Where in the world is Good Karma? Don't tell me...

Good Karma in Clifton TN 

I walked into church in Canton OH yesterday greeted by shouts of, “Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you were on the boat?” Nice.

Deer crossing by the church

I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I should have been on the boat but I was in Ohio instead. Truth is we haven’t had the ability to talk about our latest boat trauma. We are heartsick.

We are broken down… again. Unbelievable.

Let me bring you up to date. The last blog was written on Saturday, November 12, 2018 upon arrival in Clifton TN, that tiny town abducted by aliens. Sunday morning, November 13, dawned cold of course but at least it was clear. Good traveling weather with the right number of layers.

Our goal was Aqua Harbor, about 50+ miles south, down the Tennessee River just passed Pickwick Lock. We were planning to have the boat lifted out of the water to double check a tiny vibration Kermit felt to be sure we didn’t ding the propellers on the Mississippi River. Secretly I was hoping to dawdle a bit to let Eagle One catch up to us!

A little after dawn we started and warmed up the engines, put the hot coffee at the helm, unplugged everything and folded up the frozen power cords, threw off the lines to get started. The boat elegantly floated off the dock.

That’s it. Nothing. It just floated off the dock.

I was on the bow stowing lines. I turned back to look at Kermit. He was frantically pressing buttons and pulling levers to no effect. The boat was dead in the water even though the engines worked fine. Crap.

We quickly lassoed the cleats and hauled ourselves back to the dock. Remember this boat is 55,000 pounds so pulling the boat back to the dock is no small task. Some shouting was involved. Fortunately no one was around to hear us. The aliens, remember?

Kermit thought perhaps he overfilled the transmission oil that morning in his zeal to properly maintain the boat. So he pulled out some oil. No impact. In fact now the port engine was doing some sort of sputtering thing, no longer smooth like it had been. He shut everything down.

By this time folks started appearing in the office. We were on the gas dock, supposed to be gone already so they started appearing at the dock to see how we were doing. Kermit went into the office to chat with the older fellows who hang out there during the day.

One guy was a diesel mechanic who worked for years on river tows. The engines on our boat are often used as generators on the big tows so he made some helpful suggestions. His knees were so bad that he could not climb on the boat. Actually he could get on the boat but his knees would not allow him to go down stairs so he couldn’t get off again. He went home and found a manual on our engines that Kermit will devour once he calms down.

Good Karma docked at the t-head of a covered dock

Kermit called Tow Boat US, located just down the river at Aqua Harbor, our goal for the night. He would not come out to help! He said he just winterized his engines and the current was really high today so he didn’t want to come out for us. “But we have unlimited towing!” Isn’t that what Eagle One said when he was broken down in the Mississippi with us, also to no effect? I suspect Kermit will have some strong words for Tow Boat US!

Aqua Harbor could help if we could get there but how to get there without a tow? The helpful fellow (SARCASM ALERT) said we should just travel the 50 miles in strong current with one lock on one engine. Kermit pointed out that it was too strong for the helpful fellow and, no, we were not traveling on one engine 50+ miles through a lock. Someone needed to come to us.

That was a standoff.

Kermit started collecting names of diesel mechanics. One fellow came out of a nearby town on that Sunday to look. He was nice enough but after inspecting the situation decided he did not know how to help. That was $50 and an hour we won’t get back.

Finally Kermit connected with a fellow we will call Diesel Don in Gulf Shores AL. He would come out to look on Monday. We would have to pay him for his travel time and expenses but he was an experienced diesel mechanic who specializes in our particular engine. Kermit agreed.

Monday at 10am Don and his assistant arrived. He is indeed Diesel Don. Wow! This is the man to know.

Very professional, the assistant, a tall lanky quiet fellow very useful for engine yoga getting around the backs of diesel engines, set out Don’s tools on our engine-work blanket as if he were the surgical assistant. Everything was in a particular order, neat and clean.

Add caption

Don went to work. He seemed to know exactly what was wrong and how to fix it.

As in our previous adventure in Milwaukee, two separate very bad things happened at the same time. 

Let’s review:

We floated away from the dock. There is a pump doing something really important in the transmission. When the pump went out, the port transmission just gave up the ghost. Died. Just like that. Evidently when that pump starts to wear out, it can still propel the boat in reverse because that takes less effort, which is why the boat moved when Kermit put it in reverse but not in forward. Something like four times more effort to propel the boat in forward. This accounts for our failure to move forward when we left the dock. 

Diesel Don checking to see if the port engine
will work - it did!

These pumps are not made any longer. Don would have to remove the pump and send it to Atlanta GA to be rebuilt. That would take some time. Since the transmission pump on the starboard engine is the same vintage, Kermit asked about rebuilding that one at the same time. Don agreed that was a good idea so he removed the starboard pump too.

Poor port engine...

The engine sputtered. This is a separate problem unrelated to the transmission. Of course. Evidently there is a shaft in the engine that does something really important too. Don removed this blower shaft to reveal it was kind of stripped and no longer blew air into the engine properly. So the engine would not work. They don’t make this part any more either but Diesel Don had one in his truck! Of course he did! He is awesome! 

Don replaced that shaft and now both engines run smoothly even if the port transmission won’t propel the boat forward.

Before removing the transmission pumps, we all moved Good Karma slowly to a t-head dock to free up the gas dock while the pumps get rebuilt. Kermit just floated over using the starboard engine as best he could to get across the open water. Don’s assistant caught the lines.

All this took most of the day on Monday November 12, 2018. It was dark when Don and his assistant loaded up their tools and left, leaving the engine room cleaner than they found it.

Now what?

On Tuesday November 13 we had to figure out what we were going to do. We decided to go home since there was literally nothing in Clinton TN. That meant we had to find a car. The nearest Enterprise Car Rentals are between 40 and 80 miles away. No one would come pick us up. Kermit went to the office to consult with the old guys. They said, “Did you check with Jones Nissan in Savannah? Sometimes they rent cars.” Only they said it in a serious southern accent. No, we did not yet do that.

Did you know that car dealerships rent cars? I did not. Kermit called and yes, we can rent a car for a few weeks. So we did.

A lovely couple, Larry and Natalie, from Helena Montana used the marina courtesy truck to drop us off at Jones Nissan in Savannah TN, about 20 miles away. They are taking their 48 foot Bayliner Motor Yacht, Inn-CaBoots, down the rivers to Florida then through the Panama Canal then to Seattle. Isn’t that fascinating? This is another couple that are not experienced boaters but want an adventure! Kind of makes us all look tame, doesn’t it?  

The folks at Jones Nissan couldn’t have been nicer. We picked up a little scooter and headed for home.

Bottom Line

We are sidelined at home during Thanksgiving, not a terrible thing of course, just not what we planned. The rebuilt parts should be available sometime the week after Thanksgiving at the earliest. I have to travel to Chicago that week for a speaking engagement and doctor appointment with my sister so I would have been off the boat for a few days anyway. We just thought we would have been in Mobile or maybe Florida by then.

Our target is to be back at the boat on Friday November 30, 2018 to await repairs. Don will return as soon as the parts are rebuilt. Then we will resume our journey down the river. At this rate we won’t be in Fort Pierce until at least the middle of December at the earliest.

We didn’t intend to return for Thanksgiving at all. We planned to return on 12/16 weekend for a family “Thanksmas” or “Christgiving” with all of our kids and their lovely significant others. That plan is in jeopardy now.

You might be thinking, as we occasionally do, that this boat is cursed or something. Did we make the wrong choice? Diesel Don said this is not a bad boat. It just has not been run. Sitting as a dock queen is the worst thing you can do to an engine. Like the human body, you must use an engine or you will lose it. We knew when we purchased this boat that it had not been run. They told us that. We just cannot anticipate how the sitting will impact the boat. We have to wait to see what the engines tell us. So far the engines are being kind of like bullies.

We keep telling ourselves that patience is the key. We believe there will be more issues but until we run the boat we won’t know. 

So in the meantime, we are thankful:

• We are thankful that we don’t have schedules we have timing concepts. Flexibility is the key to making this whole thing work. 
• We are thankful we have a home base in Fairlawn OH to return to as opposed to being stuck somewhere. 
• We are thankful to have such wonderful mechanics we can trust like Diesel Don and Jim Shimandle to bring this old girl into 2018. The boat, not Katherine!

We would love to see Ohio friends while we are in town! We can’t wait to see the boating friends in Florida, eventually!

In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving!

Little Diversion Canal to Clifton TN

1st task - get rid of the wood!

Naturally the rain cleared after being rescued on 11/5 by #CurtisMooreishero. But we did notice we gathered a ton of wood debris between our boats while anchored in Little Diversion Canal. Rick from Eagle One got his boat hook out and jumped into action to set some of that debris free.

A beautiful morning! 

I think everyone held their collective breath when Rick turned over his engines but everything worked! The sun came out, we untied and pulled up anchor to set off on the rest of our journey!

Eagle One entering the Mississippi silhouetted against the trees

Entering the Mississippi River

On 11/6 our task was to travel about 48 miles down the Mississippi River to the junction of the Ohio River at Cairo (pronounced KAY-RO). This is a strange junction. 

The Mississippi current is running downstream at about 4 to 6 mph. The Ohio River current is running the same speed down river. But when we turned left (east) to go upriver on the Ohio for a while, all that current is hitting us in the face. We immediately slowed from about 14 mph to about 8 mph at 1000 rpm or so. We heard stories about small sailboats with small engines slowing to almost a standstill because of this current.

Dry dock for tows!

Coming up to the Ohio River

Another interesting observation about the two rivers is how commercial the Ohio River is compared to the Mississippi. Yes, the Mississippi has many tows, huge tows too. 

Traffic on Ohio River

But the Ohio is lined on the Illinois and Kentucky side with one industrial outpost after another. 

Check out those cement mixers!

t

The new Olmsted Lock under construction

Evidently this is where those huge tows are assembled for transport up or down the Mississippi. Smaller tug boats pull loaded barges into the middle of the river where the big tows are assembled. It was fascinating. Just stay out of their way!

Tows being assembled

There are two locks on the Ohio River between the Mississippi and Paducah, our destination for the evening. The used to be known as Lock 52 and Lock 53. Both locks are gone, replaced by the new Olmstead Lock which is still under construction. 

I think the actual lock is operational but the water was so high that the “wickets” were down. Remember we talked about wickets before? These are big gates that can be dropped to the bottom of the river in high water so vessels can travel over them without locking through. And that is exactly what we did!

More gizmos for the lock

Who knows what this is? Not a trick question. I have no idea!

 It is fascinating to see the lock being built. The lockmaster instructed us to stay behind this big tow that was a few miles ahead of us. We could pass him as soon as we passed the old Lock 52 but not before. That meant we cruised through the construction area at no-wake speed, about 5 mph.

All that is left of Lock 52

We could see little speedy boats taking crews around, big tows filled with construction materials and equipment. Along the right side (the Kentucky side) we saw a barge with at least 8 cement mixers in a row! We saw the biggest travel lift, at least that is what we thought it was, and sections of the new dam / lock waiting to be put into place. I am not sure if the new lock and dam will completely block the river but there sure is a lot of equipment waiting to be installed.

The old lock 52 looks very sad indeed.

We had Paducah transient
dock to ourselves

We kept dodging commercial traffic until we reached Paducah. When we did this trip in 2012 there was no place to stop in Paducah. We had to find an anchorage on the Cumberland River to tuck into. Since then Paducah has installed a nice floating dock that can hold at least 20 boats. They are still getting the kinks out of their scheduling system. We heard all about the snafu recently where the dock staff overbooked, forcing folks to raft off one another. I think Texas Two Step, our old Good Karma, was tied up there that day. But they will work it out.

Paducah also offers fuel and pump out – a service that was not available in 2012. We had to be certain to have four days’ worth of fuel to get all the way to Green Turtle Bay when we did it, a big burden to us with the 300 gallons of gasoline we carried on that trip. This time we carry 700 gallons of diesel so we don’t have to worry!!

Paducah is a swinging town these days with that Quilting Museum (closed when we got there – I still haven’t been there!), some great restaurants, the flood wall and a revitalized downtown. We walked in with Rick and Kris to a restaurant that offered farm to table fare plus a great bar. The highlight was the drink Rick ordered, a Manhattan made with Jefferson Ocean bourbon. I could smell it across the table, it smelled wonderful!! Rick let me have a taste and it tasted wonderful too!!

Rick checking out the mural close up

Rick sucked down his first then asked for another. Just as I was about to ask for one myself, the waitress came back a bit sheepishly and said, “I’m so sorry but the bartender wants me to warn you that each drink with Jefferson’s Ocean costs $25. Is that ok?” Needless to say, I did not order one! But I do want to get a bottle of that good stuff!

We walked back to the boat via the ice cream shop (never turn down ice cream!) and stumbled upon the flood mural, all lit up. This is a pictorial history of Paducah including my favorite, the Illinois Central Railroad!! I briefly worked for the Illinois Central and visited the locomotive manufacturing facility that opened in 1925 and unfortunately closed in 2017.

A "cell" that tows bump off
when they turn

Commercial stuff along the Cumberland River too

We left Paducah dock the next morning and eased back into the Ohio River. We had two choices. We could take the first right onto Tennessee River with Kentucky Lock and Dam for the shorter journey to Green Turtle Bay. We chose to continue up the Ohio River to the Cumberland River for the longer but less commercial trip on the Cumberland River, through Barkley Lock and Dam to Green Turtle. 

There actually are people
who work on those tows!!

Then the Cumberland gets rural 

And very pretty

Barkley Lock - at the end of the Cumberland River
and start of Lake Cumberland - Green Turtle Bay is
just around the corner after the lock

I realize I am always wearing
the same thing -
very glamorous

This is a pretty journey with much less commercial traffic. Although we did see some tows, our charts showed that there were many times the commercial tows on the Tennessee River. It was a grey day but Rick and Kris led so all we had to do was stay behind Eagle One! Easy day!

Eagle One leads us into
Green Turtle Bay

We arrived without incident at Green Turtle Bay, got fuel and a pump out (never turn down a pump out!) then got to our slip.

Who gave Kermit the camera?

A few words about the pump out. Remember how the aft holding tank did not seem to hold suction at Alton Marina? The gas dock guy at Green Turtle said he thought the tank was essentially empty. He even put water in the tank to demonstrate how the water was quickly pulled out then there was nothing, just like at Alton. The forward holding tank contained plenty to suck out but nothing in the aft tank.

We are not sure what this means but we can hold lots more crap than we ever thought! I can hear your heads shaking now, “Yes Kermit, we know you are full of crap!!” Vindicated!

Deer all over the resort

Patti's Settlement food truck and tent

Green Turtle Bay is a very relaxing resort in Grand River KY. I highly recommend it for family vacations. I walked into town to do some grocery shopping while Kermit changed the generator oil. Naturally he had the wrong oil filter so the next morning we borrowed the marina car to go into Calvert City to a Napa to pick up a couple of oil filters. 

We stopped for the best breakfast we’ve had in ages!! Biscuits to die for!

The first night we borrowed the lot car and went into Grand River KY to this famous restaurant, Patti’s 1880 Settlement. Patti’s actually burned down a year or so ago. A new restaurant is under construction. In the meantime they have a food truck and a heated tent. Kris ordered the best meal of the night, the smoked pork chop. I think we all looked enviously at her basket. 

Katherine and Kermit - Good Karma

The best surprise of the evening was the Christmas display at Patti’s. So beautiful! We wandered around a ooo’d and ahhh’d for quite a while. I hope you enjoy the display too!

Rick and Kris - Eagle One

The next evening we ate at the yacht club – another delicious meal with our new good friends! Rick and Kris are traveling to Nashville to meet friends this weekend so we will venture out without them. Hopefully they can catch up to us later. They are great to travel with!

We left early in the morning on Friday Nov 9 on a new leg in the journey ultimately bound for Mobile AL via the Tennessee River, Tenn-Tom Waterway, Tombigbee River and Black River. 

Waving good-bye to Rick - Eagle One
We will see them again!

We did some research and compared notes with Kris about the many possibilities.

Our plan has six options ranging from 11 days on the long end to six days on the short end. I suspect the final answer will be somewhere in the middle. Darryl Grob, I know this plan looks EXACTLY like the kind of planning you do, right? NOT!

It is a grey day on the Cumberland R

We plan to stop in Aqua Harbor at the head of the Tenn-Tom Waterway. On Monday Nov 12 they will pull Good Karma out of the water on a travel lift so we can inspect the propellers. 

The other picture every looper
has of the abandoned dock
at M78.5 - couldn't resist!

Kermit thinks he feels a vibration from some of the wood debris in the Mississippi. This is not something to fool around with. We have extra props so if there is a ding, we will just switch out the props. If you ignore this kind of thing, the vibration can mess up all sorts of things like shafts, seals and stuffing boxes. So it is better to get it checked.

Every looper has this picture of the Louisville &
Nashville RR bridge at M78.2

It is a three day journey to Aqua Harbor. It could be two but why hurry when they can’t pull us out of the water until Monday. So Friday we traveled to Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville TN. 

Kermit at Pebble Isle

I can’t describe how cold and windy it was!! We were wearing so many layers! I had on a cami, a long sleeved shirt, a sweater, a vest and a coat with a scarf and gloves. YIKES it was cold. Serves us right for being one month later than we were last time.

We ate dinner at the little restaurant with a great guy who plans to do the loop next year in his 30’ trawler. He was a wonderful conversationalist. He suggested a book I need to read about the history of this part of the river – Jack Hinson’s One-man War. There is so much history around here. I can just hear the cannons roar and horses hollering in the woods as we travel down these beautiful rivers.

The wind blew all night, knocking us all over. To make it worse, around midnight the power went off again. Kermit said, “Forget it, we’ll just cuddle”. Isn’t that adorable? He didn’t cuddle. Just rolled over and we shivered until morning. Sometimes… But really, it wasn’t that cold because this is the BEST boat!!

We couldn’t leave Pebble Isle without Billy’s famous cinnamon buns! Hot out of the over and absolutely worth the wait. Mark your books, those of you planning this trip. Do not miss this treat – both Billy who is lovely and the cinnamon buns that are delicious.

On Saturday Nov 10, it was warmer and sunny as we traveled to Clifton Marina in Clifton TN. We took a little walk after tying up. I believe the people in this town have been kidnapped and taken away by aliens. We did not see a sole, no stores were opened and almost no cars on the street. The police car crept up behind us. He must be guarding the town against outsiders. He waved and we walked back to the marina for a nice hamburger at the little marina restaurant. 

After chatting up the 2 other people in the place who were only there to watch the Alabama game, we returned to Good Karma to write and read before going to bed. I am too tired to get the pictures off the camera. Trust me, this is a cute and very quiet town. 

Next up: Aqua Harbor, prop check then on to warmer destinations.

Eagle One is Rescued

We’ve spent two days hunkered down in the rain in Little Diversion Canal. Our traveling

companions, Loopers Rick and Kris from Occanow VA on Eagle One can’t get the starboard engine started. This is a terrible situation. We are 100 miles from any place that can help.

https://youtu.be/kMpvKPmmRGs

Tow Boat US couldn’t help. Their closest tow boat was on its way to Memphis. Rick and Kris had the Coast Guard on speed dial and spoke to every police station within 3 counties but no one can help. Then Sunday night we talked to Fern Hoppie at Hoppies Marina who suggested talking to the dockmaster at Green Turtle Marina, our destination two days away. He was most helpful.

He referred us to Brandan, a diesel mechanic servicing tows. Brandan said he could help!! He is not allowed to work on pleasure craft because his insurance only allows him to work on tows. So he could bring the materials and Rick and Kermit had to install it while Brandan gave instructions. We spent Monday morning working on logistics.

First Brendan obtained the supplies. Rick needed a new 8D battery which weighs about 175 pounds and a new battery charger. Then they had to figure out how to get it to us. That is not an easy trick. Little Diversion Canal is a drainage ditch for Cape Girardeau. It is not near much of anything.

Brendan thought he could load the heavy supplies into his bass boat then put the boat in the water at the ramp just west of us on the Little Diversion Canal. But that ramp has been undergoing some construction. There was no guarantee that he could launch the boat.

Putting out more fenders

So Brendan found a tow boat operator with a bit of time on his hands willing to take on an adventure in the rain. Did I mention it has been pouring down rain for the entire two days?

It is really raining & the engine
compartment is open to the elements.
Kermit (yellow) is helping

Old battery removed

Curtis Moore coming
up the channel

We all put on our rain gear and started getting Eagle One ready for this operation. We put fenders all along the port side of Eagle One. The tow would bump up against the port side to disgorge its precious cargo – Brendan and the battery equipment, which is quite heavy. Then Rick removed the old battery and prepared the engine room to receive the new battery and battery charger. This would reduce the amount of time for the operation.

 

Here they come to save the day!!
Kermit is turning the boats to be perpendicular to the shores

Here they come to "dock"
next to Eagle One

At around 2:45pm the tow, Curtis Moore, turned the corner into Little Diversion Canal. We all whooped, never having seen such a wonderful site! Ok, no one was in danger and we were just delayed but still we were thrilled to see that big tow turn the corner!

Brandon in brown jacket
comes on board to assess
situation

Kermit leaped into action. I was on the bow of our boat watching the anchor chain as Kermit turned on our engines. We turned both boats on the anchor so the boats were perpendicular to the banks with Eagle One’s port side available to the tow for docking.

Curtis Moore slowed down and gently bumped up against Eagle One and Brendan came into view. When he was talking about coming out to help, he said, “You sure I can get in that engine room? Because I am kind of a big boy.” “How big are you?” “Six feet eight inches and 340 pounds.” Brandan is a big man! He must have played football for someone.

Brandon tossing around the big 8D battery

Brandan handed his tool bags and the battery charger over the side. Then he handed the new battery over to Rick and climbed aboard. He was pleasantly surprised that the old battery was already removed. 

Brandon picked the old 175 pound 8D battery like it was nothing and tossed it on the tow for disposal. See how good preparation makes good friends? See how valuable a big man can be?

They installed the new battery. Then they tried the engine. It worked!! Then they set about installing the battery charger to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

While this was going on, Kermit and I chatted with the Captain and crew of Curtis Moore. This tow has Detroit Diesel 1271s which is a few sizes bigger than the 871s on Good Karma boat.

Kermit moving the two boats to
maintain the right position

They change the oil monthly on a regular preventive maintenance instead of counting hours. They previously used synthetic oil purchased by the 55 gallon drum. Recently the boss discovered that the synthetic cost $2200 per 55 gallon drum! They changed to straight 40W oil for the engines, transmissions and everything. The captain has not noticed any difference in operation with the change in oil weight and type.

We gave the crew our basket of Halloween candy. You should have seen them run, just like kids!!

It was interesting to observe the order on that tow. Each crew member has an assigned spot. If they moved around to do a chore they returned to their assigned spot at certain places on the two story stairway. The captain remained at the 2^nd story window where he could see everything and talk to the crew as needed. It was clear he was absolutely in charge.

It took less than one hour to complete the mission! Brendan left with the advice to be sure to fully charge the battery charger to avoid this situation in the future. We waved good-bye to our heroes and they turned that tow around and steamed back to the Mississippi.

What did we learn?

Eagle One finally under way!

• Heroes come in many shapes and sizes, sometimes from unexpected places. 
• Be persistent to pursue answers. The person who can help is just around the corner if you persist.
• Preventive maintenance is not just empty advice.
• Sometimes the most you can do is just hang out and be supportive when a fellow boater is having trouble.
• A good meal and bottle of wine can lift spirits and make everything all better.
• The sun always comes out the next morning after a storm!!

We resume our journey on Tuesday morning November 6, 2018, bound for Paducah KY municipal wall. Stay tuned for more adventure!