tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-365562892024-03-12T22:46:12.572-04:00m/v SEASEAUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-40765575505848278082011-04-21T13:33:00.000-04:002011-04-21T13:33:45.335-04:00Back (almost) to back to back to backWe have been back in Athens, Georgia taking care of family and getting a house ready for rental since returning to Jacksonville in January.<br />
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In March we headed to Jacksonville to meet our friend Joan Elliott and make a run aboard SEASEA. We drove to St. Augustine to attend the Seafood festival and had a great time roaming around town. We headed up the St. John's, anchored in Julington Creek and dinghied to Clark's Fish Camp for dinner.<br />
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Clark's is a great spot and the place is filled with stuffed animals of all types from all over the world.<br />
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We headed down to Green Cove Springs for the night and visited the historic Episcopal church and the spring head where they have the spring running through a swimming pool.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After returning to Athens for two weeks we headed back down to entertain back to back to back guests. The logistics worked out perfectly. We had Chuck & Chris Hewitson from Washington State drive their RV to Jacksonville and then Ken & Darcy Searl from Buford, GA drive down to Sanford so Chuck & Chris could take their car back to Jacksonville and then Bill & Birute Fleck from Charlevoix, Michigan drove to Jacksonville to see us.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chuck & Chris came with their grandson Noah and we drove to Clark's so Noah could see all of the animals. He certainly proved to be adventurous by eating gator tail, crawfish, and whatever else during the week with us.</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-eoaYg4AJQ7TsJq3DjFgrrbNMFaMWI1CLIueWfMyyIKbhvkaLUmpGXdx6MCsvTtonvY3G9dILWvzqh3iVZv2yUkuMkZcCuoyhLe3izfHWVXjNlf1Ref15Ku1zDPqWLVWMUrSP/s1600/IMG_6243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-eoaYg4AJQ7TsJq3DjFgrrbNMFaMWI1CLIueWfMyyIKbhvkaLUmpGXdx6MCsvTtonvY3G9dILWvzqh3iVZv2yUkuMkZcCuoyhLe3izfHWVXjNlf1Ref15Ku1zDPqWLVWMUrSP/s320/IMG_6243.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Noah proved to be a good helmsman in the dinghy and drove Nana and Papa around anytime we were at anchor.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglB_kTKNuecoLS01njLpS10iiUZ1LPD3xvbbr4mksZjaqGn04rcjZ0vt3HVRRdM3-g2LBbbL5UXejTbNtJW7FGTzYfudPfOfIQpeQuyzZ8sWu_1jNFkz06ooco3gGJ6-I_L9GX/s1600/IMG_6246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglB_kTKNuecoLS01njLpS10iiUZ1LPD3xvbbr4mksZjaqGn04rcjZ0vt3HVRRdM3-g2LBbbL5UXejTbNtJW7FGTzYfudPfOfIQpeQuyzZ8sWu_1jNFkz06ooco3gGJ6-I_L9GX/s320/IMG_6246.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We did, however, have to keep our eyes open for the many gators we saw on the river. I think Noah said we saw 50+ alligators on our trip.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL2l9qOaDdCwHd_J7oJZbAFJLgDXcAVQMrlLkWerC5Ecls7SBMsi__2wwbOuuxJDF5br29PxgkQpEqUr_W7yRg4dQpukG1zGcksccV1ALJq_7o2NYrUgf7aQVI88LxhyphenhyphenkSoAeu/s1600/IMG_6249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL2l9qOaDdCwHd_J7oJZbAFJLgDXcAVQMrlLkWerC5Ecls7SBMsi__2wwbOuuxJDF5br29PxgkQpEqUr_W7yRg4dQpukG1zGcksccV1ALJq_7o2NYrUgf7aQVI88LxhyphenhyphenkSoAeu/s320/IMG_6249.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We traveled the entire navigable waters of the St. John's down to Sanford, Florida. Along the way we had many opportunities to catch up.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm1D_ZzP5mevaWBoT1Fy5bu-eijS2ZjhUlwfnMagXFfnrnLEv_uRHmmGgxjeXWFQpmgMEAsBeZQrIvlWGPhnUpTZPIZB3PNEON5o6H_gsG1Jv57fSNJjCbBRbFFQrL0YbkT3_5/s1600/IMG_6265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm1D_ZzP5mevaWBoT1Fy5bu-eijS2ZjhUlwfnMagXFfnrnLEv_uRHmmGgxjeXWFQpmgMEAsBeZQrIvlWGPhnUpTZPIZB3PNEON5o6H_gsG1Jv57fSNJjCbBRbFFQrL0YbkT3_5/s320/IMG_6265.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We stopped in Welaka and had a great lunch at "Shrimp R Us" and then visited the Maritime Museum.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJwFmLI9t570EgdgH5HRLmrXvJhn9UaIpkRMMApFtafsenDWabimnGPCiOimwOX-Z2-1iglGZI4NvQgzfnTIhQ_QH_ta3iOpmQv5CiZeDBhF-9Fe7BuRsEPGiAPr6v3_9aM3_v/s1600/IMG_6286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJwFmLI9t570EgdgH5HRLmrXvJhn9UaIpkRMMApFtafsenDWabimnGPCiOimwOX-Z2-1iglGZI4NvQgzfnTIhQ_QH_ta3iOpmQv5CiZeDBhF-9Fe7BuRsEPGiAPr6v3_9aM3_v/s320/IMG_6286.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This particular Chris Craft was there and was the only one of its kind. The boat's name is Apparition as it is not shown in any of the Chris Craft guide books but it is in fact a production boat. However, only one was produced.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbcyOQa0OSa6uikAWJgYz0OICWYIwijNlrTOPXbkENhBmAZeLnQakOKH73iY0Ow3Eub6v65meWH4hUWhWShKkzrMghWXMFhyphenhyphendnTXfDI13iTrpn4NpFhR3nGT75F3FQJQNtdX-/s1600/IMG_6284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbcyOQa0OSa6uikAWJgYz0OICWYIwijNlrTOPXbkENhBmAZeLnQakOKH73iY0Ow3Eub6v65meWH4hUWhWShKkzrMghWXMFhyphenhyphendnTXfDI13iTrpn4NpFhR3nGT75F3FQJQNtdX-/s320/IMG_6284.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">While we were docked in Welaka we saw a guy launch a PWC and it didn't seem to run well. It suddenly cleared up and accelerated rapidly. The rider fell off and then couldn't get back on . We went out and towed the sinking PWC and rider back to the launch ramp. Apparently something was left out and the craft took on water.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixUqjlMQvP1IHOpYQd-CRwOm9wrx5Y0iwhhupvxC6-7w_hmO5jTko9tk3Wru3bjt9GZ_JPSe59APORgLeNZUEdTri6xsBDlKs4UqwuCJIO1BUCf1elQ1FBcTMg3hsPcbzsV2Zh/s1600/IMG_6309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixUqjlMQvP1IHOpYQd-CRwOm9wrx5Y0iwhhupvxC6-7w_hmO5jTko9tk3Wru3bjt9GZ_JPSe59APORgLeNZUEdTri6xsBDlKs4UqwuCJIO1BUCf1elQ1FBcTMg3hsPcbzsV2Zh/s320/IMG_6309.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">While traveling across Lake George we stopped halfway and dinghied in to Silver Glen Springs for lunch. Chuck and Noah swam in the spring and we continued on south of the lake for the night.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrhEDDpXza54G0YmGZIHaPQjShWsEcDOZ6DfKAD9ej6n9_vqhusZIdYZeZ1RGXmett6TuMJU4gKLCcunHBYh47zPmm9WKzq5EcJfBXLjBIIevLy420GNq23J2OqjtSWbVtCYD0/s1600/IMG_6320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrhEDDpXza54G0YmGZIHaPQjShWsEcDOZ6DfKAD9ej6n9_vqhusZIdYZeZ1RGXmett6TuMJU4gKLCcunHBYh47zPmm9WKzq5EcJfBXLjBIIevLy420GNq23J2OqjtSWbVtCYD0/s320/IMG_6320.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">During our travel, Chris and Noah played double solitaire when Noah wasn't fishing or playing "Angry Birds" on his iTouch.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaaomkwmJMomPaD8ZwK4Lbq-vDL3fTrij_Q46STVlLsHxcqSzAmT_cy8uOgTngf3jSYMqm-DZyzIApyEU0B5l2PHZTnaQ1SIB_0ciTfDnCWWlzyUsPS3k2JcrZpezoQxs46Si4/s1600/IMG_6346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaaomkwmJMomPaD8ZwK4Lbq-vDL3fTrij_Q46STVlLsHxcqSzAmT_cy8uOgTngf3jSYMqm-DZyzIApyEU0B5l2PHZTnaQ1SIB_0ciTfDnCWWlzyUsPS3k2JcrZpezoQxs46Si4/s320/IMG_6346.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We stopped at Blue Springs and the Hewitson clan floated the spring run. This is a great stop and is very busy on summer weekends.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKtMLmiXHfN6Z28HhMOrbKM-gY2yhDO29FFSucjo85ZRWKhCkFORU6g-knWcc7v4-KNUUDU2tJDQEnGq4KEBwKLtWYn364rrEhk-BWxvsEM8c-6N9pYUIKcGaXoebJ4KZyqsK5/s1600/IMG_6352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKtMLmiXHfN6Z28HhMOrbKM-gY2yhDO29FFSucjo85ZRWKhCkFORU6g-knWcc7v4-KNUUDU2tJDQEnGq4KEBwKLtWYn364rrEhk-BWxvsEM8c-6N9pYUIKcGaXoebJ4KZyqsK5/s320/IMG_6352.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs224e_ct9lZMPoF3PcBifD0j_30F9FEQNgiJtpau6HcKzJwaG2_moxb12y4P6av5RHycQA3V_oWVJu6Tl1cyhPnEtbIJ48-IEEOh9I1BXCQfC_eb5rRUfQToJeXTnWM96M_Za/s1600/IMG_6363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs224e_ct9lZMPoF3PcBifD0j_30F9FEQNgiJtpau6HcKzJwaG2_moxb12y4P6av5RHycQA3V_oWVJu6Tl1cyhPnEtbIJ48-IEEOh9I1BXCQfC_eb5rRUfQToJeXTnWM96M_Za/s320/IMG_6363.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">When we got to Lake Monroe we contacted Buddy and Mary on Puffin and they directed us in to the marina where we would change crew. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2lUc8ACgtIoiY9mgAibGB02rpqWnV7sXlqNinb2EbtHpucQ70LfF79l4R2Yg0Eb-11kLeypSdqSbvEzpOBmOB1NOtyJkZKYx41vSpsHQkQE-sV8emIr-4B1frD5FF1DwU0CvF/s1600/IMG_6403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2lUc8ACgtIoiY9mgAibGB02rpqWnV7sXlqNinb2EbtHpucQ70LfF79l4R2Yg0Eb-11kLeypSdqSbvEzpOBmOB1NOtyJkZKYx41vSpsHQkQE-sV8emIr-4B1frD5FF1DwU0CvF/s320/IMG_6403.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Ken & Darcy Searl showed up and Chuck, Chris and Noah left. We ended up having a dock party when the power on the dock went out. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKTCbeX4MPOdFjWwXDVtJONXB3xKkAIc1Mfrm878JKPeGbMccR0BAoMfWbDcbwaSkThBfM2JDo1d0VXqLaIOb2HQ4rGomT-k80vi5gWm9lx1ejyXFfwlbBoTshmTviQrJD2ia/s1600/IMG_6404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKTCbeX4MPOdFjWwXDVtJONXB3xKkAIc1Mfrm878JKPeGbMccR0BAoMfWbDcbwaSkThBfM2JDo1d0VXqLaIOb2HQ4rGomT-k80vi5gWm9lx1ejyXFfwlbBoTshmTviQrJD2ia/s320/IMG_6404.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Numerous couples stopped by and we talked until well after dark.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZvrr29UlkotFkLmufzuZdN3kDsv6lI_paQrcwT4HMOksM7kQnDVW094FrLB_UghfeF-yNHL5MUApV472WrEDl0n3_9hGp5bwajf46uaceRR1sPH9U0LQdprR1BLaCjITg5vqR/s1600/IMG_6406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZvrr29UlkotFkLmufzuZdN3kDsv6lI_paQrcwT4HMOksM7kQnDVW094FrLB_UghfeF-yNHL5MUApV472WrEDl0n3_9hGp5bwajf46uaceRR1sPH9U0LQdprR1BLaCjITg5vqR/s320/IMG_6406.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">On the way back to Jacksonville we stopped at the top of Lake George and took the dinghy up Salt Spring Run. We had never explored this spring and it was a good run for a few miles.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTmg6N5G6trYi1Y3byvkA1F1L_H1ZDNGD5XjQubzv5aIkWrGgQjRQNbly2Ek1V1SShVWUrOhOmLR57rG2ijybzztWOM1CIwqBzFe60sMDQNTLY7FiLgFi4RlJvkWOpHgwQZ9bA/s1600/IMG_6432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTmg6N5G6trYi1Y3byvkA1F1L_H1ZDNGD5XjQubzv5aIkWrGgQjRQNbly2Ek1V1SShVWUrOhOmLR57rG2ijybzztWOM1CIwqBzFe60sMDQNTLY7FiLgFi4RlJvkWOpHgwQZ9bA/s320/IMG_6432.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We spent some of our evenings playing Mexican Train. I believe Stacy won every time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZ2UXtkET1UCdiuus0IdWAB2U95Q_8RzB_e82q35E2swQWK576Ew2Db8IV2EO1C5yjh_qw2kwNFVcuEa3a1WaPom7sCUk30GunA4JTN-o-ztKnBhWhe37fMKbDHN8CRVFKiJM/s1600/IMG_6436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZ2UXtkET1UCdiuus0IdWAB2U95Q_8RzB_e82q35E2swQWK576Ew2Db8IV2EO1C5yjh_qw2kwNFVcuEa3a1WaPom7sCUk30GunA4JTN-o-ztKnBhWhe37fMKbDHN8CRVFKiJM/s320/IMG_6436.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">When we got back to Jacksonville Ken & Darcy headed back to Lake Lanier and Bill & Birute Fleck came by to visit. They are making a road trip from Michigan and we were glad that they made time to stop by to see us. We originally met them on the Great Loop and we made a trip with them up the Rideau Canal on their boat a couple of years ago. We took SEASEA out and anchored but the winds were increasing ahead of a new front and we elected to come back in rather than try to sleep with the slapping on the hull. We drove to the Landing in downtown Jacksonville and had dinner. We spent a couple of days in our slip solving world problems and enjoying our time together.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibw-3sFjua1kEpamiS330EfqKIoPFhDtcJbqWg28sAl0sYGwSTrgSMmA5BOtDABcpR5LN8Al2J5HcWxXCkgelgnE-K5UuoToqJwViz5GMeoCKbk2I0m4-YEfsjRTHyvLrQ_ZE5/s1600/IMG_6448.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibw-3sFjua1kEpamiS330EfqKIoPFhDtcJbqWg28sAl0sYGwSTrgSMmA5BOtDABcpR5LN8Al2J5HcWxXCkgelgnE-K5UuoToqJwViz5GMeoCKbk2I0m4-YEfsjRTHyvLrQ_ZE5/s320/IMG_6448.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">When Bill & Birute left on Sunday morning we decided to stay on the boat another day before heading back to Athens. We took SEASEA out for a sunset cruise and watched the full moon rise before heading back in to Lamb's. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWf-4AQgZF6KDE2X09N_uya0BFi12b4y5oluQreuQxFJ529pDlLzWDAKdk1Pd2JG_SJAwS6tX6PZGB6xgn-Tzs7Di3hLgxa30lCLO-nub1UiXjhFDwpR1K6vHBFOgQEoryPfqA/s1600/IMG_6452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWf-4AQgZF6KDE2X09N_uya0BFi12b4y5oluQreuQxFJ529pDlLzWDAKdk1Pd2JG_SJAwS6tX6PZGB6xgn-Tzs7Di3hLgxa30lCLO-nub1UiXjhFDwpR1K6vHBFOgQEoryPfqA/s320/IMG_6452.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We are back in Athens now taking care of family and trying to get a house rented. I will be heading back to SEASEA in a few weeks to perform maintenance chores while Stacy chauffeurs her parents to Indiana for a family visit.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-73853184946253868462011-01-14T14:05:00.000-05:002011-01-14T14:05:14.479-05:00SEASEA back in JacksonvilleWe got back to the east coast and made the decision to head back north to Jacksonville, Florida so that we could get back to Athens, GA to see about Stacy's parents. Her mother had another coronary stent in November and her father was diagnosed with a recurrence of a very slow growing cancer he had 15 years ago. Stacy decided the time was right to come back and be with them most of the time now. As she told them "we will now take our suitcases to the boat rather than bring suitcases from the boat to Athens". <br />
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On Thursday, Jan 6th we arrived at the St. John's river and heard our friends Stephen & Sharon on STEVEDORE on the radio at the Sisters Creek bridge. We entered the St. John's at exactly the same time from opposite sides. They were headed into Jacksonville for a conference before moving on further south. We met them last year on our way to Panama City and then they stayed at Bay Point marina with us for about a month.<br />
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We came into familiar waters when we got into Jacksonville so Stacy posed with our gold burgee so we can be official loopers whether we consider Sarasota our crossing or Jacksonville where we started with our boat.<br />
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Stephen & Sharon drove over and we had dinner on board SEASEA and caught up with their lives during the evening.<br />
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On Friday our good friends Jim & Luann Brewer came over for a visit. These are dear friends we met at the church we attended when we were in Jacksonville in 2005-2006. <br />
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Since Stacy's sister had driven to Athens to visit her mom we left early on Saturday morning so that we could visit with her before she left to drive back to Pennsylvania on Sunday. We arrived Saturday afternoon in Athens and by Sunday night we had about 7" of snow. The temps remained below freezing until today so we have been house bound for 3 days. Stacy's father just couldn't not go out and shovel snow from the walkway given that he grew up in Sharon, PA and shoveling snow was just something he had to do. We let him do what he wanted but we were there to help as needed.<br />
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We enjoy our time with Stacy's parents and hope that we can be a help taking care of them by cooking, taking care of the house, chauffeuring, etc. We have already used our "snow days" to clean out cabinets, closets, arrange our bedroom, set up Al's new laptop and many other small projects. <br />
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Our plans are in flux at the moment. We know of boaters coming up the east coast in the spring and would like to get together with some and maybe cruise the St. John's again with them. Anyone headed toward Jacksonville give us a call and we will head down for some local cruising.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-48536152923461224892011-01-05T10:52:00.000-05:002011-01-05T10:52:23.827-05:00Ft. Myers to Vero BeachAfter leaving Punta Gorda we headed to Ft. Myers to anchor for one night before starting across the Okeechobee Waterway to the east coast. There are 5 locks on the waterway and they are different from any others in the country in that there are no valves to flood and drain the lock chamber. They are flooded and drained by slightly opening the door and allowing the water to enter or leave. Since the locks are only lifting a few feet (or maybe none at all) this works out ok.<br />
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We crossed without any problems and had a great crossing of the lake. We stopped at Moore Haven for the night before crossing the lake and had a great sunrise similar to the one we had the first time we crossed this waterway in 2006.<br />
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When we got to Stuart we anchored for the night and then headed to Peck Lake the next morning. When we arrived we saw "Sandy Hook", a Gulfstar 44 owned by Chris and Alyse Caldwell. They hailed us on the radio and we dinghied over to see them. They offer trawler training to people wanting to gain an understanding of all that is involved with cruising a boat like ours. There was a couple on board and we brought them over so they could compare our Gulfstar with the one they were on. We first met Chris on the Erie Canal in 2007 when we docked and he saw us and came running over to meet us.<br />
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Sandy Hook pulled up anchor to head back to their marina and we headed to shore to walk across and check out the beach at Peck Lake we had heard about for so long.<br />
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The beach was nice but it was a windy and cool day so we did not stay long.<br />
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Ed & Lucy decided they wanted to move on south toward Key Largo so we decided to pull up anchor and head on to Vero Beach. We arrived New Year's eve and were assigned a mooring rafting to a Great Harbor that was already on the mooring ball. This is a common and expected situation at Vero Beach. The owners of the Great Harbor were delightful and we invited them over that evening. The are originally from Holland but have been in the U.S. since the early 70's.<br />
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On New Year's Day we met up with Mike and Vicky, some people we first met in Panama City last year. They have a house in Vero and keep their boat near the house. They picked us up at the marina and we went out to see their 46 Grand Banks and then went to their house for early dinner. Vicky is a gourmet cook and had listed our meal on a menu board in her kitchen.<br />
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We had a wonderful time with them and hope to see them again somewhere.<br />
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The next day we were invited to a gathering at Chris & Alyse's house in Vero. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKtcfs4qOdfx6XwwbJ0qvyIlXlxH_IZ0Iu8vAEq4K6dVrbNJkIMSBQy2pujBv7qUuc5P4G5Zu8CN7YXx7cRDAXQ7I5x_k0kcrKJuArARYmtOvyr7n0AdA5IuCs2KYvUDphyphenhyphenOlf/s1600/IMG_6165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKtcfs4qOdfx6XwwbJ0qvyIlXlxH_IZ0Iu8vAEq4K6dVrbNJkIMSBQy2pujBv7qUuc5P4G5Zu8CN7YXx7cRDAXQ7I5x_k0kcrKJuArARYmtOvyr7n0AdA5IuCs2KYvUDphyphenhyphenOlf/s320/IMG_6165.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>We were picked up at the marina by some other friends that we met at Goose Pond, Steve and Gladys from Maine. They have recently purchased a boat and have named it Misty Moose. They are a fun couple and took us to the open house at the Caldwell's. <br />
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Just in this short trip we have reconnected with people we have met along the waterways. The boating community is unlike any other and we enjoy meeting up with old friends and making new ones as we travel.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-65792882754454077872011-01-01T19:53:00.001-05:002011-01-01T20:04:10.133-05:00Tarpon Springs to Punta GordaWe stayed in Tarpon Springs for 4 days waiting out the big blow from the strong cold front. We left on December 15 and headed down to St. Petersburg. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq7_ojOnJYpaScAql-ce5HLHvKM6RcHFkBkbfLej9gkdz2UMLtwAMlTq01deDL24sApGfJnILv26py6J2GEiAW4-n8-FUNP76Bxr9LQ0a4bt8g95-Tdm62qIAn4IOP9IenQI7q/s1600/IMG_6057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq7_ojOnJYpaScAql-ce5HLHvKM6RcHFkBkbfLej9gkdz2UMLtwAMlTq01deDL24sApGfJnILv26py6J2GEiAW4-n8-FUNP76Bxr9LQ0a4bt8g95-Tdm62qIAn4IOP9IenQI7q/s320/IMG_6057.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We anchored in the basin next to the Vinoy hotel (Pink Hotel on right) and took a trolley tour of downtown and the pier. We walked through the old hotel and found old photos of the early years. I actually saw a photo of a Life of Georgia convention at the hotel in the 40's (my grandfather and father were lifelong employees of Life of Georgia). <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkNTCAuOwrvgEb6QojIL7q2A4SEO_RASKULnOpVJzBJkyKTAN_mYzcNbZ3N2w3PiNdPlfI5IFxdT_W81StY1xLjXvRqLOsWafYJwXfu0eP-iLKOHGFhJlGbgW69UpjJcMYEMm/s1600/IMG_6050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkNTCAuOwrvgEb6QojIL7q2A4SEO_RASKULnOpVJzBJkyKTAN_mYzcNbZ3N2w3PiNdPlfI5IFxdT_W81StY1xLjXvRqLOsWafYJwXfu0eP-iLKOHGFhJlGbgW69UpjJcMYEMm/s320/IMG_6050.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The hotel was decorated for Christmas and had a very large tree in the Promenade.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmqu9R7cA6MUfh6MW4J3LMvSYvysjkk-2YHjFNt8znazLVdnZhdqyJjFxXKtIDd5Has0dymmMqHrCDsBIJAEMqGit2cQPhHocQjDEDXc1cb-Nv8kWnPIEuCTL9x5GyHlA0hTtD/s1600/IMG_6056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmqu9R7cA6MUfh6MW4J3LMvSYvysjkk-2YHjFNt8znazLVdnZhdqyJjFxXKtIDd5Has0dymmMqHrCDsBIJAEMqGit2cQPhHocQjDEDXc1cb-Nv8kWnPIEuCTL9x5GyHlA0hTtD/s320/IMG_6056.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Leaving St. Pete we headed down to Sarasota. Along the way we watched a crab fisherman checking his pots. The pelicans and gulls were a constant companion waiting for him to throw back the undersized or wrong catch.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG6arJ3-T9UFcFhXx4GTA9dDGak_EGYRsi-WgFBR-q4BZZINdDXFOW9L7COcFHSO1jSpICes73a4NtcOfk1SyBulSwZVRCjHhdH0sppUWSvHhio4K9YVphXG-l8_8wczWq0K4L/s1600/IMG_6061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG6arJ3-T9UFcFhXx4GTA9dDGak_EGYRsi-WgFBR-q4BZZINdDXFOW9L7COcFHSO1jSpICes73a4NtcOfk1SyBulSwZVRCjHhdH0sppUWSvHhio4K9YVphXG-l8_8wczWq0K4L/s320/IMG_6061.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sarasota was the northernmost point we took SEASEA in January 2007 and, therefore, would be the place we would "Cross our Wake" and finish the Great Loop. The AGLCA burgee on our boat was quite worn and we were able to remove our white burgee (designating "doing the loop") and replace it with a gold burgee (designating "completed the loop"). Our chartplotter shows our old track from 2007 (green line) and our boat (yellow circle) approaching the crossing point.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpz6FUwe28p3pC2Anwfew4ECxpR4VzthL32EX0msMCJF1dqBxNs60N9LMa1u3BHdN7Oqswmx35MzCNPSakGs6pzISgzXtp2M1jHzD3NvCcoE3UAcSI_UZKCfWTbcUyg5JuLnLB/s1600/IMG_6069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpz6FUwe28p3pC2Anwfew4ECxpR4VzthL32EX0msMCJF1dqBxNs60N9LMa1u3BHdN7Oqswmx35MzCNPSakGs6pzISgzXtp2M1jHzD3NvCcoE3UAcSI_UZKCfWTbcUyg5JuLnLB/s320/IMG_6069.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcfSjNV5D-3DyuFspVzfhwBenUNZY2nXaGemN8bTfuGubnqHgzWK_qaq2T7xLX27WjQqoFSBuXUWbCYogdCFQHGmcyupZGoYMIT3a1DVRlOsitCbr6Wva46JF54d3v78wvbw4_/s1600/IMG_6079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcfSjNV5D-3DyuFspVzfhwBenUNZY2nXaGemN8bTfuGubnqHgzWK_qaq2T7xLX27WjQqoFSBuXUWbCYogdCFQHGmcyupZGoYMIT3a1DVRlOsitCbr6Wva46JF54d3v78wvbw4_/s320/IMG_6079.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibB7v8cIWXtMmvnR4Y9GPNQSz_CfEOMpSUtl4661uscEYfxu06oc5o8JiQuoJTLqMBLXQOB1r4K9tkzCCdhzRh9v1CerElL8ubMiEK0zXE7CRjQdt0ZRTQTTe2bd912mCfguFZ/s1600/IMG_6085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibB7v8cIWXtMmvnR4Y9GPNQSz_CfEOMpSUtl4661uscEYfxu06oc5o8JiQuoJTLqMBLXQOB1r4K9tkzCCdhzRh9v1CerElL8ubMiEK0zXE7CRjQdt0ZRTQTTe2bd912mCfguFZ/s320/IMG_6085.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">From Sarasota we went to Englewood and anchored for the night near the marina where our friends Wayne and Lynne Flatt on Skinwalker are spending the winter. We went to their boat for dinner and enjoyed reconnecting with old friends and introducing Ed and Lucy. If you are ever in Baltimore during the summer then look for the pirate ship in the harbor. Wayne (Captain Bones) is the captain of the ship and takes guests out for a great pirate adventure.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1a0TpPksCUFvD1pkuB7QX9nwYRjRbGP9wyTYX_SxuPIx-Cc4lgN4ElRZ_ZZkDear9qPbz1c-9YKJ4CcuqOmO1aPgd8q9IqHk11dWyvvra3y1YjrY2ODO_sLICDPvgiM3zd7sW/s1600/IMG_6089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1a0TpPksCUFvD1pkuB7QX9nwYRjRbGP9wyTYX_SxuPIx-Cc4lgN4ElRZ_ZZkDear9qPbz1c-9YKJ4CcuqOmO1aPgd8q9IqHk11dWyvvra3y1YjrY2ODO_sLICDPvgiM3zd7sW/s320/IMG_6089.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next day we left Skinwalker and headed to Punta Gorda. Ed & Lucy had friends that lived on a canal in Punta Gorda and they had invited us to tie up behind their house. We entered a maze of canals and finally arrived.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0CKfASCKuClcoHE-WkVOHwJtFEf2mirwS6EDwZHYsde1wHmVwQJkr0jqhL5keg08fxgLskVEdVGiOuEliwHB9YXRU_CyLu3kKNIY_LRM1r9eU3yJAui-tSd8yMpIbAmRGYusq/s1600/IMG_6100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0CKfASCKuClcoHE-WkVOHwJtFEf2mirwS6EDwZHYsde1wHmVwQJkr0jqhL5keg08fxgLskVEdVGiOuEliwHB9YXRU_CyLu3kKNIY_LRM1r9eU3yJAui-tSd8yMpIbAmRGYusq/s320/IMG_6100.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jerry and Denise were great fun and were most welcoming. They were originally from the New Orleans area and Ed & Lucy knew them from there. Denise was driving up to Selma, Alabama to spend Christmas with some of her family. We spent a week there to help Jerry and enjoyed Christmas at their house.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLPVf0JJQb2Q_w6Zsfm0ZRNGYQTo_ak0a5IvLU_i5YsHtQ5S1VCJMvF3Xt7YDYvhVL-p-qlAqsXcbI2Rq71T8b6l5CCmOFsgjLsDasSbYlsaHGNBL-_DOKcKgZ3zBcq_xx9K5e/s1600/IMG_6103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLPVf0JJQb2Q_w6Zsfm0ZRNGYQTo_ak0a5IvLU_i5YsHtQ5S1VCJMvF3Xt7YDYvhVL-p-qlAqsXcbI2Rq71T8b6l5CCmOFsgjLsDasSbYlsaHGNBL-_DOKcKgZ3zBcq_xx9K5e/s320/IMG_6103.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jerry had mentioned that he wanted to install a marine electrical receptacle outside his house so that he could get proper power to his boat so Ed & I headed to Lowe's to get the necessary weatherproof enclosure and installed the receptacle on the house. Of course we immediately put it to use powering both of our boats. While we were there we did a number of projects that Jerry was unable to accomplish due to his failing eye sight.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglambC4_Eys40f5QvoLbFw3Bfl_QhVPdEAdebbpenGfjf0ZcXtirSuAMKUTM3EKeSfO8_R0tK8VKlnVFZQQCjJToposIrEfOKc8N8iklSaMyiUBSR3TkaS23S12KICVEBb8kIJ/s1600/IMG_6101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglambC4_Eys40f5QvoLbFw3Bfl_QhVPdEAdebbpenGfjf0ZcXtirSuAMKUTM3EKeSfO8_R0tK8VKlnVFZQQCjJToposIrEfOKc8N8iklSaMyiUBSR3TkaS23S12KICVEBb8kIJ/s320/IMG_6101.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Jerry plays a professional Santa in the local community and he joined us as we went to a party hosted by other boat friends Jim & Vaughn Quince on "Twins". They traveled with us on the Tenn-Tom last year and bought a condo at Burnt Store Marina. We met new boaters and had invited another couple, Bruce and Susan Armstrong of "Gulfcart" from Naples who drove up to attend. Bruce and Susan wrote a book about their loop trip and we are mentioned in it. If anyone wants a good loop description then check out their book <u>Coming Full Circle</u>. It has just been published so I am not sure how it is available. Anyone interested should just contact us and we will work out the details.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3WMxMxUoAxU21xRLZLi3vRQgPRnXEXNB6jABqoSwOGmTUi8C10SnTNGiugUPoqOB-CQ2c9nADlkFTGQ_jkCHHhvOcy8Qw86Blu4IWTVnT-uHBP96fAfCs1_8WT5mY56FfGxKh/s1600/IMG_6106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3WMxMxUoAxU21xRLZLi3vRQgPRnXEXNB6jABqoSwOGmTUi8C10SnTNGiugUPoqOB-CQ2c9nADlkFTGQ_jkCHHhvOcy8Qw86Blu4IWTVnT-uHBP96fAfCs1_8WT5mY56FfGxKh/s320/IMG_6106.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmtI-QfFl63lIGC0V1k0sKo3y1g2z84eW6jjxXcR1CTKDnO6NEnWTrJZHCDY5uUNGq9czzBB5Wf9jnvixBBFEMgLpFydwELEhzEidakZcQMrqB2wmITg0uMka8p7sIsvFHKQ_7/s1600/IMG_6109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmtI-QfFl63lIGC0V1k0sKo3y1g2z84eW6jjxXcR1CTKDnO6NEnWTrJZHCDY5uUNGq9czzBB5Wf9jnvixBBFEMgLpFydwELEhzEidakZcQMrqB2wmITg0uMka8p7sIsvFHKQ_7/s320/IMG_6109.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
On another day Stacy and I drove down to Sanibel Island to see Lee and Sarah on "Growler" who we met in Canada. They have a winter home on Sanibel and invited us to join them for the day. We had a great time catching up and driving Sanibel and Captiva islands. We had a wonderful lunch at "The Green Flash" and dinner at their home. We visited the beach where we saw many examples of a common local malady called the "Sanibel Stoop" so named because of the constant stooping to collect shells on the beach.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We went back to spend our last night with Jerry & Denise and Ed tried desperately to unlock the special beer holder while Jerry told him all about how cold and refreshing his was.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnEMGGPCWBCGzc66e4r-z-KbxJW97f41-WSLjWvUZ5Sm8d71SfSA_0y8Er7HhAcw416jSsRGD7XU6K0ULjI7ny4KtDVg838jLVS5JIUcGpbyzRvQiJ3pXl6T-FeUhLU9b9GvpU/s1600/IMG_6129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnEMGGPCWBCGzc66e4r-z-KbxJW97f41-WSLjWvUZ5Sm8d71SfSA_0y8Er7HhAcw416jSsRGD7XU6K0ULjI7ny4KtDVg838jLVS5JIUcGpbyzRvQiJ3pXl6T-FeUhLU9b9GvpU/s320/IMG_6129.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We had a great time helping out Jerry and enjoyed his hospitality. Denise returned after Christmas and we left to go to Ft. Myers and across the Okeechobee Waterway to the East Coast.<br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-75630802773281707252010-12-14T18:28:00.001-05:002010-12-14T18:30:09.524-05:00Crossing the Gulf of MexicoBefore we left Panama City we were able to meet our friends Rich and Isis that we met last winter at the church we attended. They came to pick us up and we had dinner at their house with another friend.<br />
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After dinner we headed back and stopped on the way to see the lights in a park in downtown Panama City.<br />
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It was very nice to be able to see Rich and Isis again. It seemed as if we had never left.<br />
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Ed and Lucy on "I Love Lucy" had left that Saturday morning and we remained for one more day to walk into town to church on Sunday morning and to see a piano concert at the church on Sunday evening. The concert was by 10 pianists on 5 grand pianos. We arrived early and were able to get a photo during the rehearsal.<br />
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We left Panama City on December 6 and stopped to top off fuel before heading east to stage for crossing the Gulf of Mexico. We stopped at White City where there is a free dock and very limited power available. Ed & Lucy were already there and we were able to get in just ahead of them. <br />
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While there we saw our friends on "Ladybug" along with three other boats come by headed for Appalachicola. Right behind them were friends from Goose Pond Marina "Jolly Tolly" and "Empty Pockets". It was good to see them again and Stacy hiked to the bridge over the ICW to get photos. They were heading to Carabelle to stage for the gulf crossing.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXknj5lIpU933hrERvVM1d0aWaAUHjYSR0Vj1xbKZxa2rskWZzCwXvVwuidk67zk_Ptr5F5DWe3uVvwjgHPcmNBePKHcumO2OesPfuogx7UOMixe_A_z40GX9zwl_A0w9Zf-il/s1600/IMG_5958.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXknj5lIpU933hrERvVM1d0aWaAUHjYSR0Vj1xbKZxa2rskWZzCwXvVwuidk67zk_Ptr5F5DWe3uVvwjgHPcmNBePKHcumO2OesPfuogx7UOMixe_A_z40GX9zwl_A0w9Zf-il/s320/IMG_5958.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzbwrYsHFa29atyUNsSa5A3dRm5A_wYGvRP4kpFhddGWxVlFNsO1-RO7H8CXVLZkqs0DFhBLYleC4H7aZkj0lCAPkI6ZgZ3yxuozHD2eHIrs2xY5e9-NGkcmgyayuOVfHYb2g/s1600/IMG_5981.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzbwrYsHFa29atyUNsSa5A3dRm5A_wYGvRP4kpFhddGWxVlFNsO1-RO7H8CXVLZkqs0DFhBLYleC4H7aZkj0lCAPkI6ZgZ3yxuozHD2eHIrs2xY5e9-NGkcmgyayuOVfHYb2g/s320/IMG_5981.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
We waited at White City for a weather window to make the gulf crossing and finally decided that Friday, December 10 would be the best time to go. We made our way to Carabelle and anchored out on the 9th along with a few other boats. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and had a comfortable anchorage.<br />
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We left the next day a little after noon with six other boats. As we departed, the weather was as forecasted and we were excited and anxious at the same time. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAv6_3ggUDd0mIH22bKhzulWwW2EqX16ruU5x9QpBAsOzJx_4ldBwlXzUurcSsCQMtVFl28P46Fgc23mlTJEssYNlk9BXsuPo9kxXsdKbrg9w5IDQYkY1C0P_DIhzVQkSa7_FW/s1600/IMG_6020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAv6_3ggUDd0mIH22bKhzulWwW2EqX16ruU5x9QpBAsOzJx_4ldBwlXzUurcSsCQMtVFl28P46Fgc23mlTJEssYNlk9BXsuPo9kxXsdKbrg9w5IDQYkY1C0P_DIhzVQkSa7_FW/s320/IMG_6020.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I Love Lucy Crossing Gulf</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div style="text-align: left;">After dark we noticed the wind pick up and the waves increased as well. We had a rough time from about 10:00 to about 4:00 in the morning. The waves were not quite on our beam but enough were to rock us. Since we had no moon we could not see anything but the other boats in our group. We maintained radio contact and took turns standing watch. Before we left Goose Pond I had installed an autopilot that was given to me by someone that was upgrading theirs. I made a few repairs and replaced our "30 year old autopilot with a 20 year old pilot". I was amazed at how accurately it would hold a course in the conditions we found ourselves in. We had not used autopilot but very seldomly on the loop and it is worth having one if for no other reason than to cross the gulf.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The seas calmed somewhat by around 4:00 am and we waited for dawn. When the skies started to get lighter we noticed what looked like storm clouds ahead. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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It turns out that we did indeed have cloud cover but not storms. This was actually a good thing as we were to navigate through crab pots and the rising sun can be right in your eyes as you enter the "mine field". We timed our crossing so that we would not be in the pots until the sun was higher in the sky but the clouds blocked the harsh sun and we had no problem with the crab pots. Actually there were very few compared to what we were accustomed to in the St. John's river and the Chesapeake Bay.<br />
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Prior to departure Stacy went through the boat and secured everything for the crossing. We tied down everything that was loose and the only things that moved were the table, chairs and couch and everything behind it on the aft deck. This was during the worst of the beam seas and they did not move again afterward. <br />
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After we arrived in Tarpon Springs we had a celebratory glass of Champagne and realized that the Christmas boat parade was to be held that night and that they were beginning at our marina.<br />
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Tarpon Springs is famous for the sponge industry before synthetic sponges became available. The entire city is Greek and everything was centered around sponge diving and the sponge trade. Now it is mostly a tourist town with many Greek restaurants and the typical tee shirt shops.<br />
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We slept the whole night and the next day we cleaned up the boat from salt spray and generally performed any maintenance chores that needed tending to. We were not planning to be in the marina for long but a new cold front was roaring in and was bringing 30 mph winds for Sunday through Tuesday. We decided that we would stay until Wednesday. <br />
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We got together with the other boats that crossed with us at a Greek restaurant in town on Monday night. It was good to get together with these boaters that we shared our crossing with.<br />
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It has been very cold here and we are looking forward to going further south and getting into some warmer weather. We plan to leave Wednesday and head towards St. Petersburg.<br />
<div align="center"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-41144679757662532332010-11-30T14:07:00.000-05:002010-11-30T14:07:10.712-05:00Fort Walton Beach & Thanksgiving in Panama City<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">After leaving Little Sabine Bay at Pensacola, we headed for the free dock at Ft. Walton Beach. This dock is provided by the city for one overnight stay but has no power. It is a chance to get off the boat without using the dinghy however and it does have water on the dock so we avail ourselves of it when we come through. We joined the boat Negotiator which was already there. We noticed a number of people setting up tables and staging in the park next to the dock and went up later in the evening when a band was playing. We found out that it was a church that was throwing a party for all of the volunteers that helped make the church function each week. It was good to see this happening.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcKO0SjCmkeK2oum1WXUW3wkVuRuMD9Nw6mpI6QYsCkvw-XoAsRxcwOgOcKr6CNg5U0TtHjGGiE-jE7jMwX3y-urtehCDMqGNWqNN1a7eqx7lwrQtfSwqzYNGYzPRqpUPGNik/s1600/IMG_5909.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcKO0SjCmkeK2oum1WXUW3wkVuRuMD9Nw6mpI6QYsCkvw-XoAsRxcwOgOcKr6CNg5U0TtHjGGiE-jE7jMwX3y-urtehCDMqGNWqNN1a7eqx7lwrQtfSwqzYNGYzPRqpUPGNik/s320/IMG_5909.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We had decided to try to run from Destin to Panama City on the outside just because we hadn't done it before and so we stuck our noses out at Destin inlet and found that the gulf had not calmed enough to be comfortable for that trip. We turned around and came back in and traveled on the ICW on over to Panama City. We did get a good view of Destin Harbor on our way by.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYGzJu39iXOOMMFbcFO4Lj6qwFA1xtUq17GmKCqeOid5tHVnd2gbaU48YdYFW7jGhdA6ZymctGIAB1Hd308C14ZbtBnkaXJgriyN60OyDKupawMFtO0JiuRRuhGJ2lF41_JQP1/s1600/IMG_5912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYGzJu39iXOOMMFbcFO4Lj6qwFA1xtUq17GmKCqeOid5tHVnd2gbaU48YdYFW7jGhdA6ZymctGIAB1Hd308C14ZbtBnkaXJgriyN60OyDKupawMFtO0JiuRRuhGJ2lF41_JQP1/s320/IMG_5912.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We arrived at Panama City and anchored in Watson Bayou next to Carl & Greg Vernon's house. wI Love Lucy rafted to us and we had dinner with RoyEl who was already there and tied up at the Vernon's dock. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZIky7vLmsrA7e-ewI07G3944uga0CHnZgDHtjaCW8S3GClL3b2uRvPfSHoEQDf1YazIWvpHRyJxjmX-g1Btev0i1dWRlRjB5H66Xz6SE4gwKTXD_-0at3-auxWaJynMkd40H/s1600/IMG_5923.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZIky7vLmsrA7e-ewI07G3944uga0CHnZgDHtjaCW8S3GClL3b2uRvPfSHoEQDf1YazIWvpHRyJxjmX-g1Btev0i1dWRlRjB5H66Xz6SE4gwKTXD_-0at3-auxWaJynMkd40H/s320/IMG_5923.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> <br />
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The next day I went with Ed on I Love Lucy to drive back to Mobile Bay to retrieve their car. That took most of Saturday and we had dinner with Carl & Greg that evening. On Sunday we borrowed Carl's truck and went to the church we had attended last year while we were in Panama City over the winter. They were having a combined service with dinner on the grounds and it was good to see people that we had met last year. They had good music and the kids performed. We were treated to a great lunch. As the pastor said "Where two or three are gathered at the church a chicken will die". <br />
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On Monday evening we drove to Bo and Carmen Johnson's beach house and had dinner there. It was a pleasure to see Old Grumpy's crew again. We are still so thankful that they shuttled our car back to Scottsboro last spring.<br />
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We spent the first part of the week taking care of boat chores and looking at web sites to determine the best time to cross the Gulf of Mexico. We all have different sites to visit and looking at them all gave us a good picture of the situation. We had a good time visiting with Carl & Greg, Ed & Lucy and Roy & Elvie. Carl & Greg were hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for any Loopers in the area and were expecting around 30 people.<br />
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The Thanksgiving dinner was great. We had 25 Loopers there and Greg did an outstanding job of cooking turkey, ham, stuffing and whatever else. We all brought a side dish and I don't think anyone went away hungry.<br />
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After Thanksgiving we decided to move to Massalina Bayou in downtown Panama City. We wanted to get out of Carl & Greg's hair and get settled in for what appeared to be about a week of bad weather before we would be able to make a crossing of the Gulf. We were able to tie up in some abandoned slips that Carl was aware of and it has been good to be able to wander into town. We walked to the First Baptist church on Sunday and attended their service.<br />
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We think we will now be here until Friday when we will make our move over to Appalachicola and then to Carabelle to stage for crossing the Gulf. We think the conditions will be right for a Saturday night or a Sunday night crossing. We will know more the closer we get to that time. In the mean time, we are having rain today and will have much cooler weather tomorrow. Hopefully the gulf will calm down after this front moves through and we will have a good crossing to Tarpon Springs.<br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-55530513151857959092010-11-16T10:02:00.001-05:002010-11-16T10:03:08.251-05:00AGLCA Rendezvous, Tenn-Tom, Bottom Paint & PensacolaWe attended the AGLCA Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park where we got our usual spot and for the 4th year volunteered to handle the boat parking for 60+ boats that were coming in. The marina would give us the list and slip assignments and we would be "traffic control" for groups of boats coming in from the lock and get them into their assigned slip.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We were there a few days early as boats come in early and socialize prior to the rendezvous. We had two boats in early that had just completed the loop and we had a celebration party on the pool deck for them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK46S4Vx6_MJWLSG7meTo_WYAUNU8AR9QmB0k4eNGrnCvT4WrWcONWbI6jp6Hz333S_H06-wuLW1FFQYD5T1zmuFU4SKNrLQIsSxsGhIhyphenhyphenjGaU7KoxQUNtwdXY4wryoyfR5_rm/s1600/IMG_5816.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK46S4Vx6_MJWLSG7meTo_WYAUNU8AR9QmB0k4eNGrnCvT4WrWcONWbI6jp6Hz333S_H06-wuLW1FFQYD5T1zmuFU4SKNrLQIsSxsGhIhyphenhyphenjGaU7KoxQUNtwdXY4wryoyfR5_rm/s320/IMG_5816.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Later we had friends new and old gather on the back of SEASEA and share stories. This would be a regular occurance for us during the week.<br />
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One boat came in that caught our eye. It is a canal boat originally used on the Erie Canal. It is 41 feet long and only 10 wide. A professor at Penn State University owned it and had converted it to run on either electric or diesel power. It was an interesting boat to visit for three reasons. One is that we have two nieces attending Penn State, the second is that we have on our "bucket list" to charter a canal boat in France, and the third is that I was interested in the electric power system that was installed.<br />
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We left the AGLCA Rendezvous on Friday, Oct 29 and headed to the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway to go south to the Gulf. We anchored at the head of the Tenn-Tom (Zippy Branch) for the first night and then anchored at Bay Springs staging to go through 6 locks to make our way down to the Old Tombigbee River channel. From there we went to Cochrane Cutoff and then to Foscue Creek at Demopolis. <br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">Along the way we saw the usual river sights. Among them this all too common occurance - a house that once was along the river bank is now almost in the river. The Tenn-Tom is constantly altering it's shore line and this is the danger of being too close.</div><br />
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We met up with our friends Ed & Lucy on "I Love Lucy" at Foscue Creek where they had a wonderful meal ready for us. We had been running long days and it was good to see them again and spend a couple of days there before heading on down toward Mobile. We rafted together at Okatuppa Creek, Alabama River cutoff and the Tensaw River cutoff. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">I had a good time playing with their new dog Brie. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7PDdZreT7KhqjqroQgTzsRdyu1uPQgemN8TsFd2XYPG89CPHY3LbQQ_hUuuVX1UaiFE665Hx2JWQcTKekIGiwou8iU8cUNwKQB3ZRPHNQ9CqIuoxvGFVdh7sRsHD3JXS6e8jq/s1600/IMG_5853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7PDdZreT7KhqjqroQgTzsRdyu1uPQgemN8TsFd2XYPG89CPHY3LbQQ_hUuuVX1UaiFE665Hx2JWQcTKekIGiwou8iU8cUNwKQB3ZRPHNQ9CqIuoxvGFVdh7sRsHD3JXS6e8jq/s320/IMG_5853.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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When we entered Mobile Bay we headed to Dog River Marina and Ed & Lucy headed to Fairhope. We were going into Dog River to haul out SEASEA for bottom paint. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8mfl9rrfp8vgzwCrtgYuh5Y2GSXArWO7tVvfx1nc0BXTxRZvlYrkaar91gRqhyphenhyphen_StbTDFiCeEZ1DmXLXWCEV7G0Yq2V4yyNJx_LseSOqC8dooEJCQTUARGuprCpiqpChRduPE/s1600/IMG_5869.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8mfl9rrfp8vgzwCrtgYuh5Y2GSXArWO7tVvfx1nc0BXTxRZvlYrkaar91gRqhyphenhyphen_StbTDFiCeEZ1DmXLXWCEV7G0Yq2V4yyNJx_LseSOqC8dooEJCQTUARGuprCpiqpChRduPE/s320/IMG_5869.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We were hauled out on Monday November 8 and spent the week preparing the bottom and painting two coats of bottom paint. We were very pleased with the condition of the bottom. We had no blisters and it only took minimal prep to get the bottom ready for new paint. We use ablative paint that wears away slowly as you cruise (like a bar of soap) so we don't need to do extensive sanding in preparation for new paint. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQvEkk8xs10vxUiaq_BXZchOA2cmYIEhOXhiuCP_8vkNtuXEkAaODmYEHuifT2EC39zJj_jb33ZnWCL4L2OLMUeLzZYZ1LJx_pbRZCC7vVPHsYtt5jYvXzLRdlOPVwH-PQaci9/s1600/IMG_5856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQvEkk8xs10vxUiaq_BXZchOA2cmYIEhOXhiuCP_8vkNtuXEkAaODmYEHuifT2EC39zJj_jb33ZnWCL4L2OLMUeLzZYZ1LJx_pbRZCC7vVPHsYtt5jYvXzLRdlOPVwH-PQaci9/s320/IMG_5856.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div> After leaving Dog River marina on Saturday we headed to one of our favorite anchorages at Ingram Bayou. We could not get back in the water a day earlier at Dog River in order to get to Pensacola in time for the Blue Angels air show but did get quite a few boats in the anchorage that night that had come from the show.<br />
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We remained in contact with boaters we met while at Goose Pond (Bob & Ellie on "Sunshine Lady") that live in Gulf Breeze (Pensacola) and they suggested that we anchor at Little Sabine Bay so that they could come by car and let us use the car to go to the Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola. We were not able to see this museum last year and we jumped at the opportunity. We saw the entire history of Naval Aviation at the museum and it was very interesting to any gear head or aviation buff.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wHqJBGVzDeg6AUbmCb75Z2JhQ0jHxmiQEQhoMNbRy90lKCn4bs0aAYyCmF9ER0C8FU6EHAHe4jEE4QSiXUaXfZoLpou5LQ5us9BFtp_aVh48wldtiS0s98UyyGqe6ZIVe4rC/s1600/IMG_5898.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wHqJBGVzDeg6AUbmCb75Z2JhQ0jHxmiQEQhoMNbRy90lKCn4bs0aAYyCmF9ER0C8FU6EHAHe4jEE4QSiXUaXfZoLpou5LQ5us9BFtp_aVh48wldtiS0s98UyyGqe6ZIVe4rC/s320/IMG_5898.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We had dinner with Bob and Ellie on at their beautiful home in Gulf Breeze and then headed back to check on SEASEA since we were in the middle of a fairly heavy blow and rain.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKqSzv4H9HiFpXyplKNh99v8PTR_A9pigHS-WVo2r_ADFhPaEG7C-ma-lKOJ23S2u7Of3YKsd9OAEIO3aUXj0NeHq_HJM9V0qjVp6ad6gBtWdldHaiTqr8VhKl_VBHNOKK88I0/s1600/IMG_5900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKqSzv4H9HiFpXyplKNh99v8PTR_A9pigHS-WVo2r_ADFhPaEG7C-ma-lKOJ23S2u7Of3YKsd9OAEIO3aUXj0NeHq_HJM9V0qjVp6ad6gBtWdldHaiTqr8VhKl_VBHNOKK88I0/s320/IMG_5900.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We are currently anchored at Little Sabine Bay waiting out the bad weather today. We have winds of 20-25 with higher gusts. We plan to leave here tomorrow and head on toward Panama City where we will plan to spend Thanksgiving with the Vernons.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-47642336504300431262010-10-18T13:52:00.000-04:002010-10-18T13:52:13.507-04:00Hot summer at Goose Pond Marina<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It was a very hot summer at Goose Pond Marina on the Tennessee River. We spent most of the summer getting SEASEA ready to travel back down river in the fall and working on other boats in the marina. I stripped and refinished the interior teak on the aft deck and replaced the rear plexiglass windows, painted the engine and generator rooms, repaired the icemaker door, replaced the autopilot, replaced the GPS receiver, cleaned carpets, re-made the dinghy cover, cleaned and polished the dinghy hull and polished the boat.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eHteoNqlyXhDYBLQxWRdAdcof30Nx9MLiVLo_Sqt4UExlq94fmzF6ujSaiPMMDzOI_psPilasfm7N2xqj5OeLThsJefNMlUTYvVcxloTCXv_gK_af6Ram0LInd3Pt5owxRp_/s1600/IMG_5810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_TzfnlijHWO-16RmR6-wRczralhTpCVG6vWQuM3liUF-QYvN8Rsgcly93GXOvlVOjDSk1B9ABWpBcv2z9GxscpNJYpa1yc6iiEVPYp3adTPmwelokXJxfMIzEUzFS9F8XteN-/s1600/IMG_5786.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_TzfnlijHWO-16RmR6-wRczralhTpCVG6vWQuM3liUF-QYvN8Rsgcly93GXOvlVOjDSk1B9ABWpBcv2z9GxscpNJYpa1yc6iiEVPYp3adTPmwelokXJxfMIzEUzFS9F8XteN-/s320/IMG_5786.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7PBSIsEowipnhaFcAQypH4Tnr3oYY55H68auNnZSUTFi3rsvjHQZtRoAG6K_529BJODdN1oOxd5j-DUVg0iCT-8Qj4w8PB7mb5ozqULkz7VmZ5R6B5p2rerfUQ7c3LvzQ6QpV/s1600/IMG_5744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7PBSIsEowipnhaFcAQypH4Tnr3oYY55H68auNnZSUTFi3rsvjHQZtRoAG6K_529BJODdN1oOxd5j-DUVg0iCT-8Qj4w8PB7mb5ozqULkz7VmZ5R6B5p2rerfUQ7c3LvzQ6QpV/s320/IMG_5744.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Afwc_ibpyOrAchFcVRpdc0cbMbjn3TJV9hwe43zaYfH6IojyBANZ5I7BkzFqeVso2YU7Tqbr5oJkp6ZbSkerk0kceEv-ghOH-wJo3DLKmEDxOX3Au9CPiiU0RfOsOkpTJ7Pz/s1600/IMG_5746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Afwc_ibpyOrAchFcVRpdc0cbMbjn3TJV9hwe43zaYfH6IojyBANZ5I7BkzFqeVso2YU7Tqbr5oJkp6ZbSkerk0kceEv-ghOH-wJo3DLKmEDxOX3Au9CPiiU0RfOsOkpTJ7Pz/s320/IMG_5746.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> <img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgszPebnEVP2O2yTQJRRNG2THj0hpNpM5WmNaLEAT9FrMcpnxSNHArxEY3fDkpawmYwVEMoiRefcfNgzTPGWa0oLWaaLOWoHyI9pZn2Zv4W9Xfzmp4V31FaGzt088RRPKCw2LS/s320/IMG_5794.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjowtqPCtNgEDxYmGMeLnJsZyHsbnY2_x-osuox3SloqbI-PA7pOuuWuxFadNclE4_9fH6K8KNKjvIWiTIf2vZqu0sh59Z-xN4qJzNqotCJVMEyIu1pw1fdQjoRn2AqxCQy79JW/s1600/IMG_5761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjowtqPCtNgEDxYmGMeLnJsZyHsbnY2_x-osuox3SloqbI-PA7pOuuWuxFadNclE4_9fH6K8KNKjvIWiTIf2vZqu0sh59Z-xN4qJzNqotCJVMEyIu1pw1fdQjoRn2AqxCQy79JW/s320/IMG_5761.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">On other boats I replaced all fuel lines, replaced raw water pumps, rebuilt carburetors (teaching opportunity for the boys), replaced fuel pumps, repaired fiberglass, repaired a windlass and repaired wiring.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiEmCVFdxEeKaeCUSLQT3xaVbfDrj6peKEM0SrMT0L_MVHJK6UhJmHO8d5qO8C3VGXATAjWhR7bWH727mNPz2mIDH-IleanI1Y-drkmqd9vrtTjnu2ywU1GFlAOHPsT6r4fPyw/s1600/IMG_5770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiEmCVFdxEeKaeCUSLQT3xaVbfDrj6peKEM0SrMT0L_MVHJK6UhJmHO8d5qO8C3VGXATAjWhR7bWH727mNPz2mIDH-IleanI1Y-drkmqd9vrtTjnu2ywU1GFlAOHPsT6r4fPyw/s320/IMG_5770.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We had sunset cruises on board and had dinners at Ray & Patsy Whitney's house (AGLCA Harbor Hosts for Goose Pond Marina).</div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGIwrzCJb0uYJcI1EVUkoBUyWmprPzjlDk9Jx7woK6Bhe6dCDdxrkBxrdw3-6ZrvRF-DpSp1tLE8awuQ__3If5U6OGLKc1aBT9Us8YxKPXRzOmHBkEEBj2vqSIdcBKcySDuka8/s1600/IMG_5793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGIwrzCJb0uYJcI1EVUkoBUyWmprPzjlDk9Jx7woK6Bhe6dCDdxrkBxrdw3-6ZrvRF-DpSp1tLE8awuQ__3If5U6OGLKc1aBT9Us8YxKPXRzOmHBkEEBj2vqSIdcBKcySDuka8/s320/IMG_5793.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAM7MVZ1SLbRFLEVMfM51IazZMlVKDFabAEgaBjZHTlz8ELZo7Al1t5DwSYj7MLWCfSltmvpxXStwUUioKU3pYPuq4GUUasVuRKBynDac2NA6Xuo9RPuvTifs4x5frfrvec-p/s1600/IMG_5799.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAM7MVZ1SLbRFLEVMfM51IazZMlVKDFabAEgaBjZHTlz8ELZo7Al1t5DwSYj7MLWCfSltmvpxXStwUUioKU3pYPuq4GUUasVuRKBynDac2NA6Xuo9RPuvTifs4x5frfrvec-p/s320/IMG_5799.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Stacy's cousin Richard Copelan and his wife Lynn and son Michael visited from Birmingham and we had a great visit with them. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_qi0T8LAGZvPcqbuyjUVDoLEXX0-Xk0VsFpOrydalL42Cfnm1a5vadcLAQboZU5ATdvj8wqJZlyZRuBL-Xr4PUJ6f_CxyBtVaDXXHSHz8_yiSZV8-5GwH9Y2SzO4Oh7bzHuVi/s1600/IMG_5795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_qi0T8LAGZvPcqbuyjUVDoLEXX0-Xk0VsFpOrydalL42Cfnm1a5vadcLAQboZU5ATdvj8wqJZlyZRuBL-Xr4PUJ6f_CxyBtVaDXXHSHz8_yiSZV8-5GwH9Y2SzO4Oh7bzHuVi/s320/IMG_5795.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>We said our goodbye's to our friends and left Goose Pond on the 14th and headed to Joe Wheeler State Park for the Great Loop Cruisers rendezvous. We have already met old friends and made new ones and the rendezvous hasn't even started. We will be very busy in the next few days as we will once again be assisting the marina with coordinating the parking of all the arriving boats.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eHteoNqlyXhDYBLQxWRdAdcof30Nx9MLiVLo_Sqt4UExlq94fmzF6ujSaiPMMDzOI_psPilasfm7N2xqj5OeLThsJefNMlUTYvVcxloTCXv_gK_af6Ram0LInd3Pt5owxRp_/s320/IMG_5810.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We are planning to see our friends on Omega again once we get down to the Keys and it is always a possibility to see Ray and Patsy just about anywhere.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our plan is to leave here a day or so after the rendezvous and make our way back down the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway to the gulf coast and eventuallyback to the Keys and the east coast.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgszPebnEVP2O2yTQJRRNG2THj0hpNpM5WmNaLEAT9FrMcpnxSNHArxEY3fDkpawmYwVEMoiRefcfNgzTPGWa0oLWaaLOWoHyI9pZn2Zv4W9Xfzmp4V31FaGzt088RRPKCw2LS/s1600/IMG_5794.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-4870127011404943182010-05-21T17:51:00.000-04:002010-05-21T17:51:11.779-04:00Babies, Graduations, Weddings and boating with the Rays<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After we got back to Athens we attended our Nephew Andrew Brannon's graduation from the University of Georgia. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgNYWE7lRVrdomZCPZ73HxH8Ovip-PhsQxvNPkf-uAcUD6rp3Gf8E8xoLchhdCHTJfv9Vr4UG0fuCFHa0Gr1ZZ-0FVgWqZ7iIy67cqv-bfBJtRjRBdADJwy9lkygGfho_PUlZd/s1600/IMG_5498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgNYWE7lRVrdomZCPZ73HxH8Ovip-PhsQxvNPkf-uAcUD6rp3Gf8E8xoLchhdCHTJfv9Vr4UG0fuCFHa0Gr1ZZ-0FVgWqZ7iIy67cqv-bfBJtRjRBdADJwy9lkygGfho_PUlZd/s320/IMG_5498.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We then went to the wedding of our Nephew Caleb Tingle and saw there for the first time our new Great Niece Sophie Tingle, daughter of J and Kendra Tingle.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttsdschmnKTr0_qjrULndGjcLtwsFBVVzGPnHLybo25WY57CtqS8nxcnJHutU5B73VcXjrmS-FeKGajqzvX_V3GDv2mI02oyYEYY0FBLWd1rM1H8kyx_vimSgCqeCMAe9b2Zc/s1600/IMG_5588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttsdschmnKTr0_qjrULndGjcLtwsFBVVzGPnHLybo25WY57CtqS8nxcnJHutU5B73VcXjrmS-FeKGajqzvX_V3GDv2mI02oyYEYY0FBLWd1rM1H8kyx_vimSgCqeCMAe9b2Zc/s320/IMG_5588.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The wedding was wonderful and we had a great time. Isaac Ray and I participated with many others in saluting the couple with giant sparklers as they left. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NdzYq-Y6LXSbq0p5Km8J7Q3nC-wZnV80xwhP0n_40S-3x1cStw6hiMnKQumGVxOyxhU3HgJh47qB5NQmimEdmiy90y4v9XU0WC-UvyGzMxw3M98NdJsv6hc8XcohEJl8Lw58/s1600/IMG_5595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NdzYq-Y6LXSbq0p5Km8J7Q3nC-wZnV80xwhP0n_40S-3x1cStw6hiMnKQumGVxOyxhU3HgJh47qB5NQmimEdmiy90y4v9XU0WC-UvyGzMxw3M98NdJsv6hc8XcohEJl8Lw58/s320/IMG_5595.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The next morning I headed for the boat and Stacy went back to Athens to attend the Baccalaureate service for our niece Emma Tingle. On Monday Stacy brought her sister Susannah and her five children (Dana, Hannah, Gretchen, Jennifer and Isaac) to the boat. We left on Monday afternoon for Jones Creek where we anchored for the night. Jennifer, Isaac and I sounded out the entrance with the dinghy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMR7UiMgqVnQo6DOBB7O2KA4t9zXBsulAoyFcK_DJmbP2B19SXOI9XggOqAwJV65uawGAsXNURq0xoSuDTqLaDKZBJX9NJRcoNy3ZFff46EYXAREzm3OLjixs3DRgLCb9dxcw/s1600/IMG_5598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMR7UiMgqVnQo6DOBB7O2KA4t9zXBsulAoyFcK_DJmbP2B19SXOI9XggOqAwJV65uawGAsXNURq0xoSuDTqLaDKZBJX9NJRcoNy3ZFff46EYXAREzm3OLjixs3DRgLCb9dxcw/s320/IMG_5598.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The first order of business was dinghying to shore and climbing to the Pinnacle, a rock outcropping on the top of a nearby mountain.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwfU0AC9J43NjbRk8xjcIdB69IP3R9L6pws-aK7whyphenhyphenYfvS5MN3ysfbZqXwVhruLpD257A-AO4k4A7yMhSqFl0wI1SE1DlOYTHlKaNap3zohxFdyjSq9NPWjptimh3J4iwn5vkx/s1600/IMG_5606.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwfU0AC9J43NjbRk8xjcIdB69IP3R9L6pws-aK7whyphenhyphenYfvS5MN3ysfbZqXwVhruLpD257A-AO4k4A7yMhSqFl0wI1SE1DlOYTHlKaNap3zohxFdyjSq9NPWjptimh3J4iwn5vkx/s320/IMG_5606.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHaAmGtP_ZE09v3Y9afteCyEjc9sUaTGMUGkRTh4ODwW0Iw5Y-WA81iumdsM6gRaWd2VX0nKCT69tq0U53KOnTzTkiiuhayATvtuPJR6QKTg1Ys55Aj52xNZOcbm5-_XFCanQe/s1600/DSC_4853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHaAmGtP_ZE09v3Y9afteCyEjc9sUaTGMUGkRTh4ODwW0Iw5Y-WA81iumdsM6gRaWd2VX0nKCT69tq0U53KOnTzTkiiuhayATvtuPJR6QKTg1Ys55Aj52xNZOcbm5-_XFCanQe/s320/DSC_4853.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNBqjAW6vGa2TkPUV59UDdgZ4hRvIeGNYHTiPOWTMpiqUiHN6_gXrLknw9l3ONOu1uOFt5jkzRdbkXinUq69axB-F5tDrZEFDZK1wOLHfn2BZCv0VWAS7HSy6UAGNt9JEVGga/s1600/IMG_5608.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNBqjAW6vGa2TkPUV59UDdgZ4hRvIeGNYHTiPOWTMpiqUiHN6_gXrLknw9l3ONOu1uOFt5jkzRdbkXinUq69axB-F5tDrZEFDZK1wOLHfn2BZCv0VWAS7HSy6UAGNt9JEVGga/s320/IMG_5608.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF6KgOMzC5Broz1W3f8Ys07cG1OrJsWAFdduzcwcN7EIurJwO5-Prn0mLavDnn4elXm2Q7aPLJ_-9jnDU_no-QaVkYUCRX9chjPg6EFU6QUnMH5j5X4VsMv9QemQ4QtbvJtx7_/s1600/IMG_5618.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF6KgOMzC5Broz1W3f8Ys07cG1OrJsWAFdduzcwcN7EIurJwO5-Prn0mLavDnn4elXm2Q7aPLJ_-9jnDU_no-QaVkYUCRX9chjPg6EFU6QUnMH5j5X4VsMv9QemQ4QtbvJtx7_/s320/IMG_5618.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After returning to the boat the kids swam and used the dinghy deck as a high jump platform.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1lLb3e09WgTpGmgrwa2erBsthZUmOYrA1176nIiQ8zE-6h3XoLb9Eq1x0vCDyMLrFcCd6hFvu0244lhJUpnZvrn26t5WBwW9BLQQu8tOitXZkGgxa-D9xSUUkQWYBddK7TxAQ/s1600/DSC_4860.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1lLb3e09WgTpGmgrwa2erBsthZUmOYrA1176nIiQ8zE-6h3XoLb9Eq1x0vCDyMLrFcCd6hFvu0244lhJUpnZvrn26t5WBwW9BLQQu8tOitXZkGgxa-D9xSUUkQWYBddK7TxAQ/s320/DSC_4860.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGcuO6JH_oL0j8hk5IZehxTB2oXiXaCYWghFoJ5RAuEYfAmiy-Phbojb421uGNDv2RzUXs-gd1Z9UigSjSqkqFeYGYp3hABy0dXrnlpc1WnmC3jilsVsZqjSePhBJqAQICoFX/s1600/DSC_4861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGcuO6JH_oL0j8hk5IZehxTB2oXiXaCYWghFoJ5RAuEYfAmiy-Phbojb421uGNDv2RzUXs-gd1Z9UigSjSqkqFeYGYp3hABy0dXrnlpc1WnmC3jilsVsZqjSePhBJqAQICoFX/s320/DSC_4861.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Of course, no trip to the river would be complete without hair shampoo in the lake.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyRAM6ZkaY56xmG102mJpatjFR5X9rLPozZLxR523PdjE25VGVdhv9sao0MJIffoFqlLeyA3ZSZTmnWX2ZK9vj4_t9-asSUDQt-rDajI4QiVwFmZkfn0EBuxZk5LrjC8I45Fq/s1600/IMG_5621.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyRAM6ZkaY56xmG102mJpatjFR5X9rLPozZLxR523PdjE25VGVdhv9sao0MJIffoFqlLeyA3ZSZTmnWX2ZK9vj4_t9-asSUDQt-rDajI4QiVwFmZkfn0EBuxZk5LrjC8I45Fq/s320/IMG_5621.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We left Jones Creek the next morning and headed up through Nickajack lock. It seems most of the trip was spent reading - something the Rays really enjoy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1U_g5D43tLsMumFki6O6hwXgvb8RxtJxZIo_0q7qkfSmycqdse2jeHXbGfeHL8F4uzvLVGoeMkJOAN9wv0UOsfd32nGGWlCWpiVmdEdiUixJ-IloK-PTMEigjBsceyqLC7YIp/s1600/IMG_5627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1U_g5D43tLsMumFki6O6hwXgvb8RxtJxZIo_0q7qkfSmycqdse2jeHXbGfeHL8F4uzvLVGoeMkJOAN9wv0UOsfd32nGGWlCWpiVmdEdiUixJ-IloK-PTMEigjBsceyqLC7YIp/s320/IMG_5627.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jennifer and Isaac were the primary helmspersons and kept a good watch.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3979NcaedWc7ohhbJ8aSzU4fuGr-SjdIR4li7Pk9SKmlshrSuv8T-_m24mbx7gZWFUdG9EAryloXQK7xzGogcgh3VLbBp6eSO2fW9WmMqKIo7DtQXcN-TWKOCXdZMCRuKAv8/s1600/IMG_5628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3979NcaedWc7ohhbJ8aSzU4fuGr-SjdIR4li7Pk9SKmlshrSuv8T-_m24mbx7gZWFUdG9EAryloXQK7xzGogcgh3VLbBp6eSO2fW9WmMqKIo7DtQXcN-TWKOCXdZMCRuKAv8/s320/IMG_5628.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Isaac did a good job negotiating the tow and barges.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJVc-hAx1rt40heYl_lbECTJTS4gT_BlHL563gzeinsa0JwQHOBllh5vCEGlbQxbIcEp3Oj7pr7vn19juexh7vwNslsW-YaylQlV-W6w-8C_1cueVqGQieIurIa-APQbovKh-Z/s1600/IMG_5631.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJVc-hAx1rt40heYl_lbECTJTS4gT_BlHL563gzeinsa0JwQHOBllh5vCEGlbQxbIcEp3Oj7pr7vn19juexh7vwNslsW-YaylQlV-W6w-8C_1cueVqGQieIurIa-APQbovKh-Z/s320/IMG_5631.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We all donned our required life jackets for our trip through the lock.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFFkCxuhMQEV-_bP17len3b9m1q19SC8GWCitCpuLuE60vZNiaZgGIGWxyvkL9OR43xaF_Qdf29MsFmzxo5MA9gH-4wghRii-fbUqRwZivq_O8om2DDYiGrlWCiR9_lXMX3eW/s1600/IMG_5634.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFFkCxuhMQEV-_bP17len3b9m1q19SC8GWCitCpuLuE60vZNiaZgGIGWxyvkL9OR43xaF_Qdf29MsFmzxo5MA9gH-4wghRii-fbUqRwZivq_O8om2DDYiGrlWCiR9_lXMX3eW/s320/IMG_5634.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Once we anchored at Little Cedar Mountain we played in the dinghy and swam again.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpz-tuS_Lhi0aa251Pff15lDhXyxCLNwet2u7u9kjeZuYH2ALvq6J9fmVh3sc6RGqpvKlxksFDZfl0gRZ1Y2vvbW9Vc6fYReRnLykFOYsG6LCBMMX6_r3_effrayXEH3FG2Cs2/s1600/IMG_5638.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpz-tuS_Lhi0aa251Pff15lDhXyxCLNwet2u7u9kjeZuYH2ALvq6J9fmVh3sc6RGqpvKlxksFDZfl0gRZ1Y2vvbW9Vc6fYReRnLykFOYsG6LCBMMX6_r3_effrayXEH3FG2Cs2/s320/IMG_5638.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div align="center"> The next morning we pulled anchor and headed back to Goose Pond Marina. They left from there and had an 11 hour trip back to Pennsylvania.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHuTH3FniCeQnXqsQfB6U6ahjit71GLPLTNdv1BU3P8cMdlKyZBi4enHwUdIL9MhwYioVjaKVktc8pnMzoZwMHgDlfxSj_E_I6hpxW8z9fEKdScG_s3LNCKvVSji-YdfPQQnvh/s1600/IMG_5623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHuTH3FniCeQnXqsQfB6U6ahjit71GLPLTNdv1BU3P8cMdlKyZBi4enHwUdIL9MhwYioVjaKVktc8pnMzoZwMHgDlfxSj_E_I6hpxW8z9fEKdScG_s3LNCKvVSji-YdfPQQnvh/s320/IMG_5623.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">We had a great time with them on board. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Memories, Memories, Memories</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-6034490397047012282010-05-21T11:08:00.000-04:002010-05-21T11:08:44.180-04:00Tenn-Tom with Eagle One and back at Goose Pond Marina<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We stopped for a visit at the museum of the Snagboat "Montgomery" and the Bevill visitor's center that was built as a combination of three different plantation houses. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYTtcvhki_LaRMKklz-DxJFI89htSt3uryQK0LzPf7LgbjBislmWsjMThGMhjscvFsyRb1J9m_-B4VQcdkbAEcKUAhxLRu19Pfv2l217PTk1Peo35cXFpubgUxNrGMv4pMuT1/s1600/IMG_5410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYTtcvhki_LaRMKklz-DxJFI89htSt3uryQK0LzPf7LgbjBislmWsjMThGMhjscvFsyRb1J9m_-B4VQcdkbAEcKUAhxLRu19Pfv2l217PTk1Peo35cXFpubgUxNrGMv4pMuT1/s320/IMG_5410.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The snagboat was the last active duty steam powered vessel used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the river systems. It was used to remove snags (fallen trees, etc.) from the river to keep the river safe for navigation. It was saved from being scrapped and set up as a museum.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6SgX1mc736B93dmoQhe5VtybXx1jVwrPzKrosJ6g8VNTJre4ABEQEHRyJPyrhR4g0JILWDCB92HFhvtZXU8MQiNfTTAzsGQnwbBUjp_QMMH8TeF16ZOtCbCk-wnY6uDUJXAFj/s1600/IMG_5408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6SgX1mc736B93dmoQhe5VtybXx1jVwrPzKrosJ6g8VNTJre4ABEQEHRyJPyrhR4g0JILWDCB92HFhvtZXU8MQiNfTTAzsGQnwbBUjp_QMMH8TeF16ZOtCbCk-wnY6uDUJXAFj/s320/IMG_5408.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The boat was operated by a small crew and the "pilot house" was used for the pilot and the snag crane operator.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLS9L8j7znnJfMdGeN5BCpuH_cFetJr7V4nu7F08nL_MvbngJYcdFJVz9dRz2Qfs9j9Y_KOMNVQa_rTDInUlYOTz7yXcMU6YwSI51VNyNJlCCH5dBSUDU94AGPnYOx1m66ILpy/s1600/IMG_5404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLS9L8j7znnJfMdGeN5BCpuH_cFetJr7V4nu7F08nL_MvbngJYcdFJVz9dRz2Qfs9j9Y_KOMNVQa_rTDInUlYOTz7yXcMU6YwSI51VNyNJlCCH5dBSUDU94AGPnYOx1m66ILpy/s320/IMG_5404.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After leaving the museum and visitor's center we anchored and waited for Jim and Sue Starke on "Eagle One" to catch up to us. While we were anchored we suddenly saw a plane flying right toward us almost on the water. At the last minute it would pull up and fly over the boat. This plane did this a few different times and we were only able to get this one not-so-good photo as the time from hearing the plane until it had passed us was very short.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4zLqSxW8HRgTAaKplVYxoAWhJy4VV0-QPV9AVEiHwiW1_AGMGy8VmUxlNY-rfdKQsLvZA1HNrHPp4vBPMKKV19AD7TwckCgUOawZb1Nsk1MYvKwqva39-MoQlPEPQ0sKUBiJ/s1600/IMG_5411.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4zLqSxW8HRgTAaKplVYxoAWhJy4VV0-QPV9AVEiHwiW1_AGMGy8VmUxlNY-rfdKQsLvZA1HNrHPp4vBPMKKV19AD7TwckCgUOawZb1Nsk1MYvKwqva39-MoQlPEPQ0sKUBiJ/s320/IMG_5411.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jim & Sue came by us and we headed to Waverly Marina where we topped off fuel (best price on the Tenn-Tom) and stayed for the night. We had their famous cheeseburgers overlooking our boats and then headed out the next day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmTxIlAyJBPMsii0I3yuAabPzRtpM_QOWKQtxDmUX0OukLo_Jh3xnAGPiwB5yj06KNogT5EfURjz97AN1KTtbl8zl1BP_e3PcOqrpxAsknEHnO9_PSNR1g1wj0ihlqAriHr4bm/s1600/IMG_5414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmTxIlAyJBPMsii0I3yuAabPzRtpM_QOWKQtxDmUX0OukLo_Jh3xnAGPiwB5yj06KNogT5EfURjz97AN1KTtbl8zl1BP_e3PcOqrpxAsknEHnO9_PSNR1g1wj0ihlqAriHr4bm/s320/IMG_5414.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After anchoring, we toured the creek on "Eaglet" and realized that we could have anchored much further up the river if conditions warranted. As it was we were fine where we were and just stored the information in our memory.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzxrIHJ8G8kR5hvFewKWxp1tG-PTAqBs5MatVGH0zCJfVhCTN8qoGJdAcuzSCw8oIGIlfp3ccH4afrWqQZSCA2EY27XOdPWMKTB-ooP1zE_auyY2LUZ2PldPU_E0S8Wb7B075b/s1600/IMG_5415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzxrIHJ8G8kR5hvFewKWxp1tG-PTAqBs5MatVGH0zCJfVhCTN8qoGJdAcuzSCw8oIGIlfp3ccH4afrWqQZSCA2EY27XOdPWMKTB-ooP1zE_auyY2LUZ2PldPU_E0S8Wb7B075b/s320/IMG_5415.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Stacy wanted some the wildflowers (or were they weeds) along the banks so Jim pushed us into the bank so I could cut some of the flowers for her. They lasted a surprisingly long time in a vase.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6vxvUYhesqEppRwGF1eygEApT0LLsUsnlN3KR0chI0U8AjOM2yZE62BaSZmX0kfTf23YS1bQc3ZGi-XObNaA-Lem3sB3yAnEHAEgQK8A6andMSmsypFqapyT0Gj09veDPmrmn/s1600/IMG_5417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6vxvUYhesqEppRwGF1eygEApT0LLsUsnlN3KR0chI0U8AjOM2yZE62BaSZmX0kfTf23YS1bQc3ZGi-XObNaA-Lem3sB3yAnEHAEgQK8A6andMSmsypFqapyT0Gj09veDPmrmn/s320/IMG_5417.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At the next lock we found out that a tow had been released ahead of us and that we would be waiting on each lock that day for the tow to be locked through ahead of us. Commercial vessels have priority. We were going through 5 lock in one day and this was going to put us into Bay Springs in the dark. The lockmaster called us and arranged for us to go into the next lock with the tow if there was room and then be able to get ahead upon exiting.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOObOj7fgdcwWCu5c_u12cYWS3TxYZQZBmd0nMhZGOi0zRmkdrRU7t7YlXwCk3dG8oFv7FbHofj7qsB_RP5tOVzJlmQCYXOnJJ3uzvaPo9D7-mMTFULmsEqTck7VAua9E3iq8/s1600/IMG_5424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOObOj7fgdcwWCu5c_u12cYWS3TxYZQZBmd0nMhZGOi0zRmkdrRU7t7YlXwCk3dG8oFv7FbHofj7qsB_RP5tOVzJlmQCYXOnJJ3uzvaPo9D7-mMTFULmsEqTck7VAua9E3iq8/s320/IMG_5424.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next lockmaster and the Tow captain agreed to let us into the lock and there was barely enough room to tie on the last bollard. We were quite concerned that Jim would not fit since he was towing his dinghy. The door just did clear and the tow allowed us to go by him as soon as we exited the lock.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsEqgacOJvlbgyA4w7pe0x_GXSrLTfTzO2Z3Q3ceUNzN0WUvM_1SWnd6KpuTyB2P17xD8IoRlOWkJ5WWz8tSJjX3a9hYYv0qBRom8XatWE2hWvdeiRpNaeS1LvbLb4PcrL1XaN/s1600/IMG_5425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsEqgacOJvlbgyA4w7pe0x_GXSrLTfTzO2Z3Q3ceUNzN0WUvM_1SWnd6KpuTyB2P17xD8IoRlOWkJ5WWz8tSJjX3a9hYYv0qBRom8XatWE2hWvdeiRpNaeS1LvbLb4PcrL1XaN/s320/IMG_5425.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We anchored in Bay Springs for a couple of days and just relaxed. Bay Springs is a beautiful part of the river system and I fully understood why everyone wants to anchor there. We played "Mexican Train" dominoes and visited some of Jim's friends at a local marina. The water was still a bit too cold for swimming but the water is surprisingly clear compared to the Tennessee.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyau3x0mFGyDC1d0tL6blZhcLDBs_Vsz_ea1sIwL4NfYIdvqYyo9TRbEUzpI61UKkl2D_yWQ_ciyp5YnjwH1OnPpjS0-qtblp6SWi5nUo86UuvGoNhtW58sWvNineiXDZxw8hU/s1600/IMG_5436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyau3x0mFGyDC1d0tL6blZhcLDBs_Vsz_ea1sIwL4NfYIdvqYyo9TRbEUzpI61UKkl2D_yWQ_ciyp5YnjwH1OnPpjS0-qtblp6SWi5nUo86UuvGoNhtW58sWvNineiXDZxw8hU/s320/IMG_5436.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As we came on up the Tennessee we were held up at Wheeler Lock for a few hours waiting for a large tow to be locked down. We were able to play an entire game of Mexican Train waiting for the locking. We did notice that the water released from the lock was released into this large cylinder. It was interesting to suddenly see this boiling water next to us.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3C6bcI5jSwOmnUpx1g_FTLN7xcIrfIfwDbqAFcKmWoDkYUvkJk4BWy6g09gRmUcYmDFl4H9PjsD4U3GqWAyRy3XhN84uMVx5k1RKhWRIt3kdjtsx1sp4ZS0TbHigNWtYeVFDV/s1600/IMG_5447.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3C6bcI5jSwOmnUpx1g_FTLN7xcIrfIfwDbqAFcKmWoDkYUvkJk4BWy6g09gRmUcYmDFl4H9PjsD4U3GqWAyRy3XhN84uMVx5k1RKhWRIt3kdjtsx1sp4ZS0TbHigNWtYeVFDV/s320/IMG_5447.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We left Jim & Sue at Bay Hill marina (their home) and made our way on up river to Goose Pond Marina (our home). After securing the boat we made a mad dash to Athens Georgia to see about renting our houses for the next year or so. On the way back we stopped in to see Ken & Darcy Searle at their home in Roswell. They sold "Just Us" while we were with them in Panama City and we missed traveling back up the Tenn-Tom with them. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kabRE0cccRmonK-dQ4q2kArskIF24rxx6RS8pdQk7NX7jJtL6-T_wyuiGCdBFgbDsRfAZS1wbrpo51vQZqNi3JD02WO3Xmpp7jsOpCms33XSneMcYy_J4BonBcTKVkzlHmLT/s1600/IMG_5456.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kabRE0cccRmonK-dQ4q2kArskIF24rxx6RS8pdQk7NX7jJtL6-T_wyuiGCdBFgbDsRfAZS1wbrpo51vQZqNi3JD02WO3Xmpp7jsOpCms33XSneMcYy_J4BonBcTKVkzlHmLT/s320/IMG_5456.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Since arriving back in Athens it has been a whirlwind. We have one house rented and are working on the other. We have been trimming trees, clearing flower beds, repainting, resealing decks and performing all the other requirements of turning over houses. Our nephew's wedding was last Saturday and we attended a wonderful event before heading back to the boat for a trip with Stacy's sister and family.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-67084093742306224092010-04-08T16:44:00.001-04:002010-04-08T16:58:26.099-04:00Panama City to Tenn-Tom WaterwayWe have left Panama City and are presently about half way up the Tenn-Tom Waterway that runs from Mobile, Alabama to the Tennessee River. We are headed back to Goose Pond Marina where SEASEA will be back in her home slip in a couple of weeks.<br />
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Before leaving Panama City we had a nice visit with Jim & Cindy Percival (a local couple we met shortly after arriving) and had lunch at Schooner's.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwEW88qSpXev3qfoZzSHjJImUoSeeLYL28sT8INwa8NzZ5x_2M5IhmXsKNxNT0xEezoXeKkOfRZ-S3RZKY0DdBrGc6M7wx4zFQoY7CRiTTEiqxatXsnfoGUFKSTLp4-Yk4CsLd/s1600/IMG_5329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwEW88qSpXev3qfoZzSHjJImUoSeeLYL28sT8INwa8NzZ5x_2M5IhmXsKNxNT0xEezoXeKkOfRZ-S3RZKY0DdBrGc6M7wx4zFQoY7CRiTTEiqxatXsnfoGUFKSTLp4-Yk4CsLd/s320/IMG_5329.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We also made a trip to Eufaula to visit with Bo and Carmen. I traveled with Bo up to Guntersville to make a quick repair to "Old Grumpy" (their boat) and we had a wonderful time visiting with them again at the lake.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLToeprF4M4W2YrhgDwbFj2jhmD2J1H1c_jYN8Lz7FAOYSliyH9W7K1Ym1fShyphenhyphenYeesMk63D4uTsho4AtsF8f2SBf3fk2uBSlmsCqfbE7BGRqhuB2cY4nBBGnQd0xNLAGdtBM7L/s1600/IMG_5333.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLToeprF4M4W2YrhgDwbFj2jhmD2J1H1c_jYN8Lz7FAOYSliyH9W7K1Ym1fShyphenhyphenYeesMk63D4uTsho4AtsF8f2SBf3fk2uBSlmsCqfbE7BGRqhuB2cY4nBBGnQd0xNLAGdtBM7L/s320/IMG_5333.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">One last meal with our dock neighbors Joe and Linda before Joe and I took "Life Is Good" over to Miller Marine to be truck transported back to the Pittsburgh, PA area. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvAWc3RFuwNZJfff3TCHmRkWXLiqnIZy-0rWs9jJukuEA0KKwNcXLw3nEVKkYsxFtFQLNQitAeucqEnXxc8A7wqhXBu6p7aShHqmAzBGtEArVFjGOcuKUoh716ogltT1NeTaO/s1600/IMG_5334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvAWc3RFuwNZJfff3TCHmRkWXLiqnIZy-0rWs9jJukuEA0KKwNcXLw3nEVKkYsxFtFQLNQitAeucqEnXxc8A7wqhXBu6p7aShHqmAzBGtEArVFjGOcuKUoh716ogltT1NeTaO/s320/IMG_5334.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We were supposed to have a really nice weather day so we had a St. Patrick's Day party behind SEASEA. We had corned beef and cabbage but the wind was up and cold as usual. We enjoyed getting together with other boaters anyway and we had a good time despite the wind.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhS04ljrXG0BsT4LwFTCXNkCupgfYxgIw-5lyMAccS2HKMLNrPf2sGOwwEZHHJ3RmBB6-yv7QGiEEX4WNZ131-llHxA2etVGVLHW6vXbLhdRwbFcc-oNXssV0Q6FkeZQlhvfsg/s1600/IMG_5336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhS04ljrXG0BsT4LwFTCXNkCupgfYxgIw-5lyMAccS2HKMLNrPf2sGOwwEZHHJ3RmBB6-yv7QGiEEX4WNZ131-llHxA2etVGVLHW6vXbLhdRwbFcc-oNXssV0Q6FkeZQlhvfsg/s320/IMG_5336.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
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We had dinner with friends (Rich and Isis) we met at the church we attended while in Panama City. They helped us shuttle our car in order to get it back to Goose Pond. Isis had been promising a Cuban dinner for quite some time and time was now running short so she pulled it off before we got away.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz0J5deHYjFtlunhgdF3vm6T517LWBcMHr88TeMqWDEJl2Kx6OCwr7cReaVq7qXfCb9OxWivpCRIMtNrrrk4xLtqPM6OJSeOclgPH1fXas8TD-D88a_679rQMV597V5XdMeGGo/s1600/IMG_5340.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz0J5deHYjFtlunhgdF3vm6T517LWBcMHr88TeMqWDEJl2Kx6OCwr7cReaVq7qXfCb9OxWivpCRIMtNrrrk4xLtqPM6OJSeOclgPH1fXas8TD-D88a_679rQMV597V5XdMeGGo/s320/IMG_5340.JPG" wt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV-wr6PFP9s1Lim55xrmEeOv3J01r0OlKUangZgDmDxiTTyiQi4iq0BI6xGk4BwXdfyyj86vMqHDQ6ig4LeyfatJJnwPmR0fzMU52TN3U6IQD82exH1TbJgLJjdsopEota1N8L/s1600/IMG_5342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV-wr6PFP9s1Lim55xrmEeOv3J01r0OlKUangZgDmDxiTTyiQi4iq0BI6xGk4BwXdfyyj86vMqHDQ6ig4LeyfatJJnwPmR0fzMU52TN3U6IQD82exH1TbJgLJjdsopEota1N8L/s320/IMG_5342.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">When we departed Panama City we originally headed east to Apalachicola and anchored in Saul Creek. We took down the dinghy and traveled 43 miles exploring the rivers and tributaries in and around Apalachicola.</div><br />
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<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSY303EgPSJC_LySl2HEY-5-yCHEEvdOO58-0-O8jy0wddTWCALL9xOF2wl3DlD0j1AY5ervuc4dL7AW76EuwrKlbhCYA1OrHW5dSacLdrRblipeyWO3gCOI-vSqZ_cwu8ynrZ/s1600/IMG_5348.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSY303EgPSJC_LySl2HEY-5-yCHEEvdOO58-0-O8jy0wddTWCALL9xOF2wl3DlD0j1AY5ervuc4dL7AW76EuwrKlbhCYA1OrHW5dSacLdrRblipeyWO3gCOI-vSqZ_cwu8ynrZ/s320/IMG_5348.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeCuUGycZO1rin5a062Ibj-sa8ZWQPh1_2pepW3cFXiIINMlKIhu1w5SKbKGJou4z3TMY05U6e6BV6m8PcoC6a1t56I9B4-xuFK9axmwRFCVkeudXQbZzAeGpEyVN1pql_SpF2/s1600/IMG_5353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeCuUGycZO1rin5a062Ibj-sa8ZWQPh1_2pepW3cFXiIINMlKIhu1w5SKbKGJou4z3TMY05U6e6BV6m8PcoC6a1t56I9B4-xuFK9axmwRFCVkeudXQbZzAeGpEyVN1pql_SpF2/s320/IMG_5353.JPG" wt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs_zMjKDR9iRQ7aolUoWcHqTsIFBO2BAxjoDit7vr2_m3Uw-kYqUwHQohEBXym33GQx3184ROmYZBSM9F5jrTNZLEztN_AZkod9KFUbgPT2h9yfgWDtnbGF85B7ZzgGMOMyK9a/s1600/IMG_5351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs_zMjKDR9iRQ7aolUoWcHqTsIFBO2BAxjoDit7vr2_m3Uw-kYqUwHQohEBXym33GQx3184ROmYZBSM9F5jrTNZLEztN_AZkod9KFUbgPT2h9yfgWDtnbGF85B7ZzgGMOMyK9a/s320/IMG_5351.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">On our way back from Apalachicola, we stopped at Pier 98 to top off fuel and then headed to Carl & Greg Vernon's house on Watson's Bayou. We spent the night at their dock and headed out the next day to attend the "Blessing of The Fleet" being held downtown (we already feel blessed but it was something we have never done). They were on Main Stay and we on SEASEA. Roy and Elvie on RoyEl joined Carl & Greg. After the Blessing we rafted up at Shell Island to spend the day. Rich & Mary Gano on "Calypso" came along and rafted to our other side and we had a nice visit with them.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUZMp4x1j3ji3X04ZLpEp6bH13tvHhj8rwmSFLvVhq46exWySZDFJ4Mek3aRQSdZItiEN-iysmSZ6Ak0cfd23NALPnDe97HrixbaoAAn9sMkHMQRA6x2o088LAs9PEEwa_P0oI/s1600/IMG_5355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUZMp4x1j3ji3X04ZLpEp6bH13tvHhj8rwmSFLvVhq46exWySZDFJ4Mek3aRQSdZItiEN-iysmSZ6Ak0cfd23NALPnDe97HrixbaoAAn9sMkHMQRA6x2o088LAs9PEEwa_P0oI/s320/IMG_5355.JPG" wt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwjGnAlopp2CfIFHPuaMlhg2zwFX2UZG6N3Dmo44KEW6Iy-MdPeUDUx5sQniFhdwRuCS6U6cJkrTFAxirWJVr8h-YOaa7de81mCWZFIdEm1LAz-2OSxFPB0M8HEDOjyjNKgFw/s1600/IMG_5361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwjGnAlopp2CfIFHPuaMlhg2zwFX2UZG6N3Dmo44KEW6Iy-MdPeUDUx5sQniFhdwRuCS6U6cJkrTFAxirWJVr8h-YOaa7de81mCWZFIdEm1LAz-2OSxFPB0M8HEDOjyjNKgFw/s320/IMG_5361.JPG" wt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTidoz9YLRmNZcitI7q1ZcNjwUjzSojNdS9dixN_SrR5ghy7GhpvmgL4iy7z3pypPRF0lYwGh4-E4w1MUSIkwkYpVV_OSuYSrPu_dhHQaviMviiZVsoY0mgnHGDXHQUT0F7PX9/s1600/IMG_5363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTidoz9YLRmNZcitI7q1ZcNjwUjzSojNdS9dixN_SrR5ghy7GhpvmgL4iy7z3pypPRF0lYwGh4-E4w1MUSIkwkYpVV_OSuYSrPu_dhHQaviMviiZVsoY0mgnHGDXHQUT0F7PX9/s320/IMG_5363.JPG" wt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbpMturvM-KjqbQuW5G0PNPaDhFepDLxF8gSiGPXuTedHPNEnk8ERbq_8iSRQ5Qk3y1RGvQ6IZLgbudSxeP9Zsxb2Zdgb4Q84r03oIp4Veb6KsudwpFvQHs-hXYxXU9PPLtKEZ/s1600/IMG_5366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbpMturvM-KjqbQuW5G0PNPaDhFepDLxF8gSiGPXuTedHPNEnk8ERbq_8iSRQ5Qk3y1RGvQ6IZLgbudSxeP9Zsxb2Zdgb4Q84r03oIp4Veb6KsudwpFvQHs-hXYxXU9PPLtKEZ/s320/IMG_5366.JPG" wt="true" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">We went back to Carl & Greg's and I helped Carl do some work on his boat before we departed westward. We stopped at Ft. Walton Beach where there is a free dock. We then headed to Ingram Bayou to stage for crossing Mobile Bay. On the way there we were greeted by the U.S. Coast Guard who pulled up along side and asked when was the last time we were boarded. I replied that we had never been boarded so they proceeded to board us and check out our safety equipment, make sure the boat was seaworthy and that we had all of our documentation in order. They were extremely considerate and it was altogether a pleasurable experience. Stacy just "had" to get pictures so they posed for us.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38XsbFpbUL_FrqnSerly1tGKjRc8r7WJ7OpvjyQN8npf0WL0zEERw6VrIWCMTAUWKkmoX-IrwSjdLiFA7WCikstNw7vqi0xpFTy2oKer_Ie918XbJ1JjijB2zvC_CD_m8FrUk/s1600/IMG_5368.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38XsbFpbUL_FrqnSerly1tGKjRc8r7WJ7OpvjyQN8npf0WL0zEERw6VrIWCMTAUWKkmoX-IrwSjdLiFA7WCikstNw7vqi0xpFTy2oKer_Ie918XbJ1JjijB2zvC_CD_m8FrUk/s320/IMG_5368.JPG" wt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRnldR0sadI4a27ZjUUBDegY395v-RtVLJiq3Vkg5eeM3YYYsDI9Q30nlcEuuYOuTzAB1uo4rp-NP5O6gRm6iQwqrsl8pg0_ZIVdSm_2SUrGEsF0Jn709g5H2AYc_c0K3HC0U-/s1600/IMG_5369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRnldR0sadI4a27ZjUUBDegY395v-RtVLJiq3Vkg5eeM3YYYsDI9Q30nlcEuuYOuTzAB1uo4rp-NP5O6gRm6iQwqrsl8pg0_ZIVdSm_2SUrGEsF0Jn709g5H2AYc_c0K3HC0U-/s320/IMG_5369.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">We had a beautiful anchorage at Ingram Bayou and Stacy took the great shots of the moon setting and the sun rising at the same time; one on each side of the boat. It was a nice surprise to see our friends on "Lauren Grace" come in and anchor there with us to tell us goodbye.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHJ4RCUGY_WY7vpN3nqOpARrQBZ8oFuzsOqHoTerjspJGQJ5OWjVGfLkve-eWosoOZBm1cco7dpsW5sDv417vmJ25vNjKCii6aVaBgL071s1evJDAIpojE958pkEoFU8U5bYtV/s1600/IMG_5371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHJ4RCUGY_WY7vpN3nqOpARrQBZ8oFuzsOqHoTerjspJGQJ5OWjVGfLkve-eWosoOZBm1cco7dpsW5sDv417vmJ25vNjKCii6aVaBgL071s1evJDAIpojE958pkEoFU8U5bYtV/s320/IMG_5371.JPG" wt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5UseX8qvqkc9sPB_kC0e5tL2nZLIZ4UTS5j4phh-NTEKmxmUKp8JlxPfHVvaepm3HoD3EvS5KwQetPOJBCdzi5lJY8Z-ryOxqBlR_bis9yBHg9HTBXdTs2r7dpa8HFZkU9mwa/s1600/IMG_5375.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5UseX8qvqkc9sPB_kC0e5tL2nZLIZ4UTS5j4phh-NTEKmxmUKp8JlxPfHVvaepm3HoD3EvS5KwQetPOJBCdzi5lJY8Z-ryOxqBlR_bis9yBHg9HTBXdTs2r7dpa8HFZkU9mwa/s320/IMG_5375.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Along the way we saw this one guy pulling crab or fish pots and he had a large contingent of pelicans following his every move just hoping for a treat.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfOyaBc9e_UkXS_Ji-EQCluTwt_Jih6npYYHaf-ojXPIp5_n482uA8TphUeutaNhWZGU3b8mZ1gihyphenhyphenCL-myp3xB8GPnrVr374LZl4VvIOxPQERMuNv1s_rh3TkP2Au2Jf-Cu7P/s1600/IMG_5380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfOyaBc9e_UkXS_Ji-EQCluTwt_Jih6npYYHaf-ojXPIp5_n482uA8TphUeutaNhWZGU3b8mZ1gihyphenhyphenCL-myp3xB8GPnrVr374LZl4VvIOxPQERMuNv1s_rh3TkP2Au2Jf-Cu7P/s320/IMG_5380.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">We entered Mobile on a beautiful day and made our way through all of the commercial freighters, tows, and shipworks.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAUHyNtOOIMDK-cU6-HF7fzJMbzZsx-RnKPQ-lhtI42P-tsitiq3BgGrs13SF238ScKTsxVdS_9eaDX9RyA86kz1DGYP_BCJQQKhzFocz_9I5gpuKKFxprpfP-1BSqaswdWU45/s1600/IMG_5384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAUHyNtOOIMDK-cU6-HF7fzJMbzZsx-RnKPQ-lhtI42P-tsitiq3BgGrs13SF238ScKTsxVdS_9eaDX9RyA86kz1DGYP_BCJQQKhzFocz_9I5gpuKKFxprpfP-1BSqaswdWU45/s320/IMG_5384.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Our first anchorage was the Tensaw River cutoff and the second was at Bate's Lake and there we met "Chip Ahoy". We had seen this boat at Appalachicola while on our dinghy trip and now here they were heading up the Tenn-Tom. They are headed to Demopolis where the boat will be stored while they go back to Michigan to work (dockmaster) for the summer.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhceGqdNfQqIFiulaONnAFM99pO2DQ9VjMiZxLhA21IIClnvcNP5kuMMyTyXCpfdUKtFmUCZdOcb0kj9IazMCNmj9rVFe-8Sjs-EsFMYDEvEhlQtax6Bq332I-Ccw_wX8PLSjVV/s320/IMG_5389.JPG" wt="true" /></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">We made a lunch stop at Bobby's Fish Camp. This is a famous stop along this stretch of waterway. Bobby Dahlberg grew up here and ran this fish camp. He died a few months ago and his daughter Lora Jane served us catfish and hamburger steak. We found out that her family first homesteaded the area in the 1800's from Sweden and had been there since. She had gone to Sweden to visit family in 2008 and had a photo album. We perused the album to evoke memories of our time there and saw photos of the ship "Wasa". When we visited we saw the ship in a temporary holding "museum". It is now housed in a very nice museum built just for it. When I am not on the boat I have been building a model of the "Wasa". It is always so amazing how small a world we live in.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK6xfotXl78mLT7u49FVjvhPQBDx-UPGT3uI_m_RwDvFE1wWy076BwqpHJCw075WRJRyTYnt9PFQwEwdWH9LUVY5o9KiYoLeDBMEF69gG6uERRbw7S2CAeePwl34PdTRmafsdY/s1600/IMG_5394.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK6xfotXl78mLT7u49FVjvhPQBDx-UPGT3uI_m_RwDvFE1wWy076BwqpHJCw075WRJRyTYnt9PFQwEwdWH9LUVY5o9KiYoLeDBMEF69gG6uERRbw7S2CAeePwl34PdTRmafsdY/s320/IMG_5394.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">After departing Bobby's we headed to an anchorage at Bashi Creek. We were getting heavy fog in the mornings at this point and were delayed leaving there the next morning for a very long run up to Fosque Creek at Demopolis. We waited out hurricane Ida at Fosque on our way down in the fall. The water over the dam at Demopolis Lock was mild compared to what we had after the rains from Ida.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0i15RnYkngg_afLkzVSKBS5bM65-CkTj8eTu0iMWI5UqnOVjPjp8YG8eUTguz6oTH-puhel7k8qL679mYnXlgzTiG3is9bI23aMwelU5kAjvLgHcgtIagNJpLsiOqquCRPCOL/s1600/IMG_5395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0i15RnYkngg_afLkzVSKBS5bM65-CkTj8eTu0iMWI5UqnOVjPjp8YG8eUTguz6oTH-puhel7k8qL679mYnXlgzTiG3is9bI23aMwelU5kAjvLgHcgtIagNJpLsiOqquCRPCOL/s320/IMG_5395.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">We are currently about half way up the Tenn-Tom. We are slowing a bit to wait for other friends on "Eagle One" to catch up to us. We should get together with them in a few days at Blue Bluff.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-89611146502712724892010-03-09T17:33:00.002-05:002010-03-09T17:47:33.764-05:00Spring Break time in Panama CityWell, you can tell it's Spring Break time in Panama City because instead of having 80 year olds driving 20 mph we have 20 year olds driving 80 mph. This was in today's local paper and I thought it appropriate.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Sorry for being so long in posting. In mid January the time came for our friends Steven and Sharon with their "children" Max and Sophie on Stevedore to head on across the gulf to Stuart Florida. We made the trip with them to Port St. Joe and our other friends Joe and Linda drove down and picked us up there. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgObPsjBBEEICujX-EL1SSViG5mg_jcJBuFy_H2g-CPD04yZF96cTeWMStxElMDxLFJfmFAF-8RSWTVOBDXGo2K-D44zWEhyphenhyphen51hDQZK8NuMelZlc36dM1IaPljxPJYA1lIWKdcn/s1600-h/IMG_5265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgObPsjBBEEICujX-EL1SSViG5mg_jcJBuFy_H2g-CPD04yZF96cTeWMStxElMDxLFJfmFAF-8RSWTVOBDXGo2K-D44zWEhyphenhyphen51hDQZK8NuMelZlc36dM1IaPljxPJYA1lIWKdcn/s320/IMG_5265.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWjLKMRO6u8-HYogsDTcU9gsYK8ZeBbKxz0rMXSkcf1ZL1An_qI-Xdk4KM858SUIMNWUFNH4QRVNkYjwFvWS0gb43bMpUmxFITZqfE45H0-v8XWsQRC06FFCrLftKbUJZYHmZ6/s1600-h/IMG_5266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWjLKMRO6u8-HYogsDTcU9gsYK8ZeBbKxz0rMXSkcf1ZL1An_qI-Xdk4KM858SUIMNWUFNH4QRVNkYjwFvWS0gb43bMpUmxFITZqfE45H0-v8XWsQRC06FFCrLftKbUJZYHmZ6/s320/IMG_5266.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSeTaX3MkzXfwvdpCDF49_QuS1jIQbWNKELp9RRED5fRMveMFQfNEhtZL8xfNry3R-w2wwbDr-axOYdfXdZEOpLYS8hAgIPKjxFpFahNyH-6TJy2RaWHpI0QJwwjpWIAo_N360/s1600-h/IMG_5268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSeTaX3MkzXfwvdpCDF49_QuS1jIQbWNKELp9RRED5fRMveMFQfNEhtZL8xfNry3R-w2wwbDr-axOYdfXdZEOpLYS8hAgIPKjxFpFahNyH-6TJy2RaWHpI0QJwwjpWIAo_N360/s320/IMG_5268.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM4YLB9TqffrbeqrpAdTFri_xT3iqhGGMS9dyUth_9woZNUWNWfs4WQ1CFCX3zFkHFivJvoXSW-5MVGTcT638uOvvdaZLcOIk0YRe9O7KNlMLzBFzPsdcICHqiiEXQZvuT5czG/s1600-h/IMG_5269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM4YLB9TqffrbeqrpAdTFri_xT3iqhGGMS9dyUth_9woZNUWNWfs4WQ1CFCX3zFkHFivJvoXSW-5MVGTcT638uOvvdaZLcOIk0YRe9O7KNlMLzBFzPsdcICHqiiEXQZvuT5czG/s320/IMG_5269.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">When we arrived at Port St. Joe we attended a Low Country Boil for AGLCA members. Ed on "I Love Lucy" prepared the boil and I helped where I could.</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheOfRYDLGWOO3vB0jkf_sqWi5IuF5LJjt6q3E6h7ARUICfIE93Lzozz9pkI9fAZMVH4P1x7LFrVrsBdVJOvLacIWH_LFZoD4qzPycqB44CJBVBff6_xcd5iCzcXejIWClBXzUH/s1600-h/IMG_5276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheOfRYDLGWOO3vB0jkf_sqWi5IuF5LJjt6q3E6h7ARUICfIE93Lzozz9pkI9fAZMVH4P1x7LFrVrsBdVJOvLacIWH_LFZoD4qzPycqB44CJBVBff6_xcd5iCzcXejIWClBXzUH/s320/IMG_5276.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">The mini-rendezvous was very well attended and we had presentations by Tom Conrad (Gulf Crossings), SeaTow, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Everyone had a great time.</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLZlQy8-0N1iv_NKW2G6lGNvIMBHLG7rjEjVHxPuWNTNpGvoatDnxaUjVD7ZgFR0xmcr5Wyqjs-Nix7hOjMukFe7w1HiU5FJ2h4tTuxRYxs7iGJvKKhiocZgsSrYoX8_lQwpmr/s1600-h/IMG_5278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLZlQy8-0N1iv_NKW2G6lGNvIMBHLG7rjEjVHxPuWNTNpGvoatDnxaUjVD7ZgFR0xmcr5Wyqjs-Nix7hOjMukFe7w1HiU5FJ2h4tTuxRYxs7iGJvKKhiocZgsSrYoX8_lQwpmr/s320/IMG_5278.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We were visited by our friend Joan from "Christine" and she went with us to attend the mini-rendezvous. We last saw her when we stayed on Christine in the Abacos in February 09. </div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Dasbgs1ow_YF_OgHx9ajYn_3mqrAUXO7g6RcAbpgFFsqHB_JXBHgz9wTYFLV6-gbsUpu0fkO4NWAOmJ6oMRYMPjfhctwmnbNzRGU5Xtn2A8UTFI-VNJMhsmoeWZF9dFyN8Nw/s1600-h/IMG_5280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Dasbgs1ow_YF_OgHx9ajYn_3mqrAUXO7g6RcAbpgFFsqHB_JXBHgz9wTYFLV6-gbsUpu0fkO4NWAOmJ6oMRYMPjfhctwmnbNzRGU5Xtn2A8UTFI-VNJMhsmoeWZF9dFyN8Nw/s320/IMG_5280.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">It was a quick trip but we enjoyed our time with her.</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">In early February we made a trip back to Athens. We spent a week there taking care of business and our good freinds the Pemberton's had us over for a surprise 50th birthday party for Stacy. The kids had decorated and we had a great time there.</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEie7-QZTXRa55NxTPyvkU9_RqMirhY7UYVAugJJnFb1gT6_26UbhIpqCRQl1hBpAbL8J94r71FJFg13lZwY7iqgi281GT4FTXXf6nFqeBkUBzQ1cIu9WbVzqSvObDL3HTjLQI/s1600-h/IMG_5289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEie7-QZTXRa55NxTPyvkU9_RqMirhY7UYVAugJJnFb1gT6_26UbhIpqCRQl1hBpAbL8J94r71FJFg13lZwY7iqgi281GT4FTXXf6nFqeBkUBzQ1cIu9WbVzqSvObDL3HTjLQI/s320/IMG_5289.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn6LAhkvwpNV2GxRQHq_rVIyHQOBe6slV7Sdw5pmNt4TPGkKhBZTgRj_RuaBD6Gcm59Xm_FZcLosJgnKjHfsbcCruYNdQmpwZ8DDuhGyMHeRrHWcS5hnsEICvBIpdKtV3Ctanv/s1600-h/IMG_5290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn6LAhkvwpNV2GxRQHq_rVIyHQOBe6slV7Sdw5pmNt4TPGkKhBZTgRj_RuaBD6Gcm59Xm_FZcLosJgnKjHfsbcCruYNdQmpwZ8DDuhGyMHeRrHWcS5hnsEICvBIpdKtV3Ctanv/s320/IMG_5290.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">When we returned from Athens I had a major project waiting for me on the boat. It was finally time to repaint the cap rail and dinghy chocks. I spent a long time scraping, sanding, taping, priming, and painting. It was not terribly difficult but I had to work it in before rainy weather came in again. </div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiGQXBez9XjI2GCG7qpCww7WS-030xgJUUxJp8DuzySui64Az2UdbjXswikrtaSs3AP9KHmBhfrNAOVXsPge385GWwDAEduhFqwgnYfkzNAiGTQV-jxFyjllBb07Q28tIchpKI/s1600-h/IMG_5292.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiGQXBez9XjI2GCG7qpCww7WS-030xgJUUxJp8DuzySui64Az2UdbjXswikrtaSs3AP9KHmBhfrNAOVXsPge385GWwDAEduhFqwgnYfkzNAiGTQV-jxFyjllBb07Q28tIchpKI/s320/IMG_5292.JPG" vt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEy5ostbSf0uvRcmPcNnNUIgBUe8yTg17ALuAfE-anc8ZcaGDerxDjUoJTHjCyelMUyo8eHtbDjKdOnSO7AjxlPOPtdkPJ2rYTSu3q6m0_1ZB8-Yh3JNVdszZxuIjBYuS_croy/s1600-h/IMG_5293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEy5ostbSf0uvRcmPcNnNUIgBUe8yTg17ALuAfE-anc8ZcaGDerxDjUoJTHjCyelMUyo8eHtbDjKdOnSO7AjxlPOPtdkPJ2rYTSu3q6m0_1ZB8-Yh3JNVdszZxuIjBYuS_croy/s320/IMG_5293.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSYp9znIS3Fggia2HGyardf9WPNoOC7vByzowbG2FHX-wRTXKWHlTBtGu-Ypz4aL1G57tDOfwyoxk-j8oqifXdhQaN743Xa1J3LyoRNhYbtVrg7P7ojc6wgz8VeL9IfdeUQLc/s1600-h/IMG_5295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSYp9znIS3Fggia2HGyardf9WPNoOC7vByzowbG2FHX-wRTXKWHlTBtGu-Ypz4aL1G57tDOfwyoxk-j8oqifXdhQaN743Xa1J3LyoRNhYbtVrg7P7ojc6wgz8VeL9IfdeUQLc/s320/IMG_5295.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Ken and Darcy from "Just Us" were down to clean up their boat and get it prepared for transitioning to new owners. They have sold the boat to our neighbors at Goose Pond. We went to dinner with Ken, Darcy, Roy and Elvie for their last time at the boat. It was a sad time and a joyous time for us and for them. We will miss them on the boat but are glad they were able to sell as they are moving on to other adventures.</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGazy00e3VBqU5o4zK3ZyaKUjZHjCVMwK2GnYh7v7YYdLvwFedG2_hV90hF2rZh_s_7-IHhGLUqd6zXvbgTQ5UZWZ5m2ABswrZlO_u4Iha3ZF57KrxTqegos_ZPJxMDRP3vasa/s1600-h/IMG_5298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGazy00e3VBqU5o4zK3ZyaKUjZHjCVMwK2GnYh7v7YYdLvwFedG2_hV90hF2rZh_s_7-IHhGLUqd6zXvbgTQ5UZWZ5m2ABswrZlO_u4Iha3ZF57KrxTqegos_ZPJxMDRP3vasa/s320/IMG_5298.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">The morning they left we had breakfast on SEASEA and we said our goodbyes. I am certain we will see them again. </div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhypc7Weg5R8JngslvRwlHi9PnS4uWo6Bak2B4tthH6yO1zzRjc28Mysf-DMHyoqxqjiyOQyo87I7bUaw5xbvuWYA8Uh8iIbmpO8CIsA6aq_VSjYCTZ8h2YAtaMSNL2uECWkDco/s1600-h/IMG_5299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhypc7Weg5R8JngslvRwlHi9PnS4uWo6Bak2B4tthH6yO1zzRjc28Mysf-DMHyoqxqjiyOQyo87I7bUaw5xbvuWYA8Uh8iIbmpO8CIsA6aq_VSjYCTZ8h2YAtaMSNL2uECWkDco/s320/IMG_5299.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">This week I went to Carl Vernon's and worked on his Raymarine system and got things working to his liking (I hope). We went with them to a "yacht club" meeting where Rudy and Jill Sanchez were giving a presentation on the boat they built and are living on in Panama City. I had been reading Rudy's postings on an email list for quite some time and it was good to actually meet him.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqkUOyeVCAOW08oVJ0RyHHnS_nUzKklQBrrFLF4TK2N8r1iqYnCKOR-xJgpEvbMWuMy_EPR_C_MA8WyxMiZ23z0ds_j3Ziy3q_kAaDf6uM-g_nIzg5EuVtCxUTuiRpJUD_C2n/s1600-h/IMG_5301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqkUOyeVCAOW08oVJ0RyHHnS_nUzKklQBrrFLF4TK2N8r1iqYnCKOR-xJgpEvbMWuMy_EPR_C_MA8WyxMiZ23z0ds_j3Ziy3q_kAaDf6uM-g_nIzg5EuVtCxUTuiRpJUD_C2n/s320/IMG_5301.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We had a good weather forecast for this past weekend and went out with friends on two boats that live around the corner here in Bay Point. We went to Shell Island and rafted the two boats to us for the evening. We had a good time with them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZVGKZi9mOsUJjONKTVQLhyXVLpftR8a5vhb0F9Oaa5Ndf6Dmy5VyXDmoJ-XgeEAn6vNoJ_Ih6ywN_O8gwIwvRkdImpIfURY5k2G2ACzu4vllGtbJx8Dh8k8vJ8FGEuNMJeMkL/s1600-h/IMG_5302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZVGKZi9mOsUJjONKTVQLhyXVLpftR8a5vhb0F9Oaa5Ndf6Dmy5VyXDmoJ-XgeEAn6vNoJ_Ih6ywN_O8gwIwvRkdImpIfURY5k2G2ACzu4vllGtbJx8Dh8k8vJ8FGEuNMJeMkL/s320/IMG_5302.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We left them on Sunday and headed to Crooked Island to meet friends from Port St. Joe. We arrived at the same time and "I Love Lucy" rafted to us and "Lauren Grace" anchored separately. We had a beautiful sunset and dinner on board SEASEA.</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtg_Jql_N2-IlpjFMu4MPEU_UQjJ6wU_gYQWSlrMw8FpXpmb2qchfrKvdoPUxMycNfT9hwiL4CgGWQkTTica7PdP5_5dtwRiMRSwLXtyT-VNNo2VBqdNMNdYZfR9x4u5W4yvpK/s1600-h/IMG_5308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtg_Jql_N2-IlpjFMu4MPEU_UQjJ6wU_gYQWSlrMw8FpXpmb2qchfrKvdoPUxMycNfT9hwiL4CgGWQkTTica7PdP5_5dtwRiMRSwLXtyT-VNNo2VBqdNMNdYZfR9x4u5W4yvpK/s320/IMG_5308.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"> On Monday we went to the beach to collect shells and had a great day. We have had some windy days and noticed that the wind had blown the sand away and left small dunes behind shells on the beach.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"> Ray & Patsy Whitney came over on their Boston Whaler with friends of theirs and we watched the drones launch from Tyndall Air Force base. These drones are lauched over Crooked Island and the fighter pilot trainees shoot them down out over the gulf. These are half-scale drones that are launched with a rocket so trying to get a picture is somewhat futile. We stood on our dinghy deck and watched the drones launch. The ladies remained below and we later put together a Mexican fajita burrito dinner.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuv1zPjtIFJIGJID_r1zcautxhi3d_iFP0QvvsTbdVzvtov8CfdwJIEdg-FxLMQFm4nEL5Y2GWrYhsmwUTPk55E1kfXktWSoj8LCXsRNFc3s7VtPBClwT4mwzs11XifrDtWAa/s1600-h/IMG_5315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuv1zPjtIFJIGJID_r1zcautxhi3d_iFP0QvvsTbdVzvtov8CfdwJIEdg-FxLMQFm4nEL5Y2GWrYhsmwUTPk55E1kfXktWSoj8LCXsRNFc3s7VtPBClwT4mwzs11XifrDtWAa/s320/IMG_5315.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrO5wyLbF3eMWJ6kNtAADmgxsgWjkWTgXiRQ_7qRHykL66jRyCjk0RzAGnSWRimWJUp64yRCRiIE2jHBgoClyTnHNdfZA1wbzfHlBLPgEoPTRTbxlDZX9rvrz_gc3tv2U0VWrC/s1600-h/IMG_5320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrO5wyLbF3eMWJ6kNtAADmgxsgWjkWTgXiRQ_7qRHykL66jRyCjk0RzAGnSWRimWJUp64yRCRiIE2jHBgoClyTnHNdfZA1wbzfHlBLPgEoPTRTbxlDZX9rvrz_gc3tv2U0VWrC/s320/IMG_5320.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We will be here for about two more weeks and then start our travels back up to Goose Pond marina on the Tennessee River.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-53426032429622517662010-02-05T18:55:00.000-05:002010-02-05T18:55:59.433-05:00Scott, Phyllis, Sam & Laura and New Year's<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">After Christmas Scott, Phyllis, Sam & Laura Brannon came to visit us for a few days in Panama City. We were still dealing with cool (cold for Panama City) weather but the winds were down and we were able to go out. We headed down to Crooked Island and anchored off so everyone could find shells. We walked the beach and collected quite a few shells.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUlhSqGZVZc-Vatklx_FL4zs9hoApOc3w_aWpJSkUZTgyqWVfMJhXp6WNuCuPMZOgT1LnzWO-kj9Be2NOSd225mOG0JCFYFwHwvbOig6zFbh7BTE0dY6d9sL1GroHBi2Z9-ZRF/s1600-h/IMG_5223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUlhSqGZVZc-Vatklx_FL4zs9hoApOc3w_aWpJSkUZTgyqWVfMJhXp6WNuCuPMZOgT1LnzWO-kj9Be2NOSd225mOG0JCFYFwHwvbOig6zFbh7BTE0dY6d9sL1GroHBi2Z9-ZRF/s320/IMG_5223.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK1m0A_XD_wx0mNPPyNPArP_X84W8KboxpIWzyRLtO0rYWh1QkvtP7SIuEVCQOWz_kTtpf2mPmhyqHZ8oqC7jmeE5ZwA1zbEVpKDbA6tB3NwM7DhYboI6cdQVekbBi2aBE7izc/s1600-h/IMG_5224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK1m0A_XD_wx0mNPPyNPArP_X84W8KboxpIWzyRLtO0rYWh1QkvtP7SIuEVCQOWz_kTtpf2mPmhyqHZ8oqC7jmeE5ZwA1zbEVpKDbA6tB3NwM7DhYboI6cdQVekbBi2aBE7izc/s320/IMG_5224.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyq0cna3ixxMRz3cax06-DsNGy84sMvzu3GrexC9DBY0dGEd4jqjQ0IWhXpI9jJ0s-nqFv_ecSjst36T8yH9DBodk7LAnlqLT-AfE7N1yq3AXLiKilD8qqvzUqJzadKI9Bm-rc/s1600-h/IMG_5225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyq0cna3ixxMRz3cax06-DsNGy84sMvzu3GrexC9DBY0dGEd4jqjQ0IWhXpI9jJ0s-nqFv_ecSjst36T8yH9DBodk7LAnlqLT-AfE7N1yq3AXLiKilD8qqvzUqJzadKI9Bm-rc/s320/IMG_5225.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNXZ33ZWmWwFpupGulVFivCdKijaP_ouhI6cxliIAvPRIfzbDSu6MVTc-3HGEQ9TIlCQRLTlChp4ze-NrwxXpgnVNik7kRyfSGMTcpQ_Wg6xKBr4lEMdQ0yR4svaNVxs9hwt4/s1600-h/IMG_5226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNXZ33ZWmWwFpupGulVFivCdKijaP_ouhI6cxliIAvPRIfzbDSu6MVTc-3HGEQ9TIlCQRLTlChp4ze-NrwxXpgnVNik7kRyfSGMTcpQ_Wg6xKBr4lEMdQ0yR4svaNVxs9hwt4/s320/IMG_5226.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53HP1ZklczRk0hoLXcP9gnOH3beaJKixjdalWlyecWFPFIBVBGIAcsH7tJxtM2ugy7RF1Y7QpWZKQEDi4Av3Y9Z4nOeRkzZJkFQhdOu7-s29Ep2WrG8iBZkkk3kSbhy9IbioK/s1600-h/IMG_5230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53HP1ZklczRk0hoLXcP9gnOH3beaJKixjdalWlyecWFPFIBVBGIAcsH7tJxtM2ugy7RF1Y7QpWZKQEDi4Av3Y9Z4nOeRkzZJkFQhdOu7-s29Ep2WrG8iBZkkk3kSbhy9IbioK/s320/IMG_5230.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">The beach was covered with shells and we finally stopped collecting and started sorting. The comment was made that "we are leaving shells here that we would love to find on any of the other beaches we visit". </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMrId9oioIbT28o7bd-dvGfQwerW0HP6SEz4Ec01Vw6AuLP_Q3l2CmQxf4lu1UVDHwXp8HRqC7WBkuEu99ZmUQ_Ye-Dpg0e_QD9EPm0Iubgq8TATyo3bI-H6b_Yne9ZOXPDnn-/s1600-h/IMG_5238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMrId9oioIbT28o7bd-dvGfQwerW0HP6SEz4Ec01Vw6AuLP_Q3l2CmQxf4lu1UVDHwXp8HRqC7WBkuEu99ZmUQ_Ye-Dpg0e_QD9EPm0Iubgq8TATyo3bI-H6b_Yne9ZOXPDnn-/s320/IMG_5238.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">On the way back our friends on Just Us called on the radio to talk with Laura. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF2oQbzfthn0Duh3GxWox00BLd1J4sruazIrfLXu_fewWWdL4C-wR1GvIjo3hdovIrd0IM3E4UIcpHDth0P8RIoGxvZ-iJCAUo2QFki11bdQfXigldCNQyiCH9LDGJ1ToO3g3b/s1600-h/IMG_5245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF2oQbzfthn0Duh3GxWox00BLd1J4sruazIrfLXu_fewWWdL4C-wR1GvIjo3hdovIrd0IM3E4UIcpHDth0P8RIoGxvZ-iJCAUo2QFki11bdQfXigldCNQyiCH9LDGJ1ToO3g3b/s320/IMG_5245.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Regardless of the cooler temperatures, Sam & Laura rode on the foredeck.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpkpj_LgJ5_s-4JEOBHG-2vgnGuX7tkUgRKZ2IchgWM9h4s0AGALpjVhD-ZvKCbFBIuc6xD-EVG9gDRRbKnzaF8MRh5FHQroWIS2aQcPn5OtoM83lvqSrCRgrsTAiL-gCjxxH7/s1600-h/IMG_5249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpkpj_LgJ5_s-4JEOBHG-2vgnGuX7tkUgRKZ2IchgWM9h4s0AGALpjVhD-ZvKCbFBIuc6xD-EVG9gDRRbKnzaF8MRh5FHQroWIS2aQcPn5OtoM83lvqSrCRgrsTAiL-gCjxxH7/s320/IMG_5249.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">The next day we tried to go to Bayou Joe's by boat for breakfast but found that they were closed this week for renovations. We ate on the boat and headed for Shell Island. The weather wasn't as cooperative but we walked the beach anyway. Even though the island is named Shell Island, the shells were few and far between. Crooked island proved to be the best "shell island" in the area.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We enjoyed their visit and it is always sad to see any of our family leave but they had to get back to that four-letter word "work" whether in employment or school.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We had friends drive down from Goose Pond Marina to spend New Year's in Panama City. They come down every year and stay at the beach for the festivities. We joined them in the afternoon at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville at Pier Park.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtrwmb0jtSpkR-dpar76NDG6fcBc_NTGfq0TDXfLNtBSCA-NsbrIc2PEQ-pfDQhKwI0i2o18kgeLu3235kGp_OJelKVGAUzKZ7EQ_vjP1wTkqTAV-QuiFeTXWt4QLH-bopo8Ry/s1600-h/IMG_5254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtrwmb0jtSpkR-dpar76NDG6fcBc_NTGfq0TDXfLNtBSCA-NsbrIc2PEQ-pfDQhKwI0i2o18kgeLu3235kGp_OJelKVGAUzKZ7EQ_vjP1wTkqTAV-QuiFeTXWt4QLH-bopo8Ry/s320/IMG_5254.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPe0wQyLWlH3aBtKZKSYJKGZx6jZ7rr56bAHJPcgz80J88cbC9NjP32pR3FEILZ_PUKoa8JdPPalyRQRqOBWRgtHkuyz89IV6qOBixCW_Ur14qrW5UVMU9kwJGwajzU80f_bCy/s1600-h/IMG_5259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPe0wQyLWlH3aBtKZKSYJKGZx6jZ7rr56bAHJPcgz80J88cbC9NjP32pR3FEILZ_PUKoa8JdPPalyRQRqOBWRgtHkuyz89IV6qOBixCW_Ur14qrW5UVMU9kwJGwajzU80f_bCy/s320/IMG_5259.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">We spent New Year's on the boat and saw fireworks in Grand Lagoon.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-30798832359177977902010-01-09T17:34:00.002-05:002010-01-09T21:39:02.876-05:00Panama City Through Christmas<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We have had a great time here in PC so far. We have had a chance to reconnect with friends and we visited with Bo and Carmen Johnson at their house on the beach with Roy & Elvie, Ken & Darcy, and Carl & Greg.<br />
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This was a Christmas party and everyone had a good time. Bo & Carmen have had the house since the 60's and have renovated and added on over the years. It is a beautiful house right on the beach.<br />
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The first day of decent weather found us dropping our dinghy and heading across the bay to Shell Island. We decided to take the dinghy since we were not going all that far and we wanted to explore the entire shoreline along the bay. The island was deserted but during the "season" the Marriott here has a shuttle that goes over to the island.<br />
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Later we went to Carl & Greg's house on Watson's Bayou. In addition to Roy and Elvie we had Steve and Sharon from "Stevedore" with us. Carl is a contractor as Bo is and he has also done major renovations to their home. They are full-time residents here. We first met Carl & Greg at our first AGLCA rendezous in 2007.<br />
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Our next outing was to see some other friends that we met at our first rendezvous, Hal and Alma on "Cuppa T" and Jim & Sue on "Eagle One". Hal was a dentist in the Navy and now they make Pensacola their home. Jim and Sue were at the marina at Pensacola and are good friends of Roy and Elvie so we decided to drive halfway and meet in Destin. Roy & Elvie were with us and we had a good time reconnecting.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">The next week Stevedore was trying to figure out a way to better stabilize their dinghy on the deck and after looking over the situation we decided he needed to build a fitted chock for the back. We went to Home Depot and bought lumber and borrowed a sabre saw from Roy and spent a couple of days making a new chock. It turned out well and the dinghy rides very stable now.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We had met a couple at a church we have been attending and found out that they live just around the corner from our marina on a canal. They came by one day with their boat and we went to Bayou Joe's for breakfast (brunch) and then toured the bay.<br />
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</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We saw a new fire boat that is being built at a local shipyard. It is a new boat for New York and is named the "Three Forty Three" for the 343 firefighters that lost their lives on 9/11.<br />
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We had been waiting for a really nice day to take SEASEA out and make a run down to Crooked Island. This island has a cut that requires local knowledge and Carl had given us waypoints for entry. When I plotted them on my computer it showed us traveling over land to get to the bay on the backside of the island. Carl assured me that this was right and we decided that we would trust his knowledge. Another couple from church knew the area well and wanted to go with us. We had a good trip there and found a large number of shells. It was a great day.<br />
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</div>On Christmas Eve we had dinner aboard SEASEA with Steve & Sharon on Stevedore and then went to a Christmas Eve service at a church we have been attending. Afterward we attended Midnight Mass with them. <br />
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On Christmas day we drove down to Port St. Joe marina where they were hosting a pot-luck. A few of our friends are staying at Port St. Joe for the winter and we had a great Christmas sharing with old and new friends. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHDDEK8aDkNS5fm6zE4tjOo4_Z_Q879mMfo6Elf4KgwD5K5XeGZ_bYBxcT08jerOCmMUan00fZwEOqAk1A4vAjwsABzGO6qogEpgJP3rEmaAP8Fz9zu2X6VLk-Gjm2M3_2WZ1/s1600-h/IMG_5218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHDDEK8aDkNS5fm6zE4tjOo4_Z_Q879mMfo6Elf4KgwD5K5XeGZ_bYBxcT08jerOCmMUan00fZwEOqAk1A4vAjwsABzGO6qogEpgJP3rEmaAP8Fz9zu2X6VLk-Gjm2M3_2WZ1/s320/IMG_5218.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwpZHcpROkVuUQa-wxTjgBt7S4AsRzwGsrgcnlnLrZfFQdw5oBKb_mZuhhtSJQLF6hUXPyvedPIZspDtTbpoA5deDo6RnmSnAgjNclccT1FPwl18F4YfoGmH0E3xodqEvcgfS1/s1600-h/IMG_5222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwpZHcpROkVuUQa-wxTjgBt7S4AsRzwGsrgcnlnLrZfFQdw5oBKb_mZuhhtSJQLF6hUXPyvedPIZspDtTbpoA5deDo6RnmSnAgjNclccT1FPwl18F4YfoGmH0E3xodqEvcgfS1/s320/IMG_5222.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some of the boaters at Port St. Joe are staying for the winter and some are waiting for good weather to cross the gulf to south Florida. Such is the life of a cruiser. We meet new people and form friendships only to say goodbye until we meet again somewhere. It is amazing how many times we meet people we have been with before. The cruising world is the smallest world imaginable.<br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-41202951143573031182009-11-24T08:05:00.000-05:002009-11-24T08:05:27.975-05:00Tenn-Tom to Panama City<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We stayed at Fosque Creek for 6 days waiting out the weather from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Ida. The day before we left we hiked down to a spot below the lock at Demopolis and watched Martha Ann come through the lock. With the amount of water flowing over and rejoining the turbulance was fairly high at the lock exit. <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAojURBUlgCouKkUMJnFX2ByGwq2uTa1dO4-bxC0r_xoJdmGI8bPofbvyU5eH12nZkLt_vRPdYdO5uVyD2Z9_BhHNZlvi04UFrloP_CmPjvlQctZ1B2VmT1uSq98WRdVkh9CD/s1600/IMG_5098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAojURBUlgCouKkUMJnFX2ByGwq2uTa1dO4-bxC0r_xoJdmGI8bPofbvyU5eH12nZkLt_vRPdYdO5uVyD2Z9_BhHNZlvi04UFrloP_CmPjvlQctZ1B2VmT1uSq98WRdVkh9CD/s320/IMG_5098.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Stacy took a picture of our boats anchored as we walked back and we determined that the next day would be our day of departure before the crush of boats from the marinas upstream started down and we were all jockeying for space at the few anchorages available below this point. <br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">As we headed through the lock we saw the amount of water heading over the dam. Demopolis is not a flood control dam in that they do not control the water flow but just let it flow over the dam when it gets high. <br />
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</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhioRfnEQqcKSZO-zRv1WkP8Zfx3Xa7Rs-_Zo1rdhjwx5dk491lED5G6HJTSyiYioZNwyq0-XpG9Lweijrey9hjbifFbQFQhzsf3yVC2GOHy_v5BlAzDBhZ7ByjLK_L_doqA-7T/s1600/IMG_5103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhioRfnEQqcKSZO-zRv1WkP8Zfx3Xa7Rs-_Zo1rdhjwx5dk491lED5G6HJTSyiYioZNwyq0-XpG9Lweijrey9hjbifFbQFQhzsf3yVC2GOHy_v5BlAzDBhZ7ByjLK_L_doqA-7T/s320/IMG_5103.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We still had lots of debris in the river and had to keep a constant lookout to steer through it . Some of the channel markers were also under water or almost so. The current was running about 3 mph so we were able to make better than normal time. <br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFm3YUAfu-1ZlHMSRA2VsnRcZLJvKVPXfmvuvzuWUgIeFb5el-zWE1XtqUJv4SksyiJKFQK3WomTvLfkBF7NbdyPPDjJpYNzPEP4GH6EivNX9o2E1phYLV-Es42Rz-g5x3XQ6W/s1600/IMG_5107.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFm3YUAfu-1ZlHMSRA2VsnRcZLJvKVPXfmvuvzuWUgIeFb5el-zWE1XtqUJv4SksyiJKFQK3WomTvLfkBF7NbdyPPDjJpYNzPEP4GH6EivNX9o2E1phYLV-Es42Rz-g5x3XQ6W/s320/IMG_5107.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXMwIPYovwngF8badq77_39N9vk2ASd1aoziovBLU9G2a_HAfkHAakVbqDIy8HMvgor5wWXCK-OFgq3v_rqcyjDJXGRyqmnFKNZFec2MrDWBM9FxjrSKf0AusyiC0et8Prj0w_/s1600/IMG_5108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXMwIPYovwngF8badq77_39N9vk2ASd1aoziovBLU9G2a_HAfkHAakVbqDIy8HMvgor5wWXCK-OFgq3v_rqcyjDJXGRyqmnFKNZFec2MrDWBM9FxjrSKf0AusyiC0et8Prj0w_/s320/IMG_5108.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
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</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We anchored at Okatuppa Creek and Bates Lake and left early for our run to Mobile. We had a beautiful sunrise as we headed out.<br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglErkY2KQFHX0qXjM7BvdsnGEYGAg2_2VhtXZwslCFC5U5VTzS4mTSAIO29e6T-8fB8wp881t-fxmorgVAmG1YJY4T0Tk2ORmGf6-O6PQpjwb9LvQrCVQw26LJPeI-G56SsPXy/s1600/IMG_5111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglErkY2KQFHX0qXjM7BvdsnGEYGAg2_2VhtXZwslCFC5U5VTzS4mTSAIO29e6T-8fB8wp881t-fxmorgVAmG1YJY4T0Tk2ORmGf6-O6PQpjwb9LvQrCVQw26LJPeI-G56SsPXy/s320/IMG_5111.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We came through the "Mile 14" railroad bridge and then started seeing the industrial parts of Mobile, Alabama. Mobile is a very industrial and busy seaport. It has been awhile since we have traveled with the large cargo ships.<br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjttpuqZ4Inn9YQCt8AGyvJymwqP7U2DHjq7IZu4w5wLgRgEbUASujpMoo_8U7K5KY-Bv8N7Op4ASM-72zzHl9ZHEE1ayq9R-h0WuBKHT5ovd5DOR6XRIdXV0KONx3u7PtTKE7m/s1600/IMG_5115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjttpuqZ4Inn9YQCt8AGyvJymwqP7U2DHjq7IZu4w5wLgRgEbUASujpMoo_8U7K5KY-Bv8N7Op4ASM-72zzHl9ZHEE1ayq9R-h0WuBKHT5ovd5DOR6XRIdXV0KONx3u7PtTKE7m/s320/IMG_5115.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGlWknY7gDGtzVhNui-FDnZBMfptL4tvwT2hcaIVxDsj77t7j32fuwPxd8zF-Se_WH2QzzTmCQplL7M78Pt7a2SkT6XgLA_xcTigjOAQRvfhtEvUGqOwfhY1drWKYCBF6W5JQX/s1600/IMG_5117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGlWknY7gDGtzVhNui-FDnZBMfptL4tvwT2hcaIVxDsj77t7j32fuwPxd8zF-Se_WH2QzzTmCQplL7M78Pt7a2SkT6XgLA_xcTigjOAQRvfhtEvUGqOwfhY1drWKYCBF6W5JQX/s320/IMG_5117.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmPwETRYMWVgzOYY1_jnG4D9BXXFK8J8rMWVAETF2hbp6ifg1uksw390q_-SQxa53HaCXuaVOiF_DLM1Q8S9wdjLTnvT0cAx_WbHb2GrWG3UR3atk9_ljDnb8e1NFY8lnBy2y/s1600/IMG_5119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmPwETRYMWVgzOYY1_jnG4D9BXXFK8J8rMWVAETF2hbp6ifg1uksw390q_-SQxa53HaCXuaVOiF_DLM1Q8S9wdjLTnvT0cAx_WbHb2GrWG3UR3atk9_ljDnb8e1NFY8lnBy2y/s320/IMG_5119.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We took advantage of an offer by Dog River Marina for a free night stay with a fill up of fuel. Since we would be buying fuel anyway and the price was competitive we opted to stay for the night. Our car had been delivered there from the rendezvous at Wheeler so Just Us used it to go to the grocery store. Ken & Darcy also had a client there so we went to dinner with them.<br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">The next day was a perfectly calm day for crossing Mobile bay so we struck out as soon as the fog lifted enough to see. We started seeing the sights of salt water as we traveled and we anchored in Ingram Bayou. I took the opportunity to dive on the boats to check the bottom paint condition and add new zincs to my shafts while Stacy and Darcy took off in the dinghy to check out the bayou just east of us. They found a great little place called Pirate's Cove and planned for us to stop there for lunch the next day.<br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHY0_TSw9_5NwJtSGjINyVWhwfixbxss16EzYnnZS7wTjQ673YMh5v7Z2ASjbAnsdJDUNJm-5zxSWlDmqOm3KLN8VcfIhN3MVZetUKtvElZl24RtWbcCOnQlBH6QIrzzM9bIR/s1600/IMG_5120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHY0_TSw9_5NwJtSGjINyVWhwfixbxss16EzYnnZS7wTjQ673YMh5v7Z2ASjbAnsdJDUNJm-5zxSWlDmqOm3KLN8VcfIhN3MVZetUKtvElZl24RtWbcCOnQlBH6QIrzzM9bIR/s320/IMG_5120.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
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</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">The next day we headed for Big Lagoon after stopping at Pirate's Cove for lunch and anchored at Redfish Point. This was near the Naval Air Station at Pensacola and we thought we were sleeping on an aircraft carrier with all of the planes coming over us. On the way there we officially entered Florida.<br />
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</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7yf6rT9qloZgtefEsk1YE0I3FSXDez3SqHcIpwfY2RnFFrGzrtZFSKWfQG3Px5IPocIiUylcHwExmcGryI_xA9CSo9FlJVXdO6XFVIy0aoY6oqL6ph5Vnot_NP9d6x-DRL0WS/s1600/IMG_5129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7yf6rT9qloZgtefEsk1YE0I3FSXDez3SqHcIpwfY2RnFFrGzrtZFSKWfQG3Px5IPocIiUylcHwExmcGryI_xA9CSo9FlJVXdO6XFVIy0aoY6oqL6ph5Vnot_NP9d6x-DRL0WS/s320/IMG_5129.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
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</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">At Redfish Point we dinghied to shore and walked a sandy beach for the first time in a long while. <br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeW2K7VYYrLyrTMjYERWrZNNhpJ_6hg9AxqOXGXVtCHyZRtpokqpMvKSWlfH6BHX_hyJdGZsnEKi9IO-DtFpy3K7CKZtIZkraRZECAqNd85zWqRbkARlSv9K4c836zPoKes14y/s1600/IMG_5139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeW2K7VYYrLyrTMjYERWrZNNhpJ_6hg9AxqOXGXVtCHyZRtpokqpMvKSWlfH6BHX_hyJdGZsnEKi9IO-DtFpy3K7CKZtIZkraRZECAqNd85zWqRbkARlSv9K4c836zPoKes14y/s320/IMG_5139.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">While at Redfish we had the opportunity to have more planes fly over from Eglin Air Force Base. A unique plane (an Osprey) flew over a couple of times. These planes take off and land vertically and then rotate the engines forward to fly conventionally.<br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO81Fwlg0BhyphenhyphenCr5F-BM_0XQARaUOc85ctvnhiiBG8oze2FgeBfHMsRSk3LuCPyeazFGS1tlR6bfPWTste-u0Duj84KzUB5RveDLITHnIBPzVH64g6jeUPbhTnueZHfitWuano2/s1600/IMG_5170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO81Fwlg0BhyphenhyphenCr5F-BM_0XQARaUOc85ctvnhiiBG8oze2FgeBfHMsRSk3LuCPyeazFGS1tlR6bfPWTste-u0Duj84KzUB5RveDLITHnIBPzVH64g6jeUPbhTnueZHfitWuano2/s320/IMG_5170.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
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</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We crossed Choctawhatchee Bay the next day and went in to Bay Point Marina in Panama City. Along the way we saw a tow pushing two tugs and were greeted again by dolphins playing in our bow wake. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0FK3TlRNY-aoHfxtZJrDnmLbKKVYuFrFFMuv7Jp2IJeBB30N8th7EfSL8CinPbImL-IXTx_kFm9CRzQnDB3MMfNYXBkcnZp5hog6vcTrliuD8GmvOlzcM3l0c8HJJMh11Qzp9/s1600/IMG_5168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0FK3TlRNY-aoHfxtZJrDnmLbKKVYuFrFFMuv7Jp2IJeBB30N8th7EfSL8CinPbImL-IXTx_kFm9CRzQnDB3MMfNYXBkcnZp5hog6vcTrliuD8GmvOlzcM3l0c8HJJMh11Qzp9/s320/IMG_5168.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyibrCvKOQ3rB8kKYN7BP065HxFxPelUKwJrEWjcT2jOqbK02K1dtskOZ3v85sP6hjpSfEMiS8CS9X6pHTrUy6_p0DV9pZXv4wvXrBvCHa_awSgWbMyr4ixKxVow9_6jxQaxPV/s1600/IMG_5160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyibrCvKOQ3rB8kKYN7BP065HxFxPelUKwJrEWjcT2jOqbK02K1dtskOZ3v85sP6hjpSfEMiS8CS9X6pHTrUy6_p0DV9pZXv4wvXrBvCHa_awSgWbMyr4ixKxVow9_6jxQaxPV/s320/IMG_5160.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We arrived at Bay Point Marina and got settled in to our slip. We were greeted by Roy & Elvie Short who were already there and we had dinner on their boat that first night.<br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrexxhyQ9otyaozicLczsqY41OqJXBkElUfTR2PKBykNiGtfQ2Byiv_R1VlIIf8MIgxbf6xPfz1KYJQLCuVYu9jKz0aRJ4lxguFueiG2UgeNKjq4k1ffS_3ZxnXZBxxMEKKf9A/s1600/IMG_5172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrexxhyQ9otyaozicLczsqY41OqJXBkElUfTR2PKBykNiGtfQ2Byiv_R1VlIIf8MIgxbf6xPfz1KYJQLCuVYu9jKz0aRJ4lxguFueiG2UgeNKjq4k1ffS_3ZxnXZBxxMEKKf9A/s320/IMG_5172.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">The next two days were spent getting everything settled and relaxing before driving home to Athens for Thanksgiving.<br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAn4MypVesT_5XpdVoNYQqEYY992-4QSFTvZufZ_NYI7TlqiO8fUW4tPk9XU1h9AAup1pNK59cm78dLMVx_KVSEQcXFalgZcoIzQ04C_AhaNthGaZcbnFUtzt5ry7Lx_jqagJv/s1600/IMG_5174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAn4MypVesT_5XpdVoNYQqEYY992-4QSFTvZufZ_NYI7TlqiO8fUW4tPk9XU1h9AAup1pNK59cm78dLMVx_KVSEQcXFalgZcoIzQ04C_AhaNthGaZcbnFUtzt5ry7Lx_jqagJv/s320/IMG_5174.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We will be in Athens for a week or so and then return to SEASEA and enjoy the cruising around the panhandle.<br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-44351218218372944462009-11-11T14:12:00.001-05:002009-11-11T14:24:20.212-05:00AGLCA Rendezvous & Tenn-Tom WaterwayAfter we left our friends at Kentucky Dam Marina we made a long four day run up the Tennessee River against a 2+ mph current to get to Joe Wheeler State Park for the America's Great Loop Cruisers rendezvous. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXhaMa0sWN8XP7h3wKo6PAoxJ5Vieza31VYj6wLAVEdFCSOTOye-udp_WSdZKTZAGknv-mrtXP-qbvWDFe3FxnWJEUGJUpQCkOBjYDWuSLP6hr7JdS1o2Q-7zKrwGGW4TMhdjg/s1600-h/IMG_4966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXhaMa0sWN8XP7h3wKo6PAoxJ5Vieza31VYj6wLAVEdFCSOTOye-udp_WSdZKTZAGknv-mrtXP-qbvWDFe3FxnWJEUGJUpQCkOBjYDWuSLP6hr7JdS1o2Q-7zKrwGGW4TMhdjg/s320/IMG_4966.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We came in a week early so that I could go back to Athens, GA to help with painting at my mother's house. Stacy stayed with the boat and, since we had volunteered to help manage the marina during the rendezvous, she directed all of the boats coming in to their correct slip and helped with docking and line handling. It was a very busy time since this rendezvous was completly filled and there were somewhere around 80 boats attending. I came back the weekend before the rendezous started and was able to help some with the final boats coming in. We reconnected with boaters that we knew and made new acquaintences with others that we will no doubt see as we travel to Panama City. <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxT_I-ZmmOr_Z0w0-7aJdgPENllScxutwqEUXDlZP7RhZB6jNIAu1yZjwI1zv7SzqLX_3pBLLw0XFRenBFevg-efDuDXdOOcUOh5A4ug9hAb498eXnW4X0AGrH2ytGtqQmF7qR/s1600-h/IMG_4967.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxT_I-ZmmOr_Z0w0-7aJdgPENllScxutwqEUXDlZP7RhZB6jNIAu1yZjwI1zv7SzqLX_3pBLLw0XFRenBFevg-efDuDXdOOcUOh5A4ug9hAb498eXnW4X0AGrH2ytGtqQmF7qR/s320/IMG_4967.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZtXubZ9Ar919s4oIT86ED51Dj__Zk20taEpioK4pGbZUMQufKoN2iWhx6RdAKh3nKbQZ8oMacTYuV3h9v5Lx1LGs17tswqQfSFS84fGv5IhhFAwM8AUmBXM0kcxrMkYMRt6Yz/s1600-h/IMG_4970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZtXubZ9Ar919s4oIT86ED51Dj__Zk20taEpioK4pGbZUMQufKoN2iWhx6RdAKh3nKbQZ8oMacTYuV3h9v5Lx1LGs17tswqQfSFS84fGv5IhhFAwM8AUmBXM0kcxrMkYMRt6Yz/s320/IMG_4970.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We remained at Wheeler after the rendezvous to wait for our friends on "Just Us" to arrive from Goose Pond Marina with other friends Steve & Sandy. They arrived on Saturday and we planned for an early departure on Sunday. Steve & Sandy were being picked up by their son on Sunday. Since it was Halloween, Sandy brought devil costumes for Darcy & Stacy and they wore them that evening.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1RNXG4A8P9G0meREj9GVWLoxUsPCTr10BboymP8-DT-U0Ex6bxftXjjyqiVBVDcGd2csojJ2xj-J0jaYRjNY-h9dJ7QGtabOXI69l5ZgVRM6quLh5OplcrNhuY3sqZB5eUWo-/s1600-h/IMG_4987.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1RNXG4A8P9G0meREj9GVWLoxUsPCTr10BboymP8-DT-U0Ex6bxftXjjyqiVBVDcGd2csojJ2xj-J0jaYRjNY-h9dJ7QGtabOXI69l5ZgVRM6quLh5OplcrNhuY3sqZB5eUWo-/s320/IMG_4987.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6cPvsjziDk7OZTypO3RG0kn3ezPvTY_XFYgwvCuqCYDPAWMib6rfAD0kIK73dBBgnR1hLySvfPiNg1ufHPpy9xmIF6K_bgXnGM6Pt56t59RTCwp_0yXRNJ4Rw49ktGBCBoAO7/s1600-h/IMG_4989.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6cPvsjziDk7OZTypO3RG0kn3ezPvTY_XFYgwvCuqCYDPAWMib6rfAD0kIK73dBBgnR1hLySvfPiNg1ufHPpy9xmIF6K_bgXnGM6Pt56t59RTCwp_0yXRNJ4Rw49ktGBCBoAO7/s320/IMG_4989.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We departed Sunday and made a run down to the entrance to the Tenn-Tom Waterway. This was new waters for us and we were excited to be off on another adventure. TWINS joined us for our next anchorage and would stay with us for a few days after.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdudG6XbpVYK7t9PG2EqR-JnfkNFDsrC4xxMh66T9qdXeng79cAc3MyPTmd8JIsslmM5OKhqFM_MJr4tDcVQ1d-WG5TxU9rt6RxhsKj9DXFKsgjG0QohoNq9wz6Jv6CZ6KbIoE/s1600-h/IMG_4996.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdudG6XbpVYK7t9PG2EqR-JnfkNFDsrC4xxMh66T9qdXeng79cAc3MyPTmd8JIsslmM5OKhqFM_MJr4tDcVQ1d-WG5TxU9rt6RxhsKj9DXFKsgjG0QohoNq9wz6Jv6CZ6KbIoE/s320/IMG_4996.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqx78gYwBroSYRbBJmNIPVEFo-nCE1oHRqiceYk6HQyoanrBV3ITTBVVmyEPKIBXUKrU9g2jrfkTd5AobLifzH79ozh4-aaKlqy2YX3SuPkQiCn6l1RzqPVo_EA6YkB_qven92/s1600-h/IMG_4998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqx78gYwBroSYRbBJmNIPVEFo-nCE1oHRqiceYk6HQyoanrBV3ITTBVVmyEPKIBXUKrU9g2jrfkTd5AobLifzH79ozh4-aaKlqy2YX3SuPkQiCn6l1RzqPVo_EA6YkB_qven92/s320/IMG_4998.JPG" /></a> <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Tenn-Tom is a canal from the Tennessee River to Mobile, Alabama. It is part river and part dug canal. Some people refer to it as the ditch but we found it somewhat serene and the fall colors made it a nice cruise. The weather could not have been more pleasant for this trip. The canal is controlled and any streams running into it are controlled to prevent silting. The built retainage ponds with dams to break up the water flow into the canal.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2OAYTOYHD80nKxFPch_Vn4CE2num35Cz8K2P0i8zY08A8uEf8PH2Llcuz-IDr2kuABM-DjInEM5UAv9OwwtEp1ypSWbrQmVU0-Ttm8_rDBr5tF9j7Cf_IrvvzVQud0j_waDxv/s1600-h/IMG_4995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2OAYTOYHD80nKxFPch_Vn4CE2num35Cz8K2P0i8zY08A8uEf8PH2Llcuz-IDr2kuABM-DjInEM5UAv9OwwtEp1ypSWbrQmVU0-Ttm8_rDBr5tF9j7Cf_IrvvzVQud0j_waDxv/s320/IMG_4995.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">From our Bay Springs anchorage we traveled to Blue Bluff where we saw "Patsy Ray" and "I Love Lucy" and anchored for the night. From there we headed for Waverly, a small anchorage very near an old mansion that offered tours. We dinghied over to the road and walked about 1/4 mile to the mansion to see it. It is still a private residence but an interesting place with an interesting history.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdgGXmOMJPPg7BReksmd-_XAnzC09yHTbwY_G1q8mnye996SrDPSdgFnBbYbuJwiaJ_e7VTyrJp3nsUeJyjxkpfKy_ZDOzFbOEhC4x1Zx6pdWYZsGjGRy5_E6T2ZBVxbeg8Ffk/s1600-h/IMG_5033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdgGXmOMJPPg7BReksmd-_XAnzC09yHTbwY_G1q8mnye996SrDPSdgFnBbYbuJwiaJ_e7VTyrJp3nsUeJyjxkpfKy_ZDOzFbOEhC4x1Zx6pdWYZsGjGRy5_E6T2ZBVxbeg8Ffk/s320/IMG_5033.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMoRI9ei5wBmrIlyV57IzOBVTsUsVnP0gt0pqAWf4XlJaOFaVfE10eVyKry-Ormt5D6SalmM1b7uECbWf68LlMT70121VRM6nggcAVFtea9HLmUfzpCyMrrERlq02DHegEWhbZ/s1600-h/IMG_5024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMoRI9ei5wBmrIlyV57IzOBVTsUsVnP0gt0pqAWf4XlJaOFaVfE10eVyKry-Ormt5D6SalmM1b7uECbWf68LlMT70121VRM6nggcAVFtea9HLmUfzpCyMrrERlq02DHegEWhbZ/s320/IMG_5024.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the first couple of locks we noticed two small sailboats with AGLCA burgees attached. These guys were traveling the loop on these boats. I do not envy them in any way. It will be interesting to see if they make the entire loop.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBTWYyw9RRqfr9VzcA0YVDJFDnJgiSogqr7VhrQ13CsqFiRHqIn8oWaYU3IxDmBHEDjdYm9RDfRuRPmVoosZxY7W-OP98BzaSC7ACa0RO6hlaqC25AOwlRhxEV-rIZG_jAbMkz/s1600-h/IMG_5016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBTWYyw9RRqfr9VzcA0YVDJFDnJgiSogqr7VhrQ13CsqFiRHqIn8oWaYU3IxDmBHEDjdYm9RDfRuRPmVoosZxY7W-OP98BzaSC7ACa0RO6hlaqC25AOwlRhxEV-rIZG_jAbMkz/s200/IMG_5016.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-_TzcqWa5X2wSOY9QF4d90bdtqV_4ATq32t8R_0HI9U5woQPbDYBEjSN8886wkrZQXpGJfwT1A-hcDbBxSAuapYeokThdZ1Ax3lZtyXHZk2lbO-rMEffEW6LVS-0aVoEOV4H/s1600-h/IMG_5017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-_TzcqWa5X2wSOY9QF4d90bdtqV_4ATq32t8R_0HI9U5woQPbDYBEjSN8886wkrZQXpGJfwT1A-hcDbBxSAuapYeokThdZ1Ax3lZtyXHZk2lbO-rMEffEW6LVS-0aVoEOV4H/s200/IMG_5017.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Since there had been so much rain prior to our leaving Wheeler we had higher than normal currents in the canal. At the locks we could see the water being released from the adjacent dam. We would generally pick up speed after the lock from the increased current.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZDPcOoaEt1hI0cRHrOX-M2Ag9i3jN3-KTF1UzgNbYOcNlNYafi9aIdBK99hW2JnPwHfXnB6xluGZNaNqNRBxuAkTttNd5sUxfx4tMadm-Mt4sbQ7PV7Wx-FJwx8GUu3CBFyp-/s1600-h/IMG_5013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZDPcOoaEt1hI0cRHrOX-M2Ag9i3jN3-KTF1UzgNbYOcNlNYafi9aIdBK99hW2JnPwHfXnB6xluGZNaNqNRBxuAkTttNd5sUxfx4tMadm-Mt4sbQ7PV7Wx-FJwx8GUu3CBFyp-/s320/IMG_5013.JPG" /></a><br />
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On Thursday after departing Waverly we anchored in Cochrane Cutoff with a number of other boats. The next morning was foggy an as soon as the fog lifted we all headed to the lock. We arrived at about the same time as 6 other boats and we ended up with 13 boats in the lock. We rafted off so that we could all get into the lock together so there would not be any delays.<br />
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Friday, 11/6 we left Cochrane to go to Demopolis, Alabama. Not too long after leaving Cochrane, Darcy received a phone call that her dad had had a heart attack that morning. Not knowing the severity, they contemplated stopping at Demopolis and renting a car to drive to Lousiana. Along the way we passed one of the few notable landmarks of the Tenn-Tom, the White Cliffs of Epes.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYQ1BOWBbfB5UHrRWililt-G8sC_6sDfzWoEW6KasD0djkLJd5lvh2vQUFxhBcLvWKtVcw_8x-lbxVxIC6zjMk8fnnIGHzvQ95j6WhOMfpR5_vIQdvCJJIK9O_ZbUY46_2WZd/s1600-h/IMG_5061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYQ1BOWBbfB5UHrRWililt-G8sC_6sDfzWoEW6KasD0djkLJd5lvh2vQUFxhBcLvWKtVcw_8x-lbxVxIC6zjMk8fnnIGHzvQ95j6WhOMfpR5_vIQdvCJJIK9O_ZbUY46_2WZd/s320/IMG_5061.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div>We decided to hold up for a day at Demopolis to wait for further news before they made a decision on whether to go home. We anchored at Rattlesnake Bend just 7 miles above Demopolis and the news came back that it was a mild heart attack and that they had put in two stents and that he would be returning home probably on Sunday so she decided to keep her original schedule and go home to visit for Thanksgiving. We also decided that we could use a day of break from running. We also knew that this would give all the other boats that we had locked with a chance to move on ahead so that we could get into the anchorages that followed (the Tenn-Tom has few good anchorages and they hold very few boats) We did not, however, anticipate taking as long a break as we have. We moved the next morning and stopped into Demopolis Yacht Basin to take on some fuel and water and then proceeded another two miles to Fosque Creek to anchor.<br />
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Once we settled into the anchorage we took note of the weather and noticed that tropical storm Ida was forming into a hurricane and was projected to come into the gulf and affect the panhandle of Florida. We then made the decision to remain here until we could find out what the storm would do. There was no reason to head south and get into a jam if the storm would indeed make landfall. "I Love Lucy" was already in the anchorage and we changed our anchoring to stern tie to some trees on shore to wait out whatever weather we would receive. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnqhQQf5F6wmLkZryghTnVhU6416NmtyM-K7dDFAUOcYbtzwK8lSD6S1DjVDSMAHMCG2vQrVwpNB0DKBgXBKFH1Bk9WmLqWcCo2Bc5ZhByG-WcHKbsZe9Up0zEJ6WmRf1FHIwN/s1600-h/IMG_5068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnqhQQf5F6wmLkZryghTnVhU6416NmtyM-K7dDFAUOcYbtzwK8lSD6S1DjVDSMAHMCG2vQrVwpNB0DKBgXBKFH1Bk9WmLqWcCo2Bc5ZhByG-WcHKbsZe9Up0zEJ6WmRf1FHIwN/s320/IMG_5068.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I dropped anchor and Just Us rafted to us. I went out and attached my snubber to my anchor chain so that I would have some shock load protection from wind gusts.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMqRwYvneWuXMSnRQm-acU85NhnjwsHL0a7bWGQPrj6ccja65aG_X94gNZDMY9AKlUEOdJGAUwL2adEAV1evQhPlLDhQ1CpSF5T1uVuO6bC-Cj-k90vur1hOR-NkMvjhtl-IWv/s1600-h/IMG_5075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMqRwYvneWuXMSnRQm-acU85NhnjwsHL0a7bWGQPrj6ccja65aG_X94gNZDMY9AKlUEOdJGAUwL2adEAV1evQhPlLDhQ1CpSF5T1uVuO6bC-Cj-k90vur1hOR-NkMvjhtl-IWv/s320/IMG_5075.JPG" /></a><br />
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We felt that we had made a good decision when the storm did intensify and we knew that we would be getting wind. Even though we were 200+ miles from the coast, we were to get some decent wind gusts. <br />
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The rain started Monday afternoon and the wind picked up quite a bit. During the night we had shifted over to where Just Us was almost touching ground and we feared that with the rising water he would bang into the park bench on shore. On Tuesday morning the worst of the winds and rain came in and we decided to rig additional stern lines and a second anchor directly into the wind to hold us off the shore line a little better. Ken dropped his dinghy and we took our secondary anchor out and dropped it. We did the same for I Love Lucy as he was having the same difficulty we were. By the time we finished we were completely drenched but felt much more secure as the winds tried to push us around.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmR7rWYlsSbk8jMl5xp3t60rJb9sQ4FKa0kzkt2s56CMQTrKxD1zXM8HmryZs0c-77zcPDGOq40htf0TybjBQgKX2y7kHVq4F5speseH0J_YlJmUY2cR3pP-hQtenkYKNSDAte/s1600-h/IMG_5080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmR7rWYlsSbk8jMl5xp3t60rJb9sQ4FKa0kzkt2s56CMQTrKxD1zXM8HmryZs0c-77zcPDGOq40htf0TybjBQgKX2y7kHVq4F5speseH0J_YlJmUY2cR3pP-hQtenkYKNSDAte/s320/IMG_5080.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKIED_o6AhOSlSjhNiU7Fp8bT4ZMDFurxIsXUf9DngER_ZTRRWF13NuBC0wJa7nRiD9KwS6maD1ZB8tKlDIXx_HJfX-B7_DT5qx-I8UlilbE6YAUiZhfrMiAhGXCVHQRSUx4yH/s1600-h/IMG_5083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKIED_o6AhOSlSjhNiU7Fp8bT4ZMDFurxIsXUf9DngER_ZTRRWF13NuBC0wJa7nRiD9KwS6maD1ZB8tKlDIXx_HJfX-B7_DT5qx-I8UlilbE6YAUiZhfrMiAhGXCVHQRSUx4yH/s320/IMG_5083.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We have been sharing meals and killing time waiting on Ida to clear out. Ken & Darcy came over and played "Mexican Train" and we have done a good bit of reading. We are anchored at an RV park and they have a coin laundry here so Ken & Darcy have done laundry as well. Since the sun has come back out today Stacy has hung out all of the towels we used in our anchoring adventure.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAH8PWaBJ48llHwiCeB4TZPBH0LlaqXuQZ9PKjBBp4PRwkWXLyc1dCUvoCb4UwBzL6MyAPMQ9i8nQvZs6ELQcbUwLy2duQtzupPJZtKIC__fYl1kiO__sZkuFOsh0-XTzrsw0/s1600-h/IMG_5088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAH8PWaBJ48llHwiCeB4TZPBH0LlaqXuQZ9PKjBBp4PRwkWXLyc1dCUvoCb4UwBzL6MyAPMQ9i8nQvZs6ELQcbUwLy2duQtzupPJZtKIC__fYl1kiO__sZkuFOsh0-XTzrsw0/s320/IMG_5088.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The water has risen 6 or 7 feet in here in the last 24 hours so we are waiting to see what the river does before heading further south. The park benches that were behind Just Us are now just about under water.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_IvXe4_N6s321RFt4dg2k8jNq5O9GQDAIfONZ-uHjJLVFISVfc0sC5-D-vONzS6g_h6Iu64S3vIU5AuCEolS0FLiaA5utGoSE45pHfx9iY7OqbvmTGYq6PoaksIC809XRLpj/s1600-h/IMG_5089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_IvXe4_N6s321RFt4dg2k8jNq5O9GQDAIfONZ-uHjJLVFISVfc0sC5-D-vONzS6g_h6Iu64S3vIU5AuCEolS0FLiaA5utGoSE45pHfx9iY7OqbvmTGYq6PoaksIC809XRLpj/s320/IMG_5089.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our current plan is to depart here on Friday morning. As usual, however, our plans are written in pencil on sand.<br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-33176295899434755802009-10-15T15:10:00.005-04:002009-10-17T09:30:27.814-04:00Cumberland River 10/1 - 10/14<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We went above Nashville for a few days after the currents had subsided a bit and anchored in Drake's Creek. We noticed activity on the other side and found out that there was a "Camp" being set up at the house of Daniel Smith, the oldest stone house in Tennessee. We dinghied over the next morning and found out that there was a large group of "reinactors" camped there in period gear and attire. We saw many displays of period work including musket ball making over a wood fire and lace work that we hadn't seen since our visit to Belgium. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvZCdDEx1v17FDGSimoo3A9Yamo2yauu44FsHVFJ-aZJqtpvblKReThP6FyWjTTDslA7Jy74U-7fCQ8XBtDudioVJLbKCLzsik1OBpqSKCJdKHoTdlEKVZpZgbvjEdaSnAPNcq/s1600-h/IMG_4877.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvZCdDEx1v17FDGSimoo3A9Yamo2yauu44FsHVFJ-aZJqtpvblKReThP6FyWjTTDslA7Jy74U-7fCQ8XBtDudioVJLbKCLzsik1OBpqSKCJdKHoTdlEKVZpZgbvjEdaSnAPNcq/s320/IMG_4877.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaBVHN0S618PsigaGz0FonqoPFEjVoNo8ZFMg3VVdSibDbHINWhMEK6t0jKtGnW3jb2HNvv-DcaBx-qEm8PLqHAjSrsR3vjN-Ok3D35JDE_l58u3se4YTd4GQ2VJ9KOiaYZgpS/s1600-h/IMG_4878.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaBVHN0S618PsigaGz0FonqoPFEjVoNo8ZFMg3VVdSibDbHINWhMEK6t0jKtGnW3jb2HNvv-DcaBx-qEm8PLqHAjSrsR3vjN-Ok3D35JDE_l58u3se4YTd4GQ2VJ9KOiaYZgpS/s320/IMG_4878.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Jc89cTWZXGfvSUhSRTXBxH7y8Lfx6J__wkHoEMZbnHz9w_dbaR4OwA0PpAKF0Btf-cEJYWIzGQDLxMt4jElyRO8ZTgmlNGIBk2zTq4rtNO7g33XOONQ8hO2Kjh2MqVxs-9G6/s1600-h/IMG_4874.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Jc89cTWZXGfvSUhSRTXBxH7y8Lfx6J__wkHoEMZbnHz9w_dbaR4OwA0PpAKF0Btf-cEJYWIzGQDLxMt4jElyRO8ZTgmlNGIBk2zTq4rtNO7g33XOONQ8hO2Kjh2MqVxs-9G6/s320/IMG_4874.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ks8eKb9fIg0BGno2jraAezoIIZfekWhKF4b4rx_TFmRvAAcwaSgaH2mFBtb-Ec4fTB8ahgjMKODjgymUeq8F7QzteM0_J_3qd8zb8Sj6ejhkaBbLpsrLTMS6s5CtinnmNb8J/s1600-h/IMG_4875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ks8eKb9fIg0BGno2jraAezoIIZfekWhKF4b4rx_TFmRvAAcwaSgaH2mFBtb-Ec4fTB8ahgjMKODjgymUeq8F7QzteM0_J_3qd8zb8Sj6ejhkaBbLpsrLTMS6s5CtinnmNb8J/s320/IMG_4875.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We headed in to Blackjack Cove Marina for one night to pick up our friends Bill & Gail Stuenkel and Chuck and Chris Hewitson from Gig Harbor and Vancouver Washington. They will be traveling for 8 days down to Kentucky Dam Marina. <br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0EyyOJHu8VU03864YucBNnKyOkwpI8P1f8aWQmpP4KCEUVBQg0lj6zYbuui86vUhgUzkoGgkEIGKWLKtV5WU6GL5JCtDqsnbGfj3GwuOJB4pn5mkaEXlUAM3jLfqpUyWPw0oc/s1600-h/IMG_4899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0EyyOJHu8VU03864YucBNnKyOkwpI8P1f8aWQmpP4KCEUVBQg0lj6zYbuui86vUhgUzkoGgkEIGKWLKtV5WU6GL5JCtDqsnbGfj3GwuOJB4pn5mkaEXlUAM3jLfqpUyWPw0oc/s320/IMG_4899.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The people we met on the houseboat at Nashville had offered their car for us to go to the airport to pick them up. Some of the finest people you care to meet live along this river. <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We celebrated their arrival and the reconnection we felt by seeing them again. We first met them on our "Loop" trip and the three boats traveled together for a few months.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5CEbEhbPM9l3J0YIPWQav_A6EP4Z5Qx3cpa0yGjZ0sSsvegvB1r8rK17qjSWjRNOOAt3zWBQxGj1Xi8wK7HPdWMZET6AB_VjYD4BkApNSM7JbOr1SzdjdZoCqwOHgblQr9g2H/s1600-h/IMG_4879.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5CEbEhbPM9l3J0YIPWQav_A6EP4Z5Qx3cpa0yGjZ0sSsvegvB1r8rK17qjSWjRNOOAt3zWBQxGj1Xi8wK7HPdWMZET6AB_VjYD4BkApNSM7JbOr1SzdjdZoCqwOHgblQr9g2H/s320/IMG_4879.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Stacy had Chris driving almost immediately and we headed downstream back to Nashville. They had visited Nashville by car during the loop and were interested in seeing the city again so we docked at the downtown docks and walked into town. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6hCTl1V-RGEjKl1Ozriw7GhgJ8OhA5PQbjnrY1KMHdUiEIg2IO5jfGGDqATZYCGFZSuK8BmwzjIzYKlO01t-5aXrafE3Eu7M3iqZJUkS7dO-mg7SUGlirc8EDQymhZDq4NM-/s1600-h/IMG_4885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6hCTl1V-RGEjKl1Ozriw7GhgJ8OhA5PQbjnrY1KMHdUiEIg2IO5jfGGDqATZYCGFZSuK8BmwzjIzYKlO01t-5aXrafE3Eu7M3iqZJUkS7dO-mg7SUGlirc8EDQymhZDq4NM-/s320/IMG_4885.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">They had visited the Wild Horse Saloon on their previous visit so we headed there after hearing some local talent in some of the other honky-tonks. Chuck and Chris tried learning a new line dance while those of us with no rhythm just watched.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShAOPJGS0d3VNu3S04x849-1WHL5PUNKO3_nrk69d4kSB2Qi19AZA3mAAcaknBUMmgu8jjrvuvNI9UpSS7Nu5MUg2U_PaOI1VzsSr0zIhqtNv1-4k4u0coz01EPfzmh_b1zzP/s1600-h/IMG_4893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShAOPJGS0d3VNu3S04x849-1WHL5PUNKO3_nrk69d4kSB2Qi19AZA3mAAcaknBUMmgu8jjrvuvNI9UpSS7Nu5MUg2U_PaOI1VzsSr0zIhqtNv1-4k4u0coz01EPfzmh_b1zzP/s320/IMG_4893.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We left Nashville and headed down to the Riverview restaurant for lunch and then to Harpeth River to anchor for the night. The Harpeth River anchorage is probably the prettiest anchorage on this part of the Cumberland river. Everyone independently explored the river by dinghy while others just relaxed.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6s75JO8sdjuzkH8SHh_54hKv-J9R02-afGCGkGJCd06Wdb6E_LZ8_hJS5bU8QnKBIG-gOSiymPnFDKkuaLZyfYIy62fHn-Y9FhgLoKWcc0NQ9eYQVxzN7N8M6tMpTJMAS8_xl/s1600-h/IMG_4910.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6s75JO8sdjuzkH8SHh_54hKv-J9R02-afGCGkGJCd06Wdb6E_LZ8_hJS5bU8QnKBIG-gOSiymPnFDKkuaLZyfYIy62fHn-Y9FhgLoKWcc0NQ9eYQVxzN7N8M6tMpTJMAS8_xl/s320/IMG_4910.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the way there we passed a waterfall that was not there on our way up. This just shows how much rain had fallen in the area while we were upstream.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHL1g0AVzD94W9Mm96vNBOFe6yudNApPh0V117Zs4TjuOJL6d_rQL__Ks4N07avypSeDEFGJOMMMe8MBS-B3r598jM2njnrE2kA444sOSD5G0kWJ6NCkq6HkKT-LE-GED7QxPp/s1600-h/IMG_4925.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHL1g0AVzD94W9Mm96vNBOFe6yudNApPh0V117Zs4TjuOJL6d_rQL__Ks4N07avypSeDEFGJOMMMe8MBS-B3r598jM2njnrE2kA444sOSD5G0kWJ6NCkq6HkKT-LE-GED7QxPp/s320/IMG_4925.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">From Harpeth River we headed back to Clarksville and spend one night there in the rain. We still got out and explored the town. After Clarksville we anchored at Dover Island and the four of them dinghied to town and to Fort Donelson. We had once again escaped the heaviest of the rain but we could see the effects of it in the change of water color and current. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To pass the time in the evenings or rain or just to do it, we played Mexican Train dominoes. Bill thought it a "stupid game" since he didn't win but it is a good way to spend an evening with friends.<br />
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</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis217pye8Xnqu9MJQqhS2Vh6pqJSeIJf5ii_aSfESmse8dvxqPAfDa-3i51ns3Lvp49fq9iWUttc7drezYxCW5ItR2sYgnox0JzCiHtn2uM0T94jj3tGlt8_LtqODe-w0KjOLy/s1600-h/IMG_4937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis217pye8Xnqu9MJQqhS2Vh6pqJSeIJf5ii_aSfESmse8dvxqPAfDa-3i51ns3Lvp49fq9iWUttc7drezYxCW5ItR2sYgnox0JzCiHtn2uM0T94jj3tGlt8_LtqODe-w0KjOLy/s320/IMG_4937.JPG" vr="true" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our next stop was Lake Barkley State Park where we once again docked in front of the lodge. Chuck had been wanting to fish so we picked up lures at the marina and he fished from the dock. He caught one small Largemouth Bass. Notice the water color in the photo.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioyAskNJoCjHKtcSgkvE5j3GOdasxTwr3xdf8iQ4ukF_lqx6dnWJexdYpqpS71cB1pD6LahF89utkiwuNWK5J1a8X6xzYIe4GVm4ngt3ijpH82-B6NZdiaCMCHN605a_Mc1QV1/s1600-h/IMG_4943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioyAskNJoCjHKtcSgkvE5j3GOdasxTwr3xdf8iQ4ukF_lqx6dnWJexdYpqpS71cB1pD6LahF89utkiwuNWK5J1a8X6xzYIe4GVm4ngt3ijpH82-B6NZdiaCMCHN605a_Mc1QV1/s320/IMG_4943.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Since they all like to hike, we sent them on the trail to the beach area. On the return we noticed that Chuck had only one pant leg. We soon found out why. They had found a quantity of geodes along the shore and had no bag to carry them so Chuck zipped off his pant leg and made a bag. Lake Barkley State Park is a good stop.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZyOlSk0LXX3ov2iSdKl4uL5ZyTJqRt74_U6purBg1Q0Iv2tB0TBHdnH2dGjqtk-hqEWmdgoGkcZae3miE9pwj5m6kW36ZuupiG5QmRcuatWwiMpidFsYbP5SQ7ySTV20sPE74/s1600-h/IMG_4938.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZyOlSk0LXX3ov2iSdKl4uL5ZyTJqRt74_U6purBg1Q0Iv2tB0TBHdnH2dGjqtk-hqEWmdgoGkcZae3miE9pwj5m6kW36ZuupiG5QmRcuatWwiMpidFsYbP5SQ7ySTV20sPE74/s320/IMG_4938.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We had a surprise in store for everyone after Lake Barkley State Park. We headed back to Kuttawa where we sent everyone to the local museum for local history. Stacy and I had visited the museum on the way up and made arrangements for them to open on a Monday for our guests. We had met some local people on our trip up and they had asked us to stop back in on our way back down river and we would have a fish fry. We told Bill, Gail, Chuck & Chris that we were taking them to a special place for dinner that night and that "no, they could not pay for it". They were quite surprised when we walked up to the park pavilion and everyone was there to greet us. We had fish, spaghetti, slaw, chili dogs, beans, corn pudding, and unbelievable desserts. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCzFc_lAVkbQX-alUM8QhipEevkcNonk5ZxP3jU75f2RzGZcoYn0v85WdRDVUsD9IlN3epX0IQP19SKL4fhZnmerhcJ3TssaYPcru9JUVxt5x2_KmIeuzcFod9IWoUIayUy2e/s1600-h/IMG_4955.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCzFc_lAVkbQX-alUM8QhipEevkcNonk5ZxP3jU75f2RzGZcoYn0v85WdRDVUsD9IlN3epX0IQP19SKL4fhZnmerhcJ3TssaYPcru9JUVxt5x2_KmIeuzcFod9IWoUIayUy2e/s320/IMG_4955.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The girls walked up to town and looked at houses. Stacy picked one out that she likes. As Chuck said, the houses and setting made him think we were on some movie set. The setting was just that but it was the people that made it such a great stop. We could not have met any more hospitable and gracious people than we met at Kuttawa. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Along the way we once again saw our rare white pelicans. Only this time there were quite a few more. I have not seen pelicans fly as a flock and did not realize that they flew in formation similar to ducks and geese.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBQM4R9bHrtssDlUoUZpWiRG2UaftyBnpwm0pVAtiKbw5VYTO0IhL8esiNt2C-WGVrooHTHEQGLcKoKJ55hhc7kHlUKZKb-3DrWNfweEacNzOtudUH8GCd1uGZohUrJf4V69Ed/s1600-h/DSC_4670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBQM4R9bHrtssDlUoUZpWiRG2UaftyBnpwm0pVAtiKbw5VYTO0IhL8esiNt2C-WGVrooHTHEQGLcKoKJ55hhc7kHlUKZKb-3DrWNfweEacNzOtudUH8GCd1uGZohUrJf4V69Ed/s320/DSC_4670.JPG" vr="true" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After a great evening in Kuttawa we headed for our final stop at Kentucky Dam Marina. One of the early highlights of their loop trip was a stop at Green Turtle Bay and dinner at Patti's 1880. We got the courtesy car from the marina and drove over to Patti's for a late lunch/early dinner. We all had the same thing we had before - 2" pork chops (a specialty of Patti's) and it was just as good as we remembered.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv5wG4fPXOi0_5X_zJ7fgMLYf_hiQaq_Fv7ujbAqcmS_dRhMVaWymcx6jE23diR1H3jS_I_jXPUKgTSjdV6mS8brb_wE6LivKVgGbQoP9NNDmcq8ivAtFN_aaOnFic-MoXgIBh/s1600-h/IMG_4957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv5wG4fPXOi0_5X_zJ7fgMLYf_hiQaq_Fv7ujbAqcmS_dRhMVaWymcx6jE23diR1H3jS_I_jXPUKgTSjdV6mS8brb_wE6LivKVgGbQoP9NNDmcq8ivAtFN_aaOnFic-MoXgIBh/s320/IMG_4957.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk-LdaIHEjNsu9yjTfdyHXb6FPiMCZCLzAS4p9331efYhU05yl3D0lcRrhbh7iR47Zw8GkYT6QY-hPNEd5gO6lZGQJJ66ZglnrqSLVHPNzkEOjtY0E-lc9oAk1Q2v_eyE5ZJRp/s1600-h/IMG_4958.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk-LdaIHEjNsu9yjTfdyHXb6FPiMCZCLzAS4p9331efYhU05yl3D0lcRrhbh7iR47Zw8GkYT6QY-hPNEd5gO6lZGQJJ66ZglnrqSLVHPNzkEOjtY0E-lc9oAk1Q2v_eyE5ZJRp/s320/IMG_4958.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Later that evening Bill prepared Margaritas to evoke memories of time together in Cabo and the next morning we said goodbye to our friends.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzmAn2eO4ofxd4X5tk2wyajBJfq2LNDIk1CaMPMYvwJHaWGpU9uFYSzWVH_4Y-2AA5kZ_CHoea4OuCQ7gDFgZBdtQp4lW9bQbq_6juoC2zryl4LP5ZnpOVJ5g-rKa9p91bSr0/s1600-h/IMG_4960.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzmAn2eO4ofxd4X5tk2wyajBJfq2LNDIk1CaMPMYvwJHaWGpU9uFYSzWVH_4Y-2AA5kZ_CHoea4OuCQ7gDFgZBdtQp4lW9bQbq_6juoC2zryl4LP5ZnpOVJ5g-rKa9p91bSr0/s320/IMG_4960.JPG" vr="true" /></a><br />
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</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IJNmY6k-vtA2DjeToM0BgR2bs7fg1FIPDhijYZ26e8MQB1kKLPvYZZYOUAqApGZNFpn2iJBuu99EnNERbZ-IzOfWyDQlX5SghdtnnKU43d-_cCvLZ3TQ2awJHaD759H2gBDw/s1600-h/IMG_4964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img $r="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IJNmY6k-vtA2DjeToM0BgR2bs7fg1FIPDhijYZ26e8MQB1kKLPvYZZYOUAqApGZNFpn2iJBuu99EnNERbZ-IzOfWyDQlX5SghdtnnKU43d-_cCvLZ3TQ2awJHaD759H2gBDw/s320/IMG_4964.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We left as soon as they were away and headed upstream for a long day to Pebble Isle. We had a wonderful visit with our friends. We so enjoy their company and fellowship and hope to see them again in the not so distant future. <br />
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</div>We are making a few long day runs to get to Wheeler State Park so that I can drive back to Athens to take care of some things. We are currently pushing against a flooded Tennessee River with close to 3 mph current. We plan to be at Wheeler on Saturday and I will drive back to Athens on Sunday.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-538018515287487042009-09-30T20:21:00.001-04:002009-09-30T20:38:14.106-04:00Cumberland River 9/21-9/30 - Nashville<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We had already started noticing the water level increase while in Clarksville and noticed more debris coming down the river as we left.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3rixvyi8Qoklm_GRCwI9BRiGpHgd2fdIy3DxLTCa6_hMlHbVtWs-ozkn2o6eSmKgYCz8XvHWgQnMSNqjqeg8fZ_5JqhY_qpUGb5S3gvGD5Q_kaIvM7PKbrgONR7FEF4Jp9doc/s1600-h/IMG_4832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" iq="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3rixvyi8Qoklm_GRCwI9BRiGpHgd2fdIy3DxLTCa6_hMlHbVtWs-ozkn2o6eSmKgYCz8XvHWgQnMSNqjqeg8fZ_5JqhY_qpUGb5S3gvGD5Q_kaIvM7PKbrgONR7FEF4Jp9doc/s320/IMG_4832.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Sally and Clarence Wall joined us in Clarksville and rode with us for two days to Nashville. We had a great time together and I am not certain whether Sally was thinking two days or two weeks with the amount of food she brought. They enjoyed their stay and both drove the boat while navigating debris fields.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihN1a0j3noCegqFoj7lz7zHqtMKNkircK8MyFQ3OT0bmaUHbNq4DJ4WVZTQy4ZB-z9Mbtfr_q18VVDnGMZQcqLjwAf8FAwg2SYSvKRf2ZMnc2Ng-QFboUNQx7Ox6x7jHvbeqvd/s1600-h/IMG_4836.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" iq="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihN1a0j3noCegqFoj7lz7zHqtMKNkircK8MyFQ3OT0bmaUHbNq4DJ4WVZTQy4ZB-z9Mbtfr_q18VVDnGMZQcqLjwAf8FAwg2SYSvKRf2ZMnc2Ng-QFboUNQx7Ox6x7jHvbeqvd/s320/IMG_4836.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">When we got to Nashville, a boat that we met in Clarksville was already there and it seemed that there was only one spot for us to get into on the dock. They told us that we should be able to fit in the space. The current and debris had been building all day and Stacy had a somewhat tricky maneuver to get into the space. She was able to do it with no problem but there was only about 4 feet in front and behind. This may seem like a decent amount but not when you have current and debris to contend with. Oh, and did I mention that we were docking next to a bridge piller that had to be negotiated with it's turbulence in the current.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUh_gh2-3rSYxjX0FBEFCmQ_4PU08HjObSxlqkJOmIgfADvOg_skNOX_hfVRr0ZbpcALAOODuQehzSrh9FxZbzFVtwjNxM-oAqJQLAs9Y_FEXHAsTjwX891HtWZbzT8dRYH0Yw/s1600-h/IMG_4849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" iq="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUh_gh2-3rSYxjX0FBEFCmQ_4PU08HjObSxlqkJOmIgfADvOg_skNOX_hfVRr0ZbpcALAOODuQehzSrh9FxZbzFVtwjNxM-oAqJQLAs9Y_FEXHAsTjwX891HtWZbzT8dRYH0Yw/s320/IMG_4849.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Clarence & Sally left to head back to Chattanooga and we walked into town. We walked over to the Ryman Auditorium where the Grand Ole Opry was housed for many years and checked out all of the small honky-tonks in the immediate area. Almost everything is in a few block area and most had no covers and live music. Everyone who wants to make it in Country music tries to get noticed playing in one of these honky-tonks. We stopped in Tootsies to listen for a few minutes and did notice that there was at least one VIP in the room. We don't know who he is but he was with a couple at the next table. He had a rather large bodyguard standing just behind him that would not let anyone get too close. If anyone knows who the man in the white hat is let us know.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCClvzsV_wAq0-RO_mgN-r81Qk1lkJDDJYpLMl-e83MQ8-mivB3cQHE71RY2xSCaQu6S5WjHwx60Ifli-bJXJ4DmTsfUnMVUGnX17uan9QfK_UDDtfDSD3YowVnngpUZY9bUCN/s1600-h/IMG_4841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" iq="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCClvzsV_wAq0-RO_mgN-r81Qk1lkJDDJYpLMl-e83MQ8-mivB3cQHE71RY2xSCaQu6S5WjHwx60Ifli-bJXJ4DmTsfUnMVUGnX17uan9QfK_UDDtfDSD3YowVnngpUZY9bUCN/s320/IMG_4841.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlLAaRhcfTTJ1xn22_HTcYeQSoefbtldDwea61ehb5Vc1uOGj2vivA6P25H5LPvxQlSULTolqO1GcCMfkHdDkZY9ASHgq1fLVwxZkvelevq93NAF8v_xTmjI6hW11qyDhqt_fk/s1600-h/IMG_4844.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" iq="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlLAaRhcfTTJ1xn22_HTcYeQSoefbtldDwea61ehb5Vc1uOGj2vivA6P25H5LPvxQlSULTolqO1GcCMfkHdDkZY9ASHgq1fLVwxZkvelevq93NAF8v_xTmjI6hW11qyDhqt_fk/s320/IMG_4844.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-qNQ2wmRiUzzcAZm6RkyO8DmnVkyjFDmeqOZL6FTtVjnIyK3MsoHMXHeMZZ5leW3JcD40_ANsuUviEyArGe5XSCTqHiiD9Smut8VeVQWj-yVDCFHHIdE4j20f2ffOQj6KkSC8/s1600-h/IMG_4846.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" iq="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-qNQ2wmRiUzzcAZm6RkyO8DmnVkyjFDmeqOZL6FTtVjnIyK3MsoHMXHeMZZ5leW3JcD40_ANsuUviEyArGe5XSCTqHiiD9Smut8VeVQWj-yVDCFHHIdE4j20f2ffOQj6KkSC8/s320/IMG_4846.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Tootsies is right behind the Ryman and we were told stories from some of the locals that the alley between them is famous. There is a back door to Tootsies and this is where some of the stars that were performing at the Ryman would come to have drinks at Tootsies. Apparently Johnny Cash was famous for it and the alley is also supposed to be where the Everly Brothers were discovered.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTxU3IN5by4NpH37T0YZUkek-6TmvhkAZo3UvplpN6jTDpSSYuZ1Sob_X5Q_ap9ZGoWxQ3ZOktkjoti2d4cgrdSkx2wwDgUvlExkWwCXo8wHeD4gM0olZJscm5WC7k3TOlFtOp/s1600-h/IMG_4843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" iq="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTxU3IN5by4NpH37T0YZUkek-6TmvhkAZo3UvplpN6jTDpSSYuZ1Sob_X5Q_ap9ZGoWxQ3ZOktkjoti2d4cgrdSkx2wwDgUvlExkWwCXo8wHeD4gM0olZJscm5WC7k3TOlFtOp/s320/IMG_4843.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We didn't stay out very late and decided to do most of our exploring the next day.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Friday night it poured rain all night and on Saturday it rained a good part of the day. Mostly it was off and on but enough to keep you from wanting to do much walking around. I had not been feeling very well so we decided to stay at the boat for a while especially since we were expecting some other boats to come in. The current in the river and the debris increased enormously. There was a continuous stream of debris and the currents were estimated to be about 5 mph. <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJ1RkOEe5J3TH5K0Wxkxmm7OzOQNzx9kQSHcnaF3hpK4KI9FQQ2OqdiFAb7hWwQRICXtNOPm4a1n2wKLEoNchmBTL4vhsAtFjB9YYsElyN74-Bv24RKq88Kr_pFEKOJDMnp9U/s1600-h/IMG_4852.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" iq="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJ1RkOEe5J3TH5K0Wxkxmm7OzOQNzx9kQSHcnaF3hpK4KI9FQQ2OqdiFAb7hWwQRICXtNOPm4a1n2wKLEoNchmBTL4vhsAtFjB9YYsElyN74-Bv24RKq88Kr_pFEKOJDMnp9U/s320/IMG_4852.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">By Sunday I realized that I was getting a major head cold/flu. I did basically nothing all day and Stacy caught up on her reading. We noticed that the 120 foot houseboat was prepping to leave and watched them get underway in the current. The Tennessee Titans stadium is just on the other side of the river from us and they had come down for the game the week before. They had not gone more than about a mile before they had trouble. It seems that the engine strainers immediately plugged up from all the debris in the water and the engines had overheated. Along with that both the bow and stern thrusters were jammed with debris. Luckily the owner's Father-In-Law (a self proclaimed river rat who had run boats on the rivers most of his life) was on board. He talked the owner through the difficult maneuver to get the boat back to the dock and they were able to get back with no apparent major damage.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsZcEmaGjtysBtcnyFVmiyeXnZzbbl8l61d95kkr4BJt1Cp3lC5ytTBQ7YEA-E4j8bL2epuKk7EwBTMAXF8KwVnt5sqTHHMPUg34jnNx_ap5KtZ-Fvp7c0LA1z20US6IUb_217/s1600-h/IMG_4859.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" iq="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsZcEmaGjtysBtcnyFVmiyeXnZzbbl8l61d95kkr4BJt1Cp3lC5ytTBQ7YEA-E4j8bL2epuKk7EwBTMAXF8KwVnt5sqTHHMPUg34jnNx_ap5KtZ-Fvp7c0LA1z20US6IUb_217/s320/IMG_4859.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I rested most of the day and we decided to try to go to a recommended place in town that evening. The Station Inn has a bluegrass jam session on Sunday evenings and you never know who will come by to play. We had to walk about 15 blocks to get there and when we arrived there were musicians all gathered around and playing. Some of these musicians were quite good and it was obvious that some just enjoyed playing.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdv36vodFCmSR2zhDbN897FOTzvQfBneeP7rBbOZj9H5RQx35db-pMUHkMeoTV5kg_4ObIxc-Hwt5UpC7XoEARiMTgCSuTCc7j-gzLI5JAnSRxdKLBxs5zznJaKKyjntYr8w9/s1600-h/IMG_4862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" iq="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdv36vodFCmSR2zhDbN897FOTzvQfBneeP7rBbOZj9H5RQx35db-pMUHkMeoTV5kg_4ObIxc-Hwt5UpC7XoEARiMTgCSuTCc7j-gzLI5JAnSRxdKLBxs5zznJaKKyjntYr8w9/s320/IMG_4862.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">As I seemed to be getting worse by the minute, we left early and headed back to the boat. I did not get a good night's sleep..again.. and we decided to not try to move the boat yet. On Monday night they have a group of some of the best "session" players come in and it is a can't miss. Of course we did miss it with my fighting this cold/swine flu or whatever it is. <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">On Monday Stacy did laundry and I fell asleep just looking at email. <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgigICP2COWwnKGdVw1HJeUKB8MJjNdRoXy2GoPjmss2MGhysW29d4YmfUNEAZ8-0n5QG18UZe1jK_BiYSd5mZDPn_6SPlcw4BWmUWsm3FfarPm7z5Mt2zVwhkPv9z78RcEEsmH/s1600-h/IMG_4867.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" iq="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgigICP2COWwnKGdVw1HJeUKB8MJjNdRoXy2GoPjmss2MGhysW29d4YmfUNEAZ8-0n5QG18UZe1jK_BiYSd5mZDPn_6SPlcw4BWmUWsm3FfarPm7z5Mt2zVwhkPv9z78RcEEsmH/s320/IMG_4867.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I located a Walgreens online that was actually nearby and walked over on Tuesday morning to get additional medications. We had decided to just stay on the dock here since there were no other boats coming up river due to the currents. I had posted a message to the AGLCA board about the river stage and currents and was asked to keep that updated so that decisions could be made about coming upstream. The one that we thought would come in finally gave up and turned around. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">This morning we awoke to the fire boat docked in front of us going out. It seems that someone had jumped off the bridge back behind us. They brought him back in and he seemed to be ok. There are a number of homeless in this area and the police say that sometimes they are not jumping but rather just fall off the bridges.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Our plan is to leave here tomorrow morning and head further up river through the next lock. The water levels have fallen all day and the current seems to be more manageable (only double what they were when we came in) and I think I have turned the corner on this cold. The "river rat" that we met on the houseboat put us in contact with his marina where we have made arrangements to stay for a few day prior to the arrival of our next guests. This marina, which is not listed in any of the guidebooks, is actually much closer to the airport so it will not be as difficult to pick up guests and he said he would help us out getting to the grocery store to reprovision. <br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-67550660396744710652009-09-21T15:20:00.002-04:002009-09-30T18:40:50.534-04:00Cumberland River 9/14 - 9/20<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We left Kuttawa and headed for Lake Barkley State Park where we tied up to their day use dock in front of the lodge. This is normally used only for day use for boaters wishing to eat in the lodge dining room. We did eat there and we were able to stay on the dock for two nights. This time of year is apparently very slow so they did not mind us overnighting on the dock. There is no power or water available so there is no cost to the lodge.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">While there we looked at the hiking trails, tried out heavy equipment and watched the local wildlife hunting along the riprap wall.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We left Barkley State Park and headed towards Dover. We wanted to get into a creek very close to Ft. Donelson but the water was already dropped to winter pool and the entrances were too shallow. We moved on up about 3 miles and anchored behind Dover island. We took a chance on the rain and dinghied back to the city of Dover and Ft. Donelson. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Ft. Donelson was a Confederate fort during the Civil War that protected the Cumberland river access to Clarksville and Nashville. It was lost to U.S. Grant early in the war and was a major blow to the Confederacy but made General Grant a household name.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBsmNUJpWSyn8YFhvnjWQ7_n2KsQLGWmIrayZ38UEtWjl-vBCftzAqHAtBa_tVfMw9YGe53SevOkCnZcZiFyMG_l41I32uDvphqlq6JAIRW5g1tUyYsZ8ygEkX0sb5Jp40iYbC/s1600-h/IMG_4810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" iq="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBsmNUJpWSyn8YFhvnjWQ7_n2KsQLGWmIrayZ38UEtWjl-vBCftzAqHAtBa_tVfMw9YGe53SevOkCnZcZiFyMG_l41I32uDvphqlq6JAIRW5g1tUyYsZ8ygEkX0sb5Jp40iYbC/s320/IMG_4810.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><em>Batteries along the Cumberland</em><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><em>Ft. Donelson National Cemetary (Civil War as well as all other wars)</em><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><em>Inside typical log hut for troops stationed at the fort.</em><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><em>Hotel where surrender was negotiated</em><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">While we were walking around in Dover I spotted a barber shop and stopped in for a long overdue haircut. I highly recommend this shop.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">While traveling up the river we have seen various animals; some of which we are actually able to get a photo.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><em>Deer grazing in the new growth since the water was dropped.</em><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><em>Rare white pelicans congregating on a small piece of exposed land.</em><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">From Dover island we have moved on up to Clarksville. The city provides a free dock with power. We will wait here until Wednesday when we have guests arriving to make the trip to Nashville. While here we have found a Harbor Freight Tools store to browse and we were able to watch the University of Georgia football game Saturday night at a local establishment.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We have two other boats here with us that we met when we were visiting Green Turtle Bay marina (Barefoot Shoes and Potest Fieri). They have been traveling together somewhat and one was headed up river and the other down and ended up on the dock here with us. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">On Sunday we attended a local church here in town that was established in 1828. The sermon was interesting and the building was beautiful. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">It has been raining off and on for days but we have not had the major storm activity that has been going on east of us. We are feeling the effects of it in the river as the water level has risen and there is much debris coming downstream. On of the boats with us left at 6:30 this morning headed for Nashville and turned around in a couple of hours due to a log jam that was impassable. We are hoping a tow with barges comes through and breaks it up before it gets to us in a somewhat single mass. Sometime later tonight we will probably find out.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I am pleased to see that my brightwork is holding up well in the weather. I am glad I was able to get some fresh coats on before we left Goose Pond. Even though it looked just about like this after 3 years, it is always good to freshen it up before problems arise.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Clarence and Sally Wall from Chattanooga are due to arrive on Wednesday and will travel with us to Nashville. After that we will head further upstream and then pick up more guests in Nashville on the way back down river.<br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-78557680036597823362009-09-15T20:48:00.020-04:002009-09-17T10:37:35.851-04:00Cumberland River 9/1 - 9/13<div><div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We decided that since we were starting back on a portion of the Loop that we hadn't yet done and that we would be meeting other Loopers on their way down the rivers that we would re-attach our AGLCA burgee on our boat.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShkHDrWDEa3GEBgYxrADxlpCllkuQ6HuX2XVomezJmgrIY6xFN1vZxur6JR8bsY9bW7-akRcqJ2AT20PTD8TMVjlfUt8eSAygMrZvxV6-s3guHm0ZORtNm9DuSMDC-B63whVP/s1600/Cumberland+River+050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381866117883027458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShkHDrWDEa3GEBgYxrADxlpCllkuQ6HuX2XVomezJmgrIY6xFN1vZxur6JR8bsY9bW7-akRcqJ2AT20PTD8TMVjlfUt8eSAygMrZvxV6-s3guHm0ZORtNm9DuSMDC-B63whVP/s320/Cumberland+River+050.JPG" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div></div><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We had met new friends Bill & Charlotte on "Omega" a couple of weeks before we left and said our goodbyes to them. We will hopefully see them again in the near future.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382220519261343202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv6NxJjA9imlZ18mDYxQRVsZHecXA-sf70wQ87QLzE3A-pHIzrDDhlXffbcRXApZNYqo2nD72TdTA2vWq3aMZYULBe4n1_qzjoZIyDVskxXT3iYj7Lamfu7OOfbka7cYA30YkR/s320/Cumberland+River+055.JPG" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; cursor: hand; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /></div><br />
<div>After traveling through Guntersville Lock we came to Bay Hill Marina to visit with other boaters that we had met before. These guys come up to Bay Hill during hurricane season and then go back to Florida over the winter. Since we are planning to go to Panama City over the winter this year we got together with them and talked about the different marinas there and plans for when everyone would be going down. Some of us plan to be at the AGLCA Rendezvous at the end of October and then go down and others will be just heading down after the season. The boats represented are "Eagle One", "PatsyRay", and "I Love Lucy".</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-MNcfVg5ErmEdbB0WnOcfzCgV0naYW5Tc9agqKoo_iC2ohIH9e099pQLc7eSTm6uyNbd96re1qoJLI24uFUDiPxI7YmkfLAV8liCf7eFhvWQdOS_bE5sEOHHZLbBrraiIzUn/s1600-h/Cumberland+River+057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" mq="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-MNcfVg5ErmEdbB0WnOcfzCgV0naYW5Tc9agqKoo_iC2ohIH9e099pQLc7eSTm6uyNbd96re1qoJLI24uFUDiPxI7YmkfLAV8liCf7eFhvWQdOS_bE5sEOHHZLbBrraiIzUn/s320/Cumberland+River+057.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
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<div align="center"></div></div><div></div><div><div></div>We continued down to Joe Wheeler State Park where we met "NO MO YD WK", "KAOS", and one more that I can't find my information on. We had an informal get-together on our boat and talked of cruising plans and past experiences. It was good to meet more crusers.<br />
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<div align="left" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></div><div><div align="left" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;">After leaving Wheeler we once again traveled through Wilson Lock. This is the deepest lock on the Tennessee system and it really gives you a sense of perspective once you are inside.</div><br />
<div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382221562106089730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuF1NQIQ49eUwr8tb34LDxWlEUN_jG_LK5pJBTRh41uRZe7h-xRNMOnXrG2E4VwA2qb2Z0QsgOgtFvlJoNaRT1Wts1AQiBd60Hq3fIDoumhnUuVh5UQG9BGzDkUeh8v6km8ETA/s320/Cumberland+River+064.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /></div><br />
<div>After leaving the lock we passed by a beautiful waterfall landscape at a house on a prominent point. We then anchored in a cove adjacent to another waterfall that is one of the most popular spots on the river on a weekend. We took the dinghy over to see the waterfall since we could not possibly get SEASEA into the cove with all the boats (we were there over Labor Day weekend). The cove we anchored in was busy enough and even had a pontoon boat rigged to look like a Tiki Hut selling hot dogs and hamburgers with a "waiter" driving around in a dinghy. We had a great deal of entertainment those two days watching people try to anchor that had obviously never been taught the correct way. There was no use trying to tell the the proper way as most did not have enough rode to lay a proper scope anyway.</div><div></div><br />
<div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381867862468545506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqCHfKT-WMCdZp8Xn-L4ZsIYKrvV6MzRHHmLBkXaNqZw8vzlnn4iJC0B7GnUBxP5h_vJeQ2ZDLY8k6k5Gp3wuSEbqSbNGt0Dw_PdBkQSUWMgPEz9wDej_CxT_Y4DpYaYCEZ0No/s320/Cumberland+River+074.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381867856790183698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinPncwCWPQitKQj1lh4PEU3yaGNITlGw3cMzZcZTkMuyt_RzRI4pvC9IO69uXEUoc7v5s9SuFtwZkORdyf12eKbBu9BpMSxQvqr-fsO7M5DdE2IXTN2JNsERcgonPx6IRtHXxn/s320/Cumberland+River+071.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381867850155477346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj76YQZ72xBpqYTjuFi0IakeZKqeLsv2HmehIQMsIkE1aSI0CInQpH3Xrm90y0PiFY4A_utUMDs3R6Z2jfqCWeYtSe_nvh6QzKGyc9RmLLUh4UzY4DRqJKT83ismTXcBJDd7dlw/s320/Cumberland+River+070.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></div><br />
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We stopped at Cuba Landing Marina to meet some friends, Gary and Mary Kay, that we met at Goose Pond some months ago. They have a houseboat at the marina and we stopped in for the night and had dinner with them. It was, once again, good to get back together with people we met before.</div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382263225479236850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA1Dq_R0ALv3plalc9iBYH2X8CgFq9Z428CAK9AgVVb6Z0dXDrWgWKO45FlnYVorLVnK5XVBN5hCnLWJLZfgvoYr8N3o7NQVESUL7QfIuRCxztYzMARg-CpDvVVgOhIbMp60BZ/s320/Cumberland+River+078.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
<div></div><div></div><div></div><div>We had seen on the Local Notices To Mariners that the Army was to be conducting exercises near Paris Landing so we chose an anchorage close by and watched as guys jumped out of an airplane to do water landings. Others in small inflatables ran around picking up the paratroopers. The notice said that they would be jumping from Chinook helicopters but they jumped from a plane instead. I was looking forward to the helicopters.</div><br />
<div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381868479087899394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtZdROrb6P2jCO4BNQBmTF9wTg6PRzBAVRKaJytx10ll8lYKITIBlUd-jeUzGVlFVGelY5bSGN-VqYSTWZKVS2Ihl4uAu5bEH0MwklrV9KQ3Q13LDyP526ABMButvVqCdRVjj9/s320/Cumberland+River+081.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /></div><br />
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<div>On Thursday my computer hard disk crashed so I got online on my navigation computer (something I don't like to do for fear of any virus on a computer I rely on for navigation) to see if I could find a Best Buy or something in the area. The closest larger city was Paducah, Kentucky so we headed for Kentucky Dam Marina where we could get their courtesy car to go into Paducah. I found a Best Buy and purchased a new laptop. I am not as thrilled with it as I would like but it does work and will be a good backup for the navigation computer.</div><br />
<div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381868484239854178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1bRnn5nuXYL6-RvRaMZ83h2VwCr0jU2DYniR6Kk4FwZ-TGXQRk5GkeeHzZiSIRYQRWBY0FwNpp70dqHXSNRUkQopd0ulVn2CSMJfg3GKh1QXNGp61UnAePx5eZr212dU9Hzag/s320/Cumberland+River+082.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></div><br />
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Since we had already paid for a slip at the marina we decided to use the car again the next day and drive over to Green Turtle Bay marina where we came in on our trip into the Tennessee River on our Loop trip. While there we experienced something that I hope to never experience again. We were talking with a Looper at his boat when, about 150 feet away, a boat exploded after being fueled. It had taken on gas and moved about 20 feet away from the fuel dock when the explosion took place. We both ran to the fuel dock screaming at anyone on the boat to jump off. A woman did jump off but a man was killed on board. The woman was airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical and the marina, through a series of bad decisions in hindsight, almost had a major catastrophe in potentially setting ablaze an entire dock of boats.<br />
It was a very disturbing day and I did not sleep well for the next couple of nights. This photo was taken by Bob DeGroot, another Looper that we had be talking with just prior to the accident. </div></div><div><br />
<div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382211162189618258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92VFS5GsZ-_kI-1WHVw2AoW8KF2vVMVUt48UPZSQYtcwYca9buFV_HB0J4K_exbtoUuBtcGBNuRwDcnMZCHyWVhN7IAtN31nWa01bT1rN6rRQ3viLHMQKkzi8VkcoRn45pzZw/s320/IMG_4090.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></div><br />
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<div>After we left Kentucky Dam Marina we headed through the canal that connects the Tennessee River to the Cumberland River. We are now finally on the Cumberland River.</div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381868493221493154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXpnFYJKdU_UkaBgrouwTrEyqeFxlk1xywg3hL8t7MS8Fxq0JtvKihtpk2KH517nIb4qrgNv26kU63-ZUWtxIGD2zCzblRVXiQHjtzQMtvrkq-pVELYTI4oRJckG4_OGEGeRS8/s320/Cumberland+River+094.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></div><br />
<div>One of our stops on the Cumberland was in a bay by the small town of Kuttawa, KY. We had read about the maximum security prison referred to as the "Castle on the Cumberland" so we took the dinghy around to see it. There is a museum on the grounds that gives a history of the county and the Land Between the Lakes region. We toured the museum and got a shot of the "Castle" as we left.<br />
<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381868504340826018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDqY4qIwKLjtCHGJI4IAhv6vKS61qtfH066MgzM5iCgFbBTKcACc67_vIu30sfowBgA5jNIJb8ajFmLxx2H5I3WtpO8cQ8sP89-6RrnM7cXNwiQ8cuRQbXKe-ILAjTZiejb7qA/s320/Cumberland+River+100.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br />
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We met some really nice people in the town when we took the dinghy over to see a park. They came out to the boat for a get-together and we have planned to stop back there on our way back with our friends from the PNW and have a barbeque with them. I hope the weather and our schedules will allow us to stop. You meet some of the best people when traveling to the smaller towns.<br />
</div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCuend2sDwwzH7YX7WDu5nH17ehZZoNfXoEkbuqwZL460h61R1DTPUWVuJD2pgdGcePVaNTIOCq2_FhheGsc7Bjt2iTIYg9Pz9pESOF4RLSkrsg3eOStMNoPmsrXeVcrhTvIP7/s1600-h/IMG_4789.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" mq="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCuend2sDwwzH7YX7WDu5nH17ehZZoNfXoEkbuqwZL460h61R1DTPUWVuJD2pgdGcePVaNTIOCq2_FhheGsc7Bjt2iTIYg9Pz9pESOF4RLSkrsg3eOStMNoPmsrXeVcrhTvIP7/s320/IMG_4789.JPG" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-35611002703286248872009-09-05T11:59:00.002-04:002009-09-05T12:04:46.849-04:00Cumberland RiverJust to catch people up....we have departed Goose Pond Marina in Scottsboro, Alabama to make a cruise of the Cumberland River. We will take the Tennessee almost to the Ohio and then turn onto the Cumberland. We will go past Nashville and, hopefully, as far as we can safely navigate up to Celina, TN. This trip will be about two months in length and we will return to the AGLCA rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park toward the end of October. Our good friends from the Pacific Northwest will be flying in to travel with us for part of the trip and Clarence & Sally Wall will be driving up from Chattanooga to travel for a few days. We have had great weather since we left on Tuesday. I have not downloaded any photos from Stacy's camera yet so I will put those in another post.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-58983771036729540662008-10-15T16:40:00.011-04:002008-10-17T12:38:37.443-04:00Tennessee, Little Tennessee & Tellico Rivers<div><div><div><div><div>We finally made our trip up the Tennessee river to Knoxville and took in the Little Tennessee and Tellico rivers as well. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>My nephew Andrew and his girlfriend Holly came to Chattanooga to travel with us to Sale Creek in Chickamauga Lake.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257484513875039218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGf6AJeh8segC0jfStKLsiFW6TnhbUvATeWVK48TS_qXFUHSQiaXQ_JF1sXClzJKpjY3t_HLx2FJ35gJtb3yUscA5-jmAqk94e6-5k9qHYn_BKTN1yXaalVVAd_5bUDBevQl1V/s320/IMG_3192.jpg" border="0" /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Downtown Chattanooga was having a rowing regatta while we were there and we watched as all of the various kayaks and canoes passed us.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257484190587738226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUkMix2vZM0Hhx3Z0pocqQ0C1EcMiWK5gxFjJaXGVvh9LYYvMAUGF7G-SvtMILaMMqCDnd7HCpfWPaKT4VOw6_ZTxUX1GaLEmT1XS3HOPaSGc-YYz0v7Re-Z6256qZVrU2Qsgj/s320/IMG_3184.jpg" border="0" /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257484195077239026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXp_ITh1cMvwZrw1dLv8GbcS2_Pm90SlQ-Sn4YzJh3qg2HrvKJeOQKp-pHe7jcU6UcilGKFjih-QT57cJM_HZuqnHwRYj71yhRPKSdXCvItXS3DrUNdyZYHI0tpZ6T42zJ50Z/s320/IMG_3185.jpg" border="0" />After we departed the docks in Chattanooga we went through Chickamauga Lock and entered Chickamauga Lake. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257484209278123794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbGzMGGx0t_OHlQ52oJcKZNPuc35Un35JUmCp2PLbTiE-GXzPi84v5X3Ck9ag-bxAaceAViobHuutB53Uhi0LSUSeZfIaoCI_fvTUeox1aYaHdOMjQathaG87aK50FQS3VbKe/s320/IMG_3186.jpg" border="0" />We anchored in Sale Creek and enjoyed our time swimming and touring the area in the dinghy.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257484213496450754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihlqt1Lv-gxvjv6hzBDU8DKXoTJTcg1oKgxvZQTWRuA-6MxYvI89UmUC2VlXjdOftrWUNU9ZKvnSP_dYEZgCGvOlIkPf-fu93EBfbU27aGupfsZEuVFFTJTnhbV0hj2RgzBvXB/s320/IMG_3189.jpg" border="0" />Even though we carry sufficient water, there is just something about taking a bath in the lake.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257484222791044978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzzlYZuwqfZo4FfJf-SBR2m0ISKE2YLkdbIvcmLcXb2R6m8m2Uu-yys_PQfevWi_Rp3qwzS0-wvTA-ERUBTQRZjA804fs272tztQ5S2S1Be4hK1Ts4rBd8DGgww6roizIkt8t/s320/IMG_3191.jpg" border="0" /><br />We had worked out with a friend in Chattanooga to shuttle Andrew's car to Sale Creek so that we did not have to backtrack. This was a great plan and we were able to drop Andrew and Holly off.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>We remained at Sale Creek and waited for friends Bo and Carmen on "Old Grumpy" to join us. They came in and rafted to us and we enjoyed our evening there.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257484520974444818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDlWOnUuGQAkiJuksEMBBTcp3ve3RTNwo5-b4REAwOhJk9HIS7cl35F1mXjQgQyBRlMMIBJzAeDVd9pzH2V1sfbNcy4Pac1t06O75ic8pjS2nT7hFRTLkHYuyZhdcQwijowGwN/s320/IMG_3193.jpg" border="0" /></div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257483925595668514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgnJv1GPstV2zEolS6jrQv2WwNM0yNA7kTlRzHrnWmMqZIcqlVEeVt5pOR5lWhWYA-9GHD7BkMSfW3NKCUCFxx-CbXbYRCd7tQtA62n_VHYvqcuvrHdzyJkE8mqnVL0NhpR-l/s320/IMG_3183.jpg" border="0" /><br />We departed Sale Creek and headed up to Watts Bar lake and anchored again. This time we toured the area in our dinghys. When we tried to leave, I pulled the anchor and found that we had hooked a tree. This can be a very difficult situation but it turns out that the chain had just dragged under the branches and the tree fell away from the anchor.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257484790366126578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMul0esRJaULDOZP7s37-oT-eKOnDaIvjo-id5W3hA3SiwxcE9QmvbiXyIPPIJX7N6hMoQuBRb2t4V-haEONw9xVwcdMtFt6SIYMCrfiCrloqmGC7YtEO0wgMZbHeuUSyW9XZH/s320/IMG_3203.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257484535450425890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKpMESu9LD_HFnoND6V-463UFVVZn9VcMEGLallmE8rJWPtFw80nf_21dum70Y75Yt-RvY3uVroau3Y7crqI7VqkGtGIYmJZ2UHc_D826HSPdE9b-kZUYjDjoZ5fZHKSoZ5oF/s320/IMG_3202.jpg" border="0" /><br />We headed on up the river and stopped at Blue Springs marina in order to get a belt for Old Grumpy's generator. We found one that fit, made the repair and had a good pizza at a new local restaurant. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The next day we planned to meet up with two boats that were traveling the river ahead of us. RoyEl and Colonel's Lady were coming back down river and we made a plan to meet at Little Paint Rock Creek. We arrived first and dropped our anchor and rafted Old Grumpy to us. Later on RoyEl and Colonel's Lady came in. They were originally planning to raft to us as well but the wind had increased and we did not feel comfortable with 4 boats on our one anchor so they anchored separately and came over by dinghy. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257484789477627842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc0t5yUHAvEVHkyIeC44iTC-_ERepH2STjnQM5usckjI3e2Ts4p2gqTxNWk5-5UTMnKTS3DoMzsmIgJoB9GkLqAeWZBzXzbpO_cLoeOfI4So6JZVWOh-rCpQM6IeY_32JKN01S/s320/IMG_3208.jpg" border="0" /></div><br /><div>We had orginally met Colonel's Lady while we were in Jacksonville. They came into the marina with an engine down and we took them into town to get supplies and then had dinner at Cracker Barrel. It was good to catch up with them again. We met RoyEl at the Great Loop Cruisers Association rendezvous last year. They are attending again this year and were cruising the river ahead of the rendezvous.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257484793700678386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfGDIYn5rKsFXtFqtpI4BeZ-0NB5gGttjlj8nukSEj5PIZzdFpG7wnsGM2C5vvkb_iQV7cPvR7165sdGCwaddMDYOG3b1yw4h-Ic-gNxz9HPCnZm_Q3P2YRBr3JrME30TvLRPK/s320/IMG_3210.jpg" border="0" /></div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257484792881256498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUDtZR_UJHgGrHmWEzzog4uNkQIBE-C68CnhkYmLvWfK5Zg1CqWc5Brkb9qmyBI4Z-EgUc4QlyTJsZP6fKI0NR3Y1BTj_3ydpsvYjJR8cnsIGnbpur1B9MAt_VJiyZaDeqcdfQ/s320/IMG_3211.jpg" border="0" /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The next day we headed toward Ft. Loudoun Lock. On the way we saw an eagle that was eating a fish on the edge of the river.</div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257483890243935314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPpwVAqhdPdu87eJF7kx9o-vFSuR-Yeke9wRV1guGlmHvpBDyMpq53asfWIfPCViHCnH_HOf8_ha-0qK2QvM5QQ3E-vm4BFV4sd6ClFi42U1c7So8LRqMdiHjQXeATJLRmEZUl/s320/DSC_4188.jpg" border="0" /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>At one of our anchorages, Stacy had Carmen, a former hairdresser, cut her hair and then we swam in the cool water.</div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257484532473448306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSx3cuS6LlMAWINS2y4dotUhdJ0EfvnQ-YYWa1bc4sPpuWZ9_HP_XXsYIjSzfmhLEKR4XB79WzzH2w7yNSDfye_z9bc5E-4BZfcfyDtJrJkETEXhSy0OYUOknJkMMPa3_Qn1w4/s320/IMG_3201.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div></div><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257484526551292370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga73Ll6iN6bG82M4cTrOLpyYTy9E_EMh0BJ3slPUSurKXzT5TSGtxvQiqm-gLBqWzBZ-_sbvbmwlYiCMZcqE-hVBAhWIb5ST6T0HnX38519KOZqqP7PrOXqJCj-cZtqoeUWrOC/s320/IMG_3199.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p>We went into Ft. Loudon marina to watch the Georgia/Alabama football game and became thoroughly depressed with its outcome. Otherwise, the marina was good and we had a good meal at Calhoun's restaurant. On our way there we passed a large building that we found out is a new facility for Christiansen Yachts to build mega yachts. Reportedly, the facility is being built specifically to build Tiger Woods' new yacht. It will be interesting to see how this progresses.</p><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257483899367412274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia1jVVroL8esdoCtwXCCzL4pMCcY5rMfpmqavIliE2TRKFlG4Y5PTPj4NWGtMOb75Q_jZiPTKhZymPP0PDOU-E9VNx0DcwSvXWT8Mj5SyCHUcaMh-Bdab_cy0IX1eR55Zu2l2w/s320/DSC_4191.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p></p><br /><p>We traveled on up to Knoxville and spent a couple of nights on the free docks downtown. We had gone as far as practicably possible on the navigable waters of the Tennessee River.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257485040302737298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge4vxWy9vV8dPq6CFb1fi-4-pH6ImL-yhJiu1jn68xK1OOO5Rf4e9TEUyWAH97JQ7BM9reIy6tFlckjSTAddabn1w5tqEQfdFT1r81u_kcuXNAxibIzsXFyqohY9igY1puNsQv/s320/IMG_3226.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257485037919867714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgCGLzRlZhACaby5UQ4La3IRU3Zj7AP5frCYDZNjry2IPJNC6j3igk9TBYPc6zxh_5zcO8YMG_ZYa8v5FtOynMIrx_pEpi_MC3Kk9S9dkDXjRRy6E0JQb6Qk_-RtC67Qdxzr9X/s320/IMG_3225.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p>We specifically chose a time to arrive in Knoxville when there was not a University of Tennessee home ball game. We came to find out that the "Volunteer Navy" sets up a week in advance and one person came by to ask when we would be leaving as they needed to move a 110 foot houseboat onto the docks for the game the next week. Since we were leaving the next morning, they were happy.</p><br /><p>There is real beauty along the river and it is obvious that the construction of the dams and locks flooded entire farms and lands. The best signs of this are the various silos visible above the water.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257484799338629058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij87Rcmz0L6DfSWthlzwZgxq-NDZk8mPyOL7lHgo3XTqBtT8fWUC8osdTpR9yda6sE6GbFnkdqqSe0nRCa4DoOFGf308wHE2smgnGJ6hrscjbQNFhsV5Sv6Y3LG3a4Xz0UxJkJ/s320/IMG_3218.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p>There is a great deal of development on the rivers and there are some unbelievable homes built along the river. One that was of specific interest to us was a house that was nestled in between two large rock bluffs.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257485036160535890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQYkaedUip1ns1MCfT3zlRqYOk9_rVjLPAwY_Caupmwy-10kHGqjULtUYbST3ge1gXvplgDbSdYnyOUZUIb1dOEcDmQoDk8KN8AWjp9Q6_OJVJ6s9dNNDupX4iPP4NaK5sOf8/s320/IMG_3223.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p>After departing Knoxville, we headed back down the river to the Little Tennessee river at Ft. Loudoun Dam. We headed up the Little Tennessee and stopped at the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum. They have a free dock there and we rafted our two boats to the dock. The museum traces the history of the Cherokee and specifically of Sequoyah, who created a written version of the Cherokee lanquage. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257485036734627010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ6GZqr9A724XlQOE_P72uCcUSmHZJdQGt9oS_zz0DGd5w57IjEm7breyfRYE02R0Ufz3yrSUV3uvlTbRgz2RSUIIjnZuurG2Unu_2Scjbyi09KgetEfAear9uxmS87tqh9yfL/s320/IMG_3236.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p>While at the dock we took the dinghy over to the recreated Ft. Loudoun. This was a British outpost that was only used for about 4 years. The site has been studied and the buildings rebuilt. They have re-enactments here throughout the year. The views from the Little Tennessee are wonderful with the Applachian range as a backdrop.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257485323780297650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Nw0V3klt3riE83j6Mo4xF1G6VSplDxDbbkXPRcNopiYGmI_l73tGDw1FR6gfex5XZTOGpCjG_V3ihW-JBc1X-cmUp9eNwl28C2kdQtInhTXA7AKYeSMgryfL5rGigYWyVFdi/s320/IMG_3249.jpg" border="0" />After leaving the museum dock we went just a few miles to visit with some friends Ken and Brenda Bloomfield. We met Ken and Brenda at Goose Pond marina when they were traveling through. We rafted our boats to the end of their dock and visited with them for a couple of days.</p><br /><p>While there we took a trip on their boat up the Little Tennessee as far as you could go (about 30 miles) in a boat our size. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257485312034984946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxSw1AoCnjfhU4GwWQJPhrQaS-vM5q2X4_nnz148WiVvuRmgW8vySEziibfqHeLApVIAoSedX6noGtvb4sMMolAKYnuxPDXtk6SvYusG5n1fbcj8OswMgAKpoiBcwuecrkGbH/s320/IMG_3245.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257485048306009474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwHclPJXdLjrCrXk4mgkHxmkwOxxMHzlcfuAEAWk58yehMZlAbHPsezfTkJaVGxVXAOLFxaM86GHuvoUikpbulEZe1x_YlwyX-nmXPBpe7oZ3gfitkm69Spff6gHJKZVm2N_6l/s320/IMG_3239.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257485308014710482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVndQf2UzyWv5FUwFcfXBnGNf8oawHsqu2vW3TPhi4JcjjzAspbqe-o1X-PEkuyVX3kjylLLgxQj-ywcsQUEHGY8QRkJfrYv8JmjqxkKPVQ6StCBCiN8mGWww0VqgrfA4G2mMO/s320/IMG_3241.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257485316251194402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6JtPeU4RNOAnJJAORmMJZY3l7kwTbouHcEr47A9WTtsOlOIP3y9yQMAtjAoxmvhsZvj8Jx1Fey6fOkxnrPqghm0ccANaF4dA0uW7gC19npp2z9cxbG3gXlu2guU4yL0h6a8-Q/s320/IMG_3247.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p>After we had breakfast on Old Grumpy, they left us to head back down river. They needed to be back at Goose Pond before we did so they made a bee line back.</p>On our way back we took all of the shortcuts that were marked. The last one was a bit tight and I wouldn't recommend it as it only saves a couple of miles but you are going so much slower that you really don't save much time.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257485321557698802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcRVSkpWPAoKDIxNlkXTsJVDIC0sPG7pEvoMfF-xSUAERHZm9c-miX9NFMWV6C2HmvcgFUFRNGl747i2jxi-uWoWNRU2LIAjBkPYKZH31jrk2s-HoLrTnORg709RC3idwinJNf/s320/IMG_3262.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257485429527365042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-b2W8ZcCGiz2_rXZ-p7k1woY23G3d2W00kTaGS9neq7qYRHjNW0mkddKAaxzqN_lZ_-GeIiOMl1-M3oUkZ8XHE7QSeq0VPoGD_CTTr5oqh3VKd5xPEp78IAgryJYleapAn94a/s320/IMG_3263.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257485435391544258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhatzkUvlcuR7bm2rEnIrI4mSNloFwsZSDjkZcuUPDhkT4_RT5JZvKIy7S-LMAcJBhQoveew6av0tC4MbGFSCqZhIujbuqOZCLJsf8vwLZDISpmeVJUrIVK0CF7wqGU4_mjtQ9i/s320/IMG_3266.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p>We anchored again at Little Cedar Mountain before making our last day run back to Goose Pond and were greeted by a flock of turkeys that flew by us from one side of the cove to the other. The next morning they all flew back.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257483921795931250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-WgbMdD_OjIi4FSs2X7Y7qOVrVQNhNimYKNE3K8gyw2Jc7qbkWJd-tqS7StOg4y73p41ZjxnQtE2rdSFl-2lI3J1TUEOant2xDiIc-tq_QliSu2ZLPqGX410lcF1VPfFwDKW/s320/DSC_4194.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>The trees are starting to change color and Stacy saw a good photo op when we had some dark clouds form a background for sunlit trees in our anchorage. The Tennessee river is just beautiful this time of year. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257483912406620642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI39dZ-BSwssyVzuqjgbTbacGhicu8mLCfJ14sFPQHxUAQGGrjDgpJatmY7eUzhL4wa_cc1uUDvwHduzVGX3e9VNnc1gZNAc1eljBrPBFkMLFF_am_9m7CaoUuI62TfrIgHkEB/s320/DSC_4192.jpg" border="0" /></p><p></p><p>We will be headed to Joe Wheeler State Park next week for the Great Loop Cruisers Association rendezvous. We should enjoy more of the color change in that trip.</p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-37648622565340869192008-08-30T23:08:00.003-04:002008-09-01T16:27:51.874-04:00J & Kendra Tingle with Ben & Charissa Hubbard<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div>Our nephew J Tingle, his wife Kendra and friends Ben and Charissa Hubbard drove down for a quick visit from Chattanooga on Friday, August 15th. They left straight from work and we headed upstream to Jones Creek and anchored for the night. Saturday morning J and Ben jumped off the boat into the water and enjoyed a refreshing swim and a dinghy run over to a local rope swing. All four of them hiked up to the Pinnacle, a rock outcropping high above the anchorage.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheng0-OfQKe2_WF2Pc8D0WxnB1zCCE2m8XGT-u4wv8fYygKZBAW0pkOcZie8t7oDhhkm8Qo9ZbmsBdG-QBRjOwlgWtxkejQFlywMsRpL1qO9trl1sTSnDRgCGUJeNxfSiquV3F/s1600-h/IMG_3148.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheng0-OfQKe2_WF2Pc8D0WxnB1zCCE2m8XGT-u4wv8fYygKZBAW0pkOcZie8t7oDhhkm8Qo9ZbmsBdG-QBRjOwlgWtxkejQFlywMsRpL1qO9trl1sTSnDRgCGUJeNxfSiquV3F/s320/IMG_3148.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71l_xKkF5ye4ZmxDR4fjEc5u6jPjN8ihK0mWcS5PEyLmgxarWh40mtRBEiUCFF2luV7Z4S02kbXggVGJFjNgumE6nsPqR8lVP2Ly4OoQbuVyWrTn6E7BV-QMy4ZIHJedpSiwZ/s1600-h/IMG_3151.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71l_xKkF5ye4ZmxDR4fjEc5u6jPjN8ihK0mWcS5PEyLmgxarWh40mtRBEiUCFF2luV7Z4S02kbXggVGJFjNgumE6nsPqR8lVP2Ly4OoQbuVyWrTn6E7BV-QMy4ZIHJedpSiwZ/s320/IMG_3151.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMIocUnfVA6dZgYcbRFbLF3cmdqXvUs6nXyGVSHZSXlxcWCfufjCTl4YU2IkTp7UKyLE5gQOxp_7QJzMY6SVA2He9ygHZp_kQxNezf-G20vSWfzanphGJhyMbJCsmIlbe7-5sf/s1600-h/IMG_3154.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMIocUnfVA6dZgYcbRFbLF3cmdqXvUs6nXyGVSHZSXlxcWCfufjCTl4YU2IkTp7UKyLE5gQOxp_7QJzMY6SVA2He9ygHZp_kQxNezf-G20vSWfzanphGJhyMbJCsmIlbe7-5sf/s320/IMG_3154.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56l0V2s7IMORqQd7gC5ga07EoI2MKsAMs-e5SCvxXLns995QDW5fb5jZFcf2DXBFjagYR8vYQ5d00SvNIVwV4rlI9lY71Xr5yKK2yAVDG1kOKLne9ShqEq6g2EPZbYDMdBF74/s1600-h/DSC_4141.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56l0V2s7IMORqQd7gC5ga07EoI2MKsAMs-e5SCvxXLns995QDW5fb5jZFcf2DXBFjagYR8vYQ5d00SvNIVwV4rlI9lY71Xr5yKK2yAVDG1kOKLne9ShqEq6g2EPZbYDMdBF74/s320/DSC_4141.JPG" border="0" /></a></p><br /><br /><br /><p align="left">From the top you can barely see SEASEA in the anchorage below. It took them far less time than it would have taken me to make the hike and they seemed to have enjoyed it.</p><br /><br /><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241151489306753874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJkTZxts75KDt1GRyE63oe87Sa1TY3NZ3YoU3v8u51UYHRoorPaM-gzqoIhhQyPeHcBHrUIj-M4h3M-ttB2fYOOQWEhKMss7n3h9KVqzCKQMp5Q9FXZtDSkynVkmadFaN35QBi/s320/2.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><br /><br /><p align="left"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241151493535012770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeIABE2WUzlpeQejkPHqQonkpMk3cWhE0VbNQM1j-zH5E-4Xtx2RjrdUWX2-OyXYhdPFqyMZ3DSSlizMyw4jALVhTJ64v5b_Sj-SDr4wtWmbDd4ldx-XhWMfD_eiXlQ3vBuzzm/s320/3.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Jones creek has a rather narrow channel coming in so J and Ben led us out in the dinghy to make sure we were clear of any hazards.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241151492176272626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM-knk9KcN7hh6EzBd4s6QsTp2JJoOpaUGDXrFmuXgqGdvvOlgyqu8kRHLKMeIxwSFVlHNohhkzAZrBjk9t_GVm9UxAyBGXqtVx__BeVGej9JSyYNsHm7MvIiDaUEpJzF0BeuV/s320/4.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center">We always enjoy visits from our family and friends and even though this was a quick overnight trip, we had a good time and a good visit. </p><br /><p align="left">We are looking forward to the fall weather and the color change in the leaves. We still plan to make our trip up the Tennessee River to Knoxville sometime next month.</p><br /><br /><br /><p align="left"></p><br /><br /><br /><p align="left"></p><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-33140719098924638892008-08-30T21:36:00.017-04:002008-09-01T17:39:09.435-04:00British Columbia and the Victoria "Splash"On Tuesday, July 22nd we flew out to Vancouver, British Columbia and took a ferry over to Sidney on Vancouver Island to meet up with the friends we made while traveling the Great Loop. When we arrived, Chuck and Chris welcomed us to their boat Essi-Anna and we started traveling through the Gulf Islands. Along the way we saw quite a few seals,<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241155635189611698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeQHbRNCdxOU0j38snu0qCtwutX6z3o9wAXbnNH5wuZJqgaw8UI8pyCV3DG7O33tEmChnBBpXyqRmmuLe8irx_W5ZRx3C7JBZX4Z6NgnJx3FKHPD2EKoVwokHJEEfco_ok1EEt/s320/1.jpg" border="0" /> a few eagles,<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241155643403624562" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdKIU2f3WamoSW2z8E-SF2iQJvA43Imq8xvP8SUK40OKJC-EEItgplpCvM8hx5zxXSIJBEspRFMg26Ge2_hXCzgnxScIPckHltTMX43-sTyEyIejQIR_5IjCKK5B8GyLR3OfCp/s320/2.jpg" border="0" /><br />and we always were on the lookout for blackberries that were just coming into season.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241158525975190370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLRSkERspkm4sVHph9JRpxql7urCdAPWaZA_MI0MpPVk3zNrL7Mw8Fub1uClbR_K4P9lvorplg4siBdcuoqUo141XyrfkNH0En85v0_1l-lQ1ICAqCGmJ5TxsCLntoUtgCMh8E/s320/18.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>We stopped in some great anchorages and visited beautiful quaint towns like Cowichan.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241158527713209874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC2-Infd8buosKfyb4Nh00bKhUMtNNhYZyvEpqqsMrFQdjS3fyg9dzKigE-yzsp9-3r0srlBN0Hj8yDabIr1U9Sl9z3k70HXOW10ChotIfIvHaJFpNTEn6SKA5YJWtd6jw8UjV/s320/17.jpg" border="0" /><br />Wherever we went we found the people welcoming and the scenery beautiful. In one small town we stopped by an old inn and found the owners trying to install some fencing to keep the local deer from destroying beautiful flower gardens. We helped to set up the fence and netting in an attempt to dissuade the deer but I am sure the deer tried even after our efforts.</p><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241158524820066722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWwupPQzSyeJ0K8F7BEx-xyQHszpuY5L-pvAP7tUtGx_yc9SFCnNtfGq1SB62lFn43LytlVuuSuT26YhFxAth_y07HAEJk9jpxtqiy7U3Bx4xdo7ikBC-fOdXEmhrHR1LYsltF/s320/16.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><br /><br /><p>The flowers were abolutely beautiful this time of year and we couldn't help trying to capture the beauty of some of them. There is no way to show how beautiful this area is.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241158523004862130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTHE394I5Q3EwRcLV0cbZQUTFCrclqDWQkr4JXlCxuZ4t7_YsdyfvoTRq6_U7wDyZamrjr5wsQ6YHT5xSxkcMRNLuhhovb1ScMr70DmgwxI5Y1xQV-BkYCL4ISi4kcA7-gQSVd/s320/15.jpg" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241161879803759282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwHpYUEsQjVUj8P_03ebhCx0BYmHWozbcpOkaKWGkEIzIJ_f9KYPUdhiqqP2r6RG3ejohEwquKeoBPq11lOneEzVr4jj6UhB2GUf91uGL__Fr6Mrx5UqRBT0bLpaEbfxWw2QW2/s320/14.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />We were joined part way through the islands by our other Great Loop friends Bill and Gail on their boat JUWIKA.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241158537328170386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM8KGKVMjpE7stb8gHdQc7d55lF5LT7GbUdt5Fer-0EQrjhHiSHG6tUfcsnq5x-lsE6kRwKkPgZr0CJe0V-ESR9fLWnCSlz6ygOg8gl6mSbQ7bYH_9RZXakGANxMUXNrdTEwyE/s320/19.jpg" border="0" /> As Chuck has a keen radar for bakeries, we found the Bakery Boat in the harbor and paid them a visit. A couple lives on board and they bake fresh goods every morning. We purchased pies, buns, and butter tarts just about everywhere we went.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241160648445154898" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKqYVBtf3W0TrDCDoN6TGKOOWAOXK9CTwB41w3pgVQGaXQIBBzd2zVNqGU59ITvZqphX853wNCZt5GmS0jI2i63dpMyQIbZ-9Uxj7ShiA2Rfr0VM0tcAbukD6Sp_RqcilRHqEG/s320/20.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><p align="left">We visited the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, a beautiful club with an incredible history. </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241169438269905474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixDRQ2Ba6WD6KXzM9lwr2Mh_8tbK4KrVTCMfrB4wUBZRXdo1_qs4scJhZiUZoQxA_HCPIW1X7QA_b2ZXEPlrGXYMVnc7_E5m_bOFHwBaKcSWrkojNqz30fiuDOTxnXNVfjwyYI/s320/32.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p align="left">We found parks to walk in (You don't generally see the same type playscapes in our parks in the Southeast).</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241160656315414146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6007t0LHbkfOfE9I26WJVEJwbdNoRGswUXcRl9cgIDao3dcxrY71X-Ub72s-KP-5xWZzR7cUyS9cCod49nw-M24zhyV-Up-LnQPQzmUL8JSr_juuZF7zPW3rF9i9Jz-CiD4jj/s320/24.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="left">And, of course, we did what most people do on boats.. we napped and read.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241160651227063810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioc1RqTIlPzz9VdRJRXrtSijnn1I4hk8-UABxvD8uG-_vaa4Aea1UmQNDjA0nOUFBa8oKqT0QbK0dMtS2xeSmkoBjIFqYVq2GJhO_B_WJwbXKcGGJOxIEXgTBikkv-ztKGeSZo/s320/21.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p align="left">One of the things we, as boaters, noticed was the large tide swings in this part of the country. While we were in a marina we were noticing these flower boxes placed on the pilings along the docks. The next morning we realized that the flowers were well above us.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241160653899642258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvPoaY5ubu4OkURzGPoPgcE3wMey00Y_vN49UZB_fTeFhoAc2tkTHWELkHSh1T8It7BjBUWxcjDBh7uLRoNRQ9RGpxb9KcRBlPrjjgY9f_fzKUicwSaCvDo9eNi0W5srMMTsN8/s320/22.jpg" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241161881329140594" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5XglH2wyHjvS5MsozP4GnIMpgSsoS4VKE7bQO3gEQFcTztwUP70JYh8tdJab-tUpnq8vDZHFV19v6aUF6SumzMNAGNOqH3x9yVyDURO8sczLKB43txUJ2wO2nC1WHP5lAiMaM/s320/23.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />We had to re-orient ourselves to thinking about the tides while we were anchoring. Fortunately, this area is all deep water compared to what we are used to so it was not so much of a problem<br /><br /><p align="left">We made our way to Victoria harbor on Friday and on the way in we were able to see the Olympic mountains very clearly.</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241155646893642466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD8BI3FjTXZ9vQcZcXt65q6DcfaTcRdcsvPXz9bfOteQk5rpBvLCj8FgeCxVMQ17UPl8LblF22vsHCE64z7GzA02J_VsYXswZEYGQQZEH-6uiyoEKH2Vg5-4GH15YsKxAoL7Qt/s320/3.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>Once in our slip we toured the town. We were here to attend the Victoria "Splash" on Sunday but first we had to see the Empress Hotel.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241155656003723714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKPB50cTZEE5IdEZ0_u2YhVcTuSx9J1v3qtm2mjjGqP2a_yv7cfz0xvzb-Ch-vOIPtJkG6eU9mzWS4aQZYQCIr1fr_H9nbivoRCzEiLRpP12mYQxQ-2-FVfEQRhJtEI6lCn-z9/s320/4.jpg" border="0" /><br />When we were here in 2004 we were in a slip directly in front of the hotel and I brought some tea from the hotel to Stacy on the aft deck of the boat we were on. This time, Chuck treated Chris, Stacy and I to High Tea at the Empress.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241161888585688786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGs6spvKXxw9GVVml4pDwQmQFJFofHM8UhpOaF-2rp-ythL8S8C8LcRzOS2ouiZKkMJg-DrVCCDKQRYa1pWKYvhgLMmdYU1ZXCPGSNOpNUurQaRMgTkRC1agbHahyphenhyphenuH3Xgqpcc/s320/27.jpg" border="0" />We had an absolutely wonderful time and can not be more grateful to Chuck and Chris.<br /><br /><p align="left">On Sunday we attended church in the morning and then climbed a spiral staircase to the bell tower to watch the ringers. This was an interesting display of timing and coordination.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241163498820170514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2NCHnbsGmp5COPZ-4LYN9222D3isiJHj1Gri_Wlq1dBf7yId4kaT5wW4QiHWM36ajHcUYridCKNSWUDUZPtoST9-UNhjkKJBNCFosIf5SG5PXIqeIPUIdY6PtAWo8gj78p3L/s320/28.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p align="left">On Sunday evening we attended the "Splash". The Splash is a concert event by the Victoria Symphony where they pull a barge into the inner harbor in front of the Parliament building and the Empress Hotel and the symphony plays from the barge. Boaters attend by dinghy, kayak, canoe or whatever they have and landlubbers cover the grounds of the Parliament building.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241157013056658018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYmJedHhwiHOJ48W1rZg96Slpx-aT_xHWb0DfGNpExuFrQcT1xYC6QQz_RW3HMKq-lsi4Rw0E_1biA5C9Z3Jue3Zksjjsvp48Db9ZLpzV6-F8O1wNKJ6x3oItnXPTmYjM6GSE/s320/8.jpg" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241164929361046770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAElI4bcyEpRg5O4naSD0GrPieqeEGp5GfeF8yhxBmkWe6QB3Iu797GhcqswLzveys6HB-ruwrgDLM_o9ViwI84kb4HV97YDLXG1Tj3T9aVO5JPZyKpaG8wL6cSUxZgnw9A20L/s320/7.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241157015310587218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQxn1S-5jj7oo9Qk92KKo8khHEKfutB2nBlKekps3l9x1xMJ1yfVJnrhwc9hBeWtxCioIcEXAj6vzbQkufh1OokrylwfiQOJs_yV9AVhYfKSBoLnG12MOPlDfTBDzVNlpTnnw/s320/9.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p align="left">The whole spirit of the evening was demonstrated by this one person that had set up his boat in the middle of the crowd and was cooking bratwurst and handing them out to anyone that wanted one. He sent two down to us and we enjoyed them in our dinghy.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241158212306806562" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS3MO3NuC0gVpmbrxQZMsLRhSz8qEb6tkvku7mzZoQGktZtzJQvmQU3dU-JzzvL-9ypCSEZFZphIAj1c9lzaC34tmw860OableBwcOdjIeJSgO6of8L0pxWMQRZ2RxpmoIBagO/s320/6.jpg" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241163498438264562" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQbd5TuEyQrknm_YVrmFdrKc7DvJCuqjrGCLfXB4CXoiltJgJsXLogtV0J6RUDEZ7lPg29lPatUor3M2wCuoLdJa6XZNI8nKYzzyStpZxtj-enB7p_yT7M4ctM6WdzwC2bq96/s320/29.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://localhost:2436/d65e6dadb6e969dfeba465e0ecaacf59/image8095.jpg"></a></p><p align="center"></p><p align="left">The concert opened with dances featuring the local First Nations tribes. This was a special year for the Splash because the next day was the celebration of the 150th birthday of British Columbia. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241155660246632482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiREDY8g1kR2MwePt8AUvgH16AEPDU6oSJEE18P1fgVSfwhZFIIjXVe1Gmj_vLpasKO84N6ozxXke7w0Aoa2pYxaR36xbZBbqcE29HQ3PlvbPU8JAGWDOBFArOAXJI-EvbCuJuK/s320/5.jpg" border="0" /> </p><br /><p>At the end of the evening a group played "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes and there was a fireworks display over the harbor.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241157015518739234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimX7SB6DQkuHkTFnNIQQdgegz_hRxkhqfNeWx6AdnlTmN5anMw7-927Dkw1RkSJZWqeiOWLVoLkybiG_ikmB0LK2r4ckmcVpgNeBOe0Q7eRMNlXzSKBOk6X7lEiJLgIK_pNyn4/s320/10.jpg" border="0" /><br />The total number of people attending the event numbers somewhere around 40 thousand by many reports and it was an event we will not soon forget.</p><p align="left">The next day Chuck and Chris had to leave to go back to Washington so we transfered over to JUWIKA and spent the next 3 days with Bill and Gail. </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241163502378980402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj2uw4tuSTBLitvHhkrYcJ-DafHhmkP8Dta41fcYLTiJw6eur3le7foL1gpOs0ZBHS8e_AJjlI2jEiGlNALToi7HrChGXWoI_7c0P0AlshmEgqWoJED6KJn8dxEol8A3UfQb8e/s320/31.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p align="left">Monday was the BC Day celebration and it seemed that there were more people in town for that than for the splash. There were concerts all day (including Sarah McLaughlin, Burton Cummings and Feist) at the Parliament Building, the "Snowbirds" flew over and performed some aerobatic maneuvers over the harbor and there were demonstrations of 150 years of firefighting equipment.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241158217961574258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim57gHqLO_q82XRL31tYeD2P87HyD83jZ1oQWgjESKM_L4aM0_ztJAAEIE6l6in3hvOUY3cfnX8k4iPKlCpInBTu-WKU1kaCwGgxmMlXPqq5SjJwHoO_TbLeTqtaDhWoIJTi7L/s320/11.jpg" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241161888204771314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaiU2DxIsR9r1Ht6UBmiS0qajGgnpthDtcI6d3x8d0xkwMxzylqK8jXlRiMit4KdA_3M8NOp3zDJe8amw04wmriF7j1HsJWhPgieOsDXgbl6FJv_G9L1wSyd-tXA-Nt7CE4rH/s320/26.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://localhost:2436/a22a62ed2bf5270df4724d31ef817c72/image8086.jpg"></a></p><p align="center"></p><p align="left">When we left Victoria with Bill and Gail we headed over to San Juan island to see if we might be able to see the whales. I was looking for humpback whales and didn't know that we were actually looking for Orcas until we found them. We saw a pod traveling and were able to watch them for a while before they left our area. </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241158224531338402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf02Axs6nxo5tsyb07VIMp_KlSnkYN_VSaZBx7Zm3ggsM6tA56zq3Vgog23nhC52j2z4Qn3n_gwrbPG5MY2sdwUEz5ta3NkLHDMNCfG7GGlhwC_qilts_0mcNRJrOzUBDeRGaM/s320/12.jpg" border="0" /> We traveled for the next couple of days with Bill and Gail and had a great time at anchor. One evening we anchored with quite a few other boats and noticed these guys having dinner. It was innovative for sure but I certainly appreciate our aft deck after watching them.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241158222509577122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlBSQ25_QI9AZMA2jefhww7qH4d9ZCafugdx1M51yNqro_xBrFjs-sCoy2G1u9ApoGGcd1jf_jedUo93kblTlAFKr6tdDyY0qQrjvZ-NX8AgeN-ADn9a1-imO6LycqzdLdHGQU/s320/13.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p>Bill pulled up anchor and headed back to Sidney where we caught the ferry back to Vancouver for our flight out. <a href="http://localhost:2436/a22a62ed2bf5270df4724d31ef817c72/image8085.jpg"></a><a href="http://localhost:2436/bd0d1ff72996a3312b23ecfd760c7db6/image8103.jpg"></a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241163501969612354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidP8t9V_L-dBNDKh5Xo0EHuTlmQG8QVRmHY0B8CyOMPzPqTqoa-Hc3hAi0A6eKKovoe5VzBEl4_vRhJiZnYuF_nL_Iq2MeKcqGZ0WATgEXaEtzyG6PPFf9JgNEmyQ28yxj04Mg/s320/30.jpg" border="0" /><br />We had a wonderful time on our trip and would like to cruise in the Pacific Northwest again. The "Splash" was a highlight of a trip made special by good, good friends.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="left"></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36556289.post-7291498712270332422008-07-04T12:53:00.004-04:002008-07-04T13:27:23.557-04:00Stephen, Katie, Matthew & Allyson Brannon VisitOn June 5-7th Stephen, Katie, Matthew and Allyson Brannon came to the boat for a weekend away from Athens. We took SEASEA out and anchored down at Guntersville Lock. Matthew drove most of the way. <div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219203448920400146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrUlQkfOl38p4pFxBHMwnouujitIGrhSG4y3utGHhvC5Qz6aEL_WxcjdAcywk-TEScmweO61RD9OtwgDcxivHEqvOBJLr8JLOXziRV9vTQwPpbcf6PqRUZaatpPSfFp9IRRBx/s320/12.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219203450651427298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixBLK9u4D2e0PBsOrd9rbqjv_0gALuF9EhWWE5TWSeITkgDQFf9tJDt7zCzs3Yy7WXT0-M4zpq4ziXfWWFBmVJpyjqnjPwFqLI9rV7rf6Otn8MKaS4bx0sO1A27sZNMWfs-Onw/s320/13.jpg" border="0" />I was actually surprised at his abilities. His 8th birthday was coming up in a few days and he had as much of an intuitive understanding of the chartplotter and how it related to the boat as anyone I have had at the helm. He would find and chart the channel markers and determine the distances to the next marker or landmark. He seemed to enjoy the driving so we took a break and let him do his thing.</div><div> </div><div>Of course the other thing he liked more than driving was fishing. If the boat was stopped he would have a rod in his hand. I don't have a photo but he would even stand along the rail while we were underway (when he wasn't driving) and pretend he was fishing. First thing in the morning he would wake Stephen and ask to be taken out in the dinghy so he could "catch supper".</div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219203451963021266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbQTqcFnq1HkiwTnWxzEOort_9hkD4cmYXjlJfdofKpsz8kw4yarGd4u7Mv1693ZtsEXYkY14pERw5MP9Pt-D4ev5URSgw_cro3U2Qbbx6_i0Zg0i2O4AknDmBSDbqBhsnRASb/s320/14.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219203867749055394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUdAUWX5iu0M5GHU4nA6J_LhqBt4kVD2qyYBM2vOpJjv8VTvPB8ThSsRJ9YPuOTe-UvOL9bfHU88sGQIhDU-zdym8a-p_Ro8sBnni-T_q7PWyV8VoLBopeHgxqbG8oxNTp5Se/s320/18.jpg" border="0" /></div><div>Katie and Allyson took the dinghy with Stacy and went out exploring the area. They found a "beach" that was covered with mussel shells and collected a bag full. They then just played around in the dinghy for a while.</div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219203520096990450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7U51QMoC9hAiu7wwGnRaMMxI6bvcSTlinQQ8W33Gy-bZFPTJIhdww-01aLDU6zLTAs0DaSrN11L1xiLfGrnGS8GsDg-1J3pbo8l29FWFOkp3_ua-B_dRPCALLrTAN236wIV9p/s320/15.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219203439053285058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGcnlOFHd5v7c-1WcPS2y77pPIEHjRMmauC2pOqDMPQ6qkJ9fL3BkSHN4GLIIXeD_B1Mlb3UBkxb-Lpb5lm8gaukN3AEKaYIiKLrDhKgKI0632icVLgE4QuS280rfQbYvIM2ks/s320/11.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219203858419790818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP8Q7QQNudMREghA7hcMpjhNiI1rGsSKskt4YSS-KiHNgdx_dp0mdP5QSBUnKj9bMovmQB-8_OC2WYeAzqulftKFqXoBSVaqmn13WQt8d0dw8NE549o9zGm3B_36Lb_M5llB8v/s320/16.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><div>That evening we had a surprise for them. We took the dinghy out just before dusk and headed for the Bat Cave. This is a cave that is a nursery for an endangered grey bat and some 30 or 40 thousand of them exit the cave each evening to try to cut down on the mosquito population. We couldn't get pictures of the bats leaving as it was just too dark for the camera to capture the bats. There were 3 other boats there and the bats would come out and fly just over the surface of the water and right by you as you sat there. It was actually quite incredible and was the first time we had seen the bats.</div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219203870326929314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzF4QjsAR8difcO9pJYPLlPQNDJZ26eZOw4RwA30lTaX-FY-uIVuau9qjhyphenhyphenLXtnLZxSdlHXuf6T5ruQ9F4foCQLlrpIgmKZHFivMO4pAdJjZPskt3a8D4dwVR0j7xXutYfzCVz/s320/20.jpg" border="0" /></div></div><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219203856700821138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6YQTzZyYHnOSujc5XwLd5ZUW-XkbOJtpzOYmYzLGRSgyXqdY5Jk_yzkYqXSTVgp2MtCYSkJIy5VmtdZhvBf2fd-ssCAAP8TIfchO4F6Rzfyxg5bfWvRTNwBMvlllzvMjisiBs/s320/17.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>The next day we locked down through Guntersville Lock and locked back up so they could experience going through a lock.</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219203869451569890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrourJx1S_5uuDf56bVVEnWQeOSjY4-kd1J1LAsfc6s-skLbeB0E2618UrGbZtD6ppjUig16V11ouR5m03IZoRVN8f_0ZC_tXqGNunjJQIi8Qdp9by0D7Ea8UTH0e47aJeVWX/s320/19.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>The Corps of Engineers requires that everyone be wearing a life jacket while locking so we all donned our PFD's for the lock through.</p><p>After our locking we traveled up to a new anchorage and spent some time exploring. We had been told about some "swimming pools" at the end of the creek so we dinghied up the creek to the rocks and then hiked a little ways to find the "pools". After we returned to the boat we were treated to a float plane performing "touch and go's" nearby. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219204067191716258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj2WS1ML6OVvpp5yZmk3PRsVaJ_-uQpCMAz8_S0HYL9Yr-I0BcLDFpS1eoVqIQCFLL5Ml-l36zlRfqOyoKrY4R7gEnyzTHOLTyXTZKUbdIiZL_hZzB1fVOzvmm34Yu-3E6ztjO/s320/21.jpg" border="0" /></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219204066024254098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEnzCavFl6mbl_HfEgvflm0yO4IPvgC1DSWB4TrDa59dhEru9Y8m0SbkKewqv3vy8APgjtFIHawBLKb8ktans2_YFThv0U3iFiHvZrq_o6ijZTJgbB97DB3B-rc9oKO8Paqo6j/s320/22.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>The next day we headed back to the marina and Stacy backed SEASEA into her slip. On the way, we had some fun playing cards.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219204073631818546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-aLVG-_p5HvadRGG9vT5NL9wkTc4dE3rgS6XN8uRf2VmvCEfUpAb_NXQGP20wzI8Cmv8kXd-wPgjqaovh2f1_vQk4MQTDIB0Vr7hmBZYKXnNEWYLpdGcfaTEAAudBmfvO9n3F/s320/23.jpg" border="0" /></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219204077662074066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCCSMRxN-a9p6Vgjl8VuvchwibAi8rr71OOTwPC6KZf9CaZqiUPZk71F2uB0ewHXyVR90z9HJBGTPe37F_vP8t4rRDgtulf65FmrS9w9FxSNKaMHMGi6FOIHL0oNKxaQYo11AT/s320/24.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>After cleaning up and helping our neighbor finish a project on his boat we headed back to Athens.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0