We answer questions

I love writing this blog. It takes time to load the pictures and remember the stories we want to tell. But it  gives us a reason to take pictures and makes it easier to remember the highlights and moments that might be lost otherwise. Every so often I go back and read posts and I smile at our adventure.

Another wonderful benefit of writing this blog is it keeps us in touch with our friends who can't be with us. We love it when you send us notes and comments. It makes the whole adventure more personal.

This week we heard from Annette who asked some really good questions. Annette, I am answering here so we can share with other people who might have silently thought the same thing.

Why didn't we travel the lower Mississippi? You got it, there is no fuel and the commercial traffic is thick. Also this year there is very little water so it was safer all around to take the Tenn-Tom which has a little less commercial traffic and more places that cater to recreational boats.

What is the itinerary next? We are off to Florida, probably leaving on Wednesday 11/28. We think we will have these stops:

• Orange Beach or Pirates Cove
• Pensacola
• make our way to Carravelle then anchor in Dog Island to be about 15 miles into the gulf
• then we head across the Gulf to Tarpon Springs FL

The crossing is still under discussion. This is a big deal. We could go in short hops around the bend in Florida to Steinhatchie then about an 80 mile trip to Tarpon Springs but the water is quite shallow through that part and there are lots of crab pots. So we are probably going to go directly across the Gulf from Carravelle (Dog Island) to Tarpon Springs, 180 miles in one trip. We know we have enough gas with 1 gallon per mile or better to do 180 miles. But to get that mileage we have to travel at 10 mph, which will take 18 hours. We could go faster but we will use more fuel. If we go 18  mph it will take 10 hours but use 320 gallons and we only hold 300 gallons. So we have to go slow. In December we are about at the winter solstice with about 10 hours of light for an 18 hour trip. 

So we will probably go about 10 to 12 mph, leaving about 5 or 6 in the afternoon, traveling overnight to arrive close to noon, hoping Rusty doesn't explode. 

We hope to leave Mobile on Wednesday 11/28 with Sareanna, pick up One September on the way and head to Orange Beach or Pirates Cove. Jim's Joy is moving on ahead of us to visit with friends for a week in Pensacola. We will try to meet them before crossing. We might be traveling with other people too, like Irish Attitude or some of the other loopers currently here. We don't want to travel alone because we are not yet confident about running in salt water. It is safer to run as a group at night.

One September wants to cross the gulf fast and they would like to travel with us because we can also travel at higher speed but our problem is having enough gas. Judy doesn't want to travel at night. We are working on her. 

One positive about traveling at night is the dolphins. We are told that they are attracted to the running lights and will stay with boats as long as they hear women singing. So I am stocking up my iPod with lots of songs and plan to sing all night if I have to!!

If we travel at night we need to cover all lights, flashlights, and GPS with red plastic to protect our night vision. We will also have to have a schedule so we can sleep and spell each other. 

Another complication is the weather. In December there are fewer weather openings to cross the Gulf safely. Some loopers have been stuck for over 10 days in Carravelle recently. Joe and Edie on SeaQuell finally gave up and rented a car to get to Tampa in time for Thanksgiving. They will drive back next week and pick up the journey in their boat. 

Giving the weather the benefit of the doubt, it is possible we won't get to Tarpon Springs until mid-December since we are not leaving Mobile until 11/28. Two weeks is a very reasonable time period for that journey. 

We are not going home for Christmas this year. The kids and their significant others are coming to us!! Brett and Julie, Dan and Julia, Marissa, and our rent-a-kids Sarah and Steve will be joining us. Marissa is bringing a blow up mattress because we need 5 bedrooms and the house has 4 bedrooms. We planned to bring the boat for the 5th bedroom but we don't think that will be possible. 

Before we understood the time constraints of getting to Florida we rented a house in Isla Mirada near Marathon Key for 12/22 through 12/29 and made plane reservations for the kids already. So we have to be all the way down to the rental house in the Keys by 12/22. It doesn't seem possible or desirable to travel so quickly from Tarpon Springs around 12/15 to the Keys by 12/22. So we will be renting a car wherever we are by 12/22 to drive to the Keys to see the kids. The other open question is where we can get by 12/22. We think we can get to Clearwater/Tampa or maybe Sarasota by then. 

After visiting the kids we plan to drive back to the boat and resume our trip. We have lots of people to visit in the Tampa/Clearwater/Sarasota area. Our looper friends will be in various places throughout Florida. Some will go home for Christmas and most will not, just like for Thanksgiving. We hope to connect with them again and go with them to the Bahamas in January but it might be late January and early February by the time we get there, given the distance, weather issues, and desire to stop and look around periodically. We don't really care about Marco Island and Naples so we will drive right past them but we do want to spend time in the Keys and Miami before heading to the Bahamas. 

That is the plan. It is complicated and subject to change. I am glad we are getting some rest this week. And to think I wanted to keep moving instead of resting this week! 

Wish you were here!!

Thanksgiving 2012

We felt a little alone for Thanksgiving. We had the option of attending a looper Thanksgiving on Wednesday for lunch but we had mechanics all over the boat all day so that didn't happen. The Grand Hotel in Fairhope had a Thanksgiving dinner that was probably amazing but we didn't feel like spending $60 each and we had no transportation to get there. We might have gone to the Mobile Yacht Club but there didn't appear to be anyone hanging out there. So we decided to make our own Thanksgiving.

It is quite a challenge to make a small meal, enough for two with one meal leftover in a 5x5 kitchen. Previously we could only use 1 electrical cooking tool at time which makes it even more of a challenge. But this trip proves we are up for a challenge.

I picked up a 1.5 pound chunk of turkey breast and made turkey stuffed with dressing, dressing on the side, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and brownies for dessert. And it was all hot when we served at 4:00pm!! And we discovered that after the repairs the day before I could use several heating appliances at the same time. I used 1 burner for things that had to cook on the stove, an electric skillet with a cover to create a little oven for the turkey, and put the convection oven on to keep completed items warm. It was delicious!! And quiet and pleasant.

Notice the fancy gravy boat? You make due with what you have on the boat...

We are very thankful that we are able to do this trip. We are also thankful that we are getting along so well, surprisingly well. We miss the kids and friends back home but we are content with our new kind of Thanksgiving this year.

After dinner we had docktails with Joanne and Glenn on Gypsy. They have a really cute little dog like Carson and Gracie only brown. They are traveling on a 30' sailboat but they are not on the loop. They will be returning to Montgomery later this week.

Gay and Mike from Irish Attitude

All the supplies needed for a dinghy ride!

Friday we took the dinghy out in beautiful 70 degree weather. The flat water and clear skies made it perfect to nose around the Dog River. We have all our supplies, so let's get started!!

We found Gay and Mike from Irish Attitude and chatted for a while.

Picking up logs out of Dog River

Dog River Marina is home to shrimp boats - just like on Forrest Gump.

Shrimp boats in Dog River Marina

Shrimp boats in Dog River Marina

Dog River Marina

Good Karma at the dock in Dog River Marina

Good Karma at dock in Dog River Marina. The dock is pretty empty. 

Katherine relaxing after a dinghy ride. 

Kermit relaxing too. 

We relaxed a bit after returning. The weather was perfect - about 70 degrees clear. But we were not alone. I was completely overtaken by no-see-ums. I am bit all over. It was an uncomfortable night as the bug bites set in. There isn't enough cream in the world to ignore bug bites. I look like I have hives. 

Check out the ultralight that flew over the marina while we were relaxing!!

Friday night Charlie picked us up for dinner at R&R, one of his favorite restaurants on the Eastern Shore. He wanted crawdads but none available. So I had the red shrimp which come from about 1000 feet below the water. Delicious!! Actually I don't order this much but I am so glad I did. It was gross and messy but delicious. I particularly liked the really spicy butter that came on the side. 

Red Shrimp dinner at R&R Restaurant

Hard Rock Casino Biloxi MS

 Then we drove out to Biloxi. Kermit visited Biloxi after Hurricane Katrina. It was destroyed. Much has been rebuilt but he said the waterfront had old antebellum homes that were destroyed and not rebuilt. We saw a few homes, probably one every other block but mostly we saw open space where homes used to be. It is getting better but will never be the same.

Saturday 11/24 was a big football day. We watched Ohio State beat Michigan (YEAHH!) from the boat then picked up a rental car to join Charlie and Mary at Wings to watch Alabama destroy Auburn. It is fun when all your teams win!!


 Next up: A discussion of what is next and answer a few questions!

Point Clear 11/20/12

Tuesday 11/20 we connected with Charlie Crawford from Bama Belle. We last saw Charlie at Green Turtle Bay in October when we rented a car to visit Nashville. He moved on more quickly after that because he was finishing his trip. He crossed his wake in Mobile, his home base. His home marina is next door to Dog River Marina and he lives about 5 minutes away.

He stopped by and suggested lunch. We met Mary, his crew from Michigan, at The Compleat Angler Restaurant, right on Mobile Bay. You can see Mobile in the distance. Evidently the bay is very shallow except in the channel. We ate outside and got caught up. It was colder than I thought it would be so Mary loaned me a jacket to put over my brand new long sleeved t-shirt. I can't wait till we can we warm again on a consistent basis.

 
This is a ring toss game that sounds hard when sober but is probably impossible with a few beers. May be an idea for Venetian?

The restaurant has a really neat aquarium filled with hermit crabs. They look like little painted shells but little hermit crabs live inside. They were sleeping when we got there. I guess they come out at night! They have races!! The one with the dog face is really fast. Could have fooled me!!

 Then we went across the road to Gator Alley to see the alligators. Only they were sleeping too. No gators in sight. But the sculpture was interesting.

And the signs are very informative. Mary and Charlie said in the warmer weather there are gators everywhere. Sure...

Mary had to go to work so Charlie took us to Fairhope to see a portion we did not see on Sunday. The gardens at the Municipal Wharf are just amazing. I love roses. This rose garden smelled like heaven.

 Critter alert: Pelicans everywhere. Just hanging out waiting to be photographed.

A trip to Fairhope would not be complete without a stop at the Grand Hotel at Point Clear. This hotel opened in 1847 and is still here despite frequent hurricanes. The last one that caused problems was Katrina when the water rushed through the complex taking out the first floor. The hotel (owned by Marriott) just reopened a year or so ago after a $15 million renovation. It is truly magnificent.

 Every afternoon at 4pm they have a little re-enactment of the great battles that took place here in the Civil War. The drummer plays a tatoo and the other two guys march with him from the famous fireplace (original to the building - rebuilt in the renovation in the original style).

 This is a six sided fireplace. They serve tea around here in the afternoon.

The restaurant is a 4 diamond rated restaurant. This is the chef's garden, facing the bay.

We walked outside and waited for the three member team to march around the building to the cannon pointing into the bay. There are live oaks everywhere - a very stately tree. 

 Here they come!

We said the pledge of allegiance and the fellow in the white pants told us how Point Clear figured into history. 

 Then they shot off the cannon!! It was very loud.

We strolled around the grounds to watch the sunset from the gazebo.

This teradactyl walked over to the gazebo, hung out for a minute, pooped, then took off. It was a moment to treasure.

Back to the sunset.

 We strolled to the bar, Bucky's Bar, in honor of Bucky a long time server who worked at the hotel for about 60 years until he died a few years ago. He had a wonderful memory for names. Charlie told a story of a friend of his who came to the bar a few times. About 10 years later he was walking through the Philadelphia airport when he heard someone call him by  name. It was Bucky!!

 Kermit had a cigar and we all had wine. You can see the sunset reflected in the windows behind Kermit.

 Bucky's patio has fire pits to gather around - a very relaxing way to take in the sunset.

We rode home through Fairhope, lit for the holidays.

No spiders in salt water!?! Mobile 11/17 to 11/20

We have been on the rivers since September 18, 2012 when we left Chicago. Two full months on rivers of one shape or another, of anchorages (a new concept), of crappy marinas and surprisingly beautiful marinas, and most of all, amazing things to see.

We traveled through these states so far: Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. We traveled 2959 miles and used 2273 gallons of gas so far. We are getting a little better than a mile per gallon overall, with better mileage when we travel slower.

We entered a new stage of the journey on November 17 when we entered Mobile Bay. As if to celebrate a new beginning, the sun came out and the weather got warmer. We can wear shorts again! At least for a few hours a day.

New stages require new knowledge. Did you know there are no spiders in salt water? No sir. No spiders. The bane of our existence in the Great Lakes cannot tolerate salt. Go figure. We haven't seen a spider since we arrived.

The Mobile River leading into Mobile Bay is brackish which means the fresh water from the rivers combine with salt water from the Gulf creating strata in the water. It isn't just lightly salted, although it tastes that way. It is layers of fresh and salty water. Interesting.

Another fun bit of knowledge: we have to tie the boat up different than in fresh water. You loop a line over two poles one on each end, then you spring the middle cleat forward and backwards. This allows the boat to go up and down with the tide. Mobile Bay doesn't have much of a tide we are told. In darker phases of the moon like we are in now it only goes up and down about half a foot. In a fuller moon it goes up and down as much as a foot. You can tell it changes because the fenders are in different places when you come back to the boat!

Our friends who are more familiar with salt water are thrilled to be back in their comfort zone. They will probably think my interest in this topic is silly. In fact, they laugh at us for not knowing these things. Michael on One September drew us a nice picture of how to tie up the boat - we are very grateful! But our Lake Erie friends understand our curiosity. This is very different!

There are also different critters. We see pelicans and don't see no-see-ums. We are told there are gators although we haven't seen any yet - too cold. Other folks have seen dolphins but not us yet.

Five rivers converge into Mobile Bay so water is only a short distance away from anywhere we go. Water vistas are different too. Water is quite shallow in the bay except in the channels. Rusty went swimming this morning off a boat ramp and never actually swam. He just walked the entire distance to as far as I could throw the stick!

NOTE: We learned something new the other day. The guy in the gas shack says there used to be a gator across the river who has been known to eat dogs. So no more swimming in the river for Rusty! Poor Rusty.

We entered Mobile Bay on Saturday afternoon. The sun blazed, we stripped off layer after layer until we tentatively put on shorts. It couldn't be that warm, we thought, so we kept jackets handy waiting for the cold blast from the north that would surely come. It did not. How astounding!

Mobile looks different than other cities. It is spread out. There are few tall buildings but lots of ship works along the Mobile River into the Bay.

Austal is a combination of an Australian and Alabama ship builder building ships for the US Navy. One ship has a really pointed bow, probably some sort of stealth deal we guess.

 The other boat looks like a jet boat on steroids. It is made of steel, painted grey (or steel color!) and outfit for warfare or defense activities close to shore. It is pretty cool!

A nice waterfront (we haven't been there yet).

 Here is our little gang steaming out of the river into the bay.

At a certain point our little group separated. One September went to Eastern Shore Marina in Fairhope on the eastern side of the bay and the other three boats went to Dog River Marina on Dauphin Island on the western shore. This is the entrance to the Dog River.

 Pretty boardwalk out to a gazebo at the Mobile Yacht Club.

 Pelicans everywhere.

This guy is fishing on the other side of the Dog River and having a heck of a time shooing the pelicans away from his bait. He waved at us later but he sure looked frustrated. By the way, just because we think it is warm does not mean the locals think it is warm. Notice he is bundled up like it is freezing out! It is about 65 degrees - a heat wave to us.

 Sareanna moving into the gas dock at Dog River Marina.

The marina is big, part of a string of about 5 marinas along this shore. There are lots of loopers here and at Turners Marina next door. Charlie Crawford from Bama Belle keeps his boat next door on the other side of the Mobile Yacht Club basin. We can see it from here!

Jim and Joy on Jim's Joy are docked next to us tied to a wall across the dock. Sareanna got a slip. Guess who he is docked next to? You will never guess... Ya-Ting!! They were here when we arrived.

Somehow as they moved on down the river to make new friends as Kermit suggested, they got here before we did. Just our luck. We haven't seen them yet. It is just ironic, isn't it? You would think there would be some sort of Karma for his behavior but so far nothing. He is not ankle deep in a mud pile or sunk off a shallow. The winter is young yet!!

Thanks to Larry for his great comment: "There is a problem I have with taking otherwise beautiful pictures of boating scenes when there is an IDIOT'S boat in frame."  Amen Larry!

We ran into The Zone when we arrived. They left the next day to drive to Tampa for Thanksgiving and Sareanna left too to drive back to New Jersey. Both boats will be worked on while they are gone. The Zone is on the dry right now. Imagine climbing that ladder every night!This is a 52 Jefferson. Isn't it pretty? It sure looks big when it is out of the water. That's ok, it looks big in the water too!

This marina has a huge repair operation. There are four huge sheds. On a workday there are at least 20 mechanics wandering from boat to boat. We finally saw mechanics on Monday for an evaluation. Kermit sent them an email or rather a series of emails outlining all the little things we want to have looked at while we are here. So on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we had experts crawling all over the boat. I left to go to the gas shack because there was no place to sit. On Wednesday I went grocery shopping for a couple of hours just to get out.

Here is a list of the things we got done. We still have a few things to do that will be addressed on Monday and Tuesday next week. Kermit is helping with this narrative:

• Generator - We hate to keep talking about this but it is still a problem. The verdict is still out but we think we have hit upon the solution. Reese (the mechanic) has 50 years of experience with generators and electrical systems at Dog River. He is the go-to person for mega yachts. We are not a mega yacht but Dog River gave us mega yacht service. Someone up the river thought they had a solution but evidently not so much. So Reese returned it to factory specs and re-balanced everything. 
• Found a minor oil leak in the remote oil filter lines - repaired now
• New impellers, oil change, and filters
• New belts
• 2 new radiator caps
• 4 new AGM batteries - we were having trouble with the carbon monoxide detectors going off because the batteries were getting week. The 3 main batteries were almost 3 years old plus we having been running the boat a lot with this trip. 
• Overboard discharge - The Bahamas do not have pump out stations in most islands so cruising boats need to have the ability to pump out overboard in an outgoing tide. Sounds icky but salt water boats already have this built in. We don't. Then when you return to the US you have to demonstrate that there is a lock on the mechanism so you can't discharge in US waters. The mechanism requires a through-hull fitting and a connection to the dark water waste tank - translation: they have to poke a hole in the side of the boat with switches connected to the waste tank that sits in the bottom of our boat. 
• The front head makes an awful noise which means the toilet needs to be rebuilt. 
• Front rail needs to be replaced or re-welded. This might or might not get done at Dog River depending on whether the welding expert returns from his sick bed on Monday. We'll see. In the meantime, the railing is very shaky after the incident where we pulled down the railing when departing Port St. Charles Marina in St. Charles Missouri. 

Back to the adventure! On Saturday after arrival, we went to dinner at the Mobile Yacht Club across the street from the marina. Dinner was amazing!!

Evidently the chef was sick of working at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and decided the quiet life of a yacht club was more her speed. So we benefited from the best meal in a long time. We even had dessert! Some sort of chocolate brownie ice cream thing that just melted in our mouths. Either that or we really needed a great meal after the Red Barn and Bobby's Fish Camp. I think it was just delicious.

Dick and Deanna on Sareanna left on Sunday to drive back to New Jersey for Thanksgiving. Michael and Judy on One September left on Monday to fly back to Virginia Beach. Both will return on Tuesday 11/27.

In the meantime, on Saturday night Jim and Joy had visitors. Their friends George and Mary Jo drove down to visit for a few days. Great folks!!! We had a blast with them. Just our kind of folks!!! They laughed and laughed about Rusty's "tumor" and our ignorance as northerners about ticks. All in good fun.

Six of us piled into George and MaryJo's car on Sunday to meet Michael and Judy in Fairhope for the day. They had a special Christmas open house in the town. Such a pretty town! On the other side of the bay with a great sunset.

Fairhope is decorated for Christmas only if you think Christmas includes beautiful flowers everywhere with twinkly lights. It is a very beautiful town with lots of cute shops, not just touristy but upscale shops for real people who live there. Fairhope was named a great place to retire recently by some magazine. Famous people from Fairhope include Jimmy Buffet, author Upton Sinclair, actress and writer Fannie Flagg, Winston Groom author of Forrest Gump and Bob Baumhower a famous football player who has two restaurants in the area.

We wandered around the town and enjoyed the warm sunshine, good food and cute stores. I found a consignment shop and bought a bunch of long sleeve shirts and a great Eileen Fisher vest. I don't care what anyone says. I am COLD.

Michael enjoying the sun after a great lunch at the Windmill Market.

 Kermit caught the Browns game during lunch. They lost in overtime. Darn.

 Musicians playing on the corners. Notice the New Orleans style railings? The town has that feel.

 The is the French Quarter - little shops down an alley with music.

They draw an interesting clientele here. Combo hippy, artist, rich folks.

 More iron work in the French Quarter.

 Sunset on One September after visiting Fairhope.

 George and Mary Jo fit in perfectly with this crazy crowd.

We bummed around on Monday with mechanics, mostly hanging out, then had a great dinner on Jim's Joy with George and MaryJo. Joy made pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, veges, and brownies for dessert. Plus lots of laughs!!

George and Mary Jo left on Tuesday mid-day and Jim and Joy left on Wednesday morning to go to Orange Beach. So we are here without our little merry band. There are other loopers here: Irish Attitude, Headquarters, Emory El (the boat towing a sailboat we saw at Columbus Marina), Young America (from Columbus Marina), and Assisted Living. Everyone is leaving at different times and in different stages of repair/refreshment.

Next up: we visit with Charlie from Bama Belle and see more interesting stuff, plus an overview of the next stage of this trip. We respond to some interesting questions from readers about the next month or two. Have a great Thanksgiving!!