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A bit chilly but a beautiful morning. Two of us left at the same time this morning, about 06:00 and we pretty much had the river to ourselves. We had a pretty sun rise but then it really clouded up and it was over cast all the way to Mobile. We…

A bit chilly but a beautiful morning. Two of us left at the same time this morning, about 06:00 and we pretty much had the river to ourselves. We had a pretty sun rise but then it really clouded up and it was over cast all the way to Mobile. We…

Anchorage at Tensas River North, Mile 39.3:  We got up too early this morning; 04:30. We were ready to go by 05:15 and it was still too dark. Called the Coffeeville Lock by 05:45 and there was a tow in the lock and he said it would be about an hour. We were 6 miles from the lock and pulled anchor by 06:10. I was driving and Keith brought the anchor up. This system has been working really well for us. We got to the lock by 06:40. The tow was out but we had to wait on the Lock Master to open the doors; we finally got into the lock by 07:05 and we were out by 07:30. There were 4 boats in the lock, 2 MV and 2 SV. Sage was the other MV and he is going to Fort Myers also. We went down 34 feet and this will be our last lock now until we return in the spring. W got to our anchorage by 15:00 and anchored in 9′ of water and put 55′ feet of chain out. We had a lots of Tows today, a total of 11. It was a beautiful sunny day and it got to 67 degrees. After 2 days on the water it feels like we never left, a good feeling.

CO’s comments. Another great day on the water.  I was down below checking the engines when the XO slowed abruptly, I damn near broke my bad hip trying to get up to the bridge.  She just slowed down for a fisherman.  She said, not to worry, if it is an emergency I would hear her verbally besides slowing down.
　

N31.06647
W087.94550

 11-7-204: At 0 dark 30, the moon on it’s was down

 11-7-2014: Sun rise on the Lower Black Warrior River

 11-7-2014:Sage; locked through the Coffeeville Lock with us

Anchorage at Tensas River North, Mile 39.3:  We got up too early this morning; 04:30. We were ready to go by 05:15 and it was still too dark. Called the Coffeeville Lock by 05:45 and there was a tow in the lock and he said it would be about an hour. We were 6 miles from the lock and pulled anchor by 06:10. I was driving and Keith brought the anchor up. This system has been working really well for us. We got to the lock by 06:40. The tow was out but we had to wait on the Lock Master to open the doors; we finally got into the lock by 07:05 and we were out by 07:30. There were 4 boats in the lock, 2 MV and 2 SV. Sage was the other MV and he is going to Fort Myers also. We went down 34 feet and this will be our last lock now until we return in the spring. W got to our anchorage by 15:00 and anchored in 9′ of water and put 55′ feet of chain out. We had a lots of Tows today, a total of 11. It was a beautiful sunny day and it got to 67 degrees. After 2 days on the water it feels like we never left, a good feeling.

CO’s comments. Another great day on the water.  I was down below checking the engines when the XO slowed abruptly, I dam near broke my bad hip trying to get up to the bridge.  She just slowed down for a fisherman.  She said, not to worry, if it is an emergency I would hear her verbally besides slowing down.
　

N31.06647
W087.94550

 11-7-204: At 0 dark 30, then moon on it’s was down

 11-7-2014: Sun rise on the Lower Black Warrior River

 11-7-2014:Sage; locked through the Coffeeville Lock with us

It has been a while since we last posted anything to our blog.  We were busy doing stuff on the boat, etc. but really didn’t have much to say.  But, now we are back on the water cruising again so I will try to keep the blog up.

Thursday, November 6, 2014:
Started out raining and 64 degrees but the river was very calm. We left our slip by 05:45 and had to wait in the Demopolis Lock for 2 other boats. We were in the lock by 06:23 and out by 06:40. At about Mile 205.0, I was driving and Keith was down in the engine room checking things out. There were 2 Red buoys in the middle of the river so I kept them to my left as we were going down river. It started to get really shallow and I was getting nervous but kept going. When it got to just 2 feet below the props I eased up on the throttles to get Keith’s attention and ended up stopping completely because it was so shallow and then I heard a noise. Keith was up on the bridge by then and took over. I was really flustered. After Keith checked every thing out he thought everything was OK. We did not have a vibration which was good. He thinks a rudder hit something. We will keep our fingers crossed that nothing bad happened. Keith thought that the river was low and maybe the 2 red buoys were out of place or maybe both and that was why we hit something.

By late morning it had cleared up nicely and in the low 70’s and it got to a high of 76 by evening. We anchored in Okatuppa Creek Alternative on the left descending bank across from Okatuppa Creek in about 15 feet of water. We called the Lock Master at Coffeeville Lock to let them know we were along side the river so he could alert any tows coming up or down river. Had a nice, quiet evening and in bed early as the alarm was set for 04:30 again. It was good to be back on the water.

　
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W088.17101

CO’s comments.  It is great to be moving again.  A bit of darkness, a bit of rain, and a bit of sun; a wonderful day to be on the water.

11-6-2014:  Cruising down the Tenn-Tombigbee River

11-6-2014:  Skipper Keith; on the move at last after about 5 month layover.

11-6-2014: Anchor Alert on Keith’s IPad; works real good. Apps lets us know if our anchor is dragging.

11-6-2014:  Okatuppa Creek Alternative anchorage; down stream

11-6-2014:  Okatuppa Creek Alternative anchorage; up stream

11-6-2014:  Okatuppa Creek Alternative anchorage; close to LDB

It has been a while since we last posted anything to our blog.  We were busy doing stuff on the boat, etc. but really didn’t have much to say.  But, now we are back on the water cruising again so I will try to keep the blog up.

Thursday, November 6, 2014:
Started out raining and 64 degrees but the river was very calm. We left our slip by 05:45 and had to wait in the Demopolis Lock for 2 other boats. We were in the lock by 06:23 and out by 06:40. At about Mile 205.0, I was driving and Keith was down in the engine room checking things out. There were 2 Red buoys in the middle of the river so I kept them to my left as we were going down river. It started to get really shallow and I was getting nervous but kept going. When it got to just 2 feet below the props I eased up on the throttles to get Keith’s attention and ended up stopping completely because it was so shallow and then I heard a noise. Keith was up on the bridge by then and took over. I was really flustered. After Keith checked every thing out he thought everything was OK. We did not have a vibration which was good. He thinks a rudder hit something. We will keep our fingers crossed that nothing bad happened. Keith thought that the river was low and maybe the 2 red buoys were out of place or maybe both and that was why we hit something.

By late morning it had cleared up nicely and in the low 70’s and it got to a high of 76 by evening. We anchored in Akatuppa Creek Alternative on the left descending bank across from Akatuppa Creek in about 15 feet of water. We called the Lock Master at Coffeeville Lock to let them know we were along side the river so he could alert any tows coming up or down river. Had a nice, quiet evening and in bed early as the alarm was set for 04:30 again. It was good to be back on the water.

　
N31.82597
W088.17101

CO’s comments.  It is great to be moving again.  A bit of darkness, a bit of rain, and a bit of sun; a wonderful day to be on the water.

11-6-2014:  Cruising down the Tenn-Tombigbee River

11-6-2014:  Skipper Keith; on the move at last after about 5 month layover.

11-6-2014: Anchor Alert on Keith’s IPad; works real good. Apps lets us know if our anchor is dragging.

11-6-2014:  Akatuppa Creek Alternative anchorage; down stream

11-6-2014:  Akatuppa Creek Alternative anchorage; up stream

11-6-2014:  Akatuppa Creek Alternative anchorage; close to LDB

June 2 through 28-2014, Demopolis, AL, Kingfisher Bay Marina:

On Monday, the 2nd , slept in and just rested up from all our travel days.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the 3rd and 4th, we picked up our car in New Johnsonville, TN.  Roy and Elvie drove down to Demopolis and picked us up and we drove back to their boat in Nashville.  The next morning we drove over to Pebble Isle, had lunch, and Roy and Elvie left for Nashville.  We visited with Barry for a short while and then we headed back to our boat in Demopolis.

On Thursday the 5th through Tuesday the 10th, we worked at finally getting things done around the boat.  We both have long lists and we are still working on them.  Keith repainted the anchor chain, greased the windless, and oiled the propeller shafts and I helped with taking the chain out and then back in again; it is very heavy.

On Wednesday, the 11th, we drove over to Meridian, MS, and did some shopping at Lowe’s and Walmart and checked out a few other places.  We replaced all of our smoke/fire alarms since they hadn’t been done since 2000.

Thursday the 12th; Happy 17th Birthday Derek. 

Lazy day but did a few things on our list.  Friday the  13th,  I finished all the wood inside the boat; used Murphy’s Oil soap and it looks good.  Keith did half the bright work outside. 

Saturday the 14th; Happy 11th Birthday Austin. 

Did a few things on our list and went into town and did some grocery shopping, etc.  Keith still working on the bright work.  Keith did a pump-out.  We can only go two weeks when using the heads on a regular basis.  It is nice having the pump-out right here at our slip.

6-14-2014:. Flag Day and also Austin’s Birthday.

Sunday the 15^th through Wednesday the 20th,  still working on our lists. Tried to do some sewing projects but my thread keeps knotting up. I don’t know if it’s the machine, the material, or me. Now the whole bobbin case fell out so I guess it will be a while before I can cross sewing off my list.   I was planning on going to town again on the Tuesday the17th to pick up a few things but when I started the car there was a loud noise coming from under the hood.  Keith checked it out and he thinks it was the fan for the air conditioning so I did not go to town.  On Wednesday the 18th, Keith picked up all our supplies for an oil change from Napa in the morning and then I drove into town before it got too hot since we could not use the air.  Thursday the 19th, we got going early because of the heat and no air and drove to Meridian, MS (about 1 hour away) to the Lincoln dealer to get our air conditioning fixed and to replace spark plug coil assembly #5.  This is the 4th coil that has gone out on us; only 4 more to go!  In checking, they decided to change all 8 spark plugs as well as the coil.  After checking the air conditioning unit they found we had a bad compressor and it had to be replaced.  It would take a whole day to replace it so they got us a rental car and we drove back to the boat in Demopolis.  Our car and all it’s repairs will be done by 17:00 on Friday. 

　
6-15-2014: Huge yacht came in for the night.

Friday the 20th; Keith went to the range with two of the guys from our dock and they did some practice shooting for the match tomorrow.  I stayed at the boat and got our wash done.  After Keith got back from the range, we drove over to Meridian to pick up our car.  It was done by 16:45 and it wasn’t cheap but we now have much needed air conditioning (or so we thought); the temps have been in the mid to high 90’s all week long.  We stopped and got a few things at Lowe’s and had dinner at Red Lobster before heading back to Demopolis.  We only got half way back and our air conditioning was blowing hot air only.  It had worked up to that point.  It was 19:00 by this time and still 95 degrees.  It was too late to go back to the Lincoln dealer so we kept on driving back to the boat.  The dealership is not open on weekends so we left several messages letting them know we were not happy with the situation and we would be there first thing Monday morning and expect them to fix the problem.

Saturday the 21st, Happy Birthday Ronn! 

Keith went to the shooting match for most of the day.  By mid afternoon we had a terrible thunder and lightening storm and then it just rained for a few hours.
 
Sunday the 22nd, Happy Birthday Sharon! 

We didn’t do much of anything but get ready for our trip back to Wisconsin and Montana.

Monday the 23rd through Saturday the 28th: Got going early on Monday the 23^rd and got to the Lincoln dealership by 07:30. We sat there all morning and by 12:00 they had fixed the problem; they said it was a defective part and they replace it with a new compressor. Hopefully we are good for our trip next week. The rest of the week we spent getting ready.  It also rained some every day the rest of the week.

　
CO’s comments:  Al is a marine from about the same time I was in.  I was walking by his boat and he was cleaning a rifle with a great big scope.  He is just getting into bench rest shooting.  We talked and I said it looks like fun so I went with them last weekend and had a great time.  We shot on a private range and as long as you believe they way I believe you would get along with all the good old boys.  Al has a 45 with some very special ivory grips.  On one side is a carving of a purple heart and the US flag at half mast and the other side he has the names of the 22 marines that were lost under his command in Viet Nam.  The Purple Heart is his.  After the Corp he retired from the FBI.  I intend to get into shooting the rest of the summer when we get back from Montana.  One of the shooters at the range was in the Air Born and he finally admitted that marines are some of the toughest SOB’s he has ever met.

6-24-2014:  King Fisher Bay Marina and Demopolis Yacht Basin, Demopolis, AL

June 2 through 28-2014, Demopolis, AL, Kingfisher Bay Marina:

On Monday, the 2nd , slept in and just rested up from all our travel days.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the 3rd and 4th, we picked up our car in New Johnsonville, TN.  Roy and Elvie drove down to Demopolis and picked us up and we drove back to their boat in Nashville.  The next morning we drove over to Pebble Isle, had lunch, and Roy and Elvie left for Nashville.  We visited with Barry for a short while and then we headed back to our boat in Demopolis.

On Thursday the 5th through Tuesday the 10th, we worked at finally getting things done around the boat.  We both have long lists and we are still working on them.  Keith repainted the anchor chain, greased the windless, and oiled the propeller shafts and I helped with taking the chain out and then back in again; it is very heavy.

On Wednesday, the 11th, we drove over to Meridian, MS, and did some shopping at Lowe’s and Walmart and checked out a few other places.  We replaced all of our smoke/fire alarms since they hadn’t been done since 2000.

Thursday the 12th; Happy 17th Birthday Derek. 

Lazy day but did a few things on our list.  Friday the  13th,  I finished all the wood inside the boat; used Murphy’s Oil soap and it looks good.  Keith did half the bright work outside. 

Saturday the 14th; Happy 11th Birthday Austin. 

Did a few things on our list and went into town and did some grocery shopping, etc.  Keith still working on the bright work.  Keith did a pump-out.  We can only go two weeks when using the heads on a regular basis.  It is nice having the pump-out right here at our slip.

6-14-2014:. Flag Day and also Austin’s Birthday.

Sunday the 15^th through Wednesday the 20th,  still working on our lists. Tried to do some sewing projects but my thread keeps knotting up. I don’t know if it’s the machine, the material, or me. Now the whole bobbin case fell out so I guess it will be a while before I can cross sewing off my list.   I was planning on going to town again on the Tuesday the17th to pick up a few things but when I started the car there was a loud noise coming from under the hood.  Keith checked it out and he thinks it was the fan for the air conditioning so I did not go to town.  On Wednesday the 18th, Keith picked up all our supplies for an oil change from Napa in the morning and then I drove into town before it got too hot since we could not use the air.  Thursday the 19th, we got going early because of the heat and no air and drove to Meridian, MS (about 1 hour away) to the Lincoln dealer to get our air conditioning fixed and to replace spark plug coil assembly #5.  This is the 4th coil that has gone out on us; only 4 more to go!  In checking, they decided to change all 8 spark plugs as well as the coil.  After checking the air conditioning unit they found we had a bad compressor and it had to be replaced.  It would take a whole day to replace it so they got us a rental car and we drove back to the boat in Demopolis.  Our car and all it’s repairs will be done by 17:00 on Friday. 

　
6-15-2014: Huge yacht came in for the night.

Friday the 20th; Keith went to the range with two of the guys from our dock and they did some practice shooting for the match tomorrow.  I stayed at the boat and got our wash done.  After Keith got back from the range, we drove over to Meridian to pick up our car.  It was done by 16:45 and it wasn’t cheap but we now have much needed air conditioning (or so we thought); the temps have been in the mid to high 90’s all week long.  We stopped and got a few things at Lowe’s and had dinner at Red Lobster before heading back to Demopolis.  We only got half way back and our air conditioning was blowing hot air only.  It had worked up to that point.  It was 19:00 by this time and still 95 degrees.  It was too late to go back to the Lincoln dealer so we kept on driving back to the boat.  The dealership is not open on weekends so we left several messages letting them know we were not happy with the situation and we would be there first thing Monday morning and expect them to fix the problem.

Saturday the 21st, Happy Birthday Ronn! 

Keith went to the shooting match for most of the day.  By mid afternoon we had a terrible thunder and lightening storm and then it just rained for a few hours.
 
Sunday the 22nd, Happy Birthday Sharon! 

We didn’t do much of anything but get ready for our trip back to Wisconsin and Montana.

Monday the 23rd through Saturday the 28th: Got going early on Monday the 23^rd and got to the Lincoln dealership by 07:30. We sat there all morning and by 12:00 they had fixed the problem; they said it was a defective part and they replace it with a new compressor. Hopefully we are good for our trip next week. The rest of the week we spent getting ready.  It also rained some every day the rest of the week.

　
CO’s comments:  Al is a marine from about the same time I was in.  I was walking by his boat and he was cleaning a rifle with a great big scope.  He is just getting into bench rest shooting.  We talked and I said it looks like fun so I went with them last weekend and had a great time.  We shot on a private range and as long as you believe they way I believe you would get along with all the good old boys.  Al has a 45 with some very special ivory grips.  On one side is a carving of a purple heart and the US flag at half mast and the other side he has the names of the 22 marines that were lost under his command in Viet Nam.  The Purple Heart is his.  After the Corp he retired from the FBI.  I intend to get into shooting the rest of the summer when we get back from Montana.  One of the shooters at the range was in the Air Born and he finally admitted that marines are some of the toughest SOB’s he has ever met.

6-24-2014:  King Fisher Bay Marina and Demopolis Yacht Basin, Demopolis, AL

Saturday the 31st of May, Dog River Marina to Old Lock No. 1 at Mile 100.0 on the Tenn-Tom Waterway:

We left Mobile, AL along with a sailboat and another power boat at 06:20. It was a beautiful morning and Mobile Bay was pretty smooth with just a light chop. The sail boater was a marine and hollered Semper Fi to Keith as we passed him. It took us 35 minutes to get out to the Shipping Channel and then another hour and 20 minutes to take the Shipping Channel into Mobile, Mile 0 on the Tenn-Tombigbee/Mobile River. All the way through the City of Mobile is a No Wake Zone so it was slow going. We saw 14 Tows today with half of them in the Mobile area. I always wave at the Tow Captains and the Captain from “Stephanie” blew his horn for me. It rained on and off for part of the morning and almost steady from about 14:00 to 18:00. At Mile Marker 80 about 14:25 we were shot at by 2 fishermen. Apparently they were mad because we waked them. It was raining quite heavily, they were in camouflage and also in a camouflage boat, and tucked in by the shoreline and we did not see them; if we had seen them we would have slowed down. As it was, we were not even going 9 mph but I guess they were upset. Can’t believe they shot at us!  We averaged about 9 mph all day due to the strong current. Surprisingly there was not much debris in the water at all; we were expecting much more. We got to our anchorage by 18:50 and put 50 feet of anchor rode out in 9 feet of water. Last time we were in this anchorage we had 12 feet of water under us. The tide here is about 1.6 feet. We had a quick supper and an early to bed as we have another long day ahead of us tomorrow.

N31.57519
W88.03516

5-31-2014:  Old Lock #1, Mile 100.0 on the Tenn-Tom. 

5-31-2014:k  Leaving anchorage at Old Lock #1, Mile 100.0 on the Tenn-Tom. 

Sunday the 1st of June, Old Lock #1 to King Fisher Bay Marina, Demopolis, AL, Mile 216.7 on the Tenn-Tom Waterway:

We were on our way at day break; 05:20. It was clear all night and sun shine with just a few clouds this morning and the temp was 72 degrees. We got to the Coffeeville Dam by 07:10 and had to wait ½ hour for a tow and another boat locking down. We locked up 34 feet. From now on we no longer have to worry about tides. It turned into a beautiful day with just 2 short rain showers in the afternoon. We encountered 6 tows throughout the day and averaged between 9 and 10 mph. We traveled 116 miles in 13.25 hours with 2 locks and got to Kingfisher Bay Marina in Demopolis, AL, by 18:45. We were both very tired but glad to finally get here. We had a quick dinner, watched a little TV, and early to bed. I did not get up until 09:00 on Monday.

N32.53114
W87.84155

CO’s comments  The forecast for Sunday all the way to Demopolis was dume and glume.  This was another day that the forecasters got it all wrong.  We only had 45 drops of rain on the boat all day.  Thank goodness for our hard top on the bridge and no isinglass because Saturday it rained.   We talked with another boater that was ahead of us on Saturday and he had canvas and isenglass and he spend the whole day mopping up water and looking through a crack in his isinglass just to see where he was going.  We came up behind a tow that was close to a bend in the river and asked to pass at  his convenience.  He came back and said he would stop so we could pass him before the bend because it would take him a long time to maneuver the bend and he would completely utilize the whole river.  In all our years in traveling the river system, this is only about the 3rd time a tow captain has been so courteous.  The XO called him back and thanked him very much.

6-1-2014:  Demopolis Lock and Dam.

Saturday the 31st of May, Dog River Marina to Old Lock No. 1 at Mile 100.0 on the Tenn-Tom Waterway:

We left Mobile, AL along with a sailboat and another power boat at 06:20. It was a beautiful morning and Mobile Bay was pretty smooth with just a light chop. The sail boater was a marine and hollered Semper Fi to Keith as we passed him. It took us 35 minutes to get out to the Shipping Channel and then another hour and 20 minutes to take the Shipping Channel into Mobile, Mile 0 on the Tenn-Tombigbee/Mobile River. All the way through the City of Mobile is a No Wake Zone so it was slow going. We saw 14 Tows today with half of them in the Mobile area. I always wave at the Tow Captains and the Captain from “Stephanie” blew his horn for me. It rained on and off for part of the morning and almost steady from about 14:00 to 18:00. At Mile Marker 80 about 14:25 we were shot at by 2 fishermen. Apparently they were mad because we waked them. It was raining quite heavily, they were in camouflage and also in a camouflage boat, and tucked in by the shoreline and we did not see them; if we had seen them we would have slowed down. As it was, we were not even going 9 mph but I guess they were upset. Can’t believe they shot at us!  We averaged about 9 mph all day due to the strong current. Surprisingly there was not much debris in the water at all; we were expecting much more. We got to our anchorage by 18:50 and put 50 feet of anchor rode out in 9 feet of water. Last time we were in this anchorage we had 12 feet of water under us. The tide here is about 1.6 feet. We had a quick supper and an early to bed as we have another long day ahead of us tomorrow.

N31.57519
W88.03516

5-31-2014:  Old Lock #1, Mile 100.0 on the Tenn-Tom. 

5-31-2014:k  Leaving anchorage at Old Lock #1, Mile 100.0 on the Tenn-Tom. 

Sunday the 1st of June, Old Lock #1 to King Fisher Bay Marina, Demopolis, AL, Mile 216.7 on the Tenn-Tom Waterway:

We were on our way at day break; 05:20. It was clear all night and sun shine with just a few clouds this morning and the temp was 72 degrees. We got to the Coffeeville Dam by 07:10 and had to wait ½ hour for a tow and another boat locking down. We locked up 34 feet. From now on we no longer have to worry about tides. It turned into a beautiful day with just 2 short rain showers in the afternoon. We encountered 6 tows throughout the day and averaged between 9 and 10 mph. We traveled 116 miles in 13.25 hours with 2 locks and got to Kingfisher Bay Marina in Demopolis, AL, by 18:45. We were both very tired but glad to finally get here. We had a quick dinner, watched a little TV, and early to bed. I did not get up until 09:00 on Monday.

N32.53114
W87.84155

CO’s comments  The forecast for Sunday all the way to Demopolis was dume and glume.  This was another day that the forecasters got it all wrong.  We only had 45 drops of rain on the boat all day.  Thank goodness for our hard top on the bridge and no isinglass because Saturday it rained.   We talked with another boater that was ahead of us on Saturday and he had canvas and isenglass and he spend the whole day mopping up water and looking through a crack in his isinglass just to see where he was going.  We came up behind a tow that was close to a bend in the river and asked to pass at  his convenience.  He came back and said he would stop so we could pass him before the bend because it would take him a long time to maneuver the bend and he would completely utilize the whole river.  In all our years in traveling the river system, this is only about the 3rd time a tow captain has been so courteous.  The XO called him back and thanked him very much.

6-1-2014:  Demopolis Lock and Dam.