Almost full circle!

Time travelled:   8 hrs
 Nautical miles:  70 nm
 Docked at:        Baytowne Marina, Sandestin, Florida

White sand beaches!

Two countries, fifteen states, one province and nine months! We arrived back in Florida this morning and now all we have to do it make it to Fort Lauderdale to cross our wake and have the Loop completed! Let me see if I can name all the states - Florida of course, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama! Whew....can't forget the Canadian portion in Ontario!!!!

It is good to be back in Florida but it is really cold ....going down to the low 30's tonight. We left Orange Beach early and within a few miles had another looper behind us - "Inconceivable" - then as we carried on we came up behind "Glory Days". We are certainly not the last of the loopers! Both  the other boats stopped at the protected town dock in Walton Beach. We actually considered stopping at a marina there but the wind was so strong we decided against it. We forged ahead and stopped in Sandestin.  Even with two men on the dock it took a little time and a lot of effort for us to dock - we have extra lines out because of the wind howling around us.

We arrived in time to do some laundry and straightened out the boat. We are both exhausted and are taking tonight and tomorrow morning to regroup before heading to Panama City!

We did however take the time to let his majesty go for a swim and play ball - you can see he is feeling better!

Back in civilization!

Time travelled:   8 hours
 Nautical miles:   66 nm
 Docked at:       Orange Beach Marina, Orange Beach, Alabama

FOG - mother nature is really beginning to upset me, if it's not one form of precipitation it's another. We can't even see across Mobile Bay this morning! So, here we sit waiting for the fog to lift. The tide is going out so we are watching all the junk float down the river.  The tugs are still moving - horns blowing as they move down the channel! This is a busy place.

Finally, the fog lifted a little and we made the decision to move on. We stopped at Dog River Marina to feed the twins, pick up a parcel and to visit the West Marine store. It was a bit of a challenge getting in there with the fog but we managed. I do mean we because it took 4 eyes to watch for oncoming traffic and markers. Once back into the bay we followed the shipping channel for over an hour until we turned east and headed for the inter-coastal.

Fishing boat in Mobile Bay

Trying to score a free meal!

Coast Guard repairing marker 21

Zeke was feeling a little sea sick today - reminded me of Lake Ontario. He wasn't sick but wanted to sit outside in the fresh air. Poor guy - wait until we cross the Gulf, he will hate us. Speaking of Zeke, he has gained about eight pounds. So, I think we will be cutting out the Boost as soon as this case is done. It has certainly helped him.

It is nice to be back on the inter-coastal and see signs of life - both human and wildlife. I love watching the pelicans soar and dive.

LuLu's - Jimmy Buffets sister owns this place.

WOW

There she is under the water

As we were coming in to the marina this afternoon we had about four dolphins playing beside the boat and jumping  - they followed us for a good ten minutes.  I must have taken sixty pictures and these are the best. it was really difficult to get them in action. Hopefully there will be more tomorrow.

On to Mobile

 Time travelled:     10 hrs
 Nautical miles:     106 nm
 Docked at:           Mobile Convention Centre

Lock:   Coffeeville 35 ft. drop  NO MORE LOCKS!!! 


A tow coming through late last night!

Tunnel Vision out of the lock and moving on down to Mobile!



Well we made it to Mobile but not to the marina. We did not want to travel through this busy port at night so we stopped at the convention centre. We probably could have made the marina but once we got here there were barges, tows, container ships, going every which way so we had to slow down.  Our back up plan was the free dock at the convention centre. I called this afternoon and the gentleman just asked the name of our boat and how big it was.  We walked a little bit into the downtown and there were some nice shops and cafes but I think because it is a Monday night most were closed.  We will get up early tomorrow and head to the marina as we are going to fill up the tanks again and we need to visit the West Marine store there to get a chart book for the west coast of Florida. 


 MOBILE HARBOR

The people,the places and the food!

Time travelled:     8.5 hr
 Nautical miles:    84.5
 Docked at:         Bobby's Fish Camp

Locks: Demopolis    40 ft. drop

Getting ready for the Christmas Parade on the water.

We were up at the crack of dawn to get moving. I called the lock to check on the status and he was just taking a barge down, bringing up another and had one waiting!! Shoot ... it was going to be at least two hours.  Two hours of  daylight gone!!  
We got into the lock with a 75 foot Burger named "Tunnel Vision". We had met them a few weeks ago at Green Turtle Bay Kentucky when they pulled into the slip beside us at 1:30 am during a rain storm. Well, we actually met the next morning. They are travelling with their dog, Millie, who has cancer. You would never know it, she is still fiesty and has the typical attitude of a small dog.  Zeke was thrilled to see another dog!
Tunnel Vision was also headed for Bobby's. The hunters could really slow us down-- it would also depended on how many tows we encountered along the way. 

The first tow we past was Chippewa. The name was familiar because this past fall he had been involved in an accident where he came upon a motor vessel and somehow it sank !! Well, the other Captain did something (not yet known what) and sank himself, but never the less we passed him carefully. 
 Although we are heading south the river is going every which way but straight – a little like the teeth seen around these parts! 

Garth found out from Jay on Tunnel Vision that he had called Bobby's and although they are usually closed on Sundays they would open for us for dinner. WOW, how nice.
We arrived around 4:30.  Jason, Dan, Sue and Jay were all on the dock to grab our lines, dinner was between 6 and 6:30. We walked Zeke,showered,did our chores and we were ready to experience Bobby's.

Bobby's Fish Camp mile 116.9

Inside of Bobby's - note the size of the fish -garfish

Bobby's was a very interesting place, one of the more interesting venues we have been to on this trip. The decor was like a movie set - fish and fish pictures, coke memorabilia, tin signs, etc., etc. The tables were arborite kitchen sets that wobbled. Large plastic plates - the good plastic I might ad and a fork in a paper sleeve was at each place setting. Perhaps fish camps are knife free zones, not sure why there were no knives - discuss among yourselves. 
We had decided earlier that we would all eat together so, while we were waiting for the Tunnel Vision crowd we looked around at all the "stuff", read the guest book, and browsed the menu. Now, Tunnel Vision had been there before so they all showed up with drinks - and a portable cooler bag filled with wine! 
The menu consisted of fish, shrimp, crab and just about everything was deep fried. Even deep fried pickles. We had the grilled shrimp and it came with fried hush puppies, french fries or onion rings. The shrimp was delicious!
Dessert was biscuit pudding with a whiskey sauce - very tasty! 
The company was hilarious - Jay and Sue the owners of Tunnel Vision are from Minnesota. They had friends aboard - Julie and Dan, plus Captain Jason from West Palm. It's a big boat, and a new boat to them. 
Tunnel Vision has been chased by hunters twice. Jason said their wake was rocking the hunters boat too much for any of them to get off a good shot at them but Julie ran downstairs anyway. The second group of hunters came up to them from behind and took pictures of their boats name. I want to see that court case on Judge Judy! (She has a massive yacht in Fort Lauderdale but has probably never been up the river) We all agreed that these hunters need to display some orange flags or something.  We saw far too many in full camo, some even wearing face paint. Welcome to the deep.......deep south! 
We couldn't have asked for better company or a more unique setting than Bobby's. The food was great and after a wonderful evening we were in bed and asleep by 9 pm.  

The ham and the fish!

One side note - Jason informed us that geneticists from all over the world come to this Alabama county to study the genetic make up of the population. He also said if he were to do a remake of Deliverance, Bobby's would be the focal point of the movie because of its uniqueness and quaintness. Alligator heads are for sale at 2.50 an inch if anyone is interested!
The journey is all about the people the places and the food!

Snow storm or Fog

 Time travelled:   9 hours
 Nautical miles:   78.8
 Docked at:        Demopolis Yacht Basin, Alabama

Locks:    Tom Bevil          27 feet
               Howell Heflin    32 feet

Another early start! Garth called the lock to ask about passage and to ask if there was fog below the lock. Come on over he said, the fog is clearing. We were literally 5 minutes away, tucked into a cove. By the time we got out into the river the lock keeper called  to say that the fog had rolled in below the lock and it was thick. Great, we had already left the dock, we decided we would lock down and wait below. Off we went! The fog was pretty thick below the lock but we could still see the tree tops on both banks. Garth called back to the lock keeper and asked if there was any barge traffic upbound. He replied ZERO! OK, that was good news. We decided that if we can drive cars in a snowstorm we can drive a boat in fog!  We just hoped that anyone else out on the river was using their horn and going slow.

Sounds worse than it really was.

Some of the sights we saw today!

Getting better at spotting the hunters

Living on the edge!

Spectacular cliffs of Epes

Lots of tow traffic today.




We arrived in Demopolis just in time for the Christmas parade but we had to  fill up the water tank, pump out the holding tank and fill up with diesel. We did all this then went to take the golf cart over to the other side where all the action was and we couldn't get the cart to start!! Actually just as well because they had fireworks and Zeke was not a happy camper with all the noise.  Off to Bobbys Fish Camp tomorrow and then we will have to anchor out before arriving in Mobile sometime Monday afternoon. Probably no internet until then.
TWO MORE LOCKS!!!! Ya Who.

OMG!!!! WE WAKED THE HUNTERS

 Time travelled:    7.5  but more like 9.5 including time spent in locks
 Nautical miles:    61 nm
  Docked at:        Pirates Cove Marina, Alabama

Four locks today:   Wilkins       25 ft
                              Amory        25 ft
                              Aberdeen   28 ft
                              Stennis        30 ft

   Up and on the water at OH DARK THIRTY!  Through the first lock within a half an hour.

Frost on the boat and mist on the water

Still a little mist, exiting the Wilkins lock.

At 9 am I spotted them, but it was too late. Two of them were on land and two were in the water. They saw me point at them as we rounded the corner and the two who were in the water went as fast as they could to the back of their boat.  Garth immediately pulled back – we were crawling right along at 8 knots. As we passed them they were doing the universal finger wave. One of the guys in the water waded out even further to make sure we saw the wave.  My heart was pounding as I grabbed the binoculars to look back. I immediately locked all the doors and grabbed the only weapon I have – pepper spray. Garth was amused but let me go about securing the three of safely inside.  We both kept an eye out the back and sure enough they came screaming down the river after us.  I grabbed my little canister of pepper spray in one hand and discreetly put it in my pocket.  Garth pulled back and I walked out onto the side.  They came screaming past us and kept on going. I waved nicely to them but they did not acknowledge me.

We were honestly looking for them but seriously how can you spot them when they are totally in camouflage gear.   We did spy a few more hunters and we also saw two deer on the bank as we crawled down the river.  

These are our friends that only wave with one finger!

More hunters trying to blend in

We spotted these guys from a mile back.

All this just so they can catch a deer? We saw two standing right on the bank as we went by - big, white, noisy boat and no camouflage. If I see my one finger friends tomorrow I will tell them they should get a Hatteras to go hunting in!

Two well camouflaged deer --bottom left


It was a long day, we met up with MOONGLOW in the Columbus Lock and travelled  with them . We had met them weeks ago at Aqua. Tomorrow we will get up early again and try to make Demopolis. It's a haul and if there is fog in the morning we won't make it.

Zeke sums up the way we feel after a long, exciting day! I think he has forgotten what this grass is for, perhaps I shouldn't have washed it so well.

PS travelled -  Canadian spelling eh!

      traveled  -  US spelling  

WOW - it's December

 Time travelled:   4.5 hrs.
 Nautical miles:   32.6 nm
 Docked at:        Smithville Marina, Mississippi

Locks today:     James Whitten          84 foot drop
                         Sony Montgomery   33 foot drop
                         John Rankin             31 foot drop
                         Fulton Lock              30 foot drop


James Whitten Lock

After the Trent-Severn Zeke looks for treats at every lock!

A little mist still on the water this morning.

Biggest drop of the loop, 84 feet! 

The LOCK GODS were with us today, we entered the first lock right off the bat and from there we only had one five minute wait all day. Four locks down and eight more to go!!  These locks are a breeze compared to the dreaded Erie Canal System. They have floating bollards and all you have to do is lasso one and bring the line back to the boat and then wait .....we have had the locks all to ourselves today.

Well, we did have company in the Rankin Lock

Marinas are few and far between on this stretch - although we still had another few hours of daylight there was no way we could make Columbus, so we stopped.  We were warned not to try and get into Aberdeen Marina so this was our only choice.

Cruising down the Tenn-Tomm

SMITHVILLE, MISSISSIPPI
In April of this year an EF5 Tornado (winds greater than 200 MPH) went through this town, according to our waitress at Mel's Diner there were 17 people killed, 14 of the 16 businesses on Main Street were wiped out, 5 churches destroyed and 150 homes flattened. She told us that the tornado sirens had been going off and on for two weeks prior to that day and that nobody really thought it was such a big deal. She was at work - the old Mel's Diner, someone looked out the door,saw it coming and they had time to run into the freezer. The marina owner was killed in the tornado and now his son is running things.

Mel's Diner just reopened on Tuesday of this week, the other places that are open are conducting business from trailers on concrete pads left behind. Wow, it is so sad to see such devastation and destruction.

The courtesy car for the marina survived the tornado, unfortunately -

Rear view mirrors are optional on marina courtesy cars in Mississippi!