After having "church" aboard the WE BE BLEST III, reading and discussing the Sunday Scripture passages, we motored out to the lake and anchored for several hours to enjoy the day. The captain investigated the electrical panel and genset some more, finally convincing himself the problem was with the generator. The mate worked on her Reflections manuscript. As we came back to the marina the mate practiced docking the WE BE BLEST III alongside a fishing pier using the bow thruster and learning the techniques. Saturday and Sunday are calling days on the cell phone, so once again we burned up our weekend minutes touching base with family, friends and the internet. We met a number of local boaters who had come to the marina for the weekend, and also several transient boaters as well.

Ray knocked on our boat about 1000. After checking some more, he too was convinced the problem was on the genset side. We arranged with him and the regional office, Marysville Marine in Knoxville, to head downriver and have it addressed at a marina on the Tenn-Tom Waterway. Ray was baffled and wanted to carry it through to completion, but understood our need to get moving downriver. He wanted to know the end result and will probably get the "official" answer from Westerbeke. We assured him we’ll call with the "layman’s" answer.

A number of times Roy commented -- "You two are certainly patient about this whole thing." I surmise it was because we were continually upbeat about the whole situation. We had discussed it between ourselves -- true, the generator had a problem and it caused us a delay of several weeks; but it was not a major problem. We were still boating, still enjoying the beautiful lakes, anchoring out, fishing, reading, writing. Our only major concern was trying to get to Demopolis because we want to have the boat home by Thanksgiving when Greg and his family come to Florida. The farther north we leave the WE BE BLEST III, the less chance of making the Thanksgiving deadline. One thing boaters learn, is that it’s much better not having deadlines because delays do pop up. So we cruise the fine line between no schedule and meeting family along the way.

After Roy left, Captain Gene called Chicamauga Lock and the lockmaster advised is we got there in 5 minutes, he could lock us through -- a pusher was moving his barges for a lockage, so we needed to hurry. We beat feet (perhaps beat propellers) out of the marina over to the lock. The pusher locked down with us. It took only 10 minutes to "pull the plug" and we were motoring out of the lock Locking down is much quicker and smoother. It’s when they are filling the locks that the turbulence can bounce us around.

Shortly after leaving the lock and for the next 20 minutes, the captain checked the depth outside the channel while wondering why all the boats were on the "wrong" side of the buoys. OPPS! Yet the Captain did report the depth was OK for navigation!

After passing by Chattanooga, we motored through the gorge, the Grand Canyon of the Tennessee, with steep vertical cliffs 800-1000 feet high and wooded slopes. This is the section boaters take for the "color Cruise" the last two weeks of October to view the fall colors. We were a touch early -- only a few trees have started to turn -- a smattering of yellows and oranges, with a reddish every now and then. With the numerous high slopes, this area must be spectacular at peak color. Next year as we do the Great Loop, we’ll come back up the Tennessee and stay for the colors. We felt anyone doing the Loop should make time to come up the Tennessee all the way to Knoxville. It’s well worth the time!

We cruised 10.5-12 mph through the gorge and the rest of Nickajack Lake. Locked through Nickajack Lock in only 10 minutes again, another calm, swift lockage. Since it was only 1630 we continued in Guntersville Lake until 1906 where we anchored at mm396 in Raccoon Bay, a beautiful area with multiple misty mountain ridges off in the distance. We dropped anchor to the plop-plop of small amberjack jumping 4-6 inches out of the water. Quite a sight!

Mm396 Raccoon Bay

Happy Birthday to Betty Dunham -- today you join the ranks of us old geezers at 60!

Anchor up at 0659. Today is a very cloudy cool day. Rain off and on. Stopped at Ditto Landing for fuel. The captain was running 2500-2600 rpm for this last fill and wanted to see what it would do to our fuel economy. This used 3.55 gal/hour, and gave us 2.68 mph. Typically he was running 2000 rpm, and used about 2.0 gal/hour achieving 4 mph. The higher rpm did lower economy, and coming downstream it only seemed to add about 2-3 mph to our speed, from 9 mph at 2100 rpm to 11-12 mph at 2500 rpm..

Stopped at Pirate’s Chest Marina in Decatur, Alabama. It was a small marina, off the channel, somewhat rundown, not in Quimbey’s Cruising Guide. We think we understand why. We will probably not go back there, although it was only $12 for the night.

We toasted Betty with a Harpoon IPA beer, our finest brew on board. To a dear friend, Happy Birthday!

Today we finished cruising the Tennessee River after locking through Wheeler and Wilson Locks. Another LOOPER, ALMOST PURFICT, locked through both with us and motored behind the WE BE BLEST III all day. They pulled into Eastport Marina about 10 miles from our anchorage, so we followed them into the marina to briefly chat and swap address cards. They will be spending two months in Ft. Myers, so we urged Joyce and Jack to call us when they are in Florida, and we’ll treat them to a home cooked meal. We then headed on to our anchorage on Yellow Creek mm449.3 on the Tenn-Tom, a long protected finger bay recommended to us. Another LOOPER, PATIENCE, a small 27’ trawler, was anchored there as well.

As we reflected on our trip down the Tennessee from Watts Bar Lake, we made it through every lock without a wait, even past the railroad lift bridge at Decatur, Alabama. Our God of the Rivers smiled on the WE BE BLEST III and our time schedule. We motored 92 miles today and 95 yesterday, long days for the Captain. It was cloudy, cold and raining off and off and we motored all day from the lower helm in the cabin. How nice! Warm and comfortable!

Gene called his cousins, Don and Shirley Johnson, who live in Fulton, Mississippi. It looks like we’ll be in their area at Midway Marina on Thursday. It we make good lockages on the Tenn-Tom, we should be in Demopolis on Sunday.

Awoke at 0530 to get an early start, but a heavy fog blowing out of the woods delayed us until 0714. Visibility was still down, so the captain had more experience navigating in the light fog. About 15 minutes later, it turned to thick pea soup and the WE BE BLEST III approached three cruisers almost stopped in the channel. We slowly motored past, radar on, picking our way through the fog. They pulled in behind us and the WE BE BLEST III led them through the fog for about an hour. As the fog lifted, they passed us and sped on ahead, leaving us to cruise the divide cut peacefully to ourselves. PATIENCE called us to ask for a report on the fog as they were leaving Yellow Creek.

Once we arrived in Bay Springs Lake, it was very windy and we had an hour wait for Whitten Lock, an 84’ drop. Perhaps the lockmaster took a one hour lunch break! Two other boats, ROCKETEER and BRY WEN, locked through with us and we all continued at about 9 mph for the rest of the afternoon, through two more locks and into Midway Marina at 1600. We motored right into the second and third locks with no waiting, a good day of traveling. The day stayed cold and windy as the front moved in. We had a good stop in Fulton. Visited with Gene’s cousin, Shirley at Wal-Mart where she worked, even bought a few provisions while there. Then Don drove us to their home for a supper of homemade chicken ‘n cheese soup and Grandma Boys’ Burnt Sugar Cake -- one of the captain’s favorites. We caught up on family activities, did a load of laundry during supper, and retrieved e-mail to boot. A good stop! Next year we hope to not be so rushed so we can stay longer.

58 miles and 3 locks. Mm394

Up at 0545 to get another early start. 44 degrees! BRRRR! The mate woke up at 0330 to get another blanket and turn on the heat! The captain just wasn’t putting out enough hear to keep her warm! Called the Fulton Lock -- no tows -- he’d get the chamber ready for us. Lines off at 0700. No fog today. Hooray!

By 1230 we had locked through the four locks one after another with NO wait. Outstanding! Our God of the Rivers is indeed smiling on us today! The weather warmed to high 60’s - low 70’s. Sunny, hardly a cloud in the sky.

The rip-rap divide cut gave way to the tree lined banks of the canal section. The channel widened as we approached the upstream side of a lock where the impounded water has flooded low lying areas creating shallow lakes, often dotted with islands. Once lowered in the lock, 23-30 feet, the mighty gates open to a narrow channel which eventually widens as we approach the next lock.

Above Aberdeen Lock (#7 on the Ten-Tom) we noticed quite a few bass fishermen and three bass boats locked through with us. A huge Welcome Bass Fishermen sign on the lock wall informed us of a bass tournament taking place yesterday, today and tomorrow. The lockmaster indicated there will be 200 boats.

Below the lock the channel shoreline looks more like a river, heavily wooded, with occasional groups of homes with docks, and numerous oxbows and cut-offs as the Army Corps straightened the river. During this stretch of river, the bass boats got thicker than "fleas on a dog," according to the captain, and we probably saw half of the boats in the tournament. As usual, they were either barreling along at 80 mph or dead stopped. Speeding past us, one fisherman’s head whipped and bounced back and forth like a rag doll shaken by an angry child.

At 1500 we approached Columbus Lock and faced a decision: go into Columbus Marina or continue on through the lock to an anchorage. We called the lockmaster. He was waiting until 1515 to lock the bass boats back up for their weigh-in at the marina. There will be a scheduled lockage down at 0715 tomorrow morning and if we take that one, he will put our name on the list and the big boats will tie off first before the bass boats. A scheduled lockage was a novel idea for us. Knowing we would get through the lock early tomorrow morning, we decided to head into the marina for the night.

Columbus Marina was a bustle of activity as all the bass boats were arriving to weigh in their catch, while Loopers, cruisers, trawlers, and yachts idled into the fuel dock and then their slips for the night. As we finished checking in, one mega yacht, about a 100’ Hatteras, tied up at the fuel dock. Can you say 5 million dollars?

We watched the pro-am weigh in for awhile. Some guys fished all day for two days and had a meager one pound total -- not good at all! Others had a total of 16 pounds and landed in the top five. Only the top 50 pros and top 50 amateurs made the cut for the last day of fishing. They were matched up so only 50 boats will go out tomorrow. That is good! The captain won’t have to be slowing down as often to keep our wake small as we pass by them.

Dinner at the marina restaurant was a treat. We visited with Florida boaters from the Keys that we had met at KY Dam Marina, and other LOOPERS. PEACE from CT shared good information about cruising the Gulf which came from the LOOPER gathering the week before. PATIENCE pulled in late, into the slip next to us, so we chatted with them as well.

A good day of traveling. 60 Miles 4 locks mm335

Up at 0530 again. Lines off at 0630 to catch the scheduled early lockage. Two other cruisers were already in the lock when we arrived at 0645. Coiled line in hand, the mate was ready to throw it around a bollard. For those unfamiliar with bollards, they are similar to floating canisters, about 3’ in diameter and 5’ high, set into a vertical notch in the lock wall. There are raised knobs, on the top so a line can be wrapped around the bollard and not slip off. The line is then secured back to the boat or tow. As the water raises or lowers, the bollard and the vessel go up or down together. We usually secure a line to the cleat in the middle of the WE BE BLEST III. The mate will toss this line around the bollard twice and then secure it back at the cleat. Fenders hung at the bow, amidship and stern protect the boat from banging into the lock wall. Usually the captain and mate use boat hooks to try to keep the fenders off the slimy and grungy walls as well.

Today the mate had quite a surprise as we idled up to the bollard. About five feet from her, sitting on top of the huge, flat bollard, amidst a clump of leafy vegetation, roots and all, was a nutria. This rodent was about the size and shape of a beaver but had a long thin tail. We’re not sure who was more startled, the nutria or the mate. Fortunately he did not go into attack mode, but chose defense mode instead -- sitting hunched like a beaver, perfectly still, not even blinking, trying to look invisible and not be noticed. Thus the mate did not have to defend the WE BE BLEST III from attack. She did have her boat hook ready though!

Usually when we tie to a bollard, the mate opens the starboard amidship window where a large, very sharp knife awaits. Bollards have been known to hang up and not float up or down with the water. If this occurs, the vessel can suffer rather serious damage if the line is not loosened or cut. Picture the water dropping 10 or 20 feet, the bollard staying put and the boat hanging at a rather precarious angle until the cleat or hull gives way. Not a pretty picture! We spoke with one boater in Nashville who had several thousand dollars of damage this way. He recommended always having a knife ready. We do. However, not wanting on open window directly in front of the nutria, in case he decided to come cruise with us to Florida, the captain took the knife on the flybridge. Reading through our log from the pontoon trip, we had one bollard hang up and the ever-alert captain loosened the line before it pulled the cleat and damaged the pontoon. We are now careful and keep an eye on the bollard as we lock up or down.

Anchored at Sumpter Landing mm270 65 miles 2 locks

Tomorrow we should reach Demopolis!

Up around 0600. The captain heard a tow go past earlier. Later he heard a tow captain report he was 9 miles above the lock. We were 4 miles above. Thinking he would arrive as the lock before us, my captain suggested we just have a relaxing morning, do our Sunday scripture reading and reflection, then take off for the lock. Let the log so reflect that it was the mate who suggested calling the lock to see what tow traffic is like and go through it if possible. Usually the mate is the one to want to dawdle while the captain the one to head out early. This was a switch!

The captain did call -- no reply. We began breakfast and then the lock replied. No traffic -- a lockage at our convenience. So we pulled anchor at 0656 and motored to the lock.

Another fantastic sunrise as we pulled anchor. These could get to be habit forming. In the past, the mate has seen many more sunsets then sunrises! Very little wind this morning. Pleasant temps. The cold front has passed, the thunderstorms avoided us, and it’s warming up the farther south we motor. There were wonderful reflections of sand bluffs with washouts, downed trees and limbs. Some looked like giant feathers, others like huge totem poles on their sides. As the river meandered its way toward the Gulf we cruised by interesting white sand cliffs.

Hooray! We arrived at the Demopolis Yacht Basin at 1320 -- with a day to spare! Thank you Lord! We feel like we just ran a marathon. It was a full week packed with long days of boating.

We fueled up and tied up in our slip where the WE BE BLEST III will stay for the next two weeks. Matt, the generator mechanic works here and happened to be at the fuel dock. The captain explained our situation and he will come tomorrow to quickly look it over and Wednesday he will start working on it. And yes -- he’s not a great big guy. Matt is probably 5’8" with a slight build, so he should be able to work on the generator without too much difficulty.

We borrowed the courtesy car to get nonperishable provisions and began packing for the trip home. The captain started plotting our course across Mobile Bay and the Gulf.

Happy Birthday to Greg! Can it be that our middle son is really 34 years old? Where did all those years go?

Tomorrow, Tuesday, we fly home for 11 days for Daron and Kayla’s Ironman on Saturday. Then on the 29th fly to Wisconsin for our two granddaughter’s birthday parties. We’ll return to the WE BE BLEST III on Nov 1 to continue our cruise to Florida waters.

Earlier we had arranged for a ride today from the Demopolis Yacht Basin to the Birmingham Airport. Gene Maddox, a retired marina mechanic, often takes boaters to the airport which is two hours away. He charges $125 ($1/mile). Considering there are not many alternatives, this was not an unreasonable price for the distance. We flew to Tampa, rented a car and drove home to Old Bridge Village in North Fort Myers. Wednesday we returned the car to the Ft. Myers Airport.

Jan’s cousins, Rose and Ed, drove our van to Florida from its summer home at their campground in Wisconsin. All Rose’s siblings were getting together for a week at Ft. Lauderdale starting on Saturday, the 23rd. So the timing worked out for them to drive the van down. Since we left Friday morning for Clermont, our visit was short but sweet.

Today we headed to Clermont, near Orlando and met up with Daron and Kayla as they prepared for the Great Floridian, an ironman distance race, to be held the next day. We drove around the bike/run/swim transition areas to scope out where we will be waiting and cheering for them. Supper was at the Olive Garden where they carbo loaded on a pasta dinner.

5am Rise and shine. Loaded up the bikes in the van and headed to Lake Minneola at Clermont.

6:30-7:30am Warm up, final body marking with age and race number, wet suits on, waited for daylight.

7:30am The Great Floridian began. 600 of the 1500 contestants started the 2.4 mile swim. The remainder waited for the Half Ironman and Relays. The once calm water was now a turbulent mass of arms and legs, stroking and kicking, with bodies swimming over, under, and into other bodies. Soon the pack stretched out and everyone swam at his or her own pace.

8:46am After 1 hour, 15 minutes and 58 seconds, Daron finished the swim and ran into the transition area.

8:48am 3 minutes and 11 seconds later, Kayla followed Daron out of the water. Wet suits off, biking clothes on. Grab some food.

8:58am They hopped on their bikes and began the 112 mile bike ride -- two 56 mile loops in the hills north of Clermont. In spite of Florida’s typical flat terrain, this ride had an elevation gain of 1100-1300 feet.

A little after 12pm As we hoop and holler, the two rode into the bike transition area -- 56 miles down. Time for some stretching, power bars, pb&j sandwiches and fluids. 56 more miles to go. We cheered as they took off.

1-3pm While waiting for Daron and Kayla to finish the second loop, Gene volunteered for the bike valet service at the finish line. As the bikers dismounted, he took their bikes and wheeled them to their assigned bike rack. The bikers continued on through the transition area and began the marathon. All the while, with camera ready, Jan kept a look out for Daron and Kayla to come riding back.

4:19pm Here they come after 7 hours, 21 minutes and 9 seconds, pedaling to the finish line. "I’ll take those bikes," Gene said as he came up to Daron and Kayla. "What are you doing here?" Kayla asked. Daron, fully focused, never even realized his father took his bike. The two changed out of biking and into running clothes. Stretching out and grabbing something to eat and drink, they visited with Gene in the transition area. Daron now realized who took his bike.

4:36pm With Jan’s camera clicking and to shouts of "Keep it up!" and "Run smart!" they began the marathon. They passed by us twice during their 26.2 mile run, grabbing something to eat and drink, changing socks, chatting, joking and having fun. They were running in the dark now and each runner had reflective tape and glow sticks.

9:57pm To shouts and cheers, Daron and Kayla crossed the finish line, smiling -- believe it or not, after running for 5 hours, 21 minutes and 16 seconds. With medals around their neck we greeted and congratulated our Ironman and Ironwoman, a title well deserved after 140.6 miles of swimming, biking and running for a total of 14 hours and 27 minutes.

All the intense training, concentration and even the discipline of foregoing alcohol and sweets for the past nine-ten months paid off. We returned to the car where a bag of York Peppermint Patties, a cold beer and carafe of Amaretto Stone Sours awaited them. "Easiest marathon I’ve ever run," Kayla exclaimed. "Pace makes all the difference," Daron added. Kayla’s goal to complete an Ironman before age 35: accomplished ... And she took 13th place in her age group! What a joy for us to be part of this monumental and perhaps insane accomplishment. It was worth all the effort trying to get all our travel ducks in a row.

What’s next, you might ask? "We’re taking up quilting!" they both chimed in, but then wondered if the Arizona Ironman had any openings! Fortunately it was already filled up! That thought must have been post-race madness!

After returning to our home, the kids enjoyed some well deserved Florida R&R before heading back to Nashville on Wednesday. Friday we flew up to Chicago, rented a car and drove to Wisconsin for some Gramps ‘n Grandma time. A fun filled weekend included 8 year old Bri’s (Brianna’s new name of preference) ice skating show and a double birthday party for her and our Halloween treat Naleah who turned one this year. What a delight to be part of all the excitement and celebration. Family is special and precious. We thank God for them all.

Monday we flew from Chicago back to Birmingham. Gene Maddox met us at the airport and we returned to Demopolis. We spent the remainder of the day unpacking, stowing gear and reprovisioning. While the Mate washed the decks, the Captain checked the generator. It was fixed while we were gone. Hooray!! The WE BE BLEST III was now ready for the rest of her journey!

Up early at 0515. We prepared to leave at daylight. The nearby lock was ready for us, so we left Demopolis at 0603. It rained off and on all day. The Captain would go up on the fly bridge, soon it would start raining, so he’d come below. As it cleared, he’d climb back to top, but shortly return as the rain began again. Up, down, up, down. All day long. "Who says you can’t get exercise on a boat," he reported.

A long day, we motored until 1630 to mm 123, an anchorage in Okatuppa Creek in the Choctaw National Wildlife Refuge. Wanting to put some hours on the new generator, the mate cooked WE BE BLEST Stirfry while we cruised. "Is that nice! Dropping anchor and having supper all ready," she declared.

Mm 123 92 miles

Up early again at 0515. This is getting to be a habit. The Mate is not used to getting up before daylight! Anchors up at 0625. It rained during the night and most of today. Often visibility was extremely poor with heavy rain and lightning. The Captain used the radar a number of times. After going through the Coffeville Lock, our last one (57 total for this trip), the mate moved the bikes back a bit. We had them secured to the bow rail port and starboard. After we had gone through our first couple locks on the Mississippi River, we moved them as far forward as we could, to allow the mate some maneuvering room for lockages. The down side was decreased visibility from the lower helm. Now that we passed our last lock, we moved them back-- opening the viewing range from inside the cabin. This was especially appreciated today with all our rains. We might need to look into folding bikes that we can secure on the flybridge.

Anchored in Bates Lake, mm53.9, a long narrow channel that meandered back through swamp, cypress trees, shacks and cabins. A bit of Americana --- or perhaps Deliverance. It opened to a nice anchorage protected from all winds.

mm53.9 72 miles

Up at 0515 again! Anchors up 0636. Today we’ll approach Mobile Bay and decide whether to cross it to Fairhope on the eastern shore or stay at mm10. The winds will be the deciding factor. The bay is shallow, 9-11’, and NOAA weather radio predicted it to be rough with small craft advisories today and tomorrow.

OPPS! Let the log reflect within a couple minutes of when the Mate took the helm we made the wrong turn down the Tensas River. Fortunately, it didn’t feel right and she caught the error fairly soon. We turned around and headed back to the proper channel. Reading these chart books backwards and upside down can get confusing! In defense of the Mate, the chart had the channel markings down the Tensas River and not the main channel.

Since the weather continued windy and the forecast for the Bay still rough until Saturday, we decided to hang on the hook at mm10, in Big Bayou Canot. We spent time plotting and charting our passage across the Big Bend and our open water runs down to Tarpon Springs. A cold front moved in after the rains, so it certainly feels like fall. Bundling weather tonight!

Mm10 44 miles

Once again up around 5:30. Since there was fog on the water, we waited until 0648 to pull anchors. We had two anchors down Bahamian style and had a good set with them. As the winds shifted on Thursday, the Captain also put out the mushroom anchor at the stern to stop us from blowing into shore. Occasionally he would pull it up and reset it. Friday afternoon as he was retrieving it, somehow the clip opened up and we lost the mushroom anchor. We’ll need to replace it, since that was the anchor for the dink.

Today we motored the last 10 miles of the Ten-Tom. Another chart book read cover to cover, except this one needed to be read backwards. Still no plot, the Captain reported! As we left the Ten-Tom we were in the industrial area of Mobile -- huge ocean going ships docked near unloading facilities. A bucket unloaded coal from an immense freighter one scoop at a time. Palettes of wood were stacked at the Port of Alabama Dock, perhaps for repairs after Hurricane Ivan. Pushers and barges moved upstream and down. Soon we passed the convention center and saw a bit of the Mobile skyline.

As we entered Mobile Bay we were delighted to see the water relatively calm. It stayed that way for our 2-3 hour crossing from the NW corner of the bay to the SE end where we picked up the markers for the GICW (Gulf Intracoastal Waterway). This was a good test of our plotting and charting of gps waypoints and routes, and a good practice for our open water run across the Gulf. The Captain was finally able to use his new chip for the plotter. Having the depths charted was great as we maneuvered around and picked our way through some shallow spots, especially near our anchorage..

We passed Orange Beach and Perdido Key where we could see quite a few damaged homes, docks, boats, dry stacks and trees. As we saw in Florida, this area has a multitude of blue roofs, compliments of FEMA. It’s a sad sight when a 50’ sailboat lies keeled over in its owner’s front yard, or a 45’ cruiser is propped precariously on the bank, half in the water.

We anchored at the eastern end of Perdido Key near Spanish Point. There were about a dozen other boats as well. Some of the other boaters had dinked over to the Key and probably walked the short distance to the Gulf. Since daylight was fast retreating, we sat on the fly bridge and enjoyed sunset celebrating our smooth crossing of Mobile Bay. We’ll catch some beach walking later in the trip.

Mm178 GICW 74 miles

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