Last Blog

WE MADE IT!  We left Turtle Creek this morning at 8:00 A.M.  We cruised familiar territory all the way to Lighthouse Point Yacht Club.  We got here at 11:45 A.M.  We were greeted by Jeff, Susan, Kate, and Alan who caught our lines and helped us dock.  Later Jay, Carolyn, Maria, and Jonathan came to visit.  And as the day progressed, more and more boaters appeared.  It feels so good to be home. 

This will be out last post.  We are home.  You know where to find us now.  Thanks for following along with us as we cruised our dream.

One More Day To Go

Yesterday an hour or so before reaching McAlpine Lock, John noticed that the port engine would not stay at the RPM that he had set.  It would drop down and then lope back up on its own.  He ran it up higher and it wanted to cut out altogether.  He dropped the RPMs down a little and it was better.  So, we ran a little slower after that.  He figured it was a clogged fuel filter, but he didn't want to stop because we were fighting daylight as it was.  So, first thing this morning, John got down in the engine room and changed the fuel filter.  The old one was black.  Most of the places we bought gas this spring we suspect had old fuel from last year.  Once we were cruising along again today, everything was fine.  (We forgot that we crossed into a different time zone yesterday and got up an hour earlier than we needed to.  We had to wait an hour for it to get light out.)

We were moving along about 8 mph against the current.  Not too bad.  As we approached Markland Lock, we lost a boat pole overboard.  It sunk.  Oops!  We arrived at Turtle Creek Marina at 3:45.  We got fuel (202 gallons) and decided to stay here overnight.  It's roughly 30 more miles to Lighthouse Point Yacht Club.  We should arrive there tomorrow around lunchtime.  We have passed through 143 locks in the past 3 1/2 years as we cruised the loop and more.  We are so excited to be so close to being home and can't wait to see everyone, especially our grandchildren. 

I am posting a couple of pictures from the last two days.

 

Louisville at night.

Ducks looking to be fed at 5:00 A.M. this morning.

The scene as we were leaving Louisville.

 

And I Thought Yesterday Was a Long Day

As predicted, we did rock and roll last night as the barges went past.  Twice we rocked so hard  we got up to make sure everything was okay with the boat.  We were up and ready to leave this morning at 6:00 A.M.  We were cruising along pretty well.  There were no fishermen, but lots of tows.  The GPS has a feature that tells you what time you can expect to reach your programmed destination.  Our programmed destination was Louisville, KY, but we thought we would cruise until we got tired and anchor out wherever that would be.  The time that the GPS said we would reach Louisville was 8:26 P.M.  This does not take into consideration the time spent in the locks.  Sunset was at 8:15 P.M..  The longer we cruised and the closer we got, the more we thought it possible to go for it.  All of the way to Louisville.  We came out of McAlpine Lock at 8:20 P.M.  We were docked at 8:45.  It was dark by then, but there are plenty of lights in downtown Louisville.  We cruise 110 miles today.  We are both soooo tired.  As soon as I am finished here, it's lights out for me.  Good Night, everyone.  We'll see you all at home soon.

A Long, Long, Day

This morning we left Nu Plaza Yacht Club at 5:45 A.M. because we had so much territory to cover before it got dark.  We managed to average 8.1 mph against the current, plus we locked through both the Newburgh Lock and Cannelton Lock.  We arrived at our destination, much to our surprise, at 4:00 P.M.  Both of the locks were open and ready for us when we reached them.  You never know how long you will have to wait at the locks.  We got lucky there. 

We had called Ralph, the owner of Perry Marina at Rocky Point, Indiana on Monday to see if we could stay here overnight with the boat.  He told us he would put the dock in for us.  He said it as time to do that anyway.  Since Monday was April Fools Day, I was a little concerned that he didn't take me seriously, but when we arrived, the dock was in position and the electric was on.  All for $28.  Their restaurant opened today and we decided to have dinner there since we were both pretty tired.  This dock is right on the river just up from Cannelton Lock.  We are probably going to rock and roll all night long as the barges pass us, but we will be warm.

The closer we get to home (220 river miles tonight) the muddier the water seems to become.  It looks like chocolate soup.  Well, tomorrow is another day.  We'll see how far we get then.....

Standing Still

This morning at 5:30, we made an executive decision to stay put for the day.  It was 31 degrees when we got up and it is supposed to be very cold overnight again.  Each day after that it is SUPPOSED to get warmer and warmer.  So, we thought that by waiting one day we would be more comfortable along the way.  We really don't have a deadline to get home, we just want to be home. 

So, anyway, I just put a pie in the oven and I guess we'll just hang out and enjoy an off day.  Until tomorrow.....

Chugging Along

What a nice anchorage that was last night.  We hardly moved at all.  The tows went outside of the islands, so there was no wakes to jostle us.  If we lived near here, we would anchor out here often.  We pulled up our anchor at 7:00 A.M. and were on our way.  We only had 35 miles to go today to reach Nu Plaza Yacht Club.  We arrived at 11:45 and called the marina when we were about one mile out.  The guy said he would be here in a few minutes.  We got tied to the dock, waited an hour, and ate lunch before he arrived.  We bought fuel at $ 4.85 a gallon.  We took 115 gallons, but it took an hour to pump.  That had to be the slowest pump yet.  When you buy 100 gallons or more, you get to stay overnight for free.  They no longer have the 50 gallon water heater / shower, or the washer and dryer, or the courtesy car.  However, Bruce (the guy who works here) loaned us his Jeep to go to the grocery.  We had run out of a few basic items.  We grilled out on the aft deck again tonight and had a delicious meal sitting on the back of the boat watching the world go by.

Tomorrow is kind of up in the air.  It's supposed to go down into the 20s tonight and tomorrow night.  Therefore, we would really like to be at a dock with electric.  The next closest marina that can accommodate us is 78 river miles and two locks away.  That's pretty far for us to be able to go in the daylight in one day at 7.5 mph against the current.  We'll decide in the morning whether to make a run for it or hang out another day because if we can't make it that far, it would be very cold at anchor.  Can't wait to see everyone!  It won't be long now.

Easter Sunday

Well, today is Easter.  To us it is just another travel day on the water.  We are trying our best to get back home.  We left bright and early this morning in cold temperatures and light fog.  We traveled 65 miles today in 9.5 hours.  We passed through the John T. Meyer Lock without having to wait.We passed only one fishing boat, but lots of tows.  The marinas are few and far between in this area of the river.  So, we are anchored out tonight between two islands.  It's a wonderful anchorage.  It's between Slim Island and and Slim Island Towhead. It's not supposed to get below freezing tonight, but tomorrow night and the next night, it will be lots colder.  We plan on being at Nu Plaza tomorrow night hooked up to electric so we can stay warm. 

John was told by the owner of last night's marina that he has had 2 loopers heading south so far this year.  We are the first to head north.  Are we kooky?  Probably, but we are anxious to get there. 

Tonight we are grilling out on the aft deck.  We are having shrimp, sausage, corn on the cob, red potatoes, salad, and rolls.  (I'll let you know, Sally, how it turns out). Well, Happy Easter to everyone!  and Happy Birthday, Jonathan.

Another Gray Day

We left this morning early.  It was cool and foggy.  We called Barkley Lock before leaving the dock.  The lock master said he would get the chamber ready and to come on down.  So, we moseyed on toward the lock.  We had to wait 15 minutes and then locked through.  After that, we were cruising along at 10.5 mph through the remainder of Kentucky Lake, Barkley Lake and the Cumberland River.  The minute we hit the Ohio River, our speed dropped to 6.5 mph.  We locked through Smithland Lock with no wait.  John gave the boat more fuel and we were cruising at 7.5 mph.  We arrived at Golconda Marina shortly after 1:00 P.M.  This marina has new owners as of a month ago.  The man who owns it is really nice.  We stood and talked to him about business for a little more than an hour.  He wanted to know what we thought were important things for a marina to offer.  When we told him we had owned convenience stores, he wanted to pick John's brain.  If you can make a business do well because of your personality, then this guy will be just fine.

Along the way, we passed a place on the Kentucky shore that looked like a white tarp was laid on the edge of the water.  It turned out to be birds.  We thought they were ducks, but a couple of men at the marina say they are white pelicans.  I thought pelicans hung around the saltwater.  What do I know?  In the lock at Smithland, there were a whole bunch of seagulls.  Again, I thought they hung around the saltwater.  The men told me that they are here because there is so much shad in the water and they came to eat. 

Tomorrow we plan on cruising on.  Nu Plaza is the next harbor, but it is more than 100 river miles from here.  So, tomorrow night we will most likely have to anchor out.  I hope it doesn't get too cold.  Just in case we have no Internet service tomorrow,  "Happy Easter"  to you all.

 

 

 

Dark, Gray Day

Today was another travel day on the water.  We left bright and early this morning.  Just as we were preparing to leave, it started to rain.  We went anyway.  The rain was steady the entire time we cruised.  It was cold out like the past two days, but because of the rain, all of the isinglass was closed.  It made the temperature more comfortable, but doesn't do much for visibility.  Unless, you are short like me.  That means I got to drive almost the entire time today since I can see through the windshield without scrunching down and being miserable.  Not that I mind.  I like to drive the boat.  Another thing that was better today was there were very few fishermen or tows to slow down for.  You gotta like that. 

The minute we reached Green Turtle Bay, the rain quit and didn't start up again at all today.  We fueled up when we got here and then we were assigned our slip.  Everyone who works here was so friendly and helpful.  They even asked us if we wanted to go to a comedy act tonight.  Apparently, one of the boaters bought two tickets and couldn't use them.  We wanted to go, but we were both really tired and we were afraid that we would fall asleep during the show.  That would be embarrassing. 

So, we are hoping to move on tomorrow.  We should be able to start up the Ohio River.  Hopefully, the current won't be too strong against us. 

Paris Landing, here we come...

This morning began at 6:00 A.M. It was a cool 45 degrees and no fog upon leaving.  We drove the entire day from the flying bridge.  It was cold, but we were dressed for it.  Imagine my surprise when we saw a "lighthouse" along the way.  I took a picture of it.  Actually, it was part of a house that looked just like a lighthouse.  We also saw lots of fishermen.  The ranger told us that there is a big couples  fishing tournament going on.  It seemed strange that this was happening on a Thursday.  We had to slow down every couple of minutes.

After 68.7 miles, we arrived at Paris Landing.  The ranger came and picked us up to go to the lodge for dinner.  They had a buffet with pork chops and catfish on it.  Buffets always seem like a good idea, but we always eat too much.  So, now we are back on the boat with our bellies full and the day winding down.  Tomorrow is another day.  We are hoping to go to Green Turtle Bay tomorrow.  There is a 40% chance of rain tomorrow and a 50% chance on Friday.  Our fingers are crossed.

I am including a picture of the lighthouse and a picture of John with a beard (and our grandson playing with John's beard.)

FINALLY!

We left Aqua Yacht Harbor this morning at 7:30 A.M.  We made a brief stop at Grand Harbor for fuel, locked through Pickwick Lock and then it was smooth sailing.  The lock master said we are the first boat to head north this year.  I hope we didn't start too soon, but we are anxious to get home.  All of the towboat captains were really nice and just a bit gabby.  This is unusual.  Maybe because it's so early in the boating season and they aren't fed up with the boaters who are rude yet.

We put a call in to Perryville Marina and discovered that they are closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.  However, the recorder mentioned another phone number.  So, we called and left a message.  Someone called me back and said we could dock there tonight.  It's $ .75 a foot with a Boat US discount.  I promised to slide a check under the door.  We arrived here at 4:00 P.M.  It was a long, cold day on the water.  John tried to drive from the lower helm because of the cold, but his good electronics are on the flying bridge.  We only saw two boats similar to ours out and about today.  There were, however, many fishing boats. 

We plan on leaving as soon as it is light enough tomorrow morning.  Hope it's at least as warm tomorrow as it was today.  Colder would be really uncomfortable.  WE ARE ONE DAY CLOSER TO BEING HOME1  YEA!!!!

New Plan

Well, the current plan is to leave here in the morning.  It's supposed to start out pretty cold, but warm up to 55 degrees.  We plan on leaving at 7:30 and stopping at Grand Harbor for fuel when they open in the morning.  We hope to make it to Perryville tomorrow.  Let's hope that the weather isn't too cold in the morning.

Still at Aqua Yacht Harbor

Last  night it stormed and the wind blew so hard that it blew off part of the roof cap on the dock.  It made a horrible racket.  Today it was cold and still very windy.  So, here we sit waiting.  What happened to all of that nice weather we were supposed to get?  Each day it seems the good weather gets pushed back further and further.  Tomorrow doesn't sound good either.  So, who knows when we will leave.

Still Waiting.......

It stormed all night and is still raining, just not as hard.  It's supposed to get really cold too.  So, here we sit, waiting.  John thinks maybe Tuesday we can leave.  I hope so.

Still Waiting........

We got up this morning expecting to untie our lines and cruise toward home.  However, the weather is not cooperating.  We are so disappointed.  We can't wait to get back.  The next few nights are supposed to be in the 20 degree area.  If we would not be able to make it to a marina where we could plug into electric, it would be way too cold, besides all the rain and the flooded river.  So, we wait.  Right now it looks like maybe Monday or Tuesday we could leave.  My fingers are crossed.

On the Road

Wow!  After spending a week in Texas with John's brother and sister-in-law, we went to Cincinnati for two weeks.  We got to see our children and grandchildren and spend some time with each of them.  We also had dinner at Dean and Debbie's house along with ten other of our Aurora dock mates.  It was great to see them all.  Especially, to see them all in one place.  Dinner was wonderful and the conversation was equally as good.  When that group gets together, there is never a shortage of conversation.  By the way, our daughter-in-law is feeling much better.  Thank you all for your concern.

After leaving Cincinnati on March 4th, we drove directly to Venice, Florida.  We visited with John's parents there for the better part of a week.  We played bridge, and went to the beach.  One day we went to N. Fort Myers and had a brief visit with Bob and Nancy, and then went to see Paul and Patty and even sang karaoke.  There was no swimming going on though because it was too cold.  However, it was not raining or snowing, so I am not complaining.  On Saturday, March 9th, we met up with Mike and Linda in Sarasota for a week of vacation.  We went to the pool once, read a lot in the sun, drove back to Venice to pick up an item of clothing we had forgotten, went out to lunch with Mom and Dad while we were there, made two visits to West Marine, shopped in St. Armand's Square a few times, had dinner with Claude and Yvette whom we met back in 2010 while doing the loop, and Norm came up to visit us.  From the time we left the boat to go to Texas, we have been having fun and socializing with friends and relatives.  It's been about six weeks, but we are back on the boat in Iuka, MS.  We have a few things to take care of on the boat, but we are hoping to be heading back toward Cincinnati by boat by the end of the week. 

Saturday, February 23, 2012

We spent last week visiting John's brother and sister-in-law in Texas.  We had a wonderful time and felt like they totally spoiled us. We got to see the lake house they built (and it is beautiful) and their condo in Plano.  We played cards in the evenings, visited with our nephew, his wife, and their baby.  We went out to dinner and the girls did some shopping.  There are lots of shopping opportunities in the area.  I found a dress for Easter for a mere $15.  Pretty good, heh?  As for the card games, the girls and the boys won exactly the same number of games at the end of the week. No bragging rights there.   It seemed the time went so fast and it was time to leave and go back to the boat.

On Wednesday, while driving home from Texas, we got  a phone call from our son.  Our daughter-in-law isn't feeling well and we decided to go home to help out.  We went to the boat, slept for a few hours and left again on Wednesday night at 11:30 to go home to Cincinnati. While this isn't the reason we desire to be home, it is necessary.  We do get to see our children and grandchildren.  That's always good.  It was a good thing we left the boat when we did.  If we had waited until the next morning, we would have run into icy roads. We are hoping that our daughter-in-law recovers quickly. 

Wednesday,. January 30, 2013

It's been a couple of weeks since I have written.  There really isn't much to tell.  We were supposed to have visitors from home last weekend, but because of illness, they had to beg off.  We were sad that we didn't have visitors, but we are glad to still be healthy. 

Even though we have our boat up for sale, John keeps on doing projects to her, like replacing the screens.  I can't believe what a difference new screening makes to the outside appearance of the boat.  Some jobs are easier than others.  Some jobs that should be easy, don't turn out that way.  I'm sure you all know what I am talking about. 

We had a couple come look at the boat this past Thursday.  They spent a couple of hours looking very carefully at her.  They are really nice people who would like to do the loop.  This boat, in my opinion, is perfect to do the loop.  She already knows her way around the entire route. :)

I have learned my lesson about telling you what we plan to do in the near future.  So many times, it doesn't work out the way I expect. 

Last night we had some wild weather.  It was 75 degrees during the day. As night took over the day, the temperatures dropped and the wind picked up.  During the night, it sounded like the roof was going to blow off of the dock and we bobbed around in the wind.  The roof did not keep the rain off of the boat because of how hard the wind was blowing.  Tornadoes touched down not far from here, but we faired pretty well except for a lack of sleep. 

So far, so good.  We are looking forward to spring and moving again.  I'll check in again in a week or two.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

I'm still having a hard time remembering to put 2013.  I will get used to it though.

Things have been rather calm around here since returning from Cincinnati at Christmas time.  We have had some volatile weather, however.  First it will be in the upper 60s and lower 70s and then just a day later, we are having freezing temperatures and lots  and lots of rain and even some sleet.  We have avoided the snow (that nasty 4 letter word) so far.  When the weather was warm, John was outside scrubbing the boat.  Suddenly, the brush and handle fell in the water.  The handle was supposed to be one that floats, but it sank like a weighted down dead mobster.  It has since been replaced.

Because of all of the rain we have gotten, the ramp to the dock is just about flat.  It could stay like that as far as I'm concerned.  It certainly makes toting things up and down the dock a lot easier.  We drove over to Pickwick Dam to see how much water they are pushing through the dam.  I took a video and will attempt to put it on the blog.  Our Internet service is pretty slow here, so it may not work.  I will give it a go.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  We were invited to a New Year's party on the dock aboard Tim and Ginger's boat.  We had lots of food, drinks, music and dancing.  I still don't have a voice.  John and I stayed up until 4:00 A.M., which is pretty good for us.  That's probably the first New Year's John has been awake for, in several years.  We are hoping this year will be a great year for you all.