Demopolis, AL still!

Day 90, October 30th, 2009
We had the car booked for 9:00. Paul and Sue still having troubles. Another part arrived yesterday from England. The mechanics were working on it again after talking to the Sonic people in England, early in the morning. Sue was having problems with her computer, perhaps picked up a bad virus?!! So they couldn't join us. However, Pat and Diane came along with us. We visited Bluff Hall, another beautiful old house owned by the Historical Society, built in the 1830s, and extended 15 years later. This was the family's town house, where Mr. Lyons lived when he came to town. The family mainly lived at the 25,000 acre plantation outside of town.
We really enjoyed our escorted tour around the home. Bluff Hall is the home with the big square columns on the front. The other houses are on the same street.

Once back at the marina, I continued my scrubbing job, this time down the port side and the dinghy too. Boat looks much better - should do, I went through 3 bottles of spray cleaner to get the crud off!!

After a nice snooze, we all got together on Sharpie's Dream for Pina Coladas and munchies. Its a hard life. Sue managed to find someone to fix the computer but now he hasn't phoned her back. We are hoping we shall be able to move on tomorrow morning.

Still In Demopolis

Day 89, October 29th, 2009

The day started well with French toast and bacon. (Using the last bit of a cinnamon, raisin loaf that John had made in the bread maker.) Quite yummy!

My sister and I have been dealing with our Dad's estate with the lawyers in England for the last couple of years. There were some more papers that needed our signature, so Jen signed with the lawyer in Collingwood and then we arranged for her to send them on to the Post Office in Demopolis where I would pick them up. We had expected them to be here when we arrived on Tuesday - they weren't here. Checked again on Wednesday, still hadn't arrived. Phoned on Thursday morning, still nothing but the girl suggested I try again around 11:00 as they still hadn't sorted through the parcels. I was beginning to fret! I had suggested to Jen she send them Express Mail from Canada Post but when I looked up the tracking number it stopped on the Sunday just stating that the item had arrived in the U.S. Keeping my fingers crossed, I called again at 11:15 and this time I was lucky, they'd found it! Oh, I was so relieved. It would have been a huge nuisance if the envelope had got lost!! Anyway, John and I walked up to the Post Office and picked it up and then walked into a lawyers office we had noticed halfway up the road. When we explained we were visiting the town and needed the help of a Notary Public, the very kind lady showed us straight through to the conference room, we sat with her and signed all the papers and I asked for her invoice. "Oh, that isn't necessary. I'm pleased to be able to help and we're happy just to have you visit our little town!" Wasn't that something. Yet another example of Southern Hospitality. So we came out of there, walked straight back to the Post Office and FedExed the papers back to the lawyer in England. What a relief!!!

When we got back to the marina we celebrated with fried cheesecake and ice cream at the restaurant for lunch! (Damn that southern cooking!)

Then we got back to work. John finished his job of changing the oil in the engine and the transmission and I got busy and started scrubbing the poor dirty old boat. Got the transom clean and all down the starboard side but then we had a lovely surprise when our friends Pat and Diane Sharpe arrived on "Sharpie's Dream". Diane and I had taken the CPS Basic Boating Course together back in Thunder Bay, when we both lived there. They moved away that year. We met again in Covered Portage in the North Channel this summer and knew they were behind us on the Loop. We have kept in touch by e-mail and were hoping to get together and it finally happened. We will cruise together for a while now, which is going to be lots of fun. Work had to stop for celebratory Margaritas!!

The pictures above are of the restaurant at the marina. The alligators aren't real! There's a big "No Swimming" sign on the fuel dock, but I'm assured they don't have alligators around here!

And just to let you know - I'm drinking a large glass of water with that fried cheesecake!!

Demopolis, AL

Day 88, October 28th, 2009
A busy day of chores. I got up in the morning stripped the bed and took all the laundry to the marina's laundromat. (Expensive here - $1.75/washer and $1.25/dryer) While doing the laundry I checked my e-mail and started to update the blog. Meanwhile John refuelled, refilled all the water containers, and defrosted the freezer.

We took advantage of the courtesy car at 1:00 and got the spare propane tank refilled and then found the SuperWalMart and reprovisioned. By the time we got back the new transmission cable had been installed so we were able to move off the gas dock into a more comfortable slip on the other side. Then we set about getting the cabin organized again as everything had had to come out from the quarter berth where we stow a whole mass of gear.

When we got back from town we found Twice 's Nice had arrived. It was a happy reunion! After we'd all got our chores done they came over to the boat for a Margarita and then we went for supper at the restaurant to catch up on all the news.

Demopolis, AL

Day 87, October 27th, 2009
We had thought Blue Heron was anchored pretty close to our anchor but when they told us they planned on getting underway at 7:00 the next morning we weren't concerned as that was our plan too. At 7:00 John started the engine but was concerned when he heard a "rumble". Blue Heron got their anchor up and planned and we waved goodbye. After about 30 minutes John had diagnosed the problem as a busted transmission cable. We called ahead to Demopolis Yacht Basin and spoke to the mechanic. He assured us that yes we could put the transmission into drive manually and we would not cause any damage. We explained our dilemma and he said they would watch out for our arrival. So we started the engine, John got the anchor up, I got the boat turned around with the help of the current there, meanwhile John dashed down below and pushed the lever down into the drive position and we were underway again.

It was really an uneventful day, raining off and on, watching out carefully for debris as there would be no easy way of putting the propeller into neutral quickly. We passed the white cliffs of Epes - pretty impressive, and just kept plodding along.

We arrived around 3:30. Called them on the radio to let them know and two guys kindly met us at the dock. John just stopped the engine, we coasted into the dock and the guys caught our lines and we stopped very quietly with no sweat. They'd hardly got us moved along out of the way and tied up before on the guys came on board and got the old cable out. The part was ordered right away and we were told it would be delivered the next morning. Very efficient. It would appear its rather an unusual part to break. However, dear old Periwinkle is not as young as she used to be and she sure has been faithful! Oh dear! I think its that age thing happening - I don't like thinking about that! Find it quite offensive!!

You will see from the first photo, we are tied up on the gas dock at the far end on the right hand side. On the left a tow boat is refuelling. It took a while! They were also reprovisioning. A whole mass of groceries arrived. You could sneak a peak in some of the open doors. There was a very comfortable, clean and tidy bedroom towards the bow, with a very pretty blue quilt on the bed. They have an on board cook. It was pretty noisy with the generator running the whole time. We were rather glad when they took off after dark with lots of lights to find their way. You will see in the photo those big yellow steel supports they are tied to. They are enormous - so high to deal with the flood conditions that prevail from time to time.

Gainesville,AL

Day 86, October 26th, 2009
From Conchrane Cut we moved on to another oxbow down the waterway, passing through another few locks on route. We noted that the scenery seemed to be changing somewhat - more and more cypress swamps, more grasses, lots of broken up lilly pads in the water along with the dead wood. In the afternoon was pass from Mississippi to Alabama. Neither of us have ever been in Mississippi or Alabama before. We get a kick out of the southern drawl. Sometimes when we speak to the lockmasters we really haven't a clue what he replies!! Often have to ask him to repeat.

We arrived at the anchorage quite early, shortly after 1:00 we were anchored and comfortable.
Neither of us felt very ambitious though so decided to have a quiet afternoon on the boat. Around 4:00 another catamaran arrived, Blue Heron, and they told us they had been travelling with Twice 's Nice for the last two days but they had had to stop at Pirate's Cove Marina, further up stream, because they were worried about the vibration again. Needless to say we were so sorry to hear this. We were able to get Paul and Sue on the cell phone, only to hear the mechanic had been able to tighten it up, Sue had done her laundry while he was doing his thing and they had done a few miles afterwards and had anchored at Cochrane Cut. Again we promised to meet up in Demopolis. Blue Heron was glad to hear they were okay.

Cochrane Cut, MS

Day 85, October 25th, 2009

It was quite cool in the morning with mist over the water but visibility was good and we got going again. About 10:00 that morning there was a tow boat parked on the side of the waterway. If we'd had any sense we would have grasped that there was a reason why he was just sitting there, but no, we asked him if we could pass safely on his starboard side and he responded that we could do that. Got around the corner and all of a sudden we were in thick fog. Almost missed a starboard hand buoy and went into the shallows. We were just about to drop the anchor and wait for the fog to burn off when it gradually cleared and we were able to get underway again.

We thought we would have a short day that day and stop at the Tom Bevill Visitor Centre to learn about the last steam driven snag boat. However, when we got there we anchored by the lock but found the visitors centre to be closed Sundays and Mondays. We dinghied over and had a good walk around but were a bit disappointed we couldn't go into the Centre itself and find out more. We learned from the various plaques that the snag boat was the last steamboat snag boat before it was retired in 1982. These old snag boats were usually accompanied by a barge tied to its side. There job was to go along the waterway and snag up old logs and old trees floating and clogging up the waterway. This debris was piled up into the barge and cleared away. It could carry as many as 170-180 old trees at a time. We had been passing areas of old cypress stumps and I had wondered what happened to all of the dead trees. I guess this is the answer!

We haven't seen any clearing of dead trees and we have certainly seen a whole lot of logs and debris!!

Anyway, after a good walk around we decided we wouldn't stop the night there after all but make a bit more progress. So we asked the lockmaster if we could lock through and he was very accommodating. We pushed on to an oxbow about 20 miles further south, called Cochrane Cut. The instructions in the book were clear "keep to the West bank" but I, like a dilly, tried my other West, was watching the depth carefully - it went from 17ft beneath and all of a sudden we came to a soft but surprising stop!!! Poor John was on the bow getting the anchor ready. I was able to back off without a problem but I certainly felt like a fool. When I tried again on my other West, it was fine with nothing less than 10ft beneath!!! It really pays to follow instructions!

A couple of rum and cokes and watching an action movie helped to take my mind off it.

Columbus, MS

Day 84, October 24th, 2009
What a great day we had. And what a lovely little town. We started off back to the Visitors Centre where the lady called up one of the antebellum homes and made an appointment for us to view. First we walked to the "Amzi Love Home" where we met the great grandson of Amzi Love. He was the 4th generation to own the home and had kept it exactly as his family had had it. Fascinating history of Amzi and his family. There had been a son and five daughters. Only the youngest daughter had had children, which was this fella's grandmother. Boy, could he talk!!! He offered us coffee as soon as we arrived and very shortly thereafter another couple arrived who were staying at his bed and breakfast right next door. It was a beautiful old home, complete with all the old furniture, clothing and personal items of the whole family. I was amazed that they had kept it all, when I thought of all the stuff I have thrown out over the years!!! After Amzi's house we walked on to "Temple Gate". This was lovely too. We were met by the owner of the house again, a lovely lady who told us she and her husband had bought the home shortly after they married and were told that they could knock down the old house and use the lot!! They didn't knock it down but set about fixing it up and furnishing it as it would have been furnished back in the 1830s. Her husband was the swimming coach at the local school and she was an elementary school principal. Unfortunately he died a few years ago and she had run into some health problems and had the house up for sale. What a beautiful job they did!! It was so charming. She showed us the house from the third floor to the basement, the original kitchen out in the yard and the old slave quarters. Originally there were 10 slaves for 9 family members living there. She is in touch today with a descendant of one of the slaves, a professor at a northern university who sometimes brings his family to visit to show them where their roots are and how far they have come!!! What a fine story!

After a delicious lunch at "Harvey's" (I had New Orleans Pasta with craw fish tails and shrimp and John had a Philly sandwich), we took ourselves on the walking tour of the downtown region. It was a little tricky as the businesses had changed names since the tour was written, but we had a lot of fun figuring it all out and must have walked around the area at least three times before we got to the end. So many times people stopped to help us, thinking we were lost or something! We just explained we were doing the tour and they added little comments or told us their story.

By 4:30 are feet were tired so we went back to the boat for a cup of tea and a snooze and then took the dinghy to Rubens, a catfish restaurant on the river just 100 yards up from where we'd anchored. The catfish was very good, along with the salad bar, but Mike and Clayton Maska's catfish in Illinois were definitely a bit better, especially accompanied as it was with Clayton's secret Tartar sauce recipe. Clayton, you need to open your own catfish restaurant!!!

We really enjoyed our visit to this gorgeous little town. Oh, I should mention that during the Civil War, Columbus was a hospital town - the wounded from Shiloh were brought here for care and treatment. Because of this General Sherman left the town intact, instead of razing it to the ground as happened elsewhere. Consequently, Columbus has over 200 period and antebellum homes which are so beautiful today.

Columbus, MS

Day 83, October 23rd, 2009
The day started with the Glover Wilkins Lock. A motor cruiser went into the lock with us. It was only another hour to the next lock, the Amory Lock & Dam. At least it took us an hour but the motor cruiser probably made it in half that time. He ended up having to wait for us! The lockmasters have it all down pat and communicate with one another so they know who is coming down and when to expect you. We laugh now that when the motor cruisers see us they probably are groaning - "Oh No! They're going to hold us up!!" Oh well! Not our problem!!
How mean! They get their own back when they come zooming passed us leaving us rocking in their wake!!

We stopped for the night up the old Tombigbee River at the town of Columbus, MS. We seemed to travel up there quite a ways with houses on stilts either side. But it turned out to be a good anchorage right by a bridge and very close to their Riverside Park. We dinghied up to the public dinghy dock, locked the dinghy again and walked into town. We weren't quite sure where to go to we stopped and asked the first lady we met (she was walking her two gorgeous springer spaniels), and guess what - she was English, lived in Columbus, from the Chester area.
We had a good laugh about that. It seemed funny! Anyway, she directed us to the Visitors Centre just a short walk away - housed in Tennesee Williams' house where he was born!! A playwright, he wrote "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Streetcar Named Desire". It was pretty late in the day by then so we picked up several brochures and spoke to a lady there to plan our sightseeing the next day. What a pretty little town - it reminded us very much of Collingwood with the attractive downtown area and even the angle parking!!

Smithville, MS

Day 82, October 22nd, 2009
Up at the Visitors Centre at 7:30. The staff were surprised to see us standing there when they arrived a few moments late! But they were very kind and started up the movie especially for us and we really enjoyed it. They moved more earth to build the Ten Tom, starting in 1985, than they did to build the Panama Canal!! It shortened the trip by 800 miles of winding river.
As soon as we'd see the whole movie we got back to the boat, went through the lock and were chugging along again. Stopped the night at Smithville, MS. The book told us that the town was just a 1/2 mile walk away - turned about to be more like 1.5 miles away but that was fine. Found a PigglyWiggly to buy milk and walked back again. Big thick black clouds overhead. A kind lady stopped to ask us if we would like a ride back before the rain hit but we thanked her and told her it was just another 15 minutes or so and we'd be fine. How kind everybody is. There's always somebody watching out for us and offering help!! We did get back before the rain, glad to see the dinghy and Periwinkle right where we had left them. (We did lock the security cable to tie the dinghy to the little dock at the public ramp though!!)

Cotton Springs, MS

Day 81, October 21st, 2009
We had hoped to leave early from Goat, at 7:00 a.m. but there was thick fog on the water and we had to wait till 9:00. We had hoped to be able to have a good look at the Cotton Springs Visitors' Centre, but only had about 30 mins. there before the place closed. There was a great movie showing about the building of the Ten Tom Waterway, but we only got to see the last 10 minutes. Consequently we made plans to get back there as soon as they opened in the morning to see the whole thing!! We did buy 2 great T shirts though as souvenirs - only $13.00 each with a 25% sale on top of that! Great pictures of the waterway on the backs!!

Goat Island, MS

Day 80, October 20th, 2009
We never finished the blog last night, so I got up at 6:00 and have been tapping away on the keyboard every since! Lovely sunshine again today but it was pretty chilly in the night. Had to put the little heater on again first thing. We're just going to anchor out at Goat Island tonight, right adjacent to Lee Spry Boatyard. We'll dinghy over to say goodbye to Paul and Sue and then we'll be ready to move on tomorrow morning. In this picture you will see a sail boat with its mast down, just taking off. The boat's name is "BonVent" from Ottawa. Big Beneteau with centre cockpit, probably 52ft or so. They are on their way to the Bahamas for the winter, then will leave the boat in Florida for the summer while they go to Australia, then back to pick up the boat and take her to Central America! You can just see Periwinkle's mast at the end of the dock.

All the boats on this side of the dock are transients, most doing the Loop. You can see another shot of sailboats at the marina - amongst them is a boat from Greenland. We haven't got to meet them though. Chatting with people, where they come from, where they've been and where they're going is always fun and interesting.

Goat Island really is Goat Island. See the welcoming committee as we beached the dinghy! We walked around the Island and met lots more too. They were probably quite tame but we didn't know that so we both picked up a good sturdy stick to use as a weapon, just in case they weren't friendly!!!

Aqua Marine Yacht Harbour, MS

Day 79, October 19th, 2009

We woke to thick fog over the water, but it didn't take long before nice bright sunshine burnt it off. Its amazing how much more beautiful things look when the sun comes out!

John and I had breakfast and then went up to see what was going on in the yard. Oh Dear! More bad news! Apparently the parts never got sent. Visa refused to honour the expenditure when they couldn't reach Paul or Sue to confirm their order. It being the weekend the office was closed, of course, and cell phone reception is patchy. After making several phone calls, Sue was able to clear things up and they were promised the parts would get mailed before the end of the day. However, that still means another 4 days of waiting. Disappointment!! We talked it over and decided that John and I would move over to Aqua Marine Yacht Harbour to do some laundry and get up to date on the internet. We will anchor out Tuesday night and then start moving south on our own. Paul and Sue should be able to catch up in Demopolis, AL where I have some mail to pick up and business to take care of.

We arrived at Aqua before noon and had two loads of laundry all looked after by 2:00p.m.

Big Marina, great facilities, $1.25/ft. We spent the afternoon at the computer, checking e-mails etc. Paul and Sue walked over and after checking their e-mail we had a bite of supper together.

We borrowed the courtesy car to drive them home to the boatyard.

Corinth, MS

Day 78, October 18th, 2009

Lee kindly gave us the use of his truck for the day!! We left the yard shortly after 9:00 and went to Corinth, MS about 25 miles away. We had been told of the Battle of Corinth Interpretive Centre and wanted to visit. What an interesting place. You get out of the car in the parking lot and walk up this winding concrete path. Your interest is sparked immediately as you notice a Yankee button, a penknife, a mug, a Confederate belt buckle, a bayonet, a pistol, a pack of cigars, all bronzed and set into the concrete as if somebody had just dropped them along the way! The centre is very well laid out and fascinating. Its all about the battles of Shiloh and Corinth during the Civil War. Between these two battles 32,000 troops died within a matter of days and another 24,000 died of their wounds and disease!! At Corinth two important railroads met and hence the site became a strategic focus. The Confederates lost both battles and it became the beginning of the end for them. The above photo shows the memorial to the Civil War. Each block denotes a major battle. The size of the block relates to the number of casualties.

We needed a change of air after reading all that sad stuff and found our way to a little corner diner in the town of Corinth. It was packed - all the locals dressed in their Sunday go-to-meeting finery! And food!!! Good Southern Food!! I ate turkey and dressing with cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, cream corn, lima beans and fried corn bread with peanut butter cake for dessert. Too bad no opportunity to go back to "Martha's Menu" and try the fried chicken!!

I'm becoming obsessed with food! John had the turkey too but he had the macaroni cheese instead of the potatoes with a roll instead of the corn bread.

We stopped at another SuperWal-Mart on the way home to reprovision. We're becoming very familiar with Super Wal-Marts!!

Lee Spry Boatyard, MS

Day 77, October 18th, 2009
The boatyard doesn't usually work on weekends but Lee did come by and put the injectors back in Paul's engine and all was running smoothly.

Another cold wet day. We were glad to be hooked up to power on Lee's dock so we could run the little heater. I'd even dug out my long underwear!

In the afternoon I got the pip and went exploring in the dinghy, about a mile away to snoop at Aqua Marine Yacht Harbour, and around the pretty homes in the neighbourhood. Left John to fiddle with lights. The bathroom light had given up the ghost. He found the fitting had corroded on the inside. Should have got fixed last winter but they thought it was alright. Anyway, John switched the light from the aft cabin to the bathroom as a temporary measure.

When I got back to the boat I made up this yummy recipe of "Calico Beans" and we invited Paul and Sue for supper. Sue brought a Waldorf Salad and Paul had made some fudge, so we had a feast. Played Euchre for a couple of hours and then listened to Grand Ole Opry on the radio - guess what they played the very same show that we had watched live the week before. It was good to hear it again! Happy Memories!!

Lee Spry Boatyard, MS

Day 76, October 16th, 2009
Not much doing today! Lee's Boatyard is kind of out of the way in an industrial complex. Bored with reading and playing Spider, we went for a walk in the afternoon. Got out onto the highway but the big trucks were intimidating as they sped by. The surrounding woodlands are pretty with gorgeous trees but again it was cold and wet. I think we watched one of movies on the computer in the evening.

Lee Spry Boatyard, MS

Day 75, October 15th, 2009
Miserable wet cold day with no hope of change on the weather forecast. Locals worried about their cotton crop! Very unusual weather pattern. Apparently the weather is usually warm and dry this time of year - this apparently is more like their January weather!

The day began with bad news! On inspecting the outdrive, Lee diagnosed a further worn bearing and assessed he would need more parts! John and Paul had left early in the morning in Lee's truck to take Paul's injectors to a shop 50 miles away to get checked. (That little side job was good - they just needed cleaning, no new parts!) Sue waited for Paul to return and then they called England again and more parts were ordered. What with the weather and the situation, we hunkered down and read books.

Pickwick Lake

Day 74, October 14th, 2009

After leaving Wolf Island at 0800, we were faced with a heavy current against us as we got closer to the Pickwick Lock and Dam. When we entered the lock, we got ourselves into a bit of a pickle. We had difficulty getting tied to the lock wall but after a little fiddling around to our embarrassment we finally got settled. The lock marks the end of the up river struggle on the Tennessee River and now we enter the Tenn-Tom canal system. We'll now have the current with us for the next 450 miles to Mobile Alabama. All down hill from here. Just like the Kentucky Dam and Lock, on one side you have the stressful river system with the debris and high current and on then the gates open to the lock and you've arrived in this beautiful lake area with beautiful homes and it feels like paradise!!

We thought we would reach our destination that day around noon or shortly after, but what with the current and waiting for the lock etc. we didn't get out of the lock until almost 3:00 p.m. However, it was so lovely on the southern side of the lock that we were quite happy tootling along at 5.0 knots for another hour or so. We arrived at Lee Spry Boatyard around 4:00 p.m. and Lee Spry himself was on the dock to meet Twice 's Nice. They weren't on the dock for 5 minutes even when Lee and his fellas got Twice 's Nice into the slings and lifted her out onto the hard!! It looked like a good omen. To explain here a little - Paul had noticed a bit of an oil leak a couple of weeks ago. He'd changed the oil in the outdrive of his engine at Pebble and found water in the old oil and knew something had to be done. Fortunately there was another catamaran at Pebble and the guy Don had done similar work on his own. With help from Don, and e-mails to Rick Schultz of Sound Marine in Owen Sound, they were able to get on the phone to England and order parts from the Sonic dealer in Surrey. The parts would meet them at Lee Spry Boatyard! Anyway, Lee kindly allowed Periwinkle to tie up on his dock rather than anchor nearby. We all settled in for the night expecting action in the morning.

Wolf Island, TN

Day 73, October 13th, 2009

Knowing it was going to be another battle against the current, we were up early and had the anchor up at 7:00 a.m. Good thing too, the current was worse. It had poured with rain the night before and didn't think about all the water that had collected in the dinghy! When we were only going 2.5 knots with the RPM flat out, we had to look for a reason. So while John held the boat idling in the current, I let the dinghy down, scrambled in and baled a bathtub full of water out of the poor little dinghy!!! It helped a lot - we were back up to 3.5 knots and the engine sounded a lot easier!!!

Trouble struck in the afternoon. John had been watching out to avoid debris all day but he missed that one!!! All of a sudden there was an awful thumping on the bottom of the boat. He spilled his mug of tea as he stood up fast and cut the throttle into neutral. When he tried to put it back into gear there was a rhythmic banging below again. "Oh no!" We both figured we had either bent the shaft or damaged the propeller. Big Bucks!!! Twice 's Nice came up beside us and we told them we thought we were in trouble. The anchorage was only about 5 miles away. Paul and John reckoned they could tow us in, where we could better assess our position. Paul managed to throw us a line and he edged forward with us in tow. All of a sudden there was another awful thumping and then out the stern popped this great big log about 14 ft long!!! John tried the engine again and guess what - smoooooth!!!! No banging, no vibration, all was well after all!!! The log must somehow have been caught and the forward movement of the tow shook it off. We were so relieved. These things are hard on the nerves!!!

We still felt edgy when we anchored for the night behind Wolf Island. There was a tremendous current there and the boat was swinging quite wildly from left to right and back again. However, things did calm down and we had an uneventful night.

Kelly's Island,TN

Day 72, October 12th, 2009
Our last morning at Pebble! It was quite sad. We had come to really enjoy this place and made some good friends. We had our last cinnamon bun and coffee and were on our way about 9:00 a.m.

It was overcast and miserable. Poor old Periwinkle had to work hard against the current. Along the river we saw more and more houses and new developments with the houses on stilts. Trailers too, often covered with shed roofs to protect them from the heat in summer.

We finally made it to the anchorage just at dusk. Parked behind Kelly's Island, we had lots of water and the current kept us nicely in line with the shore.

Pebble Isle Marina, cont'd

Day 71, October 11th, 2009

Our last full day at Pebblie Isle. Got up in the morning and had the breakfast buffet up at the restaurant. It was delicious! Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage patties with white gravy and biscuits. John had grits but I don't go there!

After breakfast we borrowed the courtesy car and went to Loretta Lynn's Ranch, about 10 miles outside of Waverly, TN. Since we only had the car for 2 hours we didn't have time for the tours but were able to walk around the property a little. There are gift shops and a replica of her childhood home, as well as the big plantation house. She doesn't actually live there but has had a house built behind the old house and did arrive home in her tour bus while we were there. An interesting story of rag to riches!!! The property is actually quite extensive with camp grounds, race tracks, all kinds of stuff going on. It was quiet while we were there though as the season was over.

Afterwards it was back to the SuperWalMart in Waverly to stock up with groceries before moving on.

Later in the afternoon we went for a walk around the marina and saw the enormous house boats. Some as long as 80 ft - one guy said he had 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms aboard!!!

From there we walked around the adjacent trailer park and then onto a state part right next door. This was actually a historic site where the Yankees had fought the Confederates at Johnsonville. There was a railroad going through which the Yankees controlled to supply their troops moving south. There was a battle there as the Confederates tried to take control. Johnsonville itself was flooded back in 1945 when the US govt. built the locks and dams in an effort to control the frequent flooding in the area. Prior to this the surrounding farmland was marginal at best, due to the constant flooding and erosion. Although a great deal of land was flooded, it actually improved the fertility of the remaining land.

Pebble Isle Marina, cont'd.

Day 70, October 10th, 2009

We woke up to a gray chilly day. No complimentary coffee and cinnamon bun today. Instead, they were serving a breakfast buffet for $7.00 a plate. With Paul following me in the marina's courtesy car, we return the rental car then waited for the big event of the day. At 1400, a huge barbecue got underway. It was Pebble Isle Marina's annual customer appreciation barbecue. Boy, it pays to be at the right place at the right time!! With live country music, great food, and the company of new friends, it turned out to be a pretty good day after all.

Nashville

Day 69, October 9th, 2009 our 38th wedding anniversary

Off to Nashville today. After our complimentary coffee and cinnamon bun, we hit the road about 0900. We arrived in Nashville around 1115 and our first stop was the West Marine store to pick up a microphone for our two way radio that they were holding for me. I accidentally stepped on the old one. It doesn't do them any good. We were using our hand held radio until we could find a replacement.
We met up with Paul and Sue's friends at their hotel, had a quick lunch, then we all went on a bus tour of the city. The bus driver was very informative and very funny and kept everyone in stitches. We made stops at the original Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and Gill's favourite, Tootsies Orchid Lounge. Tootsies is where a lot of the country stars would get together and hold jam sessions. A shabby place but with tons of atmosphere, autographed pictures on the walls and every space on the walls were autographed too. A young lady was singing with her band in the corner and she was very good. A future star perhaps. Did I mention that the place was absolutely packed. This was in the middle of the afternoon!!! Gill was so impressed that she had me buy her a Tootsies t-shirt for her anniversary gift.
At about 1830, we arrived at the Grand Ole Opry for the 1900 show. We had bought our tickets online a couple weeks ago and they were holding them at the box office. The show was fabulous and we had a great foot stomping time. We saw Ricky Skaggs, Little Jim Dickens, John Conlee, Patty Loveless, BJ Thomas, Josh Turner, Jean Shepard, and Montgomery Gentry among others. It was a super show. Gill says she is a Country convert and frankly, so am I.
After saying goodbye to everybody, the four of us headed back to Waverly and arrived at the marina about 0030.

Memphis

Day 68, October 8th, 2009

Off on an adventure today. We picked our rental car in the morning then Paul, Sue, Gill and I drove off to Memphis. Our goal was to see Elvis Presley's home Graceland. We didn't get away until about 1130. We couldn't leave until we had had our complimentary coffee and cinnamon bun. We arrived in Memphis around 1400. It took us a little longer than we thought it would. We had no trouble finding Graceland and they had a huge parking lot across the street. You have to appreciate that Gill and I are not major Elvis Presley fans but you can't come to Tennessee without visiting Graceland. We were very impressed. The mansion was great and very well presented. We learned a lot about the man that we didn't know especially his charity work.
We were heading back to the car about 1800 when wouldn't you know it, we bumped into friends of Paul and Sue from Shelburne Ontario. We hadn't eaten since breakfast so we all decided to go to a local Cracker Barrel restaurant. (Great Southern down home cooking.) After getting lost a few times, we finally found one and inhaled our food. After agreeing to meet up with everyone in Nashville the next day, we headed back to the marina arriving about 2330.

Pebble Isle Marina, cont'd.

Day 67, October 7th, 2009
We woke up to sunshine and the pretty changing colours of the beginnings of Fall! Felt more like a little action today. I kept busy in the morning emptying the dinghy of all the rain and giving it a much needed scrub. We'd bought a spray bottle of UV protection for it too, so after it had had its bath it had a nice rub down afterwards which gave it a nice sheen. That felt so good I moved onto Periwinkle's grubby decks and cockpit, and gave them a nice scrub down. Meanwhile, John was busy and changed the zincs on the engine, ready for the salt water, and changed the oil again. A busy morning but we felt we got something accomplished.

In the afternoon, Sue, Paul and I took the courtesy vehicle into town and did a couple of errands in the little town of Waverly. The courtesy vehicle is a great convenience. An honour system, book it when you like and just put a couple of dollars worth of gas in for the next guy!!! Waverly is about a 20 min. drive from the marina.

We got back in time for sundowners on the dock with the other boaters! Met an interesting couple in a little motor boat travelling from Minneapolis to New Orleans. He was Scottish but living in New York as the Artistic Director of the Cooperstown Opera House, about 4 hours outside of New York. And she was from Paris, a mezzo soprana, singing with the opera!! For those of you following from England - he knew Snape Maltings very well! Small world!!!

Pebble Isle Marina, cont'd

Day 66, October 6th, 2009
Day started with the Pebble Isle complimentary breakfast - as much coffee as you can drink and enormous, fluffy cinnamon buns fresh out of the oven! And lots of conversation with all the other Loopers and boaters staying here. Soon getting to know everybody, although took a little while to get boats and people connected!

Not good weather - overcast and pouring rain, which developed into quite the thunder storm around noon. At one point there was a loud crack of lightening and thunder immediately over our heads! We were glad to be safely at the dock. John got the fuel filters changed on the motor and otherwise we had a quiet day reading and catching up with e-mails and the blog. Left overs for supper.

Pebble Isle Marina, near Waverly, TN

Day 64, October 5th, 2009
Up early, we got underway around 7:45, setting off for Pebble Isle Marina. Weather was overcast again and coolish. I was wearing my fleece and all-weather gear and even John put his all-weather pants on and fleece jacket! We had been on the phone a couple of days earlier and priced a couple of marinas in the area, with the plan of leaving the boats for a couple of days while we visited Nashville. Pebble Isle Marina came up trumps with a great deal on a week's stay for $3.50/boat foot. 2.5 days free!!!

We arrived around 12:30 and found quite a fair sized marina and trailer park in a well protected little cove. Lots of Loopers!!! Some we have already met and new ones too. They announced a pot-luck supper was in the works and welcomed us to join them! This place has a courtesy car that you can borrow any time for supplies etc. We had a short trip into Waverly for groceries and got home just in time for a delicious supper.

Do you see that lovely Nordic Tug directly behind us? That's the Potest Fieri out of Thunder Bay, Ontario! Jim Massey wrote us an e-mail about 6 weeks ago, telling us to watch out for them along the route!!! The boat is all closed up tight. We thought at first we'd get to meet them but we heard at the supper that they have gone home to Thunder Bay for 5 weeks for the birth of a grandchild. Maybe we'll meet up later on.

Leatherwood Creek, TN

Day 63, October 4th, 2009
We brought the anchor up at 8:00 and continued on our way. Not quite as good wind as yesterday but still good after shaking the reefs. The wind had turned 180 degrees and we continued on up river. Not a particularly nice day, overcast and light rain. We anchored for the night in another pretty spot, Leatherwood Creek, again with good protection in good water.

The Tennessee is a beautiful river with lots of pretty inlets on either side. The channel is wide, and there's lots more to see with homes on either side of the river. Fast bass boats speed past every once in a while and there are other sail boats on the water too. We passed one barge today only, much less commercial traffic.

Pacer Point, TN

Day 62, October 3rd, 2009

Pretty blowy today but manageable. There had been a local race first thing in the morning. One little boat limped back, having broken her tiller. The skipper managed to shove his boat hook into the rudder bracket and bring her back to the slit was thinking on his feet, I thought. Both Periwinkle and Twice 's Nice started the day with a pump out and then we were off. What a treat to be able to get the sails out!! We started with just the jib and then reckoned that the wind had died a bit and could put out the main as well. That only lasted 15 minutes or so, before double reefing. Then all was good and it was hang onto your hat, work the main and zip down the river!!! Dear old Periwinkle was up to 7.8 knots by GPS at one point, thats against a current of about .5 knots!!!!

We anchored at a pretty spot called Pacer Point, sheltered nicely from that strong wind. It was near a public access ramp where fishermen were putting their boats in and out. John and I went for a short walk around there and found these nuts on the ground, rather like a walnut in a soft outer shell and an inner hard shell. I thought they might be pecans but were the wrong shape. On returning to the ramp, we met a "Good Ole Boy". We'd seen him put his boat in the water shortly after anchoring. He was dressed in a plaid shirt, rubber hip waders over overalls, long scruffy hair and beard with a cap. When we asked him about the nuts he replied "Why thats the scaly bark hickory nut" with a thick southern drawl. It took several repetitions before we got it right. "Good eatin'". We mentioned we had watched him put his boat in the water just a short time before and he told us he was a commercial fisherman - he had just been out to place his nets and would come back in the morning to pull them in again - catfish! He laughed when I asked him if I could take his photograph "Am I going to be in the National Geographic?!"

Lightbouse Still!

Day 61, October 2nd, 2009
It rained quite heavily during the night off and on, and we woke to high winds. It was a lazy start, we slept in till 8:00 and then had breakfast, and read our e-mails. Then the harbormaster came to say that the weather forecast was predicting winds up to 40 knots this afternoon and he was wondering if we would like to move to a more sheltered slip. Up until this point we had been on the end of their curtesy dock, right at the entrance to the harbour. So, we moved around to a more sheltered slip where we were nose into the wind. Much better, the fenders were no longer squeeking and rubbing against the dock.

I then took the opportunity to do some laundry. (Good deal, only $1.00 per load). John bought a new part for the toilet and after some initial problems got the thing working again. It had been making this funny gurgling noise but wasn't leaking. When the new part went in the valve was leaking and he was cross with himself for trying to fix something that "weren't broke". However with his usual persistence he fiddled and diddled with his head lamp on and his bum sticking out of the doorway while muttering sweet nothings and then I heard the victorious "Ah Ha!" as the leak got fixed.

In the afternoon Paul and Sue joined us and we walked through town (getting a hair cut en route) over to Green Turtle Bay Marina on the other side of the island, only about 30 min. walk.
We had originally planned on going to Green Turtle but had found that Lighthouse would step the masts for less cost and their slips were cheaper too. Green Turtle turned out to be much bigger and 80% motor cruisers. Found Ellie Jane over there and had a quick visit with them to get caught up. After walking back to town we had a hamburger at the "chip shack" (pretty close description Sheri) so we didn't have to make supper. A good afternoon.

We'll be moving on tomorrow. Its been lovely here at Lighthouse Landing at Grand Rivers, KY.
Friendly people, pretty little place, so relaxing after the monotony and stress of the big rivers.
This area is called The Land of the Lakes and it looks almost like home. We're looking forward to exploring some pretty anchorages around here.