THE COAST GUARD LEAVES IT MARK

November 30, 2011  Dateline Orange Beach, AL USA

As I got ready to leave Dog River Marina an alarm, that Rich asked to be repaired before he left for NJ, sounded.  The marina immediately sent three people onto the boat and found the alarm had been wired wrong sometime in the past.  With the help of a soldering gun and an electrician, I was quickly on my way.  The wind was coming out of the north so the ride down Mobile Bay was easy

After then I turned into the Intercostal Waterway the fun began.  Carol yelled at Rich wondering what the mud was coming up at my stern.  Suddenly I went bump, bump, bump as my propellers hit the mud bottom.  But I was in the channel.  Rich called a tow that was approaching me to warn him of the low spot.  The captain of the tow told Rich he knew of the shallow side of the channel.  Come on over to the side the tow is on and there is plenty of water there.  Ah the benefit of local knowledge.

I passed LuLu’s Restaurant which was owned and operated by Jimmy Buffet’s sister.  It is claimed that this where he got the idea of a Cheeseburger in Paradise.  It was a neat looking place but Rich and Carol did not want to stop, so on we went.

Ahead of us in a narrow channel was a Coast Guard patrol boat with its blue light flashing.  It pulled up alongside of me and two Coasties boarded.  It was a simple inspection and of course I passed with flying colors.  Since Coasties wear black boots they leave marks, like this one on my steps to the bridge.  Oh well, Rich now has something to do.

As you may recall, I commented on SLANTY SHANTY a few weeks ago.  I saw her again today on the water.  There were two guys on her now and no girl that I could see. It sure didn’t look like the Coast Guard stopped her.  I bet she would not have passed inspection.

I stopped today for the night  at a marina called the Wharf.  It is part of a condo complex that consists of “a main street" of stores, a Ferris wheel, a conference center, theater and several restaurants.    Here is a picture of the center Christmas tree and the Ferris wheel.

Tomorrow I am off to Pensacola.

THEY’RE BACK!!!!!

November 28, 2011  Dateline: Mobile, AL USA

I guess they had enough turkey so they came back to me.  I have been out of the water since they left without much work being done until today, when there were six-seven people working on me.  My hull is being waxed, my cutless bearings are being replaced, my props were checked and are ok after coming all the way down from Chicago and my shafts are straight.  I think I will go back into the water tomorrow and if the wind dies down I will be on my way again on Wednesday. I will also have a new hard bottom dinghy riding on my swim platform.

There was a show on television called Gilligan’s Island several years ago.  The story was based on a boat that went out for a three hour cruise and was hit by a storm.  The show started each episode with a picture of the boat with a hole in its side.  Rich showed me this picture and I thought it might be the boat that was shown each week on the show.

Since I was still being worked on, Rich and Carol decided to go to the Pensacola Naval Air Station, home of the Blue Angels.  The Air Station has an incredible museum.  For those here in the U.S., Rich would put this museum ahead of the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum in Washington.  The entrance to the museum is guided by this F 4 Tom Cat like the one used in the movie Top Gun.

There is a trolley tour around an apron of the runway where many old planes are stored outside.   The tour guide pointed out one very large helicopter.  He said that this one was bigger than Marine 1 and an unnamed President wanted the biggest helicopter.  Since the President is also the Commander in Chief he gets what he wants.  The helicopter landed in the Rose Garden.  The helicopter took off and left carrying the unnamed President away with it.  The downdraft from the rotor blades was so strong that it took away the Rose Garden.  The President went back to using the smaller helicopter.

On the apron was also this Super Constellation that had been used by TWA and later by the Navy for surveillance.  Rich thinks that this is one of the most elegant airplanes ever built.  For that reason I am including this picture for him.

Rich and Carol had the opportunity to see two Blue Angels land.  The driver commented that he thought one was a “trainee”.  The landing was so smooth that he didn’t look like a trainee.

This P-40, which is outfitted with Flying Tiger color scheme, is located inside one of the buildings.  There is a video showing near the plane about General Chennault and his American Volunteer Group (AVG) which flew the Flying Tigers in China to help defend China from the Japanese. The buildings are just full of planes like this, dating from World War I to today. A number of the World War II planes have been recovered from lakes where they crashed. The planes are restored by volunteers and one project took 13 years to complete.

This Ford Tri Motor sparkled in the lights of the museum.

Tomorrow I will still be in Mobile, AL getting prepped for my next adventure.

I AM LONELY

November 13, 2011        Dateline: Mobile. AL USA

Once again I have been left behind.  Rich and Carol rented a car and were driving to their home in New Jersey so here I sit at The Dog River Marina in Mobile, AL.  They told me that they were going to have some work done on me while they were away, like polish and wax my hull plus get my props checked again and several other things.  I heard them talk about going to Annapolis to look at a new dinghy.  They also said that they would stop at my sister Cindy’s house to have dinner with her and Matt, her husband, and see Lucy and Eva, their bulldogs.  Well if that is the way they want to be, I am going to post some pictures, about whom else but me.

These pictures were taken by my friend, WATERMARK’s owners Garry and Pat.  I was in the Trent Severn Canal and the Burleigh Lock.



KA-DEE-ANNA; MY WAY; ME rafted 



My youngest sister's place

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

November 7, 2011 Dateline: Seacliff, AL USA

Today was a day of rest for me.  Rich washed me and got most of the dirt off that I accumulated while passing through the last dozen locks. (Personally I don’t think that he can ever get it all off.)  He cleaned the soot from the Caterpillars off my transom.  It sure felt good after a long day’s work to get a nice bath, notice I did not say a hot bath, mine was cold but felt good never-the-less.

The Loop can be done in almost any size boat, although there are some restrictions on the water and air draft a boat can have.  (I learned about the water draft the hard way in the Trent Severn Canal.)  The young gentleman who is doing the Loop in the boat pictured has to worry about neither, but I bet there are a lot of other things he has to worry about---what do you think?  Of course on the positive side he likely did not make a wake going down the Tenn-Tom so didn’t have to be concerned about the wake patrol, I wrote about yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon, Rich, Carol, Wayne and Francine along with Skipper went to the town of Fairhope, AL.  Of course they didn’t take either MY WAY or me with them, so I can only tell you what I heard when they got back.  Coming down the river there is a lot of poverty, in Fairhope there is affluence.  Big expensive newer cars, beautiful well maintained large homes, manicured parks (including a rose garden), classy stores with high price tags and many children getting off of school buses from private schools and wearing their school’s uniform.  The people were all well dressed and there were no heavy southern accents. (See footnote below)

The Single Tax Corporation still owns property today and carries out a real estate business in the downtown.

Like much of this section of the US there was a strong French influence.  The town had a French Quarter and many of the stores had second floor balconies like one would see in New Orleans.

The town got its name when it was formed over 100 years ago because there was a “fair hope of success that it would make it”. 

Footnote:
According to Wikipedia:

“Fairhope was founded in November, 1894 on the site of a former Alabama City as a utopian single tax colony by the "Fairhope Industrial Association": a group of 28 followers of economist Henry George who had incorporated earlier that year in Des Moines, Iowa. Their corporate constitution explained their purpose in founding a new colony:

"to establish and conduct a model community or colony, free from all forms of private monopoly, and to secure to its members therein equality of opportunity, the full reward of individual efforts, and the benefits of co-operation in matters of general concern”

In forming their demonstration project, they pooled their funds to purchase land at "Stapleton's pasture" on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay and then divided it into a number of long-term leaseholds. The corporation paid all governmental taxes from rents paid by the lessees, thus simulating a single-tax. The purpose of the single-tax colony was to eliminate disincentives for productive use of land and thereby retain the value of land for the community.

A LONG RIDE WITH MANY SIGHTS

November 6, 2011 Dateline: Fairhope, AL USA

I said yesterday that the boats were tied three deep off of Bobby’s Fish Camp dock.  In order for Carol and Francine to get from me and MY WAY to the dock, Wayne rigged a ferry from me to the dock using MY WAY’s dinghy.  The concept was good but the girls had, at best, a difficult but fun time. The catfish dinner at Bobby’s was well worth their trouble.

I awoke early this morning at 5 AM, stretched my connecting rods and got the Caterpillars going to leave at 6AM.  All of us boats learned at 5:45 that the Coffeeville Lock was waiting for us. So the nine of us untied ourselves in record time and got going.  Fog was lifting off the river so we moved quickly to the lock 3 miles downriver.  Once through the lock there are only 129 more miles to go.

The backside of the lock doors has openings in them.  A local egret has learned that fish get trapped in the openings as the water level drops in the lock chamber.  These fish represent an easy meal for him to catch.  He flies down from opening to opening looking for dinner.  He seems to know the right time to give up and fly back up to his roost before the doors open.

The owners of KA-DEE-ANNA got this picture of me in the Coffeeville Lock.  You can see the water line from where the drop started. 

The sea gulls on the river have learned that boats kill or stir up a lot fish.  They fly behind the boat and have an easy meal.  Birds are certainly not dumb.

I went under two significant bridges along the way.  The first one is referred to locally as the Dolly Parton Bridge.  The second bridge was a railroad swing bridge that was recently replaced with a lift bridge.  The swing bridge has been removed and is likely off to the scrap yard.

The fishermen in Alabama have been known to shoot at boats that leave a large wake.  Rich saw three men in a small row boat and slowed me down so that I coast past them.  MY WAY did not slow down enough for them and they raised a rifle.  That was a close one.

As I moved further down the river the scenery changed. I began to see pelicans like this one.  Additionally, the plant life changed from broad leaf trees to pines and low shrub palms.  I could begin to smell the deep salt water, it is good to be back.  The rivers for now are finished and I have so far traveled approximately 3,200 miles, passed through 101 locks and burned some 4,500 gallons of diesel.

OF MARINAS, GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS

November 5, 2011  Dateline: Bobby’s Fish Camp, AL USA

This is the tale of two marinas.  The other night I stayed at Pirate’s Marina Cove. Its office was quite a sight as was the marina itself.  The people there were trying very hard but were having a difficult time.  Our stay was fine but the marina is definitely not what we are accustomed to.

Tonight I stayed at Bobby’s Fish Camp, which is located about 120 miles north of Mobile Bay.  The dock is small and only about 150 feet long. There were 350 feet of boats—a problem?  No not if you raft the boats three deep.  I was rafted to MY WAY who was rafted to KA-DEE-ANNA.  Rich said it is going to be fun tomorrow morning when we try to take it all apart.  At about 9 PM a 57 foot Carver came along side of me and wanted to raft off me.  Rich told him no as KA-DEE-ANNA, the smallest boat, was tied to the dock.  This was exactly the way it should not have been done.  The smallest boat should be on the outside with the biggest boat holding everything to the dock.  Good job Rich!!!!! 

At the Fish Camp, there was this bottle tree planted outside the restaurant. Wine bottles were put on sticks then inserted into the “trunk”, it sure was neat looking.

In an earlier posting, I wrote about LOLLYGAG, a small homemade boat that is doing the Loop.  Here is a picture of her under way as we passed.

Along the way today and yesterday the cliffs alongside of the river were sheer white and came down to the water.  They are different from anything I had seen before.  The opposite side of the river was low and flat and looked like normal soil.  I guess an earthquake at some point pushed the white rocks up.

Rich and Carol are getting really good at doing locks.  They have done 100 so far—that is the good news.  The bad news is that there is only one more to go and then I will be back at sea level and there will be salt water and tides. 

I have to get up early tomorrow as I have a 132 mile run to make to Mobile, the good news is that I will pass though the final lock.   

Remember all pictures can be made larger by left clicking on them

THE GERMANS ARE COMING

November 3, 2011  Dateline: Pickensville, AL USA

I woke up this morning to the sound and touch of rain.  Rich called the Stennis Lock and learned that it would be closed until at least 9:30 AM for repairs, so I sat in Columbus Marina.  I had only 28 miles to go today so the delay was okay and it gave the rain a chance to move on.  Carol was happy, as she would not have to stand out in the rain as I went through the lock.

A few hours after I left Mississippi I was back in Alabama.  After I was tied up at Pirates Cove Marina, Rich and Carol along with Wayne and Francine as well as John and Mary went to the Tom Bevill Visitors Center at the Bevill Lock.  The Visitors Center is a reproduction of a mid-1800’s Greek revival Tombigbee mansion.  The house is furnished with appropriate period furniture.  

The house has a center staircase that leads to the windowed roof top cupola.  The cupola served at least two purposes.  It was an observation point to survey ones property and a ventilation system when its windows were opened along with those on the first floor.  The stair case is quite impressive.

Alongside the Visitors Center the U.S. Snagboat Montgomery is docked.  The boat built in 1926 was one of the last operating steamboats in the US.  The boat was driven by a single paddle wheel at its stern.  On its bow the U.S. Montgomery had a 45 ton crane to lift debris from rivers and to also, when necessary, dredge the rivers.  The boat is 178 feet long and draws four feet of water (9 inches less than me). After 56 years of service she was retired and a restoration process began.

They then went to a town close by, named Aliceville, which had a prisoner of war camp located there from 1943 through 1946.  Today, there is a museum in the town dedicated to the camp and all local military personnel.  In 1943, 6,100 German prisoners of war from Rommel’s Afrika Krop arrived at the Aliceville prison camp and would remain in any one of the 500 such prison camps across the U.S. through the end of the war.  The camp brought prosperity to the area as it employed 1,000 Americans.  The prisoners whose rank was less than a non-commissioned officer worked in the cotton and peanut fields adding to the economy.  The museum has had reunions where Germans and Americans who were at the camp came together.  The town also organized a trip to Germany to meet and have a reunion with some of the individuals who were prisoners at the camp. Many German relatives of these prisoners have sent their memorabilia to the Aliceville Museum. The Germans received such good and considerate care that many returned later to the U.S. and made their home here.

The Pickensville Police Department operated out of this building.

Tomorrow I will make a 90+ mile run to Demopolis, AL  

ONE OF THE BUSIEST AIRPORTS

November 2, 2011  Dateline: Columbus, MS USA

I am beginning to become lazy.  I traveled only 23 miles today and passed through only one lock.  There was very little fog this morning so the five boats that I was with in Aberdeen Marina left just after 8 AM and immediately passed through the Aberdeen Lock.

Going down the Tenn-Tom Waterway there were a lot of jet fighters flying overhead.   The planes were flying in and out of Columbus Air Force Base where the Air Force trains new and advanced fighter pilots.  The base is one of the busiest airports in the country. One the owners of MARY FRANCES IV is a retired Brigadier General in the Michigan National Guard, he was able to get Rich and Carol onto the base.  Rich said it was a really neat place.

Rich and Carol visited the Waverly Plantation Mansion in West Point, MS.  The mansion was built circa 1850 on a 50,000 acre self-sustained cotton plantation owned by Colonel George Young of Oglethorpe, Georgia.  The house, after the death of Mr. Young’s last son, was vacant for 50 years and amazingly survived incredibility well for all of that time.  Chandeliers, mirrors, and fireplace mantels were found untouched.  The Snow family that purchased the home in 1961 had spent 30 years not only restoring the house but acquiring antiques from the period of the house when Mrs. Snow unexpectedly passed away. The house became a National Restoration Award winner, a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The house is still occupied by Mr. Snow and his daughter.   Each morning their beds must be made and their personal belongings put away so the house can be toured. The money collected from the tours is used to continue the restoration.

Tomorrow, I am off to Pirate’s Cove Marina approximately 28 miles and one lock away.

SIX DOWN SIX TO GO

November 1, 2011 Dateline: Aberdeen, MS USA

For the past two days I have continued my trip down the Tom Bigbee Waterway. I have not been leaving port until about 9 AM after the morning river fog lifts.  I have now passed through 6 of the 12 locks. The largest lock I dealt with was a 84 foot drop.  For most of the time I traveled with 5 other boats.  We had a plan so we went into the lock just as smooth as we exited.  The locks on the Waterway have floating bollards, Carol gets a line on the bollard and ties it off to me. This holds me close to the wall. When all boats are tied securely, the lockmaster begins to let the water out and I begin to go down until I reach the height of the water on the lower side of the lock.

What does it look like inside a 94 foot high lock when the doors open?  Well here is a picture.  You can see the waterline on the door and how far down the boats were lowered.

The Waterway is full of sticks; let me restate that, it is full of dead tree trunks and very large branches.  The Army Corps of Engineers have boats that go up and down the Waterway to remove them from the channel.

The entrance to tonight’s marina was, to say the least, challenging.  The water is shallow and the channel narrow.  I am sure that the exit will be just as interesting tomorrow morning----after the fog lifts. 

The sunset, through the trees, was very pretty tonight.

Skipper with personal floatation device