Nashville

Adventure at home for a rest

Thank you God for your love and protection

We are home from Nashville. We departed 09-18-2010 for Nashville and arrived home11- 10-2010 @ 3:30 p.m. What a wonderful trip. We got great service on our fuel filter problem. We just needed to change the fuel/water filter and the engine ran great. This is a must spare part to carry. Also, I will have the filter changed every time we have the oil changed. We got great service at Dog River Marina by D & D Marine. I would call them again for outboard service. They met us at the dock and were out the next morning with the part. We departed Mobile, AL at 9:30 am and arrived at our house at 3:30 pm (low tide—we cross a 2.5 foot bar coming into the canal). It looks like we averaged about 12.5 mph on the trip from Mobile. We had to get up at 1 a.m. to move the boat into lift at high tide. The next few days will be getting the house ready for Thanksgiving and we have lots to be thankful for. Also, we will have to get use to our old bed and being in a house. It does not have the same feel, smell, or sounds as the boat. We thank you God for your love and protection. Also, thanks to all of you who followed our trip and prayed for us. This will be our last Nashville post. We are planning another trip for the spring and will be letting you know its details soon. Thanks again everyone for your support. Jo Ann and Carl

Nashville

Yesterday was our 30^th  wedding anniversary. What a wonderful day. We did not even forget it. We have been known to the next day look at each other and say “You know what yesterday was?" For our anniversary we were anchored at Alabama Cut off on the Tombigbee River about 50 miles north of Mobile, AL. Last night for our special meal we had special tuna fish with nuts and grapes and apples sandwiches, potato chips, Chips Ahoy white fudge chunky cookies and Riunite Lambrusco wine. It was great. We had to run the generator last night for heat. The generator stopped about 4:30 am when it ran out of gas. It was a little cold this morning - 42F outside; but it was only 53F inside. Makes you get up and move. It is foggy outside and we will have to wait until about 8:30 or 9:00 am for it to burn off. We are at Dog River Marina in Mobile tonight. Repairman met us at the dock. It looks like we have water in the fuel. We will try changing the main fuel/water filter and see if that fixes our problem. We have low power and engine hunting for rpm 500-1000 rpm mainly above 3000 rpm after 1.5 hours of operation. Tonight we had blackened grill cheese sandwiches and soup. I know they would be a hit in New Orleans if they only knew about blackened grill cheese. We have 75.8 miles to go to our house – no more locks. It depends on the repairs when we can leave Dog River Marina in Mobile, AL.

Nashville

Our little Heater

We are still setting (11-6-10) at Demopolis, AL waiting for the winds on Mobile Bay to calm down. It is forecast to be good weather (wind) Monday- Wednesday in Mobile. We are planning to leave early tomorrow (Sunday, 11/07) and go to Bobby’s Fish camp.  A boat had a fire at Bobby’s last week but they are still pumping fuel and have dock space. The marina here has put a one day stay limit on new transits. They just got too many big boats to handle. The temperature has been forecast to be 29 F but we only got down to 44 F. Our little heater is doing the job. Also, we have a heat strip in the A/C unit. We have not had to use the A/C for additional heat. Our boat is so tight that we have to leave a window open to let the moisture from our breath out. The walls and windows sweat if we leave all the windows closed. The temperature was another factor in us deciding to stay in Demopolis. Here we could use their AC current and not just have our generator to power the heat. It is forecast to warm up this coming week. Also, another big factor was today is game day. Alabama vs. LSU. At 2pm we will be going to the restaurant to see the game. Tennessee and Memphis is on pay for view. Nothing really exciting has happened here at the marina since the Coleman’s left. The boaters meet each day at about 4:30 pm to tell stories, drink beverages, and ask questions about where they are going. We have met some interesting folks and heard some great stories. We have lost our little camera again. We left it in Columbus going up and now it is on the boat somewhere we hope. It is lucky for us we brought the old camera as a back up. It has served us well. Sad day -- ALA 21 LSU 24. A first Jo Ann could not finish her bowl of ice cream last night!!!! They give a very large bowl at Demopolis Yacht Basin Restaurant. We are now docked at Bobby’s Fish Camp –Bladon Springs, Alabama (11-07-10). Tomorrow Ala cutoff—anchor out.

Nashville

Dinner at Demopolis Yacht Harbor RV Park

Marina Restaurant Turtles

Downtown  Demopolis, AL setting on white cliffs along river

We are now at the Demopolis Yacht Harbor. Looks like we will stay until Thursday, the weather is forecast for rain Tuesday and Wednesday. We have 2 more locks, 2 anchor outs, Bobby’s Fish Camp and one or two dockages before home. Our next major stop will be at Eastern Shore Marine in Fairhope, AL. The Coleman’s arrived in Demopolis today around 12:30 with shrimp, chips, pumpkin pie, and candy. We ate all of it. We had a great time visiting. Monday, we had lunch at the marina restaurant. Everyone had a great meal- salads and sandwiches. Jo Ann had a large bowl of cinnamon ice cream. Surprise! Surprise! They came in their camper and will be able to park here at the marina campground. Scout and Mary and their cat friends are with them. We had great grilled hamburgers and a picnic by the river for dinner. Great fun! A large tug pushing fuel barges came by last night with all its lights lighting up the night. It was very pretty. We could here the low powerful tone from the diesel engines as it went down the river. They sounded even better than a v- automobile or an old airplanes rotary engine in the still river air. This morning we all sleep in. It was an 80% change of rain today and tomorrow. We have had very little rain so far. The Coleman’s left Demopolis about 10 o’clock. Thanks Coleman’s for coming to see us we really enjoyed it. Hope to see you in Fairhope. This afternoon we went to Wal-Mart to get water and stuff for the rest of our trip. We are stocked up. I am posting a picture of all the river turtles that hang out below the walkway to the restaurant. We learned we had to save some of our french fries so we could feed them. They expected it. However there is not turtle on the menu. Tomorrow is a rain day so there will be lots of naps, reading, and planning going on. We are planning to stop at Bashi Creek- anchor (Thur.), Bobby’s Fish Camp- dock( Fri and Sat), Alabama cutoff ( our gator stop)(Sunday) and then Fairhope at Eastern Shore Marine (Monday). Mobile Bay is calling for light chop Sunday. We will have to watch the weather forecast for Mobile Bay.