Sunday 5/24/09 At anchor in Duncan Bay. We awoke to the sound of rain drops on the deck. A nice gentle rain with very little wind. Rather soothing compared to the storm we ran through on the Tombigbee. After a leisurely start to the day I decided to replace a couple of bilge pumps that have been acting up. The project went surprisingly smooth for a boat project. For once I had all the tools and parts required to complete the job the first time. The only down side to it was the leftover salt residue on the old pumps caused by cleaning the sea strainer on the AC intake which is located directly above the pumps. Sticky and slimy is the best way to describe how it feels. The remainder of the day we did small boat chores, watched the boats leave Duncan Bay one by one, and watched the fishermen fish in the rain which was heavy at times. Are they nuts or what!?!
Monday 5/25/09 Memorial Day! Thanks to all who help keep us safe and free.
The other day I had called Green Turtle Bay Marina where we had stayed on the way through way back when to see about a slip for a couple of weeks. We've been watching the river levels for over a week now and the Mississippi between St. Louis and Cairo, Illinois is still running above flood stage and is in fact closed to pleasure craft at this time. The projection doesn't show it getting back into a reasonable depth for a couple more weeks. Our whole time frame has been directed at being home by June 9 to attend Grandson Drew's 8th grade graduation. Had the river cooperated that wouldn't have been a problem since we have about 8 or 9 days travel from GTB. But that's life on the water. We'll leave the boat at GTB and get a rental car and drive home, attend graduation and then come back to complete the journey home. So that's the plan.
Now that we have a plan in place we pulled anchor and headed in to Green Turtle Bay to top off the fuel tanks and get into our slip. Once we arrived at GTB we found that unlike our November stays we were not alone. Seems that there are about 7 other boats here tied up by the high water on the Ole Miss. I even accused Bill Gary, the harbor master of having some kind of pull with the weather Gods to help his business. A couple of the boats have already been here for 2 weeks! We'll do boat chores and of course laundry before heading up the road on Thursday.
Last night we had dinner at the Commonwealth Yacht Club here at Green Turtle Bay. Very good meal and the interesting fact about this area is that it's dry! Like any law there are ways around it. You simply bring your own bottle, give it to the bartender, and then pay for the set up. There was a friendly group of patrons at the bar that reminded me of our boating friends at home. This became crystal clear when a discussion about pumping out dominated the bar area conversation!
Today we picked up the rental car (PT Cruiser) in Paducah and loaded it with some of the winter clothing that we shouldn't need any longer. Tomorrow morning we'll hit the road back to East Dubuque.
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