Slower Pace

Tuesday 1/27/09 Clearwater, Fl. spent most of the day cleaning the boat. Even with the calm seas we had on our crossing the boat managed to get a salt water bath. Greasy is the best way I can describe what it feels like when it gets on the grab rails and fiberglass deck. The good news is it washes off with fresh water and a little elbow grease. Swim suit & T-shirt attired I went to work. Life is good! Pam took care of the inside and got caught up on some laundry although the marina laundry wasn't the best. We both finished in time to clean up and have cocktails on the back deck before our real adventure of the day which was a walk to the Publix supermarket. Sorry Moonbeam, no HY-Vee down here!

Wednesday 1/28/09 After morning coffee we decided to continue our Southerly journey. We pulled out of Clearwater around 10 am and headed out into the Gulf. It wasn't long before Tourist was covered from top to bottom with salt water again! Seas were running 3' from the Southwest with 15 knot winds which caused the spray to blow up and over the boat once in awhile. We motored at about 8 to 10 mph which made for a rolly ride but not a hard jarring ride. (think of a weeble) We came back in the ship channel which leads into Tampa and are now anchored in the Manatee River near Palmetto, Fl. The temperature reportedly was 76 today. The forecast is for rain the next two days and falling temps. I hope it rains hard enough to wash the salt off. Call me lazy!

I've added some pictures of our travels that haven't been posted previously. Enjoy!

Catch Up Time!

Friday 1/23/09 We left Homeport Marina @ 7:10 am to the ignored protests from my shipmate! We ran the GICW passing thru Wolf Bay, Big Lagoon, Pensacola Bay, Santa Rosa Sound, The Narrows, past Fort Walton Beach and into Choctawhatchee Bay where just shy of mile 230 we pulled into Joes' Bayou near Destin, Fl. for our anchorage. Somewhere between Homeport and Pensacola we entered Florida. Just like on the highway they have a sign posted to welcome you! The evening was spent watching the planes come and go from Eglin AFB located across the bay from us. A good days run of 75 miles. I'd tell you what we had for dinner but to the dismay of Pam, I can't remember. I just know I cleaned my plate!

Saturday 1/24/09 Once again to the diminishing protests of Pam we got underway at 7:10 am. A little overcast but getting warmer. Back into Choctawhatchee Bay. (Sounds like that bridge Billy Joe McCallister jumped off many years ago). I've been listening to NOAA for weather and sea condition reports trying to get an idea for a time to make the Gulf crossing. NOAA, the funny guy that sounds like a computer talking, is forecasting good weather and low seas (1 to 2') through Tuesday followed by deteriorating weather and bigger seas (5 to 6') after that. Time to go! We decided to run a little harder today and cover some ground in an attempt to be in position for the crossing before we lose the weather window. We stopped in Panama City at the Municipal Marina for fuel and continued East. (pcmarina.com) Panama City is where Moose and I were for the 4th of July this past summer. We passed through East Bay, Wetappo Creek, past the turn to Port St. Joe, through Searcy Creek, Lake Wimico, Jackson River and turned left into Saul Creek for our overnight anchorage. We made one more turn and came face to face with what looked like an old pirate ship! Keep in mind that we are in an area that gives us no cell service and we haven't seen anyone for 20 miles! We passed him with a watchful eye and anchored 1/2 mile beyond in one of the neatest spots we've been in so far. All you could hear once we shut down were the owls in the trees! Half sunk on the shoreline was an old fishing boat. Probably a casualty of some past hurricane.

We made 116 miles today through some wide open water and some very narrow water and someplace along the way entered the Eastern Time Zone.

Sunday 1/25/09 Sleep in day! Kind of anyway. The sun doesn't come up now until 7:15 am EST thus a later start. That and we only have 40 miles to go to Carrabelle, Fl. to be in position for our Gulf crossing. We passed Apalachicola, through Apalachicola Bay and St. George Sound on our way to Carrabelle. Carrabelle is a neat little fishing town that sometime in the future is worth exploring. For now though we're getting full tanks of fuel and heading back out to Dog Island to position ourselves for an EARLY morning departure. It should take us 11 hours to cover the 170 miles of open water and with limited daylight it's better to come into port while you have daylight and the facilities are still open.

A word about the GICW. Shallow!! Several places we had readings of under 7' with some of 4' when we entered Apalachicola Bay. We never hit bottom and in fact met several barges along the route so I suspect there is a lot of silt on the bottom. Also it's not a place to be asleep at the wheel. Standard ICW procedure is to keep the green markers between you and the sea at all times except when an incoming (from the sea) shipping lane intersects and runs along the same course. Then you switch over to the Red, Right Returning rule so now the greens are on the left! Just like school, a little homework is in order each night to review the next days route.

1/26/09 Monday 3 am! Yes 3 am. Time to go! We upped anchor and picked our way past the markers in East Pass and out into the blue waters of the Gulf. Chartplotter, radar, spotlight, and chamois (to clean the dew off of the isenglass) all came into play while transitting the Pass. Talk about trusting your instruments! It's blacker than the inside of a cow out here! We set our course for Clearwater and throttled up the motors. Our intent was to run at 10 mph until after sun up and then kick it up to around 20 for the remainder of the day. seas were running around 2' causing a comfortable rolling motion of the boat. Almost like a cradle.

The forecast from NOAA was spot on. As the sun came up we had coffee in the midddle of the Gulf with not another boat in sight! At one point we passed though a wall of fog that we could see for miles before we got to it. It lasted 12 minutes and when we popped out on the other side the sun came back and the seas dropped to about 1'. Couldn't be better! As we neared Clearwater we started dodging more and more crab pots. Almost like a mine field! It was a great crossing with the only minor problem coming when the auto helm deciced to take a siesta! Pam noticed the direction indicator was suddenly pointing toward Texas and and decided that we would visit that area on another journey. We made the course correction. Explained to Otto the importance of staying on the job and continued on.

We pulled into the fuel dock at Clearwater Municipal Marina at 2:50 pm. Mission accomplished!Almost forgot ...the sun is shining and it's 70 degrees. Sorry. Just had to add that in.

The Best Laid Plans....

We arrived at Grand Mariner Marina this past Sunday with plans to stay 2 nights and then continue our search for warmer weather. So much for planning. As we came down the Tombigbee and through Mobile we noticed the starboard engine was emitting a plume of white smoke which usually means a coolant leak. Things that immediately come to mind are head gasket or cracked head. Both expensive and time consuming. We arrived at the marina and inquired about someone to come and check out our problem. Much to my surprise they made a call and said he would be here the next day (Monday). Monday came and so did the mechanic who immediately recognized our engines as Cummins M-11s'. A good sign! Over the next 3 days he performed several tests all which indicated there was no leak. Finally he checked the sea water impellar and found that it was shot! There was no indication of this since the temperatures remained normal at all speeds. (see new and old picture of impellars) Since I had only 1 spare we had to get another and of course that took another day to get.

With both new impellars installed we finally departed Grand Mariner at 1 pm Thursday. We crossed the remainder of Mobile Bay seeing dolphins along the way, and entered into the GICW. one of the places we wanted to stop was LuLus restaurant at Homeport Marina (http://www.homeportmarina.net/). We arrived at Homeport around 4;30PM. had a cocktail on the back of the boat and then dined at LuLus' which was very good! By the way, LuLu is the sister of Jimmy Buffet. Tommorrow we continue heading East. It's good to be moving again!

Mobile Scenes

After sitting here flipping channels on the Tv trying to find one that wasn't disecting Michelle Obamas' wardrobe it occurred to me that I could give you something else to look at. Hopefully these scenes of our trip through Mobile will come through. A couple shots show Austal ship building company and the new Navy Littoral Combat Ship sitting in the Mobile River.(http://www.austal.com/) Another of downtown Mobile. Enjoy!

Hang On We're Going for a Ride!

Friday 1/16/09 We left Demopolis, Al. with 3 other boats. Gitana, Pharm A Sea, & Tennessee Rover bound for Bobbys' Fish Camp just above Coffeeville Lock & Dam. The current is running fast and the water is high. We called Demopolis Lock only to find that he was waiting for a barge but that once he was in the chamber we could come in and secure to the bollards. The lock masters like to get everyone in at once so you have to wait for all to arrive. Most of the day was uneventfull until Gitana radioed that he had shut down. In order to check out the problem he dropped his anchor in about 30' of water moving at 4.5 mph. When it caught it snapped the bow pulpit and released the chain and anchor into the river. Fortunately Pharm A Sea was nearby to get them in tow until the problem could be rectified. Running once again Gitana made his way to Bobbys'. Not remembering how big Bobbys' dock was, we went ahead to check it out. Well, Bobbys' is only big enough for one boat and Gitana needed the dock since he had no anchor. We went back upstream to Turkey Creek which is a small stream about 20' wider than our boat. We got the anchor set and had dinner. About 10 o'clock we're watching a movie when the generator shut down. Little did I know that this would be the beginning of Sci-Fi night. The problem was a blockage of the intake hose which comes from the thru hull to the strainer. That fixed we went to bed. About 3 a.m. when I got up for my nightly bathroom run I noticed our position had changed. Start scramblin Pam! We had moved. Looking around the boat we had drifted almost out into the fast moving current of the channel and were up against the bank. All around us and still coming at us was this moving mass of what looks like sod and dead flowers from bank to bank. The pictures show the anchorage when we first got there and the backwater beast that broke our anchor loose. We got the anchor up and backed into the channel to let the beast clear out. Once clear we had no where to go except back into Turkey Creek and set the anchor again so that's what we did. Go to sleep! Well once we laid ack down I noticed that the heater isn't working right. I don't hear water coming out like I should. Back to the bilge and more clearing of clogged thru hulls to get it working. Now back to bed? Wrong! We're moving again with the beast pushiing at us from as far as we could see in front of us with the spotlight. Time to start the day. Lets' have coffee! We pulled anchor and went out into the channel and waited for the sun to come up. It's really neat watching the sun come up surrounded by the floating beast. I've never experienced anything like it!

Saturday 1/17/09 we locked through Coffeeville Lock and dropped 3'. Last summer when we came up with Sandy Beach we were lifted 34'. Quite a difference! The dam is wide open and the water is flowing. The beast is so thick it shows up on our radar screen once we lock through. A few miles down river Gitana has the engine shut down again. Once again Pharm A Sea to the rescue! They take Gitana in tow and continue to tow him all the way to Mobile!

We cut the day short and along with Tennessee Rover anchored about 54 miles north of Mobile. The other two boats went about 15 more miles down river to spend the night. The night was peacefull and provided a good nights sleep. We even had TV reception!

Sunday 1/18/09 arrived with a light mist changing to rain which changed to fog. Before we left I was able to watch a little TV. The only show on other than infomercials was the Mornin Ya'll Show with your host, Peanut Crawley! (http://www.crawleyproductions.com/) Peanut was interviewing the manager of the local RSC Rental center. You just can't beat good TV!

We got under way and dodged logs, barges and ships in the Mobile Ship Channel on our way to the Grand Mariner Marina on Dog River just South of Mobile where we sit now. Well gotta go. I need a good nights sleep so I can get up and listen to the Rick & Bubba Show in the morning.

Where's Al Gore?

44 inches of snow in Dubuque so far this winter and still coming. Record cold. Even down here in the heart of Dixie it's expected to get down into the teens tonight. Thank God Al invented the internet so I can vent my frustrations with him!

Speaking of Dixie we finally cut the dock lines and left Columbus. We've gone though 3 locks so far getting to Demopolis, Al. The second lock near Pickensville, Al. is where we left Sandy Beach this past summer when we had mechanical problems. Pickensville is in the middle of nowhere just off the Ned Beaty memorial highway. They do have the USS Montgomery (www.montgomery.sam.usace.army.mil/) near the lock as well as a beautiful visitor center which resembles an old plantation. Too bad no one can find it. Have you ever heard of Pickensville? The water is above flood stage due to recent heavy rains. Makes going South a bit faster and easier on fuel. Just need to watch out for a few logs. We've been travelling the last two days with 2 other boats. The lockmasters are in touch with each other via computer and will hold the lock until all boats arrive no matter what speeds each are travelling. The river is narrow and it never fails that you meet a barge when you get to a ninety degree corner. Makes your heart flutter a little when all you see is steel and river bank coming at you. The barge captains are all friendly and will tell you to pass on the 1 or the 2 whistle side. That is if you can understand them ya'll.

For awhile today we thought we were approaching the White Cliffs of Dover. Turns out they were the White Cliffs of Epes. Still pretty cool! Oh yeah. We saw this little morsel on the deck of a houseboat 3 slips down the dock from us here in Demopolis. Not quite big enough for a meal!

That's What I Like About the South

One of the boat projects to get done in Columbus was to have the valves adjusted on our generator. I scheduled this through the marina and was told "Smitty" would be here first thing Thursday morning. I got up at 6:30 and prepared for his arrival. After a full pot of coffee and even after Pam got up Smitty was not here. A walk to the marina office and a phone call resulted in "He'll be there right after lunch". More waiting. Another walk to the office. Another phone call. And more BS. Finally at 5 pm T. Caldwell, the marina manager comes down the dock to report that Smitty won't be here today but that he will be here first thing Friday morning. Promise! Well first thing Friday turned out to be 10 am. Smitty was all apologies, very polite, and relatively neat about his work. He performed the task and left. Or at least that's what I thought. About a half hour later I see him over on the next dock talking to another boater. He stayed there, not working, about 45 minutes. I'm sure he was supposed to be somewhere else, first thing! Makes you wonder.

Once Smitty left Pam & I spent the rest of the day washing and cleaning the boat from top to bottom. That is until cocktail hour which came around 3:30 on the dock. Friday was a beautiful day with bright sunshine and 60 degrees. The pictures show a couple of boats on the transient dock. Our dock. And Pams' favorite boat, a 53' Marlow.

We're Back!!

We're back at the boat after a month long orgy of food, family, friends, and more food! Our 750 mile drive back to Columbus had us leaving town Monday at 12:30p.m. (1 last hair appt.) Lunch at Hy Vee. (Wanted to give condolences to Moonbeam on the Vikings loss but he was home sulking!) Being passed on I-55 North of St. Louis by my brother in-law. A stop at White Castle for dinner. An ice storm at Dyersburg, Tn. Heavy rain from Jackson, Tn. to Columbus that lasted all day Tuesday. And a stop at Elvis Presleys' birthplace in Tupelo, Ms. (Sorry no picture, the camera was buried in the trunk!)

We arrived to find the Tenn-Tom at flood levels due to all the recent rain they have had down here. They say it may be a week before it drops back down if there is no more rain. Looks like a few boat projects will get done.

Remember in an earlier post I mentioned the two veterans travelling with us? Well, we left them to safeguard the boat while we were back home. And overall they did just that except for the tell tale signs of a party on board and the pictures from the marina security cameras which you can see. Notice the remnants of their costumes. Allow me to introduce Piglet and Shiny Nose! Piglet is the one with the French Maid head piece and Shiny Nose has his Pirate do-rag on. These photos are obviously from the morning after.

Piglet and Shiny Nose are on loan to us from Aqua Villa. They are veterans because they have been over this route this past summer on board Sandy Beach (aka. Aqua Villa) from Ft. Lauderdale to East Dubuque. They have been on station for over 50 lockages between the 2 trips, each time leaving a little bit of their hide on the lock wall to protect the boat without ever complaining. In fact the only time they show any distress is when it gets cold outside. Being originally from South Florida they have not acclimated themselves to the colder weather. Maybe a hot bath will get them ready for the next leg of the journey or perhaps a little Furr of the Kitty (Hair of the Dog). I'll keep you posted!