Two,too and to. And 35/7=5

Day 31 Wednesday 8/29

Spent 4 nights at Dog River Marina doing stuff like getting emergency beacons and charts of the gulf coast of Florida. Also, included Mark getting the mast ready to be “stepped”. Today it went up and it is an obscene height in my opinion!  See pic ....we are now next door at Turner Marine and will spend two more nights so Mark can put all he stuff (boom, etc.) back on.

Talked Mark into going to restaurant on Sunday due to the fact that I could hear music from across the river!  Fun place with pretty good food and a live band.  We even got to dance a West Coast Swing.  Of course, again we were the first ones but then some people got up!  A son of a band member was wandering around waiting for his daddy and the first song after their first break was Mustang Sally and that darling 7 year old took the place of the adult drummer and was awesome!

Thinking of school with my title so here goes.  Two water moccasins are too many to see!  No lie, thank goodness Mark was paying attention because when he went back to the mast prepping area after lunch he literally almost stumbled over it.  He tried to shush it away but unlike non venomous snakes this one curled up as if to strike.  So, Mark bashed it with a longer board and then cut its head off with a shovel....

As for the math problem, you probably got it...35 days divided by 7 (days in a week) =5 weeks!

But again, who’s counting 😉

Mobile and Manhattan

What’s on the other side of the lock

Day 31 I think,  Saturday, 8/25/18

Wow, so much to say but will try to keep it short.  We are now anchored at Dog River Marina which is half way down Mobile Bay. We will stay here 2 nights then move to Turner Marine on Monday to have our mast put up again. We will probably stay there two nights also while Mark preps the mast, etc. I am just happy that I get to sleep in air conditioning for 4 nights!!

Turner Marine is where our mast is but they closed up at 4pm today, Saturday, and won’t open up until 8 am on Monday!  Ergo, we are next door where they are open every day! The marina guy, Eddie, is awesome and procured us a covered slip where as I write i am looking at a torrential rain on boats that are NOT in a covered slip. 🤣


Yesterday was a 10 1/2 hour day to our anchorage.  We realized that when we know we are going to anchor we just keeep motoring until the sun is closer to the horizon! Less time to sweat!  We actually get noticeably giddy when we know we will be hooking up to power to run our AC.

There are many interesting sights on the river.  We can see by the landscapes that we are moving south.  Today in the bay we had loads of dolphins which of course are hard to capture on a phone camera.  We also motored right by a water moccasin floating in the river a few days back.  We had never seen one and it was scary gross.  So long, and just looked at us as we drove by.  Mark wanted to turn around and get a pic but I said no, I could only imagine it lunging toward us,etc.

Now we are done with river ways and need to be concerned with tides!  We are beginning a new chapter to our adventure, traversing the Gulf of Mexico.

Now to the meaning of the title....We are in  Mobile and enjoying our celebratory Manhattans!

Now to the pics, (hopefully)

White sand hills.

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Aqui Estamos

Day 29 August 23, Thursday

Pretty cool creek to anchor in

Okay, I am breathing deeply because I just accidentally deleted stuff and could not retrieve!

The above pic is one of the cool but slightly scary anchorages we have found to cstay the night. There are lots of little streams and coves to find when there isn’t a marina nearby. See pic of Mark enjoying pool time in a marina.

We are now at Bobbys Fish Camp on the lower Tombigbee River. This is the last place to fuel up before hitting Mobile Bay.  They are also famous for their catfish dinners and by far the best hush puppies I’ve ever eaten.

An after dinner rock

Here We Are

Before I lose this again, wanted to mention the meaning of the title!  Aqui Estamos means Here We Are which of course is the name of our boat also the blue dot on the above google earth clip and related to what we do every morning! We are learning Spanish from a CD collection. Wish us well!

Now maybe I’ll be able to post more pics...

Oranges, Onions and Limes. Oh my!

Day 25 in the books!

On day 23 (8/17, Friday) we ended up slipping into Bay Springs Marina at 3:30 which gave us a little time to socialize with the local marina population. What a nice crew! After showering we feasted on a Mexican dinner utilizing our first canned meat dinner!  Not bad!  The Marina’s address states New Site, Miss. but we’re to,d it was only the size of a four way stop.

Day 24 was annoying in that we were hoping to go thru 4 locks and travel down to a free dock called Blue Bluffs looking up at, you guessed it, the blue bluffs.  Our first lock was near so when we asked permission to lock thru. We thought we’d get it right away!  But, the lock master (and believe me they are the masters of our current universe) told us we had to wait for this tow behind us.  Well we could barely see the tow because it was so far away and we felt we could have been locked thru but no, we had to wait.  2 hours actually before we could get in.  Then, the next lock was only 5 miles so we thought maybe we could pass and get in first but again  no. This lockmaster was at least nice and apologetic because not only did we wait for the tow right by us but we had to wait for a northbound one also. (Almost 3 hours wait time).  We limped in to our next marina after only traveling 18 miles!

However, I was treated to a Pizza Hut dinner and a trip to WALMART! (Date night)

Holding on

Pushing us off

**see pics of my duties at each lock.  1. I have to lasso a bollard (a big metal thing that floats with us up or down). 2. I have to hold on to it.  3. When instructed by my Captain, I unlasso and shove us off. (Who needs but exercises?)

I’ve lassoed the bollard

Now to the meaning of the title...I read how to store food for optimal times. Citrus needs to be wrapped individually in foil. Keep the onions away from the potatoes, as well as isolating the apples.  Buy bananas and tomatoes in degrees of ripeness and store some away in dark places! Hang them to prevent bruising. See pic!

PS.. day 25 was great, 4 locks breezed thru and 59 miles traversed! Out of Miss. tomorrow and into Alabama!

There they are!

Follow the Yellow Creek River.....

Day 23

We have now entered the Tenn-Tom at 10:30 am on our 23rd day. We have 253 miles and 10 locks to navigate  on our way down to Mobile, Alabama, and have motored through the Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers. We are now at the corner of Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama (the states)

The Tenn- Tom is a man made waterway connecting the Tennessee River with the Tombigbee/Black Warrior Rivers, taking 13 years to complete.

....and then on to the Florida panhandle.  If we average 50 miles a day and a 3 day layover at the marina where our mast is that’s approximately 8 more days until we’re a sailboat again. But who’s counting😉

Now to the meaning of the title... We’re on on the Yellow Creek River which is our Yellow Brick Road on the way to find our way home.

Enough said....

What goes down must go up. What?

Days 19-22 (8/13-8/22)

Day 19. Arrived at Green Turtle Bay Marina on BarkleyLake, which is really the Cumberland River all damned up! After provisioning our boat with all the necessary “to dos” like fuel, water, etc. we pulled in to plan the rest of our afternoon.  Decided to use courtesy van to go into the charming little town of Grand Rivers, Ky to provision our fresh food supplies. then, into the pool, then to the showers.  We dressed up to go into the yacht club’s dining facility, then a leisurely walk down the sailboat docks.  There must be a Hunter Boat facility around these parts because two thirds of the sailboats here are Hunters! (Like ours) http://www.greenturtlebay.com/Marina/GTB-Main-Harbor-Marina.aspx

Days 20 & 21

Left late morning and then after going thru a short canal to the Tennessee River we were totally surprised and pleased to spend two days traveling through this damned up Lake (The Kentucky, even though it’s on the Tennessee River). We only had to go straight!  Mark used the auto pilot for most of the way as he worked on his own story of our trip.  Plus, the water was no longer a muddy brown but a pleasant color that reminded me that we were heading to the ocean. See pic...

Notice the Green Water

We anchored in a small cove off a nature preserve the first night then pulled into the Mermaid Marina the next. (No amenities here)  We are in Tennessee (the state).

Day 22 (August 16) we pulled into Pickwick Landing State Park after a 12 hour run.  The current was a stronger one against us down at this part (goodbye beautiful lake - hello beautiful landscapes) but still very pleasant. Some scenes along the way were not pleasant to look at.  See pic of the Stars and Bars. Not use to seeing any display like this up north although my first sighting was on a big pleasure craft up in Alton, Illinois. Had to turn my back away due to me wanting to rip it down!!

Like it

Don’t like it

Now to the meaning of the title...On the Mississippi the locks brought us down to a lower level of the rivers. Now, they are bring us up!  50’ feet at a time. Strange.

Beauties and...the Beasts

The Beauties

Kentucky Lake on the Tennessee River

The Cumberland River

Sunset on the Ohio River

The Beasts...lock or gates to Mordor

Loading aggregate

Loading gravel/rock

Also on the
Cumberland

Ice Ice Baby.....

Days 14-18

We left Alton Marina sadly knowing what was to come in the next few days...See night picture of the beautiful bridge with the marina close by.

Day 14 (8/8) we pulled up to Hoppies Marine which is simply a few 100’ barges tied to shore.  We filled up with fuel, filled our water and were very very happy to plug in to run our AC.  The days have been in the 90’s.  Even though it was only 2:30 we knew our next stop was 41 miles and we needed the afternoon “lecture” from the owners on how to navigate the rest of the Mississippi and on up through the Ohio River. Most everyone stops here to here the info on river conditions and so did we.

Day 15 saw us ambling toward the closed Kaskaskia Dam some 41 miles south.  See the pic through our screens at the functional but not inspiring view. A big cruiser showed up and were in a panic because they did not know of the closure and had a “very important meeting” to get to.  So, helpful Mark inflated our dinghy and paddled them to shore!  (Of course, then he went back and brought the back to their boat). They had friends drive the 40 miles down to the closed lock to pick them up!
No AC and very hot so Mark and I slept on opposite spaces in our saloon.  I brought 3 sets of sheets.  Our bed has one of course but then each of us has a set to “sweat” on when we need to and we needed to.  Fans were all on and we waved at each other across the cabin (2’)😅

Day 16 Floated away @ 8 knowing we needed to get to our next anchorage 69 miles away.  Surprisingly arrived early due to a 5 mph current helping us along.  Passed 7 tows this day plus a harrowing current flux tempting to turn us sideways as we tried to anchor at the Little River Diversion Canal (told to us by Hoppies). Waved at each other again as we fell asleep (no touching, too hot)

Day 17 was special because we left the great Mississippi River and entered north on the Ohio where we not only said “Hi” to Kentucky but also to the 2 mph current against us. We went fro 10-11 mph to
4-5 mph speed.  the Ohio is so much calmer than the Mississippi and we didn’t mind too much the current.  It’s also wide so we just waved at the tows as we passed. We had one lock to traverse and we were told to come on through following a tow without any barges.  Well. White knuckle time as the chamber was narrow and the tow was kicking up a wake. I would have taken a picture of Mark’s stressed face as he “surfed” one wake and then another but I couldn’t loosen my grip on the rails!
Needless to say, as soon as we cleared the 1000’ lock wall Mark said “Beer Please”.

We found a peaceful anchorage off the channel.(see sunset pic) and had our first Manhattan toast or two.  There was a little breeze so we snuck in our bedroom with 2 fans and fell asleep.
No touching still!

Day 18. (8/12) I was hopeful that we could make it to Lake Barkley where there is a very nice marina.  We pulled anchor at 6:45 and headed toward Lock 52.  We were fortunate to only have to wait 3 1/2 hours but unfortunate as to not to be able to make it to the marina so, we are again anchored out of the channel ready to enter the Cumberland River. This river will deposit us at Green Turtle Bay and Resort on Lake Barkley where they even have a “spa” which would be awesome but of course I am too frugal!!!

Now to the meaning of the title.  Our ice in our coolers melted by the end of Day 15.  I began making ice in our ice cube tray in anticipation but couldn’t keep up so most of our drink cans and bottles have been transferred to the fridge.  We drink tons of water, lemonade, and powdered ice tea all day due to the heat and it’s nice to have them cold!!!  So ice, ice, baby is what we dream of and can’t wait to
get tomorrow. Very simple needs...

Kaskaska

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Lock and Load

So far we have traversed through 22 Locks and have passed 41 Tows!

You can never really plan your “end of the day” anchorage until you’ve gone through your last lock.  The longest we’ve waited for a lock to take us through is 2 1/2 hours, with a few more in the 2 hour range.  Our next lock will be longer since a tow and barge had a little accident in the large chamber and so now they’re using our little alternate recreational boat chambers.  Quite the back up of traffic.
Most locks drop you about 3-8 feet but below you’ll see our biggest so far... 37 feet.

Now for the Tows.  Most are of the humongous kind.. meaning 3 across and five long.  Each barge is 200’ in length, 35’ wide and can carry 1500 tons, so do the math for 15 of them! It’s been an experience when we try to beat them to the next lock!  See video!

Now most of you realize that our title “lock and load” is not referring to any ammo and firearms or if you are our dance students it isn’t the meaning of you arm position, but it’s a reference to the above locks and loads!  Enough said...

River Sites

Along our journey we have seen some interesting things,  too many to mention but some I’d like to post.

 There is a little disparity in living conditions...

This tells me it might flood in these here parts..

When bridges are far between...

some how these long tubes are sucking the sand out to  keep the channel deep!

Docktails

Days 9 & 10
After leaving our anchorage we headed toward Two Rivers Marina where our new Garmin was waiting for us.  Decided to stay two nights giving us time to get some R & R (but of course Mark had to reprogram the new Garmin)
Great Marina with pool, WiFi and a courtesy car to boot allowing us to go into town for groceries and a place to dine.  Marina was in Rockport Ill, across river from Louisiana, Missouri.
www.tworiversmarina.com

Hated to leave, but we had to go with the flow....

Day 11
We found ourselves scrambling to find a place to stay for the night but luckily stumbled upon John’s boat Harbor in St. Charles, MO.  I caught the owner by phone before closing time and she said just slide on in and there would be no charge! The people down this way are amazing! See some pics at end of blog.

Day 12 & 13
Heard about a Marina down south a piece that was the Cadillac of Marinas and even though it was only 30 miles we decided to “check it out for the night”.  Our research has shown the next week or so we will be having some trying times for anchorages, services, etc.
Well, As soon as we pulled in to the covered slip that was reserved for us and walked past the pool and hot tub area, we looked at each other and said 2 nights? This place is truly amazing!  Got in some “retail therapy” , as Mark calls it, by buying an insulated bag for the beach, pool, etc.
Next came the drink list which I promptly scanned and ordered a mudslide! (Shades of beer can island Lori Zimmermann ). Met some “loopers” from Minnesota and a Dad who was taking his 2 boys on a 6 week trip down the river ways.  See other group pic...
www.altonmarina.com

Now for the meaning of the title..First of all I have to give credit to Beth Rogers for whom I first heard this word.  Thanks Beth, I love it! Docktails, as you might have guessed, means having “cocktails” on the dock.  and of course you meet some friendly people!

Now for some pics...