Trip Recap

Trying to be a better blogger I thought I'd run down a brief recap of the trip. 

We covered a total of 487 miles over 6 days and put 48.5 hours on the port engine and 51.7 on the starboard. Not sure why the difference in engine hours but it's something I want to look into and happens on a regular basis. We took on a total of 373 gallons of fuel which included the fuel burned all summer. By adding up the engine hours for all season we're getting a burn of about 3 gph average. We were about 2.5 gph over the summer and the 1st day of the trip and a bit over 4 gph by mid-week as we were running at a higher rpm to make time. I'm pretty pleased with this and figure we'll be closer to the 2.5 number in the future when we're running slower. We still need to top off before the end of the season but I'm not expecting more than 100 gallons used.

We spent every night tied to a dock so no anchoring this trip. The first 2 nights were free, Turtle Creek because we took on fuel and Louisville because that city embraces the river!
Rocky Point Marina charged $0.75 a foot and Inland Marina and Golconda were $1.00 a foot for a total of $126.50. Inland Marina surprised me in the fact that they charged for a slip after we bought 151 gallons of fuel, most marinas don't do this (in my short history).

Overall a really great trip with no issues on the boat other than the house batteries. A couple of weeks after and even the weather doesn't strike me as being too bad...

In an earlier post I promised some pictures of the updated electronics so here they are

In this picture you see the new chartplotter, a Raymarine e7D and one of the stereo speakers. The chartplotter shows our position, radar overlay, AIS targets, depth and speed.

The starboard side has the new VHF radio with DSC and a 1 touch mayday button that is tied into our GPS. Also in the picture is the remote control for the Fusion stereo, USB charging port, speaker and autopilot which is tied into the e7D. Overall a pretty good setup in my opinion. I added a wireless router that allows me to control the stereo from an app on my iPhone anywhere on the boat (geek).The e7D has it's own wireless that allows me to use my iPad on the lower helm with the full functions of the chartplotter.

That's about it for now. We went back to the boat the following week and got settled into our new slip at Green Turtle Bay and did a bit of exploring, but that's for another post...stay tuned!

OK…So I’m a bad blogger…

I know, I know, I promised to keep you updated as we traveled down the Ohio in search of warmer weather on Lake Barkley…it didn't happen. After Louisville we ran some long days in some pretty crappy weather and the last thing I wanted to do after getting tied up for the night was blog, sorry. I’ll try and make it up a bit by including a bunch of pictures.

We’ll start where we left off, Louisville. Downtown has 2 free marinas with electric, Cincinnati could learn a thing or two. It was a very nice evening when we got in so we all went for a walk along the riverfront before dinner. Tumbleweed had 99 cent Margarita Monday so we couldn't pass that up (along with the fact it was right next to the boat). Once back at the boat I decided to add a couple of extra dock lines as severe weather was predicted overnight. It didn't happen but better safe than sorry.

Tuesday morning we were up early and underway as soon as it was light enough. We had a 120 mile day scheduled and at 10 mph that’s a long day. We were in and out of McAlpin lock with no delay and only a bit of rain to keep the crew on their toes. There was misty rain for the first few hours and then a bit of a break which we hoped would last…it didn’t. During the break though we did get our first eagle sighting of what ended up being about a dozen.

The cool mist and rain came back too soon and hung around the rest of the day. Thanks to a nice push for the first few hours below the dam we made it into Cannelton IN. before dark where we found we were now on Central time and would be for the rest of the trip.

We got under way a bit later on Wednesday as it was a shorter day mile wise. Just like the previous two mornings we were at a lock right away and, of course, it was raining.

The rest of the day was horrible as far as the weather went. I had to spend a couple of hours driving from the lower helm using the wipers to see the ½ mile of visibility we had. We also had about an hour’s delay on our second lock of the day with 20-30 mph winds to boot. Going in circles in those conditions is not fun. To add to the misery the house batteries began to draw down due to the increased load…good news is we had the heat on while running the generator to keep up the charge.

See the barge?

Upper helm while waiting for the lock.

Got safely into Inland Marine in Evansville about 5:30 and had a few (too many) stiff drinks. Took advantage of the free shuttle to the casino downtown and had a very nice dinner at the Irish pub. Kinda fitting on a cold damp night.

Thursday morning was another early start with 110 miles to travel. The weather was overcast but expected to clear by noon(ish). They were a little optimistic in the forecast but we did finally get the sun by about 3:00.

We only had one lock today and it wasn't raining so we all took that as a sign of better things to come. As we were pulling out of the lock a fuel barge was pushing into the other chamber…makes any issues I have pulling in seem kinda petty.

We made it into Golconda IL. before dark and after dinner at the Diver Down enjoyed a nightcap on the front deck under a gazillion stars, that’s what I’m talking about! Jill even spotted the International Space Station going over!!

Friday was the shortest day of the trip at 53 miles and 2 locks so I gave the crew an extra 15 minutes of sleep. I took a couple of shots before we got underway of the sunrise and our slip at Golconda Marina.

I had figured on 2 more hours down the Ohio and 3 hours up the Cumberland with one lock on each. I didn't take into account that they we drawing down the lakes above Barkley dam and we would be bucking a strong current headed up river. We were only able to make about 6 mph to cover the 30 miles. Luckily the lock master saw us on the AIS and held the lock for us to get there. We were through the lock and tied up in our new (temporary) home by 4:00 so it wasn't such a bad day. I never should have given that extra 15 minutes though. 

Here are a couple of pictures at Green Turtle Bay. We are in a transient slip until our regular slip is ready later this week. Most people here on the transient dock are on their way south for the winter starting or ending the loop. That will be us this time next year!!

Day 1 & 2, 2014…

Well we have begun the next leg of our boating adventure. We got underway about 1100 Sunday from Manhattan Harbour headed SW toward Florence Indiana. A pretty short 63 mile day. It was a bit overcast and cool but the crew seemed to make the most of it.

Speaking of the crew, Jill and I have Vickie and Brian on board for their honeymoon cruise and Dan as an extra deckhand until he decides to jump ship. We’re hoping he decides to stay…what difference is 2 days when you’re retired!

We passed the Belle of Cincinnati above Warsaw, KY as she was assisting another paddle wheel down river, pretty interesting. Seems there is a big riverboat festival in Louisville that we're going to miss by a day or two.

We awoke this morning to rain and thunder but it let up enough for us to get underway by about 0800. It was a short trip to our first lock which was open and waiting for us. In and out in less than 30 minutes to resume the trip to Louisville for the night. A bit above Madison IN we passed an interesting river camp…you never know what you’ll find along the waterways.

Speaking of Madison we passed under the new bridge you may remember being under construction last year.

Well, that’s about it for now. We are a few hours out of Louisville and Margarita Monday…Woo Woop!!

Most likely no blog tomorrow, it’s going to be a long 120 run and we hope to get in before dark.

We’re Still Here!!

Well it’s been over a year since our last update so I thought it was time to let all our followers (both of you) know what’s been going on in the past year and our plans are for the future.

After an enjoyable fall season winter came early and with a vengeance…remember? We decided not to shrink wrap the boat since we intended to spend time on it over the winter and begin working on our to-do list. All the snow and ice was pretty hard on the exterior woodwork but overall she came through without too much wear and tear. We kept the flybridge heated which kept the canvas ice free all year. We also have block heaters which kept the engine room about 50 degrees all winter so the boat was pretty comfortable overall.

One of the first gadgets I added last fall was a device that sends us a text if the boat looses power, has high water or senses a temperature that’s too high or low. This really helped our piece of mind when we were away from the boat during the bitter cold snaps. The next project was removing the turbos and having them rebuilt by a shop up in Indy. We knew from the survey that this would need to be done and winter seemed like a good time.

The major projects started after the New Year when Defender (my favorite boating store) has their major spring sales. We completely updated the upper and lower helms with new chart plotter, radar, AIS (a device that allows us to “see” commercial traffic before we actually see them…more on that later) VHF radio, killer sound system, USB charging stations and a router so the boat has wifi everywhere we go and replaced 2 of the older AC units. We also got a Zodiac dingy with a propane powered outboard and added a mounting system for it on the swim platform. While I was spending money I also ordered an inflatable paddle board….a guys gotta get his exercise right? One of the last major things we did was have the carpet replaced in the boat. Wow…it made a huge improvement in the look and feel of the boat! About the only big project left is to replace the dishwasher with a stand-alone freezer. This makes much more sense for our future plans than a dishwasher.

About the future…

I read a good quote on someone’s boat blog that said “boaters don’t have plans, we have intentions”. Good words to live by. Our “plan” had been to sell the house and all our stuff this summer, retire and start our cruising adventure this fall. I thought it was a great plan, but, the house didn't sell (yet). So…..we are moving on to alternate “plan” B. Now our intention is to move the boat a bit farther south to a warmer climate and a covered slip at Green Turtle Bay Marina on Lake Barkley. This is only about a 4 hour drive from home so we plan on spending lots of time on the boat doing exterior maintenance and exploring the area. We will be leaving Cincinnati on Sunday October 12^th and “intend” on getting there on the 17^th. This is where the AIS comes into play for you followers. If you go to Marinetraffic.com and search for Chasing 80 you should be able to follow along on our trip…pretty exciting huh? If you go there now you can see the boat in her slip here at home, I always keep the AIS on unless we’re being chased by pirates. I also intend to post along the way and will add some pictures of the updates to the boat. I’m not sure how good the coverage is along the portion of the Ohio river we will be covering but it’s worth a look-see if you’re interested.

So, that’s about it for now. Check back in next week to see how the trip is going.  

No post on Monday, maybe be one come Thursday

Sorry I didn't get the post of the family trip out Monday as promised...you didn't miss much.

We ended up with about about 15 on board counting the little ones. Didn't feel cramped at all. The cruise itself was a bit short. Just as were leaving we heard that one of our cohorts had a rope wrapped around one of their props so we went down to see if we could help. Several tries later we decided that the wind, current and size of our boat was all working against a successful rescue. We hung around until we were sure others were on the way and continued our trip, up river this time.

About 20 minutes past our marina I looked back to check traffic and noticed the sky was starting to look ugly. A quick check of the iPhone radar app confirmed we were looking at a pretty bad storm. I made a quick U-turn and headed back to home base. I didn't want to be trying to get to our slip at the same time everyone else was doing the same thing. Turned out to be a good idea. As soon as we were tied up there was a steady line of boats heading in...quite the cluster for a bit. Less than 20 minutes later the wind began to howl and the hills of Cincinnati disappeared in a wall of water. We were quite relieved to see our friends towed in and tied to the fuel dock just as the storm started to get bad.

With nothing else to do we cracked a cold beer and adjourned to the flybridge to watch the storm....probably not the brightest idea but it was impressive to watch. It lasted about an hour but the boat and crew made it through fine. I was so busy being a rescue man/tour guide/stormwatcher I never took a picture all day, sorry.

On a good note; the next morning I got my dive gear and was able to free the line from the prop...a day late rescue but still building boat karma. I'm sure we'll need plenty in our future adventures.

We plan to head to the Reds Friday fireworks tomorrow night....maybe I'll remember the camera.

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.