Total Miles Traveled 611
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We
had a very busy summer this year. After
cruising almost 20 months since 2023, we had quite a “to do” list to tackle,
plus a graduation, annual medical and dental appointments, traded vehicles, visiting
with family and friends, and squeezed in a few days at anchor.
We also experienced some nasty weather in May, with a few tornados’ touching down in the area and large hail. Luckily, we avoided any damage at the marina.
We
attended our granddaughter Sophie’s high school graduation and had a great opportunity
to meet family and friends at the graduation party, its hard to believe our youngest
grandchild graduated from high school and is starting college.
Great visit with family during our visit back home.
I
won’t bore you with all of the items, but here are a few of our summer projects.
Replaced tach on port engine.
The
week before our family visited, a hot water line to the transom shower came
loose and emptied about 75 gallons of hot water in our lazarette. It soaked everything we had stored in it and
the carpeting. Just like a
house, there’s always something.
We had a great visit with the kids, Brad, Nikki, Jayden, and Sophie on the lake. We celebrated Jayden and Sophie’s birthday's that week, and our traditional dinner at Pattie’s.
Patti's Settlement in Grand Rivers is well known for their 2" Pork Chop
Our son Brian and grandson Eyan were able to get away from work a few days and spend time with us on the lake. We had a great time as always!
We
didn’t plan to leave Grand Rivers until late September or early October, but we
learned that the largest lock on the Tenn-Tom Waterway was closing for 30 days
for maintenance September 3rd.
We did not want to take a chance of a delay longer than 30 days, so we
departed Grand Rivers August 15th and traveled 20 miles to Ken Lake
Marina. We met our friends Steve and Jan
on m/v Forever Young for lunch, and our last visit with them before heading
south.
On August 16th we traveled 54 miles to Pebble Isle Marina, they have the best fuel price on Kentucky Lake, and all the way to Demopolis, AL. They also bring hot cinnamon rolls to your boat every morning….certainly worth the stop.
We stop at Pebble Isle every year but never took the time to visit the area. The marina is located near the Johnsonville Historic Park. The park commemorates the Battle of Johnsonville, fought in 1864 during the Civil War and was flooded by the creation of Kentucky Lake in the 1940’s. We rode our scooters all around the park, then a couple of miles to the visitors’ center. A nice facility with great reviews……unfortunately they were closed when we arrived at the center.
We
traveled 62 miles to our next favorite stop at Clifton Marina on the 18th,
then 48 miles to the Pickwick Landing Marina on Pickwick Lake in Tennessee on
19th and 20th. The
State Lodge has a free shuttle to visit the lodge for lunch, or dinner.
We departed the marina on the 21st traveling 45 miles, and anchored on Bay Springs reservoir, our favorite body of water traveling in this area. On the 24th we only traveled 3 miles to anchor close to the lock for an early opening.
We then traveled 66 miles and locked through 6 locks on the 25th, anchoring at McKinley Creek on the Tenn-Tom Waterway.
We
didn’t complete our “to do” list at Grand Rivers, so we decided to stay at the Columbus
Marina in Mississippi for a month to tackle a few more time-consuming boat projects. We ended up staying 58 days! Columbus is a great marina with covered
slips, a courtesy car, several restaurants, grocery stores, Lowes, and great marina
staff.
After spending last summer on the Chesapeake, the lower portion of our flybridge enclosure failed due to the high temperatures from sun exposure and the lack of ventilation. We were scheduled to have the canvas shop at Grand Rivers remove the failed portion, and eliminate the failed material, but they couldn't get to us in time before our departure. With our limited skills of canvas work, and our trusty 50 year old Kenmore sewing machine, we decided to tackle the project ourselves.
Before
After
We also cleaned and polished all of the stainless railings, waxed the exterior of the boat, and general boat cleaning. We're ready to play this winter.
Our good friends Larry and Linda on m/v Lila Blue have been here all summer, so we have enjoyed visiting with them during our stay.
They had a bass tournament at the marina during our stay, pretty interesting.
We departed the Columbus Marina on October 24th traveling 70 miles, passing through 3 locks, and anchoring near the Helflin lock. We traveled 50 miles on the 25th to the Kingfisher Bay Marina. Several storms with heavy rain are in the forecast, so we stayed at the marina for 4 days. The river was predicted to rise 6 ft but turned out to be only 1 foot. We topped off all four fuel tanks.....Ouch!!
On October 29th we traveled 95 miles through the Demopolis lock to an anchorage at Turkey Creek. There are no marinas and very few anchorages from Demopolis to the Coffeeville lock (the last lock on the rivers to Mobile, AL).
The second wild hog we've seen along the shores of Alabama this trip.
We weighed anchor on October 30th traveling 84 miles through the Coffeeville lock to an anchorage at the Tensas River, about 40 miles from Mobile Bay. We are now in tidal waters and as far south as we can travel. Our marine insurance requires us not to be south of latitude 31 Deg north, until November 2nd. We’re ready to rest up a few days after the long days of cruising anyway.
Morning of October 31, 43 degrees! We're ready for Florida.
I will start posting a new blog on the first of each month during our travels.
