Green Turtle Bay KY & Nashville side trip - Sep 28, 2016

Sept 25^nd – Once again, it was a hot and sunny day.  Maria felt sick to her stomach during the night and threw-up a couple of times.  I didn’t realize how sick she was since she moved to the salon to sleep on the couch while I was asleep.  I asked her why and she said she didn’t want to wake me up … how sweet is that!  We had plans to go to anchor out with a bunch of Loopers in a beautiful bay today, however Maria wasn’t feeling well so she said I should go with the group.  We had 5 couples on Brian’s & Judy’s boat “Valentine”.  We were there from Noon to just before dark floating on a Lily Pad, floating chairs, noodles … plus anything else that floats.  Brian BBQed some sausages and there were plenty of munchies.  What a beautiful and fun day … however it was too bad Maria had to miss it.  Everyone asked “Where’s Maria” and missed her chipmunk like voice … LOL!  When I got back to the boat it was getting dark and the boat was hot inside thus I was wondering what happened.  The main breaker for my 2^nd panel tripped thus the air condition pump and mid air unit were off.  It took me only seconds to fix the issue … I felt bad since she had to suffer in the heat since she doesn’t know how the two 30 amp panels work.  I’ll need to spend some time showing her so that she’s able to deal with an issue like this herself in the future.

Sept 26^th – It was raining this morning with sunshine in the afternoon and it has finally cooled off enough to make it comfortable outside without having to be in the water to keep cool.  We borrowed the courtesy van today to go to Best Buy to get the data off our hard drive of our dead laptop.  After we got back to the marina we walked into town to get some needed exercise.  We met with the other Loopers to discuss our plans for our Nashville and Chattanooga trip and then we went to pick up the rental cars to prepare for our departure tomorrow morning.  We went for dinner at the Yacht Club to celebrate Rob’s birthday from “Over Ice” … unfortunately Rob and Brenda can’t make it to Nashville since he has an issue with his engine that he’ll be dealing with while we are playing.  After dinner everyone wanted to watch the Presidential Debate and it was interesting to get an American perspective on the upcoming election.

Sept 27^th – It was a cool and sunny morning and we had to move our boats to a more secluded spot in the marina before we left for Nashville.  We arrived at Nashville at about 1pm and then checked into our room and then drove to the Grand Old Opry.  Unfortunately we weren’t able to get tickets for the 7pm show thus we decided to go back to the hotel and get ready to hit the bars in the downtown area … a Pub Crawl!  We went to the Tin Roof first and heard an amazing band called “Triple Run” and really enjoyed the original song called “Hey Kentucky”.

We then went to multiple Honky Tonks along the main drag and stopped in at any place where the music sparked a connection with us.  There’s some amazing talent in the area and our favorite was the first band we saw.  At the end of the night we walked back to the hotel across the pedestrian bridge which gave us a great view of the night lights of Nashville as well as the Nissan Stadium (home of the Titans).

Sept 28^th – It was a sunny and warm day.  We went down to breakfast in the Hotel and then took the shuttle to downtown Nashville.  We went on the Red Neck Comedy Bus tour of Nashville which was entertaining.  Afterwards we hit Honky Tonks along Broadway St and again really enjoyed the up and coming talent.  We originally planned to have dinner at a place called Pukketts, however we didn’t respond quick enough to their text saying that a table was available thus we went to the best burger joint in town and the burgers were great.  After we arrived at the hotel we made plans for moving to Chattanooga tomorrow morning.

Daytrip to Swim in Kentucky Lake

Tom, me & Rob

Floating around the Lily Pad

Happy Birthday Robert - The guy with the monkey

The Red Neck Comedy Bus Tour in Nashville

Broadway Street in Nashville

Brian & Judy ... Notice the poor beer pouring skills used in the 2 glasses in front of Judy

Nashville from the Pedestrian bridge

Little Diversion Channel MO to Green Turtle Bay KY - Sep 24, 2016

Sept 22^nd – Do I sound like a broken record … It was a hot and sunny day.  We left our anchorage in Little Diversion Channel early in the morning since we had a long run ahead of us.  We traveled 92 miles via the Upper Mississippi river and the Ohio river and left Missouri and entered Kentucky.  As we approached the Ohio river we saw a very clear line between the two rivers.  The Mississippi was very muddy and then all of a sudden you cross into the Ohio river and the water clears up so much that you can see large numbers of carp swimming along the top as we travelled.  Even though the Ohio river seemed to look clearer it’s not one of my favorite rivers since we hit two submerged objects.  We hit the first as we passed under a bridge on the Ohio river and hit another as we were escorted by a red and white tow through the Olmstead lock since it was under construction.  The tow took us through both the new and old lock.  We continued on to the next lock which was Lock 52 which has had it’s problems the last few weeks.  It was starting to get dark and the group decided to go through the lock, however at the last minute I changed my mind and anchored out for the night before the lock.  I was worried about hitting another object in the dark and we felt it wasn’t worth the risk.  We figured we could catch up with the other boats the next day.

Sept 23^rd – It was a hot and sunny day.  We left our anchorage at Lock 52 on the Ohio River and traveled 33 miles to Green Turtle Bay Marina via the Ohio river, Tennessee river, Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley.  The other boats that went through the lock last night got ahead of us, however we caught up to them by giving the boat a good run on the Tennessee River.  The Lock Master told us if we didn’t catch up to the group in front of us then we would be in for a long wait at the Kentucky Lock.  We did successfully catch up and actually had some time to go for a swim while we waited for the lock to open.  Rob from “Over Ice” put his Lilly Pad in the water and we relaxed and cooled off, however the water was extremely warm … just like bath tub water!  I put on my diving mask to see if I could determine if the props were damaged by the submerged objects we hit.  It was difficult to see clearly, however the blades of the props felt OK, however one of the blades may have a slight ding/bend.  We don’t feel any vibration thus we are going to leave everything as is for now and check it later when the water is clearer.  Once we arrived at Green Turtle Bay marina we all went up to the pool with our Coolers and just relaxed for the afternoon.  We were getting low on beer and found out that we were in a dry county (they don’t sell alcohol or beer), however we were relieved to hear that we didn’t have to drive too far to load up.  We have a courtesy car for tomorrow morning to make a beer run.  After we got back from the pool I found my laptop sitting in the sun on the table.  I tried to turn it on but it was dead.  I Googled a number of remedies, however they all failed to work.  Darn!  We then went up to the Yacht Club for docktails with a large number of Loopers and afterwards we went on a boat called “Crazy Love” with a number of Loopers and just talked the night away. 

Sept 24^th – Another hot and sunny day in Green Turtle Bay.  Maria went with a few Loopers in the courtesy van to Walmart to buy some beer while I stayed back to reconfigure the wiring on our new inverter/charger so that the charger would work when the generator runs.  Success!  I also had to recharge the salon air conditioner since it couldn’t keep up with all this hot weather.  It seems to be OK now.  We borrowed the courtesy van to go to Best Buy to have their Geek Squad help us revive the laptop, however they said the motherboard needed to be replaced and it wasn’t worth it thus we were forced to buy a new one.  The Geek Squad did help us recover the data on our laptop, for a price.  Finally we got to enjoy the afternoon by first taking a swim in the pool and then we went for a Seafood boil with over 200 people including a number of Loopers and local Yacht Club members.  Afterwards I went back to the boat to set up the new laptop to ensure it was working properly before we go to Nashville on Tuesday.  Best Buy called to say they recovered our data thus we plan to go back Monday morning to pick it up.

Many tows parked on the Ohio river

Getting escorted by a tow through the Olmstead Lock

Sunset at Lock 52 on the Ohio river

Sunrise at Lock 52

Cooling off in the Tennessee River as we waited for the Kentucky lock

Things are looking much nicer now that we are on the Kentucky lake

A few Loopers at the Green Turtle Bay Pool

In the Kentucky Lock

Seafood boil at Green Turtle Bay Marina

Seafood boil ... Yum!

Grafton Harbor IL to Little Diversion Channel MO - Sep 21, 2016

Sep 19^th – Another hot and sunny day.  We left Grafton Harbor Marina on the Illinois River in the state of Illinois early this morning to travel about 58 miles to Kimmswick - Hoppies Marina which is on the Upper Mississippi River in the state of Missouri.  Apparently the next marina after Hoppies is 228 miles away!  The first incident of the day occurred when 2 boats were hit by extreme current as they entered the Mel Price Lock and were pushed into the lock wall causing damage to both boats.  One boat lost their bow thruster due to debris in the lock.  The 2 boats had to turn around to go back to the marina and one needed to be hauled out to replace a shear pin in their bow thruster.  A third boat was spun around backwards with no damage.  We powered through the current and everything was OK for us.  The second lock of the day was much easier to traverse.  I can’t believe the amount of debris there is floating in the Mississippi – It’s like a mine field that you need to carefully pass through.  At points we were stuck in a debris field and all we could do is put the boat in neutral and float with the debris until you could find an exit path.  The current was so strong that North bound Tows had to use lots of force to get up the river and some put out 4 foot waves that we had to pass through.  Once we arrived at Hoppies Marina we had to turn around and find a path through the debris to get to their dock.  Three dock hands had to direct you in since the current was very strong so it was important to deploy lots of fenders and lots of lines.  I hope we don’t have any debris hit our boat while we’re docked here!  Fern (who has been at Hoppies for years and is very well known throughout the Looper community) arrived in a golf cart and gave instructions to the dock hands on how to secure the boat.  At 4:30pm Fern had a Captain’s meeting providing all kinds of useful information for things such as how to leave the dock in the morning, what routes to follow, where to stay overnight and spots on the rivers to avoid being in when Tows are around.  Note that a person travelling by canoe to raise funds for a cause also attended the meeting.

 

Sept 20^th – It was another very hot and sunny day.  We left Hoppies in the morning to run 42 miles to Kaskaskia River Lock which allowed us to stay overnight.  This lock is on a river off of the Mississippi so there was no current or debris.  We arrived fairly early thus we sat on the front of the boat to get some sun and then went for a dingy ride up the Mississippi to a beach a little off the beaten path with Rob and Brenda on “Over Ice” (their dingy’s name is Ice Cube).  We walked up the beach and waded into the water ... the temperature of the water was 76 degrees F.  Once we got back to the boat we had some docktails and a community dinner with 4 Looper boats including ourselves and afterwards we learned a new dice game called Left, Right, Centre that is played with Hersy’s Kisses.  I won a couple of times and now have a pile of chocolate to eat!

Sept 21^st – It started out very foggy and transitioned to another extremely hot and sunny day.  After the fog lifted we left Kaskaskia River Lock and traveled 70 miles to Little Diversion Channel MO.  We traveled past a number of Tows and had to navigate through some debris and hit another submerged object, however there’s no vibration in the drive system thus we think everything is OK.  When we got to Diversion Channel we anchored and rafted with 5 Loopers, including ourselves.  We’re looking forward to getting to the next marina in a couple of days so we can run the air conditioning ... I know ... I shouldn’t complain about the heat, but I am ;)  We made reservations at a hotel in Nashville with 3 other couples for the end of this month with plans to also go to Chattanooga by rental car while our boat is in Green Turtle Bay marina.  We had another pot luck dinner tonight with good company and lots of laughs.  

There was debris everywhere!  Sometimes you had to coast until you found a clear path

Hoppies Marina

At Hoppies with a Looper using a Canoe on the Left and Legendary Fern on the right

A Mississippi Paddle boat

St. Louis Arch

Going for a dingy ride on the Mississippi

Visiting a beach on the Mississippi

Rob, Brenda and I

Brenda, Brian, Maria, I, Rob, Cathy and Tom

4 of us rafted in Little Diversion Channel

And then there were 5

Bar Island IL to Grafton Harbor IL - Sep 18, 2016

Sep 16^th – It was a warm humid day with intermittent rain and distant thunder storms.  We left Bar Island anchorage this morning to move to the Willow Island anchorage on the Illinois River which was 56 miles away plus we went past (not through) 1 lock since the wickets were open due to the high water levels.  The anchorages that we’ve been at during the last 2 days have currents of about 2 knots which is a weird feeling.  It’s almost like the boat is moving forward.  If you fell off you boat you would quickly be swept away and I doubt that you’d be able to swim back.  You also have to be careful not to let go of your dingy since it would be very difficult to get it back.  With the current you don’t have to worry about swinging on the hook since the current holds you straight, however debris floats by you constantly and everyone hopes that they don’t wake up to a large log stuck in the anchor line.  We had docktails on our boat at 4pm with 3 other Canadian Looper sail boaters.  The rain continued during docktails and into the night thus the boat was extremely warm since the windows are closed and the diesel engines have been running all day.  I guess I get to sleep on top of the covers again tonight, however I’m going to do a better job hunting mosquitoes before bed since my ankles were bitten a number of times last night so my ankles are extremely itchy.  Maria isn’t bothered by the heat and she continues to sleep under the covers ... she must be a West Indian (she was born and raised in Guyana).

       

Sept 17^th – It started out as a cloudy warm day and transitioned to a hot sunny and humid day.  We travelled from our Willow Island anchorage to Grafton Harbor Marina IL which was about a 30 mile run.  I picked up the packages that West Marine delivered (the inverter/charger and remote panel) and read all of the installation instructions and designed my implementation which is planned for tomorrow when the engine room isn’t so hot.  We borrowed the courtesy van (an 18 passenger van) from the marina and went to get the parts I needed for the installation, however I couldn’t find battery cable ends that were big enough to fit the AWG 2/0 cables that need to be connected to the 12V system.  We also went to Walmart to get needed provisions.  Unfortunately we missed the video call from the Lake Simcoe Yacht Club (LSYC), however they left us a video with well wishes for the remainder of our trip.  But we did manage to talk to the LSYC bunch later that evening.

 ... It was nice to talk to folks from home.  There are many loopers here at Grafton, however we haven’t been that social today since we’ve been both trying to catch up on our must do jobs.  Hopefully I can complete the Inverter/Charger installation tomorrow.

Sept 18^th – It was a hot and sunny day today.  We stayed in Grafton Harbor Marina so I could replace my inverter charger.  I started the job at 9am and 5 hours later I was finished.  It took longer than I expected mostly because the old unit was in a very difficult spot to access and remove.  I installed the new unit in a better location, however I had to deal with some rewiring issues and had to drill some holes using a hole saw to reroute the wires.  I walked through all of the tests recommended by the new manufacturer and the new inverter passed with flying colors.  I also decided to top up my batteries with distilled water and top up the oil in the engines.  I’m sure I didn’t smell so good after all this work thus I went for a long shower and then had to have a couple cold ones to celebrate.  It does feel good having the job done, however I’ll probably need to take an Aleve later due to all the weird positions I was in throughout the day.  We went for Docktails on “Tiger” with Bill and Carole and met new boaters Stacey and Anna from “The Next Adventure” while we watched a live band from their flybridge.  After Docktails we went to dinner with the other 2 couples to the on-site restaurant which has great food.

Another Lock with the wickets open so we go around it instead of through it

Interesting growth on the trees

Many of the houses are on stilts - I guess they are worried about flooding

Our first courtesy vehicle was a 18 passenger van

Walmart ... Here we come!

Everything open and tools everywhere while I replace my Inverter/Charger

This girl kept waving to me!

Joliet IL to Bar Island IL - Sep 15, 2016

Sep 13^th – It was a warm sunny day.  We got up early and traveled from Joliet IL to Ottawa City IL which was about a 47 mile run however it took us 12 hours to do it with the major reason being that we had to wait for over 4 hours for one of the 3 locks that we had to go through because the Tows have priority over pleasure craft.  When we got to the Ottawa City dock there wasn’t enough room for all the boats thus we rafted up to other Loopers.  I researched my options to replace my Inverter / Charger and the supplier recommended by Dave from Manana was not available and they had no other options for us thus we decided to purchase the equipment from West Marine and have it delivered to Grafton Harbor.  We expect that it should be there before the weekend thus I should have my inverter issue fixed by next week.

Sep 14^th – It was a rainy morning however it cleared as the day progressed.  We were moving a bit slowly this morning since we had a very long run yesterday however we decided to go further today and traveled 75 miles from Ottawa City to Peoria IL and stayed at East Port Marina.  I was made aware of this marina by Jim and Cindy from “The Journey” and I would have passed on this marina based on the information contained in Active Captain, however it’s a great marina with a great Seafood restaurant close by (Jonahis).  The Active Captain reviews focus on the lack of depth, however there’s lots of depth this year due to the high water level.  My suggestion would be to call the marina and verify that the depths are OK and if so then stay a night or two.  The harbor master is a great and helpful guy and the price is right - $1 per foot.  We finally met fellow Canadians Bill & Carole from “PDQ Tiger” today.  We’ve seen their boat in multiple ports and went to introduce ourselves however we never found any people on board.  We went out to dinner with them as well as Jim & Cindy and had a great time and lots of laughs.

Sep 15^th – It was a hot and sunny day and winds don’t seem to matter anymore now that we are on the rivers.  We got up early today to travel from Peoria IL to Bar Island IL which was about an 80 mile run.  We went through 1 lock today, however the water was so high that they had the wickets open which basically means that we went over the waterfall instead of going through the lock.  The water is 5 feet higher than normal thus we’ve been seeing lots of debris which means you need to keep on your toes so you don’t hit any logs.  The other lock differences are that you can leave your boat running, you only tie to the centre of your boat at a floating bollard and the locks are extremely large.  At the end of our long day we had docktails on “Folly” with our Canadian sailing friends.  Guess what, there’s a monkey on Folly as well thus our monkey found a girl friend!

Lots of White Pelicans

Anyone want to buy a house real cheap?

Eagles

Maria has been doing alot of the driving lately (She likes the rivers)

Can you see the Asian Carp jumping?

The water is 5 feet higher than normal

Left to right - Me, Bill, Carole, Jim, Cindy & Maria

Lock to the left & waterfall on the right ... we went to the right

Pat, Maria & Lynn and the Monkey found a girlfriend!

Rene, Janice, Harley & Michael and the Monkey found a girlfriend!