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. 

Mon Nov 6: Birdsong to Clifton Marina

Our French Canadian friends stayed at Birdsong another day, and the other boat returned to Green Turtle for a leak repair (a leak is really an undesirable thing in a boat) so we were pleased to be on our own today. 

Coming out of Birdsong I got a picture of 'Hank Aaron' - so named because he hangs out on this sand bar/pitcher's mound.

 

We had lovely light to enjoy the end of Kentucky Lake (which is in TN, of course). We missed the best fall color, but we are still happy to be here (and NOT on Lake MI).

We also enjoyed the unique beauty of the limestone cliffs along this section of the river.

Looks like a precarious place to live, however...

Then this came up the river and Rick GEEKED OUT!  It’s a rocket ship!  No, I mean literally.  Not only is that its name, but, as part of the United Launch Alliance, it actually transports rockets/boosters!! She transports components for the ULA Atlas V, Vulcan IV and Delta rockets from the manufacturer in Decatur, AL to launch facilities Cape Canaveral, FL and Vandenberg Space Force Base in CA.  We are a bit puzzled by that-wouldn’t it just be quicker and easier to drive them??  But it was super cool to see her, and when I told the pilot that my husband was feeling out about his boat, he said ‘we are doing the same about your boat’.  How kind was that!!

She’s flat in order to pass under bridges.

By the time we got to Clifton we had weather whiplash (weather-lash?).  Compare this to the 28 in Paducah a few days ago!  It's hard to know how to dress from moment to moment...

There were enough of us shoehorned into Clifton Marina that there was only one thing to do at dusk - NIBBLES!!!

Then we fell into bed at Looper Midnight (about 8pm), as we will be getting up earlier and earlier in the next few days.  

Sun Nov 5: A Day in Birdsong/Camden

It might not be the best marina we've stayed in, but we had a good day. I tried hard to sleep in, since we 'sprang back' and I was going to get that elusive dream of mine-more sleep.  Which made it all more annoying when my eyes flew open at 7am. Grump, Grump ...

One of the positive things about this marina is that it has a courtesy car.  So we decided to make a day of it and Rick took me to breakfast.  I tried fried baloney, since I guess that's a thing.  It was exactly like you would expect it to be.

Then we hit the highlights - Walmart and the Dollar Store.  After this there is a moratorium on buying groceries since we need to start eating rather then buying.  Only a week more aboard the boat in 2023!

If it were any other time in the last 4 years we would have gone to see the Patsy Cline Memorial, which marks where she was killed in a plane crash in 1963.  But we are pretty future-focused, and couldn't be bothered.  I'm sorry, Patsy. I hope that doesn't make you 'Fall to Pieces'... 

In the afternoon Rick got to do  his favorite thing, which involved building character in young men and getting the boat clean.  He showed them how to clean a boat, told them about Looopers and how to start a boat-washing business, and gave them $10 each.  Later, when the next set of boats came in, these 2 kids had made little notes about their new boat-washing business.  It was so cute. (It was a bit of a problem that two of the boats were French Canadian and there was a bit of a language barrier - but Rick helped overcome that!)

Rick and his minions...

I have no idea what this is - but he kept busy buzzing in and out of the marina. Good to have a hobby.

This afternoon was had the museum/tour of the old mussel cultured-pearl industry. It was once a thriving business, and the only one in North America, but is now only an interesting exhibit.  Bob was in fine form and held forth for about an hour.  And some of it was interesting!  The desired shape (ie - a heart) is created from a small piece of shell and then wrapped in mussel flesh and inserted in the little mussels before they are put in the frame and into the water.  10 years later that object has been covered by layer upon layer of 'nacre', the mother-of-pearl residue inside the shell, and is a pearl in the desired shape.

Can you spot the pearl!? This is actually a salt-water oyster shell, which is how pearls are traditionally cultivated.

These are the fresh-water mussels, who start off the size of a quarter, and end up big like this.

I find white pearls a little boring, but I loved all the different color possibilities!  I didn't know there were so many...

Lovely sunset with a tree kindly offering a silhouette.

A boat we hadn’t met before came in, with this crew member.  I think it's so funny that he is sitting like Budda!

We all got together for a little appetizer party.  4 of these are our old & new French Canadian friends.  They are lots of fun, even with the language barrier.

Claudette made Pina Coladas in this new appliance she is obsessed with - a Thermomix...  Whatever that is.  According to her it makes everything from drinks to soups to bread....🤷‍♀️

For $2, 500 it had better wash the car, walk the dog and bring in the mail…