Picture Day

As promised I'm going to share some pictures that Dan took along the way. He has a very good eye and it was hard to narrow it down to just a few.

We'll start with some shots of us waiting for the fog to lift in Golconda, Il.

One thing we all learned early on is, when it's time to pass a tow make sure it is the most narrow part of the river & in a bend....it's way fun!

Next is a shot of the "courtesy dock" in Mt. Vernon...you thought I was kidding?? In all honesty Mt. Vernon is a nice little town, best visited by car.

  Here is one from our anchorage on the Blue River as we were waiting for the fog to lift, again.

 And another as we get underway...I'm beginning to think a bit too soon (can you see the barge?)

This was shot from the dock (duh) as we leave Heathers on the River and Dan & Chris get ready to drive DD & Kim's car home...another crew change.

These last couple are as we pass through town and are welcomed home at our marina. Thanks to everyone who made this happen.

Now....hopefully you have enjoyed following along on the trip. I hope I was able, in some small way, to make everyone feel like part of the crew. I don't want you to get the idea that this blogging thing is easy. Trying to come up with something interesting to say every day can be exhausting. Some nights I finished typing by flashlight...most nights scotch or rum was involved...I don't know how Twain did it story after story! Just to prove my point here is one last picture from French Island Marina...

Thanks again Dan for all the great pictures. If you'd like to see more of his work check out this link.

This weekend we are having the family on board for a Labor Day weekend cruise...check back Monday for a full report.

Trip Recap

We were underway about 0800 on Saturday for the last leg of the trip home. Right off the bat we found that the lockmaster had lied to us the day before, the river had come up a bit overnight. The 4” of clearance we had Friday was gone Saturday morning and the bridge made a slight adjustment to our anchor light on the way out. Once on the river we were treated to another glorious morning with flat calm water and a nice breeze.

We stopped at River Watch restaurant in Lawrenceburg to pick up my sister Kathy and Mike who wanted to join us for the trip through town. We were underway again about 1:30 and made our way through light traffic between there and Saylor Park when things began to pick up. Above Saylor Park we began to see more and more boat traffic, much more than anywhere else the past 2 weeks. Throw in a barge or 2  and things get really interesting. We were greeted just before Anderson Ferry by Dan & Chris on their boat “Never Say Never”. Other members of our marina welcoming committee began showing up as we got closer to town. We were beginning to overtake a tow just as we got to the Mill Creek and the run through the bridges, not good timing but I was anxious to get to the marina. I have a pretty good idea of what the tow is going to do as they head through town…not so much the pleasure craft. We cleared the barge about the time we got to the Brent Spence Bridge and were able to breathe a little easier. Still a lot of smaller boats but I live by the rule of tonnage…they will move. It was a nice sight to see my crew from work on the Serpentine Wall to greet us as we went by…too bad I was still pretty busy driving and didn't get a picture…thanks guys. 

We were in the marina and safely tied up by 5:30, another fine day on the river except for the last hour and a half…the worst of the whole trip. Now I know why tow boat operators call Cincinnati “The Gauntlet”…the big horseshoe turn through the bridges downtown along with all the pleasure craft must make things real exciting for them. As expected we were greeted by a steady stream of well wishers and people wanting to see the boat…the last ones were kicked out about 11:00 and we crashed hard.

Now for the recap:

We traveled 14 days straight without any issues. This is thanks to a good survey and prep work done by our mechanic down in Tennessee. 

The boat was in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana & Ohio...not bad for a maiden voyage.

We covered 996 miles, stayed in 11 marinas, one free "dock" and anchored out one night. Total slip fees were $428 and 2 marinas didn't charge us since we bought fuel.

We took on 509 gallons of diesel and I estimate another 140 if we top off now for a total of 649 gallons.  

The rough math is that we got about 1.4 mpg which is not bad since we ran the boat pretty hard to keep on schedule. The really good news is that the mpg goes up to over 2 once I subtract the hours run on the generator at 1.5 gph!!! That makes me very happy!!

I would like to offer a BIG thanks to all who crewed with us as well as those of you that followed and offered good wishes for the journey...we couldn't have done it without you. Please keep following as I will be posting periodic updates as we begin prepping the boat for our big adventure. I will be posting some more pics in the next day or 2 that were taken by Dan while they were in board...I just need to shrink a few down to fit and there are so many great ones it will be hard to choose just a few. 

Last post (for now)

Another fine day on Chasing 80. We got underway about 0800 once we were sure Dan & Chris weren't locked into the dock. Seems their chain and lock are more like tieing up a horse...not really locked but it looks like it.
It was an easy day, as expected. We passed Madison IN at noon. It was pretty cool passing the start/finish line for the regatta in my own boat remembering all the times we did it during the races. We also passed under the new Madison-Milton bridge. They built the new bridge next to the old one and once they're finished blowing up the old bridge they will slide the new one into its place.

We were at Markland dam by 3:30 with an easy lock through and were above our last lock before 4:00

The lockmaster said if we could make it under the bridge back to Pier 99 marina we will be fine getting out tomorrow. We made it with at least 4" to spare. Once we got to the marina the fun began....I was about to stick the first landing when I heard a voice say they didn't think I was clearing the covered slip. We pulled back out to survey the overhang. Each attempt after that was a disaster with me making "slight" contact with the upright at one point. After the 4th attempt without much help from the dockhands we waved good-by and moved across the harbor to Smugglers Cove where we slid right into an open slip on the first try.No docking by committee here...as of today I have over 1000 miles on the boat including the trip up to Euchee marina. Please don't offer suggestions on how to best dock the boat.

Tomorrow we will be picking up our original crew for the last leg up to Manhattan Harbour and the end of this part of the adventure. Wow, 2 weeks and 1000 miles flew by on this thing!! I won't be posting tomorrow as I'm sure our dock friends will want to see the new boat in the marina. Be a bit patient and I will post a full recap of the trip middle of next week once I catch up on some sleep.

Thanks for following, Jill & Kevin....out.

2 Days in 1

Sorry to disappoint all my loyal followers yesterday but it was a long day with no cell coverage at the end.

Yesterday started early and we were headed up river before 7 am. We passed Owensboro KY early in the run. They have a nice waterfront water park that looks really inviting. I never did see the Waltrip brothers though.

As I said, we ran a long day and covered over 100 miles without a hitch. Luckily the last few hours were very scenic. The river seemed more like a lake and we passed a huge quarry and mine operation  which was pretty cool.

We got in later than I would have liked for my first attempt at anchoring overnight but we got the hook set and tied the stern to a tree before it was completely dark. This morning we woke up in the same place so I guess we did OK. It was really cool being up the Blue River as the full moon rose over the trees.

Today started a couple of hours late due to fog but we are now at Heathers on the River a bit above Louisville with an easy 2 day run to home. It was an easy run except the run through town above the lock...it gets a bit skinny.

 Tonight we picked up DD and Kim from our marina and loose Dan and Chris…I can’t seem to keep crew on board, call me Ahab.

Thanks for all the help guys, looking forward to having the whole crew together again Saturday.

From Heathers on the River (karaoke night) quando, quando, quando....

Day 10...where has the time gone?

I’m going to try something new tonight. Type the blog in word and cut n paste to the blog so I’m not using up Dan’s wifi…we’ll see how this works.

To make up a bit from yesterday here is a picture from our marina yesterday morning when the fog set in.

Once we got moving we passed Cave-In-Rock IL. Where the river pirates used to hang out. Of course there was crazy river traffic at the time including a ferry crossing (you don’t have to be gay to ride a ferry)

We found one other thing you can do to pass the time while traveling at 7.5 mph on a boat.

We did get some sleep last night…but not much. Mt. Vernon is a very busy barge terminal overnight…who knew.

 We were underway before 0700 this morning and were tied up by 4:00. A good day but we didn’t quite make Owensboro, they didn’t have room for us. We found  a great little marina in Rockport, IN. This is a little river camp community with a nice dock and diesel fuel. We topped off and should be good for the rest of the trip and then some.

We are on track for getting home Saturday and I understand they are making our slip ready. After 10 days on this trip I’m ready to keep going….maybe we’ll head for Pittsburg. 

As I type this I'm listening to a live JB concert from Jones Beach with a full moon rising...I think we're going to like this lifestyle. I’ll close with a few more pictures.

The crew practicing their knots

                                                    The fog lifting this morning...underway at sunrise.

Tomorrow we will be anchored out. Until then.

Short post

We are back on the iPad, no wifi here tonight.

We got moving late this morning due to fog and are short of our planned destination by about 20 miles. We are now in Mt. Vernon In. on a courtesy dock the size of a postage stamp! We are getting beat up pretty good by a small tug building a barge just up river...may not get much sleep tonight. 

The goal for tomorrow is Owensboro Ky. Wish us luck. 

The Turn...

Today we made the big turn and started up the Ohio River, more on that later. We were underway before 0700 in anticipation of a long delay at Barkley Lock. We approached the lock and called the lockmaster to get in the que and were told there was a double locking up and we would get in in about 2 hours, not too bad. A double ts a tow that is too big to come through the small chamber at one time. They push half in another tug pulls them out at the top, repeat the process for the other half. Luckily there was a nice cove just off the lock so we got to try out our anchor for the first time...it works!!

   There was a lot of traffic at the lock including one "priority" load going down which we were lucky to get in in front of, turns out it was the rocket hauler from Decatur which had caught up to us. Once we were down there was a tow waiting to get in, thankfully he gave us plenty of room (look left)

 That was a BIG pucker!!
30 miles down the Cumberland River we met the Ohio and made the big right turn....and watched our speed drop to 6.5 mph. Thank goodness that was only due to being just below the Smithland Dam, we improved on the upstream side to about 8 mph. The replacement crew is getting the hang of running the boat pretty quickly.

 Tonight we are in the little town of Golconda, Il. This is the kind of place we are looking forward to exploring in our boating future.

Could be a long day tomorrow so it's an early night tonight.

Half Way!!!

I can't believe a week has passes already. At some point today Mile & I passed the half way point. He felt this was a good time to get off and turn the boat over to a new crew. Jill and our friends Chris and Dan came down for the up-hill leg of the trip. Here we are pulling into Kentucky Dam Marina as seen from the dock.

And here is a view of the new crew waiting for us.

Mike & I were under way early today...in the channel headed north before 0700 covering a bit over 75 miles. Not much excitement today, in fact I had no trouble clearing the first bridge we came to...unlike yesterday. They must have known I was coming.

The lake was mega-wide today however there was a marked channel the whole way. We had a couple of pretty hard storms today but they seemed to get worse after we passed...I guess that's something good.

 Did I mention I was overtaking a barge at the same time....

Tomorrow we head over to Lake Barkley to take the Cumberland River down to the Ohio  and a big right turn. I called the lockmaster tonight and he said we shouldn't be delayed more than 2 and a half hours...I can live with that. Wish us luck as I break in the new crew!!

Thanks again for a great week Mike!! I'll have these guys call you with any questions...make sure they know how I like my espresso.

Captain Spike...out.

Day 5...or is it 6??

I'll start with a warning for my coworkers...i am really getting used to this lifestyle, start looking for a replacement.

We were underway at 0815 this morning and fueled and tied up by 4:00 covering about 63 miles. It was a mostly overcast day so not many pictures were taken...I'll share some from yesterday that I forgot.

One thing I forgot yesterday was a picture of the helm on the flybridge...I do believe it is very proper. We have radar, chartplotter, back-up paper charts, back-up GPS, back-up radio, autopilot and....a fridge. What more do I need?

  The river started out this morning just as we left it (duh) with a small channel that twisted and turned and ended up more lake like. No more homes on stilts and short spud polls at this marina.One more bit of excitement today (and I was driving) was passing 2 up-bound barges just bellow the I-40 bridge. Thankfully the river had gotten a bit larger at this point.

I was also driving just before the marina when we passed under a 26' draw bridge in a 21' boat...I didn't flinch or slow down though.

We are now safe and sound in Pebble Isle Marina and I am going to cut this short and go sit on the front deck, have a drink with Mike and thank him for the incredible job he did this week...I think he knows the boat as well as I do...it sure is cleaner! Thanks Mike!!!!

Until tomorrow....

Day 5...the long day

Today was a 98 mile day. it had me a bit concerned so we hit the road early. Lines were untied and we were on the river by 0720. It was a chamber of commerce day with temps in the upper 60's when we left and topping out about 80...we are chasing 80 after all.

The first half of the day was spent on Pickwick lake. It was very wide with big homes and reminds me a lot of Cumberland (with a way out). The picture bellow gives you an idea of the lake size as well as the entrance to the Tenn-Tom waterway that leads to Mobile...it was hard not to make a left turn. Just past this point I was able to pilot the boat to a point where we were in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee all at the same time...pretty cool for a geek like me.

Pickwick dam was about our half way point and we entered at 1:00 with no delay. The gates closed behind us and....nothing happened. We sat for at least 10 minutes before we started to drop, painfully slowly. Overall it was a 40 minute delay in the lock and I began to think we weren't going to make Clifton before dark. Not what I wanted to do.
As we got underway below the lock I ran the boat back up to 1400 RPM's where we had been running at 8.5 MPH on Pickwick (in a head wind) and when I looked at the GPS we were surfing at over 12 MPH...Woo-Hoo we were flying!! Funny, if you are in a car at 10 MPH I feel like a turtle...On this boat I'm the hare!!
Pickwick was our last dam before we head out to the Ohio river. Below the dam the shore line became much more flat with homes built on stilts, much more flood prone than any of the TVA lakes above here.
We had a bit of fun on the narrow river as we were rounding a tight bend and a large towboat appeared headed at us. It was a bit tight for a moment, thankfully he wasn't pushing any barges. Of course Mike was driving...he was driving yesterday when we hit a submarine....I'm just sayin'.

Well, thanks to the push we were tied up in Clifton by 6:30. Not a bad day for such a long run.We had a great dinner with the marina owner and some local old timers, couldn't understand most of what they were saying but we laughed ourselves silly. Tomorrow we are headed to New Johnsonville, TN. A much easier day with no locks. Until then....g'night.

Day 4...starting with 3

OK, i'm back on wifi tonight so I'm going to hit some highlights from yesterday before moving on.

I noticed early yesterday that Mike and I have fallen into a pretty good rhythm as far as running the boat. I'm up first and spend the first 20 minutes or so doing my engine room checks. Today is the first day I've added any oil to the big Detroit's, only 2 quarts on one side...not bad. Once Mike is up we prepare to get under way which only takes about 15 minutes, and then we're moving. Once headed down river I'm up on the fly bridge drinking espresso and eating pop tarts while Mike works his butt off cleaning the boat...pretty fair in my opinion...

  
During our travels yesterday we hit our southern most point and are now headed north. N34*22.446 W086*17.233if you're interested.

We also passed under the I-65 bridge which both Mile and I have driven countless times headed to the Gulf coast. I always thought how cool it would be to be passing under it...it was.

Today was a short day with only 55 miles covered. We had 2 locks and a first for me, a lift bridge. The bridge was a RR bridge just outside last night's marina and opened on request. Early on we passed the ship that transports rockets from Huntsville to the cape. You may remember this was the ship that took out a bridge on KY lake a year or so ago by trying to pass under the wrong span...I'm sure it has a new captain.

The second lock was unique in 2 ways. First the upper gate dropped down into the lock, as we watched, it just went down like a submarine. Here it is coming back up after we are in.

Here you can see the supports that the door rests on when it is down;

The other neat thing was the drop in this lock. I am guessing over 100 feet...we felt very small at the bottom.

Just past Wilson lock we pulled into Florence Marina before 3:00. This is, by far, the best marina so far (in my vast experience).

We have been traveling with a couple of guys heading in the same direction for the past couple of days. They seem like really nice good ol boys from central KY having an adventure on a $500 boat...(some of you know where I'm going with this). We stopped to talk to them tonight as we were headed out to dinner. Turns out they are from Campbellsville KY...Disastertown....I mentioned I worked with a guy from their town and one immediately says "oh, Scott Shaw?"!!!! go figure...they promised to send a couple of jars of shine up with Scott next time he's in town.

Well, that's it for tonight. We have a 100 mile day tomorrow to Clifton TN. We will be leaving Alabama, touching Mississippi and ending up in Tennessee all in one day.Hopefully we'll get in early enough to get a blog out, otherwise look for one on Friday.