Mobile to Fort Myers

The day after Thanksgiving the winds kicked up, so we stayed put in Mobile to spend more time with our new looper friends. For lunch we all went to a popular local diner, The Dew Drop Inn, to experience its great greasy food. One national food critic named it one of the four best spots in the U.S. for onion rings. The rings were good, indeed! The following day we left with Janice and Eddie across Mobile Bay.














Passing the historic Middle Channel Light, we headed across the big water bay to Pensacola on the eastern part of the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway (GIWW). We traveled three days with our friends, the first two nights rafting our boats together on the hook. One night we experienced a gorgeous sunset, and the next night we enjoyed the lights of the nearby Choctawhatchee Bridge.

In this part of Florida, the GIWW has lots of different looks, as you cruise sometimes by the dunes of barrier islands, sometimes down man made canals, and sometimes through impenetrable swamps.

 

When we arrived in Panama City, Perfect Timing was on its own. We reprovisioned there and prepared our boat for an approaching storm which hit the next day with winds as high as 60 miles per hour. After four days at the city marina, we left for Apalachicola with its working shrimp and oysterboat fleet.

For two days we ate ourselves silly with fresh oysters, shrimp, and scallops. We seriously studied weather forecasts while there, knowing we next had to cross a 180 mile expanse of open Gulf.

We left with another boat for Dog Island, a small island nine miles off Carabelle, Florida. We anchored there to get a quick start at first light. Though we and our buddy boat friends, Jeff and Lynda, were apprehensive about the crossing, we picked our window well. We saw 2-4 footers on the beam for the first five hours--enough to get our cat, Schatze, sick--before the seas calmed down to 1-3's for the remaining 3 1/2 hours to Clearwater.

 Though tired from the crossing, we left the next morning for Venice which had an easy entrance to a marina with great views of the channel as well as of the beautiful homes downriver. We left at 10:00 AM in heavy fog for a slow cruise toward Ft. Myers. When the fog lifted at noon, we picked up our pace and arrived, exhausted, at Salty Sam's marina, where the boat will remain for five weeks. In a few days we will leave for a two week respite at home over Christmas.

The Tenn-Tom

Before beginning the next part of our trip, we stayed at a marina where the Tennessee meets the Tenn-Tom Waterway. With a courtesy car we visited Shiloh National Park, a Civil War battleground, and that night with ten other loopers enjoyed dinner at a local landmark, the Catfish Hotel. The next day we set off on the Tenn-Tom. This waterway is a 253 mile stretch constructed between 1972 and 1985, connecting the Tennessee River with the Tombigbee River at Demopolis, Alabama. Though relatively unknown to most of us, this project is the largest public works project ever undertaken by the Army Corps of Engineers. Ten new locks were constructed, and rivers were straightened. Fifty percent more earth was moved in this endeavor than was moved in the construction of the Panama Canal. From Demopolis, the Tombigbee continues to Mobile, Alabama for a total distance from the Tennessee of 451 river miles.

We spent nine days traveling to Mobile, interrupting our trip at Columbus, Mississippi to go back home for two weeks to work and catch up with family and friends. On the river we saw several bald eagles, experienced fast and high water (courtesy of tropical storm, Ida), enjoyed funky marinas, were wowed by chalk cliffs and secluded anchorages, and traversed thirteen locks. We often found ourselves traveling in virtual circles because of all the switchbacks in the river, and we were surprised at how much wilderness there is in the middle of our country. At the lower part of the system, in fact, we saw little evidence of human activity--and certainly no marinas--for 230 miles. We did see, however, a number of somewhat scary hunting/fishing cabins set along the river banks.
















































































































Loopers often say that one of the best parts of the loop experience is the people you meet. We are finding this to be true. Entering the Columbus Lock to resume our trip, we found two other looper couples locking down with us. After traveling together for a day, Jim and Pam on "Silver Boots" and Eddie and Janice on "Eagles Nest" invited us to raft up with them at an anchorage that night. We enjoyed each other's company and continued on together 350 miles to Mobile, anchoring out five times, four of those rafted together. To top it off, Jim's mom, Marian, who lives in Mobile, invited us to supper and then to a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, home-cooked, southern style. More gracious folks you couldn't find. A photo attached to this blog shows the seven of us with our looper burgees. Dave and Linda's is white, indicating a loop in progress, Eddie and Janice' is gold, indicating a loop completed, and Jim and Pam's is platinum, indicating more than one loop completed.

The Tennessee River

Once you hit the Tennessee River, life slows down, and stress levels drop significantly. The first marinas we visited had a small town feel and exuded southern hospitality. At Pebble isle, the manager treated boaters with cinnamon rolls which he personally baked fresh that morning. At Clifton, Sofie, a great southern gal, cheerfully grilled great cheese burgers for those of us who arrived late in the day. The river itself slows down and widens dramatically into reservoir lakes created by dams, part of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Kentucky, Pickwick, and Wheeler lakes are pristine and enjoyed by many who own or rent large houseboats, some, 65-75 feet long.The area also must be the bass boat capitol of the world. Bass tournaments are frequent here, and one we saw included 350 boats!

Leaving Clifton marina with ten other boats, we entered Pickwick Lock, the first of many that Linda and I did alone. The next lock, Wilson is the largest of the locks on the rivers, and the largest east of the Mississippi. It moves boats up and down 93 feet. All of these locks have floating bollards built into the lock walls. Basically using floating cans which rise and fall with the water, Linda looped a line around them from midships to keep us close to the wall.
Just before Wilson is the town of Florence, one of the few towns actually built on the Tennessee. Built around impressive stone bluffs on the river, the town and the neighboring town of Muscle Shoals have a rich history and was the home of Helen Keller and the father of the blues, W.C. Handy. With a courtesy car, we explored the town and reprovisioned at Walmart.
After Florence, we attended the American Great Loop Cruisers Association rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park Marina in NW Alabama. Over three hundred cruisers and wannabee loopers were in attendance, and we learned a lot about what to expect ahead and met many nice and interesting people. For the most part, cruisers are a laid back bunch, a fact made clear by some of their boat names such as "Adagio" and "Noah Genda". While the rendezvous lasted only three days, we stayed at this beautiful location for a week. And though we moved 60 miles upriver past the entrance to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, which moves cruisers south toward Mobile, the diversion was worth it. Next we are to move back through those 60 miles and two locks, stopping again at Florence, to begin the Tenn-Tom.

Days 11-15

Today was a tough day, We finished the Mississippi at Cairo, IL where we made a left turn on the Ohio. After traveling 60 miles against heavy current, we turned onto the Cumberland River, again moving upstream. Finishing with the Barkley Lock and then a mile run to Green Turtle Bay Marina, we got into our slip just before dark after traveling 148 miles--a long day indeed. The Barkley lock is the most modern we've seen and one the the highest so far, moving us up 57 feet. While locking through, Russ' son, Jim, phoned to chat with Russ, not knowing Russ was on this trip. I told Jim that his dad was a bit busy, holding a line around a bollard on a lock wall on the Cumberland River and that, yes, he was still adventuresome at the age of 80!

Russ left for home after resting a day, and we stayed another couple of nights at this wonderful marina both to rest and to finish the marine survey required by our new insurance carrier. We enjoyed the fine on-site restaurant as well as a restaurant named Patti's in the little village nearby. We made good use of the marina's courtesy car, making trips to a grocery store and to Walmart's. Our bikes came off the boat as the weather turned warmer, and we finally got the chance to get some exercise and do some exploring off the boat.

Day Ten

During the next stretch of the river we passed inumerable tows, the largest of which pushed 35 barges! We virtually flew down river, enjoying the push of the rapid current. Leaving Hoppies, we traveled 110 miles downstream to a cut off the river called Little River Diversion Canal, just south of Cape Girardeau, MO.
We anchored out here overnight with four other boats, all of which we had seen at Hoppies. It was a great anchorage and one the very few overnight possibilities on the Mississippi.

Days 7-9

Now we move down the Mississippi River. past St. Louis and its arch, to Hoppies Landing. Hoppies consists of four flat top barges linked in a row alongside the RDB (right descending bank) of the Mississippi River, sixty miles from the Illinois. Its delightful owners run this family business which dates back to the mid-1930's.
Fern, the female half of the Hopkins' partnership, holds court at 4:30 each day to advise cruisers about what to expect downstream. For us, her advice was invaluable, especially given the current state of the river. Two days before we arrived, the river had risen 23 feet! Now it was dropping about 3 feet per day, but the current was running about 3 to 5 knots. The debris coming downstream was so heavy that it appeared at times one could walk across the river. We took several photos of the debris, but they could not do justice to what was actually out there. We stayed three nights here, taking care of business (good cell and air card reception), visiting the nearby town, and settling an issue with our marine insurance company, which decided to leave the marine business at this, for us, very inopportune time.

Days Five-Six

We had to wait an hour and a half for the first of two locks we transited after Peoria. After that--clear sailing! Though we intended to stop after 88 miles, the docking wall at Beardstown where we hoped to stay, had been recently removed. We could had tied up to a rickety barge--for a fee, of course--but decided instead to continue on to Grafton, 75 miles downstream to the end of the Illinois River. We arrived late in the day, with only the low light of a gorgeous sunset. Grafton is a picturesque river town with a main street only a short stroll from its modern marina. Upon seeing the town, we decided to spend an extra day to experience its many shops, restaurants, markets, and historic buildings. Russ and Dave enjoyed a glass of wine at one of the town's wineries, and were entertained by dozens of spirited patrons, dancing to the music of a equally spirited zydeco band.

Day Four

We traveled only 30 miles or so today. Passing miles of wildlife refuge areas we saw hundreds of relatively rare White Pelicans. Also, moving down river in the rain, we saw our second or third river boat of the trip so far. To tie securely for the night, we had to imaginatively lay up perpendicularly to three finger piers at the Peoria town docks. Dave took a taxi to a clinic for a required blood test, and after a short rest for all of us, we had a nice dinner at Joe's Crab Shack nearby.

Day Three

A cold, but sunny day. We stopped at Henry's Landing and tied up to trees while inside the walls of the first lock built on the Illinois. The broken limestone walls of the old lock gave it a nice ambiance.

Day Two

We entered the Calumet River at 8:45 and soon after asked for our first bridge lift. Going through this industrial area, we made many such requests. Though we met only a few tows (tugs pushing barges), we practiced communicating with them. Besides learning to radio bridge tenders and tow captains, we had other experiences to raise the blood pressure a little. First, we re-learned how to go through river locks. Second, we carefully passed under the lowest fixed bridge on the loop after taking down our television satellite dome in pouring rain. And third, we transited the infamous fish barrier erected near Joliet. This barrier consists of electric cables strung under water to keep Asian Carp from passing into the Great Lakes. After donning life jackets, agreeing to verbal waivers, and following coast guard instructions, we passed through the barrier without incident. After 7 1/2 hours, we docked at Harbor Side Marina, a great little place near Wilmington, IL. Complete with a nice restaurant, it was a perfect stop at the end of an eventful day.

Day One

Perfect Timing left the Grand Haven pierhead at 8:00 today, Oct. 5. We had a weather window today with 5-7' seas yesterday and 10-14' seas predicted for tomorrow night. Leaving, we had 4-6' rollers which were no problem for us. Seas subsided to 1-3's at the half-way point, and we cruised past the beautiful Chicago skyline on flat seas and with sunny skies six hours after departure. As often happens in the weeks before a major adventure, roadblocks kept popping up for us before we left. However, we figured out a way to pull the lines. We felt we deserved it. After all, October 5 is our anniversary! Our friend, Russ Sauer, joined us in our slip at Hammond Marina after flying in from Fort Myers. After dinner at the nearby casino, we hit the sack early.