Summary of 1st Leg of Trip

Sharing some interesting facts of our last 50 days aboard Northern Light on the 1st Leg of the Great American Loop adventure.
Distance traveled - 1657 Statute Miles
Elevation traveled - Down 651 Feet
Locks completed - 24 Locks
Rivers/Waterways - 9 Rivers or Waterways traveled
Time traveled - 225 Engine Hours, 50 days

On our way home to be with our family & friends over the holidays.

Hope you enjoyed our blog and sharing our adventure. We hope to continue in January and wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!
See you in 2009.

Northern Light on the Hard!

Last few days has been a lot of hard work getting Northern Light ready for storage for the next 2 months. We topped off the fuel tank and had a much needed pump out. Mast stepping was at 9:30am, took awhile to complete rigging & tuning then haul out at 11:30am and Northern Light is now on the hard until January when we continue trip South to Florida.

Mobile by water

Sorry for the delay in getting a post to you, but we've been pushing through the Black Warrior Waterway, but now we are back to civilization.

Mobile has been our initial target as we complete the first leg of the Northern Light 2008-2009 Loop. We crossed the 00 landmark around 3:30 PM and docked at Turner around 5:30 PM. We were excited about reaching this goal, and salutes, high 5's and congratulations over the phone from our wives. More than 1650 miles from Northern Michigan to Mobile.

You will see from the photos that the size boat has changed dramatically when looking at giant international based freighters competing for the same space as our 40 ft sailboat. The other boat is a shrimp boat, and Mobile lies in the distance.

The Yacht Club is a short walk for dinner, but we had a celebratory vodka and tonic on the boat. We earned it!

Bill

The Black Warrior River!

We have been off the grid for a few days (since we left Demopolis). No internet, no cell phone and no radio except for country. We started down the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway on Tuesday (10/21/08) at MM 217. The river winds through some pretty isolated wilderness areas with a lot of Snowy Egrets and Blue Herons constantly fishing (they sure have a great appetite and do very well catching fish). This river is natural and has many sharp and winding turns which presents a few challenges, when encountering a large tow from the opposite direction there is barely enough room to pass so you have to stay in contact with them during the turn.
This waterway is much older than its more famous cousin the Tenn-Tom Waterway. Between 1888 and 1915 a total of 17 locks and dams were built on this waterway to make it navigable. South of MM 217 (where we entered) the Tombigbee and Alabama Rivers join at MM 45 to form the Mobile River, which will take us to our destination, Mobile, AL. Originally there were four locks on this 217 mile stretch. Two taller locks eventually replaced these four and this is what we traveled thru the last 3 days. We are now at sea level after going down another 74 feet and are now in salt water and have a new thing to contend with, tides and aligators. Both the change in current and water depth are new to us Great Lakes sailors.
We have stayed at some great anchorages on this part of the trip and it is nice to be in our home stretch ahead of schedule. We are looking forward to being home with our loved ones for the holidays!

Demopolis, AL

After four days"off the grid" we pulled into a marina today in Demopolis, AL, out of water, food and ice and ready to touch some terra firma . This is the last marina on the river until we get to Mobile in around 250 miles. It is the last chance for fuel, water, food and a hot shower for the next four days. The Demopolis Yacht Basin is located on the Black Warrior River, the last river we will forge on our trip to the Gulf of Mexico.
A little tid bit about Demopolis. Demopolis was settled by a group of political exiles who had been banished from France by King Louis XVIII in 1817. The U.S. Congress granted them four adjoining townships on the Tombigbee and Black Warrior Rivers. Many of the refugees who were from aristocratic families died of fevers and other diseases after the vine and olive crops that they brought from France failed. So far we have not encountered any French Aristocrats around the docks.
The attached picture shows some of the white cliffs we passed on the last section of the Tombigbee River today.

Tourist Time

Saturday, October 18 we weigh anchor around 7:00 AM leaving an excellent anchorage near Columbus, MS. We are greeted by a chilly morning with some fog and plant growth on the surface that can tangle in the prop.
I'm still chuckling about our return to the boat last night. We returned about dusk from our very first Southern bar-b-que and walk around town. Two young girls were on the railroad bridge waving to us with some chatter, which we returned and thought nothing more of it as we prepared the boat and ourselves for bed. Our nightly ritual includes a pee off the side of the boat and apparently the girls were still there and found the event humorous and had some laughs and animated discussion... whatever that means.
So today was a tourist kind of day for us because by noon we were at the Tom Bevill lock and dam and we spent some time at the visitors center, a large 4 story Greek revival house. We also toured a US Snagboat, the Montgomery. aThis stern wheeler was one of the last steam powered snag ships in the US and was used primarily to clean river bottoms, snagging trees, sunken logs and other debris that would obstruct a river. The house was circa 1830-1860, a period of growth and prosperity for the Tombigbee Valley.
We anchored out again, this time at Cook's Bend cutoff, a beautiful star lit night, but cold.
I have mentioned the Tombigbee River, etc. The name is a blending of usage and custom for this area. It has roots in Choctaw Indian language and French pronunciation, finished-off with some Southern drawl.

Old Possum Town!

That was the original name of this town (Columbus, MS) in 1817.

Another productive day on the Tenn-Tom. We went through another 4 locks today (down 102 feet) now at 136 feet above sea Level and we traveled another 47 miles south. We found a great anchorage on the old part of the Tombigbee River near Columbus, MS and took a short dingy ride to the city. Enjoyed a walking tour of some of the old Southern homes where Tennessee Williams lived as a young boy. Columbus is also home to one of the nation’s busiest Air Force bases that currently trains over one third of all new US Air Force pilots. Columbus Air Force Base as measured by number of takeoffs & landings ranks right up there with Chicago’s O’Hare and Atlanta’s Hartsfield. We saw a lot of these training jets flying around all day.

After our walk we enjoyed some traditional Mississippi BBQ and cold beer at Little Dooley’s.

back downstream

We left Pickwick Lake and entered the Tenn-Tom Waterway early this morning. We passed through 4 locks , traveled 74 miles and anchored near Smithville, MS right at sunset. It was nice to be traveling downstream again. For the last ten days, ever since we left the Mississippi River, we have been going against a current of ½ to 2 knots. Now we go with the current until we get about 100 miles above Mobile where tidal waters start to have some affect.
The single largest drop we had today was 84 feet at The Jamie Whitten Lock where the descent took about 20 minutes. The combined vertical drop for the four locks we passed through today was 174 feet. We are now at 245’ above sea level. In one of the photo’s on the blog you can see Jay tending the floating bollard at the lock. We tie up to the bollard when we enter the lock and it holds us in place as the water level goes down.

the Ole swimming hole

Wednesday, October 15, 2008 and we are at Grand Harbor Marina, Counce, TN. Jay, designated Galley Guy for today awoke early and drove to the store so he could prepare pancakes for us. You know, micro wave pancakes are not bad. We really did enjoy the diversity this A.M.
The ignition switch has been giving us some concern lately, and we only missed getting into a lock by a few seconds, so Brad called a mechanic who really didn’t fix the problem but did give us the confidence to continue our venture to Mobile.
Our first challenge tomorrow will be to enter the Tenn-Tom waterway.
Construction began in 1972. It took numerous public hearings to over come President Carter’s proposal to stop all waterway construction. The waterway was completed in 1985 after spending two billion dollars, but it was completed ahead of schedule. The waterway shortened the trip for vessels by 720 miles from Pensacola, FL to Chattanooga, TN. At its peak, the Tenn-Tom provided employment for over 5,000 people. The waterway begins at Pickwick Lake and allows a vessel to lock down 341’ over the distance of 450 miles. We will be “descending” for the rest of our trip to Mobile.
The swim shot is a frequent afternoon activity for us while anchored.

Starting on the Tenn-Tom

This morning we traveled down the last 20 miles of the Tennessee River and through the Pickwick Lock and Dam (went up 55’) with good friends from Bay City, Michigan, Brad & Frank on sailboat Evergreen and into Pickwick Lake then to the Yellow Creek, the start of the famous Tenn-Tom Waterway (Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway). We are now at 341 feet above sea level and will be going through 12 locks that will take us down to sea level between here and Mobile (about 450 miles away).

We enjoyed the change of terrain when we entered Pickwick Lake. High bluffs with beautiful homes at the top of the ridges on the lakeshore and deep water. This looks like a great sailing lake. We stopped for our overnight at Grand Harbor Marina, located at the 3 corners of Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama borders. It is a beautiful new marina with very friendly staff, especially Chip Lucas the Harbor Master who helped us with a lot of good tips about the area and the river. We finally found the book (The Tenn-Tom Nitty-Gritty Cruise Guide) we have been looking for several days here at the marina. In fact Chip introduced us to the author Fred Myers who lives here aboard his fine boat ”Liberty Belle”. After hot showers we had a great seafood dinner at Freddy T’s nearby.

Shiloh National Military Park

We made it a short trip today. After leaving Swallow Bluff Island around 7:00 we arrived at another anchorage behind Diamond Island shortly before noon. The island is just past Savannah, KY. We stopped here because we wanted to tour the site of the Shiloh Church Civil War battle at Pittsburg Landing. There were 23,000 casualties in this battle for control of the southern railroads when 40,000 union troops led by General’s Ulysses Grant, D. Buell and Sherman fought 44,000 troops under the command of General’s Johnston and Beauregard.
The Shiloh National Military Park has an 8 1/2 miles of battlefield tour route, a visitor center and bookstore as well as a National Cemetery. It required a 30 minute dinghy ride followed by a 45 minute hike to get there, but it was worth it. The Park is a fitting monument to the thousands of soldiers that lost their lives here.
After our tour we returned to the boat for a swim .and another. The weather has been great, mostly sunny and temps in the high 70’s and low 80’s. Later it was another gourmet meal in the cockpit while listening to nearby hoot owls.

So long for now……

Moon River

We planned an 8:00 AM departure from our marina at Cuba Landing, but our cook was a “no show” so it was back to cold cereal and juice on the run. And, that’s OK because we had lots of river to cover to reach Swallow Bluff Island and anchor out. Jay is getting very good at salmon on the grill and that was the dinner tonight on the boat.
We also caught up on grocery shopping and cleaning the boat. These marinas like to charge $1 per foot each night, and that is really a bargain we think . They provide shore power, a courtesy van, computer access and showers, water, etc. Plus, we enjoy talking with the other “loopers”.
We made our planned anchor site around 4:00 PM but it’s too cool and overcast to interest us today. We’re really making good time going mostly South or SSE and we plan to spend some down time tomorrow when we visit Shiloh.
The only other news from the boat is that I’m being sent back to knot school to learn how to do these knots faster and correctly. I have problems with the clove hitch and Brad and Jay are getting tired of redoing my knots, so my objective is to learn how to do the Bowline and also get better at the slipped clove hitch for the fenders. Those of you with a Scouting background will remember learning to do the bowline, but it has been many years for this old Scout.
While sitting on the boat tonight, Brad remarked, “We want to stay ahead of fall.” Seeing the colors turn on the river reminds that winter is on its way, and we’re not quite ready.

Tennessee River

After spending 2 beautiful days on Kentucky Lake at spectacular anchorages, it is time to continue our trek south. Weather has been perfect (sunshine & temp in the 80’s) and swimming off the back of Northern Light has been refreshing.
We are now on the River again and taking our time heading south. Today was another pretty day on the Tennessee. We saw a lot of fisherman mostly in fast bass boats going from one spot to another in their pursuit of the “big one”. We encountered a few tow barges and actually passed a few on the #1 whistle. The scenery along the river is just beautiful, many trees, rock ledges, little islands and a lot of birds heading south like us. The white pelicans are the most interesting and we have seen very many of them. We are spending the night a Cuba Landing Marina near Sugar Tree, TN (about 75 miles SW of Nashville). It is a small quaint marina with all the facilities we need.
Tomorrow morning we will continue our journey south.

Hello Tennessee

We left our anchorage at Pacer Point on the west side of Kentucky Lake just south of Aurora, KY, shortly after sunrise. We motored south on the Tennessee River toward an undetermined anchorage for tonight. By late morning we crossed the state line from Kentucky into Tenessee, we'll soon be off this part of the river they call Kentucky Lake.

Kentucky Dam was originally built to control floodwaters in the region. The 160,000 acre lake that was created as a byproduct of the process is a tremendous recreational asset to the area. There are countless miles of hiking trails, camp grounds and boating and fishing sites. In addition the lake serves as a reservoir for a major hydroelectric generator.

In the afternoon we found a great anchorage in Richardson Creek on the “Land between the Lakes” side of Kentucky Lake. There is no town nearby to identify our location; we are approximately 60 mile west of Nashville.

Rather than put another sunset picture on the blog, I decided to post a picture of the three of us. It has been awhile since our families have seen us and I don’t want them to forget what their loving husbands/fathers/sons look like.

Our fondest thoughts to all.

Three retired guys and their dinghy

Off at 9:30 AM after Capt’n Brad cooked us eggs and sausage on the boat. This is a big treat for us - to get away from cold cereal and tomato juice for a day. We’re going to explore Kentucky Lake and anchor out some where along the way. Our plan today will allow us some free time on the boat and with the 80 degree temperatures and full sun, we are ready to jump off the boat’s swim platform. It’s a beautiful early fall day, so in the PM we hop in the dingy and explore a Scout camp and Murray State has a biological research center near Kenlake State Park. The fishing is good in this little inlet also, as we watched this woman and her dog fish for hours. She told us they were biting.
We have met some very interesting people along our travel path and one couple from Canada has invited us to join them for their Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday. Pat, a grocer by trade, built his own 38 foot sailboat, and he is not an experienced sailor or a craftsman.
Jay had galley duty tonight and cooked fish with sautéed vegetables… very tasty with cookies for dessert. My turn tomorrow and dinner will be chicken and corn on the cob. None of us is losing weight on this trip and we each eagerly await “home cooking”, but we do OK and surprise each other with our limited culinary skills.
Tomorrow we will once again head South to Harmon Creek, about 43 miles and 6 hours at 7 knots. And finally,we really appreciated the swimming off the boat and look forward to showers off of it. The photo is of us swimming at Pacer Point.
Bill

Land Between the Lakes

Thanks to the TVA, the Kentucky Dam was built in 1938-1944 to form a beautiful lake on the upper Tennessee River. The dam is the longest dam (8,422 feet) on the Tennessee River and a major generating plant in the TVA system (199 megawatts). The reservoir behind the dam is 184 miles long, the largest artificial lake in the eastern United States.

We arrived at the Kentucky Lakes Recreation area from the North a few days ago. We are enjoying our time at present location of Green Turtle Bay Marina, near the historic town of Grand Rivers, KY. It is a beautiful place and a favorite of many veteran Loopers. A lot of our Looper friends that we have met on the way are also here at the marina. This is a photo of Pat & Lynn from Ontario, Canada that we have been traveling with. Check their web site (Adamant1.ca) it is quite interesting.

Kentucky Lakes Recreation area consists of 2 major lakes, Lake Barkley to the east and Kentucky Lake to the west. Both are about 35 miles long and 2 miles wide separated by a land mass in between called appropriately “Land between the Lakes”. There are many parks, hiking trails and small marinas throughout the area. The next few days we will be exploring the Kentucky Lake/Tennessee River at anchor and at a few select marinas on our trip south.