Another Italian Captain???

Recently another ship strayed off course and had an accident. This time right here in the middle of our country. The M/V Delta Mariner which carries parts for our space program from Alabama to Florida picked the wrong span to pass under of the Hwy 68/80 bridge over Kentucky Lake. Anyone who has done the loop has passed under this bridge located right next to Kenlake Resort & Marina. A place we stayed with Tourist for a night this past autumn.

Ky. Expedited Bridge Replacement Program



 The bridge was built in 1932 and is slated for replacement in the upcoming years. I'm guessing this will move that project forward slightly.

Fortunately no one was on the span when the impact occurred and little damage was done to the ship. I'm guessing however there may be a couple of crew positions open on the Mariner! Interested parties may apply at Lowestbidder.gov/mariner/capt.

Kenlake Resort Hotel.

More from Glover Bight

1/20/12 Friday     The weather has been fantastic this week with temps in the upper 70's and clear, sunny skies and calm winds. All you need when hanging on the hook. Just to make it a bit better we have been seeing more dolphins in here this time than in our previous stays. It's like being anchored in Sea World.

Of course with good weather come the fair weather boaters. Deckboats cruising through the anchorage nearly running into the anchored boats because the driver is looking back at his passengers and not at what's in front of him. Sportfishermen of all sizes rushing to get out to catch that elusive fish. Often times it looks like a Nascar race with boats four wide trying to squeeze through the narrow channel. Patience is often a forgotten virtue with these guys. Mix in a few kayaks, jet skies, and the week-end sailors and you've got a giant cluster ----. A good time to be sitting still just watching.

By late afternoon the anchorage starts to attract a few boaters looking for a place to spend the night. Needless to say with all the room in Glover Bight a couple sail boats had to drop their anchors right behind us.

Boats are closer than they appear!

By nightfall what breeze we had died down and the water was flat calm making for a restfull night.

Saturday dawned and by 8a.m. the parade had started again and this time they started coming into our space and anchoring. I thought the sail boats were close until a couple of Sea Rays settled in right over our anchor! I wasn't too concerned figuring they were only there for the day. Wrong!

Again, closer than they appear.

After lunch we took a ride in the dinghy around the corner towards Cape Harbour Marina passing through the little lock that separates the salt and fresh water canals.

Cape Harbour Lock.

We explored the Cape Harbour area and just a few of the many canals.

Cape Harbour condos & marina.

That evening we had a visit from Rick & Deb (M/V Broulee) who drove down to make sure we didn't have to drink alone on a Saturday night. Mission accomplished! We managed to suspend all drinking just in time for them to get back to shore and find their car.

By nightfall the anchorage was getting full. The surprising thing was that with the exception of us and a boat from Chicago all the boats were from Cape Coral, just around the corner. One thing that confuses me every time we anchor is the use of those solar powered landscape lights as anchor lights. Really. Don't these boats have enough battery capacity to power one white bulb for 12 hours?

Sunday dawned bright and sunny once again. Another day in paradise. Of course since it's Sunday it's Bloody Mary time!

Cheers!

We chilled for most of the morning before heading back to Legacy in the early afternoon. We had to get in in time to rest up for the evening. No, not the football games. We, along with Rick & Sarah of M/V Private Affair were invited to a Chinese New Year celebration by the owner of Ichiban, a Chinese restaurant that we frequent.
The festivities didn't start until 10 p.m. so I almost needed two naps to make it through the night. Ming and his family put out a huge variety of Sushi and Chinese food along with an open bar for all of the guests. As usual it was all very good. Unfortunately I'm not sure what exactly we ate since it wasn't labeled. The highlight of the night however wasn't the food. It was Karaoke done in Chinese. I wanted to sing but I just couldn't read the lyrics at the bottom of the screen. What a hoot! We managed to stay until 1 a.m. before we left. The party was still going strong, just without us. Happy New Year!

Monday morning in the marina it's work as usual for the boaters. Cleaning, waxing, installing.

Boat projects never end.

Of course all work is suspended once it's time for Docktails!

Docktail Time!
This may be the last blog for awhile. This is the week we get the prices for Tourist's makeover. I fear a heart failure coming on! Bring on the Rum!

Glover Get Together

1/16/12 Monday     Long before Pamster was ready for the day we were greeted by fellow Galenian's, Marc & Michelle McCoy with a request for a group picture. We have all been in Legacy since November but except for a few docktail encounters haven't been able to get together. Now it was time for them to leave before the Legacy vacuum sucked them in for good. Of course Pam politely refused but in conversation found that our friends were only going as far as Glover Bight to stage for heading into the Gulf on Tuesday. Then the light bulb went on.    We have a car! It was quickly decided that we could drive down and meet them at Marker 92 for lunch. So that's what we did.

Marc's Ark escaping the Legacy Vacuum.

Upon our arrival at marker 92 we looked out into the bight and saw Marc's Ark just getting the anchor set. What we didn't expect to see was another boat just ahead of them. Lindonia, who we had last seen back in Mobile.

Marc's Ark with Lindonia in Glover Bight.

We enjoyed a great lunch with the McCoy's and bid them Godspeed as they continued on their Loop adventure.

A long way from Deadmans' Slough.

While having lunch I noticed Lindonia's tender going in the water and Don & Lindy setting off to explore the area. At first I thought they were heading our way but around the corner they went. When they didn't return right away I guessed that they might be at Rumrunner's not far away. Again having wheels enabled us to drive over there and see if my hunch was right. It was. Their jaws dropped as we walked up to their table since they had no idea we were there. We enjoyed a quick get together and made plans to meet them Wednesday evening for dinner on their boat.

1/18/12 Wednesday     Before heading to Glover Bight we met with Viktoriya, a design consultant about giving the interior of Tourist a makeover. Totally confused from looking at fabric samples we set sail around 3:30pm for Glover. I'm sure I'll be suffering from color swatch overload for the next few days as well as price shock once we get the quote!

Shortly after arriving in the bight we secured Tourist and headed over to Lindonia. It was fun getting together again and filling each other in on what has gone on since our last meeting. Lindy made a great spaghetti dinner complemented by Pam's salad and a cheesecake desert. We stayed until 11 drinking and dining and drinking some more. On our way back to Tourist the water was flat calm. About half way there we heard a whoosh sound, then another, and another. We were surrounded by dolphins breaking the surface, exhaling then diving back down. The perfect ending to a great evening with friends.

Dinner on Lindonia.

1/19/12 Thursday     Pam & I awoke in time to watch Lindonia raise their anchor and head off to Stuart where they"ll spend the winter.

Adios Lindonia.

After lunch we took the dinghy into the canals of Cape Coral and checked out the homes and boats along the way. We returned in time for a nap and to watch the dolphins play around the bight area before watching another beautiful sunset.

Sunset @ Glover Bight

Escaping Illinois

With the Holidays behind us it was time to pack up and head South. For a twist we decided to drive Pam's little 2 seater back to Florida. I was a bit apprehensive at first thinking that my butt would be blistered from dragging on the pavement for1400 miles but it proved to be more comfy than I had anticipated. One of the benefits of the small car was not much room to bring more stuff back to Tourist! We had just enough room for a carry on sized bag, a laptop, and of course a few pair of shoes for my Princess!

We pulled out before the sun came up and headed down the road with our first stop for breakfast at the Jubilee Cafe just outside of Peoria. Good food. Reasonable prices and that down home vibe that you can only get in a small town diner.

America at it's finest!

Back on I-74 and around Peoria crossing the Illinois River over the bridge that we anchored below just a few months ago. We had a good view of the Peoria Lock as we crossed over and noticed a towboat just pulling out heading south. The Illinois stays open to navigation year round in spite of the cold winters.

Once at Champaign we turned south on I-57 travelling through some of the most fertile land in North America. Fields so flat and wide that you wonder how they plowed so much land with only a horse drawn plow back in the day.
Along our travels from top to bottom in Illinois we noticed several wind farms dotting the horizon.

Illinois wind farm. No fertilizer required.

Before long we were approaching the bridge over the Ohio River crossing from Illinois into Kentucky.

I-24 Ohio River Bridge

The Ohio was running so high that Lock 52 upstream from the bridge was completely under water allowing the river traffic to pass over the dam.

Across Kentucky passing over the Tennessee River and the Cumberland on our way towards Nashville.

Kentucky Dam from the Tennessee River bridge.

We buzzed through Nashville. Over Monteagle and back down to the Tennessee valley crossing the Nickajack Reservoir upstream from a spot that we anchored in this past fall. A beautiful area but now too dark for pictures. We slipped through Chattanooga and into Dalton, Georgia for our overnight. An easy day of some 800 miles with no butt blisters!

Our second day of travel found us again on the road before daybreak. Our biggest hurdle today would be getting through Atlanta before rush hour. We cruised into the North side on I-75 and picked up the HOV lane and cruised right through downtown without a hitch. Whew! Atlanta can be a bear if you hit it at the wrong time. We continued on to Macon where we stopped at the Must Stop restaurant when travelling in the South. Waffle House! No less than 3 employees said "Good Morning" to us as we entered the door. My breakfast choice? Waffles of course!

It don't get any better!

Once we left Macon it seemed like no time until we entered Florida. Only 330 miles to Ft. Myers. I put the car on auto helm, took a nap and before we knew it we were coming across the Caloosahatchie looking at Legacy Harbour, our winter home.

Legacy Harbour at the base of the High Point Place condos.
No rest for the wicked. One day after arriving at Legacy we joined a small armada and headed down to the mooring field at Ft. Myers Beach for the week-end. We spent a couple of nights hanging on the mooring balls socializing and checking out some of the local establishments.

Tourist on the ball.

Church on the beach.

Sign over the urinal in the Surf Club Bar.

Down Simba!

Duck!!

Into the night we go.

Full to the bursting point we came back to Legacy riding lower in the water than when we left. Once secured at the dock I had to pack a bag in preparation for my flight back to Illinois the next morning.

My flight took me from RSW(Regional Southwest) to ORD(O'Hare) to MLI(Moliine). I arrived in Moline at 12:30pm, walked off the plane. Hit the head and walked into the lobby where I was greeted by my parents who were waiting for me, their chauffeur, to get behind the wheel of their car and drive them to Florida. That's right. I enjoyed our drive down so much that I volunteered to drive them down also! Two days later and we were back in Ft. Myers escaping the blast of cold and snow that hit home the next day.

I think I need a nap!

P.S.     We arrived in Ft. Myers on my moms birthday. Happy Birthday Flower!

Mom & Ryan