Wheeler Lake to Demopolis - Oct 17-22

The good, the bad, the ugly.....

The mass exodus from the Rendezvous began Friday at 8:00am. We along with 19 other Looper boats traveled one mile to the Wheeler Lock. We all pulled into our predetermined spots in the lock (half tied to bollards and half tied off to those tied to the bollards). All went very smooth. (THE GOOD)

Our second lock was 15 miles down river. As we approched the lock the wind kicked up considerably.

The wind played havoc with all of the boats and captains once in the lock. As we were struggling to get the Pura Vida into position, one of the other boats came spiraling past us and back out of the lock for a second attempt.  (THE BAD)  Mutiple attempts and much shuffling occurred before all boats were secure. We ended up with two boats rafted off us. We heard a loud crunch as one boat hit his bow on the lock wall. (THE UGLY)  After this lock, 8 boats stopped at Florence and the rest carried on. As the day went on, the group dispersed as we all traveled at different speeds with different destinations.

Late in the day we turned off the Tennessee River onto the Tenn-Tom Waterway where we anchored in a cove for the night. 

Saturday morning we had some troubles lifting our anchor. A boat of fishermen gave us local knowledge of a rock ledge our anchor may be hooked under. After maneuvering the boat to pull on the anchor in multiple directions, she popped loose. (Our other option would have been to cut the anchor line and leave the anchor and forty feet of chain on the bottom of the river.) We thanked the fishermen and wished them a good day of fishing.  Our home for the evening was Midway Marina where we took the courtesy van to town for dinner and provisions. (This is a college town but also a dry county - try threatening your kids with that!)

Sunday was another beautiful, sunny, warm day. (Mid 70s)  We passed through four locks before dropping anchor for the night. Shortly after our anchor was set, a sailboat named Eclipse from Minnesota pulled in and shared our anchorage with us. We invited the couple over and had fun sharing stories of our adventures so far.

After a relaxing morning, we cruised nine miles to the marina in Columbus, Mississippi. Our friends, Randy and Sherri Chester on Priorities from Port Sheldon, Michigan were there to welcome us! 

Randy and Sherri completed the loop last summer and are headed south again with no long term itinerary as they are "live aboards". By evening there were roughly 19 looper boats at the Marina.

Only about half of these had attended the Rendezvous so once again we are meeting new friends and catching up with other we met earlier. We grilled out on the deck of Perfect Balance with owners Jim and MiMi along with the Chesters. 

Tuesday was another gorgeous travel day.  Most of the river is lined with trees. Miles and miles of trees. 

There are a few houses along the waterway, but that's about it. Traffic is light with only a tow with barges or fishermen now and then.  By 5pm we pulled into the Sumpter Recreation Area to drop the hook for the evening.  The sailboat Eclipse was already there so we shared an anchorage once again.

We pulled anchor by 6:45am and traveled three miles with Eclipse to our one and only lock for the day. 

We separated ways after the lock as Eclipse travels at roughly 5mph and we travel around 10 mph.

Our destination today is Demopolis Yacht Basin where we will stay a couple days. Demopolis, Alabama is the last town for supplies and fuel before Mobile which is 215 miles downstream.

 Lots of boats in the lock!

 Just Us crew

 Randy & Sherri Chester on Priorities 

 

Did I hear a banjo? 

We aren't anchoring anywhere around here!

     

 Sheli with her finger in the dike.

AGLCA Rendezvous - Oct 11-16

We had a great time and learned at lot about what to expect in the coming months at the rendezvous.

We had 3 days of lectures on our travels as far as Norfolk VA. There were roughly 200 attendees which included 48 boats that are in process of doing the loop. There were also Gold Loopers who have already completed the loop in the past as well as a group of those dreaming of doing the loop someday. 

On Sunday late afternoon, we had a scary incident. Within an hour of pulling in and docking a fellow looper had a heart attack on his boat.  Other loopers on the dock came to his aid including a paramedic, a surgeon, a general practitioner and two dentists. They used an AED (which a few loopers carried on board) to bring him back. They rushed him to the hospital where his recovery looks good. That brought everyone closer together.

Monday night the weather was cold and stormy. Everyone added extra lines to their boats. While at dinner there were several tornado warnings in the area. We all had to stay in the lodge until these passed.  

On Tuesday we entered the dinghy race. Steve had to be blind folded and drive the dinghy backwards while Sheli directed. Let's just say, we did not win or finish the race. Ouch!

Wednesday night we enjoyed a bbq dinner at a nearby Cotton Gin in Rogersville. The band was a great and a lot of fun was had by all.

Another fun event was the Looper Crawl. Loopers who had their boats at the Marina could open up their boat so others could come aboard and see their boat. We opened up the Pura Vida and received many compliments. We also toured other boats which was fun. 

An interesting tidbit we learned is that more people climb Mt Everest each year than do the Loop!

 Can you find us in the back row?

 Joe Wheeler State Park

 They packed us in pretty tight! The captain said we may need a crowbar to get us out of this slip!

 No time to enjoy the pool. Bummer!

 Dinghy race.

 Band at Cotton Gin

Guntersville - Joe Wheeler State Park - Oct 9-12

Thursday morning we began our trip back downriver. Our first step was to lock through Guntersville Lock. This locking went much smoother than when we came up through the lock a few days ago. (What happens in the lock, stays in the lock)  Our port for the evening was Ditto Landing Marina where if you buy 100 gallons of fuel you stay free. (So we did). The Marina is next to a campground and bike trail, so we took a bike ride to check out the area. 

We finally had decent wifi connection so we took the time Friday morning to catch up on some bookkeeping and downloaded some movies.  Our run today was back to the Hard Dock Cafe Marina.

We enjoyed dinner and the band that night. The band played 80s and 90s Rock, Steve said they would have sounded much better if they played 70s music. 

Saturday our destination was Joe Wheeler State Park Lodge & Marina. This will be our home for the next 6 nights as we attend the AGLCA Rendezvous. There are already about 40 looper boats here. 

It should be a fun time meeting more loopers and learning about what lies ahead. That evening the Yacht Club hosted a "tailgate" party on the docks with chili, hotdogs and football. 

Early Sunday morning we left on our bikes to find a church. We rode four miles to the nearest town of Rogersville where we attended the Rogersville Church of Christ. This service was very conservative and traditional. Sheli asked Steve where the organ or piano were, only to realize all songs were sung acapella. They had no instruments at all! Wow did that congregation sing loud and with lots of meaning. Due to a storm, we were stranded in town for a couple hours waiting for a "no rain" window to ride back home.  We stayed pretty dry on the return and enjoyed stopping along the way to watch a dozen or so deer feeding by the road.

 Ditto Landing Marina near Huntsville.

 We decided not to purchase this Fixer Upper project (a man has to know his limitations)

 Joe Wheeler State Park

Guntersville - Oct 6-8

Guntersville Marina has been our home for the last three days. We stayed here due to the weather forecast and we are pacing ourselves to arrive at the Rendezvous (2 travel days away) by Saturday. Luckily we are the only transients at this marina right now so we have had unlimited use of their courtesy van. (Also the nicest courtesy car so far - bonus) 

Monday we drove up to Scottsboro to The Unclaimed Baggage Store. This store sells contents of lost and unclaimed airline baggage. Everyday they put out 7000 additional items, ranging from clothes, to iPads, to jewelry, to tools, to Pescription glasses and sunglasses, to sporting equipment (they even have a 10 foot paddle board. What a hoot! We picked up some DVDs to watch on the boat.  A big storm came through at night. It was fun watching this from the back of the boat.

Tuesday we visited the Lake Guntersville State Park. We had lunch at the beautiful lodge overlooking Lake Guntersville. What an awesome view. We hiked the "Waterfall Trail" and while it was beautiful, we never found the waterfall. (Steve describes hiking as walking in a big circle to no apparent reason...but Sheli loved it).  Our friends from Twelve Stones and Endeavor arrived at a nearby marina so we met them at Top of the River Restaurant for catfish at night. (No, Sheli did not eat catfish, she had a ribeye.)

Wednesday was catch up day. We went to town for provisions, gave the Pura Vida a bath inside and out and did some wash. In the afternoon we took a dinghy ride to check out some of the impressive homes along Lake Guntersville.  While the weather turned out better than predicted, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay here. 

 I wonder if any of my clients goodies are here!

 Views from the State Park Lodge

 The pool looked inviting after our hike!

 Our 2nd selfie!

 Sheli having fun....

 Steve faking it...

 The lodge taken from our dinghy ride.

Florence to Guntersville, AL - Oct 3-5

On Thursday night a storm blew through which really rocked the boats in the Marina. Friday was overcast and windy so it was a good time for Steve to do the first oil change of the trip and for Sheli get a walk in at the park/campground near by. At night we walked into town for Florence First Fridays.  This is a street festival held on the first Friday of each month with musicians and vendors on the sidewalk and a band playing on the closed downtown street. All the stores, restaurants and bars offer special deals and entertainment. The big draw for October is the Pumpkin Drop. A pumpkin is dropped from a lift, 50 feet in the air and smashes onto the pavement in the middle of the intersection. Thud wap!  (We're living large now!)

Saturday morning we were on the river by 7am. Today traveled with Twelve Stones and Endevour through two locks.  After the second lock, Tweleve Stones and Endevour turned off to Joe Wheeler State Park Marina. We will be returning here next week to attend the American Great Loop Cruisers Association (AGLCA) Fall Rendezvous. We continued on to Decatur to the marina at the Hard Dock Cafe. It was a crazy windy day and the white caps on the water reminded us of being on Lake Michigan.  At night we took a taxi to the award winning Big Bob Gibson's BBQ. It did not disappoint.

Before departing Sunday morning, we again streamed a sermon from Woodhaven Ref. The river surroundings are becoming more rocky as we move east. We past through one lock just prior to destination of Guntersville. Guntersville Marina will be our home for the next few days as rain and wind are forecasted.

 Pumpkin Drop!

 

 See freighter locking down in the left chamber?

 This erupted while waiting for the lock. It must be the discharge for the locks.

 Freighter leaving lock.

Month One Stats

SEPTEMBER 2014

Number of days:      29

Miles traveled:      1010

Engine hours:         135

Locks:                     15

Gallons of gas:        Yes

Nights on anchor:       6

Nights on free walls:    5

Nights at marinas:      18

States covered: Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama 

Bridges, bald eagles, pelicans, Asian Carp sightings:  Too many to count

Asian Carp frenzies: 2

Highlights: traveling through downtown Chicago, anchorage at Waterfall.

Tennessee River - Clifton, TN to Florence, AL - Sep 30-Oct 2

 We left Clifton Wednesday morning to the flatest water we have seen yet. It would have made great water skiing! After 47 miles we locked up at the Pickwick Lock. Due to strong current and running fast due to trying to lock through with another boat (19 miles per hour - wow!), we exited the lock on fumes. Luckily the Pickwick Landing State Park was right outside the dam so we could fuel up. Whew!

We continued on 11 more miles to anchor out at Waterfall Anchorage. This is a great little rock lined cove with a small stone beach and beautiful waterfall.  

The next morning we hiked up to the top of the waterfall - what a view! Cooled off after our hike by swimming under the waterfall! After breakfast Sheli gave the captain a much needed haircut on the bow of the boat. You don't get views like that at every barbershop!  Sheli took the dinghy over to release our two stern lines tied to trees on the banks, while Steve kept to boat in position.  We thought that was the tricky part until we began lifting the anchor only to find a tree wrapped in the anchor chain. Now Sheli had to maintain the boat's position while Steve wrestled with the tree and the chain. With great teamwork mission accomplished!  

Our destination for the day was Florence Harbor Marina in Florence, Alabama. We plan to stay here for a few days as they are predicting rain.  Pulling into the marina, we realized we were not going to be the big dog in the marina. Slipped here is a 110 ft yacht named Freedom. She is impressive!

Friday morning we took the courtesy van to town to pick up supplies. In the afternoon we toured the Frank Lloyd Wright - Rosenbaum House that was built in the 1940s. Super neat. We could move in today! At night we had dinner with our looper friends from Twelve Stones and Endevour at a local steakhouse. 

 Clifton Marina

 Flat water!

 Houses are getting bigger!

 Cute look!

 Check out the gas gauges.

 Our anchorage - waterfall!

 Anyone want to try this rope swing?

 Tiny PURA VIDA next to Freedom.

 Frank Lloyd Wright house.