#17 Nov. 24th thru Thanksgiving

11/24  The Storms and winds finally subsided enough for us to venture East again. but, We got a very late (10:30) start this morning due to heavy fog. We were a bit concerned the Bay we had to traverse before getting into the protected canal may be rough but it was nothing more than a regular choppy day on Lake Huron.  The fog was reluctant to let us alone and going through the canal was a little like a scary movie at times.  Our friends ahead of us would disappear every now and again. We arrived at White City Dock (free) around 4 pm and discovered Doveke was tied there as well.  Jean and Mel Thomason. Great couple. after a chat on the dock in the misty rain we all agreed to head out together to Carrabelle at around 8 am the next morning.

11/24 No fog today but misty and overcast. Did see 2 eagles in their nest - bumped into a floating log just under the water. Kind of surprised us since Greeks Folly warned us the log was there and we attempted to avoid it by steering away from where he said it was -- his prop wash must have propelled it into our path.  We did not see it.  This kind of thing happens all the time, things you cannot see can bite you.  Fortunately it was just a little bump and no damage for us.  Around 11.50 we entered Appalachia Bay just a thin barrier island from the Gulf.  We are headed for Carrabelle where many Loopers gather for a good weather window to jump across to Tarpon Springs. A trip of about 170 miles. So here we are. The Marina isn't a new one, but really neat.  Big covered deck with picnic tables, big old rocking chairs with cushions - - so we sat and rocked and watched the sun go down. YES! the sun came out! It's about time!

Bill, Tom and Mel enjoying a bit of sun. 

Doveke, Mel and Jean; Simpatico, Bill and Connie; Greek's Folly, Tom and Colletta

before the day was over the Marina had one slip left

11/25 Greek;s Folly, Doveke and Simpatico gathered on the deck this morning to watch the tide go out. It revealed an island just across from the Marina, a sunken overturned boat appeared where only a floating marker was before.  Eerie! The tide here is about 3 foot. Doesn't sound like much but with the docks fixed it is very difficult to get on and off the boat. Today we also plan to share Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow.  At this time only our 3 boats here.  Other boaters walked down from the other marina and found out what was happening here, Pretty soon three boats moved here; then three other boats came in. All invited to take part tomorrow.

11/27 Thanksgiving Day
Well the marina was happy and they provided us with a smoked turkey, a cooked turkey and a ham!!! Quite a surprise for us. but they were gracious hosts for what turned our little shared meal into an event including all the boaters who could not be home for their Thanksgiving.  Wonderful!

Everyone brought a dish or dishes to pass.

Three tables filled with delicious and varied Thanksgiving fare.

22 folks sharing.

A truly beautiful experience!


11/28 Today we are eating leftovers and preparing the boat for
our 170 mile crossing tomorrow for Tarpon Springs that might be a little bumpy depending on winds and waves. This will be the longest leg that will be needed on our entire Loop.  There are 6 boats traveling with us and we will leave between Noon and One pm. We will be checking in with one another on the hour throughout the night - a great buddy system. Looking forward to spending a little time in Tarpon, renting a car and visiting a few friends.

#16 Nov.13 - 23rd

We left you with our arrival in Fairhope, Alabama. Eastern Shore Marina. The folks there were more than pleasant and helpful. A good thing when you plan to be there for a week.  It is very much a working maintenance yard in addition to a stopping off spot for many Loopers arriving in Mobile Bay before heading East along the Panhandle. There is a courtesy van we took advantage of - then it quit on us, overheated and we had to be rescued. Ha!  We used our time there changing oil and checking fluids in Transmission, Engine and Generator, laundry shopping and errands. Then shared a rental car with Tom and Coletta from Greeks  Folly to do sight seeing. The most disconcerting issue was the weather.  At least 3 days and nights were in the 20's. Everyone was freezing and running heaters.  Subsequently the electrical system at the Marina suffered.  The current coming in to the boat should be 120 but it fluctuated between 104 - 109; at one point it was registering only 100.9. Yikes! Using such low wattage can ruin motors in appliances.  We shut off all systems to the boat accept one outlet to which we plugged in a little $18 space heater which we placed in our forward berth to keep it tolerable to sleep at night.

One of our excursions was to visit the Battleship Alabama in Mobile

Lots of obsolete military planes and machines on site

Great traveling companions and friends, Tom and Colletta Kataras

 We toured downtown Fairhope and enjoyed their 'millions of lights' Christmas decor.  Every tree on main was covered completely in lights.  The best part about the evening was a visit to the Chocolatier. Decadent!

Sunset over the channel entrance the night before our departure. 

We stopped along the way at LuLu's, Jimmy Buffet's sister's restaurant for lunch. In season this place must be hoppin.  They have a huge sand beach, volleyball, rope climbing maze, outdoor bars.

More Looper friends caught our lines as we docked and we shared Lunch, Dan and Angie Frick

Our next stop was Orange Beach, Alabama. Now we are in Dolphin territory. Many visits as we make our way across the Panhandle.

All along we have encountered Military installations and vessels. Here is a very strange looking craft that is anchored in the Bay across from Panama City. Sure would like to know what it is used for.

 11/19 we stayed at the Wharf Marina Resort complex in Orange Beach, Condos, Pool, Shops, Water Park, totally complete facility. On the 20th we left there at 0800 and at 0930 we entered Florida and made our way to Fort Walton Beach where we found the City Free Dock.  Free is always nice! And the burgers were great at KC's.
11/21 69 miles to go today, a long 8 hour day to Panama City.  We are greatful to be this far as the weather is turning dirty.  High winds and thunderstorms in the forecast.
11/22 we deploy the Bicycles and head for the boat store; need a fitting to fix a mirror to see behind us when traveling down the canals. Sometimes boats approach very fast and their wakes can throw you into a deep wallowing situation that is not comfortable and things go flying around.  We also found a grand opening of a guys favorite store - - Harbor Freight!
Although the day was overcast and misting we managed to stay fairly dry. The temps have increased to a comfortable 60+ degrees but the winds and skies are angry.

We had to stop here for lunch - Tom's Hot Dogs

 11/23 We are still here in Panama City - - our next stop is Appalachiacola and then Carrabelle. Both of those villages are chock full of Loopers waiting to cross the Big Bend of Florida. So if we leave there may not be a place for us. Lots of places to anchor but the winds are too strong 25 and 30 to comfortably be anchored for perhaps a week or more before Mother Nature calms the seas enough to make the crossing.  We plan to do the shorter run to Steinhatchee, some 70 miles.

Had this visitor for about 3 hours last night. To windy to fly! 

11/23  This is what  we are seeing right now. This will pass in an hour or so then tonight another front is passing through. 

After these storms there will be a few days of calm and we will be on the move again. All is well.

#15 Demopolis to Mobile

11/9 Greeks Folly and Simpatico cast off from Demopolis yacht basin at at 6am.  This is the first day of 3 very long days on the river.  There are no other Marinas till Mobile Bay.  And actually very few anchorages that are OFF the river.

This is the 12th and last Lock we exited on the Tenn-Tom Waterway from Tennessee River. Dropping us a total of 352 feet to sea level in 350 miles. We have 140 miles to go.

The Tenn-Tom Has many switchbacks where you really don't advance very far at all.  In this instance we passed with in a football field length of where we were 3 miles ago. All the more reason for that great little electronic devise called AIS. (Automatic Identification System) Notice the little triangles on the screen - the two in front are other pleasure boats with the system. The one at the bottom of the screen is a tow we passed  a few miles back. Any tows approaching us will show pointing the other direction. On these curves, and sometimes very narrow curves it is critical we are aware of approaching traffic.

Thats Greeks Folly anchored in front of us along side the River. 

Mr. Sailor Man and his rum after a long day on the river.

This is the only "Marina" till Mobile.  Bobby's Fish Camp. Much too early for a stop.

11/10 this night along the River there were two tows, each the same distance from our spot but approaching from opposite directions.  We contacted them on radio to let them know where we were. Fortunately, we did not have to feel like the "double stuff" in an Oreo for long as one two stopped to let the other pass. They constantly swept their spotlights watching for us and the bouys. 

Affectionate name for this bridge is "Dolly Parton"

 11/12 After 3 nine hour days coming down the Tenn-Tom we are leaving the wilderness delta and before us is Mobile! It is cloudy and overcast and a bit hard to see how massive this port is.  First freighters we've seen since Chicago. Hundreds of barges and tows, ship repair docks, loading docks, and military vessels.

We have no idea what these stealth looking catamarans are for.  Definitely military.Hopefully if we get a chance to visit Mobile we will find out.

Never seen anything like this.  Traversing through this fairway was intimidating. Tows and tugs everywhere. And then - - we were in Mobile Bay; average depth 8-9 feet.  We followed the ship channel (26 feet) to bouy #72 and turned East to Fairhope and Eastern Shore Marine across the Bay from Mobile.  

This will be our home for at least a week while we regroup and plan our next leg across the Panhandle of Florida.  The trip down these great rivers has been very interesting and exciting.  We have traversed more than 50 locks and met great folks along the way. Now we will plan our  Gulf Intercoastal Waterway cruise.The portion of North Gulf called the Big Bend is shallow and we will have to be aware of Tides.

#14 Wheeler to Demopolis - halfway to Mobile Alabama

10/31 Well, we are excited to get on with our trip after a visit home, the rendezvous and side trip to Chattanooga with brother Fred. The day is a bit breezy and a little overcast. I decided to do my last blog this morn so we didn't get away until around 11.  We are going only 22 miles today to Florence, but we have two lock to go through.  3 boats left at 830 am and we discovered that it is a good thing we didn't leave with them because as we approached the second lock we needed to traverse - - there they were tied to a barg off to the side of the lock when we arrived at 1:30.  They had been awaiting to traverse for 2 hours and we were just told we would have to wait for 2 1/2 hours. We all finally got in the lock at ten to four.  Sometimes the tows just get in your way and they have priority. It just gets tough when the tows have to be split and need two cycles of the lock to get through.  We have really been lucky -- of the 15 or so locks we have gone through we have only had extended delays twice.

I know you are probably getting tired of seeing these locks. BUT, it is such an incredible fete of construction and holding back so much water creating huge lakes.  This is the Whitten with a 93 ft lift. Third highest lift  in the world. There is another in Washington State and one in Africa that is higher. We are tied to a floating bollard that slides up and down the slot you see.

Just another perception from the boat. I promise not to do anymore pics of locks!  :)

After leaving the Tennessee River We have  finally headed South again. Now on the Tenn-Tom Waterway and this particular section is 280 foot wide and 24 miles long.  No stopping or anchoring allowed. When meeting one of these tows it wants to be intimidating but really no different than passing a great freighter on the St. Mary's River near Detour.

Baffles are built where streams and smaller rivers spill into the 24 mile straight ditch to stop erosion and blocking the waterway.

Again the scenery changes as we leave the restricted section and realize that --- Nope, you don't want to leave the channel.  There are stumps and fallen trees just waiting to give a boater a big headache!  Also, some if not all of the stumps are trying to grow again.  Miracle of life! Always striving to go on.

11/6 anchored just past Heflin Lock at mm265. That's the moon on the right. The other "moons" are lights of the lock. A nice quiet place off the main waterway.

Limestone Cliffs near Epps, Alabama

 Bill and Tom from Greek's Folly. They are on their way to pick up a courtesy car for us and Colletta, togo to the grocery to stock up for our trek South to Mobile, Alabama. We arrived here at Demopolis Yacht Basin on 11/7. Halfway to Mobile from the Tennessee River.  From here to Mile 0 at Mobile there are no marinas and only one fuel stop at 'Bobby's Fish Camp" in the next 216 miles so we need to have all the provisions we'll need. Should take around 5 days with one day at Bobby's, the rest anchoring. Will be fun to travel with Greek's Folly.

We are looking forward to reaching the Gulf, exploring Mobile, then find a place on the Panhandle of Florida and sit for a while.