Mobile Al. Turner Marina

We have made it to Mobile; we are on the hard repairing damage from Grand Harbor Marina, at Pickwick Lake.  I had the boat hauled here to check the bottom, was worried about it since we had the problem at GH, We had a 1/2 gouge out of the keel and rudder, to say I was not happy.  I have been on the phone with GH, and hope that they will be honorable thing and take care of the damage that there dock caused.  In addition to the slight damage we are having a bottom job done, it was due, three years since the last, so its time.  We plan to be in the water on Monday, test sail Monday or Tue, then on head for Pensacola.  Lessoned learned, I will have to do bottom job in the future, but that’s easy it’s just time consuming.  You also need the clothing and equipment.  Ok, I think that’s it. It’s been a while since my last blog, but with the holiday and being busy that put me behind.  I will try to be more diligent about blogging.    I will also try to post some pics.  It has been an amazing trip with for me sailing off shore to be another mile stone.  Ok,
Good Night
Capt. Bear

Day 7 Demopolis

19 November 2010 day 7 Demopolis Yacht Basin, 32. 31’ .614N  87. 50 .361W

We got this morning at 0630L we slept in.  J  Pulled the anchor and underway at 0658L steaming south.  At 0920L we encounter the white cliffs of Epes; they are some very interesting rock formation.  We arrive at the Demopolis Yacht Basin at 1317L, we fuel and then are rafted next to another sailboat couple as there is no dockage available that we can get to, the water is to shallow, in fact after fueling as we made the turn to come and raft up, I had to power thru some silt/mud. 

We made a run into town to get a few things and ten ate dinner at the marinas restaurant.  The food was good, I had Jambalaya, was pretty good, very southern, J Jim had the steak, he said it was good as well, he ended up taking part of it home, was nice large one.  W stopped on the way out and talked to some people from Cincinnati that we have run into along the way. 

Ok, tomorrow, we run south; it will be 3-4 days to Mobile.   This is the roughest part of the trip, Demopolis is the last marina, and last fuel except for Bobbies fish camp, I hear stories of bad fuel, not sure, so will just check to see where we are on fuel when we get there.  I hear the food is great on the other hand if you like cat fish.  So we might have to do that stop.  Not sure it depends on timing we might miss it; we are in a hurry for some reason haven’t figured that part out yet.  Probably has to do with Thanks Giving causing a time crunch to get the mast up before Thanks Giving and then getting to Pensacola.   Anyhow, it’s the great adventure on speed.  Glad I am taking lots of pics.   Think that calls it a night, time to post this and hit the rack. 

My advice is if you can do this trip, do it.  It’s fun, but do it slow, take your time.  Wait for the fog anchor out do 50-60 a day, longer if needed for an anchorage, or shorter.  Sightsee, there is plenty to see.  Live life, enjoy it, and don’t do it on fast forward.  I have enjoyed it.  Oh, and leave earlier, there will be more boaters, but it will be warmer.  Ok.  I think that’s it for the night. 

Capt. Bear

18 Novemeber day 6

18 November 2010 anchored at 1530L in 22.4 ft at 32. 50’ .021N  88. 08’ .309W  on the Tombigbee River. 

We left this morning at 0635 under cloudy rainy conditions.  Made to the Columbus lock at 0650L clearing the lock at 0702 steaming south for the Tom Bevill lock, we arrive at 1000L and clear at 1033L after a short wait for another boat.  Once again we are steaming south.  We are making 8.0 knot plus this is putting us ahead of schedule, so we revise our plan and head for the next lock.  This lock is the Heflin lock.  We make this lock and anchor on the other side in the Tombigbee ox bow.  Another great day on the water, we cover 69.2 miles.  We are doing well.  And it’s great to be on the water.  Despite the lack of Wi-Fi I prefer to be anchored out.  This is way to do it.  Although the other nights it was nice to have the heat since it was so darn cold, tonight is milder so that’s a plus.  We are supposed to have clear skies and SUN, we hope LOL, that was the forecast for today but we had rain in the A.M. and clouds all day.  So let us hope the weather guy is right for a change. 

Tomorrow we will steam for Demopolis yacht basin.  Here we will fuel and pick up some groceries that we need in preparation for the big push south to Mobile.  There are not a lot of anchorages south of here and its long haul, we are going to push and try and do it two days, its Three days comfortable, but we can do it in two.  It will take all the fuel we have to make it, but it’s possible.  This can put us into Mobile on Monday or Tuesday.  If we make Monday afternoon we could get the mast up before Thanks Giving and be doing some sailing.  It will be great to get the Mast up and turn Surprise back into a sail boat.  

Ok I think it’s time to close I will try to post this as text tonight, but not sure if my hot spot will work. Pics will follow on the next post.

Capt. Bear s/v Surprise  

17 November 2010 Columbus Marina, MS  33. 31’ .339N  88. 28’ .916

Special Note to Julie; HAPPY ANNIVERSERY

We had a really great day today, ran 58.8 miles and went through 4 Locks.  We managed to keep up with a couple of Cruisers they motored about our speed and were able to lock through at each lock with them.  They Lock masters had the locks ready on all but one, and even then we only had a short wait.  So was really great day, and best of all the SUN was out, what a blessing to have warm sunshine. 

There is not a lot to report for this stop.  Columbus Marina is nice place, good service and deep water.  We are less than ½ mile to the next lock.  We plan on keeping with our new friends, we stopped today and talked to them after we docked and fueled.  Took on 35 gallons of fuel today. 

Ok the details, we have travelled for 5 days, covered 310 miles 8 Locks, once up into Lake Pickwick and down 7 times.  We have gotten locking down pretty good now.  Ok, I think that will cover it for tonight.  Oh, need to add, this maybe the last post for a while, we will be anchoring tomorrow for sure, and maybe the next night.  If I can use my phones hot spot we will post text.  Ok that’s it. 

16 November 2010 1705L Docked at Midway Marina 34. 17’ .829N  88. 25’ .223W

55.9 miles and 3 locks covered today.  We left Grand Harbor Marina this morning at 0710L and started heading for the Whitten Lock in cold rain and wind, we are ready for some sun by now.  Three out the last four have been in the rain and clouds.  Good news, SUN forecast for the next few days so that’s good news for us southbound sailors. 

1150L Approaching Whitten Lock, this is the first of three we will make today, tension is high I think after our experience with the Pickwick lock, but we have no choice and charge forth into to mouth of this monster.  Whitten lock is the is the fourth-highest single lift lock in the United States, and raises and lowers barges (Sailboats) 84 feet.  We enter the lock prepared with our experience from the first one and tie off, one center cleat, and one stern, plus two new big fenders that push the boat off from the lock wall nicely.  I call the lock master set! (Military experience from lots of radio talk pays off in spades on this trip) He starts the locking process, the bollard is not sticking, you always have to look for sticking bollards, it’s not sticking, we start going down, wow,  WOW what a relief, we have this figured out.  We clear the Whitten lock at 1315L, and head for the Montgomery lock.  Had to wait a bit to get in. 

We move slowly from the lock and as we clear the lock we punch Surprise up to top speed heading for the next lock, the lock master calls down to us that he has called the Montgomery lock and he will be waiting on us.  We arrive at the next lock at 1350L  and begin the process of locking through once again, and once again it goes smoothly.  We clear the Montgomery lock at 1408, it’s only a 30’ drop, we push on, I am pushing Surprise to top speed to make the Rankin lock.  I have the RPMs at 3 grand, top is 3400, we are pushing that little 54 HP Yanmar for all she is worth to make the next lock we are running out of daylight and want to make the next lock, and move on to a place to stay for the night.  At 1500L we are approaching the Rankin Lock and clear the lock by 1650, we have to wait on a north bound tow.  Once again we pour on the power and make our dock at 1705L.  We dock at Midway Marina in 8.8 ft of water for the night.  We enjoy chicken cordon on blue, with rice for our dinner, and once again we want to turn in early, another long day behind us. 

I want to thank my followers, and also answer to a question about damaged gear.  No Damaged gear.  I had some advice from a fellow sailor who has made the trip numerous times he had recommended that I put life jackets over the fore and aft end of the mast to protect it if it hit the lock wall, I am not sure if he is Shaman or what, but his advice paid off.  So Thanks to Vance he saved my mast head from serious damage.  Anne if you read this please pass this on.  I talk to John and ask him to pass that on, but he is in Florida so might be a min before he sees Vance.  I have had lots of great advice from many folks at GTB and his bit on the jackets has paid off in spades.  

Ok, our plan is to make three more locks on 17 Nov, I hope to make 4 that would be great, but will take what we get.  As I look back on the trip so far, I regret not being able to spend more time and to have left sooner, there is no great fun than taking your time on a voyage and meeting and talking to fellow sailors.  Just tonight I meet a live aboard that was staying here, he has been here for the last 5 years having moved from Florida, the prices got to be too much for him.  It was great meeting a kindred spirit,  and hear of his travels, so much to be gleaned from old sailors, kind of like old Soldiers……..

To all my old Soldier friends, the last thing I did when I signed out was go to the barracks and talk to Soldiers, it just felt right, it very satisfying to talk those that I worked with for so long, to talk to them before I left in uniform for the last time.  I love Soldiers, it’s why I became an NCO, the privilege to work with Soldiers for so long, it doesn’t pay great in money, but I would never trade the feeling that I had as I walked away after talking to those Soldiers for the last time, for the last time as an NCO.  Ok, enough of that. 

I will leave you all with those thoughts

Capt. Bear 2230L  34. 17’ .829N  88. 25’ .223W      

 Cold and rainy

15 November 2010 Grand Harbor Marina on Lake Pickwick 34. 59’ .472N  88. 12’.970W

We pushed hard today making another 57.7 miles with one lock.  Our first lock, and wow what an experience. 

Today was our latest start, we started at 0715L, had to wait out the fog, that had socked the river in, and prevented us from leaving at 0600L.  We departed and start steaming for Pickwick, moving through fog and then rain starting at 1030L.  This rain stuck with us the rest of the day till we stopped. 

Highlights of the day, where passing a dredge that was operating, not much of a hazard, they were on one side only.  We then passed two moving tows and passed the Edwin L Kennedy for the 3^rd time in three days, He was tied up waiting to lock through Pickwick lock.  We continued on to the lock…

As we approached at 1300, I fired up the generator and heated up some hot food for our bellies, it’s been a long cold day.  That hit the spot.  However as we approached the lock the tension started to mount, with Jim first, he was having a week stomach, but as always he was the man on the spot getting things done.  Dependable guy Jim is.  1336 we move to the lock I am fine, then we got to the lock I was little nervous, but once again my army experience came in handy and I just dealt with it, but then we motored into the lock, little worse, kind of like my first live fire calflex when I was in charge of my tank and platoon.   Once again make it through, things are going smoothly.  We get the bowline over the bollard, and get set.  I call the lock master and let him know we are secure.  He starts filling the lock, we are moving up, this is cool, then he bow starts pushing into the wall, Jim calls, he’s pushing but can’t move us away, we move a little, then suddenly we are slammed into the wall, it’s insane, I rush forward and try and push, no luck, I try running the motor hoping I can use prop wash to push us off, no luck, we move but even closer to wall, grinding the mast into lock wall.  I am desperate to get the mast and bow off the wall, I grab another dock line, and throw it over the bollard, missing, missing, missing, finally I make it, I run the line to the stern clean and heave on the line, rally and heave, stamp and go, stamp and go, finally I get the stern to move in and get and the mast and bow moved out.   I keep it off the rest of the ride up, I was glad to see the top of the lock.  As we are motoring out the lock master comes and says he was sorry he had opened a valve right under our boat and soon as he saw the problems he shut it down, Thank God he did.  We made it out of our first lock.  Learned a lot, we are now prepared for the next 12 locks.   We have stopped at Grand Harbor Marina for the night and bought two very large round fenders they will keep the boat at least a foot and half of the wall, and we are adding an additional line to the stern cleat.  The rest should be much easier as going down is less turbulent than going up. 

This leaves on the night of 15 November 2010 on Pickwick Lake at Grand Harbor Marina, tired but happy with another interesting day and more to look forward to.  It appears we will have one more day of poor weather, and then it’s looking good till next Sunday, sunny at least and warmer.  Time to call it night and enjoy dinner and slow evening.  Till next time.  Capt. Bear signing off. 

 

 foggy morning

 interesting rocks along

 Dredging the river

 Pickwick lock

 Surprise in the lock

 Jim fending off

dock line on the bollard,

Tennessee River South Bound Day 2

14 Nov 2010 Day 2  35. 23’ .149N  88. 00’ .369W  Clifton Marina TN. 

               Stand to is at 0550L, ;)  We are motoring and on the river by 0615L.  I woke up and saw the fog rolling in and made a snap decision to leave immediately, we beat the fog my minutes.  All that Army discipline pays offs, no one cozy in their bags at stand too, engines running ready to roll on call.  J Which we did.  J    

The weather was cool and sunny, with a light winds.  It was a pleasant cruise, made 62.5 miles today, would have made 72.5 had it not been for a stopped up head, L so we stopped at Clifton Tn.  Bought a plunger went ahead and topped off on fuel and decided to stop for the night.  Clifton Marina is nice little marina, the people are very nice, and helpful, they had a courtesy car that we took into town to the get tools needed for our problem, which I fixed, and Jim, God bless him he cleaned up.  J 

We are fueled, feed, watered and ready to go for the next day.  It’s a good stop, it’s cold tonight, freezing, and WI fi, so can update blog. 

Tomorrow we are planning on another early start if we can beat the fog, but this marina is small and encircled by land, so might be tough to beat the fog, we will try, should be easier we are less than a 50 yards from the river, so will try, if we don’t make it we will have bacon eggs and hot coffee for breakfast and wait the fog out.  Our plan for day 3 is to make Pickwick Dam and Lock, lock up into Pickwick Lake and spend the night there, then lock into the Tenn-Tom and start the process of locking south.  This will be our only lock that takes us up, the rest are drops.  I am going to try and post some pics of the first lock, but not sure if we will remember.  J  It will be a first for us both, and new experience, but just one more part of the adventure.   

Ok reflections of the trip so far.  I love it and despite the trouble of getting mast down, I would do it again.  It is some of the most beautiful country I have seen, and seeing it from water makes it even better.  I would not do it alone however; you need at least two people to enjoy it.  Also, you need to have time to stop and enjoy yourself.  We are pushing and still having a good time, I can understand why many people just take their time, and it’s enjoyable.  On your own, well that could be another story.  It becomes work then and that’s not fun. 

Ok time to call it a night.  I hope to post on 15 Nov 2010  ok, one minor note, there is something on the lense of my camer, cant figure it out, have cleaned and cleaned, so guess will just have to be satisfied with the speck, guess its not on the lense, but in the body, so hope it resolves itself. 

Capt. Bear s/v Surprise

 

13 November 2010 DEPARTURE DAY!

13 Nov 2010 37. 00’ . 373 N  88. 13’ .571W  Windy cloudy

               0710L we leave from Green Turtle Bay Marina in Ky, heading out to the canal.  Rob meets us here, taking pictures of our departure.  We head out on to the main lake, the wind is blowing, my guess is about 10-15 knots, and it’s kicking up a bit of chop on the lake giving us 1-2 ft rollers as we head south.  The mast cradle is holding, it’s moving a bit fore and aft, but tightening up the tie down strap on the fore most cradle stops most of this movement.  We continue our trip south.

0911L rain starts near 37.9 mile marker,

0937L Cleared Eggners Ferry Bridge, this is the furthest south that s/v Surprise has ever been on this body of water and from this point on its new untraveled waters, an adventure waits with each passing mile. 

1630L hrs 36. 03’ .899N  87. 57’ .067W

               We anchor in 9.8 ft of water at Pebble Isle Marina Mile marker 96.1; we have covered 70.7 miles on the Tennessee River plus 2.7 miles from the Marina to the main channel on Kentucky Lake for a total of 73.4 miles.  That was a good days run, we averaged 7.2 knots most of the day.  For the first day it was a very good run.  For dinner we had New York Strip, bakes potatoes, and salad.  I think we are a little tired, but it was a long day, and didn’t sleep well the night prior.  I think we were anticipating the trip, so that made for a restless night.  The boat is very quite quiet tonight except for music and the patter of rain on the cabin top.  Jim is making coffee as we prep for the next morning; I think we are going to turn in soon. 

I am not sure when this will be posted, I was hoping to have signal tonight, Ok might have signal, I have turned the hotspot on my phone on, will try to up load this if we can.  Don’t think we can pictures up, but will post those as soon as we better signal.  We tried for three pics but got two so here they are, first is my empty slip as we back away and Rob waving good bye.  The next Capt. Bear helming Surprise out of GTB for the last time, abandon dock along the way,

MAST is DOWN

OK, The mast is down, I will post a picture of that when I get back to the boat and the camera. 
It was a really stressful day taking it down, had trouble getting the mast out of the boat, few small problems, like the crane hooked up to high so didn't have the extension to pull it out, the spar tight wedge seal got stuck, that didn't help.  So lesson was get a bigger crane next time.  The set up worked, but you need to be able to get positioned right for and aft of the boat works best, not from the side.  Any way its down and that's all that counts. 
I am almost cleared from the Army down to days as write this post.  I now planning to leave on the 13 Nov 2010 for my trip south.  Went to Wal-mart and got the provisions so out side of organizing some things tie some things up on the mast I am ready to go.  It will be a fun trip. 
I am already learning from people that are on the was as I write, tips are insure your anchor is secure, dress warm, main channel is deep enough be careful of the small bays, bottom is gravelly in places so holding might be a problem in places.  I thin we will be fine, no big winds or waves. 
OK that's it for now.  next post will be next week as we continue to prep and plan. 
Oh need to add, that on the trip back from getting the mast un-steped it was blowing 20-25, had the wind on the nose or on the beam all the way back so my rig to support the mas will hold up to strong winds and rough water.
Capt. Bear