Memorial Weekend

We sure had a lot of fun this weekend.  The weather was hot, so we did a lot of soaking in the Hiwassee River.  At one point on Saturday we had seven of us rafted together by the time "Throttle Back" and "Triple Bogey" joined us, although "LivEZ" departed from in between us and "Doug Out" before night fall.
Sunday morning "Triple Bogey" needed my battery charger to get going.
This morning we sadly had to depart so lines were thrown over our bow from "Conched Out Too" to "Doug Out" so they could tighten up the hole I left in the raft up.  After some sad see-you-laters it took us a little over four hours of travel time to get back to Gold Point Marina. It sure was busy on the lake.
I finally got the outside of the boat cleaned up pretty well this afternoon and then did a little fishing just for entertainment.  The big catfish got away before being landed in the net.

Chickamauga

We departed downtown Chattanooga just after seven o'clock this morning.  We remembered last night that it would be light a little later now that we were in the Eastern Time Zone again.  At 8:20 there were three of us in Chickamauga Lock for a 48 foot lift that took about 20 minutes.  Another 20 minutes later and we were docked at Chickamauga Marina to fuel up and pump out.  I filled up with water while there also.  An hour later we were headed 20 minutes across the lake to Gold Point Marina.  I pulled into slip BL09 while "Conched Out Too" pulled on the outside of B Dock.
After some hellos I got the Caprice started and pulled over to the top of the ramp to pick everyone up with their shopping bags and core batteries.
It wasn't until 2:00 p.m. that I was all set after loading groceries and eating lunch to head to the Hiwassee River.  "Conched Out Too" departed shortly thereafter waiting for their water tanks to get filled.
After 29.2 miles of up river travel, we found "Doug Out" and "LivEZ" anchored and rafted together as planned.  The rest of us questioned as to the plan of being anchored so close to shore.  Some wind kicked up and they were not swung the way that was intended.  The idea was for me to set my anchor out away from them then raft to them so that my anchor would pull us around in a better direction. That was semi-completed after the second attempt, but the wind direction was not going to change which way we were going to swing.  The wind got worse as "Conched Out Too" attempted to raft to me in the same manner.  It took a few attempts, one we had to abort because once we did get a line from them, my stern line came unattached from "LivEZ" and there was no way I could swing us both into position.  The successful landing did not include "Conched Out Too" getting their anchor down. Bill Livezey and Doug ended up taking it out via Bill's dinghy "Little EZ".  All of that was finally accomplished at about 7:00 p.m.
"Makin Memories" came to join the raft up a short time later.  By then the water was almost as flat as glass.  Go figure.

Fast Hour

Our usual six o'clock departure time stayed true for this morning.  All we had to do was untie from "Conched Out Too" though.  No anchor lifting.
I pretty much let Bill and Patty enjoy the amazing scenery for this part of the Tennessee River known as the Grand Canyon of the Tennessee.  I figured the guide book pointed out most points of interest.  I did see one bald eagle land in a tree, but could not find it after that.
At 9:35 Central Daylight Time we entered into the Eastern Time Zone.  Man that hour flew by.
The Guntersville Yacht Club boats once again overtook us near Moccasin Bend.  I went ahead and called Erwin Riverfront to see if we could get on the floating Olgiatti Dock instead of the hard Aquarium Dock.  I let Bill and Patty get tied on the outside of the dock first so they could help grab my lines as I tied to the inside for my favored port side tie.  By around 12:30 p.m. we were settled in.
I rode Ray's bicycle to our friend Doug's who so graciously offered the use of his truck.  We decided to do some needed provisioning this afternoon.  It took all afternoon to get house batteries, oil, filters, a UPS package and liquor for "Conched Out Too".  We were way late for our 5:30 p.m. dinner date by time we got unloaded and Doug's truck back.
Once we were in Chattanooga, Bill realized why the Coca-Cola stage was not across from Hales Bar as the guide book said.  It's already down here for the Riverbend Festival.

Long Trip

Another six o’clock departure this morning from Honeycomb Creek.  It sure was a peaceful place to rest for the night.  Not a lot of excitement traveling today, which is good.  I tried pointing out the points of interest I knew about to Bill and Patty for on their way back down.  It seems Guntersville Lake has plenty to explore, we’ve just never taken the time.  One bald eagle was spotted today.

When we went under the Jackson railroad bridge between Stevenson and South Pittsburg a train went overhead.  About that same time five boats from the Guntersville Yacht Club overtook us.  They are all headed up to Chattanooga for tomorrow night I know because when we called for reservations ourselves, there was no floating dock space available.

Just after three o’clock we were in the state of Tennessee.  The other five boats got out of Nickajack Lock just in time for it to be turned around for us.  We were in there at 4:30 p.m. and out of there in 15 minutes for a 39 foot lift.

Shortly thereafter we were pulling into Little Cedar Mountain anchorage where six of the Guntersville boats were already rafted up.  I continued on back into the anchorage where we normally anchor to show Bill.  He went ahead and got secure at anchor.  I rafted to his port side.  Yes, we finally rafted.  Reason being, at lunch time I intended to heat up some leftovers, but after three attempts, the generator would not start.  I gave up as I could not hear what the generator was doing while underway.  So I wanted Bill to help me with why it wouldn’t start.  As soon as we were settled in around 5:30 p.m. I decided to try the generator.  It started right up.  I didn’t need it right then, so I turned it right back off.  Now however, I need to go make dinner, so I am going to attempt it again.

Batty

A short delay this morning and we were off the dock at Decatur by 6:15 a.m.  A little more than an hour later and we were transiting under the I-65 bridge.  Our second north bound time under it.
A very quiet and uneventful day on the water.  Just the way we like it.  The scenery getting more mountainous as we traveled.
By 1:00 p.m. we were in Guntersville Lock for a 39 foot lift that took only about 15 minutes.  An hour later we picked our spot in Honeycomb Creek.  We anchored on the east side to get the little bit of wind protection, but also to get a more broad view.  It was a 49 mile travel day.

Peek a boo (third from left)

After a while Bill and Patty came to pick us up in their dinghy.  We rode to every forked end of Honeycomb Creek.  We stopped on the way back under one of the low bridges to capture a couple of pictures of the barn swallow nests.  These are on most bridges.  We went around Goat Island which we are anchored behind, and tried to find a General Andrew Jackson name carving in the stone up river without success.
We enjoyed left-overs from Stan and Shirley the other night aboard "Conched Out Too" for dinner before heading down river via their dinghy to watch the tens of thousands of endangered gray bats emerge from their cave at dusk.

Mellow

It was a glorious cruise today.  The water was close to glass all morning.  We were out of Joe Wheeler State Park around eight o'clock and in Ingall's Harbor at Decatur before noon.  Pretty non-eventful. Just the way we like it. A whole 26 miles.
We got all four bicycles down and rode to town for a late lunch.  We first stopped at the post office.  I dropped off some mail, but Bill didn't bother to wait in line to send his.  A lot of restaurants were closed on Monday so we opted for Moe's Original BBQ even though we had BBQ last night on the dock.
After lunch we rode our bicycles through the Old Decatur neighborhood looking at the nicely maintained late 1800's to early 1900's homes.  We read a couple of the historical plaques to get our culture, then went back to Moe's for happy hour.
Carlton and Becky from "Seamoore" came over to the boats around five o'clock for some cocktails before showing us their home outside of town.  Unfortunately Shirley and Stan from "Joint Venture" had a long day and did not make it to join us at Mellow Mushroom for dinner.  We thank them all for their gracious hospitality the past two nights.

Joe Wheeler

We got out of Little Bear Creek at about eight o'clock this morning.  The temperature was about 57 degrees, but the sun was shining with little clouds.  By 9:30 a.m. we were in Wilson Lock for a 93 foot lift.  The lock master was very nice and informative coming out to talk to us as the lockage was just about done.  He started out by saying "I've got to tell you something."  I said "Uh-oh!"  He said "No, it's a good thing."  He said in all his 20 years at that lock no one had ever asked him which bollards were the least turbulent for locking up.  He said he used to tell boaters all the time not to take the center bollard for that reason, but they would inevitably never listen and brag that they had been locking for 12 years.  I explained that we had been on the wrong bollard before and learned.  As he explained the valves that open up to fill that chamber could potentially fill it in 12 seconds, but there is a control that he cannot override to keep it slower.  With that knowledge and a couple anchorages to pass on to Bill and Patty for Wilson Lake, we were on our way.

This cute little bird took a ride up on the bollard in front of us.

We took a detour into the second cove on port side to show Bill and Patty a small anchorage that Ray and I call The Cow Pasture, where we have ridden out a couple storms over the years.  They said they liked it and would keep it in mind for future reference.
Then it was on through the 15 miles of Wilson Lake and into Wheeler Lock at 12:15 p.m.  We timed both locks just right.  There was a tow going into Wilson when we came out and one coming out of Wheeler when we went in.  Wheeler was a 48 foot lift that took about 20 minutes.
A couple more coves to port and we were in First Creek, where we had originally intended to anchor, but just prior to our arrival, Shirley on "Joint Venture" called and said we could tie on the outside of the last set of covered slips.  Stan and Shirley were there to grab our lines and we were tied off by 1:15 p.m. right next to their slip.  "Conched Out Too" tied in front of me.
After our 28 mile trip, we enjoyed hanging out on the dock and catching up with old friends and new. The spread they served for dinner was a fabulous bonus.  They plan to meet us again tomorrow in Decatur where they live.

Relaxing

Thursday morning Bill and Patty immediately said they understood why this was my favorite anchorage now that they had a comfortable night here.  I realized we should probably get Bill's lines out of the way in case any of the locals did show up, even though there is barely enough room left for maybe three other small boats, compared to a time when you could probably fit twenty.  I threw his port stern line up on the rock at the tree it was tied to so he could attach it back to the boat in the evening.

Mom and I headed out in "Dear Abbie" to collect more fire wood while they got their dinghy down. After a couple loads we all went on up to the next cove for another load.  After that we all jumped in Bill and Patty's dinghy and went across the river to check out Panther Creek.  It was pretty and typical of most coves on Pickwick Lake.

Three of us attempted to walk to the top of the waterfall, but four wheelers and run off made it practically impossible for these old timers, though we did make it to the peak with a beautiful view of the Tennessee River below.  Dinner on Thursday night was Conecuh Sausage and sauerkraut in the pie iron.  We covered everything with a tarp, especially the firewood we worked so hard to collect before retiring for the night as Friday was supposed to be a rainy day.

It didn't turn out that bad.  By 2:00 p.m. we were back out on the peninsula enjoying the rest of the day.

Another campfire, all of these lit from the original on Thursday.  We had s'mores first as Patty made a

Mexican chicken dinner in the Crock Pot in case it was raining at dinner time.  We gathered everything up from shore.  Bill even went without tying or anchoring the stern on our last night.

It was nice to have a couple relaxing days after traveling so much.  Today was to be a short travel day, so we didn't get going very early.  Bill and I carried the bow anchors back towards their respective boats as the First Mate's reeled them in.  Then he had to get his dinghy put away.  I put mine away Thursday night before the rain.  That gave us a departure shortly after eight o'clock.  Fifteen minutes later we were in Alabama.  We encountered one down bound tow near Eastport without incident.  Two hours after that we were going under Natchez Trace for our second time heading up river.

There was little else to mention about our five hour trip today.  Plenty of bass boats, and river gages show Pickwick just a little low.  I presume they might have dropped the lake a little bit in anticipation of the originally predicted one to two inches of rain for Friday.

After 32 miles of travel, I pulled into Little Bear Creek, a place we had only anchored for the first time on the way south.  I pointed out to Bill that we anchored in front of the first house in the cove, but that I would continue in as far as I felt comfortable in enough water.  I didn't get much past that first house and it went from nine feet to nothing quick.  I hit something that killed the starboard engine.  I cranked it up again and tried to back out.  I was on the bottom, stirring up mud, but barely making progress until I hit presumably the same thing and could not move.  I turned around as tight as I could and got out.  No noticeable damage.  I am now anchored in front of the first house and Bill is closer to the river.

They took us in their dinghy and we rode all the way up to the end of the creek going under the railroad and Lee Highway bridges for our afternoon entertainment.

Waterfall Favorite

This morning the girls loaded up in one of the courtesy vans from Aqua Yacht Harbor and went to the Pickwick Supermarket.  It's a convenience store on steroids.  We figured it would have everything we needed without having to drive so far.  I think the four of us overwhelmed the store having so many customers at one time.  That chore was done among others and then we were just waiting for Bill's medicine to get delivered via Priority Mail.  To pass the time the six of us played Left, Center, Right, calling the ship store every hour to see if mail had come yet.  Once it finally did, we all walked up there for some exercise.
At 4:00 p.m. there were teary good-byes to Bob and Barbara before they shoved us off.  "Conched Out Too" pumped out first, so I took advantage of going slow and actually noticed some of the houses around there.  I guess I was usually putting lines and fenders away.  It didn't take long for them to catch up.
After a few miles we were turning right onto the Tennessee River.  Two more and I was leading them into Cooper Hollow, home of the Pickwick Waterfall. A whole hour trip. My favorite anchorage. Where I spent my 40th birthday.
The peninsula has washed away even more and was quite small.  I beached "Second Noelle" right away and then spoke to Bill on the VHF.  He wasn't real sure about this.  We talked about going on up to Panther Creek instead with the north winds.  Once Bill felt he might be okay as long as he could tie a line to a tree at the port stern and throw out an anchor at the starboard stern to make sure he didn't swing, I backed off the peninsula and landed a little harder moving over just a little bit more.  Bill also put out a large round fender in case we swung into each other.  I acknowledged his concerns as we had the same concerns at times, but had never moved.
I got "Dear Abbie" down right away after that so Bill and I could carry our anchors out onto the peninsula for security as we always do.  I hooked mine on the fallen tree that has now fallen even more.  No more swinging from it in the swings or hammock.  Our name carving has disappeared too with the rotting.  We also tied a line to a tree from Bill's port stern.  After he go a starboard stern anchor secured, we all gathered enough wood from the peninsula to have a campfire with hobo pie roast beef sandwiches and s'mores for dessert again.

Sad Goodbyes?

Not an early start again, so we were preparing everything for eight o'clock take off.  Drying the windows from the rain that started at about 4:30 a.m.  Engine room check.  What the?  I did exactly what I told myself not to do yesterday when putting a little oil in the port engine.  "Don't forget to put the cap back on when you're done like Ray did that time."  Oil everywhere.  Especially all over the washing machine.  Glad we only traveled for an hour like that yesterday.  Glad I took a shower this morning only to get up to my elbows in motor oil.
A little later start than planned with all of that mess, but only by about ten minutes. Just as we were approaching the Divide Cut we encountered a tow but with only one barge.  A few miles later we easily got around a small dredge.  After that, nothing exciting except birds; eagles and barn swallows being the most entertaining.
By 1:30 p.m. we were docked at the transient dock at Aqua Yacht Harbor after pumping out first.  I wasn't about to have a repeat of Demopolis, so I got it done right away.  Chores have made the afternoon fly by.  We all plan on jumping in the courtesy car to Freddy T's for dinner soon. Unfortunately it will soon be time to say goodbye to "The Bar-B", assuming they will be heading down stream as usual form here.

Finally saw a deer

Got to have a lazy day!  Around ten or eleven o’clock this morning we piled in Bill and Patty’s dinghy and took a slow ride over to the Bay Springs Resource and Visitors Center.  The slow ride was due to the cool temperatures as even I had a sweater on.  The cloudy/overcast skies were not helping.  I was hoping I would have cell phone service over there, but not much.

Upon our return we stopped at “Conched Out Too” for a couple cans of mushrooms.  I said I would make dinner if they had mushrooms.  Back aboard “The Second Noelle” I got beef stroganoff prepared and placed in the Crock Pot.  Mom picked up some Tenn-Tom trivia information at the Visitors Center.  That is going to be our entertainment for Mr. Univac tonight with dinner.

Once that was done we lifted anchor out of Cotton Springs at 1:00 p.m.  Since Bill had service last night, he researched which other coves on Bay Springs Lake had Verizon Service via Active Captain.  I have always thought that was kind of a dumb rating item for them to have.  Now I completely understand!  We went a whole six miles to McDougal Branch in an hour’s time.  I have enough service to make phone calls but not computer internet access.  Better than before!

Top of the world

It was a long, much needed, peaceful night’s sleep thank goodness.  Even though I was up a little after six o’clock this morning, we didn’t pick up anchor until just after eight.  Mom and I enjoyed scrambled eggs with ham, onions, green peppers and cheese first.

A little more than an hour later we were in Rankin Lock and at 10:45 we were in Montgomery lock each with a 30 foot lift and taking 15 minutes per lock.  At 12:30 it was Whitten Lock after a short delay waiting for a tow to finish locking up and then a pontoon boat locked down.  That pontoon boat sure looked small in a lock with an 84 foot lift.  Even though this one is about three times the lift of the others on the Tombigbee, it still takes about the same amount of time.  They sure do pump the water.

Once we exited our last lock before the Tennessee River, we finally discovered where the dock is for the Bay Springs Resource and Visitor Center.  Been looking for it all these years on the wrong side of the cove.  It is actually on the river side.  We took a ride through the cove wondering if cell phone service would be any better than where we usually anchor.  We found no better cell service and the water was too deep and narrow for the amount of anchor scope we would have to put out.  Therefore we went with our old reliable anchorage at Cotton Springs around 1:30 p.m.  For some reason the GPS malfunctioned and recorded that we traveled double our 21 miles today.  It seems I remember this happening one time before.

Once we were secure mom and I had a sandwich for lunch, then played a game of Triple Yahtzee.  Soon after Bill and Patty picked us up in their dinghy.  Our intention was to ride around the Bay Springs area and see if there was a better cove with cell phone service.  Not much was to be found with our Verizon phones, but everyone else’s ATT seems to be better.  We stopped by “The Bar-B” on the way back for some evening refreshments.  Now that dinner, dishes and blogging is done, it is time for a shower and book reading in bed.  With no cell service, what else is there to do?

“The Bar-B” plans to continue to Aqua Yacht Harbor tomorrow.  The rest of us are going to check out the visitors’ center in the morning.  Some phone calls need to be made, so we’ll try to get that figured out.  We might move north into another cove for that reason and just to get that much closer to Iuka, Mississippi where we will probably spend a few days taking care of things needing to be done, but playing too.  Tuesday night is planned to stay at the marina with “The Bar-B” as storms are predicted.  We’re hoping we can get there before they start.

Sleepless in Columbus

I did not even get three hours of sleep last night, but we wanted to get out of Columbus before the bass tournament started. I had no idea it started as early as we did.  Six o'clock.  Come to find out they had a scheduled lockage at 6:45 a.m. which delayed one up bound tow.  I got underway first as "The Bar-B" and "Conched Out Too" (or should I say Cunched Out Too like the lock master did repeatedly yesterday, no matter how many times Bill said it correctly) still had to put their dinghies up.  It was slightly foggy with the steam rolling off the water being warmer than the cool air this morning.
At 8:50 a.m. we were in Aberdeen Lock for a 27 foot lift, 11:10 brought us into Amory Lock for a 30 foot lift, 12:15 we entered Wilkins Lock for a 25 foot lift, and the same amount of lift in Fulton Lock at 2:45, all taking 15 minutes each.  In the first lock there wasn't a breath of wind, but that all changed for the other three.  We have been locking starboard side, but the winds dictated port side thereafter.
There were three down bound tows we encountered today and never did catch the up bound so there were no incidents or delays for us.
"The Bar-B" traveled on another mile and a half or so to Midway Marina.  We anchored near Cummings Creek along with "Conched Out Too".  The winds gave us a little trouble, but I swear they died off once the hook was set.  It was a nine and a half hour travel day to go 53 miles.
"The Bar-B" offered to come pick us up with the marina courtesy car to take us to the new Mexican Restaurant in Fulton, Mississippi.  We both declined.  I already had ribs in the crock pot, and they were delicious.  It is going to be an early night for this girl.

Friction Wash

We were in no hurry this morning knowing it was going to be an extremely short travel day.  "The Bar-B" left around eight o'clock, going back out the way we came into the anchorage.  Twenty minutes later "Conched Out Too" and "Second Noelle" pulled up anchor with intentions of continuing on around and exiting the northern end.  We didn't get far when a neighbor hollered to us that we could not get out that way because the water was too shallow.  We're pretty sure it was Art, the gentleman that gave us a lift in his golf cart yesterday.  I forgot to mention that he said he lived on his boat in Miami for ten years.  Therefore we trusted his boating experience and turned around.
At 9:45 a.m. we were in Stennis Lock for a 27 foot lift that took about 15 minutes.  The lockmaster informed us that there would be a bass tournament on the upper pool tomorrow.
By 11:00 a.m. we had our anchors back down near the Dewayne Hayes Recreation Area with a whole 14 miles traveled.  After lunch we all dinghied to the boat ramp.  I wanted to wash the mud out from last night.  Bob and Barbara walked up to get ice.  Upon returning the ice to coolers mom and I rode with Bill and Patty in their dinghy while Bob and Barbara took theirs, but we tied together and took a trip around the island here.
Next mom and I went up to the campground laundry to do a load each.  In the mean time we gathered firewood with Bill.  The evening was spent making a campfire in the charcoal grill again.  When we went up to get ice we inquired about using a fire pit at one of the campsites, but were told we would have to pay for a campsite to do that.  This time we made pizza pies with garlic bread.  They were pretty crunchy and yummy.  A few s'mores were had before ending the evening.
With the bass tournament tomorrow, we are assuming we will be up early anyway to continue to our next destination.

Always an adventure

It was a mostly peaceful anchorage last night.  Other than at about 1:30 a.m. there was a loud noise. In this particular spot the trains sound about the same as a tow.  Mom took the screen out of the port hole hatch, stood on the bed and popped her head out to make sure a tow was not coming.  It sounded like the train must have hooked up to the railroad cars at that same industrial building the tow hooked up to the empty barge last evening.
We knew it was going to be a short day so we didn't get in any hurry this morning.  I made western scrambled eggs with some of the left over pizza ingredients from last night.  After the engine room check and raising the dinghy, we were underway at eight o'clock.  From about 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. we were skirting back and forth over the Alabama and Mississippi state lines until finally staying in Mississippi.  By noon we were dropping anchor in the original river that runs along side Columbus, Mississippi.  The plan was to dinghy to shore and explore the town as we have never done that before except one time a few years ago when we had run out of beer and stopped here to get some.  It was nice and convenient with the floating dock.
This winter that floating dock got a lot of large debris lodged up against it and washed it up on shore. Bob thought it would be best if the guys unloaded the ladies onto the boat ramp while they tied the dinghies to the "floating dock".  I ended up taking my dinghy with mom, Bill and Patty aboard as it would be more indestructible.  It worked out fairly well unloading, although I dropped Bill off with the other ladies.  About the time we were getting everything situated as best we could under the circumstances, Art pulled up in a golf cart to inquire as to what we were trying to do.  He was nice enough to shuttle us into town in two loads.
Our first stop was Zachary's where we had a couple beers.  We decided to find what else there was in Columbus.  We were on the opposite side of the street and didn't notice until on our way back that people were sitting in front of the old theater drinking beer.  Come to find out some young man bought it back in 2010 and turned it into a bar/night club/pool hall.  The bartender was as friendly as she could be and even showed us the actual theater that they do open on Friday and Saturday nights. It was very interesting and nice to see such a historical building not just sit empty.
We had been watching the radar and decided we better get closer to the boats.  We made our way to Harveys for a good dinner.  About the time our food arrived it was pouring rain.  We just hoped it wasn't blowing too much.

Here is the boat ramp when it was dry.

Here is the "floating" dock that should be in the water.

When after dinner cocktails were finished along with the rain we headed back towards the dinghies.  I was hoping mine was still afloat. Thankfully yes, but getting back down the cockeyed "floating" dock was treacherous now that it and our shoes were slippery.  Bob, Barbara, Bill and I slid on our butts to get down there safely.  After some bailing we headed to the boat ramp to pick up mom and Patty.  The rain made it a muddy mess. Bob and Bill walked up to help the ladies down, but Patty ended up falling in the mud anyway. Somehow we did all manage to make it safely back to our boats, however muddy.
We had originally planned to stay here for two nights to explore the town, but this adventure has made us decide that Columbus obviously is not concerned with boaters accessing and spending their money in town.  We did our share.  As Art pointed out, it sure would have been easier and cheaper for the city to have just removed the logs/debris when it was against the dock as to the expense it will now be to fix it.

Learning

It was a very peaceful nights sleep in our newly discovered Cooks Bend Cut Off anchorage.  Upon exiting at six o'clock this morning a beaver crossed in front of us.  I ended up exiting the same way I entered, on the northern end after reading reviews on Active Captain last night.  I had a little more water staying farther off the green can buoy.  Upon exiting into the river I called Bill to let him know I had more than five feet of water, so he opted to exit that way also.

We were able to see several bald eagles, both adult and juvenile today. These pictures are of the same one, just different angles.  I learned today that it must be the time of year for the juveniles to learn how to fly and survive.
This sighting was as we slowed down for our arrival to Bevill Lock.  The tow "Crimson White" was coming down in the lock.  We timed it pretty well as we only waited about 20 minutes for our turn.
After the lock "The Bar-B" decided to go on ahead and anchor near Columbus, Mississippi in hopes of getting the Cummins dealer near there to come see what the error message means on his engine.
"Conched Out Too" followed us into the anchorage near the Pickensville Recreation Area. We came all the way around it to anchor where we usually do even though it is closer to the highway, but they said the noise wouldn't bother them. It was nice to have a short five and a half hour travel day.  That left us plenty of time to go tour the Montgomery snag boat and Tom Bevill Visitors Center after lunch.  We learned a lot but not exactly how they got the snag boat up on land.  More research needs to be done on that.
Next was a dinghy tour of Pirates Marina Cove. Bill and Patty easily decided that won't be a necessary stop on the way back down.  We went around the Pickens Ferry Island and along the shoreline checking out the homes and industrial area commenting on how we hoped a tow wasn't going to come and pick up that empty barge tonight.

See the industry building in the background.
The tow and barge coming from it.

Upon returning to our anchorage area we decided to go collect wood for campfire grilling tonight. That didn't take long as the stack of wood Ray and I left in the fall was still there.  We gathered a little bit more, but felt we had plenty.  We went back to our respective boats to prepare and soak up some air conditioning for a while.  About the time I got all the blinds closed, Patty text to comment on that boat that went by.  I had no idea what she was talking about.  I felt a wake, but just assumed it was a bass boat.  No, it was a tow that went between our boats over to get that empty barge.  We went up to the helm to watch it come back out.

Notice how small a 44' DeFever looks next to it.

It came back between us.  Bill hailed the captain after he got by on how impressive of a great job he did maneuvering around us with little to no wake.  Bill also apologized saying had we known we would not have anchored here.  The captain was nice as he could be, appreciative of the compliment, and said it was no problem that we looked like we were having a lot more fun than he was.  From that we learned maybe we should anchor in a different spot back here out of the pathway for that
industries tows.

Notice the DeFever disappear.

After that excitement we dinghied back to shore to get a campfire going in the grill.  Pizza hobo pies and s'mores were on the menu.  We learned that tortilla shells make better crust for those as the pizza sauce kind of made bread soggy.

Pooped

It was a productive time in Demopolis.  Got boat washed, did laundry, reprovisioned.   For Mother's Day we grilled steaks, had baked potatoes, corn and salad on top of the boaters lounge deck.  Miracle worker Bill fixed Bob's auto pilot just by walking on board. Then I teased him that he broke the pump out at Kingfisher Bay Marina on Monday morning.  I swear that thing is broken every time we are there. Bill ended up having their boat pulled out of the water on Monday afternoon.  The only thing they found was one blade slightly out on the port side.  Bill is going to investigate more on his alignment when he put the transmission back in at Ft. Myers Beach.  Monday evening we had Patty's delicious spaghetti down in the boaters lounge to escape the bugs this time.
With the pump out broken, that meant I had to pull back over to the fuel dock at Demopolis Yacht Basin to do the duty.  When I got over there around 6:00 a.m., there was a large wooden boat named "Lady J" there. Come to find out it was formerly Alan Jackson's boat.  I thought I wouldn't be able to get to the pump out because I did not realize there was a second pump out on the same fuel dock I was at Saturday when we pulled in and the fuel pump wouldn't work.  If I had known that, I would have pumped out while I was waiting for Bill to finish fueling so I could fill up.  Obviously I should have seen it, but in the heat and my exhaustion, I didn't notice.  As we got closer to the fuel dock I realized the may flies had hatched at Demopolis Yacht Basin, but not right next door at Kingfisher Bay Marina.  So I got them stirred up and all over the boat.  So glad I washed it yesterday.
It didn't take long and we were underway heading north, shewing the may flies off because they make such a mess when they pump out, if you know what I mean.  I heard a couple of tows behind us and hoped they would not catch us.  The remainder of travel stayed uneventful.  We were transiting under I-20/I-59 at 11:30 a.m.  Two hours later we were in Heflin Lock which was all ready upon our arrival for a 35 foot lift.
A few miles later I pulled into Sumter Recreation Area, one of my favorites.  The plan was to have hobo pies and s'mores for dinner.  About the time mom got the anchor down "Conched Out Too" was out of water at the entrance.  "Bar-B" drafts even more and was not about to come in.  "Conched Out Too" decide they better not stay either.  If the water dropped even half a foot they would be stuck. They continued north and I followed after we got the anchor back up.  It was a debate of where to go instead.  We picked Cooks Bend Cut Off at Mile 277.  They took the first/southern entrance and all I could hear them talking about was how deep the water was.  I decided to continue on to the second/northern entrance.  The entrance was extremely shallow, then it was deep water at this end too.  "Conched Out Too" found some shallower water all the way at the back of the oxbow so I continued on around and dropped the anchor near them at about 4:00 p.m.  I will be exiting the southern route though.

Hurry up and wait

A few tows went by during the night, but very quiet otherwise.  Until 2:30 a.m.  I heard what I thought was the snubber line squeaking on the rub rail as it does when we are swinging.  I wondered why we were swinging so much if there was no wind.  Then it sounded like something was rubbing up against the port stern.  My first thought was that we had drug anchor and were rubbing up against "Conched Out Too" behind us.  I walked up the steps far enough to see that their anchor light was still far away.  Then I wondered if a fisherman or police were pulled up alongside the boat.  I debated for a second about whether to grab the shotgun or the flashlight.  I don't know why I opted for the flashlight, but as soon as I turned it on to look down at the stern I saw a tree branch float away. I guess it was just scraping up against the boat.  Whew!
We were up early, but with the cool air temperature and warm water temperature, there was fog on the river.  Might as well make breakfast as to stare at the fog.  After breakfast and some book reading, we got to pull up anchor at 7:25 a.m.  "The Bar-B" and "Priorities" went on ahead at a faster speed that way they could get through Demopolis Lock and to the Yacht Basin to fuel up and pump out so as to not be in our way when we arrived later.  The fuel dock is barely large enough for three of our boats.  "Priorities" ended up not stopping at Demopolis as fuel was surprisingly cheaper at Columbus Marina, which is their temporary destination.  During travel however, "The Bar-B"s auto pilot quit working.
"Hattitude" overtook us at one point.  We told them the other two boats were up ahead.  We figured they would catch them.  We passed only one tow all day.  Three miles prior to our arrival at Demopolis Lock I hailed the lock master on the VHF radio.  He informed me that "Hattitude" was going up (they never did catch the other two), and then a tow would be coming down.  Then it would be our turn.  We arrived at 4:00 p.m. and the lock master hailed us to instruct us to hover around the pocket of water near the boat ramp to wait our turn and be out of the way of the exiting tow.  A half our later we were in the lock.
Upon entering the lock I noticed the river gauge showed that the Coffeeville pool was four feet higher than normal.  When we exited 15 minutes later I noticed the upper gauge indicated that Demopolis pool was two feet higher than normal.  I got up some speed with the current decreasing for the whole three miles to Demopolis Yacht Basin.  I pulled into the forward pump and "Conched Out Too" pulled up to the pump behind me.  The pump I was at would not work, so I had to wait for them to finish fueling, pay, then pull back where they were.  They were nice enough to skip pumping out since we were informed that the pump out at Kingfisher Bay (the new marina at Demopolis Yacht Basin) was working.
An hour and a half later I was finally sterning into slip B3 with everyone watching and waiting to grab lines.  All went perfectly well except Bob's yelling.  I had to inform him of the rule against that. The reason being for exactly what happened.  Nothing.  No reason to yell.
I was exhausted after these three long travel days.  It will be nice to sit still for a couple of days, although there are plenty of chores to get done.  Bill is concerned about a vibration on port side and Bob's auto pilot might negate us to stay through Monday for them to get repairs.

Turtles on a log

It was a peaceful night’s sleep again even with the folks that decided to come to the park at 3:00 a.m. and blast some music for a short while.  It was too cool to want to get out of bed though.  Barely 50 degrees this morning.  The anchor was plenty muddy, so we didn’t get rolling out of Old Lock 1 until about six o’clock.  Speed was a little better than yesterday though, so we were to Coffeeville Lock before nine.  “Priorities” had gone ahead, but it didn’t do any good.  There was maintenance being done on the lock and they didn’t get to get though until we did.  The water below the dam was 15 feet higher than normal, so our lift was only about 18 feet in the lock instead of the usual 33.  We were out of there around 9:30 a.m.

Only two down bound tows to pass today.  It took about a half hour less than yesterday to go the same distance, but we also had the lockage.  “Priorities” was way ahead after exiting the lock, but they had never anchored here at Pearson’s Shoal before.  When “Bar-B” arrived, Bob got up in our usual spot despite the red buoys missing.  “Priorities” moved on up behind Bob, we anchored behind but closer to shore than “Priorities”, with “Conched Out Too” behind us.

Everyone stayed aboard their boats since we are just off the channel at anchor in a little current.  We had some fun babbling on the VHF back and forth, watched the sun set, blew the conch shells, and witness the first tow to go by us before we all ducked inside to avoid the bugs.  We’ll see how many more tows disturb us overnight.  Tomorrow will be another early start with Demopolis our planned destination.

Cinco de Mayo

Everyone commented on what a peaceful night’s sleep it was on David Lake last night.  I did hear a tow or two go by, but no wake to go with it.  Plus it was nice, cool sleeping weather.  I have been getting up early to take care of all of the Captains chores.  I was still ready to go earlier than planned so I let Bill know, and we lifted anchor before 6:00 a.m.  There was a lot more debris in the water than yesterday, although most of it small.  Thankfully that diminished significantly once we were above the Alabama River.  It was slow going although it did get slightly better as the day progressed.  The current is strong, but the water level did drop about three feet during the day according to the Jackson Railroad Bridge when I hailed him to find out the vertical clearance.

Today we passed a total of four tows heading down river, most of them the usual suspects.  The last one informed us that the river is about 10-12 feet above normal.  There was one tow behind us, but never did catch up by the time we pulled into Old Lock 1 to anchor after 12 and a half hours of travel to go 62 miles.  We are anchored in the shallow lake that is normally two to three feet deep.  Tonight we are in 14 feet of water.  “Conched Out Too” and “The Bar-B” followed in right away after finally catching me around Jackson.  Then “Priorities” pulled in after going about 30 more miles today than we did to catch up.

Bill and Patty came over via dinghy to pick me up.  I couldn’t get the plug for the dinghy to work properly to get ours down.  I showed them around on shore a little bit.  Hopefully they will get to explore more in the fall on the way down.  There were a few mosquitos this evening, but nothing like last fall.  Maybe they’ll have better luck.  We each had a few May Flies on our boats this morning.  We’re hoping that’s not a sign of things to come.

After that we all (except “Priorities”) dinghied over to “The Bar-B” for a delicious Cinco de Mayo dinner.  A smorgasbord of make-your-own nachos with contributions from us all.

Story Time

We spent two days docked in Mobile.  On Monday mom was going to come so Ray could go back to Murphy.  She was driving his truck when it broke down about half way.  Thankfully she had AAA and got towed to a garage in Auburn.  Not knowing what would happen, Ray got in a rental car and drove to the shop in Auburn.  Mom dropped him off via the rental car at a hotel 3.5 miles away as the shop was now closed and the truck was not fixed yet.  Mom continued toward Mobile, but gave up about a hundred miles away.  I couldn't blame her.  It had been a long day for all of us.
Tuesday morning Ray walked to the shop.  They had the truck fixed by 11:00 a.m. and he headed on home successfully.  Mom took her time and arrived in Mobile around lunch time.  We took the rental car to Mellow Mushroom, then returned it.
It was a busy night in the port of Mobile last night.  It seemed traffic went by all night.  Those that looked at the clock said it died down around 1:30 a.m.  Despite all that we were up early and I was the first to pull away from the dock at 6:15 a.m. with assistance from Bob and Bill. I think "The Bar-B" was next, then the Hatteras trawler that was docked behind us, "Hattitude", and "Conched Out Too" got off on their own.  We all pretty much caught up to each other at the 14 Mile Railroad Bridge where we had to wait for a fuel truck to get off the track for an opening.
"Hattitude" went on after that which helped in hearing the tows coming down the river.  "The Bar-B" was preparing me with the names via his AIS.  We passed a total of five today.  The last one was in a tight curve where we all had to hold back and wait for it to slide around.  It was a great experience for Bill to see why they use that term.  Those tows had the current and the wind pushing them today.  So you know what that means.  It was the opposite for us.
We interrupt this blog to bring you story time.  There was an additional used sailboat at Mobile while we were there.  Come to find out they just purchased it in Pensacola, Florida and are taking it to Knoxville.  They had absolutely no charts.  The Coast Guard spent four hours on that boat come to find out because the new owner didn't know anything about what was required.  He ended up having to take a taxi to get an additional fire extinguisher.  Roger on "Hattitude" was nice enough to give him some charts (and let me borrow a round fender).  So today Bob tells us that last night around ten o'clock he notices that the sailboat (which is behind "The Bar-B") is perpendicular to the river.  Bob goes out and sees that his two forward lines have come undone.  He is now tied to the dock by only one stern line.  Thank goodness Bob noticed.  He would have been out floating down the river in all that traffic, or would have run into us.  Another thankful note is that he'll never be able to catch up to us.  What a danger.  Back to the regularly scheduled blog.
After all the tows the last of the excitement was spotting a large alligator on the right descending bank.  We all got to see it.  We said it was so big it was not intimidated by anything.  Not even the fishing boat that went flying by close to it.
"The Bar-B" pulled off at the Tensas River about two miles before "Conched Out Too" pulled into David Lake with us.  We dropped anchor around 3:00 p.m., making it almost a nine hour day to go 42.6 miles.  Bill & Patty came over for a short visit before mom and I had leftover pizza and chuck roast for dinner.
Tomorrow will most likely be a long day, so we're looking forward to a peaceful night's sleep to begin real soon.

Rainy days are here again

It was a fun weekend in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Saturday morning Ray and I dinghied to Homeport Marina to get dinghy gas and ice.  That's when I noticed "Lolita" was on the hard at Saunders.  If I had noticed that upon our arrival, I would have given someone and ear full.  When I mentioned it to Bill, he said he thought the same thing when he noticed them upon pulling in on Friday but did not see anyone around.
We both dinghied up to The Wharf Saturday to walk around the car show.  Bill's family met us up there too.  By evening we were all ready to head to Acme Oyster for dinner, including "The Bar-B". After Bob & Barbara got their dinghy down, we realized via radar and other boaters telling us (including friends up in Chattanooga), that there was a pretty good storm coming.  Dejeauvu from last spring.  "The Bar-B" decided they better not go.  We went for it.  About the time we arrived I had the thought that Bill's family was dropping a vehicle off for us to use Sunday for grocery shopping. Wouldn't it be smarter to take it instead, and then we could also pick up "The Bar-B".  So we did.  It ended up we were all back safe and sound in plenty of time and then it just turned out to be a 20-30 minute rain, with a little bit of lighting beforehand.
Sunday morning Patty and I did our last Publix trip for a while.  In the afternoon we walked the yard (should have left "Lolita" a note) and we dinghied around a little bit in Bill and Patty's dinghy.  The chuck roast that was on sale at Publix was enjoyed by the four of us for dinner.
This morning we did not leave until about 7:45 as we were all stopping at Homeport Marina.  All of us to pump out.  Ray and I to put a little diesel in also.  Running harder than usual, we weren't sure if we could make it all the way to Demopolis so we splashed 150 gallons in just to make sure.  We were there just before eight and gone 15 minutes later.
It was all pretty uneventful until we arrived at the free docks at the Convention Center in downtown Mobile around 2:00 p.m.  That's about the time it started raining.  That's also the time the Coast Guard decided to board our boat.  We're barely tied up, Ray is helping "The Bar-B" and "Conched Out Too" get tied as these docks are really not made for recreational boats, I'm trying to get enclosures shut, and these two guys want me to show them everything for a safety check.  All was good and they finally left when it started lightening.
It rained on and off all afternoon and evening, but we still managed to walk into town to Loda Bier Garten for dinner without getting too much wetter.

Overtook Twice

We left the free dock at Ft. Walton Beach at 6:15 this morning.  "Conched Out Too" had to pull out first so we could get out.  Regardless, they still chose to follow.  We didn't know exactly where we were going.  Bill had a call into The Wharf, but Beverly would not be in until eight o'clock to give him a price.  When she did call, it was 75 cents more per foot than "The Bar-B" was paying.  Ray called Saunders to inquire about staying there for the weekend as they often have since they are really just a working yard, but closed on the weekends.  They said yes at 60 cents per foot plus $5 for power.  A real bargain!  When Bob found out that we were quoted a higher price than him, he called Beverly (for another reason), but just asked if she would honor the same price he was getting for two other Looper boat friends coming.  She said of course.  Well that was still twice the price as Saunders anyway, so we didn't bother.  We all kept ourselves anonymous as to whom Bob was talking about.
At 12:30 p.m. we stopped just west of the Pensacola inlet.  Ray jumped in the water to check our props.  We both felt like we have not been getting the speed we normally would at our RPMs. Nothing was wrong, so ten minutes later we were off and running.  "Conched Out Too" went on ahead, and picked up some speed when we encouraged them once again not to wait on us, that the earlier they got to our arrival point, the earlier they could snap a beer.  I think that reasoning worked.
An hour later we were in Alabama.  As is not too unusual, we were overtaken by a large sport fishing boat named "Lolita" that waked the crap out of us, the sailboat we just overtook for the second time today, and "Conched Out Too".  Yes, we overtook someone twice today!
At 4:00 p.m. we pulled into Saunders after 67 miles of travel.  Bill and Patty stayed in to visit with their family as Bill's daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter now live in Orange Beach.  Ray and I dinghied to The Wharf to dine with "The Bar-B".

Rain, rain, go away

We never got the rain threats last night.  The breezes had us wondering at times, but it was flat as glass when we left Pearl Bayou before 6:00 a.m.  There were more threats of storms today so we wanted to try to get as far as we could before those.  We caught the tide all day again, so that helped.  Choctawhatchee Bay was supposed to be smooth, becoming a moderate chop.  That last 30 miles was what we were really worried about.  We watched radar and listened to weather reports all afternoon, but somehow dodged all of them.  What a blessing.  Choctawhatchee Bay ended up being a light chop at worst.

After 72 miles of travel we were looking at the free dock in Ft. Walton Beach around 4:00 p.m.  There was one catamaran sailboat on the T dock, but pulled back as far as it could be.  We talked of rafting like we usually do, but Ray and Bill thought we could all three fit.  So we went in first and pulled back as close as we could to the catamaran.  There wasn’t a lot of room left but Bill pulled ahead of us with only about half of “Conched Out Too” up against the dock, but we made it work.

We walked over to Fokker’s for dinner, taking the long route as we forgot they moved across Miracle Strip Parkway.  We enjoyed wing night.

Tyndall Flyers

Four nights in Apalachicola was a lot of fun.  “The Bar-B” was there with us for Saturday night, but unfortunately had to leave Sunday morning.  They wanted to get to a place of better access to rental cars or airports in case their special needs grandson in Wisconsin got any worse during his unexpected hospital stay with pneumonia.  Fortunately he seems to be doing better and should get to go home soon.

Ray’s childhood friend Scott arrived around 12:30 p.m. on Sunday via motorcycle from Tarpon Springs.  Bill and Patty arrived on “Conched Out Too” a couple hours later.  We hit all of our favorite hang outs including Hole In The Wall, Up The Creek, Boss Oyster, Bowery Station, Tap Room and more.

This morning Bill helped untie us from the old ice house docks a little after seven o’clock.  They gave us about an hour head start since they usually travel faster.  Today though we had the tide with us virtually all day.  We averaged about 7.5 miles per hour.  A few hours into our travel we entered the Central Time Zone, so that put us ahead an hour too.  We encountered a couple boats going each direction and a dredge near the Port St. Joe Canal, but other than that was a quiet ride mostly in ditches.  The last of our day of travel was through the east end of East Bay to anchor in Pearl Bayou as we almost always do near Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City.  “Conched Out Too” never did catch us until they came in to anchor about a half hour after our 2:15 p.m. Central Daylight Time arrival.  Now it’s just enjoying our own personal air show.

Short Day

Short and uneventful travel day.  We pulled up anchor out of Tyson’s Harbor in Dog Island at seven o’clock this morning.  No sunrise to be seen with all of the clouds, but the full moon was still out.  The day got prettier as we continued west.  I gave myself a pedicure as Ray drove since I drove all day yesterday.

We pulled into Apalachicola just before 1:00 p.m. with Bob and Barbara from “The Bar-B” there to catch our lines at the old ice house dock after 31 miles of travel.  We all enjoyed pork tacos and duck fries at The Tap Room of the Owl Café for lunch.  The boys went back to their respective boats to take a nap while the girls shopped.  Then drinks at Bowery Station and oysters for dinner at The Hole in the Wall.

Rock and Roll Baby!

The depth finder wouldn’t come on.  Luckily that was just a loose wire.  Bill was over at our boat just after six o’clock this morning.  He came to voice his concerns over the front coming through the panhandle of Florida today.  We took a last look at the future radar predictions and decided it should be pushing mostly to the north.  At 6:30 he was casting our lines.  At 8:30 they were hailing us on the VHF saying they were behind us, but that we should look again at the radar for those storms.  We looked.  It wasn’t pretty, but we were already two hours in.  The seas weren’t too bad even though they were on the beam of course, but we knew it was going to be that way today.  They decided to turn around, they were just barely out of the inlet.  We kept going.

Ray predicted we would be at the front at about 2:00 p.m.  That would be about an hour before our turn north around South Shoal before continuing west to Dog Island.  He hit it right on the head.  For almost two hours we could see it.  The worst of it looked to be to the north, so we made a more southerly course to try to head into what looked to be less intense.  Soon we saw the other two trawlers ahead of us that were at anchor at Steinhatchee when we left this morning.  We decided to follow them.  For no other reason than safety in numbers, and so we could all be idiots together.  Then it looked like they changed their mind and headed a more southerly direction, presumably to go around the southern side of Dog Island.  We continued on northwest towards our original waypoint to come in at the east end of Dog Island and anchor on the north side.

We continued for three hours in the rain.  A few lighting strikes and rumbles of thunder, but they didn’t seem too close.  The seas got only slightly higher before hitting the rain when they got mixed up and then settled.  No real wind gust ahead of the front.  That was a blessing.  Another was the fresh water rinse we got.  We shouldn’t really have to wash the boat when we get to Apalachicola now.

The end of our travel day came after 81 miles.  The anchorage here at Dog Island is so calm it’s already hard to believe we rocked and rolled for twelve hours today.

It's Four Twenty Man

These wind predictions are as wrong as every other weather prediction.  Last night was supposed to be calm.  About one o’clock in the morning we were both sitting up at the helm because the winds kicked up and presumably at the opposite direction of the current as the waves were slapping so bad at the stern that neither of us could sleep.  We talked that if we couldn’t sleep anyway, we might as well just head across the Gulf.  Thankfully they did calm down for some sleep, but not much before it was time to get up. 

Just five minutes earlier than yesterday we pulled up anchor out of Cedar Key.  It was pretty much a northerly course after we wiggled through Seahorse Reef.  We traveled for 59 miles, getting a little better speed with the wind behind us today.  We were tied up to the middle T dock at Sea Hag Marina in Steinhatchee, Florida just after 3:00 p.m.  Neither of us remember this place at all although we were here in 2005. 

We took a bike ride with Bill and Patty over to Who Dat Bar and Grill where it was wing night.  We also shared a couple kegs of beer.  They were 100 ounce little wooden cooler kegs.

We are staying put here for Thursday as a small front comes through, but should be heading to Dog Island near Carrabelle on Friday, then it will be on to Apalachicola for the weekend.  Thursday’s focus is to find a mailbox to put Mom’s birthday card in with hopes that it will make it to her on time.

Always a story

The chop on the water finally laid down at about four o’clock in the morning, so Ray barely got a couple hours of sleep.  As is usually the case on the first day of traveling again, I woke up once very disoriented as to where I was.  Getting up at 6:00 this morning wasn’t quite early enough I guess.  We could have pulled up anchor by 6:30 light, but we didn’t get going until 6:45.  The choppy waves were on our beam of course while the winds were blowing out of the east.  They were hardly two footers, but just enough to keep us rolling along.  Around nine o’clock they really calmed down all of the sudden.  The only thing that seemed different was that the water was pretty shallow, because it didn’t really last long.  They did continue to diminish all day as predicted.  It was just after noon today though when those winds changed to NNW again.  Still assuming it was the sea breeze as the past two mornings have been a little bit cooler.

The afternoon continued on with no major events.  Sometimes the starboard engine just dies on us.  Once we prime the fuel filter it starts right back up.  Remember the same thing happening with the generator?  Yep, that’s still going on intermittently.  They both feed off of the same fuel cell, so something is going on with that, but Ray can’t seem to find what it is.  Other than that, just lots of turtle sightings, I bet 30 today, along with the usual dolphins too.

It was a long day for us.  We dropped anchor near Cedar Key, Florida on the north side of Atsena Otle Key, a National Wildlife Refuge after 68 miles of travel in ten and a half hours.  Shortly after settling in Ray dinghied over to “Conched Out Too” to borrow a ratchet strap.  Along with our one we had, Ray cross tied the dinghy to try to stop it swaying so much in the rolling seas.  We’re still leery of the original welds of the pieces mounted on “The Second Noelle”.

Soon after getting the dinghy all secured is when it got interesting.  There were two men on Atsena Otle Key yelling to “Conched Out Too” that they were stranded on the island because the kayak they rented got swamped and they lost the paddle(s).  So Patty called Cedar Key Marina.  We said we would put the dinghy back in the water to get them if needed, but the marina said someone was on the way.  We even tried getting the attention of a fishing boat that went by by blowing our horns and Ray waving his arms in the distress signal.  It totally ignored us.  In the mean time the two men on the island have started a fire.  Finally here comes Tom in another kayak.  He thought it was his rental.  He is yelling while still in the kayak for them to put the fire out.  That continues as he gets to shore.  The two men put the fire out but a lot of arguing was going on with the two men using quite vulgar language toward Tom and another couple of guys that came in a fishing boat to rescue them.  The rescuers obviously had enough of that and left.  Come to find out it wasn’t Tom’s rental kayak they had.  The two men ended up paddling the kayak back to the main land with their hands.  We were all thankful we didn’t get any more involved.  Patty apologized to Santa, yes that’s her name, at Cedar Key Marina not knowing what trouble they would be, and hopes to get the rest of the story from her later.

on the water again

Exactly one month ago we arrived in Indian Rocks Beach.  I didn’t get around to blogging our last travel day as I suspected I wouldn’t.  That was back on March 18.  We pulled up anchor out of Palma Sola Bay near Prices Key in the vicinity of Brandenton at 7:45 a.m.  If I remember correctly, it was one of our flattest crossings of Tampa Bay.  At 12:15 p.m. we pulled into Madeira Beach City Marina to fuel up and pump out.  About a half hour later we were back underway.  An hour after that we were pulling into slip 22 at Holiday Inn Harbourside with Bob and Barbara from “The Bar-B” there to catch our lines.

This morning Bob helped us to cast our lines at 8:00 a.m.  An hour later we were passing “Conched Out Too” at their overnight anchorage as the free docks in Indian Rocks Beach were full yesterday afternoon when they came by.  We will be traveling this spring with Bill and Patty beginning with doing the armpit of Florida instead of crossing the Gulf of Mexico.  They followed in behind us a while later only to eventually overtake us near Tarpon Springs. 

Today the winds were blowing pretty straight out of the east so we decided it might be better to anchor closer to the western shore just north of Tarpon Springs, rather than on the eastern side of Anclote Key as we had originally planned.  We actually even talked of anchoring on the western side of Anclote Key out in the Gulf of Mexico, but that didn’t sound like the most comfortable idea to me. 

At about 12:45 p.m. we dropped anchor about as close to shore as we could in the shallow water.  We ended up in about seven feet of water, but not very close to shore.

Bill asked earlier if we knew of a diver he could hire because he heard what he believed to be something on his starboard shaft possibly hitting the hull.  He came to pick us up via dinghy a short while after we were anchored.  It didn’t take Ray long to diagnose that his cutter on that side had come dislodged off of the shaft.  We all realized that must have happened when he just removed and replaced his transmission on that side while in Fort Myers Beach.  Once Ray had it all back in place we all just hung out on their boat.  We were bragging on how the wind and waves were laying down.  Not long after that the winds shifted to straight out of the north.  Not as predicted at all.  We even checked every weather sight we could think of to see if things had changed, but no.  Definitely no protection.  We hope it was just the sea breeze this afternoon and that the wind goes back to its predicted ENE direction.

AFSPD

As we kind of figured, we had to wait for fog to lift this morning.  I raised my head at first light and knew we weren't going anywhere too soon.  When I did get up I made breakfast as it was still foggy. Sometimes it would look like it was clearing up, then it would sock back in.  At nine o'clock we lifted the anchor and headed north.
It was a rather uneventful day for us on the water.  There was a fishing boat out on the Gulf that had some excitement though.  They reported a person in the water.  Other vessels headed that way to assist.  The man was recovered.  I don't know all the details as I was down below making lunch during the rescue conversation on the VHF.  Ray is still under the weather, so really wasn't paying much attention to all of that.  He pretty much laid behind the helm chair all day again.  So I took lots of pictures:

Look at this beautifully bloomed huge tree!

These are the car ferrys from Cape Hays to Knight Island, just north of where we anchored.
We see them every time we travel this area as they go back and forth like this in sync about every five minutes.

I think this was near Venice.  It just caught my attention.
You think you have a nice blue home on the water, then some rich guy builds next door.

Snake Island. Venice Inlet.

Pagoda

Our original plan was to grab a mooring ball in Sarasota this evening.  After listening to the fog report in which the travel restrictions at Tampa Bay were not lifted until 1:20 p.m. we thought maybe we should continue farther.  One reason being that Ray wasn't feeling well enough to put the dinghy in the water anyway, so why waste money on a mooring ball when the winds are so light.  The other in fear that Tampa Bay might be fogged in again tomorrow.  Since we didn't get an early start today, we might not tomorrow either and we're trying to make it into Indian Rocks Beach at slack tide.  For a while we thought about trying to cross Tampa Bay to make sure.  We even sped up.  By the time we got through Sarasota Bay we figured it would be close to sunset if we did.  I was tired already from what turned out to be over an eight hour travel day doing most of the driving.  We throttled it back down and anchored just east of Anna Maria Island near Bradenton Beach.  The dolphins greeted us right away.  We had dinner watching sunset and ended up with an alcohol free St. Patrick's Day.

Panoramic sunset over Anna Maria Island

Sunset setting on camera

U. S. Coast Guard helicopter flew over us at anchor.

We read the forecast for Tampa Bay tomorrow.  It says conditions are less likely to be foggy again. We're hoping they are right for once.

Once we get to Indian Rocks Beach it will be busy for us.  "The Bar-B" is there and we'll have to do lots of catching up.  Ray wants Mike's Pizza as soon as we get there.  We need to do laundry and clean up this boat on Saturday since that hasn't been done since Ft. Lauderdale, along with pick up a rental car so we can go get Abbie first thing Sunday morning in Orlando for a few days during her Spring Break.  So I'll catch up on the blog as soon as I can.  Just forewarning you, it probably won't be any time soon after this.

Ray's sick

Yesterday was a weird day.  It was foggy over the Fort Myers Beach area until after 1:00 p.m.  It made for an eerie dinghy ride to Snook Bite for easy access to Publix.  After an evening of all catching up and gathering with some of the Sombrero Dockside gang, Ray retired early feeling a sore throat coming on.  By the time I got a ride back with Bill and Patty and asked how he was doing, I got a pitiful reply of "I'm sick".
Not feeling well, he got up at 5:00 a.m. after a restless night.  I waited until it started getting light out. At that time we hoisted the dinghy and engine back up in it's old fashioned way again.  That made for a 7:45 a.m. departure, just about the time the sun fully peaked it's head above the mangroves.  We waved our good-byes to friends.
Thankfully it was a fairly uneventful day with Ray usually laying behind the helm chair feeling pretty miserable.  Pine Island Sound was quite busy for the middle of the week, with one jerk plowing water so bad, I literally thought the sailboat he overtook was going to capsize, and he broke the lid to my sun tea jar.  That pissed me off.
He who never likes soup liked the suggestion of having some for lunch and dinner.  I made French Onion for lunch.  That was about the only driving he did today.
We stopped after 42 miles of travel, just north of the new Boca Grande swing bridge which now has about 22 feet of vertical clearance compared to the old 9 feet.  Therefore we no longer need it opened. Our planned destination for today was one of the anchorages we usually stop at near Don Pedro State Park.  I had thought about going farther since Ray was sick anyway, but he was ready to shut off the busy VHF radio and get out of the never ending wakes for the day.  It looked like that might have been a good decision anyway as we could see fog up ahead.  For the remainder of the afternoon, Ray rested some more while I read a book.  It was nice that it did not get too hot because of that low ceiling of clouds and fog that lingered.  Right at sun down the fog got quite a bit thicker, although as I write this now it has cleared up.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.  We just enjoyed some Chicken Noodle Soup for dinner.  Again glad it wasn't all that hot outside.

Beautious maximus

Daylight Savings Time had us all messed up.  We still got up at 6:00 o'clock as usual, but it took longer to get light out.  We departed this beautiful cove at 7:30 a.m. with our navigational lights on. We wanted to get started as soon as possible.  The reason being that we were told yesterday evening that the mooring field in Fort Myers Beach was full.  If that were true, we were going to have to look at other options, like anchoring out or going to Moss Marina where we have some friends.  With that, we wanted to be in at slack tide because it really rips through the marina.  Last night we looked up slack tide being at about 10:00 a.m.  Now was that already accounting for Daylight Savings Time or not?
Once we were out on the Caloosahatchee River we were again exclaiming how wonderful that anchorage was.  It was quite breezy, coming out of the south, but you would never have guessed it in our little overnight cove.
About the time we were ready to turn onto the main channel, we noticed a boat coming.  It was "Thanks Dad".  So funny how you run into some people over and over.  We said our see you laters once again on the VHF.
When we entered the Gulf, the waves were about two foot on the bow.  Still not as rough as coming into Lake Okeechobee the other day.  Thankfully it was not too long of a ride out there and into Matanzas Pass to Fort Myers Beach.  About the time we came around the bend Richard from "Finally" was texting to ask where we were.  He said he didn't recognize our boat from the front.  Ha! Ha!  Linda on "Q's End" was at the end of the docks waving to us as we passed by Moss Marina.  We decided to cruise through the mooring field and see if we could find an empty mooring ball first. Luckily we found number 44 and a couple others were empty also.  We're going to keep an eye on them for Bill and Patty aboard "Conched Out Too" for their arrival on Tuesday.
Barely tied onto the mooring ball, we got the dinghy down from it's old fashioned way, including hoisting the 110 pound motor down.  It went well.  We headed off to check in.  Then Jill and Richard picked us up in their truck and we headed off to meet Cindy and Jeff from "Gabrielle" for lunch at Duffy's. They have actually sold their sailboat and are now land cruisers in their RV.  They are staying in a State Park in Estero.  They actually came through Murphy late summer last year to visit us.
I first stated that this building could not be Duffy's, that it must be the golf course club house because it was too fancy looking from the outside, but it was.  This one was on a nice setting and actually was where you checked in for golf.  We had a great time and lots of laughs during lunch, then we moved on to check out Cindy and Jeff's RV.  Jill and Richard plan to be land cruisers too in the near future so they wanted to get all the tips, tricks and pointers from Cindy and Jeff since they want to get an RV very similar to theirs.  More laughs and then we had to get going.  Jill and Richard's dog Molly was on board their boat alone, and who knows how long it would take to get back across the bridge to the beach, which is usually a parking lot, but this was the last day of the Shrimp Festival too.
On our way back, we got a text from our friend Bob Bishop aboard "Miss NanSea".  Nancy was back on the boat from the hospital after her stroke last week.  Thank you for prayers.  It seems just her vision was affected.  We so wish that news could have come yesterday when we were so close to them.  To go back and visit now would require the use of someone's vehicle which would not be an issue, it's that traffic as it is still Spring Break.
After our lunch outing we came back towards the boat, stopping at Salty Sams for some ice to load into the cooler.  About that time, Dave from Holiday Inn Harborside in Indian Rocks Beach called to tell us we could have a slip there for a month starting Saturday, March 19.  Funny how things work out.  While in the truck on the way back I called Marker 1 Marina in Dunedin to give them our credit card information to hold a reservation there.  The lady handling that was not in so I was asked to call back tomorrow.  So we will leave here on Wednesday to get up there.  We plan to enjoy our granddaughter Abbie during her Spring Break next week.
Our evening ended with a visit with Linda and Tom from "Q's End" along with Jill and Richard for dinner.