Christmas on Chasing 80

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and got off to a great start in the New Year, we sure did! In the last blog we recapped some of the maintenance we had done in Gulf Shores. After a week of being on the hard we were put back in the water so we could move back on board while the engine work was finished. Lucky for us that Saturday was the annual Christmas party at LuLu's (a block away) followed by the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach lighted boat parade. The boat didn't run but we had a front row seat for the parade!

Every year LuLu's hosts and afternoon with Billy Claus, Santa's brother who's allergic to snow. The party starts with LuLu (Lucy Buffett aka Jimmy's sister) reading the tale of Billy Claus to all the little kiddies. It's a cute little story that she wrote several years ago. I guess her brother isn't the only writer in the family.

About the end of the story the whole place shakes as a low flying plane buzzes the complex and the kid's go wild. Turns out Billy arrives every year by seaplane....way cool!!

For the next few hours Billy does the traditional Santa thing and listen's to each kids wishes which he promises to deliver to his brother. Billy is assisted by the LuLu Belles as his version of an elf...only cuter.

After a short time Jill & I left LuLu's to the kids and headed back to the boat to get ready for the parade, Since we were tied up right next to the waterway we were able to sit comfortably on the fly bridge and watch the whole thing. There were about 30 boats this year which is down from 50 in the past but it was a chilly evening for boating. Even though we couldn't move don't think we didn't participate!! The boat in the second picture really put up some lights and took home first place this year.

Once we got the boat back and moved back to Orange Beach Marina Jill got busy getting our decorations up. I helped by staying out of the way!!

Before we knew it it was Christmas eve and the weather was beautiful so we did what any self respecting boater would do.....put on our Christmas best and go for a dinghy ride....to the Flora Bama!

Murray Christmas!!

Frosty at the beach

We were back early and settled in to watch White Christmas before turning in. Next morning we woke to what has become a Christmas tradition for us, Lox and bagels with a schmeer...not sure where we picked that up from. Nice thing about living on a boat and being together 24/7 is we have no time to worry about surprising each other with something for Christmas so there is nothing to unwrap on Christmas morning. A bit later we returned to the Flora-Bama who was hosting a Christmas pot luck. They provided all the turkey and ham and we all brought side dishes. It was very well attended and there was plenty to go around.

After a feast of epic proportions we grabbed a beer and moved to an outside deck to enjoy the nice weather. It was then that we discovered what Santa does to unwind after an extremely busy 24 hours..

Later in the week looper friends Liz & Bob from Knot Sew Easy (you may remember from earlier blogs) drove down from Michigan to escape the cold and ring in the New Year with us. We went to the Wharf entertainment complex for NYE and had a bite to eat and listened to some music before the rain set in. We were back on the boat by 10 and made it up till 11!! (that's midnight for them)

The Wharf does a Marlin drop at midnight but I'm not sure how many people were left to see it. It really poured that night.

Next morning we were lucky as the rain let up for most of the day before starting again in the evening. We all jumped into the dinghy and headed off to the "Bama" for the New Years Day festivities.

And a better pic where Liz isn't cut in half...

The festivities at the Flora-Bama revolve around their annual Polar Dip which I decided would be fun to do with 2000 of my closest friends. The others (wiser) in our group decided to watch from the beach and take pictures. Jill got a quick video of the mayhem...I'm sure I'm in there somewhere.

I'm not sure why they were flying that red flag but the waves were over my head! I'm pretty sure everyone survived.

All too soon Liz & Bob had to return to the great white north and we returned to our routine of doing a little something each day to make Chasing 80 better. It's a labor of love for sure and beats workin'.

The influx of snowbirds has been very apparent this week on the roads as well as in the grocery store...seem's nobody knows where they are going so they go slow...very slow. Part of the influx were pier 5 friends from GTB who come down for a few months each year. They know where they are going.....

We've really enjoyed our stay here but we're both ready to get moving again. We'll spend the next week finishing up some boat projects and hope to get moving about the 18th or so. We may head east for a few days to visit other looper friends before doubling back and heading toward Mississippi and Louisiana. We are reserved in New Orleans in early March for 2 months so February will be exploring Lake Pontchartrain and further west toward Houma & Morgan City. Mardi Gras starts this weekend and runs till Fat Tuesday on February 28th so we're sure to find a parade or party along the way... stay tuned. We'll begin sending out tweets on travel days so you can follow along @mvchasing80 and the "Locate Us" link will be live again!!

 
PS one more from the "don't you feel sorry for us" department.....tonight's forecast.

Updates and Boat Projects

I've had a nagging little voice in the back of my head lately...people saying "I wonder how Jill & Kevin are? What is Chasing 80 up to??" Maybe I'm wrong but we thought it was time to fill y'all in what we've been up to.

Not long after the last post we rented a car and went on a Florida road trip. Jill's sister Amy has bought a house in FL in preparation for her retirement next year. We drove down to meet up with her and Alyn and check the place out. It's a very nice place on a canal and for whatever reason we didn't take any pictures to share with you, sorry. In fact the only picture taken the whole time we were there was at a cool tiki bar with a great sense of humor.

It is a great house in a nice town and I'm sure they'll enjoy the area very much. I know we look forward to another visit.

We got back to the boat in time for Thanksgiving and planned a wonderful feast. One of our boat neighbors had taken the boat south for some fishing....south as in Belize....it's a bigggg boat. They said we were welcome to use their smoker while they were gone so we decided to try a smoked turkey. It seemed easy enough.....prep the turkey (recipe from Kermit Ruffins in NOLA), prep the smoker, check.

Wait about 6 hours, check.

Enjoy a Thanksgiving feast of epic proportions, check!!

It took a bit longer than expected but it was delicious. We're already planning on smoking something for Christmas since they are still gone....hope they're OK.

The next week it was time for the boat to head to the boatyard for some much needed lovin'. It's a day every boat owner knows is coming and don't really look forward to. As much as we try to do all maintenance ourselves there are just some projects better left to the pros. It's been over 3 years since we've paid anyone to work on the engines so we're doing pretty well. I did some research and found a very well re$pected yard here in the area. That's part of the reason we chose to stay here this fall.

Projects were; cleaning the coolers on both engines (like a radiator in your car) there are 3 on each engine, repack the prop shaft logs (designed to keep the water outside where the prop shaft exits the boat), tune up both engines. Since the boat had to be hauled to do the shafts we decided to get the bottom done even though it was done last year. We should get at least 2 years out of a bottom job.

First up is the part I always hate...the haul out. Even though I know we chose an excellent yard that hauls much bigger boats than us I always wonder, what if? One little slip and there goes our house!!

A short video as she moves off.

First stop is the "dirty" side of the yard where the bottom is cleaned with a pressure washer and the running gear is blasted clean. They put us next to the lil 92 foot fishing boat we are docked next to at Orange Beach Marina.

Just when you think you have a big boat.....

I don't feel bad when it's time to pay the bill though. I can't imagine what a bottom job on that thing costs???

After cleaning the bottom the boat is moved to the "clean" side of the yard where the final prep work is done before rolling on the bottom paint. While this was going on mechanics where inside the boat working on the engines and shafts. Jill and I took the time to clean and wax the hull while we were there. The yard was even kind enough to rent us some scaffolding for the week!

Bottom before cleaning....not horrible really.

And after cleaning and paint. We also had the props sent out for scanning and they came back healthy!

We were lucky enough to get a condo in town for the week through our travel club so we were able to stay out of the way of the guys working inside. They were able to put the boat back in the water on Friday but the engine work wasn't finished. Here she is all cleaned up and ready to launch.

Since they were going to need at least 2 more days to finish up we decided to leave Monday morning and come back Tuesday afternoon so they wouldn't have to be putting back all the open hatches at the end of the day...it adds up at $105 an hour! The only question was where to go......where to go....Got It!!

Why not 24 hours in NOLA before we have to pay the boat bill??

Turns out the boat wasn't ready until Thursday so we ended up working around them for the last day or so. All in all we are very happy with the work, delays are inevitable working on an older boat, things break and parts are sometimes hard to find. The boat is running cooler and smother than it ever has. Can't wait to see if our mileage improves. They still need to come to the boat for some final adjustments but this time they are coming to us. Stay tuned for info on our gofundme page.....

Lastly, from the "don't you just feel sorry for us" department...this is the first thing I saw this morning.

Y'all can just keep that s##t up north!!! Good news is we bounce right back and Christmas looks like a beach day!!!

 Stay tuned for the first post in 2017 where we recap all the holiday fun here in Orange Beach/Gulf Shores Alabama...Merry Christmas to all...🎄🎅🎄

NAS Pensacola Air Show

Last weekend we took a trip over to Pensacola to see the annual Blue Angel Homecoming Air Show. This is their last show of the season and always draws a large crowd here in their "hometown". It was an even bigger deal this year as the team lost a member this year while preparing for a show in Tennessee. To the town of Pensacola these flyers are part of the family and it was evident by the number of #6 flags flying everywhere to remember the lost pilot who flew plane #6 for the team.

We arrived on Thursday to be sure we got a good spot since we had heard the anchorage fills up and, boy, did it! It was nice to be anchored again in the clear waters of the gulf. Our anchorage was at Fort McRee just off the Pensacola inlet and right across from the air station which gave us great seats for the show!

The picture below is just a small number of the boats in the cove for the weekend.

We dropped our anchor and backed up to the beach putting out a stern anchor to hold us in place. This would help leave room for the other boats to get good spots too. It seems most boaters here are very helpful and courteous unlike some other events we've boated to.

We had a visitor shortly after we got there. We heard this is a very popular weekend party cove and I guess he was looking for a handout. I only included the picture to show how clear the water is.

Another unexpected surprise was that Thursday turned out to be dress rehearsal day for the air show and we were treated to the full show a day early! The next picture was taken Thursday and is a bit unusual. See if you can figure it out...zoom in... (answer at the end)!!

The "Blues" weren't the only ones flying this weekend, it was a whole air show with planes of every variety.

It was unfortunate that I didn't take as many pictures on Thursday since Friday turned out to be overcast and the shots didn't turn out as well. The following are a few of the better ones as well as a short movie that show's how close we are to the show. Towards the end of the clip you can see planes 5 & 6 racing to catch up for the next "act" which includes the whole team.

Pensacola Lighthouse

All 6 together

I'm always amazed when I see the diamond formation pass, it's said there is only 18" between wingtip and canopy...that's really close at those speeds.

Another bonus was the second show on Friday that started at dusk and went into darkness with planes streaming fireworks, followed by a full firework show! Really something to watch!! The Blue Angels weren't part of this show but the prop planes were amazing.

We went down to the show planing to leave early Saturday before boats began showing up for that show. We imagined there would be even more boats and we'd be better off getting out before it got too crazy. We were also convinced to leave when the generator died Friday night and spewed anti freeze all over the engine room. I believe we sucked a jelly fish up against the intake which caused it to overheat. There were hundreds in the cove that night. It's all working fine now after making the repairs!

Soooooo....did you have the answer to the question above?? One of the planes in the picture is the #7 plane which doesn't normally fly in the show but is flown on practice day by one of the other pilots. It's used as a backup and pilot #7 is the narrator for the show. This and other interesting info can be found at this helpful site.

Lastly from the "Crises Narrowly Averted" files...as Jill and I were walking around the old ruins of Ft. McRee the following picture was taken...to think, I almost stepped on it!! Good thing I wasn't wearing flip-flops!!

Adventures on the Tenn-Tom Waterway

OK, it wasn't really much of an adventure this year (which is a good thing). Last year the waterway seemed a bit daunting, not so much this year. Having done the trip before made it a pretty easy transit but we tried to stop at new places along the way to see what's out there.

After leaving Aqua Yacht we passed through 3 of the 12 locks between us and Mobile Bay. The first was the biggest drop of the whole trip in the Whitten Lock. Please forgive me if I repeat pictures from last year...I'll try not to.

We mainly stayed 1 night at each stop before moving on. The exception was 3 nights spent at Demopolis where we met friends Ed & Kyle who keep their boat there during the summer while they're in Canada.  The following are some pics taken along the way. It was mainly just long travel days with a short rest stop each night.

1 picture I'm sure I used last year was the famous "White Cliffs of Epes" (I've seen it spelled Epps too)

In the "interesting things you see along the way" category

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Below Demopolis Lock there is only one more Lock between there and Mobile Bay. This is the area where we start looking for gators. We saw a few but 1 was the biggest we've seen on these waters. I estimate it at about 10-12 feet! Where is T-Liz when you need her?

Shoooooooooot....

Just above the last Lock is the "famous" Bobby's fish camp. It's famous only because it's the last dock until you get to Mobile. We passed by last year but made the stop this time. At $1.50 a foot it's a bit pricey but it's the only game in town as they say.

Next day we anchored in a side channel about 40 miles from the bay to have an easy run the next morning. Another boat in the anchorage got a nice shot of us at sunrise the next morning.

Next stop was another new one. We had heard about a free dock at the Mobile Convention Center and wanted to see the town. There was no power or water but the traffic in the busy ship channel was mostly polite and wakes weren't too much of a problem. We were right at the foot of Dauphin St. with it's many shops, bars and restaurants. We agreed it will be worth another stop.

Next day was a short run into Mobile Bay and the western shore stop of Dog River. We passed a ship in the bay that looked different from any we'd see before. From the front it was very wide for it's height. Once passed it we saw that the back was two decks full of railroad cars! I'm not sure where these cars come from or what makes it cheaper to move them by sea vs rail??

After Dog River we went across the bay to Fairhope for a night. We stopped here last year and really liked the town. This year we found a small, city run, marina attached to the fishing pier. It's just a few blocks walk into town and a very nice stop as long as the bay is calm.

Friday we traveled down the rest of the bay and back on to the GIWW for a 2 night stop at Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores. This marina is right behind the LuLu's restaurant we stopped at for lunch last year. The Saturday we were there was BooLu's where the kids came out for some Halloween festivities.

This stop was another first for us this season....toes in the sand! OK, maybe it's trucked in but it's still sand!!

Sunday (Funday) we moved the boat to an anchorage in Ingram Bayou and took the dinghy to Pirates Cove for their beach party and a famous Bushwacker.

We are now in a nice covered slip at the Orange Beach Marina for the month of November. The monthly rates are very reasonable here. We'll be getting some more boat projects done while we're here as well as exploring the area. Next weekend is the Blue Angels homecoming show not too far from here and we're planning to anchor out the night before for a good viewing spot. Another event is the Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival. This is a 10 day music fest full of people you've never heard of but know their songs! Many have had dozens of hits recorded by more famous artists that you have heard of. It runs between Pensacola and Bon Secour at various bars with the "main" club being the FloraBama.

After that....who knows. The "plan" is to slowly explore the Gulf coast before ending up in New Orleans next spring. We'll post again when there is something interesting to add.

I understand our tracker is a bit hard to follow now since we're covering much of the same ground. I'll see if there is something I can do to change the color of this year's tracks. No promises.......

On The Road Again!!

After a month at Green Turtle Bay it was time to hit the road again. We took some time off before our road trip back to Cincinnati but once back at GTB we went to work on the boat. I think we were both ready to get moving again so we could give our bodies a rest!! Some of the projects included several top coats of varnish, clean and wax the back 3rd of the boat and installing a new davit system for the dinghy. This new system will allow us to launch and retrieve the dinghy much easier and therefore use it more often.

Don't worry, it wasn't all work while we were there. Every day new loopers came into the marina and we would stop by the transient slips to see who we knew and introduce ourselves to those we didn't. The Looper tradition of docktails was held most every afternoon and we tried to stop by when we could.

Soon enough it was time to get moving and stop working. We left on October 11th for a stop at Paris Landing State Park and Crazy Chicken Night. This is how we started the trip last year and it seemed fitting to keep the "tradition" alive. It's inevitable as we head south along the same path as last year that we stop at many of the same marinas. There are only so many along the way. It's nice to see some of the same faces as last year and "sit a spell" with some really great people. In the picture below is Gene (R) who runs Clifton marina and his friend who spent his working years on the barges, both are 80 now. Its always a hoot to spend some time swapping stories with these guys even though I can't understand half of what they say!

Clifton Marina added something new this year in the Clif-Tones...a small band that comes to entertain the boaters heading south this time of year.

Next morning we left early to make the 60 mile run to the start of the Tenn-Tom and Aqua-Yacht, another repeat from last year. There was rain on the radar when we left but the "forecast" was for improving conditions through the day....wrong! Less than an hour after leaving Clifton we rounded a bend and were faced with this sight.....

It doesn't show in the picture but way up river there was a barge sideways trying to get back under control from the wind. We were hit with 40 mph winds shortly after taking the picture and then the rain started. The picture below was our view all day after that. Seems we only go through locks in the rain!

Today we took a day off at Aqua Yacht and borrowed the courtesy car to go exploring. I'm a bit of a Civil War buff and Shiloh battlefield was not too far away. It's a very impressive site with a self guided driving tour.

Back at the marina they were having a classic boat show which was worth a look-see. Very nice to see the old boats so well taken care of.

Tonight is the Hunters Moon and it's nice to see clear skies as we get ready to head south on the Tenn-Tom waterway.

The fall colors are starting to show here so it's definitely time to start moving south. We figure about 8-10 days to Mobile and then slowly make our way to Orange Beach Marina where we will be staying for the month of November. Stay tuned for an update then. Meanwhile keep an eye on the "locate us" link on the right to see where we are. I'll keep sending out tweets on the mornings we're moving.

Great Loop Recap

As promised in the last post I thought I'd post a few details of our Great Loop adventure for those interested. Jill has kept an amazing spread sheet of our daily costs and travel details and this makes it pretty easy to share the information.

• Total days on the Loop-330
• Travel days-130
• Total distance-5746 miles

This equates to an average of 44.2 miles per travel day but that really doesn't tell you much. Longest day other than the Gulf crossing was 134 miles on the Mississippi & Ohio. Shortest day was only 8 miles when we left Oriental NC and immediately ran into bad weather.

The cost of doing the Loop varies greatly from boat to boat and can't really be estimated based on only our experience. Many boaters enjoy anchoring out in a quite cove for the night which can help cut the cost a bunch. We prefer to stop in a marina and check out what each town has to offer. We spent 2 months at the most expensive marina in Marathon because all the others were full but really enjoyed our time there. The following is our expense break down top to bottom.

• Marinas (by far #1)
• Eating out
• Fuel-2776 gallons at about 3.09 per gallon
• Maintenance cost and car rental round out the top 5

By moving so often you don't really get the best price at marinas. We have 3 months reserved on the Gulf coast this winter at an average of $11.00 a foot plus electric. It's already shaping up to be a much cheaper winter.

Along the way we stayed in 16 different States and 1 Canadian Provence. Longest stay was, by far, Florida and shortest was 1 night in Delaware. We traveled through 104 locks and have gotten pretty good at them!

Everyone has different ideas about what their Loop experience will be. Some people take several years to complete it and travel between home and the boat as time, work and family allow. Some go around faster than we did just to say they did it. We looked at our trip as a fact finding mission. We plan to be living on the boat for several years and just wanted to see what's out there for the next go around.

Our plans for the next year are to spend this winter/spring on the Northern Gulf Coast between Florida and Texas. Next summer we're going to travel back up the Tenn-Tom and explore the river systems around here. Maybe even up the Ohio above Cincinnati a bit...who knows. As of now we plan on starting south about the 10th of October so keep an eye out for our Tweets and tracker.

The trip to Cincinnati last weekend was a great time and we enjoyed catching up with friends and family. The doctors visits didn't go as well since we had just spent the weekend Oktoberfesting....poor planning on our part! Who knew that a weekend of drinking would lead to higher blood pressure??

Till next time, somewhere south....Prost!!!