Captain's Log: 11/04/10 (Day 48)

So when my wife has nothing to do at these different marinas she collects pictures of Lotus cars. Or is that pictures of guys with their Lotus cars?

Now I have to take back everything I said about the south. Their WalMarts are way more classy than the ones up Nort. This car was in the parking lot at WalMart.

I think I found my next project boat! This one was built in China 1966 and current owner has been working on it for the last 17 years. I think more Miller Time than work time.

I think the crew is getting ready to shove off again. Is that stars in their eyes? ... No, just "puzzle eyes" from a marathon puzzle session.

Not bad. Can't we do anything that isn't boat themed?  
     Oh. Just a reminder to all you faithfull fans. We will be at anchor on the Lower Tombigbee for the next 3-4 nights so probably no updates till then. I hope there are not too many exciting stories to tell you. I like the ones that start out with something like, it was a calm and peaceful night. .... Not the ones with banjos playing in the background. see ya in a few days.
   
   
   
  

Captain's Log: 10/28-11/02/10 (Day 45 or 46)

     Looks like we will be sitting out some weather/wind in Demopolis, Al. Last marina before a 217 mile run to the gulf and Mobile Bay. They say people stop here for a few days, weeks, months, and even years. Thought they were joking but just met someone who has been here 20 months.
      I don't want to beat a dead horse here but in regards to what I said yesterday, and I am not making this stuff up I give you this story: Now I know I won't do this justice because it's kind of one of those "you had to be there stories". We were standing on the dock talking about seeing some deer swim across the river when a dock worker, I'll call him Billy Bob, to protect the innocent recounted his deer story. Now you have to picture Larry the cable guy to really enjoy this.  he said he and a friend were boating  when he saw a pair of antlers moving across the river. Now it was 2 weeks after deer season and Billy Bob must not have gotten his buck and was still holding a grudge because he told his friend , and these are his words "get on over by that deer. I'm going to drown me that deer". His friend said you can't do that but if you are going to try I gotta see this so he drove along side the deer. And Billy Bob grabbed the horns and......... Billy Bob turns to us boaters (whose mouths were all wide open) and says, "He was right. I couldn't drown me that deer. he dam near killed me! I pushed and pushed but he just wouldn't drown."         OK I was right you had to be there but I've already written it and I type way too slow to delete all this effort.

This is our boat tied to the fuel dock where they fuel all the tows for this section of the river. And here is the most terrifying thing about this dock: we saw our first COCKROACH!! plural.  The good thing is I brought an extra dog leash and collar so now Moka will have some company on her walks.  Man those things are big!

Cruisers and locals discuss when and how to tackle the last section of river at "doctails"

Paige, still looking for her first real croc.
      

Captain's Log: 10/28-11/01/10 (Day 41-44)

Been a few days since last we talked. Where do I begin? Things certainly keep changin da furtha sowth we all wander. Catfish , gumbo and dental work. I am just stating the facts here so don't get all judgemental on me . The people at our last marina were the nicest , most sincere people but there was not a complete set of teeth between the four of them.
    It's probably my northern imagination (ignorance) but I didn't get off the boat at night at this marina. Thought I heard banjo music in the distance.

Note from the dog: Ok enough of the tooth talk. I have all mine! see...

And it pays off. Look what I attracted on the dock!

Check out the tongue, who cares about teeth!
       But seriously.  I am not looking forward to the next section of river. There are only 2 marinas for the 230 mile stretch and we only cover about 50 miles per day so there will be some nights on the hook.  It turns out we are more marina people than anchor in the middle of a river, in the dark, by ourselves, on Halloween. Maybe it was just the Halloween part. We did have a trick or treater though. At first I thought it was a river rat, but when it got out of the water I was sure it was a wild pig, but turned out to be a 50 lb. beaver. Also saw 2 deer swim across river in front of us today.
   

    

          
    

Actually this anchorage was beautiful and peaceful. This is Paige and Dorene rowing Moka to shore to do her duties, which she refused to do so instead it was just exercise.

This is a picture of our boat just before I broke one of the "rules of 2". As in too windy, too dark, too foggy, too stupid etc. We were waiting for the fog to lift so we could leave the marina and enter a lock. Someone else called the lock and no big suprise,since the tows were probably too smart to be running, they could get us right in. So off I went with 3 other boats. Spent the next hour in thick fog. Once again thankful for modern electronics. They can save stupid people sometimes.
      Lots more to say but like to keep these things short, so I'll leave you with a few pictures of the day...

white cliffs of Epes

   

     

house about to become "boathouse"

personal trainer on my boat

And like the kids say... Peace out... till tomorrow

Captain's Log: 10/27/10 (Day 40)

WOW! 40 days and 40 nights, on a boat.... seems I've heard about that before. So nothing new about this. It's all been done before. We're picking up more creatures all the time....

Fun restaurant near Aqua Yacht harbor.
Didn't take new crew long to take over the captain's job. ( Paige driving on Tenn-Tom)
   

This next picture is for mom and dad. Retired spanish teacher's boat at bayside marina.

It turns out that slow talking is not the only thing slow in Mississippi.... the.... internet.... is ... taking.... f..o...r...e...v...e...r ... to download pictures. So this may be my last post until they start talking faster.

    
    Thinking about picking up some new crew. What do you think? Look a little jaundiced. Don't want to take on any new problems. Here's wishing you all calm winds and Homer Simpson clouds!
   

Captain's Log: 10/24-26/10 (Day 37-39)

Tues... still waiting for new radio.  Crew is getting cabin fever. Looks like a week in one spot is too long. Good timing though because a big weather front is going through. I know because when I was trying to fry an egg this AM it was scrambling itself from side to side in the pan.  We are like the song, "sittin on the dock of the bay" except today it's not the setting sun it"s 25+ mph winds. Which I guess are mild compared to the 55mph winds you are having up north.

Since we are talking song lyricks...what's that one, "Hello Goodbye" ? I think maybe beetles. Here we are saying goodbye to our friend Bruce again. I think it's a hello/goodbye relationship. We will see you in Florida Bruce! Unless of course you get a boat and get a slip in Aqua Harbor. Ha Ha

Note from the dog:   Hey not my best angle but I'm trying to look like I'm having fun here! I just wanted to say Happy birthday to Linda!!!!       
       

Captain's Log: 10/21-23/10 (Day 34-36)

Paige/deck slave is here! Its Captain Morgan time!  Thanks Don, for bringing our baby to us. She said first night was OK in her new room/pantry. I can't see how sleeping on a 4 inch foam matress between cereal boxes, coffee makers, and musical instruments wouldn't be comfortable. Did I mention the captain has a custom made matress from the Rochester matress factory?
      Crew and 1st mate are already in argu... no... disscusion (friendly) on how the frig should be organized. I don't really care but I am installing a "plank" just in case disiplinary actions need to be taken . Don't worry Gramma and Grampa I will be running all punishments by an independant arbitrator (Drew).

Speaking of Drew. I think he was at the pizza place last PM with the girls. Looking a little pale for a Hawaiian.
      Looks like we will be spending about a week in Iuka Ms. while we wait to have an AIS system installed. They said it should be in by Wed. For any non boaters its a system that allows tow boats to show up on our chart plotter even before they come around the corners. Very important on the Tenn-Tom since tows do a maneuver down here called "flanking" which is when they put their front end on one bank and their butt on the opposite bank and slide around the tight corners. Needless to say you don't want to meet them in the middle of all that!  Old salts would say that's cheating , but since the technology exsists I say it's like driving a car at night without headlights. So for 1/2 a boat buck (1 boat buck = 1000.00) we should be 1,000,000 X's safer.
   

Captain's Log: 10/18-20/10 (Day 31-33)

Sorry for missing a few days here but, 7 to 10 hour travel days and a birthday kinda distracted me. Hey thanks to all who sent birthday wishes. They worked! We started the day at Cuba landing squeezed in next to an 80 foot yacht and ended the day in Clifton Tn with an impromtu b-day party complete with burgers ,onion rings and a mini pecan pie.

The marina owner,Gene, a great guy by the way in the striped shirt was super. I thought he was joking but in a slow southern drawl said, " Ya, .. this sure is a lot more fun than being a pharmacist." Turns out he wasn't joking.

I think the river level changed a little faster than this guy expected. I thought I saw a for sale sign. Probably a good deal. Maybe just a little sand in the drives.

     This was an 80 foot lock on the Tenn. river. I thought what was interesting was that we had to raise up 30 feet just to reach the lock doors. The lower section is cement wall that you drive over when the doors open. This particular lock we had timed to reach well before dark so we could make it to the next marina in light. but a fellow boater made a fuss about locking thru with a tow so we ended up waiting 3 hours to get thru. Because of that we ended up finding the marina in the dark. (let's just say my opinion of sailboaters was not improved) Thankful for electronic chart plotters! Don't leave home without one. ... or these guys might be waiting for you.

Buzzards, in case you can't see them.

Another great place to stay. View from my back door this morning. Think we will stay here a week and rest and wait for Paige to join us Fri. or Sat. She will travel with us awhile! really looking forward to that! Always need people to scrub the decks.