Spring 2019 Ft Lauderdale, FL to Stillwater, MN

5/4  Here we go again! It's getting too hot in Ft Lauderdale, and that means it's time to get going. We have a fair amount of anxiety (shocking) because of the river conditions up north. Shoaling and flooding seem to be the theme of this year, but we have no choice. We gotta go!

Lake Okeechobee has been drained too much and it's too shallow for us to cross, so we need to go south and around the Keys. We left Port Everglades about 7:00 AM and saw the Navy ships that were in town for the Fleet Week and Air and Sea show. The offshore forecast was a little rougher than we'd like, and sure enough ... it was. We had rough, rolly-polly seas for four hours, but then it settled down pretty nicely. We're anchored off Lower Matecumbe Key for a great dinner and sunset, and the forecast looks good for tomorrow.

How could it be better?

Here's our look as we approach 17th St Causeway and Port Everglades ...

This weekend is the Air and Sea Show, just off Ft Lauderdale Beach. There's the Blue Angles and other aircraft that fly the beach for a show, plus there's Navy ships in port, too ...

We head out to the Atlantic, and turn right towards Miami and the Keys ...

Once again, our friend Howard has generously offered his time to help get us over to Clearwater. All this driving can make a captain hungry!

Our route takes us down to the Keys, then we turn right, and head up the West Coast. There are few places that we can cross from the Ocean to the Gulf. Low bridges and shallow water leave us with only one spot before Key West, and that's around Marathon. It's called Channel 5, and it's a 65 foot tall fixed bridge ...

We anchor for the evening and settle in for some shrimp cocktail and a stir-fry chicken ... yum!

5/5 We start the day by heading northwest into the "Yacht Channel". This is a route that some clever captain found so we don't have to go all the way around Key West. The issue is that it's shallow ... really shallow. We pick our way through the markers with less than a foot to spare beneath the keel, but we make it without touching bottom, and off to a great sunrise ...

There's a few crab pots that we need to avoid for about 15 miles, but then it's smooth sailing. We set the auto-pilot, sit back, and enjoy the ride ...

The forecast was for 1 foot seas, and it was, but not for very long. They increased in size, and they turned to hitting us on the beam. That left us with another rolly-polly ride, and sure enough, stuff went to the floor! When we bounce around like this, it stirs up our fuel tanks, and that's not good. Several years ago we took on some bad fuel. We tried to remove it and clean it, but things have never been the same, since. Now, whenever we get bounced around, we're concerned about the debris in the tanks going into the engine filters, causing a reduction in performance. Just before leaving Ft lauderdale, we installed an additional filter system that gives us the ability to clean these filters "on the fly", and this reduces the Captain's anxiety. On this leg, we were getting an engine rpm reduction that wasn't the result of dirty filters, and we couldn't figure out why. Our plan was to go all the way to Clearwater on the Gulf, but we'll have to head inshore at Ft Myers to do a little investigation.

5/6  We pull our anchor in the dark and head for Sarasota. It's another beautiful morning, but hot! 

The ride on the Intracoastal is slower, but there's more to see on the inside. There's a few bridges that are on a schedule, and this slows us down, too. Sometimes, it's more than bridges that slow us down, too. As we went through a bridge by Cape Haze, the bridge tender called and told us that we had a line on our anchor. Well, this could be big trouble if we were to get it wrapped around the prop, so we stopped to check. Sure enough! There was a line, there. It wasn't just a line, though, but 50 feet of it with a crab trap tied to the end of it! When we pulled anchor in the morning, we saw a little seaweed on the anchor, but both of us missed the line. We had been dragging that darn thing for 40 miles ... LOL! It was amazing that it didn't cause us problems, but even so, we're into Sarasota Bay for an early anchorage and easy night ...

5/7  We're off for Clearwater. Although we're on the ICW, it's a nice trip with some interesting views. The Sunshine Skyway Bridge ...

And into our spot at the Clearwater City Marina ...

Unfortunately, this is where we lose Howard. Fortunately, this is where we add Curley!

5/8  We'll have to address our engine issue, and here in Clearwater is a great spot to do it. The engine seems to be losing rpm for a couple seconds, and then it picks back up to normal. It's either a fuel issue, or an air issue. The first thing that we try is to replace a fuel line, and although this is moderately easy, we don't like buying a part that might not be necessary. After instilling the line, the engine still doesn't run quite right. One way to check things is to install a fuel pressure gauge. We try this, and sure enough, there's not enough fuel pressure. As it turns out, the Flo-Scan that we have that measure fuel flow is restricting the fuel. After removing that part from the system ... voila! ... we're good! And it's good to get out of that hot engine room, too. It's 90 degrees out, and humid, too. Whew!

5/10  We've been checking the weather for crossing the Gulf for a few days. The predictions were for today, Friday, to be good. Looking at the current weather forecast says that it's not going to be as good as thought. To give it a little time, we'll fix a couple things and kind of get ready while keeping an eye on the forecast. Fortunately, Curley motivates my anxiety and off we go.

Leaving Clearwater ...

The trip starts with just a few rolls here and there, but later it turns very nice. Here's one of our many escorts, going across ...

And a piece of video of the nice part of the ride ...

We leave the Clearwater sea bouy at about 11:30AM, and 164 miles later we'll get to the sea bouy by Carabelle, FL. We'll see that bouy at about 2:00AM but we'll catch this sunset along the way ...

5/11  3:00AM ... it's always a great feeling to have the Crossing behind us. The anxiety level of the Captain drops to unacceptable level, and the Crew really appreciates this, too! 6:00AM finds us putting fuel aboard at C-Quarters Marina. Carabelle is  not much more than a few small businesses, and a number of houses. I don't think that they even have a stoplight! It's really a port for commercial and recreational fishing, and not really very fancy. Here's a look at a couple of the local vessels as we're heading back to the Intracoastal ...

Here, we see remnants of the hurricane from last year ...

It's about a 30 mile ride to the west over to Apalachicola. This is where we would usually stop, but the hurricane has taken away most of the dockage. Here's the bridge at the approach to town ...

And a look at the riverfront of Apalachicola ...

We had a comfortable ride over to Panama City. There's really no dockage left here, either, so we continue a few more miles and drop anchor for the night ...

5/12  It's another easy day for us, today. Ft Walton has some docks that are for use by the transient boaters that come through. It's a great dock, but no electricity or water, but that's fine for us. I get an opportunity to get out for a run, and then a short walk to Publix for a bundle of parsley and a few other things. It's Chicken Francaise for us, tonight!

5/13  Our goal for the day is Dog River Marina at Mobile. This is about an 11 hour ride, but it's another beautiful day, and there's lots to see. There's miles and miles of beach that's off-limits to the public because it's a military area. A few years ago, a radar dome was erected, and it look rather odd, yes?

As we enter Mobile Bay, we leave the Intracoastal Waterway and head 320 degrees towards downtown Mobile. There's always a flock of birds trying to get a free lunch from the fish that we might have bubbled to the surface. Unfortunately, they also have those little (or big) white bombs that get dropped ... LOL!

Ah, Dog River Marina...  It's always a milestone because it's a demarcation for transition between the salt water and the fresh water. This spring has left much of the country with major flooding, and the South hasn't been excluded from the troubles. As we travel north, the next 453 miles is called the Tombigbee Waterway. It's a project that was completed in about 1986, and it's use is intended to reduce the travel distance from the mid-south states to the Gulf of Mexico. Going north, we start on the Mobile River and then move to the section of construction (red dashes).

All the rain that occurred a few weeks prior to our arrival has resulted in the river rising about 30 feet in 5 days.

This results in a big increase in current and floating debris. The current costs us fuel, and the debris can be dangerous, so we elect to stand by for a while in Mobile. Here's where we have to say goodby to Curley. Very sad ...

Dog River Marina has been in business for a very long time, and it's a great stop for us ...

While we wait, I can run, and paint, and fix a few things. Plus, we get a chance to see some excitement. While we were there, a vessel had a fuel leak and many, many gallons of gasoline ended up in their bilge. The Fire Department was called and everyone had to clear the docks. About 15 firemen answered the call, and a private company arrived to off-load the gas to a waiting truck. 

Here's our spot on the dock ...

The south has been heating up the temperatures, and we don't even want to go outside. 104 degrees on the deck is just too much!

5/24  The new Crew arrives, and after replenishing the pantry and a couple great evening dinners, we decide to shove off and head upstream.

The river ahead of us has returned to a near-normal level, and we think that the ride will be pretty nice. The morning surely starts this way. Here, we're in the Ship Channel, headed for downtown ...

With the sunrise ...

And passing an out-bound ship ...

While passing through Mobile Harbor, we see that it's not only the smaller boats that have issues ...

The first 50 miles of the Mobile River are a little wider, and it slowly meanders back and forth. It's really a very nice section. Here, we approach the 14 Mile Railroad Bridge, and it tells us that here's where we leave civilization behind ...

We call the bridge, and although there's a short wait for rail traffic, we pass through and continue upstream. After a few miles, we start to see the effects of the very high water levels. This guy won't need to mow the front lawn anymore, will he?

We make pretty good time against the small amount of current. There's one lock for us before we can stop for the day, but sure enough, we have to wait over an hour for a tow to lock ahead of us. Still, the crew remains happy!

5/25  We're up and at 'em at reasonable 5:15 AM. It looks to be a beautiful morning, too!

Demopolis, AL, is our stop for the evening. We first have to pass through the Lock to raise us 30 feet. This is the location where the River rose 30 feet, and the spillway by the Lock that we see would have all been under water ...

5/26  We're off for another great morning. Today, we'll need to put on 120 miles, and 3 locks. An early start gets us the best advantage with the tow traffic, so off we go to another morning without fog (thanks!). After a few miles, we reach these beautiful, white bluffs by Epps. 

We have a couple tows that we'll need to pass to get to the lock before them, but we'll keep down our speed to try and save some fuel. They're not traveling very fast, so we get lucky and make it around them and into the lock ...

All day, the timing works out just perfectly, and we pass through the final lock with enough time to have a nice afternoon at the Columbus Marina. Unfortunately, the rain that has caused so many issues, has also shoaled in the mouth of the marina. The dock master says that we should "give it a try", but we don't want to get stuck and spend the summer in the marina channel! So off we continue of a few more miles to a great little spot to hide for the evening ...

5/27  We'll have 7 locks ahead of us for the day, and about 120 miles, too. At Aberdeen Lock, there was more of the shoaling issues from the flooding, and the Corps of Engineers had sent a dredge to clear the shoal. It took a coulee weeks to re-position the dredge, and a few more weeks to do the work. Luckily, the work was finished just a few days prior to our arrival, and we scoot right through.

We had one small delay, but made it through all the other 5 locks and made it to Jamie Whitten Lock for the final passage of the day. It's the last one on this section of our trip, and the tallest, too. We'll be raised about 84 feet and be let out into the Bay Springs Lake. It's some pretty amazing engineering, and we're very thankful for it!

After another 30 miles, we drop anchor by Aqua Yacht Harbor. It's a beautiful evening and we're happy to have the previous 453 miles in our back pocket.

Although the bugs found us and it still was almost 90 degrees, we had a great happy hour on the aft deck ...

5/28  Today will be another easy day. Because the Mississippi River is running at flood stage and we'll have to lay up at Paducah, we can take the next 100 miles at a very easy pace. This stretch has one lock and about 55 miles. Plus, we'll be going downstream on the Tennessee River, so we can pull back on the throttles and save a little fuel.

The Tennessee Valley Authority built a series of locks and dams in the 1930's. It was an attempt to not only control the River, but also to generate electricity. After the locks were introduced, this created bug "lakes" above the locks. Are in Pickwick, it's called Pickwick Lake. Well, duh! In any case, it leaves a beautiful, wide and easy river for travel. There's very large homes next to the water, plus there's a great amount of boating here, too. 

While we're underway, we like to keep busy with little projects. Some of the Crew like to make these projects a little bigger, too!

Here, we're approaching Clifton and the Clifton Marina. It's only 2:00, and that gives us a nice afternoon for a run and some boat cleaning.

Whew, cleaning all those blinds can surely tire out a crew person!

5/29  Today is somewhat of a day off. Our buddy Peter works in Nashville, and he's graciously offered to travel with us for a few days. I'm able to get in a run, and then it's off to Nashville in the Marina Courtesy car for a 2 hour drive to get Peter. On the way back, we discuss all the important things that need to get accomplished upon our return, but after arrival, it's just too hot! So, it's time for some relaxation ...

5/30  Because we don't have very far to go, we'll have another easy day. While Peter is aboard, we have only 130 miles to cover in 3 days. That means that we can enjoy later departures, and early arrivals. Pebble Isle Marina is our target for the day. It's a deepwater harbor that has a good, secure dock. Here, we're in the narrow entrance channel ...

And into the dock ...

Arriving early gives us time to do a couple projects, and getting the tender cleaned and running is one of them ...

We took a short ride around the Harbor to make certain the engine was running fine, and it was! We have a problem of not running the engine frequently enough to keep it in shape, so we'll try to run it again for the next few days. For now, we'll leave it hanging overnight ...

5/31  Tonight will find us at anchor, and we have only about 40 miles to get there. When the TVA flooded this area, the water level rose about 30 feet. This left hundreds of big and little fingers stretching from the main river off to the surrounding areas. One could take an entire summer to explore them, but I think that you'd need more time to see them all. Tonight, we'll see just one, but it's well off the channel and very protected. After making certain that the anchor is properly set, we put down the tender and go for a ride.

Whoops, looks like Marcia's a little shaky getting out of the little boat?

Hmm ... was that bottle full at departure?

Finally, a great evening of conversation and meatloaf!

6/1  We rise early to catch a beautiful sunrise in the fog ...

After a leisurely morning, we pull anchor and head for Kentucky Dam Marina. This last 40 miles above the lock and dam is very wide and scenic. It's easy boating, some of the last that we'll have for a while ...

And it's always a bonus to have another Captain!

6/2  My vehicle was left in Ft Lauderdale, and it was my intention to get to Stillwater, and then fly back to drive it north. I was really looking forward to the drive, but it looks like the timing won't work out. Another captain / buddy from MN has offered to fly down and drive it back. So, off he went, and he's stopped to meet us here in Paducah to take Marcia home. Here we are, getting ready for them to leave ...

This year has set a record for flooding on the Mississippi River. It's not yet the highest, but it's been the longest lasting flood on record. Places further south have been flooded since January, and the area to which we're headed has been flooded since March. The conditions are always subject to change because of rainfall, but here's one snapshot of what's ahead of us though St Louis ...

The wait in Paducah will be a long one. The Coast Guard shuts down the River at 38 feet (on the graph). As of this writing, it won't be until after 6/13 that we have the possibility of moving. Even if we did, we wouldn't get very far. The high water levels have closed 10 locks and one bridge. So, even if we elected to start chugging up that way, our progress would be stopped by the Lock in St Louis. One of our favorite marinas to stay at currently has 10 feet of water in their parking lot. So, it'll be some running for me, some painting for me, and a whole lot of sitting on my hands!

Ahh, Mother Nature. I think the bible references something about locusts. We didn't have locusts, but we surely do have May Flies! I hope that they depart as quickly as they arrived. I can't hardly walk outside without being covered by them ...

6/15  We continue to wait on the flooding. There's more rain up north, and the River isn't falling. Each time we think we can plan a schedule, things change and it gets pushed back. On the positive side ... the new Crew is here! We had hoped to leave on 6/16, but that's not going to happen. The alternative is to do a few projects. Varnish is on the list, and Julie's helping with polishing the hardware ...

One of the varnish items was the wheelhouse window frames. Here's the Captain, scraping and sanding just before he fell off the helm ... LOL!

6/21  Yahoo! It looks like we can re-start the voyage. The Coast Guard will re-open St Louis Harbor, and shortly thereafter, the St Louis Locks should open up, too. We'll need to re-position the boat to downtown Paducah, and that will make the next day run to Cape Girardeau much easier. First, we'll have to go through Kentucky Lock. It's about a 50 foot drop, and this puts us to the elevation of the Ohio River, 22 miles downstream. This Lock has only one chamber, but the TVA is adding a second one. It's a huge project in time, dollars, and manpower.

On our way in ...

A happy Crew, thankful to be back underway ...

Here's some interesting turbine blades that are used to generate electricity ...

Our short ride to Paducah was run at a very low rpm. We're in no hurry, and we can save some fuel that way. As it turns out, we made it just in the nick of time. A storm came trough with 75 mph winds and torrential rain. We had a flybridge curtain get damaged, but we're lucky that's all that happened. The marina that we left just hours earlier had entire piers rip off the anchors and float away - boats and all! Here's a couple videos ...

Here's a look at what the national television had ...

These are really, very nice docks, and the City did a great job. Here we are, after the dust settled ...

6/22  Today is the run to Cape Girardeau. It's 52 miles of down river travel on the Ohio to Cairo (pronounced kay-row), and then another 50 up the Mississippi to the Cape. This upstream stretch sends shivers into the heart of a captain for it's possible dangers. First; with the River so high, there's the chance that debris can be overwhelming. If it is, it's constant concentration in looking for the debris and trying to steer around it. Second; the current has the potential to be extremely fast. The high water wants to get to the Gulf of Mexico as fast as it can, and that really impacts a slower boat like us. Fortunately, both the current and the debris aren't as bad as it could have been. This makes our ride to the Cape pretty nice (relatively). For us, there's only one place to stop for this day, and stop, we will! It's a diversion canal that off the main channel, and protected from current and wind. At the end of this 1/4 mile stretch is a railroad bridge that prevents us from going farther. A little creative docking, and we're set for the evening!

Here, we can see how high is the River. Usually, the Spring level would be about 15 feet lower ...

We met another vessel way back in Mobile. He had some mechanical issues that needed to be addressed, and it took him quite a while. This being his first trip up to Chicago, he had a few questions and concerns, and he thought that following us might help. It was nice to have another vessel as kind of a "safety vessel", and it made for a nice evening, rafted together ...

It's kind of a tradition to grill a pork tenderloin while we're here, and this trip won't break that pattern ...

WOW, what a chef!

6/23  We're up and at it, early. We like to get a full shot at the day, just in case there's an issue. The current has picked up and our speed has slowed, so we need to have every advantage that we can. Here we are, going through the bridge at Cape Girardeau ...

Today's ride of about 70 miles will bring us to Kaskaskia Lock. The Kaskaskia Rive flows into the Mississippi, but first it has a lock, just off the main River. At this lock, there's a floating wall that great for us to tie to for the evening. We're really thankful to the Corps of Engineers for allowing us to do this. Here we are, approaching the lock ...

And a view of the flooding ...

6/23  The Coast Guard has again closed the St Louis Harbor. That means that there's no traffic allowed to pass. Knowing this, we left a bout an hour later than normal because we're going only 40 miles to Hoppies. Hoppies is an icon of the River, and most smaller vessels that transit this area make this a stop. There's not much there but a few barges tied together, but they have fuel, water, and a lot of hospitality. This spring there's even less, unfortunately. The river has really impacted their docks by sinking a couple of the barges, and now there's 6 feet of river water in their basement. This has reduced the available dockage to just one transient boat. Here's the view as we approach ...

Because there's space for only one transient boat, we made a reservation. The boat that had been traveling with us made it to Hoppies the night before us, so they were already there. Hippies was going to be kind enough to allow them to raft off of us, so as we were joking with that issue, the Coast Guard called us. Although the Coast Guard had shut down the Harbor, we asked for special permission to transit, and they finally called back and approved our request. YAHOOO! The big question also was ... with this rising River level, would the locks in St Louis stay open long enough for us to get through? At 1:00PM, there were .2 of an inch until Mel Price closes. Do we gamble and go? If we get up there, 40 miles upstream, and it closes, we'd have to turn around and come all the way back. Fighting the 6 mph current through St Louis would be tough enough one time, and we surely don't want to do it twice! Do we stay or do we go? Hmm, considering the prospect of tying to Hoppies barge for a week until the water recedes and having to take a rowboat about 100 yards to the shoreline to get off, we elected to take the gamble. So ... we're off, back into the current and debris. Here, we're looking at all the river level tables and graphs and forecasts and weather reports of localized rain, and praying that we've made the correct decision ...

We held our breath for 6 hours as we went through the first lock in St Louis, and then on to the Mel Price Lock., and Lady Luck was with us. We made it, whew! We can now exhale again. And we were the last boat to go through, too.

After the Lock, we had about 20 miles to get to the only marina in the area that was open. They, also, had to use a small boat to get from the shoreline to the docks, but that was okay for us. We tied up and hit the sack!

6/24  We awoke to these guys, again!

This crop was even worse than the one down at Paducah! We tip-toed around them as best we could to get off the dock, and start the day's ride to Louisiana, Missouri. We were pretty lucky in that there wasn't much waiting for locks, and we were in early to our spot on the local spud barge. Very nice!