Cozy Carrabelle

Carrabelle Florida is about 60 miles south of Tallahassee but is about as back woods as it gets this close to the coast.  Described as a sleepy fishing village it has everything we need.  From our slip we look over the oyster shell parking lot, past the dumpster and there is a Ace Hardware, an IGA and a bank. The next block has a restaurant and a couple other marinas.  The engine stopped on our way here from Apalachicola and it was my intent to have a mechanic look at it so we put our name on his list.  Since we haven't heard from him I took another look at it and put a pressure gauge on the fuel line and did my usual tightening and replacing washers until I know I have the fuel-air problem solved.  How many time have I said that? Anyway, we missed the weather window to cross the Gulf and we are sitting here with a couple other boats that have had maintenance problems and are waiting for a good weather pattern to develop. In the winter the weather stirs up the Gulf to the point that a small boat crossing can get bounced around if not careful. Soooooo, instead of sitting here telling stories with the good ole boys that hang out here at the marina/sporting goods store/boat charter place we decided to rent a car and head home.  This town is so small it doesn't have a taxi but the guy at the hardware store said the girl at the other marina had a son that would take us to Tallahassee, which is the closest car rental.  We fully expect the son to show up in a jacked-up 4WD pickup with a gun rack and a trophy on the hood. It's all part of our grand adventure called "The Loop".  We are all packed and ready except for a few things and should be back home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee by Friday night.  Love to all and have a Blessed Christmas.

White City

It has been 5 days since we posted a blog. But we have an excuse!!  We left Sabine Marina and headed East.  We anchored out behind Spectre Island on the intercoastal and the next night we were beside a bridge going to the beaches. We didn't have any Internet service so we could not send out a blog.  Thursday, we made Panama City.  We were on a mission - to buy fuel filters. Our life is, do laundry, buy fuel filters and look for the next place to park the boat.  We found the filters and walked back to the boat. We were ready to drop by the time we got back.  Denniese thinks we walked about 4 miles round trip. We stayed two days at Panama City. The second day was resting up from the first. Saturday we stopped at White City, Florida. White City offers a free dock and a fishing pier.  We watched the locals fishing and the locals watched us on the boat and the pelicans watched us both. White City is the dividing line for the Eastern and Central time zone. If you live West of the highway you are on Central time, East of the highway you are on Eastern time. The bridge and the fishing pier was about it for White City. No email or cell service.  It was a nice place to spend a couple of days.  Monday we took off for Apalachicola, Florida but along the was we decided to go on to Carrabelle instead.  Carrabelle is about 30 miles east of Apalachicola and has been described as a little sleepy fishing village and that is what it is.  But is does have a grocery, and Ace Hardware, a bank and several restaurants all within a short walk of the boat.  So here we are tied to the dock along with several other Loopers waiting for the weather to be just right for a crossing to the Tampa Bay area. The trip for us is about 30 hours of Gulf exposure so we are wanting a good weather window.  Maybe by Friday the weather will be just what we want.  Till then we are here at the sleepy little fishing village in the big bend of Florida.  

Reveille

Tuesday we departed Sabine Marina and went across the channel and purchased 80 gals of diesel.  I know you will be happy to know we got a $.10  per gallon discount. Diesel is still  near $4.00/gal. Back in the channel we traveled to Specter Island located beside Eglin AFB. We dropped anchor at 2:30.  A short day but with the cold wind and cool temperatures it was all we wanted. At anchor, we were able to watch the unique aircraft doing touch and goes or as we used to call it when I was flying, crash and burn!!  We were within 100 yds of the US Air Force property, so at sundown we were able to hear taps.  Also at sunrise were able to hear reveille. We lifted anchor and traveled another 30-40 miles and dropped anchor beside a bridge, Hwy 331.  Nice place but the traffic is not a good swap for the bugle. We only saw 2 PC's (pleasure crafts) on the water today. Both headed West? The Loop group that we were with at Fairhope are still behind us.  We expect them to catch up with us tomorrow.

We are now three days without a engine failure.  Before leaving Barber Marina I met a diesel mechanic who replaced the main fuel line. So far no stalls. We think he was an angel sent to help us.  His name is John Ford and we thank him for his work and his faith. Tomorrow we will head to Panama City.

We had some friends leave Sabine just before we did and heard a call from them to the Coast Guard. It was a request for the CG to follow them on the radio because of the bad conditions in the Gulf. We have not heard from them but feel they are safe but tired from a couple of days in the spin cycle.

Bubble and squeak

Our day started early this morning with lots of sunshine and more calm winds than the previous days.  So, we left Barber Marina at around 9 o'clock and headed east toward Pensacola.  It wasn't long before the sky clouded over, the wind started blowing and a light mist began to fall.  The closer we got to Pensacola, the colder it became.  By the time we reached the Pensacola cut, the wind was blowing from the northwest at about 20 mph and the tide was against us.  Our speed dropped down to about 4.5 to 5 mph from 7.  The following seas bounced us around and caused the boat to want to go sideways.  We made it to Sabine Inlet and pulled up to the fuel dock only to find it closed until Wednesday.  As we idled at the fuel dock trying to decide where to go next, Maggie began to whimper.  I thought she was just cold, so I unhooked her from the leash on the sun deck and instead of her going down to the cabin where it was warm, she jumped ship and took off running towards the street!  I cursed, loudly, called her a really bad name, and took off running after her.  Meanwhile, back at the boat, Mike was trying to keep the boat off the dock with the winds blowing hard.  He saw Maggie run behind a condo and called me on my cell phone so I would know where to look for her.  I saw her running down the street and I called her and she only ran harder.  Luckily, a kind lady realized what was happening and pulled over and got out of her vehicle and walked over and began to pet Maggie and got her hands on her and held her until I could get there ( out of breath, I might add).

After getting Maggie back on board, we then had to get the boat away from the fuel dock, which was not easy since the wind was blowing us right back onto it.  Captain Mike figured out how to get us off, and we made our way to the small marina which was our destination for the evening.  The owner met us at the slip and told us, "Check or cash only".  After writing him a check, we tackled the laundry which is at the local bar.  Our clean clothes now smell like beer and cigarettes! 

The good part of the day is that we found a restaurant here in Pensacola Beach called Laguna's.  It is just across the street from the marina.  We had a delicious meal of Redfish and Bubble & Squeak.  For those who do not know, Bubble & Squeak is an English dish consisting of mashed potatoes & cabbage.  Laguna's variation is brussel sprouts with an onion & potato broth.  It was very good and it was half price.

Depending on the weather tomorrow, we will anchor out near Mary Esther, FL.  Did I mention it was cold here?  The high temp today was 55 degrees and cloudy.  The low tonight is expected to be in the high 30's.  Not typical Florida weather.

Barber Marina

We left Fairhope Friday morning and 8 hours later, we motored into Barber Marina.  Wow!  This marina is practically brand new.  It has dock space for about 300 boats and there are only 20-25 docked here.  We love it!  The bathrooms are great and for us, that is the single most important service at a marina.  The showers consist of bright, shiny white tiles, strong water pressure and a lot of HOT water.  There is a nicely manicured park surrounding the marina and Maggie has given her approval!

Yesterday, we borrowed the courtesy car and drove around to Pirates Cove.  Pirates Cove is an old, rustic shack which was turned into a restaurant/bar and is surrounded by a protected cove.  There were dogs coming and going at will and it seems the dogs keep the people under control.  The atmosphere was relaxed and the dress code was relaxed, as well.  We saw Mike's old sailboat (Lifestyle I) docked behind the restaurant.  We ate cheeseburgers that were better than Buster's, and that is some kind of compliment.
After lunch, we drove into Gulf Shores looking for West Marine and Walmart.  We found West Marine, but as usual, they did not have the fuel filters we need, nor did any other auto parts store in Gulf Shores or Foley.  Why do we continue to count on West Marine????? Walmart was not a disappointment though.
We got up this morning (Sunday) to rain and clouds.  We can't decide whether to stay here another day and wait out the rain, or continue to Pensacola.  We are watching the radar closely.  The picture provided by Linda on Ericka Lin is of the Thanksgiving Day gathering at Bob & Vicky Riggs home in Fairhope.  They were so kind to open their house to all us Loopers and we had a grand time. Thanks to Bob & Vicky and to Linda for the picture.

Rock your house

We are enjoying the rest and comfort of the Fairhope Yacht Club. Yesterday we rented a car and in one afternoon we bought groceries, found a parts store to sell us new fuel filters, drove to a Bass Pro for a needed item and washed two loads of clothes. By the end of the day we were ready to take advantage of free taco night at the bar at FYC.  We enjoyed the sea stories of the members.  One person was named Plug! He said it was a family name?  We turned in early but at 3AM we had to go outside and adjust the dock lines and add another fender.  Our house was rocking.  A cold front was passing and it was blowing us up against the dock.  We are transients, so we always get the worse dock space.  The wind on the "T" dock was on the port quarter of the boat and all that pretty rub rail that we worked so hard cleaning and waxing was getting scuffed.  It's not bad to go outside and add and adjust in the wee hours as long as you know your home is safe and it is.  We will go to our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and then Friday morning we will depart this nice place. Our next leg will take us across the panhandle of Florida.  It will be nice if the weather holds.

This picture was taken Monday evening as the sun was setting over Mobile Bay.

Fairhope, Alabama

We arrived in Fairhope Yacht Club this afternoon about at 1 o'clock.  We are on the East bank of Mobile Bay.  We are sitting on the veranda of the club house over looking the inlet of Fly Creek.  The old club house was destroyed a couple of years ago and the new one is very nice. The restaurant and bar area look to be about 4,000sqft.  The veranda extends all the way around the building and as the sun starts to set we will move to the West side for a great view. 

The trip from Demopolis was long but good.  We have been 5 days without email service and only a few times did we have cell service.  We met up we a couple of boaters traveling south at about the same speed as us and we were able to anchor up with them.  Jeff and Linda aboard Jeremiah have two dogs and like us they had to find a place to take the dogs at the end of the day.  It worked out great because we used Jeff's dinghy to transport the dogs.  Maggie had a great time and may have sparked a romance with their poodle. She even attempted to go swimming with their Lab.  At the end of the day we would raft up with them in a hidden river or inlet off the main river.  Some of the scenery was unbelievable.  I have some pics and hope to send one.  We passed the convention center at downtown Mobile this morning at 11:00.  It is 450 miles from Pickwick to mile zero.  Of course if was not without --------.  The engine stopped a couple of times, but thank the Lord it was not at a difficult time.  We got some trash in the prop and it started vibrating.  We had to stop and back up to clear it.  But one night while rafted up in the middle of nowhere Denniese and I walked on the foredeck and looked up and saw more stars than we have ever seen.  There were no other lights except the stars.  What a wonderful sight.

We will stay here until after Thanksgiving.  We have been invited to have dinner with some other Loopers.  The host just stopped by and said he expected about 25 people.  We will have fun and everyone will have a story to tell.  Happy Thanksgiving. 

Stormy Weather

This morning we awoke to a TORNADO WARNING here in Demopolis.  It passed over us quickly and here at the marina, we only experienced a heavy rain and a little wind.  Thank you, Lord for your continued protection!  After the storm, I took Maggie for her morning walk and could hear sirens in the directions of downtown Demopolis.  Apparently there was some wind damage downtown.

We went to visit John, Beth and the boys on Monday.  It was good to be away from the boat and on dry land for awhile and a sheer joy to visit with the Carter's.  Wes and Joe are so sweet and are growing up so fast.  We played "Gold Fish" as Joe called it until bedtime and Joe wanted to play more the next morning but he had to get to school.  I've promised to play more "Gold Fish" at Christmas. They enjoyed beating Neesy!

We are stocked up and all the clothes are washed again, thanks to John & Beth, and we plan to leave here in just a little while.  The package we've been waiting for here from West Marine didn't even ship until yesterday, so rather than wait 2 more days at $60.00 per day, we cancelled the shipment and are moving on.  The weather is clearing and skies are getting sunny.

There are no marinas between here and Fairhope, so we will continue the blog when we arrive there.
This picture is just another interesting view of the Tombigbee.  It looks like the White Cliffs of Dover on one bank and the Muddy Mississiippi on the opposite bank, and all designed for our enjoyment.  Oh, what a might God we serve!

Demopolis

I'm not sure Demopolis, Alabama is a destination place for many people, but all Loopers have to stop here.  The next fuel stop is Mobile and that is over 200 miles away. So, anyone going down river stops here for fuel and repairs.  The last time I stopped here was in 2003 and it was not a welcome site.  It was in the Spring and the water was high with lots of trash in the water.  The marina was in need of repairs and so on.  So I was not looking forward to this stop.  We were surprise to find a new marina that has state of the art everything.   The courtesy car was a Mercury Sable with 156,000 miles and had not had any thing done to it in a decade.  It got us to the grocery store and that's all that counts.  I worked on the engine yesterday and feel good about the repairs and Denniese cleaned the boat.  Anchoring out is fun but you bring a lot of dirt on board.  We are going to drive over to Hoover, AL to visit John and Beth and Denniese's grandchildren.  If you want to start a business, here is the spot.  There are no rental car agencies in this town.  Not even a tote your note car lot that rents vehicles.  Our only choice was a 17' box truck form U Haul until a fellow Looper loaned us his car.  Denniese took a picture of me working on the engine.  Hope you enjoy.

Day Tank

A day tank is a small fuel tank that holds enough fuel for one day.  Our day tank is a 5 gal jerry jug that holds enough fuel for a little over two hours run time.  The purpose of a day tank is to bypass a portion of the fuel system.  Our fuel problem seems to be a stopped up fuel line.  By installing a day tank I work around the stopped up line and feed fuel to the engine.  It is safe and efficient but requires a lot of work keeping the jug full of fuel.  We finally decided that our continuing fuel problem is trash in the line after we had removed, replaced or worked on every other part of the fuel system. The engine is running good as long as the tank has fuel. We also have a smaller tank for the generator.  Yes, this is a temporary fix.  When you are two days from a marina you have to keep going or call a tow boat to come get you.  So this is a good option.

When I last wrote we were heading to Columbus, Mississippi.  We continued to have fuel problems and so at Columbus we decided to install the day tank. We also rented a car and did some sight seeing.  We also got to visit with some of the Loopers that we have seen along the way. They even had cocktails in front of one of the boats and had about 10 Loopers show up. We have since anchored at a wide place in the river at Owl Creek, (mm 302).  We found a great anchorage at Sumter Rec. area (mm 270), anchored in a deep river cut off called Rattlesnake Bend (mm223) and now we are at the NEW dock at Demopolis, AL (mm 217).  This is a new facility and is really nice.  The old one was just as bad as this one is good. I will work on the fuel problem again tomorrow and hopefully report good news tomorrow.
The picture is the channel to the Aberdeen Marina where we changed out the fuel pump.

Aberdeen,Aberdeen, prettiest town we've ever seen. . . .

O, wait, that song might be Abilene, Abilene! 

After spending the weekend next to the Aberdeen Lock at mile marker 358 at Blue Bluff park we departed this morning.  We had enjoyed the free dock and climbed the stairs to the top of the bluff.  Unfortunately, Denniese fell through a missing board on the dinghy dock and hurt her leg.  Even so we made it to the top of the bluff. We felt good about the repairs we had made on the fuel system.  We thought the problem was the diaphragm in the fuel pump which had a hole in it.  The engine was running so good until we tied up to the lock wall and then the engine stopped!!  I bled the fuel and exited the lock and it stopped again.  We said enough is enough!!  We started the engine and went back into the lock and locked back up to where we started.  We exited the lock and went to a nearby marina and said we were going to stay there until we got the engine fixed for good. Once tied to the dock I pulled out the old fuel pump and replaced it and had us going again in about two hours. Nerves still frazzled, we pulled into Aberdeen Lock for the third time in less that 4 hours.  The next couple of hours were tentative but the repair was what it needed and we did fine.  It seems the fuel pump was the problem all along and now it has been replaced and we should be fine.  We are now at Columbus Marina and think we may stay here for a couple of days.  We deserve it!!

ALA / LSU

We are parked at the most beautiful place we have seen on the trip.  We are at Blue Bluff at Mile marker 358 next to the Aberdeen Lock.  We are here at the perfect time, no one else, just us. We are at a courtesy dock beside a well manicured park. It has a couple of small pavilions and a boat ramp.  We have seen two boats and one person sitting on the dock fishing.  The bank is high and has a stair leading to the top. We dinghyed to the stairs and walked to to top.  Some of the boards were missing and Denniese fell in between.  Made for a nasty bruise.  I doctored on her and gave her an extra portion of wine and she is getting better.  Last night we starting listening to Ala/Lsu ball game and the radio stopped working.  We have no TV so radio is it. After lot of tries we found if we plugged the electric toothbrush in, the radio would work.  I know... It sounds stupid and I can't explain the electrical system but we got to listen to the game and that's what  counts. Jim Mattingly came to our rescue today.  He is the prior owner of this boat.  After all the fuel problems we have had I decided to contact him for advice.  Not only did he suggest a course of action but he remembered he had an extra fuel pump on the boat that would solve our problems.  I installed the part and ran the engine for 30 min and it did just fine.  Thanks Jim!!  We will depart in the morning and hopefully make Carrolton, Alabama famous for the face in the window.  Maybe I'll tell you next time. 

Midway

Thursday started out rainy and cold and then it got worse.  It was a cold and bitter day on the water.  By 4pm we found a place to anchor.  It was next to the first of six locks on the canal. To make matters even worse, we had to take Maggie for a walk after we set the anchor.  There was a boat ramp close and we used their dinghy dock to park the dinghy and let her do her business.  We had a good anchor spot where we were sheltered from the wind.  We slept good but at sunrise the wind started blowing again and we got up and got going.  I had ordered some parts for the engine and arranged for a mechanic to meet us at Midway Marina, near Fulton, Mississippi.  We arrived at 2:30 and were helped with our dock lines by Pete who had fallen in love with the place about 13 years ago and took up residence.   Shortly after arriving, we got the parts that came by FED X and the mechanic made the adjustments on the engine.  I think I have fixed the fuel leak, so all is well on Lifestyle II.  We will depart in the morning.  To celebrate, we dined out at the local restaurant. A short walk up the hill from the marina is the place.  It must be the only place  in Fulton to eat because it was full.  The food was good and the wait staff a hoot. I knew I was at home when the waitress asked "Do you want a slice of onion with your fish?" Well yeah!!  Denniese told me a lot of people in the South eat a slice of onion with fried fish.  OK, now I know.  The food was good and even had some left for Maggie.  The scenery is changing a little.  We seem to be riding the wave of fall colors which is nice but now we are seeing more pine trees. Also we are seeing a lot of dead trees in the water. It may be from where this area was flooded to make the canal.  Denniese said it looks spooky.  I said it doesn't matter as long as we don't run into them  Seeya.
A large family of ducks were just floating around and we couldn't resist taking the picture.

Tenn-Tom

The Tennessee Tom-Bigbee (AKA  the Tenn-Tom) is almost 450 miles of rivers, lakes, streams and man made cuts that connect the Tennessee river to the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile, Alabama. Much of it runs down the dividing line between Mississippi and Alabama. The official opening date was June 1985 although it had been thought of and even proposed years earlier.  It was given a real boost in 1946 with the Rivers and Harbor Act but it was not until 1971 that the Corps of Engineers got the go-ahead. Mobile is mile zero and Aqua Marine is mile 448. The route was designed to keep traffic off the Mississippi.  The Tenn-Tom has commercial traffic but not like the big river.  Also, it is better for cruisers like us because of the lakes, cities and slower water.  The down side is a boater must traverse 12 locks to make the trip. As you may suspect by this long winded introduction, we are still at the dock and the mechanic did not show up until 5:30pm... we told him no thanks!!. Guess we weren't paying him enough. We will decide what we will do tomorrow. Meanwhile, I was able to do some maintenance work and Denniese washed clothes. Plus we had a great steak supper aboard our floating home.  So, soon we will be continuing the trip.  Tomorrow a front will pass and we will just wait till it passes before we venture down the Tennessee Tom-Bigbee.  The picture is one Denniese took from inside the boat of the sunrise in the fog.  The rail of the boat is in the foreground and the water drops are on the outside of the window.

Iuka, Mississppi

We anchored behind Diamond Island last night about 10 miles north of Pickwick dam. Oh so quite.  We could hear a tractor plowing a field in the distance but could not see him. We did see one fishing boat with a couple of locals and that was it for the evening.  The island had a nice beach on the West side and we took Maggie for a long walk and enjoyed the cool fall evening. This morning, Tuesday, we had to wait for the fog to lift before getting underway,  Finally about 0930 we were able to lift the anchor and get underway. Pickwick dam is a generating source for TVA and they were cranking it up today. That means there were letting a lot of water out to spin the turbines.  For us, we had to fight the 3 - 4 mph current.  For the 10 miles to the dam we were only able to go about three and a half mph.  That makes for a long 10 miles.  I decided to run the engine up to 1750 to see if the repairs I did last night would solve the air problem.  Robert Buzby sent me an email and said I had better fix it before something bad happened.  Fixing a problem on a boat is not always easy.  Especially on a trip like we are taking. First, marinas are not available.   Next, good mechanics are not easy to come by and since we are on the move it creates additional problems.  Well it happened, just like Robert said it would.  We had just exited Pickwick lock and we were on the fly bridge having lunch when the engine died. Denniese went to the lower helm where she can man the controls and talk to me at the same time and I jumped down into the engine compartment to bleed the fuel line.  After about three minutes, we had the old girl running again and went back to the fly bridge.  That's when we discovered it....  Maggie had finished off our lunch for us!!  She was happy but I was PO'ed.  We arrived at Aqua Marine about 1430.  A mechanic was waiting for us.  At $100.00 per hour you want one that works fast and does not talk much.  I think we got a good one but he didn't  do any work but said he would be back Wednesday afternoon.  In the meantime I will do some of the things he suggested. We will be here for a couple of days, doing the regular stuff before we start down the Tom-Bigbee.  Maybe we will resolve the fuel issue.  If not, at least we will have time to send out blogs and maybe some pictures.

 Mike and Denniese and Maggie Mae.

Tennessee River

Fog so thick you could loose your dog. On a boat, that's some thick fog.  We anchored behind an island on the Tennessee River about 10 miles south of I-40 in Decatur County.  As you know the T. River runs north at that point so we are going upstream.  That means we are only able to travel about 6mph since the river is pushing against us at about 2mph.  Makes for long days.  We are now working on only getting about 40 miles each day because of the fog.  We were able to get under way at about 9 this morning.  Of course the engine died at 2pm.  No, I have not found the air leak but I've got bleeding the engine down to a science. Denniese goes to the lower helm and I dive into the engine compartment, she gives me a 2 second crank on the engine and I bleed the injector motor.  We usually do that twice before it will keep running.  Meanwhile the boat is drifting on its own.  That's not a problem as long as the water is deep, no traffic and the river bank is not too close.  I'll let you know when I get it fixed.  Otherwise, this is the most beautiful trip I have ever taken on the river.  The banks are real high and full of Autumn trees. The colors are great. We meet boats every day going south for the winter but nothing is better than Tennessee in the Fall.  This afternoon we anchored behind another Island South of Clifton, TN.  We may be out of the state in just a couple of days.  We will be on the TN-Tom which flows South between Alabama and Mississippi.  Tonight we are lucky to have a strong signal on the cell but not strong enough to send pictures.  Wish you could see.  All is well otherwise. 

New Johnsonville

Many people know New Johnsonville for the raid on the supply depot mastered by Nathan Bedford Forrest during the civil war.  Others know of the quality DuPont plant located here.  For boaters it is Pebble Island Marina. A short distance from the site where the Depot sat and across the river from where NBF located his cannons is a great little marina that serves the best catfish for several counties.  We just finished dinner and since there is no cell service here we are having our dessert and sending out our blog at the same time.  Dinner was great but the dessert was a hot brownie covered with ice cream and whipped cream with caramel and chocolate syrup on top.  Boaters have to keep up their energy level!!  We are sitting next to a table of folks from Middle TN and deciding that we know a lot of the same people and we are talking about them.  We departed Paris Landing this morning and it was a wet cold morning but we didn't have any problems with the fuel until about 2pm.  Then it started the same thing as it did yesterday. Well, so much for my analysis of a stopped up filter.  My new theory is an air leak in the fuel line.  Another couple of hours work and I may have it solved.  Did I mention that I wish I had taken a diesel mechanic course before taking the trip.  That's OK.   I'm a hands on learner anyway.  Tomorrow we depart for Pickwick, which is a couple of days away and we may not have connections until we get to the State Park.  Keep up the good thoughts, well wishes and prayers. 

Paris Landing Marina

We departed Clarksville City dock Tuesday to a beautiful day on the river.  The trees are in full color at this part of TN.  The river is wide with high banks that show off the fall foliage. The temp. was 42 at sunrise and fog but by 0900 it had warmed and the fog was gone. By 1600 we had made the 48 miles to Bumpus Mills.  We walked Maggie and cooked supper.  After seeing only a couple of boats the entire day, we had a large cruiser park next to us just as the sun was setting.  They spoke but I got the feeling they (2 men) were just moving the boat for someone.  Wednesday morning the temp was warmer and with the southern wind we had another beautiful day.  We made the turn onto the Barkley Canal at 1400, the one that connects Lake Barkley to the Tennessee River.  It is only about a mile long but very narrow, we had no traffic so all was good.  At 1600 we had the anchor down in a cove off the river.  It was a rare evening.  No one in site, no houses, no lights.  Just us and the trees and the birds.  A front was expected so I made sure the anchor was down and by the time the sun was down we were on the aft deck enjoying a veggie burger off the grill.  We stayed on the deck till almost time to go to bed.  No bugs, only a candle for light and the temp was just right.  One of the best nights on the trip.  About midnight the front passed and rain and wind followed.  By 0700 the temp was down to the mid 40's and damp. Did I tell you we don't have heat on the boat. We  do have a camping heater and it came in handy to warm our hands.  We were smart to leave a day early and not have to buck the north wind on Lake Barkley.  With the wind to our backs is was doable. About 10:00 we moved to the lower helm because it was too cold on the fly bridge.  All was good until about 6 miles from our destination when we spotted our first commercial tow.  I called and ask for directions to pass, as you are suppose to do. When we were about a quarter of a mile from each other and closing, our engine stopped. Restarting was not an option since I felt it had air in the fuel system. I called the tow and told him of our dilemma and quickly checked my depth.  We had lots of water so I let the following wind push us ahead.  Denniese took the helm as I dived into the engine room to bleed the engine. Within 3 minutes of the call to the tow, we had the engine running and maneuvered out of the way of the tow. The engine ran for about 5 minutes and stopped.  It continued to stop but after bleeding it would start.  I finally got smart and switched fuel filters and it ran better and we were able to get to the Paris Landing dock. The wind held us off the dock and no one was willing to come out in the rain and help with our lines so the boat drifted off the dock while I tried to motor to the dock and Denniese tried to lasso the cleat.  We got it all tied down after several tries.  Some day are just better than others. As I write this, the sun is trying to come out and it seems it is a little warmer.  I will let you know how the fuel filter change goes.

Keep Your Bottom Clean

We departed Nashville's Rock Harbor Marina this morning at 0845. We had been up since 0500. Jay picked us up at our home in Murfreesboro and drove us to the marina where we packed away the last of the food stuff before departing.  He went on to work and drove our car back home. The month we spent at Rock Harbor was worth it. The boat was pulled out of the water and the bottom cleaned, new bottom paint and the prop tuned. The boat runs so good it is like having a car with a new set of tires.  Wonderful!!.  The trip down the Cumberland to Clarksville was great.  The trees and the landscape are beautiful.  We arrived at Clarksville at 3:45 and while Denniese made supper, I worked on the new piece of bow rail.  It should be ready for paint in a couple of days. All is well on Lifestyle II.  We are eating a piece of pumpkin bread that Jeanne gave us and drinking a cup of coffee and our "Bottom is Clean".  Now that we are on the part of the trip that will take us to Mobile, we should have cell phone coverage and should be able to send a blog each evening. Thanks for all the well wishes while we were home.  Keep up the positive thoughts and prayers.  We miss you guys already.

Life Groups

At Third Baptist Church here in Murfreesboro we call Sunday School our "Life Group".  Our group has had us on their prayer list from the start of our trip.  Our teacher Sam Wrather ask Denniese and me to teach the class this morning from the perspective of how God was a part of our adventure called the Great Loop. Last week as we prepared for the presentation, we felt it would be good to tell about the people that came into our lives at certain times along the way and especially when we needed them.  The boating community that joins the great loop adventurer each year is a very special group of people and tend to be very helpful of one another.  Even after they have completed the loop many still stay active within the group and act as advisers along the way.  It seems most boaters are very willing to help another boater so it is not surprising that all along our trip we found people willing to give advice, loan a car, or offer help in some special way.  In our presentation we mentioned a few that stand out.  The first were our friends Jim and Beverly that went with us on our maiden cruise from Key Largo to Stuart, Florida.  They gave us advice and reassurance that we could do the trip.  Michael was a sailor that was sitting aboard his sailboat in lower Biscayne Bay waiting for a part to arrive from the mainland so he could continue his trip to the Bahamas when he came to my rescue. An oarlock broke on my new used dinghy and the tide was pushing me, the dinghy and the dog toward Cuba. Micheal rushed out and captured us and even took Maggie to shore.  In Stuart, Niel Adams came to our rescue and took me to West Marine to purchase a new outboard motor. The dinghy with the broken oarlock did not have a motor and our recently purchased used outboard motor arrived in Stuart and then was quickly stolen. Louis and Diane Wade, Gold Flag loopers, (Gold Flag means they have completed the Loop) from Morehead City gave us advice about where to stay and loaned us a car for the weekend. They even took us to their house for a visit before we all went out to eat. The membership at PYC, Poughkeepsie Yacht Club, adopted us for a couple of weeks.  We left the boat there and rented a car to drive home for a July 4th reunion. Pete and Cheryl Carr loaned us a car to go to church and pick up some needed supplies.  Pete took us to Hertz rental the next day so we could pick up a car to travel home in. On the Erie Canal at Amsterdam on Sunday July 10, we were walking to church when a stranger ask if we needed a ride.  Richard Conti was retired and a local resident.  He took us to the local Baptist Church and then picked us up afterward and gave us a tour of the area. We didn't even get the fellow boaters name that yelled a danger call to us as our anchor broke loose during a high wind at Bustard Island and we were being pushed toward some rocks.  We did get the names of the two volunteer fire fighters that took soundings for us when we were aground on the Upper Mississippi.  They are Gene Chrestman and James McWilliams from the Cairo Volunteer Fire Department. Martha Nicholson is the Emergency Manager for that area and was the help we needed when no other agencies were available.  We thank God for all the people that helped us along the way and know that we will need help as we continue our voyage and we also know  our prayers will be answered.

Maintenance

Lifestyle II sits out of the water, on the hard, at Rock Harbor Marina in Nashville, Tennessee. The crew is enjoying the time off the water to catch up on home duties and celebrate the marriage of B.J. and Tiffany. We chose to take the boat to Rock Harbor for a couple of reasons.  The main reason is that it is only a 30 minute drive to our house and second, the folks at Rock Harbor are easy to work with.  Boats, like anything, need maintenance.  But because boats sit outside and are exposed to various types of water, they require continual care. The work required to keep a boat in top notch condition is significant.  We are 2/3 of the way towards completing the loop and to date Lifestyle II has been through over 100 locks and is  approaching 4000 miles under her keel since we started this adventure in May. We have logged almost 700 hours on the engine and transmission. We have bumped bridges, locks and run aground twice. All this has had an impact on the boat and must be taken care of.  The cost of taking care of a boat is worthy some discussion.  The bigger the boat, the bigger the cost and most are cost are multiplied by the length of the boat.  To spend the night at a dock in a marina it will cost from $.50 per foot to $2.50 per foot depending on where you stay and the time of year. On our boat that could be $20.00 per night to $100.00 per night in Chicago.  Some even add electricity to that charge.  Pump outs (pumping out the holding tank) have been anywhere from free to $35.00 paid in Canada. Hauling a boat out of the water is $10.00 per foot and a power wash is another $4.00 per foot.  The list is endless.  Unless you have a very small boat or a very fat wallet you have to shop around and plan on doing as much work as you can yourself.  That's why it is important get an agreement from the marina as to the cost and how much work you are able to do yourself.  To pull the prop off our boat, the hourly rate is $90.00 per hour. The reworking of the prop will be around $700.00.  I can't rework a prop so it is necessary to send it off.  But there are lots of things Denniese and I can do.  While the prop is in the shop, the marina has allowed us to wash and wax the boat, touch up the bottom paint and repack the stuffing box.  We also gave some much needed attention to the aft head where the caulking had to be pulled out and the teak trim had to be be sanded and primed for new varnish.  Cabinet doors were showing wear and needed minor repair before we re-varnish.  Once the boat is back in the water, we will paint the bright work, repair some canvas, change the oil in the engine and the generator and clean the dinghy.  On the TV gambling shows they always say, "What's the buy-in?"  For boats, the cost of the boat is the buy-in.  The upkeep and the maintenance are the real cost.   Just some food for thought, before you go out and buy a boat take some boat courses on MAINTENANCE. 

Grounding

We are back home in Murfreesboro and we left our floating home in Nashville at the dock.  Tomorrow we will pull Lifestyle II out of the water and take a look at the bottom.  It is important to look at the bottom, the running gear (prop and shaft) and the zincs.  Zincs are the pieces of metal that take the corrosion instead of the other stuff that is underwater.  It has not been all that long since we had the bottom painted but we have put almost 4,000 miles on that bottom paint.  Another reason to pull her is to see if I did any damage when I ran aground on Sept. 10.   It had been a long day on the upper Mississippi.  The night before we were able to tie up to a lock wall on Kaskaskia River. Safe tie ups and anchorages are few on the upper Mississippi River.  It is all commercial and very little services are offered for pleasures boats.  It is easy to understand. The river is muddy, unsanitary and the current runs 4 to 6 miles per hour. The day was ending and we were having trouble finding an anchor spot.  Finally out of desperation I told Denniese that I think I can get in behind one of the wing dams.  Wing dams are piles of rock from the banks of the river to the channel.  They keep the flow of the river directed to the middle and that helps keep the river channel deep and clean.  All went well until I got sideways to the current and the river pushed me up on and underwater wing dam that was not visible from the channel.  The boat healed over and we went from 20' of water to 3' of water.  Remember we need 4' of water.  The boat was out of my control as the water and the ground came together to control our movements.  The boat settled after a while and we were level but still hard aground.  I made the decision to call the U.S. Coast Guard to make a situation report, not a mayday, just to let others know of our position. The Coast Guard took a lot of time getting information and taking up our time while we were trying to get the boat free. Boat US was called to see if a tow boat was available. We even had friends aboard the Jolly Tolly call us to see if they could help.  No one could help, no one was available to help.  Finally we were directed to the County Emergency Management Agency of Alexander County, IL.  They asked all the usual questions and since no one was hurt they said it would be the next day before we could expect help.  By sundown we had done all the things we needed to do to try to help ourselves.  We had deployed kedge anchors and moved the boat several feet.  I introduced Denniese to the term "Ditch Bag" and had it ready.  We all had our PFD's on, even Maggie.  The dingy was standing by if things got worse.  We had supper and tried to get some sleep. Daylight finally came and we knew help would be on the way.  Around 8:30 I saw a boat heading our way, it had to be a fishing boat.  It was a 16' John boat with a 90hp outboard and two men.  I didn't see a towing harness or even any long heavy ropes. We found out it was volunteers from the local volunteer fire department.  They circled the boat taking soundings and developing a plan. Next they brought in my anchors , even the 45# CQR.  We discussed the options.  We all worked together but the boat got off under her own effort.  I guess all those prayers helped.  The current that caused the problem had dug a trench behind us and we were able to back out.  We got the guys names and said our thanks as they motored off.  We motored to a safe anchor spot where we spent the day inspecting the boat and resting. We will forever be grateful to the Cairo Volunteer Fire Department and Gene Chrestmen and James McWilliams.

Since we are safely back home maybe we will have Internet service that will enable us to send out some of the pic's we tried to send while on the way. Lifestyle II

Music City

Here we are at Rock Harbor Marina on the West side of Nashville. We pulled in here about 3:30 this afternoon.  It was a great trip from Green Turtle Bay in Grand Rivers, KY.  About a 150 mile trip. We pulled away from the Green Turtle dock at 8:30AM on Thursday.  It was so cold we had on a hoodie and a windbreaker.  Later we added a blanket when we were in the wind. We traveled about 50 miles and anchored off the river in a feeder stream in about 15 feet of water. Friday we did another 50 miles and tied up the the courtesy dock at Clarksville.  Now if you want to see what a city can do with a river front, Clarksville is a great example. A couple of miles of waterfront has been turned into a park.  A new marina is scheduled to open soon. Saturday was a beautiful day.  Rolling down the river was perfict.  We only passed a couple of tows and the pleasure craft were few.  Rock Harbor is not what it once was.  The flood and a change in ownership has taken its toll.  The Bluemoon resturant is no longer here and a lot of the boats have also gone elsewhere.  But it was a welcome site and we are glad to be back home for a while.  We will spend about a month here making repairs and attending to home things.  BJ's wedding is two weeks from today so that is first on our piority list.  After that we will get the boat ready for the next phase of our trip.  We will then travel back the three days to Grand Rivers and join the Tennessee River and start our trip South.  It is still our intentions to spend the winter in South Florida.

We still have a lot of events and stories that did not get reported along the way, so I will continue to do the blog when we are home.  With good connections we will be able to send you pictures to compliment our stories.  When leaving  Lake Michigan and boating through Chicago you must travel on what is known as the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.  It is such a polluted river that years ago it was reversed in order to not pollute Lake Michigan.  Now it sends all the stuff south. 

Mississippi mud

We traveled down the Upper Mississippi in record time.  The distance from the Illinois to the Ohio River, on the Upper Mississippi is 217 miles.  We were traveling at about 12 miles per hour on the UM with the current and then turned up the Ohio River against the current and it felt like we were crawling at 5-6 mph. We anchored one night in the river outside Harrah's Casino in Metropolis, Il.  We had heard the buffets were very good and cheap at the casinos, and they were.  We did not gamble.  We figured our adventure was enough of a gamble!  Finally, we finished the Ohio and turn up the Cumberland.  It was more narrow than the Ohio, but just as slow.  We pulled into Green Turtle Bay Marina on Barkley Lake yesterday at 5:45, just fifteen minuets before they closed.  We had done 57 miles at 5-6 miles per hour and it was hot!  We were so tired.  We spent a few minutes with the other Loopers (they wanted all the details about our running aground at mile marker 17). I took the dog for her walk, had a bite of supper and crashed.  The story about running aground is for another blog!  

This morning we decided to spend an extra day here to get rested up and try to clean some of the mud from the  boat.  Mark Twain's quote concerning the Mississippi water is, "It's too thin to plow and too thick to drink!"  We have found this to be true. 

We did the laundry this morning and the marina has a courtesy car, so we used it to find a grocery store and get a few items to get us by until we reach Nashville which we should do in about 4 days, just in time for Mike's birthday.  We are excited about getting close to home.  It feels good.   

The picture is of Barkley Lock & Dam.

The river system

The river system is just another phase of this adventure that has it's good and bad features.  No longer do we have to wake up to the electronic voice of NOAA in order to decide whether we can move along the journey.  We still listen for weather forecasts, but we can travel in the rain on the rivers without the worry of 5-7 ft waves!  Instead, now we have to watch for floating debris, submerged wing dams, and large towboats. 

We have traversed the Illinois River down to where it meets the Mississippi.  These rivers flow through the heartland of this country.  One day, as we were meandering down the Illinois, we wondered what was beyond the levee walls, since we couldn't see over them.  We found out one morning as Maggie went for her daily duty;  corn fields!  What a surprise!

The marinas and anchorages are few and far between and cell phone service is sketchy. We anchored Tuesday night just beyond a railroad bridge on the banks of the Illinois.  We had to deploy 2 anchors just incase a tow should happen to come by during the night.  We had been through 2 locks during the day and we had covered a record 60 statute miles.  We were tired and we got Maggie on the dinghy and started towards a boat ramp.  Mike asked me if he should go all the way to the boat ramp or just up to the edge of the river bank and I told him it didn't matter to me.  So, he opted for the closest bank.  Mistake!!!  When I stepped into the water at the edge, the mud was soft and my foot came out without my swimshoe.  I recovered it and took the other off and took off down the bank with Maggie barefooted.  She did a #1  so I handed her over to Mike and they took off into a little park for #2.  I waited on the bank and when they got finished, we started back to the dinghy on the bank.  I stepped into a quagmire of river mud all the way up to my knees.  I couldn't move.  Mike had to pull me out while holding on to the dog.  It was not a good time.  I found my breaking point.  I started crying and thinking about where the nearest airport might be.  Mike was so sweet and hugged me and said everything was okay and please don't call a taxi!!!!

This journey is not for the faint of heart.  There is no way one person can do this alone.  I got my act together and decided to try to hang on for a little bit longer.  We will both be happy to see home again, for a few days anyway.

Windy City

The name is well deserved.  We have been watching the weather to make our crossing of lower Lake Michigan only to have bad weather hit us at the dock.  We tied up to the dock at Columbia Yacht Club yesterday around 1:00 pm. By 4 pm the wind had picked up and with no protection from a South wind the harbor became very choppy.  We put on a few extra lines and went to bed.  At 10:30 the dinghy banged into the back of Lifestyle II and woke me up.  As I was retreiving the dinghy,  my neighbor in a  new 40' Mainship Trawler yelled for me to come help.  The wind and waves were causing the boat to gyrate to the point it was causing damage to the boat.  The man and wife owners were trying to hold it off the dock and deploy additional dock lines and fenders.  After just a few minutes of trying to aid, I told them to start the engines and get away from the dock.  By the time they moved to a more sheltered part of the dock other people had come out to help.  We tied the Mainship down at a different dock but not before the wave and wind action had torn off the port side rail. The owners were sick but it can be replaced and no one was hurt, so all is well.  Back on board our boat I was thankful for the design of our Marine Trader.  She took the weather without a second thought.  The hull design and the weight contributed to a well balanced boat that can take such weather.  Today, just for safety's sake, we moved to a different spot.  The wind is still coming from the South and it may increase tonight, so we are trying to prevent another boat from getting damaged, ours!!.  Today we enjoyed pizza from a great Chicago pizza restaurant, Gino's East.  We rode bikes in the big city and watched as the Wednesday racers prepared their boats for the Wednesday night Beer Can race.  Some serious racers are here at Columbia Yacht Club.  We hope to start the river system tomorrow just as the heat blows in.  Temps tomorrow may reach 100 degrees. 

Pull Over!!

Monday was such a great day on Lake Michigan that it makes you forget just how ugly the big lake can be.  We traveled about 40 miles and settled into the marina at New Buffalo.  A quick run into town and we had our supplies in order and ready for another few days on the water.  We docked at the municipal marina and found three other loopers already there.  We quickly caught up on our travels and answered questions about what may lie ahead. Tuesday morning we se out for our crossing of the big lake to the windy city and the last couple of nights on the lake before we start on the river system that will take us to Nashville and then on to the Gulf.  A front was approaching and the wind and waves were more than our liking.  We got bounced around from a beam wind and waves. Just when you think things are settling down a big roller will hit you.  One knocked us over and everything went from one side of the boat to the other. Such is life on Lake Michigan.  We could see the skyline of Chicage from 30 miles out.  We were happy and excited that we had accomplished so much.  We were real proud of ourselves. If only I had a rear view mirror!!  I looked over my shoulder and saw a U.S. Customs boat with his BLUE lights on.  They don't say pull over, you kinda know when a military type inflatable with three large outboard engines, people on deck with guns and blue light flashing and the guy is almost touching your stern that you need to stop, pull over, power down,,, anything just don't shoot me!!.  Well, they bordered us and ask us a bunch of questions and ask for documentation, ID's and other stuff.  They ask us if we spent the night in Canada.  Well, yea, wespent almost a month there - we had to spend the night.  After about 30 minutes they decided that we were not a threat to National Security and let us go.  Welcome to Chicago.  I think Obama knows how I vote and sent them after me to keep me out of his hometown. We will spend a couple of days here and then start down the river.  Talk to you then!

South Haven Municipal Marina

South Haven, on lower Lake Michigan, is a nice community that seems to have a life after tourist season is over with well established neighborhoods and well kept homes.  The downtown is more trendy than most and seems to cater to the tourists and the boat people.  Several marinas line the river as it snakes through town.  This is our second day here and we took advantage of the time in the marina to go shopping and find a Baptist church to attend this morning.  It was only mile or so from the marina but we managed to get lost.  We were enjoying the bike ride and viewing the older section of town when I saw a local policeman cruising the area.  I stopped him for directions.  After giving me directions, clearly and succinctly, he said with a grin, "Where ya'll from"?  He was making fun of the way we talk. I said "NASH--VILLE" only because I can put more syllables in Nashville than I can Murfreesboro.  We all laughed and then Denniese and I rode the right direction to the church.  No wonder the South gets such a bad rap. We were two mature people, dressed in Sunday clothes,  riding bikes just off a boat and were lost.  I'm sure we were the talk of the department. The church was Calvary Missionary Baptist Church and it was nice.  It is the first one of any denomination that we have visited during this trip that had a full house. Good people, good service and the preacher ask the congregation to pray for our safe travel.  It was worth an extra something in the plate.  I think the weather will be agreeable for our travel to New Buffalo tomorrow.

80 miles today

Not having very many good days in the past week we took advantage of the best day of the week. After only getting a couple of travel days in this week we were ready.  We were up before dawn and had the dog walked and into the big lake by 7am.  The lake was smooth, well as smooth as Lake Michigan gets- one to two foot waves with a few rollers that come from nowhere. By noon we had our first stop in sight. We try to have a couple of stopping places ready so if the weather turns bad we can get off the lake. By 3pm we could see our best estimate harbor.  We decided that the good days on the lake are limited this time of year and we had better take advantage of it.  We finally dropped anchor a little after 5pm, outside Holland, MI.  We had made 80 miles in one day.  A new record for Lifestyle II and crew. This lake like most lakes, outside New Jersey, has some really nice homes on it.  Since we are in the back yard of these fine homes they get to see us and we get to see them.  I think we get the best deal. The only problem, since we are neighbors, if only temporary, is they should be more sociable.  Like invite us to their garden party.  The house in front of our boat is having a garden party and didn't invite us.  We are within shooting distance and they haven't even sent the butler out to ask if we wanted a fluted glass of sparkley.  Thats OK, we really just wanted some green grass for Maggie to do her business on.  Thanks anyway.

Four days in Pentwater

Four days in Pentwater sounds like the title of a novel but it is the amount of time we have been here, not by choice but by caution.  The weather reports have been so bad that we have just sayed here.  If we don't leave soon they may send us a property tax bill.  When we pulled into the fuel dock I was talking to the attendant and ask him about anchoring out and he said "They would like for you to move your boat every 5 days".   Denniese and I looked at each other and said, " Who would want to stay here 5 days?"  Tomorrow will be our fifth day! The weather looks better for tomorrow so maybe we can get some miles behind us. Yesterday was Wednesday.  Sailing clubs everywhere have a Wednesday night race called the beer can race.  I think the name came from all the beer cans floating in the water after the race.  Now you can't throw the beer cans in the water but the name has stuck.  Last night we watched as the locals made the course, a triangle course which  usually has two legs sailing into the wind and one running with the wind.  As the boats rounded the windward mark near our boat the gust were approaching 25mph.  Several of the sailboats got knocked down (when the sails dip into the water).  It was very exciting to watch the crews try to handle the 30 to 40 ft boats with too much sail up trying to make the course. Since we pulled away from the dock we can't use the TV so it was great entertainment.  Boating has something for everyone.

TV has it all?

Today, Monday August 22, we woke at anchor in Portage Lake.  One of the best anchor spots we have found.  After the bad wind and waves anything would have looked good, especially this little lake which has a rural setting and plenty of clear clean water and not much sea grass to clog water intakes and foul props.  The weather reports this morning said it would be a good day on Lake Michigan and it was.  It was an unusually good day.  The wind was from the South, but not bad enough to cause a lot of wave action.  We hoped for 40 miles today and made it by 2:00pm.  We pulled into Lake Pentwater and filled up with diesel fuel, well 67 gallons anyway.  The guy next to me put in 100 gal. in each tank. 200 gallons will last him a couple of days.  Our 67 gallons will last us 4 days. After fuel we pulled into a slip next to some other Loopers and took time to discuss the weather.  It seems a cold front is passing and high winds are expected tomorrow and maybe the next day.  So we may stay put for a while.  The guy that helped us into the dock explained all the services this marina has.  The last thing he said was "and the cable connection is in front of your boat". We have been on the boat since May and we have not hooked up the TV.  So, as soon as we got settled we decided to hook up the TV.  After about an hour of pulling on wires and connecting and disconnecting we got the TV going.  We watched 30 minutes and found out everything is the same so we turned it off.  So much for our efforts.  Well, I expect we will watch the weather...

Pentwater is a pretty little upscale boating community.  It sits on a small lake with several marinas and some condos and some cute little shops, but no Walmart.  We haven't seen a Walmart since Winter Harbor, NY. Maybe we will find one in Chicago.  I need that Walmart fix!

Are ya leaving today?

"Are ya leaving today?" is what every boater says to his neighbor each morning.  Everyone will check the radio for the NOAA weather forcast, watch TV and then check the internet and then ask their neighbor, "Are ya leaving today?"   Then the last thing is to look out to the water and see what it is doing.  This morning we were anchored in a secure lake with protection all around.  A front was passing but we thought it would be passed by noon.  Noon time came and we pulled up anchor and headed out onto Lake Michigan.  The wind was blowing 15-18 knots which is a little more than we like but the wave action left over from the front passing made for a really bad trip.  We had two destinations picked out.  The main one was about 25 miles away but we had a closer one if the weather was bad.  We chose the closer one.  It only took us a little over and hour to make the 15 miles but it was rough from the start. Large rollers that tossed our little boat every which way.  By the time we got in our safe harbor the living area of Lifestyle looked like a war zone.  After about 30 minutes of cleaning we only had one casualty.  A clay flower pot broke into many pieces and scattered dirt all over.  We cleaned it all up and had a glass of red to settle our nerves.  We were rewarded for our efforts by having a safe anchorage, out of harms way and watching a beautiful sunset. Thanks all for your prayers.  They say God looks after sailors, fools and little children.   We fell into two of those categories today.

Fishtown

We tied up to the dock at Fishtown officially known as Leland, MI. yesterday at 1230.  Just in time to go into town and have a sandwich at a place known as Village Cheese Shanty.  All of the dock side shacks have been turned into restaurants, sandwich shops or gift shops.  The tourist trade is the driving force.  It seems Good Morning America was just here a couple of days ago and named it one of the best places to go in the summer.  We came here because the winds were picking up on the lake and we wanted a safe harbor.  To their credit Michigan has done a great job creating safe harbors (Harbors of Refuge) along the coast. Every 20 miles or so a man made or natural harbor has been built to help boaters duck into a place and wait out a blow.  We are here till Saturday morning waiting for a front to pass, when we will brave it again.  In the meantime we are enjoying the local flavor and catching up on projects as usual. It appears we have found the adult playground of the Lake.  Last evening we witnessed a man about my age riding a bike up and down the dock while drinking a beverage in a tall glass.  He did this very well and seemed to know many of the other boaters.  We think he has had lots of practice.  Anyway we decided that this is a drinking town with a fishing problem. Seems only partying ranks above those two. People are real friendly and we have spotted two other Loopers in the marina. 

5 legs is dead!

The weather is improving and we expect to leave Northport tomorrow for a 30 mile trip to Leland Michigan.  A week cold front passed on to the the east today and we hope to have good weather for a couple of days.  We have taken the advice of locals and we are picking our days to be on Lake Michigan.

 Since we left Key Largo we have been pestered by a unwelcome guest aboard our floating home.  A Florida cockroach!  You know, those big ones that have wings and measure about an inch and half long. Boaters are very wary of getting infested by roaches.  We take a lot of precautions.  We don't bring cardboard aboard, We keep the boat clean.  We even assigned Maggie to clean up any crumbs.  But, to all of our efforts, we still have had this one lone roach aboard.  We call him 5 legs because I came close to killing him about a month ago when I found him in the galley one night. The only evidence of my quick smack was a leg left behind. Last night old 5 legs met his end. Denniese found him lurking in the master suite and put and end to his sea going days. I confirmed the kill this morning and counted his legs to make sure we got the right one.

Since we stayed in port today, I took to time to change the fuel filters.  As you know changing the fuel filters is the thing I hate most.  Denniese encourged me and I changed them withour a flaw-  no spilled diesel, no air in the lines -  all the seals in the right place.  All is good!  The pic is taken from the back of Lifestyle II. A lovely park at the end of the dock.

Michigan?

Are we on Lake Michigan or in some far away country?  We have sailed in the Caribean and not seen waters this clear. We anchored in 35' of water last night at Harbor Springs, Michigan, an upscale boating community.  Lots of large plastic boats but also an amazing number of old wooden boats.  We saw a 1942 Chris Craft that looked like new.  It was for sale but the price was not listed on the sign. Another one looked like a presidental yacht of the same era. Not having anchored in water that deep before I ask a fellow boater how much rode he used.  That's sailor talk for the amount of chain between the boat and the anchor. He said, "150 feet".   Now this gets real techincal, but in order for a boat to be in the same place in the morning as where you left in before you went to bed you must have an anchor and rode to fit the boat. If that is fitted properly then you can start with a 7-1 ratio.  7 times the depth of the water plus the distance from the boat to the water.  So,,, 7(35+5) (water depth and distance of boat to water) = 280'  But if you have chain and a heavy anchor you can drop the ratio down to 5-1 which equals 200'.  Since I don't have but about 150' of chain I did the third option.  I dropped it all in the water and said a short prayer.  Well, when I got up this morning we were in the same place.  IT WORKED!!  The only problem was the fog was so think we couldn't see to leave.  We waited around for a while and the fog lifted and we were on our way. The weather was super.  The water was so clear you could easlily see 20' down. We were at times in over 300 feet of water just a couple miles off shore.  This is a wounderful place.  The Caribean is a great place to visit in the winter and this is a great place to visit in the summer.  Tonight we are in the small town of Northport, MI.  We have found the local bakery and tasted the donuts.   Maybe we could write a book on the best donut ports.

Lake Michigan smiles

Lake Michigan smilled upon us today.  We departed Mackinaw Straits Marina this morning at 7 and passed under the famous Mackinaw Bridge at 8AM.  We were in the Straits and had turned south by 11AM.  The weather is great.  We have been working so hard to get to Lake Michigan that I think it rewarded us with great weather.  We are now anchored in a very busy harbor that looks like a Caribbean tourist hot spot.  Lots of big boats, lot of people and then there is Lifestyle II anchored right in the middle of it all.  We are waiting for someone to tell us to move, but we will stay here until they do.  Denniese is fixing porkchops to go on the grill and all is well in the world.  We will depart here tomorrow and head for another special spot.  Jay has send our mail to the next location and we will be able to catch up on the local news, a month late.
Blogspot is having trouble with pictures again, so no picture this time.

U S Coast Guard 83

Denniese and Mike Standing in front of the Mackinaw. 

 The Mackinaw was a US Coast Guard Ice Breaker that served from 1944 to just 5 years ago. Her job was to keep the great lakes open.  During WW2 she opened the Straits of Mackinaw so that iron ore could be delivered to the foundries and the war effort could be maintained.  She is now retired and sits at Mackinaw City Marina. We enjoyed our tour. She has three props -  two stern and one bow.  The bow prop was the reason for her success. It would drive the boat over the ice and crush it. The engines are the same as diesel train engines. It has three of these with electric motors that drive the props.  We can see her from our slip at our marina at Straits State Harbor, which is a new and very nice facility next to Mackinaw City.  The weather has cleared and we moved to this marina because it is close to the Mackinaw Bridge which we have to go under to continue our trip South.  Lake Michigan and Lake Huron come together underneath the Mackinaw Bridge.  We are hopfully going to depart Monday morning and be in Lake Michigan by noon.  We met up with three loopers that passed us a couple of weeks ago in the Georgian Bay.  One couple is from Decatur, Alabama and speaks and understands Southern talk.  Good to hear it again.. 

Lake Huron loves us.

Lake Huron must love us.  We have been within 30 miles of Lake Michigan for almost  a week and still cannot cross onto the big lake.  We are now in St. Ignace, MI, a small town across from Mackinac Island. This is a good stop even if it is raining. We are able to walk (in the rain) to an Ace Hardware and a True Value.  We found a great little grocery that will bring our groceries to our boat.  In addition, they have a real bakery that makes fresh bread and fresh donuts.  Wow,, what a place!!  Since this is the end of the tourist season, many stores have sales.  We pulled into the marina to the sound of firetrucks, the USCG and lots of excitment. At first I thought they had found out about me dumping the dish network satellite dish overboard (not needed since we don't subscribe), but  after docking, we found out a sizable fuel spill had occured. Of course, it had all washed over to the slip we were assigned.  Nothing like the smell of fresh diesel while enjoying lunch on the aft deck.  The HAZMAT team arrived and soon white oil soaks and oil booms surrounded the marina.  When I complained about the slip assignment the lady in the office said, "They all had diesel in them".  The HAZMAT team did a great job cleaning yesterday and were back at it this morning. Hopefully the rain will stop and the skies will clear for a departure tomorrow to Harbor Springs in Lake Michigan. We have met lots of nice people and share our story of the Great Loop adventure with all of them.  Last week we met a couple of fellow loopers from Laramie, Wyoming who are well on their way in a homemade project boat.  We passed them in open water making about 6kts with a 35hp outboard Johnson.  See, anybody can do it.  Enjoy the pic.

Do we need to move here?

The answer is emphatically, "No!"  This beautiful sunset was Monday evening, after a beautiful day.   When we woke up Tuesday morning the sky was black and it rained and stormed all day with a wind around 10-15 mph.  We didn't even consider leaving.  Yesterday morning, the sky was gray and the wind was blowing at around 20-25 mph and it was 59 degrees.  There were white caps on the water in the harbor and as the day progressed, there even appeared to be white caps INSIDE the marina.  No one was to be seen on the docks and no one left the marina  except two small boats that made a mad dash over to the island across the harbor.  People stayed on their boats all morning and  in the afternoon the sun broke through, but the temperature was in the high 60's and the wind was still howling.   We were invited to join 2 other couples, Bill & Pam Watt and Marcus & Jean Schultz, who graciously shared their supper with us and we discussed our options for leaving here. These folks were so nice and they were ready to go, too.  Cabin fever had settled in. Mike did take advantage of the situation and changed the oil in the engine and I did a few household chores, such as vacuuming up dog hair.  Speaking of dog hair, Maggie is better.  She is wagging her tail again, so I guess it is not broken.

The wind laid down during the night last night, so we are going to try to bust loose from here and anchor tonight at Government Island, which is about halfway to Lake Michigan.  The news from our neighbors is the weather patterns for Lake Michigan are similar to what we have experienced the last 2 days here on Lake Huron - 3 bad days and 2 good days.  Once we get to Lake Michigan, we have 300 miles to cover to get to Chicago.  It may take longer than we anticipated.
 

Drummond Island Yatch Haven

The weather turned sour yesterday and is even worse today. Denniese said this is why people live here, "They can't get out".  It seems a weather pattern started with thunderstoms yesterday and now has high winds today and appears to be here for awhile.  Wind gusting to 30kts.is not good for small boats. This is putting a dent in our budget.  We are sitting still and using food, and paying for a slip.  All in all its better than getting out in the bad weather.  We woke up to 59 degrees.  Lifestyle II does not have a heater, it is a warm temp boat. The people in the office here said that in 6 weeks they will have hard freezes in this area.  Please let us be gone by then!!  Back to the subject of Georgian Bay, which is really the north part of Lake Huron.  My description of that area is, "A cross between a maze and an obstacle course".  The landscape is granite rock with mostly evergreen trees growing on the small amount of soil on them.  But the amazing part is that almost every rock island that is bigger that a good size barn back home has a summer cottage built on it.  Some cottages are smaller than small, depending on the rock it is sitting on. A boat is a necessity.  Everything has to be brought in by boat, except when the water freezes, which I think must be early September (!!) and then you can take your snowmobile.  The strangest one we saw was a camping trailer parked on a rock just a bit larger than the trailer.  We decided they pulled it up there when the lake froze and just left it there for the summer.  The beauty is beyond description, granite of various colors, gray, blue and red. The water is so clear you can easily see 10 feet down.  Of course what you see is more granite.  Enjoy the day and give thanks for all this world offers.  Pic is of island house. 

Back in the USA

We arrived at Drummond Island Yacht Haven yesterday at 1:15pm and were cleared through customs by 1:30.  A very nice young customs agent asked it we had rought anything that we wanted to declare while in Canada.  We told him we couldn't afford to buy anything in Canada. The exchange rate was not in our favor and we found everything just higher.  Of course, we were in tourist towns for the most part and usually in marinas at that.  We did purchase a cheap 3 liter box of wine for $31.00 Canadian.  We usually buy a 5 liter in TN for $16.00.   Our trip into Canada started after leaving the Oswego canal in upstate NY and crossing Lake Ontario.  It was a rough crossing and we were glad to get tied up to a dock on the South coast just West of Kingston, Ontario. Ahead of us at that point was the Trent-Severn Waterway (240 miles),Georgian Bay(168 miles) and the North Channel(138 miles) Most of the trip is in protected waters.  Protected from the weather but not from many other hazards. The 44 locks on the Trent Severn were all clean and helpful.  Only a couple were difficult to manage and they were the ones that were in tourist towns with lots of boats and people.  The most interesting were the two pan locks where your boat was driven into a giant swimming pool or pan and then lifted to the higher water.  We had two of those and one lock where the boat was driven onto a traveling lift that took us and the boat via rail to the lower lake. The north portion of the great loop trip is challenging.  It will challenge your navigation skills, your boat handling skills, mechanical and planning skills.  Fuel and groceries are limited in some areas.  Rocks are everywhere and the channels are sometimes so narrow, alert calls on the VHF are required prior to entering them.  Marinas are widely spaced and if repairs are needed you need to do them yourself. Our generator stopped working and it took me three days to make the repair. We heard of boats hitting rocks and saw the proof at each marina where we stopped.  Storms and limited places to anchor were always a challenge.  When we did anchor we found very little mud on the bottom, mostly rock so our anchor would not hold.  Open water and storms are for another chapter. In spite of all the challenges, we saw some beautiful sites and met some wonderful people.  Lifestyle II performed great and with a few exceptions, we met the challenges and overcame them.  We had one injury.  Maggie fell and hurt her tail.  She may have broken it.  She is real pitiful.She tries to wag it and cries.  It happened during a bad storm while crossing the North Channel.  We were able to get out of it by ducking into a harbor on Cockburn Island.  The Island has 220 residents but only one that stays year round.  Tucked here in Drummond Island Yatch Haven, we marvel at all we have seen and expiencened.  We give thanks for our safe travels and look foward the the next half of the Great Loop.