You know the tired old routine in the funnies where the punch line is that dinner is done when the smoke alarm goes off? Well I have realized that sometimes life does imitate art, at least if you think the Sunday funnies are art.
Let me explain. This morning as Larry was making breakfast, while I was sitting on the sundeck cross-stitching my heart out, I heard the smoke alarm sound. I didn’t panic, I simply thought ‘time to quit because breakfast is ready’. You see aboard Miss Lauren Grace the toaster is directly under the smoke alarm, the last thing either of us does when we make breakfast is put the toast in and when it is almost finished the smoke alarm blares. Thus I knew he was going to say “ready babe” before he even called. So I came in laughing and Larry asked what is so funny. I told him our breakfast is like the funny paper cartoons; breakfast is done when the smoke alarm goes off.
I like predictability in life!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Living on the "Hard"
Life on the “hard” is ….tiring, challenging, chilly, frustrating? Actually it is all of those things. Last Friday Miss Lauren Grace was lifted out of the water and set on the parking lot with blocks under her keel and jack stands supporting her hull.
Those with a good memory may recall that we were also sitting “on the hard” last November during Hurricane Ida, and you would be correct. We had our bottom painted last fall and this summer we discovered that the paint is failing so here we are again.
I am trying hard (no pun intended) not to complain about… climbing up a 8’ ladder every time I need to go to the bathroom (because our toilets require water from the river to flush properly); getting up early to be ready for the workers (who start at 0730) to start, scrubbing, sanding, painting (pick one) and then finding out that they have slotted several other jobs ahead of us and they won’t start on our boat until after lunch; getting up in the cold because our heaters need water to function and having to wait for an electric space heater to warm things up; having to be frugal with my use of water for dishwashing and hygiene because it drains out onto the ground under the boat and creates a mess. If all of this was not frustrating enough I am fairly well pissed that we paid for this job to be done just a year ago and now they are finding all sorts of reasons, some even partially valid, why it is not “their” fault that the paint failed.
Apparently our bottom has “blisters”, think of them as pimples on the surface of the fiberglass. This despite the fact that before we bought her someone had gone to the expense to apply an epoxy bottom finish. Now we learn that those jobs generally last from 5-7 years, so it appears ours is at the expiration date.
Now we have to decide if we want to spend several months with the boat hauled out of the water “drying out” or if we just want to put a band aid on the situation and deal with it later. So far we are leaning toward the band-aid approach.
On the bright side (if you look hard enough you can generally fine a tiny ray of sunshine somewhere) it is not raining and the sun heats the boat up nicely by noon and it is stays warm until a couple of hours after dark. Also the temperatures are forecast to warm throughout the week and the nights won’t be so cold in a couple of days.
Hopefully we will have the band-aid in place and be back in the water by next weekend. Meanwhile we had dinner tonight with friends Paul & Stacy who are sitting right next to us here “on the hard”. I guess life isn't really all that bad.
Those with a good memory may recall that we were also sitting “on the hard” last November during Hurricane Ida, and you would be correct. We had our bottom painted last fall and this summer we discovered that the paint is failing so here we are again.
I am trying hard (no pun intended) not to complain about… climbing up a 8’ ladder every time I need to go to the bathroom (because our toilets require water from the river to flush properly); getting up early to be ready for the workers (who start at 0730) to start, scrubbing, sanding, painting (pick one) and then finding out that they have slotted several other jobs ahead of us and they won’t start on our boat until after lunch; getting up in the cold because our heaters need water to function and having to wait for an electric space heater to warm things up; having to be frugal with my use of water for dishwashing and hygiene because it drains out onto the ground under the boat and creates a mess. If all of this was not frustrating enough I am fairly well pissed that we paid for this job to be done just a year ago and now they are finding all sorts of reasons, some even partially valid, why it is not “their” fault that the paint failed.
Apparently our bottom has “blisters”, think of them as pimples on the surface of the fiberglass. This despite the fact that before we bought her someone had gone to the expense to apply an epoxy bottom finish. Now we learn that those jobs generally last from 5-7 years, so it appears ours is at the expiration date.
Now we have to decide if we want to spend several months with the boat hauled out of the water “drying out” or if we just want to put a band aid on the situation and deal with it later. So far we are leaning toward the band-aid approach.
On the bright side (if you look hard enough you can generally fine a tiny ray of sunshine somewhere) it is not raining and the sun heats the boat up nicely by noon and it is stays warm until a couple of hours after dark. Also the temperatures are forecast to warm throughout the week and the nights won’t be so cold in a couple of days.
Hopefully we will have the band-aid in place and be back in the water by next weekend. Meanwhile we had dinner tonight with friends Paul & Stacy who are sitting right next to us here “on the hard”. I guess life isn't really all that bad.
Upper Black Warrior River
All we can say is WOW! We were excited to explore this river because it was new to us, now having traveled 165 miles upstream from the junction with the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway all we can say is wow.
It is true that the first hundred miles were just so-so, but beyond that the Black Warrior is spectacular. Above Tuscaloosa, AL the topography changes completely, we are in the mountainous area of central Alabama. The forested mountains fall straight to the water, with a few rock outcroppings thrown in for interest. Add a bit of fall color and the scenery was perfect
However what really made this trip special were the people we met along the way. At Eagle Cove marina just above Holt Lock (and Tuscaloosa) we met fellow cruisers Mike & Mary aboard What Daze It. Mike is originally from Moundville and they are staying here now to help his aging parents. Lucky for us because they spent several hours with us reviewing the charts and sharing their favorite places to explore.
Larry and Jim, from our buddy boat, dinghied to an abandoned coal train tunnel and explored all afternoon.
Another day they found a waterfall at the head of a creek and climbed to check out the caves in the hill by the falls
Exploring by dinghy from Franklin Ferry we found Quinn’s Landing, a tiny little marina and restaurant is in a small creek. We had lunch at the restaurant and then, as boaters always seem to do, we walked the dock. We stopped to admire an old wood Chris Craft and a fellow (Ken) came out to talk to us. In the course of the conversation we discovered that he used to live in St. Louis. Naturally we asked where in St. Louis he lived, and Larry volunteered that I had grown up in St. Charles County; that was when Ken told us that he still had a boat at a marina in Portage des Sioux. We inquired at which marina and he replied Sioux Harbor! For those who don’t know that is our old marina where we kept our sailboat after the 1993 Flood. In the “small world” category this has to be a close second to our experience last fall in Demopolis where we met a total stranger that had gone to my same high school. Perhaps Alabama is calling to us.
Heading back downstream toward Tuscaloosa we passed this spectacular waterfall cascading directly into the river
Our last night on the Upper Black Warrior we pulled into a creek to anchor for the night only to be greeted by a couple on a quad runner at the mouth of the creek, who called out “welcome pirates” as we idled past. Before the sun had set we were in their home dining on venison chili. Gene & Karen (who live along the creek) and their friends shared the most awesome hospitality. First we had a “signature frou-frou drink” in the “tiki hut”, then we toured their home and the dipped up heaping bowls of chili before we retired back to the tiki hut to enjoy the evening. If you think a tiki hut is inconsistent with central Alabama I can explain, Gene and Karen vacation in Marathon each winter and they wanted to re-create the ambience of their favorite vacation watering hole. What fun we had with them and their friends, and the following day they sent us an e-mail thanking us for coming!
Life on the river is great!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Checking Out a New River
Ok, so it isn't really a new river, in fact I am certain that it has been here all along, but it is new to us and we were excited to be discovering new places. This is the first time in a year that we are covering new and unfamiliar territory and it is fun to be exploring with buddy boats Eagle One and Driftwood.
Our first day on the Upper Black Warrior led us about 45 miles upriver to a quiet anchorage just below the first lock (Seldon Lock). We anchored in an oxbow of the old river below the dam and put the dinghy down to explore. Here the lock and dam are not together as we usually find them rather they are separated by an island, or at least it is an island today. The dam is on the old river section and the lock is on what I think is a man-made cut; creating the cut created the island we were anchored behind. It was a great anchorage, wide and deep (almost too deep), off of the river and safe from barge traffic. We wouldn't want to be anchored here when the river was rising though because you can see where all kinds of trees and logs that spill through the dam have come to rest.
When we came back from our dinghy exploration we discovered two new boats had arrived in our anchorage; travelers from Maine and Michigan who are killing some time so as not to arrive in the Gulf before the magic date that their insurance company will allow.
Fortunately for our little travel party this region has been very dry and the river is low, which means that the current is also very slow and there is almost no debris in the water. The lack of current is nice because it allows us to make good time while conserving fuel, an important consideration because there is no diesel fuel available above Demopolis.
The next day we were not so lucky with our anchorage and had to content ourselves with anchoring off to the side of the channel and hoping that the tows saw us as they came by in the night. We do not sleep as well when we are anchored in a situation like this, and we certainly don't go out to play in the dinghy. And so it was a tired group of mariners who arrived at a marina just above Tuscaloosa the next afternoon.
Our third day of travel on the river began early, which was fine since no one was sleeping well anyway. We were rewarded for our early start by getting a great lockage at Oliver Lock just below the city. When we called on the VHF radio the lockmaster told us he had it ready for us and to just come on in, that's what I call southern hospitality of the best kind. The other two boats did not leave as early as we did and they travel a bit slower so they ended up with a long wait at both Oliver Lock and Holt Lock which is just 10 miles above Oliver. The city of Tuscaloosa lies between these two locks
We had heard that we could tie off to an old lock wall in a city park in downtown Tuscaloosa and were sort of hoping that we could find a restaurant. Upon seeing the wall we could not figure out how we would get off of the boats and so we elected to go on through Holt Lock and head into the marina that Jim had made arrangements with.
When the gates opened on the high side of Holt Lock we were so rewarded for making this trip. The river is beautiful up here; deeply forested hills drop right into the water which is clear and deep. There appears to be very little development and we are looking forward to exploring more.
Our first day on the Upper Black Warrior led us about 45 miles upriver to a quiet anchorage just below the first lock (Seldon Lock). We anchored in an oxbow of the old river below the dam and put the dinghy down to explore. Here the lock and dam are not together as we usually find them rather they are separated by an island, or at least it is an island today. The dam is on the old river section and the lock is on what I think is a man-made cut; creating the cut created the island we were anchored behind. It was a great anchorage, wide and deep (almost too deep), off of the river and safe from barge traffic. We wouldn't want to be anchored here when the river was rising though because you can see where all kinds of trees and logs that spill through the dam have come to rest.
When we came back from our dinghy exploration we discovered two new boats had arrived in our anchorage; travelers from Maine and Michigan who are killing some time so as not to arrive in the Gulf before the magic date that their insurance company will allow.
Fortunately for our little travel party this region has been very dry and the river is low, which means that the current is also very slow and there is almost no debris in the water. The lack of current is nice because it allows us to make good time while conserving fuel, an important consideration because there is no diesel fuel available above Demopolis.
The next day we were not so lucky with our anchorage and had to content ourselves with anchoring off to the side of the channel and hoping that the tows saw us as they came by in the night. We do not sleep as well when we are anchored in a situation like this, and we certainly don't go out to play in the dinghy. And so it was a tired group of mariners who arrived at a marina just above Tuscaloosa the next afternoon.
Our third day of travel on the river began early, which was fine since no one was sleeping well anyway. We were rewarded for our early start by getting a great lockage at Oliver Lock just below the city. When we called on the VHF radio the lockmaster told us he had it ready for us and to just come on in, that's what I call southern hospitality of the best kind. The other two boats did not leave as early as we did and they travel a bit slower so they ended up with a long wait at both Oliver Lock and Holt Lock which is just 10 miles above Oliver. The city of Tuscaloosa lies between these two locks
We had heard that we could tie off to an old lock wall in a city park in downtown Tuscaloosa and were sort of hoping that we could find a restaurant. Upon seeing the wall we could not figure out how we would get off of the boats and so we elected to go on through Holt Lock and head into the marina that Jim had made arrangements with.
When the gates opened on the high side of Holt Lock we were so rewarded for making this trip. The river is beautiful up here; deeply forested hills drop right into the water which is clear and deep. There appears to be very little development and we are looking forward to exploring more.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Perfect Travel Day
The sky was blue and the temperature was near 80 with hardly a cloud in the sky and no wind. In short another perfect travel day in a long stretch of beauriful weather that Mother Nature has provided for this trip. Today the Tenn-Tom Waterway was, I think, the prettiest we have ever seen it. There has been no rain to speak of in this area for the past six weeks or so and the river was unbelievable clear; no sediment or flotsam. There was hardly any current and we got a great lock at Howell Heflin, our only lock today. Actually the locks have been treating us very well all along this trip.
Tonight we are anchored in pretty little Foscue Creek, just downstream from Demopolis. Tomorrow we start up the Black Warrior River bound for Tuscaloosa and wherever else we find to explore. More to report as it is revealed to us.
Tonight we are anchored in pretty little Foscue Creek, just downstream from Demopolis. Tomorrow we start up the Black Warrior River bound for Tuscaloosa and wherever else we find to explore. More to report as it is revealed to us.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Its been fun, but not fast!
After brunch & a nap last Sunday we sat Monday out because of the rain. Tuesday dawned bright and sunny with perfect temps and low humidity. You couldn’t ask for a better day to travel, and travel we did. Well for 15 miles before we had to pull off and relax for a few hours. This time however the rest stop was not for food, nor was it part of our plan.
From our anchorage in Second Creek we started our day by locking down through Wheeler Lock and traveling the 15 miles to Wilson Lock. When we arrived at Wilson the lockmaster informed us that there was a tow coming and we would have to pull over to the auxiliary wall and wait for him to bring the tow (a double) up. The reality was that the tow had not yet arrived at his lower gate and he could have taken up down and brought the first cut of the tow up; but part of travel on the rivers is living by the lockmasters rules and so we waited for two and a half hours. I used my time well by whooping Larry at a game of Gin.
From Wilson Lock, which is at Florence, AL for those of you who are trying to follow along on a map, we had a delightful run down to our anchorage on Pickwick Lake. The next morning our start was delayed a bit by morning fog but as soon as it burned off we were treated to a second “top ten” kind of day as we began our run down the Tenn-Tom Waterway. I am always a little awed by the waterway; it is an amazing bit of engineering
The first section of the Tenn-Tom is known as the “divide cut” where the earth was cut and hauled away to connect the Tennessee River to the Tombigbee River. The Tenn-Tom Waterway was the largest earthmoving project in history, requiring the excavation of nearly 310 million cubic yards of soil, by comparison only 210 million cubic yards were removed from the Panama Canal. The Tenn-Tom is also much longer than the Panama Canal.
Once through the divide cut we arrived at Bay Springs Lake where we had planned a stop to relax and enjoy the beautiful clear water of this natural area. Alas the chilly nights had made the water too cool to be comfortable so we had to content ourselves with exploring by dinghy. One item from our exploration was not especially welcome as we found a sign advertising a future development of some sort; not sure of the details but the sign clearly said “lakeside cottages”, boo-hoo. Most of this land is owned by the Corps of Engineers but apparently they can grant leases or sell some of the land and development follows. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with development but it is just so peaceful and beautiful there and we hate to see it change.
Today we moved on down the waterway to Midway Marina at Fulton, MS and visited with our friends Bill & Donna who live here. Tonight it seems as though a front is blowing through with strong winds from the north and a rapidly falling thermometer. Tomorrow will be a short travel day down to Blue Bluff Recreation Area where there is a free dock for boaters to use when visiting the town of Aberdeen and then on the Columbus, MS, one of our favorite stops.
From our anchorage in Second Creek we started our day by locking down through Wheeler Lock and traveling the 15 miles to Wilson Lock. When we arrived at Wilson the lockmaster informed us that there was a tow coming and we would have to pull over to the auxiliary wall and wait for him to bring the tow (a double) up. The reality was that the tow had not yet arrived at his lower gate and he could have taken up down and brought the first cut of the tow up; but part of travel on the rivers is living by the lockmasters rules and so we waited for two and a half hours. I used my time well by whooping Larry at a game of Gin.
From Wilson Lock, which is at Florence, AL for those of you who are trying to follow along on a map, we had a delightful run down to our anchorage on Pickwick Lake. The next morning our start was delayed a bit by morning fog but as soon as it burned off we were treated to a second “top ten” kind of day as we began our run down the Tenn-Tom Waterway. I am always a little awed by the waterway; it is an amazing bit of engineering
The first section of the Tenn-Tom is known as the “divide cut” where the earth was cut and hauled away to connect the Tennessee River to the Tombigbee River. The Tenn-Tom Waterway was the largest earthmoving project in history, requiring the excavation of nearly 310 million cubic yards of soil, by comparison only 210 million cubic yards were removed from the Panama Canal. The Tenn-Tom is also much longer than the Panama Canal.
Once through the divide cut we arrived at Bay Springs Lake where we had planned a stop to relax and enjoy the beautiful clear water of this natural area. Alas the chilly nights had made the water too cool to be comfortable so we had to content ourselves with exploring by dinghy. One item from our exploration was not especially welcome as we found a sign advertising a future development of some sort; not sure of the details but the sign clearly said “lakeside cottages”, boo-hoo. Most of this land is owned by the Corps of Engineers but apparently they can grant leases or sell some of the land and development follows. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with development but it is just so peaceful and beautiful there and we hate to see it change.
Today we moved on down the waterway to Midway Marina at Fulton, MS and visited with our friends Bill & Donna who live here. Tonight it seems as though a front is blowing through with strong winds from the north and a rapidly falling thermometer. Tomorrow will be a short travel day down to Blue Bluff Recreation Area where there is a free dock for boaters to use when visiting the town of Aberdeen and then on the Columbus, MS, one of our favorite stops.
Monday, September 27, 2010
On The Road Again...
It seems as though it has been forever since we traveled. Well, that is if you don’t count the trip (75 miles each way) down to the boatyard for repairs after the electric pedestal on the dock “fried” some of our wiring & switches last June.
It has been a long, hot summer in northern Alabama and we have been content to lie in the shade of a covered dock and run the air conditioning. We also made a few road trips; because I agreed to do some work for Bereaved Parents we went to a work session in Dallas in June and the Annual Conference in Little Rock in July. Of course we went to Boise in August and stopped in St. Louis on the way through for our own “well baby” check-ups.
The highlight of the entire summer was taking Lauren to Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks. What fun we had wading in the water and watching elk and climbing trees. Oh yeah, Yellowstone, we saw Old Faithful put on its show and then we climbed the stairs in Old Faithful Inn (several times) and ate ice cream on the porch.
Little Anna is the happiest toddler, which shouldn’t surprise us because she was a happy baby. She is walking now, and loves being outdoors; I call her Sunshine because her smile lights up the room. It was really fun watching her wind grandpa around her finger. She would go looking for him calling “Grandpa”, or something pretty close to that, and he would do whatever she asked.
Back home aboard we cleaned a month’s accumulation of spider poop off the boat, restocked the larder, shopped for “stuff” that we thought we needed and generally got ready to get underway.
Last week we made a short run up to Scottsboro, AL and it was great to be going somewhere. Our plan had been to hang out a few days in a favorite anchorage up there but when we pulled into the anchorage and throttled back it was HOT without a breath of air moving. We looked at each other and decided we would not get any sleep in the heat and decided to pull in to one of our favorite marinas, Goose Pond Colony. That is what is so great about the cruising life since your home moves with you your travel plans can change in a minute. On the dock there we were met by friends (another great thing about cruising) and we enjoyed 4 days of happy hours, dinners and fellowship before we had to leave. It was in the mid 90’s every day and we never did get to that favorite anchorage but we sure enjoyed the trip.
Yesterday we departed our summer home at Bay Hill Marina in company with two other boats and started off on a new adventure. We managed to travel all of 10 miles before we stopped for brunch at Joe Wheeler State Park where friends from Bay Hill drove down to help us eat! Fully sated we made it another 3 miles before we anchored to take naps and read the Sunday newspaper.
Our plan is to head down the Tenn-Tom to the Black Warrior River and follow it up to Tuscaloosa. The Warrior runs all the way to Birmingham and is not often traveled by pleasure boaters. We are not sure what we will find, perhaps a lot of nothing, but it will be fun to explore with good company. This morning it was pouring rain and since we start off with two locks in the first 18 miles we line tenders (that would be me and the other wives) voted to sit the day out and wait for tomorrow’s good weather to travel.
It has been a long, hot summer in northern Alabama and we have been content to lie in the shade of a covered dock and run the air conditioning. We also made a few road trips; because I agreed to do some work for Bereaved Parents we went to a work session in Dallas in June and the Annual Conference in Little Rock in July. Of course we went to Boise in August and stopped in St. Louis on the way through for our own “well baby” check-ups.
The highlight of the entire summer was taking Lauren to Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks. What fun we had wading in the water and watching elk and climbing trees. Oh yeah, Yellowstone, we saw Old Faithful put on its show and then we climbed the stairs in Old Faithful Inn (several times) and ate ice cream on the porch.
Little Anna is the happiest toddler, which shouldn’t surprise us because she was a happy baby. She is walking now, and loves being outdoors; I call her Sunshine because her smile lights up the room. It was really fun watching her wind grandpa around her finger. She would go looking for him calling “Grandpa”, or something pretty close to that, and he would do whatever she asked.
Back home aboard we cleaned a month’s accumulation of spider poop off the boat, restocked the larder, shopped for “stuff” that we thought we needed and generally got ready to get underway.
Last week we made a short run up to Scottsboro, AL and it was great to be going somewhere. Our plan had been to hang out a few days in a favorite anchorage up there but when we pulled into the anchorage and throttled back it was HOT without a breath of air moving. We looked at each other and decided we would not get any sleep in the heat and decided to pull in to one of our favorite marinas, Goose Pond Colony. That is what is so great about the cruising life since your home moves with you your travel plans can change in a minute. On the dock there we were met by friends (another great thing about cruising) and we enjoyed 4 days of happy hours, dinners and fellowship before we had to leave. It was in the mid 90’s every day and we never did get to that favorite anchorage but we sure enjoyed the trip.
Yesterday we departed our summer home at Bay Hill Marina in company with two other boats and started off on a new adventure. We managed to travel all of 10 miles before we stopped for brunch at Joe Wheeler State Park where friends from Bay Hill drove down to help us eat! Fully sated we made it another 3 miles before we anchored to take naps and read the Sunday newspaper.
Our plan is to head down the Tenn-Tom to the Black Warrior River and follow it up to Tuscaloosa. The Warrior runs all the way to Birmingham and is not often traveled by pleasure boaters. We are not sure what we will find, perhaps a lot of nothing, but it will be fun to explore with good company. This morning it was pouring rain and since we start off with two locks in the first 18 miles we line tenders (that would be me and the other wives) voted to sit the day out and wait for tomorrow’s good weather to travel.
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