Great Loop "Just Do It"

  Sept 30 Finally a move day Mobile Al to Orange Beach AL 45 miles 5.7 miles per gallon No small craft advisories when left so off we went.   When we half across the Mobile Bay a new one flashed up for just south of us.   It was rough but not the roughest we have traveled through only a 4.5 on sporting scale so just soldiered on.   Really no problems just some minor rocking that limited coffee drinking for while.   Once when had to use the bathroom I accidentally shut off the autopilot.   Dianne was most upset when the boat started to turn around and would not respond to the autopilot controls.   I came running back and turned back south.   There was a sailboat following us and I am sure he is still wondering what the hell happened such that for few minutes we headed straight for him. Once across the bay the water settled and the Intercostal was very polite to us so enjoyed a slow roll on to marina.   It is a nice Marina but we are at the ver...

  Sept 29 No movement small craft advisory so we stayed put. Well the small craft advisory is better than gale warnings to there is that.   Tomorrow looks ok to travel so we start a move east.   Not sure how far east we can go given damage that has been done but will try for a week and see.   Current pictures of Fort Myers do not look promising but we will see in coming weeks.   Spent the part of the morning lazying in bed.   Dianne is sleeping well so there is no point in waking her early when we have nothing to do but staying in port.   Then we had coffee and more coffee with bagel and jam.   Next was a light replacement in the crawl space/sleeping quarter under the table.   This required a trip up to West Marine a short walk away,   I bought 2 LED replacements, meaning all the lights on the boat are now LEDs a good thing as they are brighter and last longer and use less power than the originals.   Then we took a long bike ride up...

  Sept 28 No Movement again today Gale Wind Warning Last night small craft warning was upgraded to Gale Wind Warning.   This is not a good time to take the boat out as it means will be moved all over the lake and rocked and bumped up and down and basically go no where and give up and come back in.   So we are stuck till Friday and I suspect Friday will be another warning so most likely it will be Friday before coming back in.   So what do you do in port on a small one room boat.   Well one good thing is to cook a big breakfast of pancakes.   Then work on the charts.   So we corrected Dianne’s charts and charted the next days travel on my chart.   This identified the problem with the Sonar again. We then inspected the well and it was dry again so we added water which run out of the well right away.   This required investigation.   Found the drain plug was gone where I do not know so made a new one out of an old cork and put it in.   ...

  Sept 27   No Move today Things change fast around the Hurricane area. I checked at 4:30 this morning and no warning or winds.   Then at 7 when I said to Dianne we could leave and we checked the weather a last time a Small Craft advisory was out.   This killed our plans.   I checked again this afternoon and now a gale warning is effect for part of our travel today so it is a good thing not to be out.   So we spent our day doing grocery shopping by riding our Bicycles up to the store and back.   Because Ice Cream was available we stopped and bought some of that too.   Then we packed the fridge.   Next I adjusted bumpers to keep the boat off the dock.   Checked the oil and that was.   good, and there was no oil in the oil trap cloths either a very good thing.   Seems like I finally figured out how to stop the oil leak.   Took down the stern canvas cover to ensure it did not get caught in the wind and torn up or start acting...

  Sept 22 43 miles to Demopolis no locks 2 tows and 1 speed boat no one else. River rose 2 feet last night that required me to swim over to the stern anchor as was set deep into the shore mud.   Even with me standing on it was tough tug to take it out.   But out it did come I have learned to swim with a life jacket on when anchoring like we are.   Inside the life jacket there is a warning “DO NOT carry Heavy Objects”!   I guess the anchor does not count. As the night before a skinny dip as soon and the sun and into bed.   Did I tell people say there are alligators in the water.   I have not seen any but sometimes I wonder when step off the swim platform. The ride today was quiet no traffic except a couple of tow boats and one rude speed boat. Came from behind, no announcements, no speed reduction and a big wake.   They did wave though. Passed by some really spectacular bluffs and cliffs today.   Seems like lime stone bed with 10 to   ...

  Spet 26 Anchorage at Alabama River Cutoff to south Mobile 66 miles Average gas 5.7 miles to the Gallon It was hot yesterday so went swimming before. bed.   Dianne and discussed closing the windows but with the heat and only a 10% chance of thunderstorms decide to leave them open.   Result at 2 am I am running around closing windows and knowing if was willing to sweat it would not have cooled off and it would not have rained. Up at 5:30 as we knew it was long day and out at sunrise or as sailors say first light.   It was a beautiful sunrise.   The river was spectacular today some bluffs, then tree line then   flattened out to marsh and grass lined shores into Mobile.   The salt water welcomed us with calm seas today and hope that holds out for longer. Ian is all the boaters are talking about.   The consensus is that we will be on the west end of Florida but there are always those that say you never know so we will see tomorrow.   Saw palm tr...

  Sept 24 Anchorage at mile 177.5 to Bobby’s Fish Camp 55 miles A very long days expected.   Last night I set a stern anchor by dropping a long bow anchor backing into the anchorage dropping a stern anchor, then setting the stern by pulling/tightening the bow anchor.   This morning I had to reverse the procedure as both anchors were set in place during the night.   So release the front pull, by hand the boat over the stern anchor and release it from the mud.   Then pull with the winch the bow over the front anchor and release it from the mud and up.   This worked as planned and took a 10 minutes to complete.   Underway there were minor differences not a lot of bluffs or rocks today must sandy muddy shoreline.   There were some beaches but not as many as yesterday.   Notices some trees are starting to change color today a sign of fall.   Saw two deer a doe and a fawn.   Saw lots of Egrets non of them wanted their picture taken. ...

  Sept 25 Bobby’s Fish Camp to Alabama River Cut Off 70 mile and one lock. Dock was full last night 4 boats mine at 25 ft, the Our Adventure Too at 45 ft, a Power cat at 50 Ft and new purchase called No Rush at 45 ft.   I helped them all dock. When the last arrived the misquotes were horrible so used the on board facilities to save the walk and we believed the door would fall off and then Misquotes would feast on our blood.   This morning the Cat was the first off the dock then I helped the No Rush flip to the dock and he was over hanging the top of Just Do It.   I was a little nervous so even though we knew we would have to wait I left next.   Side walked out of the tight space and off we went.   Our Adventure Too soon followed.   While we waited for the barge I charged the 120 mile we have to do in the next two days.   Made half of it today so now just 60 more tomorrow and no locks should be easier.   Lots of barges to doge today at least 8...

  Sept 23 Demopolis AL TO 40 nautical miles south on the Tombigbee river at anchor.   Really not a lot to talk about.   Watched the weather channel and checked NOAA weather both indicate the Hurricane in the gulf would hit Florida and not here or Mobile.   So are plan is to head to the next marina on the Tombigbee, check again and make a reservation in Mobile area and see what the status is.   I think of it as plan maybe not good plan people seem split on staying Demopolis (those were members and owners) and moving on.   Someday Lady a boat we have seen three days in row on the river caught and passed us today.   They are on the loop and have the same plan we do. After coffee Dianne checked with the lock and they told her to stay put for an hour and after the tow we could go.   We left after 40 minutes and still had to wait an hour But we did get in and though.   Collected another 10 cute little boats yesterday and today.   After the loc...

  Aug 8- 20 Aug 20 mileage 24 miles to anchorage at Mile 308 on Tombigbee river from Columbus Marina I will do the week in short point form -Drove home in just over 9 hours on the a week ago Thursday -rented a car as on a return trip with unlimited miles costs just over $500 -cheapest to rent the slip for month but it was in the afternoon sun and the boat got really hot during the day.   In the morning it was fine,   This was part of the reason we left the marina today the thinking was is we were to sweat why not sweat a few miles down river. -Dianne had three appointments plus getting her hair dressed.   I had one we both aced our yearly check up.   -Got updated shot for COVID flu shot at the same time felt tried for a couple of days. -ordered replacement power cord and new navigation light for top of boat plus what I needed to install them -had a fairwell party on Friday before we left -got some instruction on how to hook up wires -Aug 19 left the house and dr...

  Sept 7 Anchor on Tombigbee river to Columbus MS 30 miles 1 lock Quiet day only saw one tow with 10 barges and 3 boats all day. We did see a rattlesnake swimming across the bow of the boat.   I kept trying to go in front of him and finally after a while he gave and let us pass him and he just looked up and rattled at us a little bit.   Made swimming a little harder for us last night.   Then today when I suggested I would cool off by dangling my feet off the back of the boat I was told to be careful about alligators in the area.   We might never swim again.   The people here are friendly but and a little bit older than we are.   The boat next to use has Molley the dog and Jim who is very concerned we might unplug one of his power sources.   Another person Dave I think rides a Harley and has a boat that is trying to get fixed for the last 1.5 months.   I have come to conclusion my boat log is not showing level correctly.   Even though I p...