Grand Rivers, KY to Biloxi, MS

Total Miles Traveled 779

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Well let’s see, where to start, I haven’t posted anything since July.  This has been a busy summer catching up on preventative maintenance and a few new projects we’ve been putting off since purchasing the boat in 2018.  On top of the annual maintenance that I normally do, this summer we replaced all the sanitary hoses, installed a new waste treatment system and head, rebuilt the overboard discharge pump, replaced all the through hull hoses, and most of the engine cooling hoses, cleaned and painted the engine room bulge sump and anchor locker, replaced and rerouted the bilge pump hoses, and modified the generator cooling system replacing the motor driven pump with an electric pump.

We were still able to get out a few times plus anchor out in front of the Kentucky Lake Hot August Blues Festival with our friends Steve and Jan on Forever Young.   

Our neighbor Johnny fishes for big cats off the back of his boat at Green Turtle Bay, this is one of the bigger ones he’s landed.

At first I thought this was a rat, peaking out of the rocks in front of our boat slip, but is was actually a mink.  Reminded me of my trapping days back home in Indiana...

We left our home port at Green Turtle Bay on October 13^th and had great weather all the way to our first lock at Pickwick Lake.   We anchored about 20 miles from the lock behind Diamond Island with another boat and left at daybreak on the 14th.  I called the lock about 30 min out and was told they would have the lock ready for both of us when we arrived.  After about 15 minutes, the lock master called back and said a downbound tow called and we would have to wait for him run half his load through the lock, then lock back up to get the remainder of his barges.  After waiting 3-4 hours, several other boats arrived behind us, plus two more tows.  We finally locked through with 14 other boats, luckily, we were the first boat in and didn’t have to raft up to anyone.

We anchored at Zippy Cove on the Tenn-Tom waterway after locking through and watched deer feed along the shoreline.

On October 17^th we secured dockage at Safe Harbor Aqua Yacht Marina for a few days, a cold front was passing through and we wanted to visit our friends Charlie and Robin on The Lower Place.  We departed on October 20^th, anchored at Wilkens Lock, then arrived at Columbus Marina on the 21^st.  We were able to visit our friends Sonny and Phyllis on Corkscrew, Larry and Linda on Lila Blue, Ted on Bluegill Heaven, and Steve and Libby on San Souci.  Although it was a short visit, it was great to see everyone again.

 Just hate to see water spaying from the lock walls of an 84 foot drop.

We departed Columbus Marina on October 23^rd and with a one day stop at Kingfisher Bay Marina at Demopolis Alabama to reprovision, we continued down the Tenn-Tom Waterway anchoring until arriving at the Alabama River Cutoff on October 29th. 

The weather forecast changed the morning of the 29^th for the Mobile area, from possible showers or an occasional thunderstorm, to possible severe thunderstorms and strong gusty winds.  Protected anchorages are far and few between in this section of the waterway and it was 73 miles from our last anchorage to the Alabama River Cutoff.  After setting the anchor for possible strong winds, we scanned our TV for a local station at Mobile, what a sick feeling watching the Mobile weatherman showing live video of tornadoes dropping from the clouds then going back up again.  There were two major waterspouts one in the Gulf and one in Mobile Bay, we were anchored 26 miles north of Mobile Bay and the storms were heading north, northeast.  We were very fortunate that the severe weather bypassed us and were blessed with only heavy rain.  There were six confirmed tornados in the Mobile area.  Needless to say, we did not get much sleep that night.  

We scheduled to have our boat hauled out for bottom cleaning and new bottom paint (due every 3 years) at Sauder’s Yachtworks, Gulf Shores Alabama on November 3rd.  We also had a depth sounder transducer through hull that needed resealed, and the port shaft seal required replacing. 

Since we would be on the hard for about a week, we rented a car and drove to Green Cove Springs, Florida.  After about 15 minutes at the courthouse, and less than an hour at the tax collector’s office, we are now officially Florida residents with an address, drivers’ licenses, and plates for our vehicle. 

Best Mate is finally back in the water on November 10^th and after a short cruise on the GIWW to check for leaks, we are ready for our next adventure.

Our original plan for the 2022-23 season was to return to the Florida Keys, but since hurricane Ian destroyed a large portion of our cruising area, the uncertainty of anchorages, marinas, waterways, and a record number of boaters heading south this year, we have decided to explore the coastal waters from Mobile Alabama to Brownsville Texas.   

On Friday, November 11^th we departed Gulf Shores Alabama, crossed Mobile Bay, and cruised a large portion of the Mississippi Sound arriving at the Biloxi Mississippi city marina.  Mississippi Sound is a huge body of water stretching 90 miles west from Mobile Bay.  Biloxi is a very unique town, there are 9 commercial and 2 Indian gambling casino’s in Biloxi. 

Oil Rigs?.....a new experience for our cruising area.....I guess they'll have to convert them to windmills since that's the direction our country is heading.

A cold front is passing through this weekend with wind and rain so we may venture out and explore the city tomorrow, before heading west Monday. 

I will start updating the blog at the first of each month during our new adventure west.