Leaving Pirates's Cove, 11-2-2014

November 2, Sunday

Today we began the third month of our journey.

So far we have: 

• Locked through 34 locks
• Stayed at 22 marinas
• Anchored in 5 anchorages
• Traveled 1159.6 miles

Time to leave Pirates Cove

We woke up about 4:30, hoping to get an early start.  Since we were the only ones up, we headed up to use the facilities, and nearly slid down the dock ramp. It was 27 degrees and very icy.  Fog covered the entrance to the marina, so we could not see the river.

While 27 degrees might not seem cold by Minnesota standards, it is pretty darn cold on the water.  Sea Fever has a couple of heat sources.  When we are at a marina, and have shore power, we have a small electric space heater that heats the boat.  It is the kind you might put under your desk at work.

We also have a propane heater for when we are at anchor, or while we are underway.  But propane is a labor intensive commodity so we use it sparingly.  We can’t just use it up, pick up the propane tank, toss it in the car and swap it out at the filling station.  We need to schedule a courtesy car, find a propane dealer who actually fills tanks (ours is a non-standard 10 lb. tank), take the car to the propane dealer, fill the tank, drag it down the dock and hook it back up.
 
Because the temperature was too low to head out for a day’s boat ride (open cockpit) we decided to wait for Mother Nature to warm things up before we left.

Lest you think that we waited in silence, we didn’t!  Captains and crews cautiously gathered on the slippery dock to exchange thoughts on how long it would take for the fog to lift and to comment on the weather.

The frost made patterns on the sail covers, dingy cover, and the cushions.  Tim got some photos.  It was pretty, but difficult to enjoy because we were so darn cold.

Frost on the dingy cover



Frosted boat cushions



In the meantime, Kathy took some pix of the pirate statue, and a placard that seemed to sum up Pirates Cove rather succinctly.

 

The Pirate Cove pirate
 

We think it was too late!

 

 



After adding even more layers of clothes, our little flotilla left Pirate’s Cove at 7:45 AM to head through Tom Belvill Lock & Dam, where we saw the visitor’s center from the water.

We were on our way. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Cold enough for you?



We hadn’t seen many critters on the shore until Tim got a glimpse of something moving into the water, and we grabbed the camera.  There was a herd of deer swimming across the creek…we didn’t know deer could swim!




Deer crossing the creek

We headed to an anchorage called Sumter Landing, some 37 miles down-river.  And, no locks today.  YES!

Sumter landing is a lovely cove formed by a creek.  When we arrived, 5 boats were already anchored there. As each new boat arrived, the current residents shouted encouragement and advice to the newcomers. We rafted up with Brisa on a single anchor and shared dinner. By the sunset there were 9 boats anchored in the cove.

We headed back to our boat, and fell asleep.

Thanks for reading.