Thankfully we never felt like we had to consider that, but what a nice offer.
We were all holed up in our boats all day Monday.  Tuesday was not as bad and our friends from Mexico Beach came and picked us up for lunch.  We went to St. George Island but couldn't find anything appealing that was open so we ended up at Papa Joe's here in town.  Oh well, the ride in their green Charger was fun!
Once the blue sky appeared late on Tuesday afternoon we were all itching to get off the boats although Rob and Naomi had trekked all the way to Ace Hardware in their foul weather gear.  We started off at The Bowery for two for one Happy Hour drinks and good music.  It was kind of late for this town when we headed off to The Hole in the Wall for dinner afterwards.  They immediately informed us that they did not have oysters.  The weather was too rough for them to harvest.  We stayed anyway and had a good short time there as they were ready to go home.  They gave us our last drink to have outside.  On Wednesday we went back earlier and had some obviously fresh oysters.
Of course the topic of conversation since we have been here is when does it look good to cross the Gulf of Mexico to Clearwater?  This is "Lorelei's" first time so they were going on our recommendations.  Silly fools!  Starting yesterday afternoon it was a debate between Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon crossing or Friday morning to Saturday morning crossing.  This morning we decided we would leave Apalachicola Marina around noon and head toward Dog Island.  It was closer to 12:30 p.m. by the time grocery shopping, laundry and battening down the hatches was done.  We pulled up to the fuel dock to fill up, pay for our stay, and pick up the last package that did get delivered on time.  We are leaving two expected packages behind that have not been delivered yet.
Dog Island is just beyond East Pass where we would head out into the Gulf.  Therefore we could take a look at it and decide from there.  A small sailboat left the marina this morning and called Bob when they got out to East Pass.  They said it was about two feet at the inlet and they would call again if they could when they got farther out.  We never heard from them but hope all is well in their crossing.  Who knows if it is the better decision, but some of us thought tomorrow looked slightly better.
Around 4:30 p.m. we dropped anchor in Shipping Cove behind Dog Island from the Gulf of Mexico.  At day break we plan to head across for our approximately 24 ride if weather is still as predicted.

Hurry Up and Wait

Ray was up early looking ahead at the weather as usual when he informed me that the winds were going to be picking up.  Today was predicted 10-20 knot winds.  Tomorrow 20-30 knot winds with gusts up to 45.  That left us with some decisions to make.  Stay here in Pearl Bayou where it is good holding on the anchor in mud, go to White City to the free dock and wait out the winds longer than the one night we initially planned on, or just go a day earlier than anticipated to Apalachicola.  Knowing that Ray wouldn't sleep well at anchor we decided to just go to Apalachicola a day prior to our reservation.  The small problem with that is that Apalachicola Marina does not open until 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Sunday.  We called and left them a message to call us as soon as they could so we would know if dockage was available there or if we would have to make other arrangements.
We hailed "Lorelei" on the VHF to tell them our new plan with no response.  No wonder they didn't respond.  Just as we were getting underway here they came across the anchorage in their dinghy from taking Sasha to shore.  We told them of our plans.  They said they would discuss what they were going to do once they were underway.  "The Bar-B" also left St. Andrews Marina to head to Apalachicola.
We were in the lead for a couple of hours before "Lorelei" overtook us and had decided to just push on to Apalachicola also.  "The Bar-B" stayed behind us for the entire trip as they could not catch even our slow speed with all of us fighting the wind and current.  We barely managed 6.5 miles per hour all day with the RPMs revved up even more than yesterday.
At 11:50 a.m. Central Daylight Time we crossed into Eastern Daylight Time.  That hour sure flew by!
These two bald eagles were fighting over a fish one of them had but dropped.
"Lorelei" docked at Apalachicola Marina's office/fuel docks.  We docked at their old ice house building which we prefer for the easy side tie, especially in this wind, a little after 4:00 p.m. with 57 miles traveled.  "The Bar-B" pulled in behind us shortly thereafter.  Rob and Naomi came walking over with Sasha.  The Border Collie was happy to be let off the leash in our fenced area to play Frisbee for a couple of hours non-stop.
After that we all went to dinner at The Tap Room.  Our order of Duck Fries was not as good as anticipated.  When will we learn?  Dinner on the boat tomorrow!
We will be sitting in Apalachicola who knows how long.  The predictions for next weekend are still questionable for crossing the Gulf of Mexico then at the earliest.  We have to go somewhere else though by the following weekend because Apalachicola is booked up for its annual Seafood Festival.
If you read yesterday's blog and there were no pictures, I added some.

Slow Boat to Panama

We had a good time in Fort Walton Beach.  On Thursday night we went to one of our favorite restaurants there, Fokkers, which moved across the street, with Naomi and Rob joining us from "Lorelei IV".  We were pleasantly surprised with our happy hour bill and the wings were on special.  Cheapest dinner we have had out in a long time! 
Chores were done like laundry, a few trips to Publix, a trip to West Marine which happened to be right next to Buffalo Wild Wings and it was lunch time.  I think the other four of us might have scared Naomi and Rob off for Friday night.  Not really.  They are doing the Great Loop on somewhat of a budget, so they didn't join us at the Board Room.
This morning "Lorelei IV" left the free dock first, then we untied "The Bar-B" from us before we could shove off.  Our 72 mile day took us almost 11 hours.  After the first couple miles of The Narrows, it was 30 miles of open bay across the Choctawhatchee, then about 20 miles of ditch before the last 20 miles of West Bay across the Panama City inlet.  Fortunately, even with the ESE winds today the bays were a pretty light chop although we did hit one wave just right to throw a few drops on the captain.  We bumped up the RPMs compared to usual but we still couldn't hardly get seven miles an hour all day against the tide and wind.
"Lorelei IV" was already in Pearl Bayou as planned.  They go a bit faster than we do, as everyone else does, and like to try to get their dog Sasha to shore by early afternoon.  They were nice enough to hail us on the VHF shortly before our arrival to check on us.  They were concerned if we got here after dark we would not see this "mooring ball" in the middle of the anchorage.  When they called though, we had our destination in sight and set our anchor at about 5:30 p.m.
Right after they hailed us on VHF we heard conversation with Coast Guard Station Panama City and a Good Samaritan, "Sea Screamer" who was helping another boater in distress.  I guess this other boat was taking on water but had not completely sunk or capsized yet.  However, there was one person in the water, but that person would not get on board "Sea Screamer" because he did not want to leave his boat.  The Coast Guard was supposedly going to be there in 25 minutes and asked "Sea Screamer" if they would stay on scene until their arrival.  "Sea Screamer" agreed, but we never heard any more.
As for "The Bar-B", they pulled off into St. Andrews Marina in Panama City about seven miles back.  Bob sleeps better tied to a dock and plumbers can afford it.

Hurry-No Hurry

Ray had to pull the anchor up manually again this morning.  We left about 15 minutes later than usual this morning enjoying the sunrise before departing.  There was no hurry as we were only planning to go about 14 miles to Ft. Walton Beach's free city dock if it was available.  That was also the idea of us taking an extra day to get here so that we could arrive early in hopes that those already there should be departed.  It worked out perfectly as no one was here when we arrived two hours after take off.
Almost immediately we took advantage of the water spigot and did some cleaning inside and out.  Then Linda made her first to Publix.
Friends that "The Bar-B" met on "Lorelei" pulled in early afternoon right behind us.  There are several derelict sailboats and dinghies in the way or we would have pulled into a slip.  As it is now, we are waiting for "The Bar-B" to arrive and raft to us.
We will stay here for at least a couple days or until they kick us out since weather is not looking that good ahead for crossing the Gulf of Mexico any time soon.

Memorable

For today we left "The Bar-B" behind at The Wharf in Orange Beach, Alabama.  We untied at our usual time just before sun up.  We didn't want to have as long of a trip to our next stop over so we split it up.  We weren't underway very long when we heard tows talking to each other.  The one coming from the east stated that going across Pensacola inlet was a little bumpy but mentioned they did not get their butts kicked like some did.  That made us wonder if that's why four tows were sitting still at Gulf Shores last night when we dinghied to Acme Oyster for dinner.  The bartender remembered us from the spring.  Imagine that!
About two hours after departure we were in Florida.
Just before we got to Pensacola inlet another west bound tow, "Ashleigh" had just come through and told the tow behind us that it wasn't bad at all.  It was nice to see "Ashleigh".  They made our trip up the Tenn-Tom during flood stage a memorable one.  We had mentioned earlier in the trip that we had not seen that tow as we usually do.  Whew, no we can go on!
Getting through Pensacola cut was not too bad.  We sure slowed down, making the rolling last a little longer, but not a big deal.  The Coast Guard was sitting at the inlet.  Come to find out they were training with a Coast Guard helicopter.  Ray got to see them drop a swimmer.  We also got to listen to them on the VHF radio.  They didn't invite us to come along though as they discussed owing the swimmer lunch after refueling the whirly bird.
In the east north east winds we continued farther today than we original planned to, but wanted to try to find the most protected anchorage we could.  That ended up being in a cove just east of Navarre after 51 miles and eight and a half hours.

NOAA doesn't Know A

Our usual light of day time had us attempting to lift anchor this morning.  "The Bar-B" stayed anchored waiting to hear if we would need help or not.  It was stuck, but we just used the power of the Yanmars to break it loose and Ray was able to get it lifted.  We let "The Bar-B" know and we were on our way.
Mobile Bay was predicted to be rough, diminishing to choppy for today.  That was pretty much the forecast through Thursday too, so we decided we were just going to have to go and bite the bullet.  We thought the bay forecast was contradictory to the wind forecast for the city of Mobile.  Once we were underway for about an hour we all finally mentioned to each other how the wind did not seem to be that bad so how could the bay be rough?  Bob and I also mentioned yesterday that if the winds were out of the north then the waves should be at our stern.  Fortunately, we were right on both of those accounts.  The bay was not all that bad.  We mentioned that we have been on it with better predictions and it was worse.
After almost eight hours and 58 miles of travel we pulled up to the face dock at The Wharf in Orange Beach.  We were assigned an inside slip, but we would not have been able to get the dinghy off to go play.  We plan to stay here for a few days after traveling 13 days straight.

Anchors Away!

Guess what time we pulled up anchor?  Yep, 6:45 a.m. again.  It was a pretty uneventful travel day other than a few up bound tows to pass.  The excitement didn't start until we tried to anchor.  The winds had picked up out of the north, which gave us a nice push down the river, but when it came time to anchor we wanted to try to get as much protection from them as we could.  So we tried to anchor in the Tensas River which runs east to west, but has quite an incredible tidal current that rips through it.  Our first attempt east of Big Briar Creek, which runs north and is where we usually anchor, failed without the anchor holding.  Then we attempted west of Big Briar Creek, but were not having any better luck.  "The Bar-B" went even farther west ahead of us and tried their luck without success.  All of this took a while with talk of just anchoring up Big Briar Creek despite the north winds because we have been in there multiple times with good holding and once even in some strong north winds.  "The Bar-B" even went up there for a short time while we were trying to determine what to do.  Now when we went to pull up our anchor the windlass that was giving us trouble since last winter, died.  So Ray had to pull the all chain and 35 pound anchor up by hand.  With all of that going on "The Bar-B" offered to try to get anchored in Big Briar Creek and then we could raft to them so that we would not have to put our anchor back down.  Their first attempt was not successful so Ray decided to just go ahead and try our anchor, not thinking that there was not enough chain rode outside the windlass to hold us, but it did!  We were stuck!  I told him not to pull it up now.  Once he was assured we were stuck we pulled more chain out of the windlass with effort on both of our parts.  Well, we were anchored.  Getting it up in the morning might be another story.  Bob offered to come over and help if needed, but he had back surgery the summer before this so that didn't seem practical.
With all of this we ended up traveling 72 miles in ten hours, some from trying to find a spot to anchor.  Of course once we were anchored the winds died down.  We enjoyed the rest of the evening listening to the Georgia Bulldogs play the first half of the football game via Sirius radio.

Dead or Alive

Our habitual 6:45 a.m. was the time we lifted anchor again being light enough to navigate.  We didn't go quite as fast today knowing that it was going to be a little bit shorter day.  Gotta save what fuel we can.  It ended up we should have bumped it up of course.  Just before we got around the corner in sight of Bobby's Fish Camp a pleasure boat called Coffeeville Lock to lock down.  We assumed it was the same vessel that was at Demopolis with us yesterday but locked through later and overtook us uncomfortably close with too big of a wake in our opinion.  Then we knew there was a north bound tow coming up to Coffeeville Lock because "The Bar-B" has AIS, so we sped it up anyway.  Once we were close enough to call the lock, they informed us that the north bound tow would be locked up first.  Here we were again, waiting on a lock for over an hour.
By the time we got in it was 12:05 p.m.  There was a tour going on at the lock so we had an audience, but after just 15 minutes we were down through our last lock with the water level four feet above normal.  That gave us a little bit of a push, but we let "The Bar-B" go ahead of us so they could do their normal faster speed and get anchored sooner to make the day not quite so long for them.


Yesterday we spotted a large alligator on the bank, but by the time "The Bar-B" got there it had gone into the water because of our wake.  It was not long after we were out of Coffeeville Lock today when they announced that there was an alligator on the bank and it would be still be there by the time we got up to it.  We wondered how they knew that.  Once we got up there we laughed at the obvious reason this alligator was not going to move.  It sure was a funny sight, but the buzzards seemed to be enjoying it.

This alligator seemed to be having a better day.

It was almost an 11 hour travel day by the time we dropped anchor on the side of the river again with "The Bar-B"s experience near Sunflower Cut Off.  We traveled 68 miles today, but some of that was back and forth waiting for the lock.

Oh Deer!

Can you find the four deer in these pictures?

They ran along side us on the river bank for the longest time

We called Demoplis Lock at about 6:30 this morning to inquire as to lock traffic.  The Lock Master informed us that the lock was available but to be aware that all of the north bound traffic below the lock was at a stop because of fog.  There was not any fog above the lock.  We decided to go for it anyway.  If it was too foggy below the lock we would just anchor and wait but at least we would be through the lock before any tows held us up because this was going to be a long travel day.  At 6:45 a.m. we departed Kingfisher Bay with "The Bar-B" right behind us.  At 7:15 a.m. we were in the lock and out by 7:40 a.m.  By that time the fog was cleared below the lock and we were on our way without any delays.  This was only the second lock out of the past 11 that we did not have to wait for.There were some sightings of wildlife and passing of a few up bound tows, but not much else on our 72 mile trip today that took 10 hours.  We again anchored somewhere we never have before, but with "The Bar-B"s experience and suggestion we dropped it across from Bashi Creek after entering the creek and deciding it was too narrow to be comfortable.  A couple of tows passed us during the night to rock us, but other than that it was very peaceful and calm with our boat actually swinging the opposite direction of the river current.

Why did the deer cross the river?

We enjoyed our first time ever anchoring in this Tombigbee River oxbow below Heflin Lock.  It was peaceful with many stars and not even a single bass boat went by.

This deer did swim across the river in front of us

We lifted anchor at an early 6:30 a.m. with lots of steam coming off the water from the cool air temperature.  It was a relatively uneventful 49 miles of travel that took us about 7 hours.  We pulled into Demopolis' fuel dock only to find the jokesters Fred and Matt telling us that they were out of fuel.  All of that was planned with "The Bar-B".  Once the joking was over we took on 141 gallons to fill up from our 532 miles of travel since the last time.  Although it was not as cheap as Chickamauga Marina we figure it will be some of the cheapest on our trip.
Once we were done with that and got ice we moved over to slip B3 at Kingfisher Bay.  We quickly said hello to Bob and Barbara, but then got right to chores so that we could get everything done and be on our way again tomorrow.  We washed the boat, pumped out, filled the water tank, and did laundry all within a couple of hours.  From there we went out to eat at Batters Up, the only restaurant in Demopolis we feel worthy enough to eat at, then reprovisioned at Walmart.  Unfortunately, even Batters Up has been crossed off our list after this experience.

The Race is On

No fog again this morning.  Yippie!  Therefore the anchor was up at 6:45 a.m.  Of course we were delayed first thing at 7:00 a.m. at Bevill Lock though.  There was a tow "Capt. Earl Devall" in the lock going down so we would have to wait for it to get out, the Lock Master get the lock turned around, and then it would be our turn.  By the time we got out it was 7:45 a.m.

While we waited I captured this picture of the 108 foot snagboat "Montgomery".  It was used to clear logs and debris from the river many years ago.  It is now on land and is part of the Tom Bevill Resource Management and Visitor Center, the southern style mansion behind it.




We were traveling along for less than a couple of hours when we caught up to "Capt. Earl Devall" and got permission from the captain to overtake them.  For at least five hours after that we cruised along with not much happening.  As we got close to Heflin Lock another pleasure boat behind us, but not in sight called the lock to find out locking status.  The Lock Master informed "Journey" that they were expecting a down bound tow but that they did not know where it was.  We were dumbfounded when "Journey" said he was only a couple miles behind us and had not seen it yet.  Once we were on a straight away in which there were few today, yep, there was "Capt. Earl Devall" not far behind us at all.  Then it was a race.  First the Lock Master said if we all got up there, including another pleasure boat "Attitude", we could all lock down first.  So we sped up, then told the other pleasure boats to go around us to avoid delay.  Just about the time we got to the lock the Lock Master called "Capt. Earl Devall" to find out how long it would take him to get there.  His reply of 17 minutes put us to the back of the line.  Here we were, waiting on a lock again.  Once in the lock it only took about 15 minutes for us to get dropped down 47 feet lower in water level than we were.
Now, we usually anchor at Sumpter Recreation Area above Heflin Lock.  Today however we decided to get through this lock since we have had to wait on every lock but one this trip on the Tombigbee so far.  There are not a lot of anchoring options on the Tenn-Tom so you definitely have to try to plan ahead.  At 3:00 p.m. we turned up the Tombigbee Oxbow just below the lock to anchor after 45 miles in just over 8 hours.  This is actually a long spillway for this lock but the water levels stay pretty consistent here so there is not much current or water flow.  It has ended up being the quietest anchorage we have had so far.  Not even a bass boat.  We chose to try this anchorage so that tomorrow we do not have to contend with any locks to get to Demopolis where "The Bar-B" has decided to wait an extra day for our arrival.

No Waiting to Get In

Of course this morning was not foggy, but we had to wait for the campground office to open so we could get ice.  Come to find out their winter hours are even better than bankers hours.  Some people in the park told us yesterday evening that they were open four hours a day now during winter hours and that they would be open from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. last night and then again at 8:00 a.m.  With that said I guessed the hours must be 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.  Come to find out I was right on the money.  Anyway the 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. hours were too late for us last night.  We're in bed about that time after getting up at 5:45 a.m. every morning.
So on this Columbus Day, we didn't leave Columbus until about 8:30 a.m. after getting ice for the cooler via dinghy and putting it back on the davits.  An hour later we were at Stennis Lock with no wait for the first time on the Tenn-Tom this trip.  Ten minutes later they were opening the doors at the lower end.
I think it is always about the same time, around 1:00 p.m. that we are on the river where it snakes back and forth between Mississippi and Alabama a few times until we are in Alabama for good.  Today was no exception.
An hour later we were anchored near the Pickensville Recreation Area after 34 miles of travel in five hours.  Since it was so early we decided to take the dinghy and explore around what we just discovered was an island near where we usually anchor.  That exploration took us a while as we had a hard time figuring out where to navigate until we turned on the Navionics charts on Ray's phone.  Before doing that though we hit something hard with the prop and we ran aground.  Always an adventure.
After that we dinghied to shore to collect wood to make a fire in a grill at the recreation area.  We do not have charcoal on board and this particular park did not have fire pits.  Once we felt we had enough wood gathered to make dinner we went back to the boat to gather supplies.  We ended up making pizza hobo pies.  Having a couple each we were too full to make s'mores although we brought along everything for them also.

Pea Soup on the Menu Again

This is at anchor looking toward the channel that is less than 300 feet away.

This morning we had to wait a while for the fog to lift. We didn't get underway until just after 8:30 a.m.
At 11:00 a.m. we were in Wilkins Lock.  We took our time the five miles to the next lock because there was a tow "Blake Boyd" coming up in it.

This was as the sun was trying to clear away the fog.
This is also the steep embankment Linda climbed to walk to Walmart yesterday.
Part of the walk included railroad tracks.

By 12:30 p.m. we were in Amory Lock but had to wait a short time for three pleasure boats to join us.  Two of them were boats we locked with yesterday, "Time Out" and "Ariel", but the additional boat was "Touch of Class".

The Lock Master there was incredibly nice to a boater above Wilkins Lock who called to ask all about anchoring possibilities over the VHF radio because he heard the Lock Master tell us that there was a dredge working where he intended to anchor.  I would never had that much patience.
Anyway, we got out of there and were all in Aberdeen Lock at about 2:45 p.m.  The three other vessels were nice enough to have the Lock Master hold the lock for us slow pokes.

 By 3:00 p.m. we were on the home stretch to make it to our intended anchorage with no more obstacles in our way.  It took another two and a half hours but we made it to Dewayne Hayes Recreation Area in Columbus, Mississippi after 50 miles in nine hours.

The two pictures above just looked like the perfect lake homestead to me this morning.



Typical bass fishermen we see all the time. 
When I saw the photo opportunity the sun was behind them and it looked like a neat silhouette.
By the time the camera was ready this is what I got.

We watched this young bald eagle trying to catch breakfast this morning.
Most of the bald eagles we have spotted this trip seem to be juvenile.

Oh What a Day

At Cotton Springs we are very near to Whitten Lock which makes it convenient to listen to tow traffic on the VHF radio and call the Lock Master to find out locking status before we ever bother to pull up anchor.  In listening to the VHF last night, we were able to decipher that the Army Corps of Engineers work boat "Tenn-Tom" was anchoring below the lock for the evening and would be locking through first thing in the morning.
We figured we would listen to the VHF this morning for when "Tenn-Tom" would come up and then we would lock down.  Before that ever happened we saw a tow and barges heading down river.  Listening to the VHF we heard that "Tenn-Tom" would lock up after that tow "Jeff Brumfield" locked down.  We went ahead and called the Lock Master and got on the list to lock down after "Tenn-Tom" came up.
All of this and we haven't even lifted anchor yet, but we did at 7:45 a.m.  We milled around waiting for all of the above to get done.  While we were milling two other pleasure boats called Whitten Lock but opted to wait until all of this tow traffic got cleared.  However, just as we were about to enter the chamber, they called the Lock Master again asking if they should join us.  They said they would be 30 minutes before they could get there so the Lock Master told them he couldn't wait that long.  We didn't get out of Whitten Lock until about 9:10 a.m. after about an 85 foot drop.
Once we exited the lock "Alice Parker" was the next tow headed up stream, so we met and passed.  Then "Gary Moss" was the following tow headed up stream, so we met and passed them.  At 10:00 a.m. we anchored above Montgomery Lock to wait our turn still following "Jeff Brumfield".  By the time we were able to get into the lock for our turn at 11:30 a.m. the other two pleasure boats, "Ariel" and "Time Out" caught up to us along with a third pleasure boat "Ramblin Girl".  We were all out of there by 12:00 p.m.  "Cherokee" was the next tow we met and passed after that.
Still following "Jeff Brumfield", we kept a slow pace to Rankin Lock knowing it would be the same kind of wait.  We had some discussion with the other pleasure boats trying to explain that there was no sense in going faster.  All agreed.  We arrived at Rankin Lock at about 1:30 p.m.  By this time a Sea Ray named "It's Wanda-ful" joined in the wait to lock down.  An hour later we were all out.  Leave it to the Wanda-ful Sea Ray to decide to go 20 miles an hour and pass us all with a tremendous wake.  Ray gave him an ear full, using a few more expletives as he asked where he thought he was going to get to.  We're still all in line to follow "Jeff Brumfield".
Midway Marina and a few of its residents gave the same guy an ear full too as he went blowing by.  "Ariel" and "Time Out" pulled into Midway Marina as things were still being said about Mr. Wanda-ful.  When we arrived to Fulton Lock at about 3:15 p.m. "Ramblin Girl" was more diplomatically telling "It's Wanda-ful" about his inconsideration.  All along Mr. Wanda-ful sounded like he was about 80 and smoked at least a pack a day.  I think we were pretty accurate as he proceeded to explain how he has run boats for 50 years and this was his 39th time on the Tenn-Tom.  How he hasn't been shot, I don't know.
A half hour later we were out of Fulton Lock, glad to see "It's Wanda-ful" go.  Fifteen minutes later we pulled into an abandoned port, Itawamba, in Fulton, Mississippi.  If you are keeping track, all of our overnight anchorages except last night have been new to us.  This was no exception, but in keeping with adventure, we decided this would be the closest anchorage to Walmart to get a few provisions.  Almost immediately Ray lowered the dinghy into the water and took me to shore.  Ray wanted to stay with the boat since we have never been here before, we only read that it was abandoned and it was okay to anchor here, and the winds were blowing out of the north at about ten miles an hour.  Not exactly comfortable for this narrow port that was used to load and unload barges.  It is probably about the size of a football field with a steep embankment up to road level.  Speaking of football, I headed off to Walmart with the score Georgia 24, Tennessee 3 as we were listening to the game on Sirius radio.  It ended up being about a mile trek each way with fences preventing a lot of short cuts.  When I returned just before 6:00 p.m. the score was tied at 24.  What happened?  Then it went downhill from there.  Also if you're keeping track, we traveled about 25 miles (some of that milling in figure eights) but it took us over 8 hours.

Two Hours

This was the view of the Tennessee River from our anchorage last night.
We were also visited by a couple of beaver, but those pictures didn't turn out.

It was an early start to the day when we lifted anchor at 6:45 a.m.  It was clear motoring ahead.  Well, it was for the first hour.  Then we were pretty socked into fog for the next two hours.  Come to find out we weren't the only idiot cruisers though.  We met three other cruising vessels going the opposite direction in the same pea soup.
At 11:30 a.m. we turned onto the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway.  Finally heading south after traveling west for days.  That also put us into the state of Mississippi, leaving Alabama behind for a while.
Around 2:00 p.m. it started raining.  I think the storm was moving in the same direction at the same speed as we were.  For a long time the skies ahead looked bright and promising.  Then the skies behind looked to be clear.  The dark cloud followed us for two hours.
At 5:30 p.m. we dropped anchor near Cotton Springs after 72 miles of travel in just under 11 hours.  The rain came back to visit us for most of the evening and into the night.

The evening rain clouds that came to visit us.

Detailed Locking

We awoke to plenty of bass boats leaving Ingalls Harbor in Decatur this morning.  We untied from the free dock at 7:00 a.m.  We arrived at Wheeler Lock before 10:45 a.m. to find two other pleasure boats already there waiting to lock down.  A pleasure boat finally came up and out of the lock so we were able to proceed with entering the lock.  We wanted to be courteous and allow everyone to enter in the order they were there, but we had to actually yell out the window for the 22 foot sailboat "Fiddlers Green" ahead of us to get moving.  Well his moving was even slower than the trawler "Friar Tuck" ahead of him.  We traveled into the lock behind him doing about two miles an hour.  Just about the time the sailboat finally entered the lock the motor quit so we saw him pulling on it several times to get it started again.  This made for an hour to lock through for a 48 foot drop.
"Friar Tuck" traveled faster than us so they moved across Wilson Lake ahead of us as we left "Fiddlers Green" behind us.  We discussed trying to keep up with "Friar Tuck", but they were pulling away so fast we decided it was not worth the waste of fuel.  We were happy that we didn't as we got closer to Wilson Lock the tow "Joe Cain" was going down ahead of us so there would be a wait anyway.  The Lock Master was not answering either of us pleasure craft on the radio, so we really didn't know how long it would be.  We slowed down for a short while, then decided to pull into the tiny cove we have ducked into before to wait out a storm.  It seems it always rains on us in Wilson Lake on our way down.  Once we were anchored and protected from the winds we called the Lock Master on the telephone.  He stated it would be about 45 minutes until he was ready for us.  We actually pulled out of the cove about ten minutes early to find that "Friar Tuck" was already in there.  The Lock Master was nice enough to lower the gate and let us in also.


Here we are inside the lock, tied to a bollard that floats up and down with the water.
On this particular lock, the upper gate (usually a set of doors) lowers and raises.
Here the gate is up to stop the water from the lake beyond from entering.

It came to my attention over the summer that some people do not know/understand how a lock works.  A lock is attached to a dam.  Instead of spilling over the dam we pull into the lock to get lowered.  It is the opposite when coming back up to get above the dam.  These pictures are of Wilson Lock, the highest lock east of the Mississippi River.

These are the lower doors while the we are still at the "top" of the lock.

They drain the water out of this chamber we are in.
Here again are the lower doors as we are dropping in water level.
Towards the bottom right of this picture you can see one of those bollards we tie to.
There are different amounts of bollards in each lock.

At the top of this picture is that gate that raises and lowers.
Again, this is usually another set of doors, although the bottom section is always a concrete barrier.
Yes, it does leak a little bit.  They all do.  Some worse than others.

We exited Wilson Lock just after 3:00 p.m.  Once we got out of the lock channel with no current and into the dam water being released we were traveling two to three miles an hour faster.  That put us at our anchorage in Little Bear Creek at 4:30 p.m.  The delays at the locks did not help our average speed today as it took us nine and a half hours to travel 51 miles.

Here are the lower doors opening to let us out at the much lower water level.
You can see the dark water stain starting at the top to see how far we dropped.
On this particular lock it is 93 feet.

Nothing to See Here

This morning we planned to leave at sun up.  According to the forecast we figured it would be foggy and it was.  It would get better and worse as we sat there in the anchorage.  We could tell it was worse out on the main channel, but at 7:00 a.m. we decided to go for it.  We would turn around and come back into the anchorage if it was too bad.  We were planning on another long day so we wanted to get going if we could.  We announced ourselves getting underway and heard no reply on the VHF radio.  Visibility was about an eighth of a mile, so we navigated by GPS and radar knowing we would be able to see if something was directly in front of us.  It took about two hours to completely dissipate today although there were places that were clear at times in between.

This was one spot where it was clear for a while but then we entered more fog.

Approaching the town of Guntersville the fog lifted for the remainder of the day.  While it was foggy though we were unable to observe the continued progress of rebuilding from the tornadoes from several years back.  What we were able to see though, there are some really nice, large houses that have been built along a path that one of them took.  I guess the developer took advantage of the land already being cleared.



We thought we were going to time our arrival to Guntersville Lock just right as we heard an up bound pleasure craft approaching it ahead of us.  That would mean the water in the chamber would be up and ready for us to lock down.  Unfortunately just about the time we would arrive another up bound pleasure was going to reach the lock also.  When that pleasure craft called, the Lock Master instructed him to go to the auxiliary chamber.  We thought that meant maybe he would go up in that chamber while we went down in the main chamber.  No such luck.  We were instructed to wait for that vessel to exit the auxiliary chamber and then it would be our turn.  So we had to wait about a half an hour.  Just about the time it was our turn though, the Lock Master switched us to the main chamber because there was an up bound tow coming next.  Therefore we ended up locking down today at almost the exact time we did yesterday.
We were out of Guntersville Lock at about 11:45 a.m. and almost immediately passed the tow "Joe Cain".  We tried calling it on the VHF radio to find out which side to pass but got no response.
The rest of the travel day was pretty uneventful, passing more pleasure boats presumably going up to Chattanooga or beyond, and one more tow, "Winchester".
We arrived at Decatur, Alabama's free dock shortly after 5:00 p.m. after 74 miles of travel in just over ten hours. We were both hungry so we almost immediately got our bicycles ready and peddled to Mellow Mushroom for dinner.  Have to say the quality there was much better than the downtown Chattanooga location was all summer.  I think we finally got the shortest/best bicycle route figured out now.  We always seemed to take the long way there and the short way back.

Restart What I Never Finished

I never finished the blog in the spring when we returned to Chattanooga.  It is so exciting to see our old friends and it was a whirlwind as soon as we arrived.
The summer seemed to fly by with house building and doing things on the boat we never had time for over the winter.  The boat list is still not complete, but I think it is actually a little shorter which is quite an accomplishment in the boating world.
After spending a fun weekend in downtown Chattanooga with lots of our boating friends here, we made one last drive to Murphy, North Carolina and back for a dental appointment on Monday.  That gave us the ability to depart this morning around 7:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.  We wanted it to be bright enough to see debris in the water from all of the rain.  That worked out well until we got to Williams Island where the fog set in.  It wasn't terribly thick and dissipated soon after we entered it.  The patchy fog lingered for several hours but never seemed to be less than about a quarter mile sight distance.  That made for a delay in the 60 degree temperature to climb to 80, but it did.
An hour and a half into our trip we entered Central Time Zone.  That put us at our usual anchorage around 11:00 a.m. Central Daylight Time.  That seemed way too early to stop for the day, so we continued on with a few options in mind for anchoring ahead.  At 11:25 a.m. we were in Nickajack Lock for about a 35 foot drop in water level.  About an hour later we entered the state of Alabama.  I told Ray that if he heard shots being fired it would probably be at his Georgia burgee flag flying on the bow.
The day was filled with bald eagle sightings and several up bound pleasure craft presumably taking a side trip on their Great Loop excursion before the rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park coming up shortly.  It is always our intention to stay well ahead of that influx of boaters.  Between that and trying to meet up with "The Bar-B", our longtime cruising buddies, we put a lot of miles under the keel today, especially for us.  We ended up anchoring just east of Goose Pond after 11 hours and 84 miles of travel.

Spirit in the sky

It was an uneventful day which is a good thing in boating.  The chilly morning kept us in bed a little longer than usual, but we also knew we didn't have far to go.  Departure happened at about eight o'clock with the wind helping to blow us off the dock.  We didn't realize quite how stiff that north wind was blowing in Guntersville's little harbor there.  Once we were out on the open lake it was a bit choppy.  That subsided the farther we traveled as the lake narrows down.  We traveled 31 miles today to anchor in Jones Creek.  We were originally concerned with how open this anchorage is, but it was not bad at all in here.  We did travel back a little farther than we usually do just to get a little more wind protection.
We spent just a little time exploring the cove in our dinghy.  It is still amazing to see exactly where the tornado went through here back in 2011 a few days before we anchored then.  It is good to see though that the Boy Scout Camp looks to be improving and expanding considering the damage it had.  When we turned around to head back to the boat though we realized that that end of the harbor was a bit choppy compared to where we anchored.  Love the wind protection of the mountains as we get closer to home.
It seems like almost every time we anchor we say it is one of our favorites.  This one is no exception.  It is so large you feel like you are on your own private lake because you can barely see the passing boats on the river, yet protected by the surrounding landscape.  It is a bit intimidating to come in the small marked channel so I guess that keeps a lot of boaters out of here.  I'm betting we won't have that luck the rest of this holiday weekend.

Sunset in Jones Creek

If it's free it's for me

The light and variable winds didn't last all night.  We woke up at about 4:40 a.m. to winds blowing right in the harbor slapping under our swim platform and aft stateroom.  Oh well, what do you want for free?  Had we known though, we would have docked the opposite direction.
We got moving at about 7:15 a.m. taking two attempts to get off the dock in the wind.  A little chilly today is quite a difference from what it has been and it's supposed to be even colder tonight.
At 2:25 p.m. we were in Guntersville Lock and out in 15 minutes.  By 4:15 p.m. we were tied to the free dock in Guntersville after a total of four attempts to dock against the wind.
We walked through downtown to a restaurant we read about on Active Captain called Rock House Eatery.  It was good, but not as good as some raved it to be.  It was a nice place though.  A bit of a cool walk back against this north wind.  Hopefully it makes for good sleeping.

Pie

A peaceful night's sleep in Carter Branch.  Up with the anchor at seven o'clock this morning.  An hour later we were in Wheeler Lock and out in 15 minutes.  A 34 mile travel day put us in Ingalls Harbor tied to the free dock in Decatur, Alabama by 12:30 p.m.  We decided to do a little work before we went to play.  We waxed on the boat for a little while, then rode our bikes downtown to the Mellow Mushroom.  We went ahead and got a large pizza so we would have some left over for lunch tomorrow.

Are you paying attention?

Happy Birthday Kevennie!
We left the transient dock at Aqua Yacht Harbor at quarter after seven this morning.  Twenty minutes later we were on the Tennessee River.  A half hour after that we were back in the state of Alabama.
We knew from checking the U.S. Coast Guard Notice to Mariners that Wilson Lock was under scheduled repairs and that the auxiliary lock would be used.  We did not know exactly what that would mean with wait time.  Around 1:00 p.m. before we even reached the city of Florence we saw a tow with 15 barges just sitting on the side of the river.  We knew this couldn't be good.  We went ahead and called the lock on the telephone to find out how long of a wait it would be, that way we would know if we should just pull into Florence Harbor.  The nice gentleman on the phone, Keenan, said that this might be my lucky day because they were just about to move things around and maybe we could get right in.  I knew I couldn't have that good of luck.  We were still an hour or so away from the lock, I was just calling to find out about the wait time.  He explained that once we were at the arrival point to call them again and we would be put on the list.  At that point they would have to get us in within three hours. 
So we kept on motoring, passing three more tows along the way, "Lexington", "Joseph M. Hamilton" and "Dixie Express".  We dropped the anchor at the arrival point at 2:15 p.m. and called Keenan back.  We were on the list, so we would be called into the lock no later than 5:15 p.m.  There was a better place for us to wait though.  We could tie off to the Army Corps of Engineers work barge or anchor right by it, so we moved up and anchored there instead.  This gave us a first hand look at both the construction on the main lock and the procedure in the auxiliary lock.
Wilson Lock is the tallest lock east of the Rockies.  It is normally about a 93 foot lift.  The main lock is 600 feet long by 110 feet wide.  The auxiliary lock is a flight of two locks in tandem that are 300 feet long and 60 feet wide each.  Barges are roughly 200 feet long and 35 feet wide.  If you're paying attention you can see that nine barges can fit in the main lock at one time, but only one barge can fit in the auxiliary lock.  Yes, we sat there for three hours watching a tow at the top of the lock push a barge in and a tow at the bottom pull the barge out at a rate of one hour per barge.
We got the call to come in at exactly 5:15 p.m.  Ten minutes later we were tied in the first chamber.  Once we were at the top of that lock, another lock master came out and talked to us.  He told us that in the auxiliary lock it took about 22 to 24 hours to lock the tows with 15 barges.  Again if you are paying attention, we were with "Joseph M. Hamilton" and "Dixie Express" two days ago.  They have been waiting for days here at the lock to get through.  Three hours didn't seem so bad.  We didn't get out of the second chamber until 6:10 p.m.  About an hour later we finally anchored for the night in Carter Branch, an anchorage we've never tried before, but it was too late and we were too tired and hungry to explore.

Here we go again

Ray got up at 3:30 a.m. and made a pot of coffee.  The winds started whipping again after a calm night's sleep up until this point.  The storm lasted only about 20 minutes, but by that time he was wired on caffeine.  He attempted going back to bed only to have it start raining again at about 5:30 a.m.  He just stayed up after we shut the windows again.  Our bimini top is still leaking so Ray was nice enough to put a tarp over top of it this morning to keep some rain out of the helm station.  It was quite a wet and buggy mess this morning.  Hopefully we can get more waterproofing on it soon and solve that problem.
Once it was light enough Ray could see that there was a tow on the mooring cells we can see from this anchorage.  We wondered why it would be sitting there all morning, then we remembered that when the last two pleasure boats exited Whitten Lock yesterday evening we heard the lockmaster say he lost power.  Maybe the power was out this whole time?
About the time we decided to leave at 8:00 a.m. the tow was finally moving toward the lock.  It rained some more on us for about 30 minutes.  Ray tried to catch up on some sleep.  About the only excitement today was seeing a turkey mingling with geese and goslings, an otter carrying it's baby to presumably a new home, and a couple of down bound tows to pass in the 300 foot wide ditch.
We docked at Aqua Yacht Harbor by early afternoon, went to the ships store, Ray washed off all the bugs while Linda went to the little grocery store down the road, then it was laundry time.  By time all of that was done we took the dinghy that Ray refueled over to the boat ramp to make a closer walk to dinner at Freddy T's.  We were initially excited to try the new restaurant here at the marina, but of course it is closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for winter hours.  I'm sure they'll be open next Monday for the summer hours.

Was yesterday boring?

It didn't end up being!  I no more than got the blog written when I looked up and out the windows from where I was sitting.  The conversation went something like this; Ray asked "What is it?"  I casually replied "Just looking.  The wind has picked up and the anchor chain was making a noise."  He got up and looked out the hatch.  Next thing I hear is "We're sliding big time!  Come on!"
Let's back up for a minute here.  When we first anchored, Ray was setting it as usual.  He thought we were still moving but the anchor did not sound like we were dragging.  I thought we were still moving too, but he didn't hear that.  By the time I went to repeat it, we had stopped moving so I said that instead.  We sat up at the helm for a while and thought maybe we had moved just a little bit closer to a fishing jug than we originally were, but maybe it was just the way we were swung.
A while after we had gone below deck a pretty good rain squall was coming through.  So back to where we both ran up to the helm.  Ray started the engines right away and moved forward as we were very close to a spit of land at our stern.  I got to the helm seconds later and turned on the depth finder to see how deep of water we were in.  Looking back, Ray should never have put both engines in gear without knowing that, but of course this was panic mode.  So I took over the helm making sure we stayed in deep enough water but in reverse while Ray went out in the blinding rain and lightning to pull up the anchor.  Luckily he had his bathing suit on.  It was so hard to see where we were although it was not quite dark yet.  I couldn't tell if I was moving with the rain blowing sideways.  I turned on the GPS for reference of location and speed.  It was raining so hard and the enclosure was all closed up so hand signals were used which we are used to thankfully because we could not hear each other.  Finally Ray came back to the helm and said "We've pulled up a wrecked boat on the anchor!"  What? He said it was okay, it was just hanging on the anchor.  I asked if I could maneuver the boat forward with it on there because I was struggling with steering it in reverse into the wind.  Yes he said and went back out to the pulpit.  It didn't take long and he was back saying it was a pallet, not a boat now that the rain had subsided somewhat for better visibility.  He told me to get out in the channel and he would have to get it off of there.  I was scared to death.  He's hanging off the pulpit to try to knock it off and almost fell overboard.  I put it in neutral.  He came back to the helm and said he needed a hammer to break the pallet off.  I went below deck hollering "I put it in neutral when you scared me almost falling overboard!"  Back with the hammer Ray went hanging back over the pulpit again but got it off quickly.  We returned to where we were originally anchored, but just a little closer to shore.  We decided that we had to have dropped the anchor originally right on that pallet because it was caught in the top of it, not through where the forks would go if we had caught it while dragging.  Also why it didn't sound the same when we thought we were dragging originally.
Ray thought he would be sleeping at the helm after all of that, but by the time we were ready for bed it had stopped raining and the winds were back to light and variable like forecasted.
After all of that excitement last night we decided we would just sleep in because it was going to be a short day anyway.  Well, it ended up being short mileage wise, but it took a long time to do it.  We didn't get up until about 7:30 a.m.  About that time we heard a tow coming.  It was "Joseph M. Hamilton" up bound.  Well, we might as well wait until he gets ahead of us a good bit or we'll just be waiting for him at the lock anyway.  Then we heard on the radio that the next up bound tow, "Dixie Express" was coming up in Fulton Lock.  We decided to take our chances and get between the two tows and pulled up anchor at 7:45 a.m.
At 9:05 a.m. we put the anchor back down just before Rankin Lock to wait for "Joseph M. Hamilton" to get locked up.  I called the lock on the VHF radio and told the lockmaster that I was aware we were surrounded by commercial traffic, but wanted to get on the list for locking up.  He said he would hail "Dixie Express" to get their ETA and let me know.  Thankfully "Dixie Express" was nice enough to tell the lockmaster to go ahead and lock us up next and that would give his crew a little break.  So nice!  Thirty minutes later we lifted anchor and got in at 9:50 a.m. and out at 10:15 a.m.  I think maybe the lockmaster was just holding us in there so we wouldn't try to gain on "Joseph M. Hamilton" and try to get ahead of him for the next lock.  It's kind of fun to look like we can go fast!
It was the same routine for Montgomery Lock.  Anchor down at 11:20 a.m. to wait, in at 11:55 a.m. and out at 12:10 p.m.  Back behind "Dixie Express" we could hear two pleasure boats overtake the tow and state to the Montgomery Lockmaster that they wanted to lock next.  The lockmaster denied them saying that he had to lock commercial traffic first.  I laughed to myself thinking you could get more bees with honey than vinegar.
By the time we got to our last lock of the day and last lock on the Tombigbee we could hear more commercial traffic down bound and this lock was only five miles up from Montgomery Lock, so "Dixie Express" would probably be here soon too.  Again, same routine; told the lockmaster I knew we were surrounded by commercial traffic but wanted to get on the list.  Nicely enough, by the time all tows called the lock the order would be "Joseph M. Hamilton" up first, "Kristi P. Smith" down, "Second Noelle" up, "Mr. David" down, "Dixie Express" up, then a turn around on the lock for the last two pleasure craft.  We anchored to wait at 1:15 p.m., finally got in at 2:40 p.m. and out at 3:05 p.m.  "Mr. David" said he didn't care if I took him on the one or two whistle when I came out, so I told him I would take him on the one since we were going to be anchoring on that side anyway.
By 3:30 p.m. we had the anchor down near Cotton Springs.  We had talked for days of swimming in this Bay Springs Lake because it is so clear after being in creamed coffee looking water for so long.  I did mention that it might be cold.  We jumped in anyway.  Yes, it was cold.  That didn't last long.  So we just sat on deck enjoying the evening, listening to the traffic in the lock still.  It was after 6:00 p.m. and the pleasure craft had still not locked up.  Then a storm came through worse than the one last night.  We both sat at the helm to watch and make sure we didn't slide because it was blowing even harder than last night.  We couldn't even see the mooring cells in the channel, not a quarter of a mile away.  About that time was when the pleasure craft were finally due to lock up.  They requested to come into the lock in those conditions.  The lockmaster did not advise it, but he let them.  One tied on each side.  I said I would want to be tied in the lock rather than in that small rock faced ditch below the lock trying to see and keep it off the rocks.  Ray had the opposite opinion, but they made it.