Dog River Marina (eleventh day) - 11/29/10

Still here......
Early this morning Sonny Middleton, who owns the marina and repair shop, stopped by to tell us that the shaft coupling had not come in as promised last Friday and after checking it was determined that it is not scheduled to be delivered here until Wednesday. He was a little more than just irritated and instructed his parts manager to call them and tell them to overnight at their expense now. So, if it does show up tomorrow, it will be sent to the machine shop to fit it to the replacement shaft and we can expect it to be installed Wednesday. Of course the shaft will have to aligned to the engine so maybe we will get out of here Wednesday afternoon but more realistic... Thursday. This is really putting a great big cramp in our plans of messing around in the Florida panhandle since we need to be in Port St. Joe this coming weekend to catch our ride home and it is close to 200 miles.

We did some more Christmas shopping to kill the day plus we won't have much time when we do finally get home. We are planning an early Christmas with our sons then road trips to our daughters before returning to the boat right before Christmas. We are really looking forward to a kid fix. Since you have already seen pictures of Ricki shopping ... none are attached.

Dog River Marina (tenth day) - 11/28/10

Another day ... same place. I had planned to do some chores in the holy place today, but after cleaning all the bilge openings, I couldn't change the oil because my spare filters had all gotten wet from the exhaust leak and were full of water and rusty. I went to the local Advance Auto but they did not have all the different size filters I needed so I guess that job will wait until Port St. Joe. Ricki worked on getting pictures ready to print while I had the floor sections out. We returned our rental car to the airport in hopes of getting our repairs done early tomorrow and out of here. The weather reports have indicated it could get snotty later Monday afternoon and all of Tuesday so we need to move or get caught here for several more days. I did chart our course on the Garmin GPS for Orange Beach, AL as an optimistic view of things tomorrow, so here's hoping. I am by nature, not a superstitious person but a little over a week ago we hit some rough water and the hand mirror in the master head fell off the counter and broke. Do you suppose?

Dog River Marina (ninth day) - 11/27/10

Road Trip!
We spent the day heading toward the Gulf, stopping first in Foley, AL at a Tangiers Outlet, which by all accounts (particularly the checkbook) was successful. Since we are coming home the first part of December and plan to have an early Christmas with our kids, we have to get with the gift shopping and after several stabs at it are almost done. Then we headed for Gulf Shores, AL which is a typical beach town except for the snow white sand. We took a walk out a verrry long pier which had dozens of fisherman pulling in fish right and left. When we went on east to Orange Beach, AL we decided to look up our friends Skip and Barb Johnson (Moor $tuff) and Jim and Cathy Condon (Merried with Her) at Bear Point Marina. The Condons are from New Matamouras, OH and I had initially heard they were taking this trip in the customer waiting area at Summers Motors in Marietta were I was getting our SUV serviced from a lady from New Mat. We had e-mailed back and forth after that but didn't meet until Joe Wheeler at the rendezvous. They had left Eastern Shore Marina in Fairhope together earlier today along with John and Barb Flint (Scoperta) and it was approaching "docktails time". When we pulled into the marina we gave Skip and Barb a call just as they were leaving to go over to Jim and Cathy's boat, adult beverages in hand. Skip had slipped on the dock this morning on ICE as he was preparing to leave and really messed up his leg. We joined all three couples for cocktails and later for a very good dinner at the marina restaurant.

Tomorrow I hope to clean the boat bilge and change the oil and fuel filters before we set out across the bay for the Florida panhandle. The weather for the next couple days does not look very good unless we can get out early Monday before the front comes through.

Dog River Marina (eighth day) - 11/26/10

Today Skip and I took Bill Langford (Precious Time) back to Columbus Marina in Columbus, MS, a round trip of over 500 miles, to fetch his SUV and bring it back to Eastern Shore Marina in Fairhope, AL. They need to keep their vehicle close as his wife, Charlotte, is in the middle of retiring from her position and involved in selecting her successor and may have to leave pretty quickly for Nashville or Chicago. They were married last year in Steinhatchie about this time of the year and are also planning on going back over there to celebrate their anniversary and may need the vehicle for that as well. Ricki spent the day doing stuff around the boat and enjoyed her "alone time". She worked on an floral arrangement that we will put on her brother's grave site in Waccissa, FL next week on our way back to WV. Tomorrow we plan to drive toward Gulf Shores, FL and Orange Beach, FL however, we have to pass a Tangiers Outlet so I already know how this will turn out.

The weather here has taken a turn for COLD and it looks like we will have to suffer cool nights and daytime highs in the 60's for a few more days. We are still hoping for a departure from here the first of the week since we have to cover 200 miles by Friday.

Dog River Marina (seventh day) - 11/25/10

Thanksgiving Day in the high 70's ... that just doesn't seem right!

We were going to Bob and Vicki Riggs beautiful home this afternoon around 2 p.m. so we had the morning to do a few things around here. While I threw the sheets in the wash, Ricki straightened things up here and cleaned out the refrigerator in preparation of leaving next week. We were picking our friends Skip and Barb Johnson up at Eastern Shore Marina on the way to the dinner. What a feast! Must have been 30 to 35 folks there with 19 of us actually on the loop right now. Bob and Vicki have completed the loop and have been the Harbor Host for some time and have done these dinners for 9 years. We got reaquainted with some folks we hadn't seen for awhile as well as meeting a lot of new ones. We got some great tips on the trip from here to Port St. Joe so if we can get going by Monday or even Tuesday at the latest, we can get there on Friday so we can get ready to leave with my sister and brother-in-law on Saturday. They have been in central Florida visiting a cousin and will pick us up on the way back to West Virginia. Tomorrow since we have the rental car thru Sunday, I am driving our looper friends Charlotte and Bill Langford (Precious Time) back to Columbus Marina in Mississippi to get their car.

Dog River Marina (sixth day) - 11/24/10

Today I contacted our insurance carrier and advised them of the issues we had encountered and started the claim process. As I was walking around this morning I spotted our old props in the maintenance shop all shiny and looking good with our boat name written on them. Can't wait to get them on and get started again. Now if I can spot the rest of the stuff I will feel better. This afternoon we decided to take a ride towards Orange Beach, FL and Gulf Shores, FL again with the idea of looking at it now in order to get on by in the boat. Well ... we passed some places that looked interesting to the first mate including finding a Tangiers Outlet that, thank God, had just closed early for the holiday. Never did make it to the beach. So ... she declared we would return Saturday and on the way to the beach, you guessed it, stop at the outlet. I have only seen one other person in this world that can go thru a store and touch everything in it before leaving and her name shall remain confidential. Your secret is safe with me Dianne H. The towns we have driven thru the past couple days are so neat. They just seem to reach out and grab you with the clean look to the point that it makes you say "I could live here" except that it is so far from family and friends.

Tomorrow (Thanksgiving) will be celebrated in Fairhope, AL at the AGLCA Harbor Hosts' home along with 35 to 40 other loopers for dinner. It is supposed to be very warm here in the upper 70's which seems a little strange to us northern folks for Thanksgiving time.

We received some fantastic news from our oldest son on the way back to the boat. Thanks Jason and Jody. Now the pressure is on for your brother.

Dog River Marina (fifth day) - 11/23/10

Another day of waiting for repairs to the boat. The owner of the marina and repair yard, Sonny Middleton stopped by early this morning to give me an update on the progress. We expect the replacement shaft to come back from the machine shop on Wednesday and the coupler to get here Friday. The only problem is that the repair facility will be closed from Thanksgiving day thru Sunday, so it looks like Monday will be the earliest to install the stuff. As I have indicated before, the folks have been great and are always appologizing for the time it is taking which is really outside their control. Shortly after Sonny left the boat, Debbie & Rob who we met at Columbus Marina, stopped by on their way to the West Marine Store which is less than a 100 yards up the road where we are parked. As they were leaving, John and Carol Segal (Seas 2 Day) that we sat with almost every day at the rendezvous, stopped on their way to West Marine. They went to Cancun after Joe Wheeler and we had not seen them since. Since we had a rental car and it did not seem fiscally responsible to let it sit and do boat chores, we talked to Skip and Barb (Moor $tuff) who left Monday for Eastern Shore Marina across the bay, and made plans to meet for lunch and do Fairhope. Eastern Shore is a marina we had planned to visit for a couple days so by going over today we can skip going there and cover a few days we are sitting still. The marina is very nice and surrounded by beautiful homes. The harbor host over there has invited those loopers in the area to their home for Thanksgiving dinner and the four of us made plans to attend. We went into downtown Fairhope which is a lovely town and had lunch in the "French Quarter" which is very much like it should be part of New Orleans and ate in an open garden area. Of course shopping was next on the agenda so Skip and I accompanied them just long enough to find a pub where we landed until they were done and rescued us. After coming back to the marina, we stopped by a docktail party on Debbie & Rob's boat where we met one couple from France who shipped their boat here to do the loop and Cuba and are planning on going around South America next. The other couple was from Quebec. We enjoyed meeting them very much. Norm and Sue (Run Around Sue) were docked right behind Rob's boat and we stopped there and had a docktail with them and John and Carol (Seas 2 Day) before returning to our boat to watch the finals of Dancing with the Stars.

Dog River Marina (fourth day) - 11/22/10

Shortly after 8 a.m. this morning I moved Quest to the haul out area and out she came. First glance as it was being raised, the bottom didn't look bad with only a couple scratches that I could repaint pretty quickly after it was power washed. However things got worse when I was able to see the stern area and could see the props. Both were damaged and the starboard prop actually had one blade turned the wrong way. The port prop just had a few small knicks so both were sent out for repair and we were prepared to install the spare ones as soon as we checked the shafts. Another bummer ... the port shaft was out 30 thousands. Getting it out turned out to be a problem. The shaft coupler had apparently vibrated from the bend in it and the set bolts (screws) had mushroomed their seat and the shaft ended up beyond repair. This is a holiday week and since the marina shop is closed from Thursday until Monday, it remains to be seen just when we can get across the gulf to Fairhope. At least we are in the best place for repair and the folks here are great. They are a sponsor of the looper association and really treat us right.

This afternoon we decided there wasn't anything else we could do since I had spent the morning with the guys working on the boat and Ricki had caught up all the laundry, so we took the rental car and went to the mall. Tomorrow unless things happen quickly with the repair job, we plan to drive over to Fairhope and join our friends Skip and Barb and probably get some more shopping done.

Dog River (third day) - 11/21/10

Today was sort of bitter sweet seeing our friends Stan and Colleen Anderson pull out of the marina in Endeavour bound for the Texas coast. We have traveled with them since leaving Joe Wheeler and have had some great times. They will be missed.

Our other traveling buddies, Skip and Barb Johnson (Moor $tuff) joined us for the day touring the battleship Alabama. Skip was a former Navy guy and was able to identify many things that were not covered on the walking tour of the ship.

It took all afternoon to explore most of the 12 floors of the boat. When we left the park, the next order of business was dinner and after such a great meal the night before at the Mariner Restaurant across Dog River from our marina, we did it again. We had rented a car for a few days and decided to do a little shopping after dinner but Skip and Barb decided to call it a day. Tomorrow morning our boat is scheduled to be hauled in order to check for a vibration which is probably a prop issue.

Dog River Marina (second day) - 11/20/10

Second day at Dog River Marina was mostly a work day. We slept in a little late and the chef (captain) made breakfast for the first mate, again. Shortly after breakfast we were informed that Stan (Next Endeavour) had dropped his cell

phone overboard so off I went to see if I could help. After several attemps with a fishing net strapped to 2 expanding poles to reach bottom, we were unsuccessful. Another boater on the dock offered a high powered magnet so we tied 2 lines to it so we could work it between the dock and boat bow. Long story short, we latched on to the leather enclosed belt clip and hauled it in carefully. After clean up and flushed out ... it didn't work but since it was practically new and supposed to withstand this type of treatment, the company is going to replace it. The afternoon was spent installing the new blinds in the boat that Ricki ordered from Lowes in Rogersville, AL and had them sent here. Later that night we enjoyed adult beverages on our boat to celebrate our friendship and traveling together for the past couple weeks. Stan and Colleen are leaving us and heading for Texas tomorrow and we will certainly miss them. We then went across the river to the Mariner Restaurant where we had a wonderful meal.

Dog River Marina, Mobile, AL - 11/19/10

After a very nice anchorage about 1/2 mile up Big Bayou Cannot at MM 16.9 on the Mobile River, we awoke to a beautiful day. If you click the picture you can see our friends, Dave and Brenda (The Old Grouch) anchored just a few hundred feet from our raft up. They were in the group picture yesterday when we got together for dinner. Since they are from Canada and Skip spent quite a bit of time there with his job, they entertained us with stories. When we broke the raft, Ricki manned the anchor windless and washed the mud off the 70 feet of chain we had out for the night. As we were leaving the bayou, Stan (Next Endeavour) had earlier offered a yet to be named prize for the first alligator sighting. The first mate sighted what she thought was one since she is so competitive that turned out to be a "dead head" so ... game on! The 14 mile swing bridge only had an 8 foot clearance so after hailing it we were informed that a train was coming and we would need to wait. Between the current and ebb tide, we backed up a piece to wait. Another water traveling sport was to spot bald eagles which we were able to finnally photograph in

the

top of the tree. As we motored into Mobile, the magnitude of the activity is awesome. I think we all had an idea of what to expect but it definately exceeded that. I screwed up one of the pictures coming thru Mobile but I wanted BYC Pink to see the futuristic tugs they are using here so wherever the pic lands ... that is what it is.

After what seemed like miles going past all the ships and tugs, we get to the big water which has crab pots in it as soon as we turned toward Dog River. This water is very shallow and we saw a lot of numbers below six feet in depth. The marinas are very much alike except this one has a large repair facility that we will take advantage of on Monday. At one marina on the Ohio River we found ourselves aground next morning and had to ease off but we did hear some solid sounds. Then going into Pirates Cove on the Tenn-Tom we bumped a submerged dredge pipe. Between the two incidents we have developed an annoying small vibration so we are going to pull the boat, clean the bottom and put on the spare props Monday. They do have a prop shop here so they can repair the removed ones. I told Ricki it may cost us $2,000 for the work so that way when it comes in much less she will think we won. Now, back to the alligator contest. On our way back from the repair shop were walking the boardwalk behind the docked boats and saw a small critter (lizzard or something) that Ricki zoomed in on with her camera and tried to pass this off as an alligator but got busted again.

Since we are having the boat work done Monday, we will probably stay until Tuesday before heading east about 10 miles across the gulf to Fairhope, AL where we also plan to spent a couple days. We are going to rent a car for our stay here so we can act like tourist and visit some of the attractions and sample the food. We are joining our traveling buddies in the marina courtesy car for dinner at Carrabbas tonight. Stan and Colleen (Next Endeavour) will be leaving Sunday and heading west to Texas. Skip and Barb (Moor $tuff) are going our way and if we don't travel together we will plan to meet in Port St. Joe next month before the big gulf crossing.

Our position here is N 30 34.076 W 88 05.288

Big Bayou Cannot Anchorage - 11/18/10

We left our river anchorage about 7:30 a.m. realizing we were not going to be able to make Mobile today and will have to stop about 17 miles short of the bay. As we went around the first turn, we saw our looper friends on Dragonfly, an Erie Canal barge boat which they have converted to electric power. As you can see from the chart plotter, it is still very crooked. It was over 4 miles around the figure eight to make a few hundred yards forward progress. Stan Anderson on Next Endeavour is always thinking up a project to do or make. He is currently having an air boat made that will have a cabin on it for use in Oregon. Todays project was trying to figure out how to mount a stern anchor that would not damage the back of his boat so he needed a current West Marine catalog which Moor Stuff had and I got a picture of them handing it off in the middle of the Black Warrior River. Our river raft worked so well that we used it again tonight when we went up Big Bayou Cannot to spend the night. This place was as near spending the night in the everglades that you will find north of southern Florida. We all got together for cocktails and a pork rib dinner on Next Endeavour. Tomorrow we will run the 17 miles to Mobile Bay and into Dog River.

N 30 52.146 W 87 59.698

River Anchorage MM 79.9 - 11/17/10

Got up this morning at the Bashi Creek anchorage to FOG. We were no more than a 100 feet up the creek but couldn't see the river until 8:30 a.m. This put a cramp in our plans to make Mobile in 2 days since it gets dark so early so we had a nice ride down river passing the famous Bobby's Fish Camp to our selected anchorage in a wide spot on the river. Across from there was the former Lady's Landing Marina which is now gone. We had stopped there several years ago when we accompanied a friend on his boat from Houston to Charleston. Now Bobby's is the last stop before Mobile which is about 116 miles apart. Again we got creative with anchoring and had the catamaran and Quest drop anchor then tie together with the Carver dropping anchor downstream and backing into the tie up. This way we were double anchored into the current and also had a stern anchor to keep us from swinging into the channel. Since we had a late start we will not be able to make Dog River Marina for 2 more days.

Bashi Creek - 11/16/10

We left Demopolis at 6:55 a.m. in hopes of getting down the waterway far enough to get to Mobile in 2 days. Before we left Ricki took a picture of the alligator outside the restaurant at the marina. Of course it was dead or she wouldn't have been this close. We had some serious rain overnight and when we left for the lock less than a mile away, it still looked very threatening. When we were ready to leave the lock the weather had changed for the better and was nice for the whole day. The dam at the lock washed over a rock falls before returning to the river.











This part of the trip has started to get pretty crooked as is shown in our chart book. When we got to our anchorage in Bashi Creek, it was very small and we created an unique raft by turning the catamaran cross ways in the creek tied astern to a tree and anchored off the bow. The other 2 boats then side tied to the catamaran where we spent a very peaceful night. We will still have at least one more anchorage before getting to the gulf.