Sorry we haven't posted in so long, but was without internet access or good phone service.

On Monday, October 20, we left Grand Harbor at 8:00 am in the fog with 5 other boats.  Had to turn around and idle outside Grand Harbor and waited an hour for the fog to lift then resumed our journey at 9:20 am.  It turned out to be a nice day.  Seanna did a masterful job in clearing the way through 3 locks; no waiting.  Arrived at Midway Marina in Fulton, Ms at 4:30 pm.  Traveled 55.7 miles.

Tuesday, Oct. 21 we left for Columbus Marina, in Columbus, Ms. going through 4 locks, again cleared thru by Seanna. We can't thank him enough for his expertise.  Another great travel day and I think I might have tying up in the locks down to a science!  (I hear the Canadian locks are a bit different!)  We pulled into the gas dock, fueled up, went to our slip and went to bed early.  Don't know how we can get so tired sitting on a boat!  Traveled 59 miles.

We stayed two nights at the Columbus Marina in Columbus, Ms.  Borrowed the courtesy car and made a trip to Kroger's for groceries, and the wine store to stock up.  David and Jane from Roxanne went with us.

Thursday, October 23 we left Columbus at 6:50 am.  Seanna had called the John Stennis lock which was only .3 of a mile from the marina.  We had a total of 7 boats in the lock.  It was a chilly 42 degrees.   Went through 2 more locks and after traveling 69 miles, anchored out just past the Howell Heflin lock.
Uneasy night as we weren't positive the anchor was holding tight so kept checking and didn't get much sleep.  All well in the morning.  Seanna, Freedom and Roxanne anchored with us.

Friday, Oct. 24 pulled anchor at 8:30 am and left with Roxanne.  Seanna and Freedom left at 7:00 am.  Bright sunny day and headed for Demopolis Yacht Basin in Demopolis, Al.  After traveling 49 miles we arrive at 1:30 pm.  Waited in line for fuel, and got to our slip at 3:00 pm.  This boat sure uses a lot of fuel!!




Actually took my first shower on the boat (we always used the marina showers ... less clean-up) but it was great and decided I'd put up with cleaning our shower for the convenience.  Had dinner at the marina restaurant with David and Jane -- other loopers also were there. 

Stayed Saturday  and made a trip to Walmart for supplies (that's my new "go-to" store as it has just about everything at one place).  I do miss Publix tho!  Had "docktails" at the marina with other loopers to see who was leaving in the morning.  A total of 5 boats decided to leave at 7am.  The next leg down to Mobile is void of any viable marinas and requires anchoring out 2 nights.

Sunday, October 26 we headed out at 7am and traveled 3 miles to the Demopolis lock where a total of 9 boats locked through together, including a 120 foot yacht...it was impressive.  Looked like a crew of at least 5.  Traveled 72 miles and dropped anchor with Roxanne - tied stern to stern with their dingy in between serving as a "foot bridge".  David grilled chicken and vegetables and we ate on our back deck.  Wonderful!  Slept well that night.

Monday, October 27 pulled anchor and left at 8:20 am.  Beautiful sunny morning; put beef stew in the crockpot;  went on the bridge and enjoyed the morning with my coffee.  Had to wait 2 hours and the Coffeeville lock which was the last lock on the river system.  Hurray.  Got too late to make our 1st choice of anchorages, so stayed at a wide spot in the river...a little nervous as the barges were moving through all night - two passed each other right where we were.  We originally anchored stern to stern with Roxanne, but ended up too close to the channel - had to separate and move closer to shore.  It was getting dark when we settled in.

Tuesday, October 28 we left anchorage at 7:30 am after a few tense moments.  One engine did not want to start and had to use the battery  parallel to start it.  The inverter was down to 94% but that should have been enough so anxious to get to a marina to plug in electric.  We were running off our center tank since our last fill up and switched to side tanks after 180 miles.  Still should have been a healthy reserve left, but didn't want to worry. 

Coming into Mobile Bay was awesome and intimidating.  Lots of commercial barge traffic, huge cargo ships along with some military vessels.  We managed to find our way to Dog River Marina, arriving at 4:45pm, got more fuel and tied up for the night.  Whew!  Good to be on solid ground (so to speak).

Had the remainder of our beef stew with David and Jane; had a little too much wine and Baileys and toddled off to bed.  Nice evening tho.

Today, Oct. 29 we went over our list of things we wanted to have done on the boat with the boat yard.  They are putting together cost and time estimates which will determine how long we will stay.  More later. 

On Saturday, Oct. 12 we left Green Turtle Bay in Grand Rivers, Ky  at 8:30 am.  It was cloudy with a little light drizzle.  We went through the Barkley Canal from Lake Barkley into Kentucky Lake (Tennessee River).  Traveled 72 miles and arrived at Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville, Tn. at 4:30 pm.  We refueled and went to bed early.   Picked up our mail which was waiting for us.

Sunday, Oct. 13 we left Pebble Isle and arrived at the Clifton Marina in Clifton, Tn. at 3:30pm.  Traveled 62.5 miles.  Met up with It Takes Two, Rich and Pam who we originally met in Mackinaw City, Mi.  We drove over there while waiting for the Hotei to be serviced.  Had a few glasses of wine, traded stories and met another couple from Canada, Ken and Pauline on the Shipperly.  This is a small but very nice marina with friendly people and a great cheeseburger!  A covered sitting area with tables is a nice touch.

Monday, Oct 14 departed Clifton and headed for Grand Harbor Marina in Counce, Tn. located at the beginning of the Tenn-Tom waterway.   Went through the Pickwick Lock and Dam and into Pickwick Lake which is a very large body of water.  Lots of great boating.  We traveled 55.2 miles and arrived at Grand Harbor at 3:00 pm.  After refueling and getting settled, we borrowed the courtesy car and drove 35 miles back to Clifton to retrieve our power cord which we left on the dock! (Senior Moment on both our parts).  We have been here for a week, relaxing and enjoying the scenery.  Hooked up with some fellow loopers, went to dinner a couple times.  Visited Shiloh State Park, site of The Civil War battle.  Watched a movie re-enactment before driving through to see the different battle grounds.  Quite impressive. 

We will be resuming our southward trip tomorrow morning, Monday, Oct. 20.

Sunday, Oct 5 while at Hoppies in Kimmswick, Mo waiting for the winds to die down,  a group of "loopers" walked about a mile to a farm associated with Anheiser Bush where they have a theraputic riding program, Ride on St. Louis.  They help both handicapped youths and also war veterans.  A group of about 20  acapella singers performed.  They sang together and also had several quartets singing mostly old tunes.    It was a great afternoon.

Monday, Oct. 6, we left Hoppies at 7:15 am with 6 other "loopers"... traveled 110 miles down the Mississippi to Little River Diversion where we set about anchoring for the night.  We had a little problem getting our anchor to set so rafted off two other boats, Moondance and R & R.  Had a light rain shower, but it cleared up and was a nice evening--everyone went to bed early.

Tuesday Oct. 7 left anchorage at 7:15am.  Continued down the Mississippi to the Ohio.  We were all happy to get off the Mississippi River - it was muddy, had lots of logs, branches and twigs to avoid, along the all the barge traffic.  A little stressful!   We turned up the Ohio River and arrived at Lock & Dam 52 near Paducah, Ky at  3:30 and requested a lock thru.  There was a lot of barge traffic and it became apparent we would not have time to lock thru and get to a good anchorage spot.  We all dropped anchor near the Hwy 24 bridge.  This night we rafted with Roxanne, Jane & David Anderson.  Our inverter quit working so hoped the refrigerator would still be cold by morning.

Wednesday, Oct. 8 we called the lock tender at 6:30 am and requested a lock thru.  We finally cleared the lock at 10:50 am.  We are on the way to the Cumberland River, one more lock and the marina at Green Turtle Bay in Grand Rivers, Ky.  Looking forward to a nice hot shower! 

Arrived at Barkley Dam and Lock around 3pm, had to wait a while to get in the lock.  All of us got into the lock together, tied up and ready for the 51' rise.  Turned off the engines and waited to get to the top.  When we tried to start the engines to leave the lock...they did not start!  Thank goodness for David and Jane on the Roxanne.  They pulled up alongside our boat so we could tie an onto them and they towed us to Green Turtle Bay which thankfully wasn't far from the lock.  However, it was getting dark quickly and had a few tense moments getting into the harbor.  The staff at the marina stayed to help secure us to the gas dock.  David and Jane were terrific and we can't thank them enough.  We had no electric hookup or water, but we were safe.

Thursday, Oct 9 we had the mechanics look at the boat to figure out why we couldn't get the engines started.  It all had something to do with the electrical system and anchoring out two nights without electrical hookup.   We now know we need to run the generator once a day for an hour or so to be sure the battery banks stay fully charged.  Thank goodness we didn't need an engine replacement!  I splurged and got a manicure and pedicure at the spa.  The group had dinner at the local marina restaurant...all were relieved to be safe and secure.

Friday, Oct 10...we got up and it was foggy and rainy so elected to stay put.  Rained off and on most of the day.  Used the courtesy car to make a run to Walmart for a few supplies.  The group got together for a potluck tonight...a very nice group of people to travel with, and we hope to stay in touch with all of them.  We plan to leave tomorrow for Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville, Tn.

A recap...we left Harbor Springs, Michigan on Saturday, August 30 and have traveled 1063 miles. Of the 42 days we have been "on the loop", 14 days were traveling, and 28 were "loitering".

Planned to leave this morning with 3 other boats to travel 110 miles to anchor at Little River Diversion Chanel at Mile 48.8 on the Mississippi River near Cape Girardeau, Mo.  After some discussion and given the debri (logs, tree limbs, etc) in the river the decision was made to wait for a couple days.  The river is cresting up stream and washing a lot of junk into the river.  Better to be safe than get in trouble.  There is a saying among loopers..."the worst thing you can do is bring a schedule on board".  We will chill for a while...maybe catch a few naps!

Spent 3 days in Grafton, Monday 9/29 to Thursday, Oct. 2.  We did laundry, got some groceries and finally broke down and bought an I-Pad!  Loaded navigational aid Garmin Blue Chart and got a quick lesson from the Verizon rep. We're still learning, but so far has proved a great navigational aid in addition to our paper charts and Northstar 6000 GPS. 

Got over 5" of rain on Wednesday.  Met some fellow loopers and exchanged "stories".  Left Grafton on Thursday, Oct 2 and traveled 20 miles to Alton, Il.   Left Friday, Oct 3 arriving at Hoppies in Kimmswick, Mo mid afternoon.  Hoppies is a "must stop" for all loopers.  We topped off the gas tanks in preparation for the long journey of 241 miles to Green Turtle Bay at the top of Barkley Lake.

Fran (Hoppies owner) gave us a "mini seminar" on pitfalls and what to expect on the next 241 miles to Kentucky Lake/Barkley Lake as there are no marinas to dock at.  We will have to anchor out at least 2 nights which we haven't had to do yet.  Sunday, we leave Hoppies and plan to travel 110 miles and anchor at Little Diversion Channel, Mile Marker 48.8.