Outrunning the Storm.........

We spent today's 5 hours of travel watching the Weather Underground radar showing storms steadily sinking south from Nashville toward our route in Northern Alabama.  Scary!  Fortunately, the storm dissipated most of its energy by the time it hit us about 5 minutes before docking in Florence, Alabama.  Vicki is a real fraidy-cat about encountering a storm while underway, so the day was quite stressful for her.

Florence is quite a nice little town.  Home of University of Northern Alabama, the campus is beautiful. The mascots are lions Leo and Una who reside on campus in a deluxe enclosure -- beautiful cats. 

What an incredible cruising ground this is!  After the last lock on the Tenn-Tom, we cruised out into gorgeous Bay Springs Lake which reminded us both of Canada. Clear water and dense tall trees growing all the way down to the waterline.  Pickwick Lake at the intersection of the Tenn-Tom and the Tennessee River is equally as beautiful and reminds us of the Wisconsin Dells area. 

Most marinas have courtesy cars enabling us to see some of the sights of Mississippi and Alabama.  We drove to Tupelo one day and stopped at a hardware store looking for a fan.  This hardware store just happened to be where Elvis Presley got his first guitar.  The story is that his mom brought him there to buy a bicycle for his birthday, but Elvis decided he wanted a gun instead.  His mom was reluctant to buy a gun, so they compromised on a guitar.  Great story!

Wednesday we caught up with Todd and Brenda at Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina in Pickwick Lake.  It was wonderful to see them again - always a fun time. We stuffed ourselves with excellent fried catfish filets at Hagy's Catfish Hotel on the Tennessee River.  This place was originally discovered by Norm's sister Joyce in 2001 when they did the Great Circle route.  Norm remembered the Catfish Hotel (and Bobby's fish Camp) as having the best-ever catfish, and he wasn't wrong.

We locked up the tallest lock on the Tenn-Tom--83Feet. Since Mobile Bay, we've been locked up over 400 ft. This was the last lock on the Tenn-Tom which created Pickwick Lake, a beautiful body of water that reminded us of Canada's lakes.  Here are some video's of the locking.

Yesterday, we visited the civil war interpretive center in Corinth MS which has fabulous displays about the battle of Shiloh which was fought over control of the railroad crossing in Corinth.  The center was built 2 years ago and is the best civil war museum we've seen.  We plan to stop at the Shiloh Battleground Park on the way back south.

Today was our first day on the Tennessee River.  What a magnificent body of water - really wide for a number of miles.  About four miles into our journey, we detoured into Todd and Brenda's #1 anchorage, Waterfall Cove, where they were anchored.  Todd gave us a freshly caught batch of bass filets and snapped some photos of Tide Hiker in front of the waterfall.  And, we deliverd oil and ice to him.  Then we were off to outrun the storms; which you read earlier, we didn't.

Vicki, Brenda and Todd at Hagy's Catfish Hotel Restaurant.

Life's 2 Short at Anchor at Waterfall Cove.  See how he get's snuggled up to the beach and ties to a tree.  Life's 2 Short is very protected.  Todd and Brenda have a wonderful view of the waterfall that is behind us.

Todd, just after dropping off some fresh-caught bass and picking up some oil and ice.

Ahhhhh, air conditioning....

The goal of this journey at this point is to "hot dog" it to a marina where we can hook up to electricity and run our AC.  These 95-97-degree afternoons with high chance of thunderstorms have turned us into real "weenies". We feel like shedding down to our skivvies but we're not even "Hebrew Nationals" from NY.  "Frank"ly, we're OK with the heat and storms in the afternoon, because we can run fast, like the "sausage guys" at Milwaukee Brewers Games.

Here's our course since we last reported it:

Gulf Shores, AL to Columbus, MS

Vicki has not fallen into any holds since the last time, even though we have gone through 3-4 more locks.  Hence, her physical status is good.  Dr Naughton does periodic "medical" exams and reports good progress.  Only a few skin hematomas.  We arrived in Columbus, MS yesterday after going in and out of Alabama and Mississippi a few times.  We transited two locks yesterday and both were waiting for us with the gates open when we arrived.  No wait.  Maybe it's good to be late in the season.  So, the day went really fast.

Today, we used the Marina's courtesy car and  did some shopping.  We needed more 95-degree light weight, sweat wicking, sun blocking clothes.

Oops--Watch that hole!

Norm's birthday was great!  No storms. Norm enjoyed 10-year old cheddar with sliced salami after our swim and chocolate cream pie with many candles after grilled fresh grouper dinner. The yellow bug repellent cellophane over the lights worked pretty well -- the cellophane didn't over heat and the bugs attracted were minimal.  A few tugs came by during the night with minimal wake.  Norm says "thanks much" to all who sent birthday wishes.  He says he does not feel old at 67.  But he does feel old when he thinks that he is heading toward 70!!!

Unfortunately it was really hot last night with almost no wind.  Even after cooling down the stateroom with the air conditioning the temp in there was 87, so sleeping was tough.  We're at Demopolis Yacht Basin tonight with electric (read air conditioning) so we'll have good sleep.

Nice 71-mile cruise today up to Demopolis.  A bit of trauma in the Demopolis Lock.  We're still getting used to putting our line over the bollard in the lock and we learned that it needs to be cinched tighter than we did today.  As the water entered the lock, the boat angled with the stern up against the wall of the lock.   Norm is positioned with a boat hook to hold the stern off the wall while Vicki is positioned on the bow to hold that off the wall.  When it became clear that the current of the water was forcefully pushing the stern into the wall, Vicki rushed back to the cockpit to help push off (Norm was stationed on the top deck).  In her zeal, she stepped back to get a firmer pushing position and stepped into the open lazarette.  (The hatch is open when we're running to allow heat to escape from the engine room.  We close it when working back there, but it was unexpected that Vicki would have to assist with the stern push-off.)  In a real stroke of luck, Vicki caught herself with only a few small bruises.  The lazarette, on the other hand, needs a new gas cylinder arm to hold it open-- it got the worst of that deal!  Another lock tomorrow -- no problem -- we learn from our mistakes!



Norm here......Should also mention that getting to the lock was a bit tense too.  We heard on the radio that another boat that past us earlier was about to enter the lock. If we miss this lift, we might have a long wait because a tug and tow was close behind us and heading to the lock too.  (Commercial traffic has precedence.  And tugs can take up to 4-hours if they have to break apart their barges.)  We were 30-minutes behind.  We put the pedal to the metal and increased our speed from 8.1 mph to 8.5 mph.  The lockmaster was a real cool dude and waited for us.  Unfortunately, the other boat had to wait too.  So, we slipped right through the open gates; and, we were not even secure on the wall when we saw the gates close behind. This lock lifted us up 40 ft.  By the way, since going through the Coffeeville Lock yesterday, we are out of tides and salt water.  Yippee!!  Also, Vicki is a real champ! Agree??  She could have done serious damage to herself falling into the hold.  I know of a guy that fell into one and broke seven ribs.  This is a risky adventure we're on.  Anyway, I'll apply all the salves later.

Happy Birthday, Norm!

Our last night in civilization was spent in Fairhope Alabama, a beautiful small town and suburb of Mobile.  We used the courtesy car at Eastern Shore Marine to explore the town.  Missed out on panninis at Pannini Pete's (reportedly the best in the nation) as they close after lunch. 

Our first anchorage in the Tenn-Tom was the Alabama River Cutoff, a narrow river that required both a bow and stern anchor.  This was the first time we used two anchors and they were tested with a big windy storm late afternoon.  The boat was pushed from one side of the river to the other, but we held!  Leaving the anchorage the next morning was beautiful - the sun rising, mist on the water, and a small alligator swimming across the river.

We went through the first of many locks yesterday - Coffeeville Lock.  Then on to Bobby's Fish Camp where Norm had the best catfish in the universe when doing the Great Circle Route in 2001.  Unfortunately, the restaurant is only open Thursday - Sunday.  We'll have to catch it on the return trip. 
  
We were advised by Hank and Nancy (who are a week or so ahead of us on the river) to get some yellow light bulbs that don't attract bugs for the outside of the boat so that we'll be more visible to tows when we're anchored in the river without ending up with a boat covered in bugs.  Couldn't locate bulbs, but bought yellow cellophane to cover the lenses of our lights.  We'll try them out tonight when anchoring outside Bashi Creek.

Today is Norm's birthday.  Let's hope it's storm-free, bug-free and filled with wonderful birthday surprises.

Back on the water.........

We've been out of touch.  We know.  And we're sorry.  We've been extra busy with expected and unexpected land travel.  Our daughter, Colleen and her husband, Brian, were expecting their first baby (our 4th grandmiracle) on May 15.  We were docked in St Pete at the time.  After 36 hours of labor, she delivered a beautiful baby girl, Ella Grace.  Baby Ella was OK and Colleen's recovery from the C-Section was going well.  We flew back to St Pete and immediately got underway for our slow trek around Florida's panhandle to Mobile Bay.  (See previous blog entry.)

While off shore and crossing the Gulf we received word that the recovery was not going well due to complications from the C-Section. Colleen was in bad shape and getting worse.  Norm was a mess.  We had to get to a safe harbor near an airport.  It took us two painful, chaotic days to dock in Pensacola.  In the meantime, Colleen had emergency surgery to repair a perforated bowl that was not caught for 6 days. It was VERY BAD!!  Norm arrived back in Columbus just after the surgery and remained there for 8 days until Colleen was discharged from the hospital.  Along with Brian's parents and his sisters, Norm helped to care for baby Ella and be with his daughter during the early, hard recovery days.  Colleen's mother is now picking up where Norm left off.  Brian and his family were awesome, providing Norm a place to stay and meals when he was not at the hospital. He'll be eternally grateful to them.

Vicki with Ella Grace

Norm with Ella Grace

With Colleen on the mend, and reprovisioning completed, we resumed our cruise today.  We are currently docked at Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores, AL.  This is also the home of Lulu's Restaurant.  Lulu is actually Lucy Buffett, Jimmy Buffett's "crazy sister" as he calls her.  Yes, we both had to have a Cheeseburger in Paradise.  But, not before a couple margaritas and a dish of fried green tomatoes--a real southern treat.  (Even though Norm's grandmother in Pittsburgh used to make them when he was a kid.)

If you are interested in viewing our cruise routes from Sarasota, FL to Gulf Shores, AL, click on the following links:

Sarasota, FL to St Petersburg, FL

St Petersburg, FL to Gulf Shores, AL

Tomorrow we're off to Mobile Bay, then up the Mobile River to the Tennessee-Tombigby Waterway.  Our friends cruising ahead of us have told us that the river currents and pool levels at the dams are in good shape.  More on that later. 

Gonna See Tennessee

We left St. Petersburg this morning on the first leg of our trip to Tennessee.  Should take around 25 days to get to Chattanooga.  We're anchored out near Tarpon Springs (Anclotte Key). Tarpon Springs is a greek sponge-diving community and we just saw the Sponge-O-Rama (not making this up!) tour boat.

St. Pete is top of the list for our land-based retirement unless Chattanooga or Knoxville ensnare us with their charms.  Stay tuned! 

I say, I say, hold on folks. Sarasota may not be it................

It was a short 4.5-hour cruise up the GICW (Gulf Intracoastal Waterway) to St Petersburg, FL.  Our first stop was to Salt Creek Marina for some preventive maintenance requiring Tide Hiker to be lifted out of the water. So after Tide Hiker was hauled, the bottom was pressure washed and she was blocked, we rented a car and drove over to Apollo Beach to spend the night with our friends, Ron and Charma Owens. It was Wednesday and that means happy hour at Circles Tiki Bar.  We had a great time getting reacquainted with Ron and Charma's friends whom we met last year.

Norm, Vicki, Ron, Charma and friends at Circles Tiki Bar

Charma, Ron and Vicki at Apollo Beach home

The next morning,  Ron, the "much-in-demand-Defever-guru" on the west coast of Florida helped Norm.  More acurately, Norm helped Ron change the seals on the stabilizer fin shafts.  They also replaced all the zinc's attached to metal parts under the water.  (The zincs are sacrificial.  That is, they are there to take the galvanization attacks common in salt water, thereby preventing the galvanization of the more critical parts--propeller shafts, rudders, etc.)  Anyway, they got it all done in 1/2 day.  We then relaunched Tide Hiker and moved her over to the St Pete Municipal Marina.  Ron joined Norm there, and they changed out the engine impellers--more preventative maintenance.  Thanks Ron and Charma for your help, your hospitality and most especially, your friendship.

It was time to explore St Pete--our next possible permanent retirement location. Vicki says St Pete has a good vibe for her.  Norm is more apprehensive at this point, still very much liking Sarasota.  We have been walking our feet off getting to know the city and the bay front. This is WORK!!

Our friend Roger had an interview for a jo---, jo---, jo---, I just can't say it, the next morning.  So he and his wife and our friend, Lisa, drove up from Cape Coral to spend the night with us. I say fortunately, because they were a friendly respite from all the city exploring we have been doing.  So, it was late lunch with martini's.  Vicki and Lisa went for a pedicure and Rog and Norm found the nearest bay-front watering hole and, well, you know....

 More later..................