Home for the Holidays'

Friday 11/13/09      After arriving in Columbus we proceeded to prepare the boat for a 2 month rest. A thorough cleaning of both interior and exterior including the hull started the proceedings. The marina continued to fill up with boats waiting to see what path Ida would take which made for great boat watching. A couple of our favorites are the 52 Krogen Express (http://www.krogenexpress.com/) and the 57 Marlow Explorer (http://www.marlowexplorer.com/) both on the same dock as us! Can you say salivate! The folks on the Marlow probably think I'm some kind of stalker for as much time as I spent looking at it with my jaw sprung open. It was interesting watching the Marlow which is 18'2" wide enter the 20' wide slip. The owners son controlled the whole process by wireless remote while standing on the side of the bridge deck. The boat never hit the dock once. I guess all the years of playing video games pays off!

On a different note there were a couple of items that I forgot to mention in earlier posts that fall under the strange category. One is pictured above. We found this guy hanging around the dock at Port Charles Marina, St. Charles, Mo. The other is a little more disturbing. While travelling in the vicinity of New Johnsonville, Tn. a male voice came over the VHF radio on channel 14......."Oh booger bear, oh booger bear, talk to me booger bear". That voice was soon joined by another and a discussion about booger bear ensued. Needless to say we sped up a little to put some distance between us & them. I thought I heard banjos in the background!

On Monday 11/9/09 we picked up a rental car from Hertz and loaded our suitcases, 3 bags of Pams' shoes, other assorted goodies, and 2 props. We pulled out of the marina at 12:30 pm and headed north. Our trip home had 2 highlights. One was stopping at Lamberts cafe in Sikeston, Mo. (http://www.throwedrolls.com/). Lamberts is one of those places you must experience at least once in your life. The food is good and plentifull but their claim to fame is their hot rolls which are delivered to your table by a young man throwing them to you no matter where you are seated in the restaurant. A tourist trap for sure but a successful one at that. The line was out the door when we arrived.
The second highlight was staying at a Holiday Inn Express. I'm sure you can tell by my writing how much smarter I am!
A recap of the first leg of our trip south goes as follows; We travelled 979.7 miles burning 800 gallons of fuel for a little over 1 mpg. The engines ran for 89 hours and the generator for 41. We spent 13 days of actual travel and 17 days over all to get to Columbus.
We will be in Illinois until early January when we plan to return to Columbus and continue the journey south. Until then Happy Holidays!

Leg 1 Complete. We're in Columbus, Ms.

Tuesday 11/3/09     Another beautiful day! So nice that we decided to take a down day at Grand Harbor. Of course Pam had to mess that up by doing laundry!
Since we've been travelling on the Tennessee we have run into several "Loopers". For those of you who don't know, a looper is a member of Americas' Great Loop Cruising Association and can be identified by the AGLCA burgee flying on their boat. The loop is a water route up the East coast, the Hudson River, Erie Canal, Great Lakes or other river routes through Canada, the Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Tombigbee rivers to Mobile and then to Florida and back to your starting point. You can Google it if you want more info. Loopers come in boats of all shapes and sizes which makes for great boat watching. Most are competent boat handlers and some are not! Personally most of them drive me crazy with the lack of understanding they have about river travel. Oh well! They're having fun and that's what matters.

One different vessel we saw come through Grand Harbor was the C.G. Richter, an old ferry boat that ran between Door County and Washington Island in Wisconsin. Supposedly it was enroute to the Virgin Islands for new employment.

Our day concluded with a trip to the Catfish Hotel for a delicious catfish dinner on the banks of the Tennessee.

Wednesday 11/4/09     The day started with coffee at Grand Harbor with Chip Lucas (harbormaster) and Fred Meyers a noted author of many cruising guides who slips his boat at Grand Harbor. Interesting conversation with the usual BS tossed in. After coffee and once the fog lifted we headed down the Tenn'Tom Waterway, Columbus bound.

We passed through the Jamie Whitten Lock and dropped 75'. Just a word of caution when passing through the Whitten lock. Wear your raincoat! Look closely at the picture and you can see the water streaming in from the sidewalls. We did three more locks that dropped us another 90' and anchored for the night near Smithville, Ms. in time to have cocktails and a cigar before the sun went down.
Thursday 11/5/09     Hoping to wake up to fog so we could have a lazy morning, Mother Nature thwarted us once again. Another clear sunny morning so off we go. A quick call to the Wilkins lock and 15 minutes later we were going in the chamber. Today though we would not be alone. Three loopers who had been staying at the nearby Smithville Marina came out in time to lock down with us. Not a big deal and all were competent boat handlers but it sealed our fate as to what speed we would be travelling  for the day since the locks are close together and the lock masters will wait for all to arrive from the previous lock even if your boat runs three times faster than the others. That's OK. We didn't have far to go anyway.
We went through three more locks and dropped another 80'. Following the last lock Tourist was able to get up and run for a bit to burn off some carbon build up in the engines. We arrived at Columbus Marina shortly before noon to find that they were filling up fast due to Tropical Storm Ida that is threatening the Gulf Coast. Demopolis yacht Basin in Demopolis, Al. has sent word to Columbus and the other marinas to the north not to send any more boats south since they have no more room for any transients. Demopolis is the last marina before Mobile.

Moving Again!

Monday 11/2/09     Sitting at anchor behind Wolf Island at mm 193.5 on the Tennessee River waiting for the steam to clear off the water. It appears that our timing, although not great for avoiding high water on the Mississippi was in retrospect pretty good. I just checked the daily river stages and found that St. Louis is above flood stage. Cape Girardeau is now at 39'. Flood stage is 32' and when we came through it was at 29'. Glad to be out of that mess. Further more we would be stuck somewhere since the river is closed to recreational vessels at St. Louis until the it recedes.

We ended up staying longer at Green Turtle Bay than we expected since the forecast for this past Friday was crap. Heavy rain and wind. For once the weather gurus hit it on the nose. About noon the stuff hit the fan and made it a very miserable day for anyone on the water. If you look at the picture you can see the jibsail unfurling on one of the sail boats due to the wind.

Saturday 10/31/09     Dawn came with cloudy skies but no rain. We cast off the lines and headed out into Lake Barkley for a short cruise to the canal that connects Lake Barkley (Cumberland River) with Kentucky Lake (Tennessee River). The day progressively got better as we travelled with sunshine popping through after noon! At one point we passed an old loading dock that had a couple of guys sitting on it fishing. Not that odd except that we couldn't see a boat anywhere. Look close at the picture and you'll see the boys sitting towards the right rear.

We travelled 100 miles and anchored behind Densons Island for the night to a full moon. Trick or Treat!

Sunday 11/1/09     Dawned with heavy fog. so thick that we couldn't see either shoreline. Ready to go at 7am but as it is with boat travel, Mother Nature has the last word. About 8:30am the fog cleared and as we were getting ready to raise the anchor we spotted nine deer walking along the river bank. We watched as they walked along trying to find a way up the steep bank. After walking in and out of the water they decided to turn around and go back the way they came. Smart move since the bank only got steeper had they kept going.

Travel today was easy. Bright warm sun, (I was in shorts & t-shirt) passed 2 boats and 1 barge and arrived at Wolf Island in time to relax before dinner. A good day!

Rainy Nights in Kentucky

Thursday 10/29/09     Still sitting at Green Turtle Bay (http://www.greenturtlebay.com/) enjoying the rain. According to the local news it has been the wettest October on record for this area with more still to come. We just might stay another night and enjoy the Commonwealth Yacht Club.....Again!
Fortunately our slip is right next to the marina office with a great view of the fuel dock and harbor which has provided quite a bit of entertainment. The most unfortunate incident came yesterday when a woman tried pulling into the fuel dock (her husband was on the dock) and misjudged the wind and knocked the diesel pump over with the bow pulpit of the boat! Needless to say, the fuel business at GTB came to a halt for a few hours until the pump could be checked out and put back upright. Fortunately there wasn't any spillage of fuel into the water. Estimated cost of repair $4,000.00.

Most of the other entertainment is provided by the variety of boats coming and going from this marina. A couple that caught my eye were a 53' Selene Ocean Trawler named "MoonBeam" which is doing the Great Loop and the other was a boat that we saw at Legacy Harbor last winter. A 55' Fleming named "Brightwater" that just happens to be for sale. Did I mention that the 55 Fleming (pictured above) is one of our favorite boats!
The real excitement came when we took the courtesy van to Wal Mart in Paducah. Always a cultural experience. It just doesn't get any better!

209 Miles in Two Days

Monday 10/26/09     We pulled away from the Kaskaskia Lock around 8am and entered the fast moving, debris filled channel of the Mississippi. Our destination, the Little River Diversion Canal just below Cape Girardeau, Mo. One of only a couple spots between Alton, Il. and Kentucky Lake to get out of the swift moving currents. Once again as it was in June when we came North, the river is only a couple feet below flood stage in Cape Girardeau. The travel was uneventfull but tense due to the amount of debris and we happily pulled off the channel at around 1:30pm to anchor for the evening. Cocktails, cigar, and a nap consumed the rest of the afternoon. Fortunately I avoided playing cribbage, which Pam seems to think I need to learn. AGAIN!
Tuesday 10/27/09     Up early and underway. I expected to hit the channel and find even more debris than before since the river is still rising. Even the Diversion Canal had quite a bit of junk floating down it into the channel. Much to my delight we found very little compared to the previous days. Just to keep us on our toes though it was raining and somewhat foggy limiting visibility to less than a mile. Thank God for radar! The front of a barge doesn't exactly jump out at you because of it's bright colors (rusty brown), but the radar picks them up before the eye can see them.

We continued down river passing this guy about 4 miles above the junction of the Mississippi and the Ohio. If you've ever been through this area on the water you know it is very busy with several horseshoe bends and plenty of current. Again. NUTS!

The junction of the two rivers provided plenty of current and making the turn was cause for keeping a good grip on the wheel and enjoying the ride. Once on the Ohio we passed by Cairo, Il., a very busy port for barge traffic and headed upstream. Our luck was with us as we were able to pass over Locks 53 and 52 (pictured) and continue on to the Cumberland River.

Still raining, we arrived at Barkley Lock and Pam had to get on her foulies and head out on deck to hang fenders and lasso the bollard once in the lock. What a trooper! We rose about 40' and exited the chamber. 10 minutes later we pulled into Green Turtle Bay where we will spend the next couple of days and dry out.

Foster Brooks

Saturday 10/24/09 & Sunday 10/25/09     Some of you may remember Foster Brooks, a comedian from some years back who became famous for his portrayal of a drunkard. For the past few days that's what I've felt like driving the boat. Weaving and bobbing like a drunk, around floating chunks of wood that litter the channel. It's been impossible to keep a straight course for more than 100 feet without jerking the wheel one way or another. The river is still rising which means the debris will keep on coming. The good news is that at 870 rpms which normally pushes us at 10 to 10.5 mph at home, we are now kicking it along at 14.5 to 15 mph. Pam had to put a hat on to keep her hair from being pulled out by the wind!

We've stayed near Louisiana, Mo. the other night and passed through their train bridge the next morning. A neat old structure as so many of them are at 100 plus years of age.

Further down river we passed this grouping of towboats without barges headed North. One pushing two.

The colors have been fantastic though somewhat hard to portray in a photo since most days have been raining or overcast..

This picture of the Alton bridge gives an idea of the river debris if you look close. All you see is the big stuff. The smaller prop benders don't show up in the photo.

Between Alton and St. Louis is a man made canal called the Chain of Rocks Canal, built to provide a safe passage for the river traffic around a series of rapids in the river. The sign at the upper entrance to the canal leaves little doubt as to which way to go. Even I can figure this one out!

We passed through St. Louis. Stopped at Hoppies' for fuel.(the last place for fuel for 250 miles!) and continued on to Kaskaskia Lock just off the Mississippi at mm 117.3 on the Kaskaskia River. They have a floating lock wall that people like us can tie to for the night, free of charge! The best part is it is out of the wicked current of the main channel which provides for a more restfull night of sleep. zzzz

Rainy River

Thursday 10/22/09 & Friday 10/23/09     Rain, Rain, Rain! Both Thursday & Friday we travelled in rain. Not bad travelling except when it's time to lock thru. Get out the foulies, hang the fenders, and hold onto the lines. We caught a break on Friday however when 3 out of 4 locks let us float in the chamber while the water went down which of course means we get to stay inside & dry!

Of course all the rain causes everything sitting along a stream bank to flow out into the main channel of the river creating an obstacle course for Tourist. At one point below Lock 20 I swear you could walk across the river on the debris, it was so thick.

One of the interesting sights we passed on Thursday was the remains of the Kiethsburg, Illinois RR Bridge. I can remember watching the news back in the early '80s and seeing them explode a section of the bridge and drop it into the river. Last night I learned the rest of that story. It seems the original bridge was built in the 1880's and later replaced with a new bridge in 1909. Over the years it was owned by several different railroads the last being the C & NW which closed the line in 1971. On June 30, 1981 some of the local kids decided that the bridge would be a good spot to set off their fireworks. Well one of the shells landed in the bridge tenders shack catching it on fire. The fire in the shack started the grease on the bridge mechanism on fire which caused the lift span to fail and drop into the river blocking the main channel and stopping navigation. The section I saw on the news was the section next to the fallen section which was removed to make a wider navigation channel.

Shortly before we arrived at our Friday night destination we passed this guy in a kayak with sail and outrigger all bundled up against the elements. Can you say NUTS!

What Next!

Wednesday 10/21/09      Our travels today took us south through Clinton, Ia., the Quad Cities, and ended up anchoring just below Lock #16 at Muscatine, Ia. A bit of excitement at Lock #13 (which caused a delay for us) when the mule broke and nearly fell into the river. No it's not a four legged mule. A mule is a lare cleat on rollers mounted on a piece of rail that runs along the wall leading into each lock chamber. It's function is to pull the first section of barges out of the chamber so that the water can be raised or lowered to enable the second section and the towboat to enter the chamber and be brought to the same level as the first section. Many commercial tows on the Upper Mississippi are nearly 1200 feet long while the lock chambers are only 600 feet in length thus the need to lock through in sections. Once they fished the broken mule back up on the wall the towboat cleared out and in we went. Sorry. No pictures.

Pam found a new form of entertainment although in this case it's seasonal. Here in the upper Midwest come harvest time we are invaded by Asian Beetles which look just like a Lady Bug. The big difference is that when crushed they emit a putrid odor, leave an orange stain, and they occasionally pinch you. They love the heat of the sun such as is magnified by the eisenglass of our flybridge. Anyway Pam decided to take an almost empty water bottle and scrape them into it and then quickly put the cap back on. By the end of the day she had quite a collection. Every so often she would shake the bottle and rattle the dead bugs around inside it. I'm not sure if it was a warning to the bugs not to come around her or if it had a hidden meaning for me? Only time will tell. Meanwhile I'm sleeping with one eye open!

Headin' South

Tuesday 10/20/09     53 degrees and overcast. Not a bad day to start the first leg of our journey south.

We pulled out of MidTown Marina around 8:30 am and headed downstream. Only 579 miles until the Ohio!

The first point of interest we passed was Julien Dubuque's Grave. A stone tower on a bluff overlooking the river just south of Dubuque. In 1788 Julien Dubuque started the settlement which later bore his name. (http://www.cityofdubuque.org/) In addition to the historical significance of the site it has also been a favorite parking spot for the young and restless of the Dubuque area. At least that's what Pam told me!

Our travel continued through Lock #12 at Bellevue, Iowa and on to Savanna, Illinois. Somewhere between the two we met the riverboat Twilight (http://www.riverboattwilight.com/) a passenger vessel that travels between LeClaire and Dubuque, Iowa. An attractive boat to look at but one of the hardest boats on the river to pass in a courteous fashion due to its' speed of travel.

We also spotted several eagles along the way today like this guy keeping vigil over the channel.

Our day concluded at Island City Harbor in Sabula, Iowa where we topped off the fuel tanks and switched props (because of a vibration) which of course required pulling the boat out of the water. Once back in the water we took advantage of the mild weather by having cocktails on the dock.

What are We Doing in Illinois?

This past Saturday it snowed and got down to 24 degrees! Brrrrr! Time to head south.

Actually we have been busy getting Tourist ready for the journey back to Florida. Oil change, fuel filters, sea water impellers, Haul out for bottom cleaning and new zincs. You get the picture. Meanwhile Pam has been fretting over what shoes to take and which to leave home. As for me flip flops and deck shoes should suffice.

The plan is to head out on or near the 20th and work our way to Columbus, Ms. where we will leave the boat until the first week of January. Why Columbus? Because they have an airport. It's only an 800 mile drive from home. They have covered slips for the boat. The temps are usually above freezing. And because Tourist will be sitting in fresh water instead of salt water. If it were up to me we'd keep going straight to Florida and let the relatives come to us for the Holidays. What's not to like about warm weather?

Minnie

This post is written to celebrate the life of our dog Minnie who fell asleep 9/18/09 at the age of 16.

Her original owners dropped her off at the Humane Shelter when she was only 9 months old. She was discovered there by my father and youngest son Addam. At the time I wasn't in favor of a pet of any species. Until they brought her home. Once I saw her face and learned what a personality she had there was no way she was going anywhere. Pam and I always said "everybody loves Minnie". Family would visit the house under the guise of wanting to see us but they would always spend as much time with her.

Her looks defied her age. Always at the vets they would look twice at their charts to see how old she was and comment that she didn't look her age. She had the softest fur coat of any dog I've ever touched and used that to her advantage to get everyone to pet her. Needless to say she was a people dog. One fault she(we) had was that she loved table scraps and wouldn't leave the kitchen until she knew every crumb was either disposed of or given to her. One of her favorites was Happy Joe's Pizza which in the picture above you can see her cleaning the box on her birthday a couple years ago.

Minnie was always one to join in whenever we had company as evidenced by the photo taken at a small gathering of friends at our house a few years back. I can't explain the picture but alcohol may have been involved (except Minnie).

She wasn't a boat dog. The only time she spent on the boat was at the dock. Once the engines were started she would tremble and shake and the heat of the sun on her black fur would send her looking for shade. She loved her home and was content to spend all of her time there. She was truly the Queen of the house and had us wrapped around her paws. Needless to say we'll miss her but she'll always hold a place in our hearts.

Labor Day

Saturday thru Monday 9/5/09 - 9/7/09 Once again we awoke to thick fog over the river. But by 9:30 the sun popped out and started warming things up for a beautiful holiday week-end. Garnet Lake is just off the main channel of the Mississippi at mm632 near Prairie Du Chien, Wi. The area is a very popular spot for the outdoors man. So much so that a few years back Cabella's built a large store on the north end of town. It's not uncommon to hear gunshots in the distance while anchored at Garnet. Not from gang warfare. Just from normal people having target practice or hunting whatever may be in season at the time.

By noon the day boaters started coming into the lake. Houseboats, ski boats, jet skis, fishing boats, pretty much anything that will float and carry a person showed up for the day. As always very entertaining! We were expecting a few other boats from home to make the trip to Garnet and we weren't disappointed. The first to arrive was Eirean (Erin) followed later in the day by Vagabond and then Perseverance. The five boats made an impressive sight and received more than a few looks as well as being the focal point of several pictures from passing boats.

We spent daytime in the water in our "Princess Chairs" floating around the lake and evenings dining like royalty. There may have been a little alcohol mixed in there also! On Monday we took a raft ride through the back waters and at one point we had to row and push our way through the lillys. The picture shows Pam calling out the rowing cadence to Nancy and myself! Actually Pam had rowed just before the picture was taken. (Had to mention that!) Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and so it was for this gathering of friends. By 1:30pm we were pulling anchors and heading down stream to our various marinas in the Dubuque area. Travel was made easier because there was no tow traffic at either Lock 10 or Lock 11. Something that rarely happens. We all arrived back safe and sound with memories of a typical river trip and a great week-end gathering of friends.

10th Anniversary

Friday 9/4/09 Once again the day started with dense fog over the river valley. Nothing to do but sit back and enjoy the morning coffee while peering into the fog. Once Pam got up we exchanged cards for our 10th anniversary of wedded bliss! As usual my card to her was short and to the point while hers was just short of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Pretty much the same way we each tell a story! Once the fog cleared and we left the pit and headed down stream. First hurdle of the day was the dreaded Lock #8 where Aqua Villa hit the submerged object on the way up river. This time was uneventful and upon exit of the lock we spotted a tree sticking just 6" out of the water in the proximity of where AV felt the impact. A high speed impact could have holed the bottom or tore off the running gear. If there was luck in this unfortunate situation AV had it. It could have been a lot worse.

We continued on to Lansing, Iowa where we stopped to top off the fuel tanks and take on fresh water. From there we passed through Lock #9 and travelled on to Garnet Lake where we set up camp for the holiday week-end. The day ended with Aqua Villa hosting Pam & myself for a candle light dinner to celebrate our anniversary. The perfect ending to a good day! Thanks AV!

Can You say Trempealeau?

Thursday 9/3/09 Once again we woke up to dense fog. This time in Trempealeau, Wi. at Sunset Bay Marina. We had made our way through locks 7 & 6 yesterday after getting Aqua Villa back in the water. The original plan was to try and anchor behind an island somewhere but each cut that looked good either had a closing dam across it or was too shallow for our boats to traverse. Thus the overnight in Sunset Bay. We used this opportunity to walk into the town of Trempealeau and have lunch at the Trempealeau Hotel (http://www.trempealeauhotel.com/). Of course I had to have one of their famous walnut burgers. As close to Ewell Gibbons as I'll get! We have been here before for their concert series which takes place outdoors looking over the Mississippi. We've seen The Little River Band twice as well as Marcia Ball at this venue. Bring a lawn chair and have a walnut ball while listening to the music!

After lunch we decided that this was as far North as we will get this trip and still have a leisurely journey instead of just a boat ride. We left the marina and locked back down through locks #6 & 7 to end up at the sand pit near Brownsville, Mn. Just in time for cocktail hour.

Things That Go Bump

Monday 8/31/09 Morning started with a dense layer of fog covering the marina and surrounding river valley. So thick that you couldn't see across the fairway to the next row of slips. By 9 am it started to lift and at 9:30 the mechanics came to take Aqua Villa to the travel lift for haul out. Once out of the water the initial inspection showed little evidence of an impact. No curled flukes of the prop. No big bend in the shaft. Struts still in place. Then they turned the shaft and noticed it looked slightly out of round and had been pulled back about 1/4". After blocking the boat to make it stable they got to work pulling the props and shafts. By noon the props were on there way to Minneapolis to be checked and the shafts went to a local shop in La Crosse. Now we wait. You never know how long repairs will take. It always seems that the shops urgency meter never goes as high as yours. This turned out not to be the case here at North Bay. They stayed in touch with Moose throughout the process. By 5 pm we knew that the starboard prop had all four blades curled just a bit. By 10 am Tuesday we knew that the starboard shaft was bent, straightened and on it's way back. By noon the props were done and heading back to La Crosse. Amazing!

Once the shafts arrived they started putting them back in place and found that the engine/transmission had also moved a tiny bit thus goofing up the alignment. They worked on the alignment and got it back to an acceptable tolerance and by the end of the day the props were back.

Wednesday 9/2/09 Morning came along with the fog once again but by 9:30 am had lifted. The call came that they were ready to splash Aqua Villa. Again, Amazing! By 1 pm we were back on our way.

Just a note about the staff and service at North Bay. Fantastic! Friendly. Accommodating. Neat. Prompt. Informative. I would not hesitate to take my own boat there for repair work. The shop guys are even required to wear the little hospital booties on their feet when working in or on the boat. That's how it should be but isn't always the case!