Demopolis, AL to Fort Myers, FL

Total Miles Traveled 1269

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I intended to update the blog at least every two weeks but since this is our sixth year of traveling the same waterways, I think updating the blog around the first of each month will be best. 

We spent eight days at Demopolis, AL completing several maintenance tasks, visiting with friends, and waiting for the official end of hurricane season. Our boat insurance coverage will only allow us to be south of 31 degrees North latitude after November 1^st. On October 30^th we departed Kingfisher Bay Marina and with the help of the river current we traveled 93 miles to an anchorage at Okatuppa Creek, only a few miles from our last lock in the river system.  This is a very secluded section of the waterway with very few anchorages, no marinas, or public docks.

On October 31^st we continued through the Coffeeville Lock and traveled 88 miles to the Tensas River cutoff anchorage, this is as far as we can go until November 2^nd.  It’s a good feeling having all of the locks behind us, especially since our summer Pittsburgh adventure. 

We were the last boat in the Lock, a lot of water spraying and leaking around the chamber doors holding back the river.

We continued south on November 2^nd and traveled 30 miles to an anchorage at Big Briar Creek, then on November 3^rd traveled 65 miles crossing Mobile Bay to one of our favorite anchorages at Pirates Cove.  We were very fortunate to have ideal weather conditions for crossing the bay and arriving in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.

Not all of the cargo ships are stranded off the coast of California........

After a few days anchored at Pirates Cove, we traveled 65 miles crossing into Florida and arriving at another of our favorite anchorages at Destin harbor.  Our friends on m/v Inked Mermaid caught up with us so we spent the next few days visiting the shops and restaurants along the harbor walk. 

Visiting with friends Josh and Barb from m/v Last Trade.  They are from Texas and have the same model DeFever as ours, a year newer.  They were visiting Orange Beach and have been following our travels and contacted us.  We have contacted each other by email but this was the first time we actually met.  We had a great visit.  

The guy that took our picture said his zipper was open which got quite a reaction from Barb.

On November 10^th we traveled 70 miles to an anchorage at Pearl Bayou near Panama City, then 40 miles to an anchorage in an oxbow near White City.  This is another favorite anchorage and a good place to wait while trying to time the weather for a Gulf Crossing.

This guy gets bigger every time we see him at this anchorage.  Maybe he was able to get one of the wild hogs we heard last year?

A weather pattern was developing for a possible crossing so we traveled 47 miles on November 12^th  to C-Quarters Marina at Carrabelle, Fl to top off our fuel tanks, visit the grocery store, and a few local restaurants. 

On November 15^th we started our 178 mile Gulf Crossing to Clearwater Fl .  There were seven boats crossing to different destinations, and departing at different times, but we were all traveling from the same location and a course within a few miles of each other. 

 It doesn't get any better than this!

You can see the reflection of me taking the pic from the boat.....

You can see m/v Inked Mermaid in the distance

Not a full moon but close enough.

After 21 hours we arrived at our anchorage at Clearwater Beach Florida a little past noon on November 16^th.   Our friends Mike and Jan on m/v Trust Me have been anchored here for a week or so and were planning to leave the next morning, so after an afternoon nap, and a good night’s sleep, we departed Clearwater and planned to meet them at Sarasota in a couple of days.

 This dolphin kept turning to see if I was still taking its picture.

We spent a few days at Marina Jack’s at Sarasota, then traveled 40 miles to and anchorage at Cape Haze, then 14 miles on the 22^nd to an anchorage at Punta Blanca Island.  We stayed at this protected anchorage a few days as a weather system passed through with 20 mph winds.  We normally drop the dinghy and go to Cabbage Key for lunch but the wind conditions kept us on the boat this time. 

Opps!  You have to stay on this side of the red marker.........

On November 24^th we traveled 38 miles to Fort Myers Yacht Basin Marina.  I had to replace the level probe on our waste tank so I ordered a new one to be delivered there and we spent Thanksgiving with our friends Kevin and Jill from m/v Chasing 80.

On November 27^th we traveled 11miles up the Caloosahatchee River to our friends David and Barbara’s private dock.  

We met our friend Rafe on m/v Cat Daddy in 2016 during our Great Loop.  He was heading for Stuart, FL the day after we arrived.

Looks like our Gator friend from last year decided swim by to great us.

David is a Volkswagen enthusiast, this is his "new to him" 1964 model with a little over 64k original miles on it.  

We will stay here until after Christmas to visit with our friends here at Fort Myers, and Moni’s family near Cocoa, Florida over the holidays.

Grand Rivers, KY to Demopolis, AL

Total Miles Traveled 436

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We were only at Green Turtle Bay for two weeks before heading south again, and it was a busy two weeks!  We rented a car, visited our family and friends in Indiana, completed all of our annual doctor and dentist appointments, and managed to take care of a few maintenance items before leaving.

We even had a chance to attend a Tom Petty Tribute Band concert from Nashville while staying at Indianapolis with family.

I dropped the anchor on the dock and ran out 216 feet of chain and marked it for 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, and 200 feet with red, white and blue paint.  This makes it easier to determine how much chain I am letting out when we anchor……..normally 100 ft.

Leaving Green Turtle Bay October 8^th.

Nice calm morning on Kentucky Lake.

Well, we only made it 13 miles to one of our favorite anchorages at Duncan Bay and stayed 4 days.  The weather was awesome, so we dropped the dinghy, explored the area, and caught up on a few more things on the to do list.

We bumped something a few times on the Ohio River during our Pittsburgh trip.  We didn’t see anything before or after a bump, and didn’t have any vibration, but I wanted to check the props and running gear to verify we didn’t have any unknow issues……everything checked good.  The surface water was 78 degrees, but 3 or 4 feet down it was a little chilly.

Our looper friends from Wisconsin that we met last year in Florida completed the loop this year and are going south again for the winter.  They caught up with us while anchored at Duncan Bay.  Rick and Christi on m/v Inked Mermaid.

Asian Carp are everywhere, we have seen them all through the Ohio River and into the lakes.

On October 12^th, we traveled 55 miles to an anchorage at Richland Creek, then on the 13^th we traveled 60 miles to an anchorage at Double Islands. 

On the way to our anchorage, we passed the Old Danville Grain Elevator.  It was built on the banks of the Tennessee River about 300 yards from the L&N Railroad in 1914.  The purpose of the building was to transfer barges of grain and other goods from the river to railcars above.  It contained 6 levels with the bottom three being open for boats carrying cargo to unload their goods from the river.  Two twenty-horsepower elevators carried cargo from the lower levels to trains docked at the fourth level.  It was in operation until the 1940’s when TVA began clearing out the area for the creation of Kentucky Lake.

Before Kentucky Lake

After

We departed our anchorage at Double Islands on October 14^th and traveled 67 miles through Pickwick Lock, to Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina located at the beginning of the Tenn-Tom Waterway.  We stayed here a couple of days catching up with Steve and Jan on m/v Forever Young, and Charlie and Robin on m/v The Lower Place 2.

Old friends and new friends at the Aqua Grill

We topped off our fuel tanks, pumped out, and departed the marina October 16^th and traveled 37 miles to an anchorage at Bay Springs.  This is a beautiful Lake with many isolated anchorages, we stayed at one of them for a week last year.  We anchored here with m/v Forever Young and will travel with them to Columbus, MS.

On October 17^th we traveled 40 miles and through 4 locks to an anchorage just before Wilkins Lock. Bay Springs elevation is 414 feet above sea level, the first lock is the Whitten Lock, an 84-foot drop……. from this point on, the remainder of the locks will drop us down to sea level at Mobile Bay.

We locked through the Fulton Lock with a Corp of Engineer working barge.  The lock master instructed me to tie off at the farthest bollard in the lock.  I found that when the doors would open, the front of our boat extended past the area of door opening.  I called the lock on the radio and he instructed me that he would notify us before opening the doors, and for me to untie and back up.

All lockage must be behind the yellow mark on the lock wall.

We had planned to weigh anchor at daybreak on October 18^th but mother nature had other plans for us.

After the fog lifted, we continued 50 miles through 4 locks and to another favorite anchorage at Columbus, MS.  This anchorage has a small dock that we can take the dinghy to for access to downtown.  We anchored here for three days and our friends on m/v Forever Young and m/v Trust Me joined us on the last day. 

Dinner with friends at Harvey’s in Columbus Mississippi, m/v Forever Young, m/v San Souci, and m/v Trust Me

October 21^st we traveled 55 miles to an anchorage at Cooks Bend, another friend of ours, Randy m/v Passages, caught up with us at one of the locks and traveled with us to our anchorage.  We all traveled 61 miles on the 22^nd to Demopolis, AL at the Kingfisher Bay Marina. 

Moni and I will stay here a few days for some maintenance and provisioning before continuing South.

Evansville, IN to Grand Rivers, KY

Total Miles Traveled 2235

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We had a great time visiting with family and friends at the Nu Plaza Marina in Evansville, Indiana.  We stayed a few days past our original departure date due to a cold front passing through with wind and rain……if its not fun, we don’t go.

I tried to get a good rainbow picture, but we just didn’t have the right angle.

On September 22^nd we traveled 90 miles to Elizabethtown, Illinois and stayed at the E-Town restaurant.  We had a pretty good push from the downstream river current and was trying to stay ahead of wrap around rain showers from the cold front that passed through.  Unfortunately, we didn’t make it as we approached Mount Vernon, Indiana we had 15 mph wind and the rain caught up with us.  Mount Vernon is a very commercial river port with a lot of barge and tow activity.  Not a good place to encounter rain and fog. 

By the way, the catfish nuggets were awesome, but we stopped here on the way up in June, so we’ve had our quota of Ohio River mercury and who knows what other contaminants that lurk beneath the surface of the river.

Ferry crossing near Cave in Rock, IL

We departed the restaurant dock at daybreak on September 23^rd and passed through the Smithland Lock making 10 mph down the Ohio River until we reached the Cumberland River.  When we entered mile 0 of the Cumberland River we dropped to 4.5 mph, Barkley and Kentucky Lake was above normal pool for this time of year and they were dumping a lot of water out of the dam.  We bumped up the engines rpm but still only averaged around 5 mph for the 30 miles to the lock. 

After lifting us 57 feet in the lock, we entered Barkley Lake near Grand Rivers Kentucky and anchored in Double Creek, just past the lock.  We had reservations at our home port at Green Turtle Bay Marina on the 24^th so we decided to spend one last night on the hook.

We had a great time this summer exploring the Ohio, Allegheny, Monongahela Rivers, and all the small river towns and big cities along the way.  We traveled 2235 miles since leaving Green Turtle Bay June 23^rd making our 20-21 cruising miles total 5264 miles since departing here October 5^th, 2020 for Florida.

We will stay here a couple of weeks before heading south around the second week of October.

 

Pittsburgh, PA to Evansville, IN

Total Miles Traveled 2077

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We departed South Side Marina at Pittsburgh August 26^th and traveled 55 miles on the Ohio River to an anchorage at Cluster Island, WV then on the 27^th traveled 39 miles to Wheeling, WV.  Wheeling provides a nice city dock wall to stay overnight and to visit the city. 

One of the main attractions in Wheeling is the suspension bridge, with the longest span of 1010 feet.  It was the largest suspension bridge in the world from 1849 until 1851.  Because this bridge was designed during the horse-and-buggy era, 2-ton weight limits and vehicle restrictions in later years eventually caused the bridge to close to automobile traffic in September 2019.

m/v Best Mate at the riverfront.

On August 28^th we traveled 38 miles to New Martinsville city dock, then 45 miles to the city marina at Marietta, Ohio on the 29^th.  Hurricane Fred made landfall on the Gulf coast and its track was moving inland just below our location.  We didn’t quite make it to Marietta before a thunderstorm moved through, so we anchored along the shoreline to let it pass before continuing to the marina.  Thankfully the prediction for heavy rains and flooding from the hurricane system was not as bad as predicted, but we did see a 6 to 7-foot rise in the river during our stay at the marina. 

The tree floating down the river is not a problem to avoid....

But the stuff that lurks just at or below the surface can ruin your day.  See the one at the lower left photo?

While at the marina, I met a guy that was working on the boat in front of us and found that he works for a John Deere parts and service company at Marietta.  I told him I was having an issue with one of my engines producing belt dust but hadn’t found the problem. I had adjusted the belt tension thinking it may have been slipping.  He gave me his number and said if I ever needed anything to call him.  He sent a text later and wanted to know my engine model and serial numbers, then that afternoon sent several attachments of parts and service notes on my engine model.  What a stroke of luck to happen to meet him.

After staying at Marietta a few days to let the river recede and reduce the amount of debris floating downriver, we continued 92 miles down the Ohio River on September 4th to Point Pleasant, West Virginia averaging 10 to 11 mph—whahoo!  During my engine room checks on the way to Point Pleasant, I found the belt dust problem was getting worse.  When we arrived, I decided to remove everything for a closer inspection and found the idler pully bearing was worn.  This is Saturday of Labor Day Weekend!  I called the guy I had met at Marietta and told him what I had found and the part number I needed.  He called me back and said they had one in stock and he would go to the shop, pick it up, and bring it to me….about a 70 mile trip one way.  I told him I couldn’t ask him to do that, but he said it wouldn’t be a problem and wanted to help us out.  What are the chances of meeting him, having the part in stock, and delivering it to me on a holiday weekend…..slim and none!  I changed the idler pulley and problem solved.  

Although Point Pleasant was the location of the First Battle of the American Revolutionary War, it is most recently known for “The Mothman”, a creature said to foretell of imminent disaster that inhabits an abandoned TNT factory from World War II.  There are supposedly several eyewitnesses to this large flying man with ten-foot wings and glowing red eyes, they have even made a movie about it.  Yes, we went to the Mothman Museum and had the Mothman Burrito at the local Mexican restaurant.

On September 5^th we traveled 44 miles to Huntington, West Virginia and tied to the Harris Waterfront Park wall.  While visiting the town we saw someone about a half block away, jerking, waving his arms, and talking to himself, luckily we arrived at our restaurant before he got any closer so we didn’t have to pass him.  We returned to the boat that evening and sat up on the flybridge watching the boats and a few fishermen at the wall.   

About 4 a.m.  I awoke to a noise that sounded like a log or something floating by bumping the hull.  I got up to make sure something wasn’t wedged between us and the dock and looked out of the window and saw someone sitting on a step about 25 feet from our boat talking on a cell phone.  I figured he was fishing and walked to the back of the boat and peeked out the back door through the curtain, the guy we saw in town earlier that day was on the boat standing at the back door!  I turned on the deck lights and yelled at him to get the hell off our boat.  He said he was just making sure we were okay, so I told him to get off the boat or I was calling the police.  Moni heard me yelling at him and called 911.  Three police cars were there in less than 10 minutes.  One of the officers asked if we were okay and I told him we were okay, the guy was either was on something or had a mental problem.  The officer said probably both.  They talked to both of them and they moved on so they must be locals and they knew them.

There was no way I was going back to bed, so I stayed up preparing to leave at daylight.  I occasionally looked out the windows to see if anyone was around, the dock is well lit so I could see from one end to the other.  Sure enough, I looked out about 5:30 and there were four people on top of the hill from the dock, one of them was the guy that was on the boat.  There was a girl with them, and she was definitely having a good time.  She could not stand still, kept swinging her arms and legs and jerking her head around.  Just like the guy we saw on the boat.  I continued to watch them and about 6 am the guy that was on the boat apparently overdosed on something, there were 6 people up there, they moved him up on a bench, one guy was holding his head up while another was trying to give him chest compressions while he was sitting up.  They were all standing around him staring, like maybe he had passed.  They searched through his pockets and appeared to put something in his mouth.  It was starting to get daylight, he was still unresponsive but must have been breathing, they laid him down on the bench and left.  I kept watching him and every once in awhile his arm or leg would move so he must have been coming out of it.  The mud tracks he left on the boat indicated he went from the dock to our swim platform, then onto the back deck.  If he would have fallen off the swim platform getting on the boat I’m sure he would have drown.  We have been cruising several years and this was the first time we had someone get on the boat. 

On September 6^th we traveled 47 miles to Portsmouth, Ohio and stayed at the Shawnee Boat Club.  They let us use their golf cart to go to town and visit the sites and grab a bite to eat.  The flood wall murals here are one of the best we’ve seen.

On September 7^th we traveled 52 miles to Maysville, Kentucky then 59 miles on the 8^th to Cincinnati Ohio.  When we had the idler pulley fail, I ordered another one so I would have a spare and it arrived here at the marina the same day we did.   On September 9^th “Happy Birthday Nikki”, we traveled 39 miles to Rising Sun, Indiana.  We have covered a lot of river miles since leaving Pittsburgh, so we decided to travel another 51 miles to Madison, IN on the 10^th and take a couple of days off.  Madison is one of our favorite towns along the Ohio River.  We have visited here several times over the years for the Madison Regatta hydroplane races, the Ribberfest BBQ and Blues Festival, and the Fall Festivals.  

We departed Madison on September 12^th and traveled 45 miles to Jeffersonville, Indiana.  We had scheduled a fuel truck delivery on the 13^th and had to replace a generator battery while here.  We were fortunate enough for the local Advance Auto to have the exact battery we needed and one of their employees helped me install it, I physically couldn’t have done it myself.

 Docked at Jeffersonville looking toward Louisville, KY

The fuel delivery was delayed until the afternoon, so we were only able to travel 29 miles to an anchorage at Salt River, near West Point, Kentucky.  This was a new anchorage with very little information, but it turned out to be a great stop with plenty of depth and room to pass under two bridges.  I have been documenting the places we stop for future reference and to share with other boaters.

 We had planned on anchoring on September 14^th but with the possibility of thunderstorms we decided to make a long day of it and travel 88 miles to Rocky Point Marina near the lock at Cannelton, Indiana.  This is a very shallow marina, but Ralph had just enough room for us with 1.3 feet under our boat.  The thunderstorms split and went north and south of us without a drop of rain or wind all night.

We departed the marina and passed through the lock on the 15^th 38 miles to Owensboro, Kentucky at the river front wall.  We awoke to dense fog the morning of the 16^th and had to wait until 8:30 before it lifted.  We traveled 40 miles to the Nu Plaza Marina at Evansville, Indiana.  We will stay here a few days to visit family and friends and to let another weather system pass before continuing down the Ohio River.

Cruising the Ohio River at Daybreak, what an awesome adventure!