On the Hard

A few days ago we made arrangements with Washington Marine to haul Refugio out of the water and keep her 'on-the-hard' for a few months in their yard. There are many other boats there and most are in the midst of being repaired and/or painted. This completes our summers plan to have her close to home (1 hr. drive) so we can finally fully repair the keel and completely sand and repaint her hull in the spring. There are just a few things we plan to get done over the next few months, one of them being 'winterizing' her, draining tanks, etc and then once we're done she'll be tucked in for the winter. We plan to splash her back in the water after the thaw next year and the spring high waters have receded. We have not decided yet but we may be keeping her in the Cincinnati area for a while or maybe we'll just take her back down to the Land between the lakes area. For now, she's close to home, easy to get to and safe from hurricanes.

Journey's End (& Craigs Creek Bay)

We passed through the last of our 28 locks for this trip with only one minor incident on Friday. We were told to wait along the guide wall on the Kentucky side until the tow pushing 15 was safely in the outside lock, which we did for about ½ hour. As the tow wiggled his barges into the lock we noticed the water receding in our lock (there are two again). Once the tow was safely in his lock we had to wait for two smaller fishing boats to exit ours. I noticed at this particular lock there is an observation deck and it’s loaded with tourists watching the boats lock through. As this is our last lock and we’re feeling confident in our abilities as we saunter in, approach the wall and I’m just about ready to expertly lasso the bollard and guess what – there’s no bollard. Ha Ha on us, it’s an empty chamber. Oops, so Tom has to reposition away from the wall and begin our approach again. When we get to the next bollard along the wall the pin I am to lasso is almost a foot above my head – this is different. I missed the first time, but got it on the second try. And here we thought we had the procedures in these locks down pretty good. Goes to show ya never be too confident and to always be prepared for the unexpected.

Immediately following that lock through the captain of the tow in the other lock radioed us and say’s “go ahead captain” since he exited just ahead of us, but we were looking for our anchorage for the night 1 mile down river and declined. I feel it’s important to mention this since most times we found the tows to be indifferent to us, so thank you “Winchester” for your courtesy.

Our anchorage for the night was behind a small uninhabited island in Craig’s Creek Bay. That was the only thing uninhabited in this bay since there was a marina and a number of homes that lined the banks. Across the river was the Balterra Casino, a very popular casino in these parts. Again, we found ourselves being rocked around by tubers and otherwise fast speedy little boats most of the evening. As dusk approached so did a little Bayliner which dropped their anchor just off our bow. Off in the distance someone was using up the rest of their July 4th fireworks but I still didn’t see them.

Our passage up river that brings us into Cincinnati was just a continuation of our already pleasant trip. The landscape is breathtaking at times and it’s hard to believe this region is as populated as it is. Also the unfortunate aspect of this region is the number of power plants, seems around every corner there are stacks spewing their white vapors into the air.

Cincinnati was a HOOT to boat through. Both local pro stadiums are on the banks of the Ohio and the Reds had just started a ballgame. There were a number of small boats lingering around the area, we assume waiting for that one long ball. I felt very jubilant standing the bow for the last couple of miles as we passed under 7 bridges looking left and right and snapping pictures.

Amanda & Stella joined us at the Marina to help celebrate the completion of our trip which lasted 35 days and took us over 1800 miles on the water.

So close & yet so far

We awoke around 3am to a massive storm exhibiting major lightening and thunder. We both came up top to be sure everything was secure and notice two small fishing boats just coming back in – strange time to be out fishing. We stayed awake for about an hour and watched as the storm blow through. We half expected to be boarded by the military sometime during the night being so close to Fort Knox and us looking so unusual (we know they were watching) but it never happened. Our suspicions were warranted when we saw 3 men in their camouflage fatigues leave in a little motor boat, and 3 different ones return – shift change somewhere…. (am I paranoid?) Do you suppose they give public tours at Fort Knox? (road trip!)

We drove through another little storm, but it never produced much rain. I never realized how much industrial and/or commercial activities takes place on the Ohio around Louisville. We did pass one casino, perhaps another road trip? I've also noticed lots of folks just walking along the banks - no boat in sight so we can only summarize they are "treasure hunters" looking for whatever the latest storm washed ashore.

We waited 1-1/2 hours for a tow to lock through first, pushing 15, and then it was our turn to lock through the older of the two locks at McAlpine Lock & Dam. We rose about 30 feet and out the other side to a great view of downtown Louisville. Nice looking city from the water. It’s strange to be this close to home (1 hour drive by car) and yet so far. There is much traffic on the Ohio at this point, not only barge traffic but lots of personal water craft – all sizes going in all different directions. One larger dinner cruiser and of course the Belle of Louisville which Brian and I had taken a few years ago. Tom and I had reconsidered looking for a haul out yard here, but nothing materialized so we’ll continue on to Cincinnati.

Tonight we’ve docked at the Juniper Beach Docks, behind the fuel dock. The winds have really picked up and even though we are behind the fuel dock we’ll be rocking and rolling most of the night. It’s right on the river so we’ll also get the wakes from any and all boats that go by. There is a young, friendly, good looking gentleman that works here, Clay – he’s quite proficient at assisting any sized boat that pulls up for fuel. His girlfriend, Alex was kind enough to stop off at the store and pick up lots of batteries for my camera. Such a sweet girl! Thank you Alex.

Nature Made

(July 13-16)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENNY!

I’ve discovered a much different river traveling up the Ohio. Gone are all the manmade retentions and the narrow canals, in their place are uprooted and forgotten trees, huge fallen boulders and overgrown muddy river banks that go on for miles. The waters are calmer, deeper and truly greener than I’ve observed before on this trip, and cooler. There are fewer places to stop for the night; marinas or anchorages. One such example would be the Mt. Vernon courtesy dock. After driving for over 10 hours any port begins to look good and we seriously needed a few provisions. Let me tell you, this ‘dock’ was 3 mini-floating docks hooked together with a hand rail running down the middle. It’s really meant for small fishing craft. It was anchored to the shore, so that was good, but for us to tie off and stay here was a treat. Not just for us, but the townsfolk that came to watch, and they did. They watched us dock, tie off (one helped) ride off on our bikes and return, then BBQ on the aft deck. At one point one of the townsfolk dumped his bike and took a running leap off the end of the dock for a swim. An older gentleman pulled up in his truck and unloaded a very anxious and excited dog, Sandy. He threw the ball in the water and in went Sandy; they did this a number of times. We looked forward to sundown when they’d all go home, and most did. Around 10pm the night fisherman appeared; set up chairs right off our bow and fished for several hours. Now keep in mind we are right on the river, so every time a barge went by we got rocked from their wake and the dock moaned and groaned like it was going to fall apart. It was like we were in their front yard and we were just part of the river comings & goings.

The daily river traffic has slowed, only occasionally do we come across a tow pushing barges (all seem to be 15 now), most smaller tug traffic seems to be relocating either full or empty barges from one side of the river to the other. We pass more commercial areas for river transportation and even a dry dock specific for tugs. The river continues to be wide so we’ve had no trouble passing whatever comes our way.

There has to be oodles of heritage wrapped up in this river so each older, smaller town we pass have their own story to tell. More than once we’ve seen towns tell their story via a mural along the flood wall that history itself would tell you was built to protect the town. Unique old buildings and churches peak over these walls or through the trees.

We drove through another torrential rain storm and very thankful for our plastic windows in the pilot house. There are still a few drain holes at the floor level that will need to be plugged once we begin renovations. It will be so nice to have windows with windshield wipers too. I was forced to take my pictures from the less wet aft deck.

We have noted a few places we’d like to see when we make our return trip back to the lake next summer and some that would require a road trip in the motor home. One really cool looking place is a small town called Cave-in-Rock. That’s truly what they have to offer a huge cave in the mountainside at water level. We did not see any place to tie off, but we did pass a ferry right there at the city, so that could be a fun road trip one day.

We did ride past Evansville, IN - it's a BIG city with lots going on around their river front. So take a look at the pictures labeled French Islands if you're curious.

We’ve anchored out for a few nights now, each one offering its own form of entertainment. As I mentioned before there are fewer places to tuck in for the night along the Ohio so it takes planning on our part. Our first spot after our splendid night at Mt. Vernon courtesy docks was the French Islands 55 miles up river. Between the two islands was wonderful, quiet, nice and deep - too deep. After a couple of failed attempts to get our stern anchor to hold we moved up and across the river – not such a pretty spot and much more shallow. Tom actually tossed the anchor on the shore and there it sat in 1 foot of water – but it held, and held nicely all night. It was easy to gather the next morning too. Our next night, after traveling 62 miles, we sounded our way (continually checking the depth) into the Big Poison Creek (great name) found we had a good 2-3 feet under us so we turned around and backed our big selves in just enough to be off the river. We could hear the deep thrumming of the tows as they slowly drove up river and eventually felt their wake as it washed upon the shoreline. Each night I’ve seen many fireflies and this anchorage was especially noisy with critters all night. Today we’ve traveled 57 miles to anchor in Salt River just outside of Fort Knox, KY. Before this stop we were motoring up river when a large (and armed I might add) helicopter flew overhead. I suppose they were checking us out. We anticipated being approached when we anchored, but this stop is a very pleasant surprise. It’s actually inhabited with humans. It’s not fair to say we are anchored, even though the stern anchor is sitting in a few feet of water again, but the bow has been tied off to a tree. This is something we’ve wanted to do the entire trip! Just down the river there are a number of tows working on a RR bridge, across the river is a boat launch and a small campground. We had a young man ride up to the boat on his jet ski – yelling “Hello?” he wanted to know if it was okay for his nephew to practice on the jet ski here rather than in the big river – didn’t want to bother us. This was a first. Of-course we thought just practice driving, but it was more like crazy-man wheelies. It didn’t last very long and they both appeared to be having such a good time.

Today was the first day on the Ohio River we did not have to go through a lock. With each one we’ve an average a lift of 20 feet. Now with more than 50 locks to our credit we’ve each become quite competent at our tasks. Tom maneuvers the boat right along the wall with no scraping and I lasso the bollard on the first try, then we sit back and enjoy the ride.

Ohio River

Today we began the final phase of our journey; we are on the Ohio River. Our lock through at Kentucky Dam went great this morning. No body waiting on either side, and we locked down 55 feet. (I don’t get it; we’re traveling north, but lock down?!?) While in the lock the lockmaster gets a call on the radio saying, “I’ve just released the troops and we’ll have 12 coming through”. It would seem we made it through just in time before the long wait. This lock had a great echo "hellooooooooo". The last 20 mile stretch of the Tennessee River was pretty uneventful, lots of industry. It’s very understandable why Paducah is not ‘pleasure craft friendly’, so many tugs and barges on both sides of the river. It’s a large location for tug dry docks.

Once we hung a right onto the Ohio River we hit a small current and slowed down to 5.8 knots. We passed by where the Cumberland River joins up with the Ohio and slowed down even more, for a bit.

We’ve passed a couple of large barges and seen only a few fishing and motor boats today. The weather was not conducive to great water sports. We did come across a dredger, just before the lock. We traversed the first of 6 locks on the Ohio today, the Smithland Lock. This lock has two channels like the Pickwick. We locked through with a couple of small fishing boats and a gazillion mayflies. We hear they only live a few days, don’t bite and don’t eat – but they do swarm and attach to anything that’s not moving (YUCK). In this lock we rose 22 feet.

We pulled into and tied up at the Golconda Marina just as a storm pounded the river. They wanted to put us into a covered slip, but we were too tall. It’s nice to be docked when there’s a storm brewing; lots of lightening, thunder and rain. The air is fresh and cooler now that it’s passed. Maybe we’ll see the sun tomorrow.

Stormy Weather

Today is the first time this entire trip we've hit really bad weather. Unlike our last trip from Florida we are totally prepared for it. So let the rains come down. Our new pilot house windows did the trick and kept us relatively dry. We did hit some nasty lightening and thunder, but it's nothing like being on the gulf. We did not have to contend with high seas or strong winds. Due to this weather our trip up the Kentucky Lake was not as picturesque as I had hoped, therefore there are not too many photos for ya’ll to look at. I know it’s beautiful and hopefully we’ll get another chance to explore it. There were a number of (crazy) fishermen out wearing their foul weather gear and a few houseboats hankered down in coves. We even passed our largest pushing tow yet, a 3 x 5 (15 barges!) The size alone is staggering, I can’t figure out how they maneuver them around in skinny water. We were told that at the Kentucky Lock the tows have to dismantle to lock through in pieces – apparently this is not a long lock and cannot accommodate too many. This is something to consider for tomorrows lock through, we may have to look more closely at the Barkley Lock. After a short 40 miles we’ve docked at the Kentucky Dam Marina and it’s GREAT to be back in Kentucky. (It’s only a 3 hour drive from home by car) Upon our arrival we had a great assist from Josh to get tied off and help with getting fuel. There are SO many houseboats here, a few larger speedy fishing boats and lots of seados! It’s the weekend so there are lots of folks playing on their docked boats.

We still prefer the quiet solitude of being anchored out.

Paris Landing

We awoke to fog this morning, a first for this trip and it was very quiet and calm. The aft deck was great for tea & coffee this morning. The fog just meant we took it a little slower when we finally did pull out. Just a little up river we came across another dredger doing the same sand retention thing as the one yesterday – different company though. After the fog cleared the day was beautiful, traveling up river continued to be peaceful and uneventful. As we passed under the I40 freeway (driven on-top a few times) we entered the beginnings (or ending depending the direction you’re traveling) of Kentucky Lake. As we crossed where the Duck River fused with the Tennessee River & Kentucky Lake the waters really expanded, and will continue to be wide, like a lake, until we reach the Kentucky Dam, then the waters will become a river again. This area is called Land between the Lakes and is very popular in Tenn. and Kentucky for all outdoors enthusiasts.

We’ve passed a couple of pretty cool ruins today. Former bridges or pieced of them, one being the old L&N (Louisville & Nashville) RR and an abandoned dock just to the south of it.

We’ve arrived at the Paris Landing State Park for a couple of days. We decided we could use a day off from boating. Friday we got some good bike riding in; ‘up the hill’ to the mini-mart and across the highway to the restaurant at the hotel here in the park.

Picture Crazy

(Wed July 8)
I’ve gone nuts taking pictures and I’m taking you with – it’s my daughter Wendy’s fault she loves looking at pictures. I can’t begin to tell you how beautiful these surroundings truly are and around every corner there is something different. Sure just another river bank, or just another house, or just another boat load of people, but I’ve yet to see the same thing twice – well maybe the underside of a bridge or two.

Our evening anchorage at Dry Creek was most pleasant for the first time we did not have to have any air on, just left the windows open and the night’s cool air was sufficient enough.
The lock-gods are still with us today as we approached the Pickwick Lock and Dam – under the jurisdiction of Tennessee Valley Authority – we were told to come on into the “main” chamber. (Turns out they have two; one seemed to be a wee bit smaller than the other). We were not sure what to expect in this chamber, but were told to tie off on the bollard at the 200 foot mark, then we slowly dropped – 55 feet. This was the first time we’ve experienced dropping in the locks, it’s a much nicer ride. While in the lock we were listening to the radio and heard another pleasure craft ask for a lock through and was told it would be up to 2.5 hours wait (UGH!) Turns out on the north side of the lock there was a tow pushing 4 x 3, plus one on the side waiting to enter, they figured it would take him over an hour just to ‘wiggle them in’. We were very lucky to arrive when we did.

Somewhere along the way we passed by the Shiloh National Military Park. I did see some canons on the hill, but did not get very good pictures – but got them nonetheless. I continue to take pictures of the various homesteads and surrounding countryside so be sure to look at my albums when you have a spare hour or two.

The terrain continues to change on an almost daily basis, its mostly cliffs and rocks now with much larger trees and bushes. It's interesting to see just how far some folks will go to have a house in 'just the right spot'.

We passed by a most unusual dredger today, it would appear it sucks the soil off the bottom of the river, separates it from the water and then loads this pristine sand onto a barge. Beside deepending the channel for us, someone is make a nice profit from this soil.

We’ve dropped anchors behind Kelly’s Island tonight which is just a snipped of an island no bigger than a postage stamp north of Perryville, Tenn. I recognize some native plants on the island – river oats and spiderworts, looking good! Should be a quiet night just (JUST) off the river. The water has turned a clear clean green and temps us for a swim each night.

Lock in - Lock out

(Mon July 6th)
We got an early start today knowing we expected to lock through 3 locks. Even though the locks we’ve gone through have been easy, we never know when it’s going to get difficult or the wait long. We’ve been so fortunate with our locking through; we knew it would not last forever. Our first lock through was Amory Lock & Dam with a lift of 30 feet. We were in the chamber, all tied off and the doors began to close, but then stopped and reopened. We waited for 40 minutes for another pleasure craft GemDandy to lock through with us. Even so, 40 minutes did not seem too long to wait. Just a short 5 miles up river was the Glover Wilkins Lock & Dam which we locked through together for a 25 foot lift. I have notice since we’ve been on the TTW that immediately following a lock the river widens and spreads out, almost like a lake. There is evidence of past flooding due to the numerous shrubs and trees sticking out of the water just off the main channel. Then eventually the water pulls back into narrow manmade channels.

Someone’s gone to a lot of time and trouble place birdhouses (with a shield around the base to keep critters off) throughout this area. With so much nature abound I can’t for the life of me figure out why birds would need special houses.

20 miles later and our last lock for the day was Fulton Lock and Dam which we raised 30 feet.

For most of the day the weather was pretty gloomy with threatening rain so we decided to cut our day short, in case it got worse. We docked at Midway Marina in Fulton, We used the Marina courtesy car to go to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant and hit up Walmart again. We even had cable TV so I was able to have a reality TV show fix.

(Tues July 7th)
We had not realized our travels up the TTW would pass so quickly, but here we are with only 3 locks to go before we’ve completed this portion of our trip. The weather is still threatening this morning however there is a promise of getting better as the day goes on.

5 miles up river the lock gods were smiling on us and we entered in John Rankin Lock, tied off on our starboard as we have in the other locks and rose 30 feet. There was some work being done outside the lock by the Corps of Engineers, which reminded me of what the US Snagboat Montgomery might have done if it was still in commission. Another 8 miles up river we entered and locked through the Montgomery lock and dam and rose another 30 feet. With just 6 more miles to go we anxiously looked forward to the grand-daddy of them all the Jamie Whitten lock and dam. Reading about this lock no way gives it justice, and I doubt my pictures will either – because it’s BIG. We entered into this huge empty chamber, walls rising more than 100 feet over our heads, with more exposed concrete wall under the gates than I’ve ever seen. This chamber has bolted doors scattered all over the walls, which none of the other locks had. Again, we were the only vessel in the lock which also emphasized its immense size. We figure it took over 20 minutes to rise the 85 feet to bring us to waters level on the other side.

We exited onto the vast Bay Springs Lake, no sunken trees or flooded areas, this looks like a real lake, even has a little beach area off on one side.

The homes along the river front continue to amaze me; some are enormous while others are mere covers over trailers. Some folks go to a lot of trouble to be sure the land facing the water is pristine and functional while others use the rivers banks for a place to dump their trash.

For 25 miles we tootled along what’s called the Divide Cut. This particular section of the TTW is a canal, a straight line with no stopping anywhere. It opened up into another lake with lots of comings and goings by all sorts of folks playing on and in the water.

When we came upon the Tennessee River we were both surprised at the sheer size of it. There was one tow way down river and dozens of pleasure craft of all shapes and sizes traveling in all different directions at the same time. I was even more amazed by the huge homes up and down the mountainsides. I can’t believe the number of steps they are willing to make just to get down to the water. We slowly made our way across the river into Dry Creek and anchored in about 6 feet of water at the rivers edge. This is one of the most beautiful coves we anchored in yet, so still and quiet. At the mouth of the cove a few pontoon boats full of folks are frolicking in the water and we’ve been joined by two other yachts anchored for the night.

To Aberdeen

It was great to pass by a large field of water lilies as we left the Pirates Marina Cove; I keep looking for any of the frogs I heard last night, but never saw a one. As we re-entered the TTW a tow pushing 6 empties was just exiting the lock so we punched it just to keep ahead of him. We only passed one other tow later on our route today, the Ave Maria.

We pass by more and more homes every day and it always amazes me how many folks live along the River banks; whether it be vacation homes or weekend retreats – and all very different from the other. There are also numerous campgrounds and boat ramps. Take a look at the photo album to see the many varieties I'm talking about.

We managed to get through two locks today, the first was John Stennis Lock and Dam (rise of 27’) and then just 10 miles up the Aberdeen Lock and Dam (also a rise of 27’). We had no issues today with either lock; in fact both times we just drove up, in and locked on through. Just ahead of us in the Aberdeen lock chamber was the Silver Fox which was a houseboat with two other vessels rafted to it on the starboard side. This was how they were traveling up the river!

We’ve been watching the skies and anticipated hitting some rain today which we did. Not sure how the weather is going to behave we’ve decided to check out the Aberdeen Marina just north of the lock. Approaching the marina Tom cruised in at 5 knots which reminded me of riding in the jungle cruise at Disneyland minus the electronic animals. We snaked our way in past so many tree stumps and branches sticking out of the water on both sides. The channel as the clearly marked with green and red poles, it was a very cool approach.

Independence Day

(Sat July 4th)
Today was our shortest day yet, only 27 miles. We decided to dock at the Pirates Marina Cove in Pickensville, Alabama in order to tour the visitor center at the Tom Bevill lock and dam. This center is an antebellum style mansion that sits up on a hill at the mouth of the lock. As a home it would have been extremely impressive, as a visitor center it was “informational” (guess that’s what it was suppose to be) I was hoping for more mid-19th century furnishings, etc. On-the-hard at the same location is the US Snagboat Montgomery (1926) a 180 foot sternwheel steamboat which was retired from service in 1982 and is now a National Historic Landmark. This vessel is basically a working barge with a huge crane on the front. It primarily removed submerged stumps and fallen trees from numerous rivers throughout the south for close to 60 years. It has been restored and is an interesting old vessel to wonder around.

The locks only operate every 2 hours (on the even hour) weekends and holidays. That’s both today so we expected to have a wait. About 1 hour from the lock a larger boat “second wind” passed by us, and then he had to wait at the lock for us to arrive to lock through. Like yesterday the lockmaster radioed for any other vessel on the water. Again we were fortunate to drive in and tie off, then be lifted 27 feet. No waiting, but I’m sure our time will come.

Apparently they set off fireworks last night from the visitor center so we won't be having a display tonight.

TTW

(Fri July 3)
As we lifted our lines ready to move over to the fueling dock to pump out our holding tanks Tom yells “tie us off again I don’t have any port throttle”. Ehgads. So I quickly tie us off and Tom investigates. Turns out it was a simple fix this time, a set screw came loose. So Tom tightened it and we continued on with our plans. Pumped out and headed out.

Since we turned north from Mobile we’ve been on the Black Warrior/Tombigbee River (BWTB) however just north of Demopolis it changed to the Tenn-Tom (Tennessee-Tombigbee) Waterway (TTW) which is a manmade link from the Tennessee River to the Gulf of Mexico. (history lesson) This waterway was completed in 1984 consisting of 11 locks within a 234 miles section of canals/rivers and we expect to rise approx. 340 feet. Cool!


We passed by the White Cliffs of Epes before we entered into the Howell Heflin Lock (our first official lock on the TTW). We also passed under a RR Bridge just as a train crossed it – REALLY LOUD & COOL. There was a cruiser already in the lock waiting on us the “Brown Eyed Girl”. The lock masters will call up and down the river to see if anyone else is in the vicinity for a duel lock through and they did yesterday. Since they were waiting on us the first cruiser probably had to wait for about 30 minutes for the lock through, we just drove on in and tied off. Doesn’t seem fair, but I’m sure we’ll have our turn somewhere up the line. We lifted 37 feet.



We’ve encountered much more civilization today, many more homes along the river’s edge. More folks out playing and having a general good time on and in the water and in spite of them all it was an easy cruising day.

We decided to anchor in Cook Bend cutoff and drove the entire length of the oxbow to check it out. Once we rounded the bend we encountered numerous nice homes, boats, water skiers and tubers. Everyone having a great start to the Fourth of July weekend, and a few beers I think. We found a nice little nitch closer to the mouth of the cutoff and dropped anchors. Again, probably not necessary since it seems there’s a few feet of soft mud holding us in place – but we did anyway just in case. We popped our heads out at around 4am to enjoy a spectacular view of the stars.

Sad Day

I've got sad, sad news. I lost one of my biggest fans today, my Mom. It was not always so, but when it came down to it she was there and loved me, always. For those of you who knew her and had not yet heard of her passing, I'm sorry you have to learn of it this way.

She told me many times she loved this poem and always wished someone would think of her that way when her time came.

I think of you this way Mom and love you dearly

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,

Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum

Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead

Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,

Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest,

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Ruth Guarino (Oct. 28, 1924- July 2, 2009)

My mother enjoyed this blog very much and has shared it with many of her friends. She would want me to continue updating our travels, which I fully intend to do.

Please say a quiet little prayer for her everlasting peace. I love you Mom XXXOOO

Demopolis

(Wed July 1)
Again, we sat so still and quiet last night we probably didn't even need to have two anchors out, but it's always nice to have them - just in case.

It’s been hard to judge just how far we’ll travel in one day and the layout of the river has so much to do with that. It’s not just a straight shot; the river has been very snaky, twisting and turning; still as beautiful as ever. We thought we’d do 70 miles and it would take us 10 hours (statute miles) but it was 63 miles and only 9 hours. We like traveling nautical miles much better.

With each turn we never know what to expect, sometimes it’s just another bend or perhaps it’s an unexpected tug and barge. Not always a pleasant surprise, but Tom deals with them very well. Today we had such an event and in some pretty skinny water too. We actually pulled over to the side (avoiding a potential underwater tree) and waited for the tow to pass, there would not have been enough room for us to pass each other. This particular tug was pushing 8 barges full of coal; 3 on each side and two in the middle. The tug itself was in the middle with barges down each side. We’ve seen a couple of times where the tug is pushing from the side or in the middle. I don’t think this practice would work down in the ICW, but here in the river systems it’s a common occurrence.

We passed by the old Rooster bridge, which is now covered in kudzu. If you do not know the story of the Rooster bridge take a look at this website, it’s amazing to me how this large tug managed to go under and come back up the other side. As we passed by today it was hard to picture the water being up so high back then.

http://www.littleriverbooks.com/cahaba.htm)

Our passage at the Demopolis Lock was another cool one. After passing miles of 'white cliffs' the first thing we noticed was the enormous amount of water being off let from the dam and the numerous smaller water fall areas. This is NOT a recreational area but it certainly was a beautiful site. Each lock we will encounter on the Tenn-Tom waterway will be the same size (110 x 660) but I believe the amount we lift will be different each time, this time it was only 20 feet as we rose to river level on the other side. We were told to tie off on the second bollard in on the starboard side and were the only ones in the lock. Usually we see a lock master or assistant out on the ‘wall’ watching us, but this time we saw no-one only dealt with a voice on the radio.

We arrived at our destination marina here in Demopolis Alabama for the next few days only to find ‘Bout Time” just two slips away. Ron came out and grabbed our lines as we docked, then Charm came out to say welcome & howdy. We joined them for drinks aboard there delightful boat along with their friends and traveling companions on this trip, Sharon & Norris.

For dinner Tom & I went to the local bar & grill “New Orleans” right here at the marina for some yummy good food. Tomorrow we’ll use the courtesy car hit up WalMart and restock for the next few weeks. Probably time to get some laundry done too.

Backwoods

We've been traveling on the rivers with no internet, so I've updated the past 3 days below.

What a Difference a Day Makes

(Tues June 30)

It was a beautiful sunrise as we still sat quietly in the mud this morning contemplating how to get us moving. With some major rocking and rolling Tom managed to get us moving while I weighed the anchor.

Only 16 miles down we came to Coffeeville Lock and Dam the first of 14 on the river systems for us. What a fun experience that was! This lock raised us up 27 feet. They have floating bollards to tie off to. These bollards rise with the water which is pretty cool so you can either hold on or tie off. Since we had such a long way to go we tied off and just kept an eye on it mid-ship. The water level was so low we could see the concrete bottom of the gates at the north end and we’ve never seen that before. It took us over ½ hour to lock through – just us nobody else in the lock. The lock master did ask if we were traveling with anyone else, guess they would have waited for more vessels since locking appears to be a major undertaking on the river. We felt privilege.

Once out of the lock it was evident where all the water is. Everything this close to the dam is so plush and green – trees right at the waters’ edge. Backing up the river banks are some larger mountains, something else we’ve not seen in some time. The terrain is ever changing and growing and so very beautiful. We cut through quiet waters undisturbed all day by any other boats. Perhaps just one or two speedy fishing boats, but that was it.

As we approached our anchorage for the night we noticed a tug sitting right across the access to it. Figures we don’t see one all day until we arrive where we want to anchor. Toms gets on the radio and asks if it’s ok for us to tuck in behind him to anchor – the captain say’s sure go right ahead on in. So Tom did, watching our depth we managed to squeeze by the tug, pass the little public boat launch, turn around and drop anchor – like we’ve been doing this for years! Shortly after we’d settled in another tug pulls up next to the first. It would appear both are doing crew change, gangplank down and off some men go. A truck pulls up and unloads more guys and aboard they all go. Then both tugs leave with fresh crews. So far only one little fishing boat has used the public boat ramp, so we are hopeful it will be a quiet night.

It’s still too warm in these here parts, so we’ll run the generator (a/c) tonight. Once the sun went down, I glanced out the window and noticed lots of twinkling in the trees.

Up a Lazy River

(Mon June 29th - Happy Birthday Pat!)
We turned off the generator in hopes of a cool night breeze, which never materialized so it was a rough night’s sleep for me. Once again we were early risers and managed to get going by 7am. Weighing anchors was really easy this morning, soft mud. Almost immediately we had to pull up and wait for a tow to pass on the Mobile River, and then around the bend we both had to wait for the Jackson RR Bridge to open. After passing through the swing bridge and passing one south bound tow we pulled in front of the one ahead of us and that was it for the day – no more barges, almost. The river was smooth as glass for the most part; and we made a nice cool breeze for ourselves as we traveled up the river at 7 knots. Once we passed the junctures of the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers the scenery totally changed. Gone are the marsh lands and cicadas, now there seems to be ‘real’ river banks of soft sand or mud, trees and birds. I hear more chirping now than I’ve heard in weeks – it’s all very serene.

We passed by the Barry Steam Plant which looks to employ lots of people and there was some major construction going on around the Seaward and Greer Landings. We’d read an upcoming RR bridge is 8’ closed so we were prepared to call it when we noticed it’s like 19’. Duh - then it dawns on us that the river is extremely low and getting more and more so with each passing mile. The banks are becoming more pronounced and the lane in which we are allowed to traverse in is narrower. Our reality was when we attempted to enter “Old Lock #1” our home for the night and we bottomed out at about 50 feet in. Our guide had said ‘feel your way in should be 4-5 feet’. NOT. So the further up river we went, the closer we got to the lock, the more shallow the water became. Makes sense. Since we are on such a crazy switch-back portion of the river system we decided to log our miles real time instead of what’s on paper. Unfortunately that gave us a 12 hour day and traveled 80 miles; a record for us! (made up for the short day yesterday) Without wanting to travel any further we just turned around and backed into the Old Lock #1 and sat quietly in the mud for the night. We did drop anchors just in case, but never moved. There was one tow that passed us shortly after we’d turned off the engines and we asked him to let any other tows know that we were there, he indicated we were in a good spot and should have no trouble.