I don't want anyone to get the impression that the trip was so easy that anyone could do it tomorrow. Yes, anyone can do it...but only with the proper preparation and equipment, a good amount of prior boating experience, a well-maintained boat, an attitude and appetite for adventure, and the grace of God. I have made several similar journeys between south Florida and Texas and points beyond in a previous life (20 years ago with my late husband), and I have maintained and grown in my boating knowledge and expertise over the years. Kenn has had as much boating experience as I have, although little of his had been in coastal waters until the last couple of years. He is a quick study in all things nautical, with a high regard for safety. I have never had a better boating or sailing partner.
Barney and Vickie have been boating for years as well. Barn has raced boats, offshore cigarette boats and high speed catamarans. They have also spent a lot of time in Gulf and Atlantic coastal waters with various boats they've owned.
None of us can emphasize enough that if you attempt such an adventure that you spend the time and money necessary to ascertain that your vessel is capable of completing the journey while keeping captain and crew as comfortable and safe as possible. You don't have to have the latest and greatest in electronics or equipment, but everything should be serviced and working properly with plenty of spare parts to back you up in a pinch. You should also temper your adventurous nature with a healthy dose of common sense, usually erring on the side of caution when faced with a potentially dangerous situation. Another thing, always be able to recognize danger when you see it...DRINKING AND BOATING DON'T MIX!!!! Especially this type of boating.
One thing that I can't stress enough is this: Don't always depend on your electronic GPS, radar and SATNAV equipment. For the most part they work beautifully, but the satellites that transmit information to your receivers can be turned off for civilian use in certain circumstances and without any warning to civilians. If you're going offshore, you should know how to navigate and chart a course using the same tools that Columbus used...paper charts, a magnetic compass, handheld dividers and parallel rules, a star chart and sextant for star and sun sightings. You need to be able to accurately determine a corrected course, accounting for set and drift (how winds, tidal and current movement affect your vessel's track along your desired course). To blindly depend on electronic nav equipment without knowing how to navigate the 'old way' is the height of foolishness.
Know your boat. More importantly, know your boat's limitations! If your boat has a 350 mile fuel range, don't expect it to take you and your crew over 650 miles across the Gulf in open water. If you don't have a life raft and offshore life safety gear with an EPIRB, you have no business heading out across open water in the first place. You'll have 4 to 7 days of motoring day and night to make it across, and the Gulf can toss up large squalls and intense isolated storms at a moments notice at any time of the year.
If you have a boat with only a 200-gallon fuel tank, you darned well better know EXACTLY how far the 180 usable gallons will take you, at various speeds and under most common conditions. I will guarantee you that there is some amount of fuel at the bottom of the tank that falls below the pickup point for the fuel pump. If there isn't, you'll most certainly wish it were so if your fuel pump sucks up the sludge and slime off the bottom of the tank and carries it to your engine(s). You'll get a quick lesson in changing out a fuel filter, bleeding and clearing lines when you can least afford to lose the time or your steerage and control of the boat. A stalled boat floating down the Mississippi in a 5-knot current is an accident waiting to happen, and someone will get hurt. A stalled boat offshore in a 40-knot squall with 15- to 20-foot seas means that someone will probably die. It could be you, or it could be one of your crew. You're the captain; you're as responsible for their lives as you are for your own. It isn't just a moral obligation, it's maritime law.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Schedule Update
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of good food and good times with family. After coming back home and working for the week prior to Thanksgiving, I drove down to Panama City Beach where Kenn and the Barnacle II were berthed to spend Thanksgiving week. The original plan was that Kenn and Barney, the boat owner, would continue on the journey to Fort Myers or Key West after November 26th.
We all know how the best laid plans sometimes go...Barney had a rush of business to take care of by the end of the year, so he and Vickie made the decision to leave the boat where she is until sometime after Christmas. They intend to spend a couple of weeks on her after Christmas, then plan the rest of the trip for early 2008.
All of this transpired while I was driving 800 miles to see the hubby, so I was pleasantly surprised when I got there on Saturday afternoon (17th) to hear that Kenn would be going back home with me. We were able to spend a little time sightseeing, but most of our time was spent on putting Barnacle 'to bed' so that she could survive safely in her temporary home for over a month unattended. We had a lot of time to reflect on the journey that got her there and enjoy reliving some of the highlights by looking at pictures and discussing our experiences. It was really an awesome trip.
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
We all know how the best laid plans sometimes go...Barney had a rush of business to take care of by the end of the year, so he and Vickie made the decision to leave the boat where she is until sometime after Christmas. They intend to spend a couple of weeks on her after Christmas, then plan the rest of the trip for early 2008.
All of this transpired while I was driving 800 miles to see the hubby, so I was pleasantly surprised when I got there on Saturday afternoon (17th) to hear that Kenn would be going back home with me. We were able to spend a little time sightseeing, but most of our time was spent on putting Barnacle 'to bed' so that she could survive safely in her temporary home for over a month unattended. We had a lot of time to reflect on the journey that got her there and enjoy reliving some of the highlights by looking at pictures and discussing our experiences. It was really an awesome trip.
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
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Saturday, November 10, 2007
Day 14 - Saturday, November 10th, 2007
Barnacle II Cruise Day 14 – Saturday, November 10th, 2007
Leaving Baytown Marina, Sandestin, FL
Everyone was up early drinking coffee. We decided to take another walkabout around the village to find breakfast. We were successful in our quest, and had a really good meal at the Broken Egg Café. Vickie found her Starbucks, too…so everyone was happy.
We were underway by 8:30 to Panama City, the last leg of this trip. Sometime on this excursion we’ll cross over the 1200 mile mark. That is pretty good for the leisurely run that we’ve made for the last 2 weeks. And we didn’t really hurt ourselves too badly doing it.
Between 9:30 and 10:00, we had three pods of dolphin come up to us to say ‘hello’. One containing a bull, mom and baby stayed and played in our wake for five minutes or so. Such beautiful creatures.
We left the more open water of Choctawhatchee Bay for the inland ditch again. This time the cut is 16 nautical miles long before it opens up again in the west end of St. Andrews Bay by Panama City. Then we should have another 13 or 14 miles to go to get to the slip where Barnacle will stay for two to three weeks.
We made it to Bay Pointe Marina in Panama City Beach a little after 2:00. By 2:30 we had the dinghy offloaded and the outboard motor attached. The big boat was re-secured and attached to shore power by 3:00. Vickie and I both did a load of laundry so we wouldn’t leave dirty clothes on the boat…and Kenn can keep up with his this week until I get back next Saturday.
We took a shuttle over to the Marriott to have dinner at their restaurant. The food was excellent, the bar next door was playing 70’s and 80’s disco music, but it worked in that atmosphere. A great way to cap off a wonderful two week trip.
Kenn will get started on some clean-up and scheduled maintenance on the boat this next week while the rest of us go home to work. Kenn and I owe many thanks to Barney and Vickie for this opportunity. It has been a wonderful experience, and I have gotten to revisit areas that I had seen on boat deliveries that I was a part of in the late 80’s and 90’s. A lot of the scenery is still the same, but many places have changed and grown with the times. For Kenn this has been, and continues to be, the dream of a lifetime. In Vickie's words, we pulled out of our home marina, turned left and kept going.
Leaving Baytown Marina, Sandestin, FL
Everyone was up early drinking coffee. We decided to take another walkabout around the village to find breakfast. We were successful in our quest, and had a really good meal at the Broken Egg Café. Vickie found her Starbucks, too…so everyone was happy.
We were underway by 8:30 to Panama City, the last leg of this trip. Sometime on this excursion we’ll cross over the 1200 mile mark. That is pretty good for the leisurely run that we’ve made for the last 2 weeks. And we didn’t really hurt ourselves too badly doing it.
Between 9:30 and 10:00, we had three pods of dolphin come up to us to say ‘hello’. One containing a bull, mom and baby stayed and played in our wake for five minutes or so. Such beautiful creatures.
We left the more open water of Choctawhatchee Bay for the inland ditch again. This time the cut is 16 nautical miles long before it opens up again in the west end of St. Andrews Bay by Panama City. Then we should have another 13 or 14 miles to go to get to the slip where Barnacle will stay for two to three weeks.
We made it to Bay Pointe Marina in Panama City Beach a little after 2:00. By 2:30 we had the dinghy offloaded and the outboard motor attached. The big boat was re-secured and attached to shore power by 3:00. Vickie and I both did a load of laundry so we wouldn’t leave dirty clothes on the boat…and Kenn can keep up with his this week until I get back next Saturday.
We took a shuttle over to the Marriott to have dinner at their restaurant. The food was excellent, the bar next door was playing 70’s and 80’s disco music, but it worked in that atmosphere. A great way to cap off a wonderful two week trip.
Kenn will get started on some clean-up and scheduled maintenance on the boat this next week while the rest of us go home to work. Kenn and I owe many thanks to Barney and Vickie for this opportunity. It has been a wonderful experience, and I have gotten to revisit areas that I had seen on boat deliveries that I was a part of in the late 80’s and 90’s. A lot of the scenery is still the same, but many places have changed and grown with the times. For Kenn this has been, and continues to be, the dream of a lifetime. In Vickie's words, we pulled out of our home marina, turned left and kept going.
Day 13 - Friday, November 9th, 2007
Barnacle II Cruise Day 13 – Friday, November 9th, 2007
Leaving Homeport Marina, Gulf Shores, AL
We had a wonderful night in the marina. We were awakened at 5:30 by a 55’ Viking motor yacht’s bow thrusters as he left the dock across from us. He came in from the east last night after we tied up to the fuel dock for a few minutes.
We got underway about 7:00, heading east toward Orange Beach and Perdido Bay. The beauty of the area is really making Kenn and me ‘homesick’. We swear this is where we want to retire to, just figuring out a way to make it happen is the challenging part. The real estate market has dropped some since the onslaught of hurricanes, but not enough for us to afford it yet.
Dolphins are playing with us again today. There are quite a few of them here in the ICW.
9:00 – Went under the Perdido Key Bridge. We are now in Florida.
10:00 – Passed Pensacola Lighthouse and the Naval Air Station in Pensacola Bay. We’re heading back to the inland waterway between Pensacola Beach and Santa Rosa Island. After we had crossed Pensacola Bay, we looked back west and the Blue Angels were practicing. It was a beautiful sight, but too far away for pictures.
Santa Rosa Sound was smooth as glass with no wind, a great day for power boaters but not for sailors. It was a fairly easy day compared to some of our other days. We were at the Baytown Marina in Sandestin Resorts by 3:30 and secure by 4:00.
We walked around the resort complex enjoying the sights and trying to decide where to eat dinner. After walking through the manufactured (but quaint) village around the hotel, we decided on the Marlin Grill. We had a great meal with fantastic service. It was a top-notch resort.
Leaving Homeport Marina, Gulf Shores, AL
We had a wonderful night in the marina. We were awakened at 5:30 by a 55’ Viking motor yacht’s bow thrusters as he left the dock across from us. He came in from the east last night after we tied up to the fuel dock for a few minutes.
We got underway about 7:00, heading east toward Orange Beach and Perdido Bay. The beauty of the area is really making Kenn and me ‘homesick’. We swear this is where we want to retire to, just figuring out a way to make it happen is the challenging part. The real estate market has dropped some since the onslaught of hurricanes, but not enough for us to afford it yet.
Dolphins are playing with us again today. There are quite a few of them here in the ICW.
9:00 – Went under the Perdido Key Bridge. We are now in Florida.
10:00 – Passed Pensacola Lighthouse and the Naval Air Station in Pensacola Bay. We’re heading back to the inland waterway between Pensacola Beach and Santa Rosa Island. After we had crossed Pensacola Bay, we looked back west and the Blue Angels were practicing. It was a beautiful sight, but too far away for pictures.
Santa Rosa Sound was smooth as glass with no wind, a great day for power boaters but not for sailors. It was a fairly easy day compared to some of our other days. We were at the Baytown Marina in Sandestin Resorts by 3:30 and secure by 4:00.
We walked around the resort complex enjoying the sights and trying to decide where to eat dinner. After walking through the manufactured (but quaint) village around the hotel, we decided on the Marlin Grill. We had a great meal with fantastic service. It was a top-notch resort.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Day 12 - Thursday, November 8th, 2007
Barnacle II Cruise Day 12 – Thursday, November 8th, 2007
Leaving Point Cadet Marina, Biloxi, MS
Everyone was up and drinking coffee by 6:30…that is, except me. The coffee smelled wonderful, but I didn’t want to chance it first thing. So I had a granola bar and water while everyone else had Krispy Kremes.
The morning routine of oil checks, engine checks, etc. went without a hitch. Because of some of the trash we’ve seen in the port fuel tank, Barney & Kenn decided to replace the fuel filter on the generator. It hasn’t hiccupped at all, but it would be a good thing to make sure it does keep running well.
We backed up to the fuel dock and refueled. We found a beautiful old boat that looks a lot like what J-Mar’s should when he gets done with his. We thought it was an Egg Harbor since it had the plywood superstructure, but it was a Norseman. I hadn’t thought about those boats for years. This one was freshly painted with an aqua hull and deeper blue ‘fish hook’ painted insets on the sides. I made pictures in case he wants to drool.
We were underway and back out to the ship channel by 9:00 AM, on our way back out into the big water to pick up the ICW again. It will turn back inland between the mainland and barrier islands at Mobile Bay. Our plan is to at least get to Lulu’s and Homeport Marina in Foley/Gulf Shores, AL. That’s where Kenn and I consider our second home, and we’re familiar with the water from there to Pensacola, since we try to vacation there at least once a year. And Lulu’s has the best key lime pie this side of Key West.
If daylight allows us, we may go on another 10 miles to Bear Point Marina in Orange Beach. With the slowdown in the narrower channel, I think we will be pushing it to try to make it that far before dark.
Kenn went down in the engine room to check everything out after running for awhile. He came back to the helm with this big grin on his face. He said, “You’re not going to believe it, but we’ve got minnows swimming in the sea-strainers.” I wanted to get a picture but they were moving too fast to do it. They were just small enough to get sucked into the water inlet under the boat, but the strainer traps them from going into the engine cooling system.
As we were navigating back into the ICW, we were overtaking a tow boat and barges out of Little Rock, AR, the Rachel Marie. He’s a long way from home.
1:00 – Coming into Mobile Bay behind Dauphin Island, we had several pods of dolphin come to meet us and play in our wake. We could almost orchestrate their moves and jumps by waving at them, or at least we could anticipate their actions. When they would sidle up next to the back of the boat, they would turn to one side and start watching us. When Kenn would raise his hand, they would start breaking the surface. Then they would dive deep, come up and jump out of the water. We had three adults and one juvenile that followed the boat and played with us for at least 15 minutes.
Thank God for digital cameras. I was only burning up space on my card and my battery pack, but I shot over 100 frames. In previewing them, only half a dozen or so turned out the way I wanted.
We’re now seeing some familiar landmarks. Fort Morgan on the west end of the barrier island that contains Gulf Shores and Orange Beach on its east end. We’ll go into the enclosed ICW on the south side of Plash Island where some friends own some property.
At 2:30, we saw another pod of dolphins. They came up and played off the port stern this time. One of the guys looked like he had been in a bar fight. He had a notch out of the top of his dorsal fin and the back edge of it looked a little chewed up. So it was probably a bull that had been in a couple of territorial fights. Again, if you waved at them, they saw it and hammed it up for us even more. I had almost forgotten how playful they are.
We got to Homeport Marina at Gulf Shores at 4:15; we were secured in our slip for the night at 5:30, and over at Lulu’s (Lucy Buffett’s restaurant) by 6:00. Wonderful food, including key lime pie, and great music. The marina has full floating slips, so we don’t have to adjust our lines for tides. It’s good to be back in our home territory, and Barney and Vickie seem to like it as well. It’s been another wonderful day of boating.
Leaving Point Cadet Marina, Biloxi, MS
Everyone was up and drinking coffee by 6:30…that is, except me. The coffee smelled wonderful, but I didn’t want to chance it first thing. So I had a granola bar and water while everyone else had Krispy Kremes.
The morning routine of oil checks, engine checks, etc. went without a hitch. Because of some of the trash we’ve seen in the port fuel tank, Barney & Kenn decided to replace the fuel filter on the generator. It hasn’t hiccupped at all, but it would be a good thing to make sure it does keep running well.
We backed up to the fuel dock and refueled. We found a beautiful old boat that looks a lot like what J-Mar’s should when he gets done with his. We thought it was an Egg Harbor since it had the plywood superstructure, but it was a Norseman. I hadn’t thought about those boats for years. This one was freshly painted with an aqua hull and deeper blue ‘fish hook’ painted insets on the sides. I made pictures in case he wants to drool.
We were underway and back out to the ship channel by 9:00 AM, on our way back out into the big water to pick up the ICW again. It will turn back inland between the mainland and barrier islands at Mobile Bay. Our plan is to at least get to Lulu’s and Homeport Marina in Foley/Gulf Shores, AL. That’s where Kenn and I consider our second home, and we’re familiar with the water from there to Pensacola, since we try to vacation there at least once a year. And Lulu’s has the best key lime pie this side of Key West.
If daylight allows us, we may go on another 10 miles to Bear Point Marina in Orange Beach. With the slowdown in the narrower channel, I think we will be pushing it to try to make it that far before dark.
Kenn went down in the engine room to check everything out after running for awhile. He came back to the helm with this big grin on his face. He said, “You’re not going to believe it, but we’ve got minnows swimming in the sea-strainers.” I wanted to get a picture but they were moving too fast to do it. They were just small enough to get sucked into the water inlet under the boat, but the strainer traps them from going into the engine cooling system.
As we were navigating back into the ICW, we were overtaking a tow boat and barges out of Little Rock, AR, the Rachel Marie. He’s a long way from home.
1:00 – Coming into Mobile Bay behind Dauphin Island, we had several pods of dolphin come to meet us and play in our wake. We could almost orchestrate their moves and jumps by waving at them, or at least we could anticipate their actions. When they would sidle up next to the back of the boat, they would turn to one side and start watching us. When Kenn would raise his hand, they would start breaking the surface. Then they would dive deep, come up and jump out of the water. We had three adults and one juvenile that followed the boat and played with us for at least 15 minutes.
Thank God for digital cameras. I was only burning up space on my card and my battery pack, but I shot over 100 frames. In previewing them, only half a dozen or so turned out the way I wanted.
We’re now seeing some familiar landmarks. Fort Morgan on the west end of the barrier island that contains Gulf Shores and Orange Beach on its east end. We’ll go into the enclosed ICW on the south side of Plash Island where some friends own some property.
At 2:30, we saw another pod of dolphins. They came up and played off the port stern this time. One of the guys looked like he had been in a bar fight. He had a notch out of the top of his dorsal fin and the back edge of it looked a little chewed up. So it was probably a bull that had been in a couple of territorial fights. Again, if you waved at them, they saw it and hammed it up for us even more. I had almost forgotten how playful they are.
We got to Homeport Marina at Gulf Shores at 4:15; we were secured in our slip for the night at 5:30, and over at Lulu’s (Lucy Buffett’s restaurant) by 6:00. Wonderful food, including key lime pie, and great music. The marina has full floating slips, so we don’t have to adjust our lines for tides. It’s good to be back in our home territory, and Barney and Vickie seem to like it as well. It’s been another wonderful day of boating.
Day 11 - Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
Barnacle II Cruise Day 11 – Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
Leaving Orleans Marina, Lake Pontchartrain, LA
I spent a sleepless night feeling ill after we got back from dinner yesterday evening, heartburn and just a general sick feeling. I gave into it at 4:30 this morning, or rather, it caught up with me. Little did I know that the same thing was happening to Vickie. The only thing we had in common at our meal last night was the salad dressing, and that was what was haunting me as the possible problem. So far the Immodium and Pepto Bismol hasn’t helped too much. The most relief I had was when Barney was running through 4’ to 5’ seas on Lake Pontchartrain to get us back to the Industrial Canal. I was finally able to throw up, which is usually what I try to avoid at all costs.
The boys left us alone in our misery and went out to breakfast. If I had smelled food, I don’t know what might have happened. I’m trying to keep fluids in me, so I should be OK.
We left the marina at 8:30 and got to the mouth of the Industrial Canal about 30 minutes later. We sat and waited on a train to go over the bascule bridge, expecting the bridge tender to open it, since it remains in that position most of the time. It took nearly an hour of calling on channels 13 and 16 to get him to respond.
The weather has turned off very cool, predicted high for today of 65, low in the 40’s. There went the shorts weather. But it’s sunny and a gorgeous day.
We made it out to the Rigolets where the ICW is met by the cut from Pontchartrain at noon. That is just east of Slidell, LA. Then we made a slight course adjustment and went out into the open water of the Gulf at Long Pass. We’ll run almost parallel to the shoreline until we pick up the pass in Mississippi Sound that will take us up to Biloxi. We are still within sight of land and should be for most of the way since we have such a clear day.
At 1:20, Vickie alerted us to something at the back of the boat. She had heard a slapping sound a few times, and then realized what it was. We were visited by 3 dolphins playing in our wake behind the boat. They were jumping, tail slapping and waving at us with one fin, knowing full well that we were watching them. I snapped several pictures and some of them should be pretty good.
In one of the engine room checks, Kenn saw that we had more crud floating around in the fuel filter system. So he replaced the fuel filters while underway again without the engines missing a stroke. That system works out so sweetly. Good planning, Barney!
The seas out here in open water are 1’ to 1.5’, not bad for a stalled cold front and really mild as far as my experiences with the Gulf of Mexico go. We were still making our way across Mississippi Sound at sunset (5:10), with our ETA to the marina at 6:00 PM. We had to navigate the alternate channel behind Deer Island in the dark, but we made it with no incidences.
The dolphins joined us for a few more minutes after sunset. They’re such a joy to watch, and so intelligent looking that you just know there is an old soul in that beautiful body. How or why else could they get or give such enjoyment out of their interactions with people. You really can see the intelligence in their eyes as they cavort and play, and they are such little show-offs. Kenn was like a little kid every time the dolphins came around. Barn and Vic and I have been visited by them several times in the past, but this was the closest that Kenn had ever been to them. Even though I wasn’t at my best to fully enjoy it, God gave us a glorious day out on the water, blessing us with the visits from the dolphins and a beautiful sunset.
It turns out that Point Cadet Marina is the old Biloxi City Marina where our old friend Marlin Berry used to live aboard his sailboat. We had visited him here a few times before his death in 2004. Even this far past Katrina, the marina still has no power on the boat docks. But the casinos are back up and running in full swing. There are just no conveniences anywhere around…grocery store, convenience stores, etc. Talk about misplaced priorities!
Once the boat was secure, Barney and Vickie went ashore to eat. Kenn stayed aboard with me and had leftovers. I ate a couple of crackers, drank some 7-Up, showered and went to bed. I don’t feel sick anymore, just wiped out and no energy.
Leaving Orleans Marina, Lake Pontchartrain, LA
I spent a sleepless night feeling ill after we got back from dinner yesterday evening, heartburn and just a general sick feeling. I gave into it at 4:30 this morning, or rather, it caught up with me. Little did I know that the same thing was happening to Vickie. The only thing we had in common at our meal last night was the salad dressing, and that was what was haunting me as the possible problem. So far the Immodium and Pepto Bismol hasn’t helped too much. The most relief I had was when Barney was running through 4’ to 5’ seas on Lake Pontchartrain to get us back to the Industrial Canal. I was finally able to throw up, which is usually what I try to avoid at all costs.
The boys left us alone in our misery and went out to breakfast. If I had smelled food, I don’t know what might have happened. I’m trying to keep fluids in me, so I should be OK.
We left the marina at 8:30 and got to the mouth of the Industrial Canal about 30 minutes later. We sat and waited on a train to go over the bascule bridge, expecting the bridge tender to open it, since it remains in that position most of the time. It took nearly an hour of calling on channels 13 and 16 to get him to respond.
The weather has turned off very cool, predicted high for today of 65, low in the 40’s. There went the shorts weather. But it’s sunny and a gorgeous day.
We made it out to the Rigolets where the ICW is met by the cut from Pontchartrain at noon. That is just east of Slidell, LA. Then we made a slight course adjustment and went out into the open water of the Gulf at Long Pass. We’ll run almost parallel to the shoreline until we pick up the pass in Mississippi Sound that will take us up to Biloxi. We are still within sight of land and should be for most of the way since we have such a clear day.
At 1:20, Vickie alerted us to something at the back of the boat. She had heard a slapping sound a few times, and then realized what it was. We were visited by 3 dolphins playing in our wake behind the boat. They were jumping, tail slapping and waving at us with one fin, knowing full well that we were watching them. I snapped several pictures and some of them should be pretty good.
In one of the engine room checks, Kenn saw that we had more crud floating around in the fuel filter system. So he replaced the fuel filters while underway again without the engines missing a stroke. That system works out so sweetly. Good planning, Barney!
The seas out here in open water are 1’ to 1.5’, not bad for a stalled cold front and really mild as far as my experiences with the Gulf of Mexico go. We were still making our way across Mississippi Sound at sunset (5:10), with our ETA to the marina at 6:00 PM. We had to navigate the alternate channel behind Deer Island in the dark, but we made it with no incidences.
The dolphins joined us for a few more minutes after sunset. They’re such a joy to watch, and so intelligent looking that you just know there is an old soul in that beautiful body. How or why else could they get or give such enjoyment out of their interactions with people. You really can see the intelligence in their eyes as they cavort and play, and they are such little show-offs. Kenn was like a little kid every time the dolphins came around. Barn and Vic and I have been visited by them several times in the past, but this was the closest that Kenn had ever been to them. Even though I wasn’t at my best to fully enjoy it, God gave us a glorious day out on the water, blessing us with the visits from the dolphins and a beautiful sunset.
It turns out that Point Cadet Marina is the old Biloxi City Marina where our old friend Marlin Berry used to live aboard his sailboat. We had visited him here a few times before his death in 2004. Even this far past Katrina, the marina still has no power on the boat docks. But the casinos are back up and running in full swing. There are just no conveniences anywhere around…grocery store, convenience stores, etc. Talk about misplaced priorities!
Once the boat was secure, Barney and Vickie went ashore to eat. Kenn stayed aboard with me and had leftovers. I ate a couple of crackers, drank some 7-Up, showered and went to bed. I don’t feel sick anymore, just wiped out and no energy.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Day 10A - Tuesday, November 6th, 2007
Barnacle II No Cruise Day 10A – Tuesday, November 6th, 2007
Orleans Marina, Lake Pontchartrain
We took the day off…yeah, right! Vickie and I did laundry from 9:00 to 3:00, then we had some other work to do in between wash loads. Plus we were each able to take a shower on land today with all of the hot water we wanted, and it didn’t have to be a Navy shower (wet down, turn off water, lather up and soak for a minute, turn water back on and rinse). I even had enough room to shave my legs without being half in and half out of the shower. Ahhh, luxurious! Just another one of life’s simple pleasures.
I had to do some banking and bill paying online and by cell phone; Vickie was really doing some office work, too. It’s amazing what can be done remotely now. Cell phones and computers seem to be necessities in our lives instead of conveniences anymore. It just isn’t quite the same as Mark Twain’s world in “Life On The Mississippi”.
The boys are doing minor boat projects after having a man-date at West Marine this morning. Give either one of them boat parts of any kind and they’re like little boys with new toys.
Beautiful weather today. We've gone the entire trip without any rain whatsoever. We're now in a climate where we don't have to wear our long pants with silkies underneath. Heck, it's warm enough in the daytime for short sleeves, capris or shorts and a light jacket at night. Ideal weather.
OK, back to the grind and some really familiar territory for me tomorrow, even thought it's been more than 18 years since I've traveled the ICW from Houston to Ft. Lauderdale and back several times. I'm looking forward to doing it again.
Orleans Marina, Lake Pontchartrain
We took the day off…yeah, right! Vickie and I did laundry from 9:00 to 3:00, then we had some other work to do in between wash loads. Plus we were each able to take a shower on land today with all of the hot water we wanted, and it didn’t have to be a Navy shower (wet down, turn off water, lather up and soak for a minute, turn water back on and rinse). I even had enough room to shave my legs without being half in and half out of the shower. Ahhh, luxurious! Just another one of life’s simple pleasures.
I had to do some banking and bill paying online and by cell phone; Vickie was really doing some office work, too. It’s amazing what can be done remotely now. Cell phones and computers seem to be necessities in our lives instead of conveniences anymore. It just isn’t quite the same as Mark Twain’s world in “Life On The Mississippi”.
The boys are doing minor boat projects after having a man-date at West Marine this morning. Give either one of them boat parts of any kind and they’re like little boys with new toys.
Beautiful weather today. We've gone the entire trip without any rain whatsoever. We're now in a climate where we don't have to wear our long pants with silkies underneath. Heck, it's warm enough in the daytime for short sleeves, capris or shorts and a light jacket at night. Ideal weather.
OK, back to the grind and some really familiar territory for me tomorrow, even thought it's been more than 18 years since I've traveled the ICW from Houston to Ft. Lauderdale and back several times. I'm looking forward to doing it again.
Day 10 - Monday, November 5th, 2007
Barnacle II Cruise Day 10 – Monday, November 5th, 2007
Leaving Bayou Goula Towhead Anchorage
We were awake at 5:00, Barney cranked the generator to heat water and start the coffee. We were really fogged in so we had a breakfast of pancakes and bacon. I was also able to get our lunch put together before we pulled anchor. Tuna salad was made and put in the refrigerator. We had time to visit for awhile and talk about our plan of attack for the next few days.
Barney is going to have to come back home with Vickie and me next Sunday. We’ll probably fly out of Panama City to Fort Smith. They’ll drive back to Oklahoma City from the marina, and I’ll get Kenn’s truck home. They have a couple of board meetings to prepare for and I’ve got to go back to work next Monday.
Our anchorage was really nice. It was quiet and had very little current coming through. We also felt very little of the wakes from the tows and barges passing outside the island. Of course, the fog bank came in sometime during the night, so the tows ran to the banks with their barges and holed up for the night.
I was able to get caught up on postings to the blog and answer a few emails. I had a full 4 bars on my broadband signal with Alltel; Vickie only had one bar with AT&T. It was the strongest signal I’ve had on the Mississippi, if I had signal at all.
We got underway at 9:00 AM, three hours later than we intended. It was still really foggy, but the sun was burning it off quickly. Barney was on radar while Kenn, Vickie and I were sighting the buoys, barges and ships through the fog. We were in the clear by 9:30 and running at our normal 1500 RPM. The barge and ship traffic was a lot thicker because they had been hindered by the fog, too. It took awhile to navigate around and stay clear of them. By the time we made it to Donaldsonville, we were around most of them, and traffic had cleared out a lot. For all of our trying, it still looks like it will be 6:00 this evening before we get to the Industrial Canal Lock in New Orleans, and we’ll be stacked up for 3 hours waiting on the barge traffic to clear through. Then maybe we can get to the marina by midnight. Then again, the Lord could be smiling on us and we won’t have a wait at all.
Mile 172 – saw a depth of 111 ft. in the bend of the river.
Noon – Mile 156: Rounding College Point, 60 miles north of New Orleans. We might make it to the lock before it closes at 3:30 for rush hour. If so, it will be mighty close.
Mile 155 – saw a depth of 130 ft. in another bend in the river.
At 1:00 we were slowed down by a fuel filter problem. Barney took over the helm while Kenn and I went to the engine room to switch over to the parallels and replace the primary filters for port and starboard engines. Barney brought her down to 1000 RPMs; we put our ear muffs on and I handed Kenn supplies while he drained the bowls and pulled out the old filters. We had particles in the bowls as big as my thumbnail mixed in with the diesel. It only took us 15 minutes to do the replacements, reprime the filters and switch back to the primaries without even so much as a sputter from either engine.
We’ve had rough water around some of the barges and ships, so we’ve sloshed fuel around in the tanks and broke up some of the sludge on the sides and bottom of the fuel tanks. Then filling up from the fuel barge with their high pressure system, we probably knocked some nasty stuff loose. This was the first fuel filter change on the trip, so I think we’re doing well.
When we get tied up to the dock tonight, the plan is to run the Algae-X and fuel polishing system to strain out the big stuff. But we have an abundance of fuel filters if we need them, too.
Well, we made it through the last 40 miles of barges, ships, tugs and tows that were stuffed in the river bow to stern, everyone maneuvering in tight quarters. We got to the Industrial Canal lock at 5:00 PM, missing our original mark of 3:00 because of a 3 hour fog delay and the 30 minute fuel filter replacement relay race.
The canal lock reopened after rush hour at 5:40; the locked-in tow and barges came out, a single tow and barge went in, a smaller tow, then us. We locked through in 25 minutes or so, made it through the channel into the Pontchartrain and over to the marina by 8:30. Kenn yelled from the bow of the boat that he smelled seafood as soon as we turned out of the canal. As luck would have it, our marina happened to be behind a Landry’s Seafood Restaurant.
After we got the boat buttoned up, we found the way to Landrys. We asked our waiter to make the building stop moving, and he was doing this annoying little side to side motion while we were placing our orders, too. (We hadn’t set foot on solid land since last Friday night at Greenville.) We barely made it through dinner without getting sea (land?) sick. Actually, the food was wonderful…it was the walk back to the boat on full stomachs that nearly got us.
We made a great decision while at dinner…take the day off tomorrow and enjoy a bit of relaxation. We’ve got to do laundry and boat clean-up, but we’ll have some time to play, too. Then we’ll pick back up on our journey on Wednesday. We didn’t really have it in our plans to get to New Orleans until tomorrow anyway. That was just a silly little itinerary that Vickie and I came up with to turn over to insurance; who knew that it would actually work out close to a doable plan.
We’re all tired and really could use a break, so this works out well. Today was pretty rough as far as our stress levels went, but we’ve had a wonderful trip to this point. 900 miles on a boat that had probably never gone more than twenty miles in one day until it became Barn and Vic’s.
Leaving Bayou Goula Towhead Anchorage
We were awake at 5:00, Barney cranked the generator to heat water and start the coffee. We were really fogged in so we had a breakfast of pancakes and bacon. I was also able to get our lunch put together before we pulled anchor. Tuna salad was made and put in the refrigerator. We had time to visit for awhile and talk about our plan of attack for the next few days.
Barney is going to have to come back home with Vickie and me next Sunday. We’ll probably fly out of Panama City to Fort Smith. They’ll drive back to Oklahoma City from the marina, and I’ll get Kenn’s truck home. They have a couple of board meetings to prepare for and I’ve got to go back to work next Monday.
Our anchorage was really nice. It was quiet and had very little current coming through. We also felt very little of the wakes from the tows and barges passing outside the island. Of course, the fog bank came in sometime during the night, so the tows ran to the banks with their barges and holed up for the night.
I was able to get caught up on postings to the blog and answer a few emails. I had a full 4 bars on my broadband signal with Alltel; Vickie only had one bar with AT&T. It was the strongest signal I’ve had on the Mississippi, if I had signal at all.
We got underway at 9:00 AM, three hours later than we intended. It was still really foggy, but the sun was burning it off quickly. Barney was on radar while Kenn, Vickie and I were sighting the buoys, barges and ships through the fog. We were in the clear by 9:30 and running at our normal 1500 RPM. The barge and ship traffic was a lot thicker because they had been hindered by the fog, too. It took awhile to navigate around and stay clear of them. By the time we made it to Donaldsonville, we were around most of them, and traffic had cleared out a lot. For all of our trying, it still looks like it will be 6:00 this evening before we get to the Industrial Canal Lock in New Orleans, and we’ll be stacked up for 3 hours waiting on the barge traffic to clear through. Then maybe we can get to the marina by midnight. Then again, the Lord could be smiling on us and we won’t have a wait at all.
Mile 172 – saw a depth of 111 ft. in the bend of the river.
Noon – Mile 156: Rounding College Point, 60 miles north of New Orleans. We might make it to the lock before it closes at 3:30 for rush hour. If so, it will be mighty close.
Mile 155 – saw a depth of 130 ft. in another bend in the river.
At 1:00 we were slowed down by a fuel filter problem. Barney took over the helm while Kenn and I went to the engine room to switch over to the parallels and replace the primary filters for port and starboard engines. Barney brought her down to 1000 RPMs; we put our ear muffs on and I handed Kenn supplies while he drained the bowls and pulled out the old filters. We had particles in the bowls as big as my thumbnail mixed in with the diesel. It only took us 15 minutes to do the replacements, reprime the filters and switch back to the primaries without even so much as a sputter from either engine.
We’ve had rough water around some of the barges and ships, so we’ve sloshed fuel around in the tanks and broke up some of the sludge on the sides and bottom of the fuel tanks. Then filling up from the fuel barge with their high pressure system, we probably knocked some nasty stuff loose. This was the first fuel filter change on the trip, so I think we’re doing well.
When we get tied up to the dock tonight, the plan is to run the Algae-X and fuel polishing system to strain out the big stuff. But we have an abundance of fuel filters if we need them, too.
Well, we made it through the last 40 miles of barges, ships, tugs and tows that were stuffed in the river bow to stern, everyone maneuvering in tight quarters. We got to the Industrial Canal lock at 5:00 PM, missing our original mark of 3:00 because of a 3 hour fog delay and the 30 minute fuel filter replacement relay race.
The canal lock reopened after rush hour at 5:40; the locked-in tow and barges came out, a single tow and barge went in, a smaller tow, then us. We locked through in 25 minutes or so, made it through the channel into the Pontchartrain and over to the marina by 8:30. Kenn yelled from the bow of the boat that he smelled seafood as soon as we turned out of the canal. As luck would have it, our marina happened to be behind a Landry’s Seafood Restaurant.
After we got the boat buttoned up, we found the way to Landrys. We asked our waiter to make the building stop moving, and he was doing this annoying little side to side motion while we were placing our orders, too. (We hadn’t set foot on solid land since last Friday night at Greenville.) We barely made it through dinner without getting sea (land?) sick. Actually, the food was wonderful…it was the walk back to the boat on full stomachs that nearly got us.
We made a great decision while at dinner…take the day off tomorrow and enjoy a bit of relaxation. We’ve got to do laundry and boat clean-up, but we’ll have some time to play, too. Then we’ll pick back up on our journey on Wednesday. We didn’t really have it in our plans to get to New Orleans until tomorrow anyway. That was just a silly little itinerary that Vickie and I came up with to turn over to insurance; who knew that it would actually work out close to a doable plan.
We’re all tired and really could use a break, so this works out well. Today was pretty rough as far as our stress levels went, but we’ve had a wonderful trip to this point. 900 miles on a boat that had probably never gone more than twenty miles in one day until it became Barn and Vic’s.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Day 9 - Sunday, November 4th, 2007
Barnacle II Cruise Day 9 – Sunday, November 4th, 2007
Leaving Carr Cutoff mooring area
We had a good night at anchor last night. The lock on the other side of the land barrier woke each of us up at least one time during the night. Every couple of hours or so a tow would come through to the lock. So the lock’s horn would sound, the tows spotlight would sweep and its horn would sound. Depending on which way our boat was swinging from the anchor, either Barn & Vic or Kenn & I would be clipped by the spotlight. But still it was one of the best nights we’ve had at anchor.
Based on switching back to standard time this morning, we were all awake at 5:15 and running through our morning routine of coffee, engine checks, fuel tank checks, etc. We had a 2-ft. layer of fog on the water in our anchorage, but motored out of it back into the Mississippi at 6:00.
When we got out to the river channel, we were socked in by full fog. Barney went on full instruments with radar, while Kenn and I verified everything visually. There were times we only had 50 feet of visibility. The fog had lifted almost completely by 7:30. There was a little residual haze left, but with the sun shining brightly, it would burn off fast.
We’re starting to see a few houses along the east bank here and there…the first we’ve seen since Natchez, 85 miles back.
We had bumped up our speed by 200 RPM yesterday and burned a lot more fuel. In actuality, we only gained .5 knot per hour, so it wasn’t worth the fuel we spent. Seems the best efficiency is at 1400 RPM, averaging 12 knots. We only lose 4 to 4.5 nautical miles a day, which we have enough daylight to make up for. The boat has a better feel at this speed; it doesn’t feel like she’s straining and everything is much quieter.
Mile 270.5 – Marked on the GPS chart as Cajun Condos…it was 2 huge multi-story grain bins converted into housing. Part of one bin had been cut away for a garage with an inset deck above it. Too cool for words. Got lots of pictures, so maybe I can upload a good one to the blog site when I get good signal again.
10:30 – 25 miles upriver from Baton Rouge at Profit Island Cutoff. We should be at the fuel dock by 1:00 PM. They have water and trash pickup there, too. We were down to ¼ tank of water this morning, so we’ve been conserving with our dishwashing, clean-up, etc.
We think we can still make over 100 miles today, even with stopping and refueling. Hopefully, that will be the case. We need all the help we can get tomorrow to get to New Orleans and through the Industrial Canal lock by 4:30 when they close it for 2 hours for rush hour traffic over the Bascule (lift) bridge.
12:30 – Tied up at a fuel barge in Baton Rouge, 2.5 miles below the I-10 bridge. They have ice, so we took heavy garbage bags up on shore to scoop ice out of their ice maker. Vickie and I will have cold water now until we get to New Orleans tomorrow night.
We were treated well by the ‘tank man’, a gracious young black man by the name of Lionel. He tossed us a Sunday paper to read at anchor tonight. We refilled the water tank with a fire hose, which didn’t take too long, but we brought the river level up a foot or two with the overflow.
Lionel gave us a tour of the pushboat attached to the fuel barge. They have a small office for paperwork (with an X-box if they get bored), the engine room, bathroom with full shower, full kitchen with a huge chest freezer, a 27” flat screen (where he was watching the Saints and the Jags when we pulled up). He said he pulls seven 12-hour shifts, then he’s off 4 days, alternating days and nights after each 7-day shift week. When he’s on nights, he sometimes never gets a customer, so he can catch some sleep. He has a 9-month old boy that he was showing us pictures of, and he had just come back from a week-long cruise to Cozumel with this wife. He said that was the only time he would ever do that since it felt so much like work to him.
We were back in the channel at 2:00, and had confirmed a couple of places where we could possibly anchor tonight. Two were ones that I had spotted as possibilities in reviewing the charts last night, and they will all be within 100 miles of New Orleans which will help with tomorrow’s run.
The river is turning into what I thought it would be between Baton Rouge and New Orleans…very, very busy. There are pushboats and barges, tows and cargo ships everywhere. All of the captains and river pilots that we’ve talked to today have been friendly. A pilot on one of the cargo ships even knew where Applegate Cove and Sallisaw, OK were located. He said that he had family in eastern Oklahoma. As we passed on the ‘two-whistle’ (starboard to starboard, or driving on the left as in England), he walked out of the bridge deck and waved at us from about 20 stories up.
By 4:30 we were anchored securely in a cut-off from the Mississippi River channel, behind an island called Bayou Goula Towhead. We are at approximately mile 195 on the river system. The lock at the entrance of the Industrial Canal in New Orleans is at mile 93. Based on how far we traveled today, if we get our anchor up and leave this cut by full daylight, we should get to the lock between 1:00 and 2:00 tomorrow afternoon.
We’ve got a 1 knot current in the chute, which is better than the 4 knots or so in the river. It’s enough to hold the boat straight behind the anchor without setting a stern hook. The wind would have to come out of the southwest at a steady clip to even move us around on the hook, and it couldn’t dislodge us from the anchor as well as it’s set. The drawback is that we’ve got a haze & smoke in the air from farmers burning off cane fields, pulp mills and other manufacturing plants.
We’ve checked the anchor several times since dark and everything is holding as expected. We’re waiting on Barney’s steaks, then we’ll all make it an early night. The time change has worked a number on all of us today.
Leaving Carr Cutoff mooring area
We had a good night at anchor last night. The lock on the other side of the land barrier woke each of us up at least one time during the night. Every couple of hours or so a tow would come through to the lock. So the lock’s horn would sound, the tows spotlight would sweep and its horn would sound. Depending on which way our boat was swinging from the anchor, either Barn & Vic or Kenn & I would be clipped by the spotlight. But still it was one of the best nights we’ve had at anchor.
Based on switching back to standard time this morning, we were all awake at 5:15 and running through our morning routine of coffee, engine checks, fuel tank checks, etc. We had a 2-ft. layer of fog on the water in our anchorage, but motored out of it back into the Mississippi at 6:00.
When we got out to the river channel, we were socked in by full fog. Barney went on full instruments with radar, while Kenn and I verified everything visually. There were times we only had 50 feet of visibility. The fog had lifted almost completely by 7:30. There was a little residual haze left, but with the sun shining brightly, it would burn off fast.
We’re starting to see a few houses along the east bank here and there…the first we’ve seen since Natchez, 85 miles back.
We had bumped up our speed by 200 RPM yesterday and burned a lot more fuel. In actuality, we only gained .5 knot per hour, so it wasn’t worth the fuel we spent. Seems the best efficiency is at 1400 RPM, averaging 12 knots. We only lose 4 to 4.5 nautical miles a day, which we have enough daylight to make up for. The boat has a better feel at this speed; it doesn’t feel like she’s straining and everything is much quieter.
Mile 270.5 – Marked on the GPS chart as Cajun Condos…it was 2 huge multi-story grain bins converted into housing. Part of one bin had been cut away for a garage with an inset deck above it. Too cool for words. Got lots of pictures, so maybe I can upload a good one to the blog site when I get good signal again.
10:30 – 25 miles upriver from Baton Rouge at Profit Island Cutoff. We should be at the fuel dock by 1:00 PM. They have water and trash pickup there, too. We were down to ¼ tank of water this morning, so we’ve been conserving with our dishwashing, clean-up, etc.
We think we can still make over 100 miles today, even with stopping and refueling. Hopefully, that will be the case. We need all the help we can get tomorrow to get to New Orleans and through the Industrial Canal lock by 4:30 when they close it for 2 hours for rush hour traffic over the Bascule (lift) bridge.
12:30 – Tied up at a fuel barge in Baton Rouge, 2.5 miles below the I-10 bridge. They have ice, so we took heavy garbage bags up on shore to scoop ice out of their ice maker. Vickie and I will have cold water now until we get to New Orleans tomorrow night.
We were treated well by the ‘tank man’, a gracious young black man by the name of Lionel. He tossed us a Sunday paper to read at anchor tonight. We refilled the water tank with a fire hose, which didn’t take too long, but we brought the river level up a foot or two with the overflow.
Lionel gave us a tour of the pushboat attached to the fuel barge. They have a small office for paperwork (with an X-box if they get bored), the engine room, bathroom with full shower, full kitchen with a huge chest freezer, a 27” flat screen (where he was watching the Saints and the Jags when we pulled up). He said he pulls seven 12-hour shifts, then he’s off 4 days, alternating days and nights after each 7-day shift week. When he’s on nights, he sometimes never gets a customer, so he can catch some sleep. He has a 9-month old boy that he was showing us pictures of, and he had just come back from a week-long cruise to Cozumel with this wife. He said that was the only time he would ever do that since it felt so much like work to him.
We were back in the channel at 2:00, and had confirmed a couple of places where we could possibly anchor tonight. Two were ones that I had spotted as possibilities in reviewing the charts last night, and they will all be within 100 miles of New Orleans which will help with tomorrow’s run.
The river is turning into what I thought it would be between Baton Rouge and New Orleans…very, very busy. There are pushboats and barges, tows and cargo ships everywhere. All of the captains and river pilots that we’ve talked to today have been friendly. A pilot on one of the cargo ships even knew where Applegate Cove and Sallisaw, OK were located. He said that he had family in eastern Oklahoma. As we passed on the ‘two-whistle’ (starboard to starboard, or driving on the left as in England), he walked out of the bridge deck and waved at us from about 20 stories up.
By 4:30 we were anchored securely in a cut-off from the Mississippi River channel, behind an island called Bayou Goula Towhead. We are at approximately mile 195 on the river system. The lock at the entrance of the Industrial Canal in New Orleans is at mile 93. Based on how far we traveled today, if we get our anchor up and leave this cut by full daylight, we should get to the lock between 1:00 and 2:00 tomorrow afternoon.
We’ve got a 1 knot current in the chute, which is better than the 4 knots or so in the river. It’s enough to hold the boat straight behind the anchor without setting a stern hook. The wind would have to come out of the southwest at a steady clip to even move us around on the hook, and it couldn’t dislodge us from the anchor as well as it’s set. The drawback is that we’ve got a haze & smoke in the air from farmers burning off cane fields, pulp mills and other manufacturing plants.
We’ve checked the anchor several times since dark and everything is holding as expected. We’re waiting on Barney’s steaks, then we’ll all make it an early night. The time change has worked a number on all of us today.
Day 8 - Saturday, November 3rd, 2007
Barnacle II Cruise Day 8 – Saturday, November 3rd, 2007
Leaving Yazoo River anchorage at Vicksburg, MS
We were up at 5:30 and cranked the generator, then started coffee. We were awakened several times during the night by crewboat traffic and a couple of small tows. We also must have been anchored close to the hospital since we heard sirens several times during the night. Then at 2:00 AM, the strangest whistle/horn I ever heard blasted all of us awake, except Kenn. It sounded like a towboat tied up next to us, but it was a train up on the bank. I didn’t think I would ever get back to sleep, but finally did. I still don’t know what kind of whistle he had, nothing like a standard, lonesome sounding train whistle.
Boy, were the anchors set! Kenn couldn’t get the stern anchor up until Barney and I worked the boat and the bow anchor up river. He let out 100’ of rode on the stern anchor while we got the bow loose. The forward anchor was caked with globs of Mississippi gumbo that we had to scrape off with a boat hook, then wash off. We had a piece of scrap metal wrapped around the throat of the anchor flukes, so we were hooked into something really well.
We were moving out onto the Mississippi by 7:10. This was the first time I had seen Vicksburg by water, and all I can say is that the North didn’t win the battle for this town…the casinos did. They’re rowed up along the river bank where all of the old historical homes used to be.
Barge traffic has picked up; and even though it’s the weekend, I suspect that it will only get worse the further down we go…especially between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. We see a small fishing boat every now and then, but no bigger pleasure boats like us.
We saw our first pleasure-boater (18-ft. pontoon boat on the river at mile 373, 7 or 8 miles above Natchez, MS). At that point we were also able to see the water tower and a couple of church steeples high up on the bluff in town. Passed through Natchez and under the Natchez/Vidalia bridge by 12:15. That is 74 miles since 7:00 this morning. The old houses on the ridge were beautiful, a little different perspective that I’ve had going over the bridge instead of under it. Lots of kudzu on the bluffs.
At 4:00 PM, we had made nearly 130 miles for the day. We were approaching within 5 miles of the cut off and mooring area where we want to try and spend the night. A tow captain upriver had told us to contact the skipper of the ‘Glenna M’, a tugboat going in and out of the cut, to see if he would let us in there. He is supposed to be monitoring channel 13 or 16, so when we get within range we’ll give him a shout.
It may or may not be a good idea to spend the night there. It’s across the river from the main section of Angola State Prison, and the prison farm is on the west side of the river where we’ll be. There is a ferry that takes workers and prisoners across the river, and we just passed it a mile or so behind us. There are barges tied up on the west bank full of the rocks and boulders that the prisoners have likely been busting, according to the way things used to be.
Mile 305, Carr Cutoff anchorage, arrived at 4:30, secure with anchor by 4:50 – The hidey-hole was perfect. It’s large enough for several boats to anchor in, plus a few barges, if need be. There was a small boat ramp, and a couple of fishing boats were put in as we were setting anchor. Otherwise, it was nice and quiet. If we can get a good night’s rest, it may be all we get until after New Orleans. We won’t have many choices for anchorage or tie-up after getting through Baton Rouge. The river gets tight with twists and turns that sometimes take ten miles on the water to go one mile as the crow flies.
After Barney’s hamburger steaks, we did a little star-gazing and watched “Wild Hogs”, of all movies. If we were going for ambiance, our choice should have been “African Queen” or “Captain Ron” (a couple of our other options). But the movie was good for a bunch of laughs. None of us have any cell phone coverage, much less broadband access, so the only way anyone could find us would be by VHF radio. We’re about 75 miles north of Baton Rouge, and not sure what towns are close to us at this point. But we’re in a good, protected spot in case any bad weather came in. The last I heard (this morning), we don’t have any worries there either.
Leaving Yazoo River anchorage at Vicksburg, MS
We were up at 5:30 and cranked the generator, then started coffee. We were awakened several times during the night by crewboat traffic and a couple of small tows. We also must have been anchored close to the hospital since we heard sirens several times during the night. Then at 2:00 AM, the strangest whistle/horn I ever heard blasted all of us awake, except Kenn. It sounded like a towboat tied up next to us, but it was a train up on the bank. I didn’t think I would ever get back to sleep, but finally did. I still don’t know what kind of whistle he had, nothing like a standard, lonesome sounding train whistle.
Boy, were the anchors set! Kenn couldn’t get the stern anchor up until Barney and I worked the boat and the bow anchor up river. He let out 100’ of rode on the stern anchor while we got the bow loose. The forward anchor was caked with globs of Mississippi gumbo that we had to scrape off with a boat hook, then wash off. We had a piece of scrap metal wrapped around the throat of the anchor flukes, so we were hooked into something really well.
We were moving out onto the Mississippi by 7:10. This was the first time I had seen Vicksburg by water, and all I can say is that the North didn’t win the battle for this town…the casinos did. They’re rowed up along the river bank where all of the old historical homes used to be.
Barge traffic has picked up; and even though it’s the weekend, I suspect that it will only get worse the further down we go…especially between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. We see a small fishing boat every now and then, but no bigger pleasure boats like us.
We saw our first pleasure-boater (18-ft. pontoon boat on the river at mile 373, 7 or 8 miles above Natchez, MS). At that point we were also able to see the water tower and a couple of church steeples high up on the bluff in town. Passed through Natchez and under the Natchez/Vidalia bridge by 12:15. That is 74 miles since 7:00 this morning. The old houses on the ridge were beautiful, a little different perspective that I’ve had going over the bridge instead of under it. Lots of kudzu on the bluffs.
At 4:00 PM, we had made nearly 130 miles for the day. We were approaching within 5 miles of the cut off and mooring area where we want to try and spend the night. A tow captain upriver had told us to contact the skipper of the ‘Glenna M’, a tugboat going in and out of the cut, to see if he would let us in there. He is supposed to be monitoring channel 13 or 16, so when we get within range we’ll give him a shout.
It may or may not be a good idea to spend the night there. It’s across the river from the main section of Angola State Prison, and the prison farm is on the west side of the river where we’ll be. There is a ferry that takes workers and prisoners across the river, and we just passed it a mile or so behind us. There are barges tied up on the west bank full of the rocks and boulders that the prisoners have likely been busting, according to the way things used to be.
Mile 305, Carr Cutoff anchorage, arrived at 4:30, secure with anchor by 4:50 – The hidey-hole was perfect. It’s large enough for several boats to anchor in, plus a few barges, if need be. There was a small boat ramp, and a couple of fishing boats were put in as we were setting anchor. Otherwise, it was nice and quiet. If we can get a good night’s rest, it may be all we get until after New Orleans. We won’t have many choices for anchorage or tie-up after getting through Baton Rouge. The river gets tight with twists and turns that sometimes take ten miles on the water to go one mile as the crow flies.
After Barney’s hamburger steaks, we did a little star-gazing and watched “Wild Hogs”, of all movies. If we were going for ambiance, our choice should have been “African Queen” or “Captain Ron” (a couple of our other options). But the movie was good for a bunch of laughs. None of us have any cell phone coverage, much less broadband access, so the only way anyone could find us would be by VHF radio. We’re about 75 miles north of Baton Rouge, and not sure what towns are close to us at this point. But we’re in a good, protected spot in case any bad weather came in. The last I heard (this morning), we don’t have any worries there either.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Day 7 - Friday, November 2nd, 2007
Barnacle II Cruise Day 7 – Friday, November 2nd, 2007
Leaving Greenville Yacht Club, Greenville, MS
Everyone was up by 6:00, scrambling for coffee and showers. We unhooked from shorepower and started the generator at 7:00, and we had left the fuel dock and were heading down the channel back out to the Mississippi by 7:10.
The morning is clear and cool, bright sunshine. In trying to determine where we are going to stay in Vicksburg, I started trying to find marinas there. They’ve got all sorts of businesses up the Yazoo and on the Mississippi rivers, but no marinas there at all. Friends who have made the trip said they were able to tie off to casino’s barges on the river, so hopefully we can, too. The Chamber of Commerce was no help when I called, which tells me they don’t have a lot of recreational boating activity. Seems like a waste of good water to me.
We’re having radio problems today. We seem to be able to transmit on any channel but 13, which is used as commercial ship to ship traffic. That’s how we talk to the tows to let them know where we are and ask when and where to pass them, either going downstream or up. Our handheld VHF works fine but both built-in Raymarines (and both brand new) are acting the same way. They were fine yesterday, just decided to be cantankerous today. I think it’s a setting that was inadvertently changed, but tech support for them said if the reset didn’t work to send them in for service. We’ve tried reset several times to no avail. We have determined that it is a low-wattage setting issue…if we kick it over to high wattage, we can transmit on all channels. We're just not supposed to do that on channel 13.
We never did figure out the issue completely, but Barney and Kenn said that we’re transmitting on 13 again. We met a large tow going upstream, and he was throwing a huge wake off the pushboat. We rode a bucking bronco, it seemed for over a half mile behind him. It was a good time to check to see if any of the ports leaked, and none did. But the brown water splashing up against them was a sight to see.
It’s surprising that the off-shoots and cuts off the Mississippi are fairly clear water, but the Big Muddy is just that and aptly named. In some bends, I’ve seen depths as much as 75 to 80 feet, but for the most part the channel is 40 to 45 ft. deep. You wouldn’t think that the barges could kick up much mud from the bottom, but they do.
You don’t see a whole lot of humanity or signs of life other than towboats on this section of the river. There are sloping mud banks and levees, so very few houses are within sight of the river. Occasionally you’ll see a high bank with a house or two located there, but it’s mostly grain elevators and commercial concerns where barges are loaded or unloaded on the river banks. There are lots of hardwood trees on several sections, thick enough so you can’t see the levees built up to contain the river in super high water. By the looks of the trees, it’s been several years since they’ve been inundated with the river. You see very little standing-dead timber.
We made 40 miles in 3 hours, so we should hit 100 miles, or Vicksburg, around 3:00 or 3:30 this afternoon.
Mark Twain’s “Life On The Mississippi” is an appropriate read on this trip. I read it in my youth and dreamed about it, but I had forgotten many of the details and statistics in it. One really struck me: in 1853, the steamboat Eclipse went upstream from New Orleans to Cairo, IL in 3 days, 3 hours and 20 minutes. That was 1,080 miles (at that time, but river mileage changes with each new cut made or bend cut off in high water) with an average speed of 14.2 knots upstream. They were pouring the wood on that fire, and probably only had firewood and deckhands on board with the captain and pilots…forget the food and the cargo. That is unbelievable even by today’s standards and understanding of the flow and currents of this river. Towboats with barges are usually only running 8 to 10 knots.
Thinking about our sailboat making the trip, our hull speed is 6.5 knots (sailing top speed); and having to motor down the river, we would be running 6.5 to 6.75 at top prop speed. Add a 4 knot current to that, and we would be surfing. Someone would be fighting or working the tiller constantly. One of these days we hope to do it, though. I look forward to that trip.
We made it to Vicksburg at 2:30, so 100 miles in 7 hours isn’t a hard run to make considering the current river traffic. We should do at least that tomorrow and blow completely by Natchez. We didn’t want to tie off to a barge in the Mississippi and have somebody wake us up in the middle of the night to move the boat. So we explored up the Yazoo River and ended up anchoring in the river next to the city front. We’ve set the bow anchor, and then thrown out a stern anchor to keep us from swinging out in the channel. It’s used by tugs and barges, so we want to stay out of their way. We were anchored, secured and enjoying the warm sunshine on the aft deck by 4:15.
Tonight we’ll have a quick dinner of sloppy joes that I took out of the freezer, and then make an early night to get some rest. We plan to be out on the Mississippi at daylight again tomorrow morning.
Vickie is back among the living with her caustic wit. She started out a little slow this morning, but seemed to bounce back to normal this afternoon. The rest of us remain healthy.
Leaving Greenville Yacht Club, Greenville, MS
Everyone was up by 6:00, scrambling for coffee and showers. We unhooked from shorepower and started the generator at 7:00, and we had left the fuel dock and were heading down the channel back out to the Mississippi by 7:10.
The morning is clear and cool, bright sunshine. In trying to determine where we are going to stay in Vicksburg, I started trying to find marinas there. They’ve got all sorts of businesses up the Yazoo and on the Mississippi rivers, but no marinas there at all. Friends who have made the trip said they were able to tie off to casino’s barges on the river, so hopefully we can, too. The Chamber of Commerce was no help when I called, which tells me they don’t have a lot of recreational boating activity. Seems like a waste of good water to me.
We’re having radio problems today. We seem to be able to transmit on any channel but 13, which is used as commercial ship to ship traffic. That’s how we talk to the tows to let them know where we are and ask when and where to pass them, either going downstream or up. Our handheld VHF works fine but both built-in Raymarines (and both brand new) are acting the same way. They were fine yesterday, just decided to be cantankerous today. I think it’s a setting that was inadvertently changed, but tech support for them said if the reset didn’t work to send them in for service. We’ve tried reset several times to no avail. We have determined that it is a low-wattage setting issue…if we kick it over to high wattage, we can transmit on all channels. We're just not supposed to do that on channel 13.
We never did figure out the issue completely, but Barney and Kenn said that we’re transmitting on 13 again. We met a large tow going upstream, and he was throwing a huge wake off the pushboat. We rode a bucking bronco, it seemed for over a half mile behind him. It was a good time to check to see if any of the ports leaked, and none did. But the brown water splashing up against them was a sight to see.
It’s surprising that the off-shoots and cuts off the Mississippi are fairly clear water, but the Big Muddy is just that and aptly named. In some bends, I’ve seen depths as much as 75 to 80 feet, but for the most part the channel is 40 to 45 ft. deep. You wouldn’t think that the barges could kick up much mud from the bottom, but they do.
You don’t see a whole lot of humanity or signs of life other than towboats on this section of the river. There are sloping mud banks and levees, so very few houses are within sight of the river. Occasionally you’ll see a high bank with a house or two located there, but it’s mostly grain elevators and commercial concerns where barges are loaded or unloaded on the river banks. There are lots of hardwood trees on several sections, thick enough so you can’t see the levees built up to contain the river in super high water. By the looks of the trees, it’s been several years since they’ve been inundated with the river. You see very little standing-dead timber.
We made 40 miles in 3 hours, so we should hit 100 miles, or Vicksburg, around 3:00 or 3:30 this afternoon.
Mark Twain’s “Life On The Mississippi” is an appropriate read on this trip. I read it in my youth and dreamed about it, but I had forgotten many of the details and statistics in it. One really struck me: in 1853, the steamboat Eclipse went upstream from New Orleans to Cairo, IL in 3 days, 3 hours and 20 minutes. That was 1,080 miles (at that time, but river mileage changes with each new cut made or bend cut off in high water) with an average speed of 14.2 knots upstream. They were pouring the wood on that fire, and probably only had firewood and deckhands on board with the captain and pilots…forget the food and the cargo. That is unbelievable even by today’s standards and understanding of the flow and currents of this river. Towboats with barges are usually only running 8 to 10 knots.
Thinking about our sailboat making the trip, our hull speed is 6.5 knots (sailing top speed); and having to motor down the river, we would be running 6.5 to 6.75 at top prop speed. Add a 4 knot current to that, and we would be surfing. Someone would be fighting or working the tiller constantly. One of these days we hope to do it, though. I look forward to that trip.
We made it to Vicksburg at 2:30, so 100 miles in 7 hours isn’t a hard run to make considering the current river traffic. We should do at least that tomorrow and blow completely by Natchez. We didn’t want to tie off to a barge in the Mississippi and have somebody wake us up in the middle of the night to move the boat. So we explored up the Yazoo River and ended up anchoring in the river next to the city front. We’ve set the bow anchor, and then thrown out a stern anchor to keep us from swinging out in the channel. It’s used by tugs and barges, so we want to stay out of their way. We were anchored, secured and enjoying the warm sunshine on the aft deck by 4:15.
Tonight we’ll have a quick dinner of sloppy joes that I took out of the freezer, and then make an early night to get some rest. We plan to be out on the Mississippi at daylight again tomorrow morning.
Vickie is back among the living with her caustic wit. She started out a little slow this morning, but seemed to bounce back to normal this afternoon. The rest of us remain healthy.
Day 6 - Thursday, November 1st, 2007
Barnacle II Cruise Day 6 – Thursday, November 1st, 2007
Leaving Marrisach Lake off White River Canal, AR
We fired up the generator at 6:30 to start coffee and get the water heater operating again for showers. Morning is clear and bright, cool and in the low 50’s.
The wind shifted during the night and the water started slapping the hull differently, so Kenn got up a few times to make sure the anchor was holding. No problems, but it did make rest more difficult as night crept toward morning. A brisk, cool shower took care of the rest of the cobwebs that were left over for me. Barney beat me to the hot water.
The anchor came up and we were underway by 8:00 AM. We were through lock #2 by 8:30. Again, this was a lock with no name, so now Vickie and I don’t have to share…we can each have a lock named after us. The lockmaster was friendly, wanted to know where we came from and where we were going. We tossed him the last of our Halloween candy bags, and he wished us well.
Lock #1 (Norrell) was just 4 miles downstream, and Kenn and I had cleaned up our fenders and lock line before I remembered it. I apologized for the extra practice, but we needed one more for good measure. Lock 1A at Montgomery Point at the mouth of the White is totally open. We just have to navigate it at no wake speed. So we won’t have to get our lock line out again until New Orleans.
We should be at the mouth of the White in the Mississippi at 10:00 on Day 6. We’re a day off plan. Since we didn’t get to leave home port until the water pumps were replaced, we lost a half day on Saturday, then having to shut down our days early because two locks were jammed up with tow boats cost us the other half day. Not too bad, and we knew we had a good chance of it happening.
At 9:55 we started navigating the pass through lock 1A. The lockmaster already knew the boat was heading for Key West, and he wanted to tag along. The lock is right at the entrance to the Mississippi and while we were navigating through, we saw one two going downriver and one going upstream…just like a busy four-way stop, but without the stop.
10:00 and we are in the Mississippi!!! We passed the downstream tow by the time we got to the mouth of the Old White River 3 miles downstream. Our engine RPM is kept steady at 1500. When we were in the Arkansas/White, we were running at 8.9 to 9.0 knots. When we got into the Mississippi, we picked up speed to 13.2 to 13.4 knots, occasionally jumping to 14 – 14.5 knots in the bends. So we have a 4 to 4.5 knot current helping us along. The boat is wallowing a little more with the current, so she’s a little harder to steer, but it isn’t too bad.
Spotted another eagle, first on the Mississippi, at river mile 590 (we came into the river at mile 599). By the time I got my camera ready, he had flown to the east bank and I missed him. But he flew over us for a few seconds, and that was neat. It was another baldy…beautiful bird.
Things are busier now. The tows coming upriver are bunched up in twos, so their wakes can get a little rough…not helping Vickie’s stomach any, I’m sure. The tows are much bigger now, we’ve seen a couple 5 x 7 (35 barges) and one 6 x 7. With going faster, one person is navigating while the other steers. Kenn has been at the wheel mostly, and I’m verifying the marks on the river to the charts and to the GPS and looking for debris. We’re seeing quite a few snags.
To break the monotony of mark after mark after mark, we’ve tried to find a few distractions to keep us alert…from finding electrical gremlins (albeit some human manufactured) to writing country/western songs. As Kenn was relieving me after my turn at the wheel, he asked where we were. I showed him the chart and three ‘nun’ buoys coming up on our left. He made the remark, “there’s got to be a country song in there somewhere.”
When I got back from my trip to the head, I yelled, “I’ve got it!” Then sang, “Rollin’ down the Mississippi contemplating my soul, when what should appear but three nuns in a row.” If my trip to the head had required more time to think, I might have come up with the whole song…we’ll never know.
Then as we were nearing the end of the chart that corresponded to our section of the river, I made the remark that we were about to run off the page. Kenn said in a smart-a** way, “then turn the page”, and his eyes lit up. I facetiously reminded him that Bob Seger had already written that song.
We turned into the Greenville, MS cut at 2:15 and got to the marina about 2:45. It’s about 5 miles up the channel off the river, socked in the middle of casinos. As we were pulling up to the fuel dock, we saw all of these people waving at us. It was Winfield and Linda of the ‘River Rose’, and Cliff and Eddie on ‘Seldom’s Escape’. They had berthed at Applegate for several months before coming downriver in the early fall. Winfield and Linda’s Sheltie, Cleo, was ecstatic to see some old friends from the marina. It was really good to visit with them.
When we refueled (232.7 gallons), it worked out that we made our 1 mile to the gallon by the time we reversed out the fuel usage of the generator and the time we spent idling at the locks. So we made Barney’s plan on that one. Afterwards, he and Kenn had to work on the upper steering station. It had a hydraulic leak that Kenn was able to take care of with a turn of the wrench, then they had to re-pressurize the system.
We needed to make a quick grocery run, and Vickie didn’t feel like going out to eat with us. So we went to the yacht club bar and had a drink with Winfield and Linda, then called a cab to take us to dinner. The cab driver was a sweet lady named Irene, and she had a fare when she picked us up. She was a little lady named Miss Elizabeth who was 78 years old. She said she had 20 children, ten still living, and she had no idea how many grandchildren…she had never stopped to count. She is another gracious little lady to cross our path.
The taxi took us to an Italian restaurant called Fermo’s. They had wonderful lasagna and tortellini, bread and honey butter. When we were through, we called our cabbie, Irene, to pick us up and take us to Kroger’s. She waited on us while we sped through the aisles buying bread, sugar, coffee, turkey, chips, 7-Up and jello for Vickie.
We called Winfield when we got back to the marina to have him come to the gate and let us in. As we walked down the fuel dock to the Barnacle, Eddie was waiting with a plateful of brownies that she had made for us. So good.
I think Winfield and Linda are planning to stay in Greenville a little while longer, but Cliff and Eddie are wanting to head downriver again in a week or so. They’re having trouble finding gas along the way, so they want us to send word back to them if we find any on our next diesel fill. It appears that some of the gas delivery trucks, that used to offload fuel to pleasure boats from barges tied to the bank, are no longer doing so. I would guess that with the price of fuel, there are fewer pleasure boats making the river run, so the trucks just stopped offering the service.
It is 100 miles to Vicksburg from here, then another 70 to Natchez, and 135 from there to Baton Rouge. When we see how long it takes to make Vicksburg tomorrow, we’ll have to decide how we’re going to run the next three days. We don’t want two hard days back to back, since it’s also 135 miles from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. So Saturday may be a longer run that Natchez, and we can anchor in a navigable oxbow off the main river channel. Then we could have an easier time of it to Baton Rouge and refueling. We’ll see how tomorrow’s run turns out. Any way we slice it, it looks like we’ll make New Orleans on Monday, in 9 ½ days…right in the middle of our 8 to 11 day spread from Applegate. That’s about 850 miles. It also looks like we’ll arrive in New Orleans in full darkness, which I hate. The river there is bad enough to navigate in daylight with all of the ship traffic, from my past experience; but it’s much worse to try to discern shoreline features and channel marks with all of the light clutter from the banks when running there at night. I’ve done it before and I don’t like it, but there’s really not much choice.
Leaving Marrisach Lake off White River Canal, AR
We fired up the generator at 6:30 to start coffee and get the water heater operating again for showers. Morning is clear and bright, cool and in the low 50’s.
The wind shifted during the night and the water started slapping the hull differently, so Kenn got up a few times to make sure the anchor was holding. No problems, but it did make rest more difficult as night crept toward morning. A brisk, cool shower took care of the rest of the cobwebs that were left over for me. Barney beat me to the hot water.
The anchor came up and we were underway by 8:00 AM. We were through lock #2 by 8:30. Again, this was a lock with no name, so now Vickie and I don’t have to share…we can each have a lock named after us. The lockmaster was friendly, wanted to know where we came from and where we were going. We tossed him the last of our Halloween candy bags, and he wished us well.
Lock #1 (Norrell) was just 4 miles downstream, and Kenn and I had cleaned up our fenders and lock line before I remembered it. I apologized for the extra practice, but we needed one more for good measure. Lock 1A at Montgomery Point at the mouth of the White is totally open. We just have to navigate it at no wake speed. So we won’t have to get our lock line out again until New Orleans.
We should be at the mouth of the White in the Mississippi at 10:00 on Day 6. We’re a day off plan. Since we didn’t get to leave home port until the water pumps were replaced, we lost a half day on Saturday, then having to shut down our days early because two locks were jammed up with tow boats cost us the other half day. Not too bad, and we knew we had a good chance of it happening.
At 9:55 we started navigating the pass through lock 1A. The lockmaster already knew the boat was heading for Key West, and he wanted to tag along. The lock is right at the entrance to the Mississippi and while we were navigating through, we saw one two going downriver and one going upstream…just like a busy four-way stop, but without the stop.
10:00 and we are in the Mississippi!!! We passed the downstream tow by the time we got to the mouth of the Old White River 3 miles downstream. Our engine RPM is kept steady at 1500. When we were in the Arkansas/White, we were running at 8.9 to 9.0 knots. When we got into the Mississippi, we picked up speed to 13.2 to 13.4 knots, occasionally jumping to 14 – 14.5 knots in the bends. So we have a 4 to 4.5 knot current helping us along. The boat is wallowing a little more with the current, so she’s a little harder to steer, but it isn’t too bad.
Spotted another eagle, first on the Mississippi, at river mile 590 (we came into the river at mile 599). By the time I got my camera ready, he had flown to the east bank and I missed him. But he flew over us for a few seconds, and that was neat. It was another baldy…beautiful bird.
Things are busier now. The tows coming upriver are bunched up in twos, so their wakes can get a little rough…not helping Vickie’s stomach any, I’m sure. The tows are much bigger now, we’ve seen a couple 5 x 7 (35 barges) and one 6 x 7. With going faster, one person is navigating while the other steers. Kenn has been at the wheel mostly, and I’m verifying the marks on the river to the charts and to the GPS and looking for debris. We’re seeing quite a few snags.
To break the monotony of mark after mark after mark, we’ve tried to find a few distractions to keep us alert…from finding electrical gremlins (albeit some human manufactured) to writing country/western songs. As Kenn was relieving me after my turn at the wheel, he asked where we were. I showed him the chart and three ‘nun’ buoys coming up on our left. He made the remark, “there’s got to be a country song in there somewhere.”
When I got back from my trip to the head, I yelled, “I’ve got it!” Then sang, “Rollin’ down the Mississippi contemplating my soul, when what should appear but three nuns in a row.” If my trip to the head had required more time to think, I might have come up with the whole song…we’ll never know.
Then as we were nearing the end of the chart that corresponded to our section of the river, I made the remark that we were about to run off the page. Kenn said in a smart-a** way, “then turn the page”, and his eyes lit up. I facetiously reminded him that Bob Seger had already written that song.
We turned into the Greenville, MS cut at 2:15 and got to the marina about 2:45. It’s about 5 miles up the channel off the river, socked in the middle of casinos. As we were pulling up to the fuel dock, we saw all of these people waving at us. It was Winfield and Linda of the ‘River Rose’, and Cliff and Eddie on ‘Seldom’s Escape’. They had berthed at Applegate for several months before coming downriver in the early fall. Winfield and Linda’s Sheltie, Cleo, was ecstatic to see some old friends from the marina. It was really good to visit with them.
When we refueled (232.7 gallons), it worked out that we made our 1 mile to the gallon by the time we reversed out the fuel usage of the generator and the time we spent idling at the locks. So we made Barney’s plan on that one. Afterwards, he and Kenn had to work on the upper steering station. It had a hydraulic leak that Kenn was able to take care of with a turn of the wrench, then they had to re-pressurize the system.
We needed to make a quick grocery run, and Vickie didn’t feel like going out to eat with us. So we went to the yacht club bar and had a drink with Winfield and Linda, then called a cab to take us to dinner. The cab driver was a sweet lady named Irene, and she had a fare when she picked us up. She was a little lady named Miss Elizabeth who was 78 years old. She said she had 20 children, ten still living, and she had no idea how many grandchildren…she had never stopped to count. She is another gracious little lady to cross our path.
The taxi took us to an Italian restaurant called Fermo’s. They had wonderful lasagna and tortellini, bread and honey butter. When we were through, we called our cabbie, Irene, to pick us up and take us to Kroger’s. She waited on us while we sped through the aisles buying bread, sugar, coffee, turkey, chips, 7-Up and jello for Vickie.
We called Winfield when we got back to the marina to have him come to the gate and let us in. As we walked down the fuel dock to the Barnacle, Eddie was waiting with a plateful of brownies that she had made for us. So good.
I think Winfield and Linda are planning to stay in Greenville a little while longer, but Cliff and Eddie are wanting to head downriver again in a week or so. They’re having trouble finding gas along the way, so they want us to send word back to them if we find any on our next diesel fill. It appears that some of the gas delivery trucks, that used to offload fuel to pleasure boats from barges tied to the bank, are no longer doing so. I would guess that with the price of fuel, there are fewer pleasure boats making the river run, so the trucks just stopped offering the service.
It is 100 miles to Vicksburg from here, then another 70 to Natchez, and 135 from there to Baton Rouge. When we see how long it takes to make Vicksburg tomorrow, we’ll have to decide how we’re going to run the next three days. We don’t want two hard days back to back, since it’s also 135 miles from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. So Saturday may be a longer run that Natchez, and we can anchor in a navigable oxbow off the main river channel. Then we could have an easier time of it to Baton Rouge and refueling. We’ll see how tomorrow’s run turns out. Any way we slice it, it looks like we’ll make New Orleans on Monday, in 9 ½ days…right in the middle of our 8 to 11 day spread from Applegate. That’s about 850 miles. It also looks like we’ll arrive in New Orleans in full darkness, which I hate. The river there is bad enough to navigate in daylight with all of the ship traffic, from my past experience; but it’s much worse to try to discern shoreline features and channel marks with all of the light clutter from the banks when running there at night. I’ve done it before and I don’t like it, but there’s really not much choice.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Day Five - Wednesday, October 31st, 2007
Barnacle II Cruise Day 5 – Wednesday, October 31st, 2007
Leaving Island Harbor Marina, Pine Bluff, AR
We left the marina at 8:00, after a good night’s sleep and leisurely wake-up call. Initially coffee and fruit for breakfast. We refilled the water tank before leaving, and Kenn checked out the engine room. The generator is making oil now, and the Detroit diesels are acting a little thirsty (each one about ½ quart low). Neither engine seems to be slinging it in the engine room, so they must be using a little. Not a bad sign for these diesels, as they have a reputation for being slobbery and/or thirsty.
No fog this morning, but a little bit of haze on the water. The air is cool underway, but about 55 degrees. So we should have a nice day of it. The boat monkey (aka Kenn) had a lot of wipe-down to do; there was a very heavy dew. We’re seeing water hyacinths everywhere, and I haven’t seen any of those since I lived in Florida. I didn’t realize they inhabited the waters this far north. Some of them still had their beautiful purple blooms.
We had passed under the Rob Roy Bridge by 8:30 and were pulling into Lock and Dam 4 (Emmett Sanders). No waiting…let’s hope the next three are that way so that we can make our allotted 70 miles today. The lockmaster was nice and talkative. He said that he would call L&D 3 to tell them we were on our way and have the lock ready. While we were lowering, he came back and told us to take the scenic route at a slow pace. The next lock was working a double tow downstream, and had another double tow coming upstream. That lock is about 16 miles below #4, and the lockmaster there thought he would be working the upstream tow by the time we got there.
The captain decided to treat us to the ‘Barn Brunch’: waffles, bacon and eggs, and they were mighty good. I pulled clean up duty in the galley, but it doesn’t take long in one that small.
As it was, we still made the lock at 10:15 or so, while the upstream tow was still working through. There was a good breeze, strong enough to keep us steady in the downstream current, so we ‘parked’ here at idle while waiting on the lock. At noon, we were allowed to proceed into the lock and tie off to a bollard for lowering. A wait of nearly two hours, but we were locked through in less than twenty minutes.
We knew that we had a huge tow in front of us, and it would take all of the 30 miles to the next lock to catch up to it. So we decided not to push it, just cruise along at a comfortable pace. It’s been short sleeve weather today with the temperature hovering around 75. We got into the Arkansas Canal at about 2:45 and came into our anchorage spot at 3:30. We only made it 55 miles today, but we couldn’t get through the next lock (#2) before dark and find another anchorage. You see, we finally caught up to that big tow as we were approaching lock #2. We’re anchored about 2 miles upstream from the lock.
The plan was to grill chicken for dinner, but as we were relaxing after setting the anchor, Vickie became sick with the stomach bug. No ginger ale or Sprite on board for her, but we’ve got chicken noodle soup, tomato soup and jello when she feels up to it, and plenty of water. So maybe we can keep her hydrated. Hopefully none of the rest of us will pick it up. I certainly don’t want it again…I can vividly recall what it felt like two weeks ago.
We’re anchored in Merrisach Lake in about 12 ft. of water not far from a small park, just outside the canal channel. We’re almost 15 miles from where we get dumped into the Mississippi. Barney, Kenn and I have tried our hand at marlinspiking, rigging up an extra anchor with a chain rode to rope connection, where we had to splice the rope back into itself. Hard work on the heavy anchor line, but we got it done. Kenn has worked on several projects throughout the afternoon and evening, finishing up with resewing the headliner zipper over the helm station.
Even though Vickie couldn’t join us, Barney barbecued the chicken, and I made home-fried potatoes with onions and seasonings. Everything tasted wonderful, like cooking over a campfire on a riverbank. We have a gorgeous night to anchor out, temp in the mid-fifties, clear and calm. One more day to the big muddy.
Leaving Island Harbor Marina, Pine Bluff, AR
We left the marina at 8:00, after a good night’s sleep and leisurely wake-up call. Initially coffee and fruit for breakfast. We refilled the water tank before leaving, and Kenn checked out the engine room. The generator is making oil now, and the Detroit diesels are acting a little thirsty (each one about ½ quart low). Neither engine seems to be slinging it in the engine room, so they must be using a little. Not a bad sign for these diesels, as they have a reputation for being slobbery and/or thirsty.
No fog this morning, but a little bit of haze on the water. The air is cool underway, but about 55 degrees. So we should have a nice day of it. The boat monkey (aka Kenn) had a lot of wipe-down to do; there was a very heavy dew. We’re seeing water hyacinths everywhere, and I haven’t seen any of those since I lived in Florida. I didn’t realize they inhabited the waters this far north. Some of them still had their beautiful purple blooms.
We had passed under the Rob Roy Bridge by 8:30 and were pulling into Lock and Dam 4 (Emmett Sanders). No waiting…let’s hope the next three are that way so that we can make our allotted 70 miles today. The lockmaster was nice and talkative. He said that he would call L&D 3 to tell them we were on our way and have the lock ready. While we were lowering, he came back and told us to take the scenic route at a slow pace. The next lock was working a double tow downstream, and had another double tow coming upstream. That lock is about 16 miles below #4, and the lockmaster there thought he would be working the upstream tow by the time we got there.
The captain decided to treat us to the ‘Barn Brunch’: waffles, bacon and eggs, and they were mighty good. I pulled clean up duty in the galley, but it doesn’t take long in one that small.
As it was, we still made the lock at 10:15 or so, while the upstream tow was still working through. There was a good breeze, strong enough to keep us steady in the downstream current, so we ‘parked’ here at idle while waiting on the lock. At noon, we were allowed to proceed into the lock and tie off to a bollard for lowering. A wait of nearly two hours, but we were locked through in less than twenty minutes.
We knew that we had a huge tow in front of us, and it would take all of the 30 miles to the next lock to catch up to it. So we decided not to push it, just cruise along at a comfortable pace. It’s been short sleeve weather today with the temperature hovering around 75. We got into the Arkansas Canal at about 2:45 and came into our anchorage spot at 3:30. We only made it 55 miles today, but we couldn’t get through the next lock (#2) before dark and find another anchorage. You see, we finally caught up to that big tow as we were approaching lock #2. We’re anchored about 2 miles upstream from the lock.
The plan was to grill chicken for dinner, but as we were relaxing after setting the anchor, Vickie became sick with the stomach bug. No ginger ale or Sprite on board for her, but we’ve got chicken noodle soup, tomato soup and jello when she feels up to it, and plenty of water. So maybe we can keep her hydrated. Hopefully none of the rest of us will pick it up. I certainly don’t want it again…I can vividly recall what it felt like two weeks ago.
We’re anchored in Merrisach Lake in about 12 ft. of water not far from a small park, just outside the canal channel. We’re almost 15 miles from where we get dumped into the Mississippi. Barney, Kenn and I have tried our hand at marlinspiking, rigging up an extra anchor with a chain rode to rope connection, where we had to splice the rope back into itself. Hard work on the heavy anchor line, but we got it done. Kenn has worked on several projects throughout the afternoon and evening, finishing up with resewing the headliner zipper over the helm station.
Even though Vickie couldn’t join us, Barney barbecued the chicken, and I made home-fried potatoes with onions and seasonings. Everything tasted wonderful, like cooking over a campfire on a riverbank. We have a gorgeous night to anchor out, temp in the mid-fifties, clear and calm. One more day to the big muddy.
Day Four - Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
Barnacle II Cruise Day 4 – Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
Leaving Little Rock Yacht Club
I awoke at 6:15 to dark and fog. Kenn was already up and making the first pot of coffee. The captain and Ms. Captain were still snoozing. As daylight broke, the fog got heavier. Kenn took his time checking out the engine room, the fluid levels in both engines, the generator, etc. We had a leisurely coffee and breakfast, and I’m still trying to find an efficient way to upload and share photos on the blog spot on the web. Still fresh out of luck.
We pulled away from the marina in a deep fog at 8:30, although we could see a hundred yards or so in front of us. Vickie was a nervous Nellie while we were all trying to find the channel markers by site and on radar. We made it slowly to the Little Rock Murray Lock (#7) and came out of there at 10:00. We came through downtown Little Rock and waved at the poor workers in the office buildings.
At 11:00 AM at river mile 114, Kenn spotted another young eagle flying over us. I couldn’t grab my camera until he had landed in a tree top on the right bank. A super long lens on a moving boat doesn’t always make for a clear shot, but I could definitely see his white head and yellow beak. We were being buzzed by C5-As doing touch-n-goes at the time. There were at least 3 planes in the air, and they probably did at least five or six each while we were in the area.
We approached Lock & Dam 6 at river mile 108 at just before noon. It must have been a slow lock because when we got there, the gates were still closed on the rising water to meet us. We had called the lockmaster at least 20 minutes earlier, and there was no upriver traffic to wait on. So I’m not sure what was the issue, but we were out of the lock by 12:30 and had sandwiches made for lunch.
We made it to Lock & Dam 5 (no name, and Vic and I want to lobby the local congressman to have it named the ‘Marvick’ in honor of us two boat queens) just above Pine Bluff (river mile 86) at 2:30. Again, we had to wait on the lockmaster to bring the level up and open the gates. Barney wanted to lower the RPMs on the engines today to try to stretch our fuel to 1 mile to the gallon, and we’re not going to be able to make it to river mile 20 today like he had originally wanted. It looks like we may make it to mile 40 before dark if the locks cooperate with us.
How quickly things change. When we got to mile 71, we signaled ahead to the Rob Roy railroad bridge to raise it. There is only a 17’ clearance in the closed position, and it’s too low for us to go under. As we were approaching the bridge, we called ahead to the lock just a mile beyond it to see if we could lock through. The lockmaster told us that we had at least a 2 hour wait since a big tow was locking to the upstream side and he had to break the barges apart and lock through a few at a time. We discussed the situation and decided to turn around and go back upstream 3 miles to the marina at Pine Bluff. Vickie wanted to do some laundry, and we decided it wouldn’t hurt to spend another night tied up to a dock.
We tied up to the fuel dock at the marina about 4:00 PM, making an early day of it. We only made 60 miles today, but it really puts us in better shape to hit the Mississippi River. We should be able to get to the end of the Arkansas/White River tomorrow afternoon, or within 15 to 20 miles of it and find a good anchorage before dark. Then on Thursday, we should have an easy day of getting into the Mississippi, then on to Greenville that night. We can refuel there and should have enough to get us to Baton Rouge. It’s too far to New Orleans from Greenville to make it on the fuel we carry, and our only other shot at refueling is in Baton Rouge.
So tonight, I sat Kenn up on the dock and gave him a much-needed haircut. That really fascinated Barney…I know, he thinks there’s no end to my talents. Yeah, right! We were also able to get our laundry done. We weren’t really hurting for clothes, but we have more room to stow clean clothes than dirty. I noticed that it feels like we’ve gone into another season. It is much warmer here than at home, or even at Little Rock. To me, it felt 20 degrees warmer tonight than last night, and I was burning up for once. Probably hot-flashing, but it felt good to sweat a little.
We had snacks and cocktail hour on the back deck, then had pot roast, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, carrots and cucumber salad for dinner. We were tied up to shorepower and in the middle of cooking, the dock and the boat went dark. The boat queens for the day (only because we found some parts that Kenn was missing for a project) thought at first that we overloaded the shorepower connection with the cooktop, microwave and other kitchen appliances, but the breaker wasn’t tripped. So the generator was cranked and we switched back over to house power to finish cooking. We found out later that most of this end of Pine Bluff was without power, so we didn’t burn up a power line upstream somewhere. Whew! Whatever caused the problem was resolved in 45 minutes or so, and we switched back to shorepower for the night.
The weather is really pleasant tonight, back to short sleeves. There is a slight wind blowing, so maybe no fog in the morning. The boat is running well, comfortable to operate and live on. But the galley is only big enough for one person to work in. If someone walks by to grab something out of the fridge, the door hits the cook in the butt. Heaven forbid if she’s washing dishes in the sink…she can end up trapped by the door while someone is deciding what they want to snack on.
Barnacle II is performing better than anticipated on this trip, and we’re all thankful for that. There has been a minor issue or two, but nothing that couldn’t be resolved in a few minutes. This is the longest trip she’s ever been on, so her legs are getting stretched for once.
Leaving Little Rock Yacht Club
I awoke at 6:15 to dark and fog. Kenn was already up and making the first pot of coffee. The captain and Ms. Captain were still snoozing. As daylight broke, the fog got heavier. Kenn took his time checking out the engine room, the fluid levels in both engines, the generator, etc. We had a leisurely coffee and breakfast, and I’m still trying to find an efficient way to upload and share photos on the blog spot on the web. Still fresh out of luck.
We pulled away from the marina in a deep fog at 8:30, although we could see a hundred yards or so in front of us. Vickie was a nervous Nellie while we were all trying to find the channel markers by site and on radar. We made it slowly to the Little Rock Murray Lock (#7) and came out of there at 10:00. We came through downtown Little Rock and waved at the poor workers in the office buildings.
At 11:00 AM at river mile 114, Kenn spotted another young eagle flying over us. I couldn’t grab my camera until he had landed in a tree top on the right bank. A super long lens on a moving boat doesn’t always make for a clear shot, but I could definitely see his white head and yellow beak. We were being buzzed by C5-As doing touch-n-goes at the time. There were at least 3 planes in the air, and they probably did at least five or six each while we were in the area.
We approached Lock & Dam 6 at river mile 108 at just before noon. It must have been a slow lock because when we got there, the gates were still closed on the rising water to meet us. We had called the lockmaster at least 20 minutes earlier, and there was no upriver traffic to wait on. So I’m not sure what was the issue, but we were out of the lock by 12:30 and had sandwiches made for lunch.
We made it to Lock & Dam 5 (no name, and Vic and I want to lobby the local congressman to have it named the ‘Marvick’ in honor of us two boat queens) just above Pine Bluff (river mile 86) at 2:30. Again, we had to wait on the lockmaster to bring the level up and open the gates. Barney wanted to lower the RPMs on the engines today to try to stretch our fuel to 1 mile to the gallon, and we’re not going to be able to make it to river mile 20 today like he had originally wanted. It looks like we may make it to mile 40 before dark if the locks cooperate with us.
How quickly things change. When we got to mile 71, we signaled ahead to the Rob Roy railroad bridge to raise it. There is only a 17’ clearance in the closed position, and it’s too low for us to go under. As we were approaching the bridge, we called ahead to the lock just a mile beyond it to see if we could lock through. The lockmaster told us that we had at least a 2 hour wait since a big tow was locking to the upstream side and he had to break the barges apart and lock through a few at a time. We discussed the situation and decided to turn around and go back upstream 3 miles to the marina at Pine Bluff. Vickie wanted to do some laundry, and we decided it wouldn’t hurt to spend another night tied up to a dock.
We tied up to the fuel dock at the marina about 4:00 PM, making an early day of it. We only made 60 miles today, but it really puts us in better shape to hit the Mississippi River. We should be able to get to the end of the Arkansas/White River tomorrow afternoon, or within 15 to 20 miles of it and find a good anchorage before dark. Then on Thursday, we should have an easy day of getting into the Mississippi, then on to Greenville that night. We can refuel there and should have enough to get us to Baton Rouge. It’s too far to New Orleans from Greenville to make it on the fuel we carry, and our only other shot at refueling is in Baton Rouge.
So tonight, I sat Kenn up on the dock and gave him a much-needed haircut. That really fascinated Barney…I know, he thinks there’s no end to my talents. Yeah, right! We were also able to get our laundry done. We weren’t really hurting for clothes, but we have more room to stow clean clothes than dirty. I noticed that it feels like we’ve gone into another season. It is much warmer here than at home, or even at Little Rock. To me, it felt 20 degrees warmer tonight than last night, and I was burning up for once. Probably hot-flashing, but it felt good to sweat a little.
We had snacks and cocktail hour on the back deck, then had pot roast, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, carrots and cucumber salad for dinner. We were tied up to shorepower and in the middle of cooking, the dock and the boat went dark. The boat queens for the day (only because we found some parts that Kenn was missing for a project) thought at first that we overloaded the shorepower connection with the cooktop, microwave and other kitchen appliances, but the breaker wasn’t tripped. So the generator was cranked and we switched back over to house power to finish cooking. We found out later that most of this end of Pine Bluff was without power, so we didn’t burn up a power line upstream somewhere. Whew! Whatever caused the problem was resolved in 45 minutes or so, and we switched back to shorepower for the night.
The weather is really pleasant tonight, back to short sleeves. There is a slight wind blowing, so maybe no fog in the morning. The boat is running well, comfortable to operate and live on. But the galley is only big enough for one person to work in. If someone walks by to grab something out of the fridge, the door hits the cook in the butt. Heaven forbid if she’s washing dishes in the sink…she can end up trapped by the door while someone is deciding what they want to snack on.
Barnacle II is performing better than anticipated on this trip, and we’re all thankful for that. There has been a minor issue or two, but nothing that couldn’t be resolved in a few minutes. This is the longest trip she’s ever been on, so her legs are getting stretched for once.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Day Three - Monday October 29th, 2007
Barnacle II Mate's Log - Cruise Day 3 – Monday, October 29th, 2007
Leaving anchorage at Russellville Marina on Lake Dardanelle
I awoke at 6:15 this morning for the last time. Kenn and I are always anxious on our boat when we anchor out the first night. Last night was no different on Barn & Vic’s boat. We were awake at odd times during the night to look out the portholes on either side of our berth, just making sure that we weren’t dragging anchor. The wind came up about 2:30 AM, enough of a breeze to change the harmonics of the water slapping the hull. It shifted our position and blew us back over our stern anchor. It didn’t foul it completely, but it made it difficult to pull up and clean.
Fog out on Dardanelle this morning, especially where the tail waters of Nuclear 1 flow in. It was a good thing that we anchored about 3 miles east of it. Barney talked to the lockmaster at lock #10 about 3 miles away, and he said that fog is thick on the river. We got to the lock and tied off at 8:55 and we had been lowered 54’ by 9:10. The lockmaster told us that there were a couple of tow boats headed upriver but they were halted by fog. By the time we passed through the town of Dardanelle, it appeared that the fog had mostly lifted.
I had gotten chilled while Kenn and I were lifting and washing off the anchor and chain, so I went below to shower and warm up. While in the shower, I felt the wake of tow boats, so I knew they were moving upriver again. As I came out of the head, Kenn yelled “Eagles!” So I grabbed my long lens and snapped off shots of 3 eagles feeding and fighting on the river bank. One was immature, and the other two were fully feathered, so I suspect it was a nesting pair and their young. That was at river mile 194 about 10 miles below the Dardanelle lock.
We made it through lock #9 by noon (at river mile 177) and lock #8 by 2:00 (river mile 156). Number 8 is Toad Suck Ferry lock near Conway. We should be in Little Rock Yacht Club around 3:30.
Beautiful scenery and beautiful homes scattered along the bluffs above the river, with some derelicts stuck in here and there. The weather is sunny but cool, little wind. We have had to stay in double layers of clothing today, except for He-man Kenn, who insists he won’t wear long pants until Thanksgiving. We’re about 2 weeks away from seeing the brilliant fall colors that we were hoping to see on this trip. A small price to pay to give the farmers the kind of rain they needed for their crops this year.
At about 3:15, at river mile 140, we saw a small boat in the distance to the far right of the channel. On closer inspection with the binoculars, I discovered that it was a canoe about 17 ft. long with a flat stern. The guy on board (who we have since named the River Gypsy) was paddling from the stern, using a long kayak paddle. He had a homemade platform mounted in the center of the canoe, and it had outrigger floats extended on either side of it for stability. On the platform he had 4 large Rubbermaid containers lashed side by side. The front of the canoe was stuffed full of camping gear, bags and what looked to be a mountain bike. Talk about Huck Finn-ing it – but he’s on the wrong river. He was paddling downstream, so he could be heading to the Mississippi. That is cruising in it’s simplest form.
We’ve been buzzed all afternoon by C-130’s out flying maneuvers. The sun has been shining brightly all day, and it is really warm when you’re standing in the light and out of the wind. Approaching Little Rock Yacht Club, Kenn noticed the 3 pyramids (mountains, one of which we think is Pinnacle). But we had never noticed the formation from land before. They line up in a row, just like the Great Pyramids in Egypt.
We made it to LRYC at 4:30. Refueled (334 gallons diesel), pumped out the holding tank and refilled the water tank. We’ll be ready to head out at full light tomorrow morning. So far, we have traveled approximately 218 miles since Saturday afternoon.
As a side note, the River Gypsy rowed into the State Park next door to the marina this evening. We thought about tracking him down to see just what his story is. Maybe we’ll have time in the morning before we leave. At the marina, Shawn has been very helpful in refueling and taking care of our every need. He even allowed us to use his truck to drive to dinner. We went to Capers for a fine and relaxed meal, the first one we’ve had off the boat since last Friday evening.
Leaving anchorage at Russellville Marina on Lake Dardanelle
I awoke at 6:15 this morning for the last time. Kenn and I are always anxious on our boat when we anchor out the first night. Last night was no different on Barn & Vic’s boat. We were awake at odd times during the night to look out the portholes on either side of our berth, just making sure that we weren’t dragging anchor. The wind came up about 2:30 AM, enough of a breeze to change the harmonics of the water slapping the hull. It shifted our position and blew us back over our stern anchor. It didn’t foul it completely, but it made it difficult to pull up and clean.
Fog out on Dardanelle this morning, especially where the tail waters of Nuclear 1 flow in. It was a good thing that we anchored about 3 miles east of it. Barney talked to the lockmaster at lock #10 about 3 miles away, and he said that fog is thick on the river. We got to the lock and tied off at 8:55 and we had been lowered 54’ by 9:10. The lockmaster told us that there were a couple of tow boats headed upriver but they were halted by fog. By the time we passed through the town of Dardanelle, it appeared that the fog had mostly lifted.
I had gotten chilled while Kenn and I were lifting and washing off the anchor and chain, so I went below to shower and warm up. While in the shower, I felt the wake of tow boats, so I knew they were moving upriver again. As I came out of the head, Kenn yelled “Eagles!” So I grabbed my long lens and snapped off shots of 3 eagles feeding and fighting on the river bank. One was immature, and the other two were fully feathered, so I suspect it was a nesting pair and their young. That was at river mile 194 about 10 miles below the Dardanelle lock.
We made it through lock #9 by noon (at river mile 177) and lock #8 by 2:00 (river mile 156). Number 8 is Toad Suck Ferry lock near Conway. We should be in Little Rock Yacht Club around 3:30.
Beautiful scenery and beautiful homes scattered along the bluffs above the river, with some derelicts stuck in here and there. The weather is sunny but cool, little wind. We have had to stay in double layers of clothing today, except for He-man Kenn, who insists he won’t wear long pants until Thanksgiving. We’re about 2 weeks away from seeing the brilliant fall colors that we were hoping to see on this trip. A small price to pay to give the farmers the kind of rain they needed for their crops this year.
At about 3:15, at river mile 140, we saw a small boat in the distance to the far right of the channel. On closer inspection with the binoculars, I discovered that it was a canoe about 17 ft. long with a flat stern. The guy on board (who we have since named the River Gypsy) was paddling from the stern, using a long kayak paddle. He had a homemade platform mounted in the center of the canoe, and it had outrigger floats extended on either side of it for stability. On the platform he had 4 large Rubbermaid containers lashed side by side. The front of the canoe was stuffed full of camping gear, bags and what looked to be a mountain bike. Talk about Huck Finn-ing it – but he’s on the wrong river. He was paddling downstream, so he could be heading to the Mississippi. That is cruising in it’s simplest form.
We’ve been buzzed all afternoon by C-130’s out flying maneuvers. The sun has been shining brightly all day, and it is really warm when you’re standing in the light and out of the wind. Approaching Little Rock Yacht Club, Kenn noticed the 3 pyramids (mountains, one of which we think is Pinnacle). But we had never noticed the formation from land before. They line up in a row, just like the Great Pyramids in Egypt.
We made it to LRYC at 4:30. Refueled (334 gallons diesel), pumped out the holding tank and refilled the water tank. We’ll be ready to head out at full light tomorrow morning. So far, we have traveled approximately 218 miles since Saturday afternoon.
As a side note, the River Gypsy rowed into the State Park next door to the marina this evening. We thought about tracking him down to see just what his story is. Maybe we’ll have time in the morning before we leave. At the marina, Shawn has been very helpful in refueling and taking care of our every need. He even allowed us to use his truck to drive to dinner. We went to Capers for a fine and relaxed meal, the first one we’ve had off the boat since last Friday evening.
Day Two - Sunday October 28th, 2007
Barnacle II Mate's Log - Cruise Day 2 – Sunday, October 28th, 2007
Leaving Goose Harbor/Emerald Bay Marina, Van Buren, AR
Kenn was up about 6:00 AM, but it was still too dark for me. I made it out of the berth about 6:45. He was scrounging around the galley for coffee filters and making a ton of racket, and he woke Vickie up, too. She had to show him where she stashed them, in a Ziploc way under the sink. Breakfast was coffee and fruit. I took a walkabout around the marina and park. There were still all of the derelict boats that I remember mixed in with some nice ones, typical of this marina. But Frank is really trying to make a go of it. He is such a nice guy, I hope he doesn’t give up.
9:00 AM – Untied from the dock and are continuing downriver. Frank came by before we shoved off. The people on the old Captain’s Lady (steel hulled pleasure boat that was featured in the SW Times last week) came over to look at the boat. They were interested in the portable ramp/boarding ladder that Barney bought and Kenn installed. It really looks great and works wonderfully on any type of dock. It makes loading and unloading so much easier.
9:40 AM – Approaching Barling Lock 13. The lockmaster has been called and has everything ready for us to lock through. We were down and out in less than 20 minutes. Beautiful homes upriver from the lock at the end of Free Ferry in Fort Smith and at Massard Crossing. Lots of dredging and work barges around river mile 276. Work tug asked us to slow to ‘no wake’ speed (5 mph). I had been driving the boat for the last 15 to 20 miles, so I turned it back over to Cap’n Barn. Kenn decided to go below to the engine room and check everything out while we were at almost idle speed and the noise level was down. He came back up to the steering station to tell us that he found a small fuel leak in an old line section on the starboard engine. This was one of the few areas that hasn’t been replaced.
So the menfolk left the women in charge of the helm while they went back below to check it out. It’s a weep in a high pressure fitting from the fuel filter to the engine, a flared fitting of aluminum against brass. After some time, Kenn was able to tighten it to the point of no more drippage, so we got back up to cruising speed of 10.5 knots. That was at the mouth of the Mulberry River at high noon.
During lunch of soup and sandwiches, we saw 2 flocks of white pelicans. We came upon the town of Ozark at 1:10 and were in the Ozark lock by 1:25. I shot several pictures of the bluffs and the beautiful old span bridge there, and a picture of 2 guys living in a cave by the railroad tracks at the bottom of the bluffs. Took pictures of the bed & breakfast where we spent my 45th birthday over 5 years ago, and the Ozark railroad depot. They’re both right on the riverbank.
Ozark Lock & Dam 12 has a 32’ drop, and we were out of the lock by 2:00 PM. We continued downstream, considering how far we would travel today. The consensus was Russellville so that we could have an easy day into Little Rock on Monday. The plan is to anchor out for the night at Russellville State Park. That will give us some practice for when we have to do it further downriver.
Got to Russellville Marina and State Park at about 6:20, anchored and secured. We went below, made dinner and relaxed for a few minutes, then called it a night. It was a very good day of traveling. The boat is operating well.
Leaving Goose Harbor/Emerald Bay Marina, Van Buren, AR
Kenn was up about 6:00 AM, but it was still too dark for me. I made it out of the berth about 6:45. He was scrounging around the galley for coffee filters and making a ton of racket, and he woke Vickie up, too. She had to show him where she stashed them, in a Ziploc way under the sink. Breakfast was coffee and fruit. I took a walkabout around the marina and park. There were still all of the derelict boats that I remember mixed in with some nice ones, typical of this marina. But Frank is really trying to make a go of it. He is such a nice guy, I hope he doesn’t give up.
9:00 AM – Untied from the dock and are continuing downriver. Frank came by before we shoved off. The people on the old Captain’s Lady (steel hulled pleasure boat that was featured in the SW Times last week) came over to look at the boat. They were interested in the portable ramp/boarding ladder that Barney bought and Kenn installed. It really looks great and works wonderfully on any type of dock. It makes loading and unloading so much easier.
9:40 AM – Approaching Barling Lock 13. The lockmaster has been called and has everything ready for us to lock through. We were down and out in less than 20 minutes. Beautiful homes upriver from the lock at the end of Free Ferry in Fort Smith and at Massard Crossing. Lots of dredging and work barges around river mile 276. Work tug asked us to slow to ‘no wake’ speed (5 mph). I had been driving the boat for the last 15 to 20 miles, so I turned it back over to Cap’n Barn. Kenn decided to go below to the engine room and check everything out while we were at almost idle speed and the noise level was down. He came back up to the steering station to tell us that he found a small fuel leak in an old line section on the starboard engine. This was one of the few areas that hasn’t been replaced.
So the menfolk left the women in charge of the helm while they went back below to check it out. It’s a weep in a high pressure fitting from the fuel filter to the engine, a flared fitting of aluminum against brass. After some time, Kenn was able to tighten it to the point of no more drippage, so we got back up to cruising speed of 10.5 knots. That was at the mouth of the Mulberry River at high noon.
During lunch of soup and sandwiches, we saw 2 flocks of white pelicans. We came upon the town of Ozark at 1:10 and were in the Ozark lock by 1:25. I shot several pictures of the bluffs and the beautiful old span bridge there, and a picture of 2 guys living in a cave by the railroad tracks at the bottom of the bluffs. Took pictures of the bed & breakfast where we spent my 45th birthday over 5 years ago, and the Ozark railroad depot. They’re both right on the riverbank.
Ozark Lock & Dam 12 has a 32’ drop, and we were out of the lock by 2:00 PM. We continued downstream, considering how far we would travel today. The consensus was Russellville so that we could have an easy day into Little Rock on Monday. The plan is to anchor out for the night at Russellville State Park. That will give us some practice for when we have to do it further downriver.
Got to Russellville Marina and State Park at about 6:20, anchored and secured. We went below, made dinner and relaxed for a few minutes, then called it a night. It was a very good day of traveling. The boat is operating well.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Day One, Saturday October 27th, 2007
Barnacle II Mate’s Log – Day One, Saturday October 27th, 2007
12:30 PM – Left Applegate Cove Marina on Barnacle II, a 1981 45’ Chris Craft Motor Yacht. She has twin Detroit 8-71 diesel engines, and plans are to cruise her at her most optimum speed of 1800 RPM, between 10 & 11 knots. The boat is bound for Key West, FL from Kerr Lake on the Arkansas River Navigation System in Sallisaw, OK.
We waited on the Lockmaster at Lock & Dam 15 (lowered 44’) to pass a tow boat & barge through. Tied up in the lock at 3:15 PM. Waited nearly 3 hours just 2.5 miles away from home port. We were still stowing stuff from our fast departure. We had to wait on a UPS delivery this AM of 2 new engine water pumps. Kenn and Barney (referred to as Captain, the boat owner, grand master, etc.) discovered during a shakedown run on Friday that both water pumps’ rear seals were leaking at running speed, but not at idle or low RPM running. Barney ordered them from Ft. Lauderdale on Friday PM with assurances from the supplier that they would be here by Noon today. Kenn worked late last night getting the old ones off, Barn cleaned up the tube ends for new gasket material.
Barney and Vickie ran into town early this morning while we were doing last minute stowing and getting ready for the new boat parts. The UPS truck came rolling in at 9:10, and we grabbed the pumps and ran down the dock with them. Kenn was able to get the engines back together with help from Barn while Vic and I were still doing last minute packing and stowing of boat parts. People parts and food were already taken care of. It was a last minute dash to get everything on board, but we were finally on our way.
Barney is in hog heaven playing with his new toys – Garmin Radar system with integrated GPS, weather, magnetic compass, etc. Once we got into L & D 15 and tied off to the bollard, the lockmaster lowered us after he delivered Kenn’s sail repair/sewing kit that I left on our boat. I had called Rhoda at the marina to ask her to grab it off our boat and bring it down to us. We paid the lockmaster for his trouble in Halloween candy.
There was a flotilla of U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary boats heading downriver with us, but being small runabouts, they ran off and left us. We cruised by Bryant ‘Big Country’ Reeves house on the river bluff making 10.2 knots over land and gaining about 1 to 1.5 knots with the river current. It was 12 to 15 miles to the next lock at Muldrow/Spiro (Mayo Lock 14), and we made it there at 4:50 PM.
By that time we had caught up with the tow boat that had slowed us down at the Kerr Lake lock, the Ana Louise from Vicksburg, MS. He was carrying hazardous cargo (red flag), so it was questionable whether the lockmaster would let us go through the lock with them. We got permission from the lock master and tug captain, so pulled into the lock as far forward as we could go after the tow had secured their barges to the port side of the lock. He had to break apart and bring up one barge and the tug on the right side of the lock behind us. There were just inches to spare between the other barges and the lock wall. In my past experience, it was unheard of to lock through with a hazardous cargo vessel…I don’t recall that I have ever done it, but their willingness to do so saved us about 2 hours in getting to Goose Harbor/Emerald Bay marina at Van Buren.
Rolled under the Garrison Street/Hwy 64 bridge into Fort Smith at 6:40 PM. There was a Civil War enactment and camp at the park with a new Toyota pickup sitting in the middle of it (so authentic), and dang it all, I forgot to snap a picture. We pulled into Goose Harbor at way past dark-thirty. I forgot to look at my watch, but it was probably 7:15 to 7:30. Kenn was out on the foredeck with a spotlight while I was back at the helm with Barney relaying hand signals and helping navigate. Vickie decided to stay below and work on the salad for dinner. Good plan because it would have only made her nervous. We tied up at the fuel dock at the marina and hooked up to shore power. We made a couple of boat drinks to settle the nerves of the boys and relaxed for a few minutes.
Barney grilled steaks while we girls finished the salad and made mashed potatoes. Good dinner. Kenn barely made it through he was so beat. He fell asleep on the aft deck while Barney was tending to the steaks. I washed dishes and everyone went to their appropriate ends of the boat, cleaned up & hit the sack after having a nightcap of Ibuprofen for the tight and sore muscles.
All in all a great day. It was a wonderful start to this cruise. Kenn has worked his butt off on this boat, worried and fretted, and he was able to relax today even though he was still working like mad. Today showed the fruits of his labor. We were all in the good and capable hands of the captain.
12:30 PM – Left Applegate Cove Marina on Barnacle II, a 1981 45’ Chris Craft Motor Yacht. She has twin Detroit 8-71 diesel engines, and plans are to cruise her at her most optimum speed of 1800 RPM, between 10 & 11 knots. The boat is bound for Key West, FL from Kerr Lake on the Arkansas River Navigation System in Sallisaw, OK.
We waited on the Lockmaster at Lock & Dam 15 (lowered 44’) to pass a tow boat & barge through. Tied up in the lock at 3:15 PM. Waited nearly 3 hours just 2.5 miles away from home port. We were still stowing stuff from our fast departure. We had to wait on a UPS delivery this AM of 2 new engine water pumps. Kenn and Barney (referred to as Captain, the boat owner, grand master, etc.) discovered during a shakedown run on Friday that both water pumps’ rear seals were leaking at running speed, but not at idle or low RPM running. Barney ordered them from Ft. Lauderdale on Friday PM with assurances from the supplier that they would be here by Noon today. Kenn worked late last night getting the old ones off, Barn cleaned up the tube ends for new gasket material.
Barney and Vickie ran into town early this morning while we were doing last minute stowing and getting ready for the new boat parts. The UPS truck came rolling in at 9:10, and we grabbed the pumps and ran down the dock with them. Kenn was able to get the engines back together with help from Barn while Vic and I were still doing last minute packing and stowing of boat parts. People parts and food were already taken care of. It was a last minute dash to get everything on board, but we were finally on our way.
Barney is in hog heaven playing with his new toys – Garmin Radar system with integrated GPS, weather, magnetic compass, etc. Once we got into L & D 15 and tied off to the bollard, the lockmaster lowered us after he delivered Kenn’s sail repair/sewing kit that I left on our boat. I had called Rhoda at the marina to ask her to grab it off our boat and bring it down to us. We paid the lockmaster for his trouble in Halloween candy.
There was a flotilla of U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary boats heading downriver with us, but being small runabouts, they ran off and left us. We cruised by Bryant ‘Big Country’ Reeves house on the river bluff making 10.2 knots over land and gaining about 1 to 1.5 knots with the river current. It was 12 to 15 miles to the next lock at Muldrow/Spiro (Mayo Lock 14), and we made it there at 4:50 PM.
By that time we had caught up with the tow boat that had slowed us down at the Kerr Lake lock, the Ana Louise from Vicksburg, MS. He was carrying hazardous cargo (red flag), so it was questionable whether the lockmaster would let us go through the lock with them. We got permission from the lock master and tug captain, so pulled into the lock as far forward as we could go after the tow had secured their barges to the port side of the lock. He had to break apart and bring up one barge and the tug on the right side of the lock behind us. There were just inches to spare between the other barges and the lock wall. In my past experience, it was unheard of to lock through with a hazardous cargo vessel…I don’t recall that I have ever done it, but their willingness to do so saved us about 2 hours in getting to Goose Harbor/Emerald Bay marina at Van Buren.
Rolled under the Garrison Street/Hwy 64 bridge into Fort Smith at 6:40 PM. There was a Civil War enactment and camp at the park with a new Toyota pickup sitting in the middle of it (so authentic), and dang it all, I forgot to snap a picture. We pulled into Goose Harbor at way past dark-thirty. I forgot to look at my watch, but it was probably 7:15 to 7:30. Kenn was out on the foredeck with a spotlight while I was back at the helm with Barney relaying hand signals and helping navigate. Vickie decided to stay below and work on the salad for dinner. Good plan because it would have only made her nervous. We tied up at the fuel dock at the marina and hooked up to shore power. We made a couple of boat drinks to settle the nerves of the boys and relaxed for a few minutes.
Barney grilled steaks while we girls finished the salad and made mashed potatoes. Good dinner. Kenn barely made it through he was so beat. He fell asleep on the aft deck while Barney was tending to the steaks. I washed dishes and everyone went to their appropriate ends of the boat, cleaned up & hit the sack after having a nightcap of Ibuprofen for the tight and sore muscles.
All in all a great day. It was a wonderful start to this cruise. Kenn has worked his butt off on this boat, worried and fretted, and he was able to relax today even though he was still working like mad. Today showed the fruits of his labor. We were all in the good and capable hands of the captain.
Principle Characters of this Escapade
Barnacle II - 1981 45' Chris Craft MotorYacht
Barney & Vickie - Boat owners, friends, fellow adventurers
Kenn & Marti - well...that's us
Barney & Vickie - Boat owners, friends, fellow adventurers
Kenn & Marti - well...that's us
Monday, October 22, 2007
Crunch Week
Kenn has been working every day, putting in long hours to finish up all of the projects that the boat owner requested prior to leaving on the trip. I spent most of the weekend either as an extra set of hands on various projects for Kenn, or pulled marathon cooking sessions to prepare and freeze several menu items for dinners during the trip. So we'll have some wholesome meals such as my homemade spaghetti, white chicken chili, sloppy joes, and beef stew among other things.
Tonight found us organizing clothes and finalizing lists of things to take on this extended excursion. I've verified that I should have good broadband signal, either through my Alltel account or Sprint down the Arkansas River and the Mississippi to New Orleans. So I should be able to keep the blog up-to-date as we travel along. The plan is still on schedule to leave port soon after full light on Saturday morning, October 27th.
We'll let you know how it goes. Fair winds and smooth sailing (or in this case, motoring).
Tonight found us organizing clothes and finalizing lists of things to take on this extended excursion. I've verified that I should have good broadband signal, either through my Alltel account or Sprint down the Arkansas River and the Mississippi to New Orleans. So I should be able to keep the blog up-to-date as we travel along. The plan is still on schedule to leave port soon after full light on Saturday morning, October 27th.
We'll let you know how it goes. Fair winds and smooth sailing (or in this case, motoring).
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Intro
This blog has been created to share logs and pictures during our upcoming trip from Kerr Lake, OK to Fort Myers, FL via the Arkansas River Navigation System, the Mississippi River, the IntraCoastal Waterway and the Gulf of Mexico.
The boat that we'll be traveling on is a 45 ft. Chris Craft motor yacht named the Barnacle II. This will be the first Mississippi River run for my husband and me, although I have made several voyages from Florida to Texas and back via the Gulf and the IntraCoastal.
We will shove off from Applegate Cove Marina in Sallisaw, OK, on or about October 27th, 2007. The plan is to update this blog on an almost daily basis so that friends and loved ones can share in the adventure.
The boat that we'll be traveling on is a 45 ft. Chris Craft motor yacht named the Barnacle II. This will be the first Mississippi River run for my husband and me, although I have made several voyages from Florida to Texas and back via the Gulf and the IntraCoastal.
We will shove off from Applegate Cove Marina in Sallisaw, OK, on or about October 27th, 2007. The plan is to update this blog on an almost daily basis so that friends and loved ones can share in the adventure.
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