4/17 Yep, it's Spring! Those up north have been looking forward to the weather warming and the snow leaving. Well, for those of us in Ft Lauderdale, it's starting to get hot and we're looking forward to getting underway to beautiful, little Stillwater, MN, USA. I've (amazingly) remembered how to update our blog, and today we'll do a test. This afternoon, we'll do our last charter for the 2013/2014 season. I've turned on Mr Spotty, and we'll see if all goes well.
This Winter, Pier 66 has started the reconstruction of the Marina. Lady Chateau was moved over one slip, and for the last week there, we moved to the Facedock. How about these neighbors?
The view from our slip ...
We thought that we'd be able to stay the entire Winter at The Pier, but fast moving construction has forced all boats off the Facedock. That left Lady Chateau homeless. Word passed around and some good friends offered space behind their home. It sure is different from marina life, but it's a great location and our landlords are so nice, so it's a fun time. Here we are …
4/19 We're off the dock and on our way north! Dick Stevens has been so kind in offering assistance, and he took a cab down this morning and we're underway. It's tough going on the Intracoastal all the way, but because it'd be a little out of the way to get offshore, we'll be on the inside.
It's our plan to get up to the St Lucie Lock and tie off on the pilings for the night. Unfortunately, the Flagler Bridge is under construction and we were held up for that. Plus, the rail bridge in Stuart was down for a while and that caused some delay. Anyway, we finally got to the lock and made it through. Upon leaving, the Lockmaster was quite grumpy because he had to stay late 5 minutes. Ahhh … government service! Here's the end of the day activities …
4/20 Happy Easter! We're on our way to Moore Haven. First, we need to get through Lake Okeechobee. The lake is very dirty and if the wind is blowing, the spray leaves a lot of dirty stains on the boat. Today was a good day for crossing, though …
This part of the Lake always shows us a little wildlife ..
Then through the Lock we go …
And to the dock …
4/21 We're on our way Ft Myers. We'll have an easy day, meet Jim, and enjoy dinner at the old Royal Palm Yacht Club. There's only two more locks to go through. It's quite a different operation from those in other parts of our country. Here, one set of gates is opened and gravity takes over to either fill or empty the chamber …
Up early and heading for Sarasota …
We've got great offshore conditions, so we opt to go outside from Boca Grande to Sarasota. The regular ship channel adds a few extra miles, so we take a short cut right next to the beach …
There's just enough water depth to get through, but it still leaves the Captain a little nervous. After we're out on the Gulf, we've got a great day …
More escorts ...
No, I'm not puking over the side. Just taking pics of the escorts …
Up to Sarasota and some friends. It's our plan to stay a few days, enjoy some fellowship, get in a few runs, and work on a couple projects. The view from our spot in Paradise …
The dock ...
4/24 Yep, plans changed. The weather is just about perfect for the ride to Apalachicola. Off we go …
Past a ship waiting to go into Tampa ...
Enjoying the ride ...
It really was a great ride. At 9:29, the Russian Space Station went over us. It surely is fascinating to be able to see that small station that's so very far away!
4/25 We made it to Government Cut at 6:00AM. It was just getting light, and we needed it. The channel will occasionally shoal up and we entered at almost low tide. Sure 'nuff … we found the bottom! Although the markers showed that we were right in the channel, the depth sounder said otherwise. Fortunately, it was light enough to look around, get our bearings, and try again … and again … and again. Whew, it made me a little nervous!
We topped the fuel tank at Miller Marine, rinsed off the salt, and made our way to Panama City …
We rented a vehicle and hopped in for a seven hour drive back to Sarasota. This is where I dropped off Dick and thank he and Ann for the help …
We arrived early enough to go the the Bird Key Yacht Club. Here, they were having a regatta and awards ceremony. Nice place …
4/27 Sunday, I picked up Mark at the Tampa Airport, got back in the car, and arrived back to Panama City at 12:30AM … NEW CREW!!! Then on Monday, we made our way to Ft Walton with the fresh, eager Crew …
4/29 A little rain came through and rather than toss lines and get wet, we waited and left like sane boaters. An 8:00AM departure is so civilized, yes? It'll be an easy day of only about 70 miles. But, we go past the Pensacola Naval Air Station. The Blue Angles are based there and frequently practice over the Bay. Well, they sure gave us a show …
They gave us an escort almost all the way to the dock. That's where we had our own show. A major weather system came through just as we were pulling in. Winds over 50 mph, huge waves bashing us into the dock, and buckets of rain were our afternoon and evening. One weather guy said 20 and another said 30 inches of rain in 24 hours. We found some places that had leaks that I didn't even know we had places! The rain was sideways, and that's not usual for us. So, today is a clean up day.
And, clean up day for the Marina, too ...
5/1 Marcia's on board … woo hoo! We can eat! Well, she's great to have aboard for other reasons, too. We're making our way to Mobile Bay and Dog River Marina. It's a beautiful day to be doing this leg. We're headed north, up the ship channel ...
And over to the west, through Dog River Bridge ...
Because of all that rain, the Mobile River has gone up 20 feet in two days and we decided to wait for the River to fall. It drops pretty quickly when it goes, but not soon enough for us. So, that gives us some free time. On Saturday, we walked over to the Mobile Yacht Club. We were all excited about a Martini and some great seafood gumbo…
The service was so bad, we walked out! I want to know, who ever walks away from gumbo??
So we ended up at Grand Mariner Restaurant and had a nice view of the evening and Lady Chateau across the River ..
Ever since the storm, the weather has been fantastic. This was about as nice of a morning as you could ask for as we looked out the aft door ..
As we've all seen, there can be some interesting personalities on the waterway. Here's a guy from Chattanooga, rebuilding a vessel after it caught fire …
We had some time to have a little fun, too. We FINALLY got the Zodiac in the water …
5/7 Well, we've had enough waiting! Six days at Dog River Marina is very nice and relaxing, but we gotta go! We've been watching the Corps river gaps and tables like they were the stock market. Up? Down? What if this happens? What about the debris and current? Well, we think we've timed it pretty good, so Wednesday's the day to shove off. 5:15AM gave us a good shot at a full day of travel. It sure was a beautiful morning on Mobile Bay for a sunrise …
After the six day wait, the Mobile River turned out to be pretty good. There was a little debris at the start, but both debris and current improved at we kept traveling north. Of course, we always had ever vigilant crew …
We had a great dinner aboard while tied to a park bench for the night. I know it sounds pretty goofy, but the bottom has proved to be bad for anchoring, and we certainly don't want to drag anchor and drift over the dam, so a park bench looks pretty good. A great sunrise turned into a couple hours of driving in the fog ...
The high water carves away at the river banks, causing trees and mud and stuff to enter the river flow ...
213 miles from Mobile gets us to Demopolis Lock. After this point, things seem to be a little easier.
And easier makes for a happy Crew!!
Another hour gets us to another 5 star resort-like overnight …
And a happy crew ...
This guy looks like he WORKS on the barge …
5/9 Another day, a few more locks ...
Local fisherman …
A very happy Crew! We've done well on the locks, so far, but there's trouble ahead ...
A great day to be on the water ...
This is the Jamie Whitten Lock. Many of these locks are named after the politicians that drove through the legislation to complete the Tenn-Tom waterway. This lock being the biggest engineering challenge, I guess Mr Whitten was the most important guy. Going in …
Looking up …
A perspective on an 84 foot lift …
Out of the lock and into the Divide Cut. This section is somewhat tedious. It runs for about 25 miles of dredged canal. It's been said that more earth was moved here than at the Panama Canal.
That brought us to Yellow Creek, and our evening anchorage. What a beautiful evening!
5/11 Today we get to go downstream, and save a little fuel. Into Pickwick lock, we go …
Today was 87 degrees ad a light breeze. Beautiful ...
Almost 900 miles and it's time for a little fuel at Pebble Isle Marina. It's a great spot, great hospitality, and access to groceries, too. Going in ...
At the dock …
The owner is on-site and behind the stove at the restaurant. It's Mother's Day, so we had a little celebration. Here's a toast to the best Mom a child could have! Loving, giving, understanding … and at the best Crew, too!
5/12 Back out, headed for Paducah ...
I was a nice, easy, downstream ride to Kentucky Lock. There's much tow traffic here, so we had to wait a couple hours. Fortunately, there's a long lock wall that we can tie to while waiting ...
And stepping on wayward fish on the deck …
Into Paducah for our favorite hotel. It's a great location, but the swimming pool and tennis courts need a little work ...
5/13 Another 5:15AM departure has us into the Ohio and then turning the corner at Cairo, IL for the run up the Mississippi River to Minnesota. We had hopes that because the water was relatively low, the current wouldn't be too bad. Well, it's still movin' along. But, we still made our stop early enough to have a little R & R. Here's our spot
I'll bet those that subscribe to YACHTING magazine have never done this ...
