Halloween at Pirates Cove, 10-31-2014

Friday, October 31^st.

While the day dawned cool, it promised to warm up and be sunny.  It was 39 degrees when we woke up, and would warm to 66 degrees for the high. We hunched in the cabin, waiting for more hospitable weather, trying to catch up on photos, and blog entries.  About noon, we emerged and talked to the crew of Brisa about the afternoon’s activities. It was determined that a trip to the snag boat Montgomery was in order.  So we bustled around, went to get the courtesy van to start on our escapade, and Jeff got the lowdown on the intricate workings of the van.

> Push the brakes to the floor when hoping to stop

> Slow down when going over bumps or the van will hit bottom

> Sometimes the engine slows down, so just pull over to the side, turn the engine off and restart it.  Apparently this behavior exhibits itself mostly while using cruise control. So we didn’t use cruise control

Actually, we didn’t need cruise control to keep from speeding.  Jeff discovered that going more than 45 caused the van to shimmy.  So while tooling around at 45 mph, we discovered another interesting thing about the stretch of road.  Apparently solid yellow lines must have been painted on the road because they had extra paint, not because it was a no passing zone, because pass they did. Regardless of the solid yellow lines!

We made our way to the Bevill lock and dam, the home of the snag boat Montgomery. The first thing that we see is a beautiful, antebellum home.  It was movie material!

Looks like a home, not a visitor's center

 As we entered the home, we discovered that it was built in 1985, and designed to depict the time period between 1830 and 1860.  It was beautiful.  It was filled with antiques and reproductions of antiques, and was quite gracious.




Bevill Visitor's Center parlor

The second floor was filled with history exhibits, and a display filled with wildlife intrinsic to Alabama.

All of the intrepid, non-acrophobic folks mounted the stairs to the cupola.  That did not include Kathy.  Her aversion to heights is second only to her dislike of reptiles.

We took some photos of the Brisa crew, and they took some of us, in the garden.
 



Jeff, Elizabeth and Daniel

Tim and Daniel

 We then headed down to the snag boat Montgomery.  It is massive. Its purpose was to remove tree stumps and other impediments to navigation from the bottom of the channel.  It often, when active, traveled with a tow boat and a barge attached.  It would remove the silt and the debris from the river and deposit it on the barge.  Then, the tow would move the barge to a disposal site and bring an empty barge back.  For more information and pictures, click here.

On the way back to the car, and while taking more pictures of the 1985 antebellum building, Tim stepped on an ant hill.  Boy Oh Boy, they liked him.  We pulled over, and Tim valiantly, with the help of some baby wipes furnished by Elizabeth, tried to wipe them off his legs.  This time, when the van stopped, it was not to deal with the engine, but to get the ants out of the truck.

Rumor had it that Piggly Wiggly stocked Jiffy Pop.  So we stopped there to check.  No Jiffy Pop.  As a matter of fact, they had discontinued it 2 weeks before. Drat! Drat! Drat! (This has the potential to become a Kathy Kwest)

The weather was still nasty so we decided to stay another day in Pirates Cove until it improves.  Then, on Sunday, we to begin the march to Demopolis. Getting there requires two, 10-hour days of motoring. Because there are no marinas between here and Demopolis, we will anchor out in a cove along the way.

Demopolis, AL is an important point in the journey thanks, in part, to the insurance industry. Hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico isn't the insurance company's favorite time of year. So they charge more for boats that hang around the Gulf from May through October. To get a lower rate, many insurers require boats to remain north of 32 degrees latitude until November 1.

Demopolis is located at 33 degrees latitude. So that’s where lots of folks gather waiting for November 1 so they can head further south to Mobile and beyond. When we last checked, Demopolis Marina was pretty much full. We hope to arrive there on Monday, November 3 in hopes that enough folks have left so there will be room for us.

In addition, Demopolis is the last marina (and city) before Mobile, AL some 217 miles away down river.

We packed it in for the night, but not before Tim shot some pictures of the sunset.



Sunset at Pirates Cove

Thanks for reading.

Off to Pickensville, AL and Pirate’s Cove Marina 10-30-2014

Our journey today will be short.  One lock and dam (John C. Stennis) immediately outside the marina, and then 35 miles ‘til Pirate’s Cove. We readied the boats, and our boat buddy, Jeff called the lock to see when we could lock through and we found there would be no delays, so we hustled our way out of the Columbus marina and headed toward the lock.

Goodbye Columbus

The lock was filled with water hyacinths, and Sea Fever looked very ethereal floating on the bed of flowers.  Pretty though it was, we were concerned that the vegetation would get sucked up into our water cooling system.  We were lucky, though.  The patch of flowers separated and we made a clean get away.

Leaving Stennis lock

The trip to Pirate’s cove was uneventful, which is good.   We did see some pretty fun stuff. 

Back home, and in the world of cell phones, it is almost impossible to find an old fashioned telephone booth.  The last one I remember was on Selby and Farrington in St. Paul before that area of town became gentrified.  The story about the phone booth was that whenever the authorities would cut the line from the phone to the receiver, it would magically get fixed so that street business could go on as usual!

Well, here we are, tooling down the river, and there, in what must have been a campground, was a phone booth!  Seemed strangely out of place!




Calling all boats

We saw turtles sunning themselves, and a flock of Coots. 

Coots

Coppertone, anyone?

We arrived with motors intact, to a pretty little cove, and headed into the marina. Brisa went first, and when Elizabeth stepped off the boat onto the finger dock to tie up, the dock wobbled precariously and made a loud screeching sound. In one of the guide books, the marina was touted as having new docks.  They probably have them, but they were not in the water!

The docks (all of them) at Pirate's Cove

We paid our slip fee, and hunkered down for the night.

Sea Fever and Brisa

Trying again for Columbus, and staying there 10-26 through 10-29

Sunday, October 26 through Wednesday, October 29

On Sunday, the crews of Brisa and Sea Fever set out once again for Columbus, MS.  Given all the difficulty we’ve had getting started on this journey, it has taken on a more elevated stature than it deserves. The trip to Columbus is but 23 miles, and one lock. Less than 30 minutes as the car drives. But Sea Fever ain’t no car.

Our travel-range per day is about 50 miles. Less if there are locks.  We travel at 5-6 miles per hour. Each lock takes from ½ to 2 ½ hours to clear and you never know how much time it will take until you get there. We are confined to 10-hour days because traveling the waterways in the dark isn’t encouraged. 

In Columbus’ case, 23 miles and one lock is a short day. However, the alternative was a marina some 55 miles and two locks away. We would never get there in daylight. So we decided to go to Columbus.

We got a late start, delayed by the one-and-only lock for about 2 hours as a tow went through. The rest of the trip was uneventful, but we were anxious the whole time that something would go wrong.  Fortunately, our repairs were successful. Brisa’s engine ran perfectly and Sea Fever’s didn’t leak even a drop of diesel.

The entrance to Columbus was less dicey than Aberdeen except for the aquatic vegetation. Floating islands of water hyacinths and marsh marigolds clogged the waterway and the channel into the marina. 

Flocks of white pelicans watched with amusement as we dodged around the flowers. We wondered if they were the same pelicans that flew with us earlier in the trip! Fortunately (for us) Brisa was in the lead so they plowed a path for us through the ones we couldn’t avoid. 


Amused Pelicans

We got to the Columbus Marina just before sunset.  We were greeted at the dock by “T”, the marina manager, and his staff.  T is a bear of a guy, who loves to talk and tell stories!  As he fueled up the boats, he told us that he is not a fan of the water vegetation. It is the curse of the marina because the marina staff constantly has to clean it out of water intake hoses and the slips in the docks.



Water Hyacinth

Marsh Marigolds

  



Kathy asked T if there were any alligators this far north (alligators are a subset of her general aversion to things reptilian).  T said, “You’ve been in alligator country since Aberdeen.”  This did not please Kathy nor did his subsequent stories about a “16-footer” he once saw in the marina.

However, T did confirm Kathy’s belief that alligators cannot jump, so she was less anxious about one leaping aboard Sea Fever. One less thing to fret about…of course, there’s still the possibility that a water moccasin will climb up the anchor line. Cruising is risky business.

We secured Sea Fever in a slip across from Brisa. We were sandwiched between two 40+ foot cruisers that protected us from winds coming off the river.

Monday, we grabbed the courtesy van and went to Walmart.  Woohoo.  Our friend Tracy will note that we have taken Costco out of our vocabulary, and replaced it with Walmart.  We look forward to Florida, and replacing Walmart with Costco.

One of the challenges, when doing this kind of travel, is provisioning the boat.  We have limited space on Sea Fever to carry food.  We have two lockers under the settees, two cupboards that are devoted to food stuffs and an ice box that is about 4 ft. deep and two feet wide. 

And yes, it is an icebox.  Block ice lasts about three days and cubes only two. As a result, getting to a grocery frequently is important, simply because we can’t keep fresh food fresh for very long. We carry a store of canned and packaged food, so don’t worry about us starving. 

Many marinas have courtesy cars that transient boaters can use for a couple hours for the price of the gas they use. They are in high demand, so the schedule for the courtesy car often fills up quickly. Some of us buddy up, and instead of taking 4 folks in a 2 hour window we sign up each for adjacent windows so that we can “achieve” Walmart and something else in 4 hours.

Tuesday. we buddied up with our friends from Brisa, and did a four hour stint to town.  We visited Tennessee William’s birthplace (did you all know his first name was Tom?).



Tennessee Williams birthplace in Columbus, MS

We drove through historic Columbus to look at the many antebellum homes.  Tim needed to hold Kathy down at the “For Sale” signs on the old, decrepit homes with potential.  Gorgeous places. Or, at least they could be!

Back at the marina we noticed a couple tents and a canoe parked by the fuel dock. There we met a couple of guys who were traveling from Knoxville, TN to Mobile.  In a canoe.  Yep, you read that right.  A canoe.  And tents.  We were amazed and could not imagine making the trip in a canoe! There’s no room for stuff in a canoe.

The guys figured that they would travel some 1000 miles and they were current averaging about 30 miles each day.  Kathy asked one of them why he was doing this in a canoe and he gave the perfect response, “Because I always wanted to.” Enough said.

He also told her about two other guys making this sojourn in a kayak.  He was amazed and could not imagine making the trip in a kayak! There’s no room for stuff in a kayak.

I guess it is all a matter of perspective! 

Canoeists make their way from Knoxville, TN to Mobile, AL

On Day 3 of our stay in Columbus, we heard that a buddy boat from earlier in our trip was in the marina.  Estrallita had shown up.  We couldn’t find owners Stel and Burke anywhere, but figured we would find them later.

Elizabeth and Daniel from Brisa and Kathy decided to take a quick trip to Kroger foods, and we were promised the black SUV.  When we went to pick it up, it wasn’t there! And no one knew where it was!  We waited about a half hour, and sure enough, the SUV came roaring into the parking lot.  Burke jumped out to empty the truck, then Burke, Stel and Kathy hugged like old friends, and we heard the story of why the truck was so late in returning.

They needed to fill a prescription.  The pharmacy wouldn’t honor a scrip from another state, so they had to go to an urgent care facility to get a Mississippi prescription that the pharmacy would fill the prescription.  They spent 2 hours at the urgent care! Makes us wonder about Tim’s meds and how easy they will be to refill.  We thought we had that one covered with CVS before we left!

Tim and Jeff traded notes, and the decision was made to get through the next lock (Stennis lock) early in the day on Thursday, travel 25 miles closer to our Demopolis destination.  It was a good weather day, and some cold and stormy weather was coming up.  Always move when the weather is on your side.

Trying for Columbus 10-25

Saturday, October 25

We headed out early this morning on our way to Columbus, MS. 


View of the channel

As we slowly wound our way back through the buoys toward the Aberdeen Lock, a shrill warning buzzer sounded. Brisa’s motor had stopped. Jeff switched to another fuel filter and the motor restarted and sounded good.  Then the shrill buzzer sounded again. The engine had failed a second time.  Brisa was dead in the water. 

So, Sea Fever got out an extra line and prepared to tow Brisa back to Aberdeen Marina. We got back to the marina, waving hello to the folks we had just waved goodbye to. 

Brisa being towed back to Columbus

With both boats tied securely to the wall once more, Jeff and Tim got busy staring at the motor.

Once again they had insight into a solution to the day’s engine mystery. They decided to bleed the engine’s fuel system of any air that might have gotten in there and stopped the fuel flow. This brilliant action plan was developed because it was something easy to do, they knew how to do it and they had no other ideas.

Sure enough, 20 minutes later, in a triumph of dumb luck over skill and expertise, Brisa’s engine fired into action after having spewed considerable air from her fuel system. The boys had triumphed over adversity. They then spent about an hour sitting in Brisa’s cockpit gloating, as her engine purred away.

While all the above was taking place Elizabeth, Daniel and Kathy held boat tours. Elizabeth and Daniel toured Sea Fever, and Kathy toured Brisa. It seems that a boater pastime is to look at other boats.

A clean Sea Fever in Aberdeen Marina

By now it was too late to leave for Aberdeen so it was more fried chicken, naps, and laundry. Tim even got ambitious and washed down Sea Fever for the first time since we left Lake City. She looks MUCH better now.

Hopefully will set out for Columbus on Sunday…the fried chicken is getting tedious.  

Boat Fixup Day 10-24

Friday, October 24

Aberdeen Marina, MS

We spent the day in clean-up fix-up mode.   

In addition to Brisa’s smoking issue, Sea Fever’s fuel-leak problems returned, but much smaller and in a different spot. Both the crew of Brisa and Sea Fever agreed that it was time to stay the extra day, and deal with what ailed the boats.

The previous day Jeff and Tim perused Brisa’s engine and determined that white smoke (water vapor) is better than black smoke (oil). It wasn’t much of a mechanical insight, did little to identify the issue, and did absolutely nothing to resolve it.

So, Jeff called in a diesel mechanic who arrived early Friday morning. When Jeff turned on the engine, the smoke no longer spewed forth (Apparently yesterday’s mechanical insight was more powerful than it first appeared). 

The mechanic found a few more reasonable possibilities like loose fittings and made repairs.  Jeff ran the diesel for some time at varying speeds just to be sure things were working. All was well.

Tim tightened some fittings on Sea Fever’s fuel system and ran the engine. No leaks appeared. He was more reluctant to declare victory, however, since no leaks were apparent last time he fixed the fuel system only three days ago. He did take some small comfort that at least the leaks were getting smaller.

Our mechanical chores complete, we spent the rest of the day catching up on the blog and straightening out the cabin.

We had another chicken for dinner and then headed off to bed off to rest up for an early departure.

On to Aberdeen, MS 10-23

Thursday

October 23, 2014

The morning was so foggy that we could not see other boats in the marina.  Tim and Jeff determined to wait out the fog. The power boats waited a bit, but still left before we did. Their steering stations are higher and they can see over the river fog. They also have radar.

We managed to get started about 9:30, when the lock was next available. We spent considerable time waiting to get into the second lock. We locked through and motored some 38 miles as well. It was a long day.

Brisa underway

 Kathy was pleased to note that we’ve now been through 6 locks so far and she’s not seen a water moccasin on a bollard yet. It’s her current paranoia and one shared by a looper friend named Sylvi who is currently back in Quebec visiting family. Each evening Kathy sends Sylvi an email in French saying “Trois écluses, pas de serpents dans les bornes.”  Three locks, no snakes in the bollards. And always a paragraph that starts with “I hope I said…” Kathy hopes her French Club back home is proud to see that she is trying.  When Kathy was packing for the trip, she looked at her French notes, picked them up, and put them down again, thinking “Naw, why would I use them on this trip?”

Toward the end of the day, Brisa was in the lead when white smoke started coming from her exhaust. No alarms were going off and so we slowed down and kept going since our destination, Aberdeen (MS) Marina was only a few miles away.

The channel into Aberdeen Marina was about ½ mile long and quite wild. There were lots of turns and twists as well as cypress knees and trees. We headed into the woods and didn’t even see the marina until the last turn. Fortunately lots of red and green markers guided us along, but we were losing light and Brisa wasn’t getting any better.  One of the things that we have learned is that you don’t cut corners when entering a marina, since you don’t know what evil things lurk beneath the surface. 

Brisa navigating  the channel into Aberdeen Marina



Egret sentries to Aberdeen Marina

 

As we pulled into the fuel dock, we saw fellow loopers Rich and Pam.  They have been there for a couple days. Rich explained his philosophy to us.   He said, “We have nowhere special to be anytime soon.  So why hurry there?”

Turns out that this marina had just changed hands in the last week.  Things were somewhat chaotic. The marina information we had indicated that there was diesel fuel, a pump out, and a courtesy car available.  But none of those were available.  However, the marina was picturesque, and had some darn good fried chicken at the gas station/marina office.  Dinner was served.

 

Such is life on the river.

 

Jamie Whitten Lock, Wednesday, October 22

Wednesday, October 22

After we departed Bay Springs the first challenge we faced was the Jamie Whitten lock. The lock is immediately downstream from the marina so we called before leaving to make sure we could get through without waiting for a tow to clear.

Jamie Witten is the BIG DADDY of the locks on the Tenn Tom. Its 84-foot lift (actually a drop going south) is the highest on the waterway and is the 9^th highest single-lift lock on the US.

We would have loved to get a picture of this process.  We were too dam busy and are hesitant to grab pictures from the internet.  But search for the Jaimie Whitten Dam and there are photos that abound.

We motored into the lock, secured a line to one of the bollards and waited for the doors to shut. It looked pretty much like any other lock because the water level was the usual 10-15’ from the top of the lock.

Then they opened the valves and the water went down quickly and smoothly in about 20 minutes. The ride was impressive but remarkably uneventful. Once emptied, we were sitting in a 100 foot deep chamber feeling very small. It was a pretty exciting early-morning thrill.

We went through 2 additional locks, Montgomery and Rankin (each with a 30’ lift) before the day was done. Note: The locks on the Tenn Tom were originally labelled alphabetically by the Corps of Engineers. Once the waterway opened, they were renamed after politicians and other connected folks who were instrumental in getting legislation enacted.

We ended the some 19 miles later at Midway Marina in Fulton, MS.  The marina is owned by a couple who docked there one day, and decided to stay, buy the marina, and there they have been since. It was one of the best greetings we have had! 

As we made our way through the channel, and came upon the marina, folks saw our looper flag and yelled hey.

When we finally got to the dock, there were three guys to greet us, handle our lines, and get us secured.  One was the owner.  He was quite funny.  As were the rest of the guys. 

Early in our trip, we were cautious about trusting anyone else but us to tie our lines up to the dock.  Here, we could just tell that they had it down.

It was very nice. 

Later that day, 5 looper power boats came in.  One of the ladies that we met at Aqua came over to share with Tim their departure plan early the next morning. It was so nice of her to do that.

As usual, we tucked in and went to sleep.

Rendezvous is over, onward and upward Tuesday, 10-21

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

The Rendezvous was over, the engines woes corrected and the new anchor and rode installed. Now it was time to head out again but at a much slower pace than the pre-rendezvous frenzy.

As we prepared to leave our home of 11 nights, Aqua Yacht Harbor in Iuka, MS, the temperature was 46 degrees, but promised a high of 76.  It was foggy. So we waited a bit until the fog dissipated and headed across the bay to turn south on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.



Sunrise at Aqua

Aqua Marina is on the corner of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama.  The houses that faced the marina on the Tennessee side, were HUGE.



House in Tennessee facing the marina in Mississippi

In previous posts, we talked about the friends that we met, and the tales of joy or woe that we embellished while talking over dinner, on the dock. And over time. It is common to ‘buddy” up with another boat or set of boats to go from lock to lock or anchorage.  We talked about our power boat friends passing us up, as they usually left a little later, but are so much faster.  It is kind of fun to be hailed by one of them on the marine radio: “Sea Fever, Sea Fever, this is Estralita, how is it going”.  Tim’s response is usually “Slow and steady.  See you in Mobile.  Have a great day!”

At Aqua, we met a couple, Jeff and Elizabeth, traveling with their 5 year old son, Daniel.  They are headed from Tennessee where they picked up their new boat to the west coast of Florida, as are we.  As a matter of fact, they are heading to Bradenton, Florida, as are we.  And they are a sailboat named Brisa. Brisa travels about the same speed as we do!  So we buddied up to head down the river.

One of the river highlights on today’s trip is THAT THERE ARE NO LOCKS!  YESSSSSSSS

Tenn-Tom map

This 450-mile waterway is technically divided into several sections.  The actual Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, from Tennessee Lake to Demopolis, AL is 237 miles long, and contains ten locks.  At Demopolis, the waterway joins the Black Warrior River and turns into the Tombigbee River which flows in to the Mobile River ending at Mobile Bay, a total of 213 miles. Most boaters call the whole section from Tennessee Lake to Mobile, the Tenn-Tom.

The first part of the Tenn-Tom is a 280 foot wide canal dug by the Army Corps of Engineers. It reminded us of the Chain of Rocks section of river before St. Louis, MO.  Straight and narrow with embankments on each side covered in rock riprap.  The guide books say that when it first opened, this section “was about as pretty as a strip mine.” Fortunately, Mother Nature softened the landscape since then. 

A few pictures from our short short short 34.5 mile trip to Bay Springs Marina in New Site, MS.

 

We don't know what his is, but it sure was prettyl

Tenn-Tom as a ditch

Narrow waterway, big damn barge

 

Lazing back, 10-17 through 10-20

Friday, October 17 through, Monday, October 20, 2014 

We slept late.  Fueled up, pumped out. As Tim tended to Sea Fever, Kathy wandered down the dock and chatted with some folks in a wooden boat who had just tied up. She learned that there was to be a classic wooden boat gathering on Saturday.  We chatted with some folks who promised us a ride on their boat. Way cool.

If there seems to be a theme, it is friends, laundry and Walmart.  Oh, and boat repair. Friday, we changed it up and went to a local grocery store to pick up some staples.  We passed a restaurant named The Rib Cage.  You just have to go to something called that!   And Kathy did laundry while Tim tried to whittle down his list of boat projects.

Sure enough, we were scooped up on Saturday evening by folks we had met at the Rendezvous, and we did end up going to the Rib Cage for dinner.

Sunday, we met up with the folks that promised us a boat ride on their 1948 wooden runabout.  Built the same year Tim was!  It had been in their family forever.  It was a great ride, and great weather.

Mark and Karen aboard Torpedo

Kathy after the "Torpedo" ride



Another boat at the show

Folks hanging out talking about their boats

 

It is nice to buddy up with another boat as we continue our trip.  At Agua, there is a couple, Jeff and Elizabeth, traveling with 5 year old son, Daniel.  They too are making the trip in a sailboat…a 27 foot Island Packet. 

Tim finished up some engine work on Sunday, Kathy worked on the blog.  We decided to stay one more day at Aqua.  Monday morning we returned our rental car to Corinth, picked up some groceries, and prepared to head out on Tuesday down the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, continuing our journey south.

The Rendezvous

Tuesday, October 21^st through Thursday, October 16th

The Rendezvous

I thought I would sum up the week in one post, and capture the highlights.

Who is Joe Wheeler, anyway.

·       It was a week of early mornings, and late nights.  Approximately 150 road miles driven each day, leaving before dawn, and always returning after nightfall.

·       Friends, Friends, Friends.  We caught up with our French friends, Sylvi and Simon from Quebec; our Canadian friends, Jim and Mimi, from Ontario; Bob who had the Mainship that was awaiting service at Aqua Marina, and a host of others.  Sylvi, Simon, Jim, and Mimi were part of the group we had met at Hoppie’s, and who cheered us on when we found them at the river diversion, just north of Mississippi Mile Marker 0. It seemed that it was not uncommon to have an “I know you” experience as we talked to folks.

·       Food!  Almost every morning a buffet, which was sure to include biscuits and gravy.  Every noon, a buffet, and every night a wine and beer reception, and more food.

·       Seminars.  There were two rooms that held the seminars.  We pretty much went to the seminars where the topics included the features of the river route we were going to take.  Where were the anchorages, what were good marinas.  How to cross the gulf without drama (after an hour and a half, Kathy was still scared out of her wits).   How to cross to the Bahamas. Tim asked Kathy if she was up to the Bahamas crossing.  She said…let’s get across the gulf, first.

• Backward Dingy races. The captain steered the boat, and the co-captain gave directions.




Sylvie and Simon on the dingy race

• We made an appointment with the owner of Turner Marine in Mobile, AL to pull the boat, check out a few things, and perhaps get rid of those zebra mussels.  

·       Did I mention friends?  And food?

·       Oh, and another trip to a Walmart Superstore in Florence Al.

Thursday night was bittersweet.  We don’t know when we will meet up with our friends doing “the loop”.  From here, folks are headed home for a while, or will head to Mobile, AL, and head home, again for a while.  The chances of meeting up with them are questionable.  Thank heaven for the internet.  While spotty in most places, we can stay in touch with our new found friends, and it has been invaluable in keeping in touch with our home friends.

Text and emails seem to get through.  Phone calls are not so reliable.

Kathy cried saying adieu to our friends.  We shall meet again. Sure of it.

It was well worth the time and effort to get here.  We spent long hours motoring the boat and grabbing quick meals on the river. Now, we are trying to lay back a bit, and take our time. Our next deadline is Christmas with our friends in Bradenton, Florida.  And perhaps see our friends in Fort Meyers. We have almost 2 months to get there.  Not certain what we will do for Thanksgiving.  That is a hard one for Kathy, as she loves Thanksgiving.

Oh,. and Tim won a months stay at a marina in Florida.  Good luck abounds.

Boats in the Joe Wheeler Marina

Thanks for reading.