Tues Jan 23: UPDATE

It's possible you have noticed that we did, in fact, not get back on the boat Jan 15 as advertised.... Let me just catch you up, and welcome you into the Swirling Chaos that is OUR LIFE...

Had we known then what we know now, we would have kept on going down to Mobile, and left her there.  This is what we call 'foreshadowing'... But since time travel is not yet an option, we went back to ATL as planned, and had a great Thanksgiving/Christmas with the kids (young adults).

My family is so YUMMY!

We had built a sales web-site for the boat, and sent it out to some boater places.  During our winter break Rick drove back to AL a couple of time to show the boat to people looking to start their loop in the spring.  We even had one very serious prospect, but his wife wanted a different boat.  That was OK - we really were hoping to finish the Loop in the spring, and give it to a boat broker on the East side of FL.

We got a giggle out of this picture from Europe, that was making the rounds in the boating community This is why everyone is so careful at the locks - just one big boi can break the system for weeks.  See how he bumped the upper door a bit too hard?! People - this is ALSO FORESHADOWING....

So January came and we found a real estate agent and started working in earnest to get the house ready for sale. In these modern times the agent comes with a stager (who told me all the things that had to leave the house/be rearranged prior to showing) and a pre-inspection (which produced a 50 PAGE - I am not making that up - list of things for Rick to 'fix'). So it quickly became clear that getting back on the boat in Jan was not an option.  In fact we felt happy to be around to hear about Will's challenges with working full time, and studying for the MCAT.  And Rick was pleased to support him with great meals every day after work, and every night!  Then we realized that it would be best to be around for the week when the house is shown (in today's world there is one week of marketing, one open house, and then competing bids - all in one week 🤞) - since we knew it would be IMPOSSIBLE for Will to keep the house in great shape for that week.  When pigs fly, maybe... So we resolved to get back on the boat (if it didn't sell first) in mid-Feb and finish up the Loop, once the house was sold but prior to moving out.

Dear Reader - that is NOT. GOING. TO. HAPPEN. Because, of course not. Between our marina and Mobile Bay lie 2 locks that we need to get through. A week ago the first of these, Demopolis Lock, suffered a major break. As you know, America has an infrastructure problem.  And the lock system, built in the 30s with a 50 year life span, is even lower on the priority list then roads and bridges. The sill inside the upper door of the lock fell apart. You can see in the pic below that the left hand part has collapsed. So this is like having someone drill a big hole right below your door.  Even though you close the door, there is no way to stop the water coming in - and, therefore, no way to raise boats up and down. The Army Corps of Engineers is saying it’s a 30-90 day fix.  So now we are having to be as flexible as Gumby... Friends of ours, also stuck in Demopolis, are going to hire a trailer to move their boat down to Mobile and put it back in the water there. But our boat is big enough that this would require an escort and special permits - the rough estimate is $5000.  So that's not going to happen.  We are going to focus on the house, and on William, and then we will see what is up with the Demopolis Lock. So that plate (finishing the Loop/selling the boat) can remain in the air while we deal with the ones closer to crashing into the ground!

The Army Corps, using 3 tugs and 6 barges, managed to drop emergency ‘Stoplog’ gates and stop the flow of water.  You can see they are working through the night - there is a HUGE amount of pressure on from the companies with barges stacked up on either side of this lock.  There just is no other easy way to get to Mobile. Don’t we know it…

So - we intrepid explorers will have to wait to finish our Loop.  And it may not happen at all.  But that is OK.  We are cheerful and present in the moment, and just waiting to see how else the universe wants to test us!!!

XO

2023 - The End

And so 2023 comes to an end.  Thank you for coming along for the ride.  I know you didn't expect to have to commit to 4.5 years of blog reading.  Imagine how we feel, having to come up with content for all that time!  We will be back Jan 15, for 6 final weeks.  I think we have decided not to do the Bahamas, and not to do Dry Tortugas.  We are debating cutting across Lake Okeechobee rather than around the Keys, but we will see how rested we feel in Jan....

Until then....

 

 

 

Sat Nov 11: The Homestretch to Kingerfisher Marina in Demopolis, AL

Sunshine wanted to leave at 8am, but we talked them into 7am (can you believe I was a willing participant in such a thing?!).  We wanted to be well down the river by the time the group of boats came through the lock.

I was happy to see where we anchored, since we barely saw it last night before night fell like a piano on our heads.

 

 It was a long day, natch, and Rick sent me back to bed for part of it.  It was so gloomy and rainy that I was just a whiny baby.

The white Cliffs of Epps were about all there was to write home/blog about:

 

 

Over the last few hours I developed a phobia that something was going to happen to the boat, so close to this 2023 end.  But the flag stayed on, so nothing bad happened - and we got to Kingfisher Marina in Demopolis uneventfully.  

We've been here before - our original boat friends, Lynn and Carolyn, sold their boat here.  We drove over from Atlanta to help them.  So we had a debate about selling Blue, but decided to stay the course...

So grateful to be here, we kissed the dock and fell into bed!

Fri Nov 10: Columbus Marina to TenTom Oxbow anchorage

For some reason the start time today was 8am - probably because so many people stayed out too late last night! We were the first boat out today, just because we are always last.  But then we ended up having to hold at the lock, so it didn't make any difference.  Everyone goes faster than us anyway...

All the pictures are the same as yesterday, a long line of boats (with us at the back), so I'm not going to bore you with any of them!

We did have this silly visitor in one lock - he's so derpy!

We also had this new, cute, boat with us for the day:

It's a class of boat Rick says is called Dory Class.  And it's name is Hunky Dory.  How cute is that!!

We were pretty tired of the size of the group, so we were happy when the 5 big boats announced that they were going to anchor together at the end of the day.  Along with Sunshine we decided to press on and try to make it through the final lock before dark. The lock mistress held the lock for us, so we made it to our anchorage right below the lock with 20 mins to spare.  Just as we set our anchor night fell out of the sky.  Whew...  we felt so good about how far we got today...

Thurs Nov 9: Midway to Columbus Marina

Because there are so many of us, a flotilla formed (and Rick didn't have to be the leader!).  And so we got up when we were told to get up.  Imagine how thrilled I was.  I don't like to talk to anyone before 11am - in this case I had FIVE HOURS to go before I woke up... Grump, grump...

It was a long day - with 4 locks.

Of COURSE we were able to see the sunrise.  We were up well before it....

This is basically our whole day - at the back of a pack.....

The light was too flat for good pix, but this gives you an idea of our level of water in the lock, and what it looks like down below, where we are headed.

We got through 3 of the locks smoothly, but at one we had to hold 1 hours for a tow/barge to come up.  That's a lot of boats to keep holding in a fairly shallow area, and inevitably one ran aground and got stuck.  A second boat went to help and also got stuck.  The smallest boat of all (Sunshine), an overpowered intrepid little thing, piloted by a gung-ho Irish guy from Boston, got them both pulled off just as the lock opened and the tow/barge (bah-ge, the Boston guy says) asked us all to clear a path for him.  Crisis averted - it was really impressive!

Here we all are, sitting around and trying not to run aground...

The rest of the day was basically this:

With a little of this thrown in - so many bird waiting for their close-ups, and I don't know what I'm doing.  Photography classes are in my future...  If we ever get off this dang boat...

Columbus Marina was run by a super professional, and every Looper helped the boats behind him tie up.  So it was an easy, wind-free, docking.  The 'cool kids' went off for dinner and we enjoyed our peace and quiet!

Wed Nov 8: Dry Creek to Midway Marina

Quite early (of course) we said goodbye to our sweet anchorage.  It was nice to be all on our own again, as we have been so much of the trip - before this year...

 

Travel today took us out of the bottom of Pickwick Lake, and into the Divide Cut.

Right before the Divide Cut we came to a place where, if you turn the boat sideways, you can be in AL, MS and TN - all at the SAME TIME!!  No wonder I can't tell which state we are in at any given time on this leg of the journey.

The Divide Cut (which links 2 lakes) is one LONG canal, 25 miles long - you are not allowed to stop or anchor in any part of this waterway.

The baffles keep streams entering the channel from entering too fast, and thereby creating shoaling.

It was one LONG boring channel.

This part of the world people seem to be expecting the worst from the water.  Probably smart.

There are whole stretches of RVs with roofs built over them...  We haven't seen that before.

 The Divide Cut empties into Bay Springs Lake (which looks like it has lots of lovely anchorages), at the end of which is the Whitten Lock.  The biggest lock we will go through on the Loop, and the 2nd largest one in the country (the largest is one we will not get to in TN).  It's an impressive 84' drop (from here on out each lock will drop us down, on the way down to Mobile).

All of these locks have floating ballards - I drive in, Rick loops a mid-line over the bollard, and away we go! Very civilized...

This lockmaster was kind enough to let us lock through with a tow/barge. He was small enough and not carrying hazardous materials. It saved us a ton of time. 

Two more locks and we arrived at Midway Marina.  It was unnerving to dock in the wind next to a drowned forest, but Rick managed it.  There may have been a little yelling on my part to get the dockhands into the right place - at this point we are experienced enough that we want what we want, and you had better be where we want you!

There were LOTS of Loopers in this marina, many of whom went out to dinner together.  But we were tired, not in need of company and trying to 'draw down' our supplies - so Rick made us a great dinner and we fell into bed...

Tues Nov 7: Clifton to Dry Creek Anchorage

Leaving the very narrow entrance to the Clifton Marina we rejoined the Tennessee River for the last day. Pretty quickly the first lock on this part of the system came into view - Pickwick.  This big lock (55’) lifts us up from the Tennessee River to Pickwick Lake, where one option is to continue up the lake further on the Tennessee River to Chattanooga and eventually to Knoxville, and the other is to make a right turn onto the Tenn-Tom Waterway (more on that tomorrow).  

I’m going to stop saying these are long days-just assume it from here on out.  We have a lot of mileage to cover each day as long there are few places to stop.  That’s ok-we are fortified by the knowledge that we get to see William soon!!

Every time he has a chance Rick hoses down the boat to try to keep it clean and every day the bugs do their part to get back on the clean boat!  Not sure you can see it below but we have been plagued by little gnats the last few days.  They seem to like to land on the back of the boat to get out of the wind and then as we walk around we squish them and make a mess. 

On the last few miles of the Tennessee river the current picked up significantly.  Until then the current had been no more than 1 mph against us, but that increased to 3-4 mph as we approached the lock.  We slowed down dramatically.  We had our usual attack of lock-phobia (developed coming off of Lake MI) as we approached Pickwick Lock, wondering if we would have to wait 2 hours to get through-but the lock master invited us right in and even took pictures of us (they are on the Pickwick Lock FB page)!

Once on Pickwick Lake we said good-bye to our buddy boats (everyday we travel with some boats - not always the same, but there are so many loopers in this area that informal flotillas always form up) and headed out to Dry Creek to drop the anchor.  There are some nice marinas in the area but the weather was excellent, with very little wind, and our anchoring days are coming to an end-better do it while we can. It was the right decision.  We were completely alone in a beautiful, quiet cove and we watched the eagles play in the sky around us.  At dusk the lake came alive with the splashes of fish jumping for their dinner (or perhaps trying to avoid becoming someone else’s dinner!). 

Rick is working on using up our fresh and frozen food and cooked us an excellent dinner of roast pork tenderloin, baby potatoes and broccoli.  We do eat well on Blue Horizon, in fact we had dinner at the restaurant at the Clinton Marina and felt that our own cooking was much superior to the fried fare that was served at the restaurant.  

Off to bed as we will be up tomorrow at 5:45 am to move on to the Tenn-Tom waterway.