Nothing to report, really, but time to post, I think. We remain in Demopolis, waiting for November 1 so we can move further south. Obviously we have stricter insurance requirements than many other boaters, as at least 20-30 Loopers ave come through here in the past week. Yesterday alone, 11 boats came in and they were rafted off the fuel pier 2 deep. Six have already left this morning and we expect more to come and go in the next couple of days. The weather is beautiful now-sunny and cool in the morning and then quite warm in the afternoon. We occupy ourselves with chores and the occasional outing to Wal-Mart! I actually had to cook dinner last night, as the restaurant is not open on Sundays. Tonight we plan to go over there for cocktails and hors d'ouevres and then come back to the boat to watch the Packers and eat pizza-what a perfect evening!

We also continue to watch the water in our slip. It has dropped a bit since we got here-I think we have about 5 1/2 feet at the stern - where our props stick down about 4 1/2 feet - and a little less at the bow. We are bow in but we've watched a couple of boats have a real problem trying to back in-they seem to get hung up on a little "hump".  Good thing we had rain last week!

We will update again once we get moving-unless anything exciting happens in the meantime! Thanks for visiting with us.

This is the 4th straight rainy, dreary, chilly day. We're glad we're not moving today. It's warm and cozy inside but Marina just loves to sit on the bridge and watch the world go by, so Oliver is up there with her now.

We had a nice dinner here at the marina restaurant last night with Paul from Polecat and his friend Bucky, who came from Fairhope to make the rest of the trip with Paul. They left early this morning and plan to be in Fairhope on Saturday or Sunday. Hope they find a way to keep warm today.

My computer is making a really bad sound and we think it probably is getting ready to crash, so we spent this morning researching and then ordering a new laptop, which hopefully will be delivered tomorrow. It's awful how dependent we are on this device and we'll now have 3 on board, at least until my old one crashes, but we should have internet access most of the time. I was able to download a few more pictures.

The weather is supposed to improve starting tomorrow and shouold be sunny and in the mid 70s by the time we leave next week. Hope so anyway.

This is a picture of Pirate's Cove Marina. It is rustic but they were so very nice to us, we would stay there again.

The fuel dock at Pirate's Marina Cove. They had beautiful water hyacinths everywhere.

Our slip at Pirate's Marina Cove.

The crummy weather on our trip from Pirate's Marina Cove to Demopolis.

We had to stay downstairs the whole time. No windshield wipers on the bridge!!

These are the famous White Cliffs at Epps. I'm sure they are pretty in the sun!

We walked into town here in Demopolis yesterday. It's small but there are a couple of nice shops. I bought some Shrimp and Grits, Shrimp Creole and Hush Puppies mixes for dinner at a later time. We took this picture from a park across the water from our slip.

Watchin the world go by. The tugs refuel here. The restaurant looks closer than it is - we have to walk all the way around the docks to get there! Came home in the rain last night.

Thanks for visiting with us.

It is certainly true that hindsight is 20/20!! Yesterday we stayed put at Pirate's Cove Marina in Pickensville, AL because they were predicting soaking rains and thunderstorms. We had Sirius weather on the chartplotter all day and, while there was a lot of bad stuff al over the south and midwest, our little boat icon stayed in the clear the whole time! We did have a few bouts, as I mentioned in yesterday's blog, but it would have been better than today. We left at 6:50 this morning, in dim light and rain, because the boat next to us was ready to go and we wanted to lock through at the same time. We were through Tom Bevill lock by 7:20 and off we went. We could see well enough to cruise at 18kts and arrived at the next lock by 9:30. We had to wait for the chamber to be filled but still got through by 10:15. We passed a few tows, and about 5 or 6 other boats, all while the rain continued to fall. I was soaked but didn't change clothes because I knew I'd have to be outside when we fueled up and docked. We pulled onto the fuel dock at Demopolis right at 1 PM but it was about 2:15 before we got into our slip - this is a busy place! They fuel up tug boats on the outside of the dock and PCs on the inside. Buddy from Puffin, whom we met at Pebble Isle, took a line and helped us dock. It's always nice to see a familiar face and have an extra pair of hands. We also see that Paul, from Polecat, made it here safely. A hot shower and good internet service makes for a great afternoon!

It's very chilly here and we are just going to walk to the marina restuarant for dinner. Tomorrow we'll go into "downtown" Demopolis which has a lot of cute shops. Loking forward to a restful night, knowing we're now just a little over 200 miles from Mobile!

Thanks for visiting with us.

Hours traveled today - 6

Miles traveled today - 90

We're sitting here watching the rain and a big catamaran that just came in. He had a very hard time finding the channel because of the rain and the dockmaster, the lockmaster, Oliver and I all talked him in. Another boat came in a while ago, before it got so bad, and we know at least 5 boats have gone through the lock. As it turns out, if we had left right at 7, we likely could have made Demopolis today but you just never know. Tomorrow looks better, although maybe some rain showers, but we plan to leave around 7 and hopefully be in Demopolis by late afternoon. We hope our friend Paul in Polecat made it there safely today.

Thanks for visiting us.

We are now at Pirate's Marina Cove marina in Carrollton, AL. After yet another good dinner at Woody's, this time with our new friend Paul from Polecat, we had a peaceful night and found this morning that the Columbus marina didn't really open until 10, so we just ahd a slow morning. I woke up at 4 and couldn't sleep, so after getting out of the shower at 5:30, I decided to cut my hair! Must have done O.K. bcause Star, here at Pirate's Marina Cove, said she really liked my hair-before I told her I did it myself!!

We filled up and pumped out and called the lock. He said to come on over and when we got there, he opened the gates, we tied off and he started emptying the chamber. Then he called us and said a boat had called from the marina and they wanted to lock down. SOOOO, he filled the chamber again, opened the gates - and we sat for 30 minutes waiting for a boat that never showed up. Finally, he closed the gates again and down we went -set us back about 45 minutes but we weren't going far so it didn't matter.

We went from Mississippi to Alabama to MS to AL to MS and finally back to AL for good! It's a beautiful day so there were lots of fishing boats and we took our time and still got here at 1:00. We topped off our second fuel tank so we're ready to go to Demopolis. The weather tomorrow is supposed to be nasty, so we'll wait until Tuesday to go. There's a very nice visitor center at the lock, which is just a mile away, and a snagboat we can tour. It was the last steam-powered sternwheeler to work the inland waterways down here, working for 6 decades to keep the waters clear. Good rainy day outings.

Thnks for visiting with us. We'll post some more pictures later this week.

Hours traveled today - 2 1/2

Miles traveled today - 27

Yesterday morning we heard tiny feet walking around on our boat. It turned out to be RT, the marina cat. RT stands for Rat Tail, maybe not the best name for a pretty little girl and not appropriate either, since unfortunately Chuck accidentally stepped on her tail when she was a baby and it had to be cut off! She was the feral kitten of a feral cat but she has learned to like people and especially boats. She's always on patrol.

Here's Marina saying - Stay Off My Boat!

Here's RT saying - You Don't Scare Me

The winner

Another beautiful day here in Columbus! My new table (which is apparently my Christmas present!) is here. Turns out it was a much bigger project than I had thought, since there was already a table more or less permamently affixed to the spot where I wanted the new one! Oliver and Chuck(the owner of the marina) spent several hours making the switch possible and it just looks great. I'm trying to reach the canvas man we met at Green Turtle Bay to see if he can make and ship a canvas cover for it. Well, at least I haven't bought any tee shirts along the way!!

This is Chuck working on the project. The holes aren't really bright green! He did a fabulous job and you can't even see wher the holes were.

Here's the table closed.

And here it is opened. We think we can seat about 6 for dinner now.

What a beautiful day it is here! After more storms and rain last night, today is clear and sunny with a nice breeze. I have all the windows open-the boat has been closed up with the air conditioner on for most of the almost 7 weeks we've been gone.

For any Loopers reading this log, Columbus is a not-to-be-missed stop. Chuck, the owner, took our lines and is a super nice guy. The facility is modern and clean, the surroundings very nice, and there is a wonderful restaurant right on site called Woody's On The Water. It is upscale and has an extensive menu and tables that overlook the river. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday they have live entertainment on the deck. We decided right away that we would be there every night until we leave!

This morning we borrowed the courtesy car and went into Columbus. We took the walking tour-most of it anyway. Tennessee Williams was born here, while his mother was visiting her father, who was the minister. Here's a couple of pictures of Columbus.

Thisis the house where Tennessee Williams was born.

This picture is for my Dad. This building was built as the Elks Lodge in 1901 but is now a fine restaurant.

Here are a few "weather" pictures from last night. The red area on the first screen is the tornado watch area and the green and yellow below it are the storms. The little black boat is us!

The light purple in this picture is rain. Our boat is pointing towards the Stennis Lock, which we'll go through when we leave here.

The clouds were ominous!! The trained weather spotter was keeping a sharp look-out.

Since we have good internet today, I'll take this opportunity to post a few other pictures.

Here's Grand Harbor Marina, in Counce, TN. That's Sun Cat, Time Out and One Oliver II at the dock.

We went to Shiloh Battlefield one day. Here's the Conferderate Memorial.

Shiloh took place near Shiloh Church. Here's a reproduction of that church, inside and out. There is a Methodist Church here now.

Here are the grave sites of some Wisconsin soldiers.

Marina has made a few friends on the trip. Here she is watching Monday night football with Graham and Tom. (We saw Graham at Midway Marina and expect to see him here as well.)

We took the dinghy up to Pickwaick State Park and on the way back passed this tow. They're big from the big boat and HUGE from the small boat!!

Clifton Marina has a tight entrance channel but was a nice stop.

Here's a Blue Heron in the lock with us. We have seen many, many herons.

Here's a bald eagle at Midway. We have seen 4 others.

Yesterday we passed the Delta Queen. We heard her Captain talking with one of the tows and he said this may be her last trip. She is a wooden boat and it has required a special waiver from the government to keep her operating this long-you are not supposed to have overnight customers on wooden boats. There is discussion about keeping her in New Orleans for day trips only.

I know I have too many pictures of Marina but how cute is this one?

We hope to continue posting pictures as we go. Thanks for visiting with us.

Well, we've had a very interesting day today! Last night there were supposed to be severe storms and the minute it started raining, we lost all power at the marina. We just fired up the generator and kept right on cooking and watching TV. The power came back on about an hour later and we buttoned everything up tight and went to bed. It may have rained in the night but no storms.

This morning we woke at 5:30 and it was cloudy and windy but no rain. We have lots of weather sources available - Sirius weather on our chartplotter, radar, NOAA on our CHF radio, weather channel on the TV and of course we walk outside and look up! We decided we had a window of several hours so called the Fulton lock at 7AM and he said to come on down. We were through by 7:30 and after brief waits at the next two locks, were through those by 10:30. At the second lock, we waited for a tow to come up but there was nice deep water off the channel-not so at the third lock. As we were easing off to the green (right) side, all of a sudden our depth dropped to ----. That's not a good sign but besides kicking up some mud, no problem. We had to stay in the channel and ease up along the tow's port side, all the while in 15-20 kt wind but made it safely into the lock. The Aberdeen lock, our last one for the day, was ready and waiting for us and we were all through by 11:25.

We thought we would be at Columbus Marina by 12:15 but didn't count on the DELUGE that hit us. We could see it coming on the radar but hoped it would pass us by but no such luck. We had the windshield wipers going full speed but still could barely see past the bow of the boat. Between the radar, chartplotter and me standing with the binoculars looking out the port door, we managed to keep it in the channel but it was not much fun. Fortunately, we didn't meet any tows-just a couple of RVs (pleasure craft, according to the locktenders!). We pulled into Columbus Marina at a little after 1PM and Chuck, the owner, met us at the dock and we were all snugged down in just a few minutes. What a relief!

I went up to the office with Oliver to register and there was the prettiest high gloss varnish high-low, fold out table for sale. Needless to say, after several trips between the boat and the office with a measuring tape, it belonged to me!! I want to put it on the bridge, where we already have a table, so tomorrow Chuck and Oliver will figure out how to make the switch.

Shortly after my big purchase, Chuck said there were tornado warnings close by, the sky turned BLACK, and it poured down rain for the longest time. We brought Marina up on the bridge and sat all cozy watching it rain like crazy and hoping there wouldn't be a tornado, since all the buildings here are on stilts - no basements. Oliver was enjoying it, since he IS a trained weather spotter. We saw on the chartplotter that there were tornado watches every place between the UP and the Gulf of Mexico! After about an hour, it cleared off and it is a beautiful sunny day right now, although severe storms are predicted for later. We were really glad we made the decision to move today when we had the chance. We are now just 335 miles from Mobile. We plan to stay here until probably Monday. We have about 4 travel days to get to the Gulf so we are in no hurry.

If Oliver's computer gets service here, I'll post some pictures. Thanks for visiting with us.

Hours traveled today - 6

Miles traveled - 63

Total hours traveled to date - 81

Total Miles traveled to date - 1014

Well, I'll try to post a couple of pictures that I finally got downloaded on Oliver's computer. First though I wanted to mention a couple of cute things we've seen in the past few days having to do with financial transactions. One is, here at Midway Marina, you can buy a bag of ice for $1.00. You just take the bag out of the unlocked cooler and put your money under the rock on top! It rained last night, and a few dollars got soggy but they're there. At Pebble Isle Marina, wen you borrow the courtesy car, you put a dollar in the ashtray. When it starts running low on gas, whoever has the car at the time, takes the money in the ashtray and puts gas in the car! You've gotta love the trusting ways down here.

This is a great picture of a tow passing by Midway Marina.

This field of trees & knees is just of the port side of our boat as we sit at the transient dock. We'll need to back out, as there's no room to turn around!

This is the beautiful cove at Bay Springs Marina. What a restful and delightful stop.

This is where we sit at Midway Marina. The tree field is to our left.

A special picture for our friends Paul and Sharon!

A view of the Divide Cut portion of the TennTom from the stern

And from the bow.

One more of the trees. They are eery and wonderful at night.

We hope to be off to Columbus tomorrow but if the weather acts up, we'll stay here until Friday. We are ahead of schedule so we can do whatever is most comfortable.

Thanks for visiting.

We are now at Midway Marina, in Fulton, Mississippi. Thanks to our friends Joe and Rose, we got here at 10:45 AM. Several years ago, they did the Loop and arrived at this marina after dark, having been talked in by a dockmaster standing on the top of a hill! We sure didn't want that to happen to us so we got here 8 hours before sunset! By the way, Joe and Rose, it's still the same dockmaster and he says he's never lost a boat yet!

The good news is that Oliver has internet service here so hopefully we can upload some pictures a little later today.

We awoke to light rain this morning and we were taking our time getting ready when we heard a sailboat call the Whitten Lock-we were at the marina just a mile away so we decided to go through at the same time. We were in the lock by 7:30, in a heavier rain, but glad we got going. The Whitten lock is an amazing 85 fot drop-feels like you are never going to stop dropping and they do it pretty fast. The next lock, Montgomery, had the green light on for us, so we went right in and after a short wait for the sailboat, we were dropped 35 feet. The locktender told us we would be meeting a tow before the next lock and that he knew we were headed his way. We met him in a nice wide part of the channel and went right into Rankin lock for the 31 foot drop. It's only 18 miles between Bay Springs and Midway but with 3 locks, we felt lucky to be here in only 3 1/2 hours. We think we'll stay here until Thursday morning and then leave early and try to do 59 miles and 4 locks and go to Columbus.

The river is starting to look more like what you would imagine southern Mississippi and Alabama to look like. The channel is narrow and right outside are trees and "knees" that were left when the channel was cut. We're not sure how one goes about passing a tow in such a narrow channel but no doubt we'll find out soon!

Thanks for visiting with us and hopefully, there will be some pictures to look at later.

Hours traveled today - 3 1/2

Miles traveled - 17

Well, its' about 1 PM Sunday here at Bay Springs Marina in New Site, Mississippi. We arrived here about noon after a very strenuous 2 1/2 hour cruise from Grand Harbor! We're getting very spoiled, boating-wise. It's another perfect day-sunny and 80 degrees with a light wind. The trip between Grand Harbor and here takes place mostly on what is called the Divide Cut, a manmade canal on the Tenn Tom that is 280 feet wide and uniformly about 12-15 feet deep. Very easy navigating! It ends in Bay Springs Lake which is a large and clear lake with many beautiful coves for anchoring. The marina is tucked back up a little creek but has very deep water. It's peaceful and quiet and, while we haven't explore yet, looks like lots of walkign space for Marina. The Rankin lock is just a mile away and the lockmaster actually called us to ask if we wanted to lock through!! This is a very unusual occurrence but he told me they have to dump so many millions of gallons of water that they try to make it worth their while! Hope he's as ready for us when we leave Tuesday or Wednesday! We're only about 18 miles from ur next stop but 3 locks to go through and you never know how long it could take.

We're both semi-recovered from our colds although Oliver is still hacking quite a bit. He's also annoyed because he still can't get internet service with Verizon although my AT&T is working quite well. Glad we kept both services. It does mean, though, that I still can't upload any pictures so hopefully his service will return. I keep taking pictures, though, so stay tuned!

Hope everyone is well. Thanks for visiting with us!

Hours traveled today - 2 1/2

Miles traveled - 36

We have had a rough couple of days. Oliver and I were both "under the sick quilt". For those of you not in my family, the sick quilt is a pink comforter that I am sure is 75 years old and whenever anyone was not feeling well, they would lay on the couch or in bed under the sick quilt and get taken care of. We don't actually have a sick quilt on board but sure could have used one. Oliver's cold got worse and then I got it and we were miserable! He was a little better yesterday but I stayed in bed all day. Took a shower, ate a little dinner and went right back down. This morning we're both much better.

We walked Marina and she got to play with her 2 new friends-2 spaniels of some variety who live next door to the marina and run over whenever they see her coming. Then she chases stickes for a while and we come back to the boat for breakfast and a long nap - that's her, not us!

Oliver is across the river in the dinghy fishing. Yesterday he caught 2 bass-whcih he released because I would have died if he brought raw fish into the boat! He's taken the camera with im so if he gets aything nice, we'll post it on the web site.

This afternon we'll clean the boat and get ready for our trip down to Bay Springs Marina tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting with us. See you soon.

Well, the heat has finally broken here in Mississippi and it is a very cool morning. I'm sitting on the flybridge in jeans, jacket and a blanket, although the sun is starting to come in through the windows and it is warming up nicely. Oliver hopes to do a little fishing later on. We finally figured out what kind of fishing license he needed, since we are on the corner of 3 states and never know what waters we're in!

We had a nice day yesterday. We rented a car and drove to Shiloh National Military Park. This was the site of a crucial Union win in April of 1862. It was a 2 day battle, with the Confederate soldiers "winning" day 1 but the Union coming back on day 2 to push the Confederate army all the way back to Corinth, TN. There were over 111,000 soldiers involved and over 23,000 were either killed, wounded or reported missing at the end. One of the interesting facts was that the Union forces were made up of midwesterners - mostly from Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. The other really interesting thing was how HUGE the site is. We watched a video at the visitor's center and then drove through the park for about 90 minutes, stopping at the designated spots that told the story of the battle. Shiloh Church was located on the battlefield and ironically enough, means place of peace. There is a rebuilt Shiloh Methodist Church on the site, as well as a reproduction of the original little church. (I have many pictures I will poast when we can). Two future presidents fought here-U.S. Grant and Wm. Garfield-and the highest ranking military officer to die in battle - General Johnston of the Confederate army-was killed on the first day of the battle. All of the bodies were buried in common graves right after the battle but later the Union casualties were reburied in separate graves and many of them are named. The Confederate casualties were left in 3 common raves of about 700 each. Each state involved in the battle has put up it's own monument and there is a huge Confederate monument as well. All in all, a very somber and awe inspiring place.

We took advantage of having the rental car to visit-where else?!!- Wal-Mart, the boater's favorite store. Stocked up on groceries and also stopped at the hardware store, a vet to get more Frontline for Marina and a Walgreen's. Had an excellent dinner at the Broken Spoke, a very well known restaurant in Pcikwick. We both had catfish and it was wonderful!

Oliver is getting over a cold or allergies so we had an early night. Lots of Loopers coming and going here since the Rendezvouz starts Monday and is just a few miles from here. We will be moving on south on Sunday and hopefully will have better internet service so we can post pictures.

Thanks for visitng with us. Come back soon.

Well, we obviously have some internet service but it's really slow so I still can't post pictures and I'm not sure what I wrote on the blog so this may be repetitive. Several Loopers were here Wednesday night and 10 of us (Wonderland, MASCOT, the 4 from The Silver Foxes and us) went to dinner together. When marinas have courtesy cars, we all tend to "carpool" whenever possible-to the grocery, Wal-Mart, dinner, etc. Today we'll try to get the car early and run in to the grocery store for a few things.

Oliver has fixed a few more things on the boat. We have 3 water tanks on the boat and 1 is leaking-it will be replaced in Mobile but in the meantime he had to figure out how to shut off one but leave the others open. He also had to adjust the dripless shaft seals. Always something!

Last night we took the dinghy and went down to the next marina, Aqua Yacht Harbor, just a mile down the river. They have a decent restaurant and we had a nice dinner and then came back just at sunset. A very nice ride. This is a dry county, apparently, so everyone was "brown bagging" their wine. We just had our cocktails before we went!

Since it's Saturday, the fishermen are out in force -starting at 6:30 AM they have been flying by our boat about every 2 minutes! They go about 40 miles per hour and don't care if there is a tow or not! I got some good pictures and will post them when I can.

Thanks for visiting with us. We'll be here another week before moving on so I'll post again in a couple of days.

Well, I'm not sure I'll be able to post any pictures for a while. It's Wednesday afternon and we're at Grand Harbor Marina, which is just at the junction of the Tennessee River and the Tom Bigbee Waterway. Although their address is Tennessee, the dockmaster tells us we're in Mississippi - although across the way is Alabama! How confusing!

We had a nice stay at Pebble Isle. These second night there we went for pizza with the Clares (SeaKnight), Anita (Baum's Rush) and Graham (Sea Shell). It was a nice change from normal boat and marina food. Yesterday morning we stopped at the fuel dock for diesel and pump put and we were on our way by 7:30. There was quite a bit of tow traffic and a lot of fishing boats, so we didn't arrive at Clifton until a little after 1 PM. A really nice little marina with a very friendly dockmaster and energetic dock hand/short order cook! She made us hamburgers and french fries and cheese sticks, and Oliver had a beer and I had a Bacardi Mojito. What a refreshing afternoon! Several more boats came in, including one on 1 engine. We turned in early in order to get another early start.

Miles traveled yesterday - 59

Hours traveled - 5.5

Today we left about 7:10, with a hand from the guys next door - they're bringing a boat back from near Louisville to Gulf Shore, AL. There was a little sea smoke on the water and our windows were steamy but the sun came out and it was one of the most beautiful days we've had. We passed several tows, including a coast guard buoy tender, and many fishing boats but still made pretty good time. When I called the Pickwick lock, the locktender said she had just a couple of feet of water in the lock and she'd empty it and take us up. When the doors opened, we saw The Silver Foxes tied up in the chamber. We met them at Pebble Isle. We felt bad that they had to wait for us but we were sure glad they did! We are listening to the lock on the radio and there are apparently a whole bunch of boats waiting to lock through.We got here to Grand Harbor at 11:30AM and tied right up in our slip - after our lock fender got hung up on a support pole and sounded like it was bringing the whole marina down!!  No damage to boat or marina but it made a heck of a racket!! We're in a slip that faces the river and a big tow just went by our bow - very neat and I'll post a picture when I can. We plan to be here about 11 days before we continue on down the Tenn Tom to Mobile. Thanks for visiting our site. We'll post pictures when we can.

Miles traveled today - 53

Hours traveled today - 4.3

Sunday afternoon finds us in New Johnsonville, TN at Pebble Isle Marina. We are now 76 more miles down (actually UP) the Tennessee River. We left the lovely Green Turtle Bay at about 7 AM and we arrived here at Pebble Isle a little after 11. There are many Loopers here-Bob and Joyce of Sheetless and Tom of SeaKnight took our lines for us. There is a Looper potluck dnner tonight and then many of them are leaving tomorrow but we will stay until Tuesday.

It is a beautiful day today but was really windy on the river-a steady 19-20 knots with higher gusts. The marina is off the river in a cove so not quite as windy here.

This is a picture of the Barkley Canal, a one mile canal that connects Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake.

This old building was a grainery back in the day. They say it was impossible to destroy because it was so well built, so here it stands.

This railroad bridge goes nowhere-I guess it was also built really well!

This is the transient dock at Pebble Isle. Most of these boats are Loopers.

This is the view of the cove (or embayment) from the bow of our boat towards the Tennessee River.

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of Pilot Knob, which is across the river from Pebble Isle embayment. It's a point 200 feet above the river that was the site of the only cavalry-naval fight in historyin which the cavalry won. Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest ambushed Union boats which were being used by Sherman to ship supplies for his "march to the sea". Forrest and his men sank 33 Union boats, destroyed 2 trains, burned warehouses and captured 150 Union soldiers, while only losing 2 of his own men. As you cruise down the river, you pass over the remains of all these Union ships laying on the bottom. Perhaps I'll be able to get a picture when we leave here on Tuesday morning.

Thanks for visiting with us. Come back soon.

Hours traveled - 4

Miles traveled - 76

This is the "Rockaway Armada" I mentioned way back when we were in Alton, Illinois. Finally found a picture of it. It's a bunch of homemade rafts tied together with shacks and other stuff stacked all over it. There were about 20 people on this contraption and they had made their way all the way down from Minneapolis! We had heard they were headed for Hoppies but then heard that the Coast Guard was going to board them-I'm guessing they didn't pass the safety inspection! We just crept pass them-the smallest wake would have capsized the whole thing.

We are on our second repairman of the day right now! This morning we had a Raymarine tech come look at our system-we have been having a problem since day 1 with the bridge autopilot going out and when it did, it took our depth and wind indicators with it. Now that we are going to be in waters where depth is critical - the ICW and the Bahamas - we needed to make certain that there wouldn't be an issue. He identified and fixed part of the problem and has ordered a new autopilot head for the bridge which he will install tomorrow. Now we can only blame ourselves if we run aground! The canvas man is here now, measuring for the new "door". Don't know if I mentioned it earlier but while we were rocking and rolling at Hoppies on the Mississippi, the door on our canvas top slipped off the slider and disappeared into the river!! While the Raymarine man was here, Oliver installed a new GPS on the dinghy - this one has charts of the Bahamas, where we hope to use the dinghy extensively. This has been a great stop in terms of service items.

We finally have had some rain over the past couple of days and it has cooled off considerably. We plan to walk into town tonight to eat at the Iron Kettle again-excellent Southern cooking and lots of it! We ate on board 2 nights in a row - definitely not our style. If we keep that up, I'll have to break into the canned beans!!

Here's a picture of the new dinghy GPS

This is the Belle of Grand Rivers-they were putting it up for the season.

Marina's doing just fine

After all the repairs are done and we make another trip to the grocery to restock, we'll bwe on our way up the Tennessee on Sunday morning. Yes, I know we're going south, but we will be going upriver - when we meet a tow, we will actually identify ourselves as the "North bound PC". How confusing is that? We will be travelling thru some very historic areas-I'll try to get some good pictures. Thanks for visiting with us!

Monday morning here and it is still really hot! We sit out on the sun deck early in the mroning because Marina likes to look around but by 9 AM, we're in the air conditioning. It gets cool again by late afternoon. Today we're just doing a little housecleaning and other inside chores. We'll walk up to Patti's tonight for dinner but not til the sun goes down.

Yesterday we took the dinghy out a couple of times. Even the fish are hiding from the heat so Oliver just fishes for a little while and then we throttle up and race around the lake to get cool! There is supposed to be a storm today or tomorrow that will cool things off. We're not complaining mind you-this is why we came south but about 10 degrees less would be nice. Borrowed the courtesy car in the afternoon for some more fishing gear and another loaf of Patti's wonderful homemade bread, and then cooked steaks on the grill.

Saturday night we went to the local Badgett Theater and saw an extremely good variety show. There was a 4 person band and a guy and 3 girls who sang and danced and were terrific. They did a little of everything - swing, Motown, gospel, patriotic, country - and it was high energy all the way. Prior to the show we ate at the Iron Kettle - good old southern cooking served buffet style and did we pig out! Our friends Bob and Joyce left this morning but I'm sure we'll hook up again somewhere along the way for more good times. Most of the Loopers left this morning but I'm sure a new batch will arrive soon!

Thought I would update our plans - keep in mind that these are always subject to change due to weather or whim but we should be fairly close to this schedule. We plan to rent a car in a couple of places to see some of the historic sites in this area - there are a couple of Civil War battlefields we want to see.

September 30-October 1     Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville, TN

October 2                                 Clifton City Marina in Clifton, TN

October 3 - 15                         Grand Harbor Marina in Counce, TN

October 16                                Bay Springs Marina in New Site, MS

October 17 - 18                       Midway Marina in Fulton, MS

October 19 - 22                       Aberdeen Marina in Aberdeen, MS

October 23 - 25                       Columbus Marina in Columbus, MS

October 26 - 28                       Marina Cove Marina in Carrollton, AL

October 29 - 31                       Demopolis Yacht Basin in Demopolis, AL

November 1                               Bobby's Fish Camp in Silas, AL

November 2                               Dog River Marina in Mobile, AL

December                                   Key West

February/March                        Abaco Resort and Boat Harbor in Marsh Harbor, Abaco,Bahamas

We'll keep you posted if things change. We know we can't go south of Demopolis before November 1, per our insurance policy but other than that, we're free to do whatever we want.

Thanks for visiting with us. Keep in touch and we'll do the same.

Well, most importantly, I am now a Super Aunt - this is when your niece has a baby but you are too young to be a Great Aunt! Sarah had her baby girl, Norah Francis Wilson, on Thursday. 7 lbs 4 oz. and 19 inches. Everyone is doing fine.

We continue to be busy doing nothing! We walk into town every day-this is about 2 miles round trip-and then it gets really really hot in the afternoon so we try to stay in. We have cocktails on the sun deck after it cools off and we have cooked out the pst 2 nights. Marina loves to lay on the deck and look around. This place is busy with Loopers and other transients in and out every day. I think many will leave tomorrow but more will take their places!

Tonight we are going to the Iron Kettle (don't be fooled-it is owned by Patti's, as is everything else in town) for dinner with Bob and Joyce, and then to a variety show at thre local theatre. I think it will be like the shows in Branson, Myrtle Beach, etc. Should be fun.

Oliver spent the day installing a depth sounder and fishfinder on the dinghy so I think tomorrow we'll get down to some serious fishing! I walked around and took pictures of Green Turtle Bay, which follow. We'll be here another week before we travel again but keep visiting us!

Our boat from the road above us. The boats you see in the background are just a fraction of the slips in this huge marina.

Looking toward the entrance, from the Chandlery (the ship's store), a very nifty place where we have spent more than a few dollars.

Rental boats. Some of the houseboats are as much as 100 feet long!

The beach at GTB

Docker's Grill is open for breakfast and lunch. We haven't eaten there yet but we will.

The Commonwealth Yacht Club allows transients to have a temporary membership. They're open for dinner Thursday thru Sunday and have a brunch every Sunday morning.

We have pretty sunsets here.

These are cells-as I mentioned in an earlier post, the tows will rest their barges on these while waiting for the lock.

We took the dinghy out to test the depth sounder-it worked fine!

Home from our ride.

We just got back from another dinner at Patti's. We met Kathie and Doug, from the Winnie W and as we had a 6:45 reservation and they had a 7:00, we consolidated and had an enjoyable evening together. They will move on tomorrow but we'll surely meet up again down the road. It's amazing how busy we have been since we got here. Oliver has washed the boat and repaired several little things. I read once that cruising is the process of fixing your boat in different locations and that's a pretty acurate description. Yesterday we walked into town so that Oliver could get a fishing license but we haven't had a chance to go out yet. We grilled on the boat last night and walked Marina several times. This afternoon we went with Bob and Joyce on a liquour run to Paducah. Seems that Green Turtle Bay is in a dry county and there will be other dry counties as we travel down the rivers, so even though we have plenty of supplies, when Bob said he had reserved the marina courtesy car, off we went!! A stop at Wal-Mart resulted in a full cart and Wagner's Wine and Spirits pretty much finished off all the space we had left in the van.

Several Loopers left today and others came to take their spots. We hear there are about 10 boats at Hoppies tonight, so expect to see them here by Friday. We're staying a bit longer than most, I think, but we are determined to get some fishing in so maybe tomorrow.

I'll try to take a few pictures of the resort and post them. This is a really pretty place and we're enjoying it very much.

Thanks for visiting with us - come back soon.

We had fun at Hoppies. There were 7 Looper boats there. Since it's right on the Mississippi, the tows go by all night and we rocked and rolled. Almost everyone was up early and Sunrise left first, followed by Time Out, Lovely Lady, Catch Me If U Can, Sheetless and of course 1 O II. We soon passed the rest of the "fleet" as we travel just a bit faster - at about 11 kts. Tons of tows and a bit chilly, but other than that unremarkable. By 2PM we arrived at the Little River Diversion Canal and managed to set a bow and stern anchor by 2:30. We launched the dinghy to take Marina to shore. They don't say the Mississippi is muddy for no reason. Oliver and Marina came back COATED in mud. They both had to wash down in the cockpit and what a mess. Sheetless and Sunrise came in soon after and by 4:30, everybody had arrived. We had cocktails with Bob and Joyce Mueller (Sheetless) who are from Charlevoix. Then we dinghied around to all the other boats and made the journey to shore with Marina again. This time I took her and we both almost fell down in the mud. We were all exhausted by the time we got back to the boat and I had decided no matter how much fuel it took, I was going to sleep at Green Turtle Bay the next night!!

Hours traveled - 7

Miles traveled - 105

We were up at 5 AM on 9/16 - pulled the stern anchor and got Marina to shore. By 5:45 we turned on the generator - everyone else except the guys on Sunrise were still sleeping. A sailboat with a very  nice young couple and a big dog had also anchored in the Canal. They have sold everything they have and are off to Key West to start a charter business. At 7:00 we pulled the bow anchor and off we went. We had to wait at the entrance while "The River Explorer" went by. This is a great big odd looking boat-don't know if it is a tour or research vessel. Once they got past, we put the hammer down and off we went. Soon passed Sunrise and we continued cruising at 20 knots. Turned onto the Ohio at about 9:20 and what a pleasant surprise. It's clean and wide and while there was a lot of barge traffic, it was much easier navigating. It had been cloudy and really chilly when we left but the sun came out and it was a beautiful day.

There are 2 locks on the Ohio and one is notorious for having long waits - sometimes up to 5 hours. We knew the locks were key to our plan of arriving at Green Turtle Bay in one day so when we got near Lock 53 and the lockmaster hailed us and said to come on in, he had the door open, we were thrilled. Out of that lock by 10 and on to Lock 52. There are 2 chambers at each of these locks - the main one is 1200 feet long and the auxiliary lock is "only" 600 feet so only smaller tows can use it. But, we were behind 2 small coal tows who were planning to go through the smaller chamber. We hailed the lockmaster and he told us to come up close and hang out by the red buoy and he would "work us in when he could". Well, 10 minutes later he called us and said come on in! As we talked with him, it became apparent that he had no great love for tows and I think that's why he was so good to us. I told him that I would sleep well because of him! Off we went at 12:40 and an hour later we turned on to the Cumberland River. This is a narrow and beautiful river, with a little barge traffic but they are smaller and there are not many on the move. We cruised up to Barkley Lock and Dam and they emptied the chamber for us (we were locking up) and got us right through. What a happy moment when we docked at the fuel pier at Green Turtle Bay by 4:30. We fueled up - paid dearly for our haste but didn't care - and got into a really nice slip. High fives all around - high four for Marina. All of us were happy to be here and we had a nice walk, a simple dinner and an early bedtime.

Hours traveled - 9.5

Miles traveled - 131

Today (9/17) was spent cleaning this FILTHY boat. Tomorrow Oliver will work on the hull. We rode our bikes into town - decided walking would be easier as there are a couple of hills I couldn't make and had to walk my bike up! It's less than a mile and is a very touristy but interesting town. Our friends from Sheetless arrived and we decided we would all go to dinner at Patti's, a very famous restaurant around here. Bob rented a golf cart and we rode around town, had dinner and came back to the resort. Investigated the pool, walked Marina and here I am, while Oliver and Marina are snoozing. Tomorrow we'll get a fishing license and hopefully Wednesday we'll take the dinghy out to explore Lake Barkley and catch a few crappie!

Here go Marina and Oliver-this was BEFORE we realized that they would soon sink up to their ankles in Mississippi mud!

Bob and Joyce Mueller, with Willa and Daisy.

Lying peacefully at anchor. We're not as close to this bridge as it looks!

Unless you're the lead dog, the view never changes. I wish I had kept count of how many tows we have seen!!

The Ohio River is just around the point. We didn't know how much better things were going to get!

This is the Olmstead Lock which will replace Locks 53 and 52. It was started in the early 90s, was supposed to be finished in 2011 but will actually be done no earlier than 2020! Guess we won't be going through THIS one!

This is the Tennessee River junction with the Ohio. We could have gone this way but the Kentucky Lock is infamous for long waits for pleasure craft-sometimes days, not hours. I think Fern Hopkins told us that this is not a Federal Lock so not subject to the same rules as the others, which mandate a lcokage for pleasure craft every 3 locks.

This is the Smithfield Lock and Dam. It's on the Ohio-we turned right and went up the Cumberland River.

Marina's better-mostly just bored now! She likes to lay on our fender covers and nap! This means, of course, that I have to stand up.

We'll be here at Green Turtle Bay until September 30. I'll update with a few pictures and our fishing progress but not every day. Keep visiting us though-we'll be moving again! So far we've come around 750 miles and we're about halfway to the Gulf of Mexico!

Yesterday was a leisurely morning, since we were only going about 20 miles. We slept in a little, walked Marina and keft about 10:20, arriving in Alton, Illinois by 11:50. On the way, we passed the oddest "watercraft" e have ever seen. I believe they called themselves the"Rockaway Armada" - it was a bunch of homemade rafts tied together with shacks built on it and about 20 "hippies" spread around. I can't believe I didn't get a picture but at first we thought it was just a barge of junk. More about the armada later!

We met Jack and Kay Oates in June in Cheboygan, Michigan and again in July in Port Washington. They have been boating on their 52' Nordic Tug for the past 5 years - all the way from Alaska, thru the Panama Canal., up to Nova Scotia and home to St. Louis. Jack picked us up at arounf 1PM and gave us the most amazing "backstage" tour of St. Louis. He's liver their all his life and knows the city like the back of his hand. We really enjoyed seeing 2 Clydesdales at the Anheuser Busch plant as well as the Dalmatian!! He took us to his house and then to the condo they just bought. We met their son John and then went to dinner and back to the boat about 8PM.

Hours traveled - 1.5

Miles traveled - 14.5

This morning we left at about 6:45, caught the first lock right away but had to wait for about 30 minutes at the Chain of Rocks lock. The cold front was coming through and we had gusts up to 25 kts. The lockmaster took pity on us and invited us to tie up to the wall but we decided to keep hovering. We finally got thru the lock and were at the famous Hoppies Marina by 10:45. This is the last marina for 250 miles. There are 7 Loopers here tonight. Fern is just amazing - she could talk anybody into her dock, whether they had ever driven a boat or not! The current here is running about 4.5 knots, so it is a little tricky but if you listen to Fern, all goes well. We fueled up and then, with further direction from Fern, moved up to the head of the dock. At 4:00PM, she held her "Looper briefing" - we all brought our charts and she went over every mile of the rivers from here to Mobile.

We passed the Rockaway Armada this morning - they were tied up to the bank and the Coast Guard was warning everyone to be careful. Later we heard that the Coast Guard had boarded them - I can't imagine that they passed a safety inspection s doubt they'll get any further - although Fern had heard they would be coming this way tonight.

Tomorrow we're all heading out and will likely all end up in the same anchorage. After that, who knows! There isn't enough room for everybody at any anchorage, but I guess it will work out somehow! Tune in for further updates!!

Hours traveled - 4.55

Miles traveled - 42

The beautiful St. Louis Arch

The biggest tow we've seen so far - 18 barges!!

The famous Fern Hopkins