Goose Pond Colony

A Very Nice Place To Be

Goose Pond Colony, near Scottsboro, Alabama  (I have no idea why they add Colony to the name) is one of the prettiest marinas we have stayed in during the entire trip.  In addition to all the normal amenities, it comes with a bait shop, restaurants, floating cabins, swimming pool, golf course and bar.  If this place were closer to home, I would keep the boat here.  With all the amenities this place has, it would make a great retreat.  I hope I can find something comparable in the greater Knoxville area when I get the Sea Me Smile "home".

Some beautiful river getting there

Mitchell rowing around with Gracie

We tried the restaurant the first night we arrived and it was, indeed, gourmet food.  The specialty of the house sounds terrible.  It is a combination of shrimp, sausage and a white sauce covering (can you believe it) grits.  Something I might never have tried except it is billed as the specialty of the house and how can a guy resist that.  But, along with a bottle of "Hot to Trot" red wine, it was excellent!  The proof is in the pudding, they say, and I would definitely order this again.  And, I may have a chance to because this is where we're leaving the boat for a couple of weeks, for some repairs (nothing major this time) and a chance to take another of our "breaks" from being on the water.

May Flies add up to big bass

Upon our return, we should be bringing the boat into the Knoxville area. Ah... ye of little faith... we are almost there!  Yes, I know that when Wayne and I started out on this adventure back in February, B.J. and some of you others down at the VFW were making jokes about not completing the loop until the 4th of July! Ha! One of those cases of truth being stranger than fiction! However, the trip has been memorable and the places, often times, fun to be.  I think after having done this leg of the loop, we would be in a position to run a fairly successful marina ourselves.  It is the little things that count, and as always in business: Friendly people and attention to cleanliness and details.

One angry baby Snapping Turtle

Goose Pond is where, for the first time, we have seen water lilies in our travels. In fact, they have them in such abundance that they have a spraying program to keep them under control.  Yep, you give a bass that kind of cover and they grow.  Even my eight year old granddaughter was pulling out bass that anyone of us would be proud to show off.  And they were doing it with a cane pole and a bobber with, you guessed it, a worm on the hook.  I threw one of those monsters on the grill the other night, or I should say Mitchell threw it on the grill for me.  (Gosh I love having a crew. I'm thinking of getting him a uniform.) He put a little salt and pepper and a big daub of butter on that fish,  wrapped it in tin foil and put it on the grill.  One fish, one meal = One Happy Grandpa!

YUM!

Well, Marci spent her first night on the boat.  It was a little warm but the fans helped a lot.  And the good news is, the next morning she was measuring and then started cleaning and humming before she left.  The secret is the humming.  When she does that, she is in a pretty good place.  Yea!

Well, we're home now and I'll probably hang out till after the Fourth celebration. Then we'll head back to the boat for another slow move up the river.

My Return to Joe Wheeler

It Looks Different Without All the Looper Boats

The last time I was at Joe Wheeler State Park, near Rogersville, AL, was last October.  I made my way down to see what the American Great Loop Cruisers Association (AGLCA) was all about. I picked up a lot of great information at a gathering/convention they were having there.  Most of the boats that were there were finishing their "Loops".  They usually start out by heading up the East Coast during hurricane season.  They go all the way up into the Great Lakes, up into Canada, then down near or to Chicago and find their way to the Mississippi River. From the Mississippi, they cruise onto the Tennessee River, then onto the Tenn-Tom waterway to the Tombigbee River and on down into Mobile Bay.  From Mobile, they take the Gulf Inter Coastal Waterway (GIWW) so one of the big topics at the meeting was tips on how and where to cross the Gulf of Mexico.  After that, they hug the coast, when possible, down to Ft. Myers, Florida, where they either cross Florida by way of Lake Okeechobee or go around the tip of Florida and possibly spend some time in the Bahamas.  By this time the hurricane season is over and the weather in the greater Florida/Bahama area is much more desirable than in the northern climates that many of the Loopers call home.  When they finally get to where they started, they call it "Crossing Their Wake" which means they have completed the entire Loop.    

Here's a picture of Wheeler my first visit in October

You may have noticed that my entire trip has been part of the Loop, but in reverse order.  This so I can get the boat back to Knoxville, Tennessee where it will be "home". Marci and I can access it easily there, use it on portions of the Tennessee River and hopefully enjoy some of the cool fall weather and fall color. In many of the publications and articles that I have read about the Loop, the authors have marveled at the beauty on the Tennessee River.  I believe it is considered the high point of the entire Loop.  However, as with any kind of travel in this country either by water or highway, I find each part beautiful in its own special way.  From the deserts of Nevada to the pine trees of Maine, it all has something to offer.  Or as Larry the Cable Guy would put a spin on my quote by Robert Louis Stevenson:  'It's not whur yu'r travelin', but that yu'r travelin'''.
 

The kids liked the shower play next to the pool

On to Ditto


The next stop on our trip was Ditto Landing Marina, outside Huntsville, AL.  While checking the web site and reading a rather old book about the Loop, this marina rated only two stars and posted comments like:  "We got plans".  We all figured that at this time in history, just coming off an economic depression, we would be looking two stars right in the eye. Wrong, they have done the up-grades and they look great.  So we can give more stars to the Ditto Landing Marina and recommend it as a good place to dock while on the Tennessee.

The Geese got feed at Ditto first day

Mitchell on his way to work

The girls squeezed into first space craft

While there, we took a day off from cruising and took a side trip to the U.S Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville.  They had it all... the history of the space program, from the time Wernher Von Braun came to the U.S. rocket program,  to the moon exploration years, to the Space Shuttle programs and onward to future NASA projects. It is supposed to have one of the best collections of space travel hardware in the world. We also saw a dinosaur exhibit that was traveling through.  All in all, it was a great day for the home school set but  I came to the realization that space and dinosaurs are probably two topics about which I won't be buying reading material... just doesn't seem to excite me that much, other than the history part of it.

We arrived at Huntsville Space

U.S. Space & Rocket Center

So after our visit to the realm of space travel, we returned to Ditto Landing and got ready for our next day's travel up to Goose Pond Colony just a few miles up river.        

To East Port Marina

In Rather Heavy Seas

We got a late start out of Aqua Harbor.  That is late in the sense that you only have so much daylight.  And it is the rule aboard the Sea Me Smile that we don't travel in the dark.  I think even one of the Tow Boat US skippers told us not to do that, which was promptly met with a bristled reply from my old ship mate, Wayne: "Well, hell fire fella, it wasn't dark when we got stuck here!  Where the hell have you been?"  But back to the point.  You shouldn't hurry when you're doing a trip like this.  So my point is that you're not late in the true sense of the word, but rather short of daylight.

We entered the Tennessee River and went about an hour before arriving at our first lock.  It was here I started to get concerned.  I realized we were going the wrong way because we were going to lock down.  This was not correct.  As "wrong way loopers" and at least for the time being, we, in our quest for Knoxville, had only locked up.  After some banter with the lady lock master, she made it plain that we should have "Geed" instead of "Hawed" when we left Aqua Yacht Harbor.  In other words, we should have turned right instead of left.  So promptly we got back on track. It was a short delay by highway standards, but a two hour delay by our standards and that sets us up for a short cruising day. Thank goodness for the lock.... there is no telling how far we would have gone in the wrong direction.

To further slow our progress, we started to pick up a very high wind which was sending waves over the bow of the boat like we saw when we were in the Gulf of Mexico.  We had only gone about 25 miles for the day when we read the reviews about East Port Marina, near East Port, Mississippi.  We contacted them on the radio, and they said they could accommodate us for the night, so we set a course for East Port. East Port Marina is at mile marker 225, however there is a whole lot of the Tennessee River that is in Mississippi & Alabama.  It will be another milestone when we are finally cruising on the Tennessee River in Tennessee.

East port Marina is on Pickwick Lake and is a fun little spot.  It reminded us somewhat of our own little Lake View Marina at home on Boone Lake, TN.  The people were helpful and friendly as we came off the lake in something of a gale.  Some of the locals said they couldn't remember waves that high.  A sharp turn and a big roller as we started our approach into the marina and, you guessed it, Gracie got bucked right off her booster seat and onto the floor of the bridge. The good news is only her pride was hurt .  She is, after all, a "Master Faller".

Once we got tied off and secure, everything was fine.  The protected harbor allowed the girls to hit the water in a matter of minutes.  And to our amazement, the entire "B" Dock had broken out into a cocktail party, an event, according to the manager, that could occur there at any time, for any reason.  Today, he said, it could be the wind.  But they were definitely celebrating something.  As I walked by on my way to settle up with the manager, I told 'em I had a couple of stories to share if they were interested.  However no one took me up on my offer so I just shuffled around the rest of the day feeling like a social outcast.         

The marina had a breakfast nook called Gilligan's and it was good fare. Bellies full, we would continue up river and see if we could get a few more miles under our belt as well as breakfast.

Another Crew Change

Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina

When Eric, Mitchell, Ronnie and I reached Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina, MS, it was a week into the third leg of our trip and time to switch crews again.  Mostly because Eric is still of that age where he has to go to work for a living.  So my oldest daughter, Nicole (Eric's wife), drove to meet us.  She brought with her my two grand daughters, Gracie (8) and Allie (6). Nicole has responded for land transportation on a couple of occasions and stayed on the boat. However, she has never to date been a crew member. 

Upon arrival the little girls were in the river fast, I swear those kids are like otters; they love the water.  We went out for Father's Day dinner, and though the place wasn't much to look at,  the food was very good. Eric stayed with us one more night stating that he was just getting to the point where he could start to relax.  I wonder if you ever really relax on a boat, or if it is only when you're scheduled to disembark that you truly start to feel that sensation.  Fun, yes, but I'm not sure that I have gotten to the point that I relax.

The next morning we said our good-byes.  Eric was to take the car home and Nicole said something like "Shoo, go make money!".  And the switch was made.  Although we did get a rather late start around noon.    


The good news is: WE ARE FINALLY OFFICIALLY ON THE TENNESSEE RIVER.  This, for the Sea Me Smile, is something of a milestone.  Except they don't have milestones when you go by boat for obvious reasons; they have nuns or nun buoys, small floating navigational aids which, if you watch for 'em and pay attention to them, you won't bend your prop.  Because you won't run aground.  Which is sort of like driving off the highway into a ditch for the benefit of you "Landlubbers". 

Onward And Upward

It felt like we were in the Sierra Nevadas

Where I grew up, Monterey, California, was one of the many places called home by Robert Louis Stevenson.  In fact, right downtown you can visit the rooming house that he lived in while a resident of the Monterey Peninsula.  Here is one of his great quotes that I have always felt spoke directly to me:

 "For my part I travel not to go anywhere,
 But to go.  I travel for travel's sake.
 The great affair is to move..."

So upon arriving at Bay Springs Lake, it reminded me of my time in California, especially in the mountains.  The farther north we travel, the better the scenery and clearer the water.  Once again, no one was around the marina save one resident greeter, a lady walking her dog.  So we hooked up, plugged in, and made some dinner.

It reminded us of the Sierra Nevada

The next morning as we were set to head out and just waiting for the lady to arrive at the marina store, a rather fierce storm blew in, complete with black sky, rain, thunder and lightning.  So we waited until the worst was over before heading on out. Didn't want to be the tallest target on the Lake. We had hoped to make it quite a way that day so that Nicole and the two grand girls, Gracie and Allie, wouldn't have to drive too far to meet up with us.  However, as it turned out, we only made it about forty miles up river to the Aqua Yacht Harbor just near Pickwick Lake. It is here that the TomTenn waterway meets the State lines of Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi. We were soon to finally be sailing the Tennessee River.    And just about the time we arrived, we had to start opening up the enclosure on the boat because the heat was comin' back fast.  Earlier in the day, I wore a windbreaker... hard to imagine the temperature ranges.

A mountain View

We enjoyed our stay at Bay Springs.  It was a nice little corner of the world, I hope to see it again someday in my travels.

Smithville Is Devastation

At First We Didn't Recognize Where We Were

We left Pirates Cove and headed up river.  The weather was a scorcher and as a result we  decided to leave quite late so we didn't end up sitting in the sun at another marina waiting three hours for it to cool down.  I may have mentioned that the air conditioners on the boat pull the water that the boat is sitting in for its cool.  Well, when the water you're sitting in is ninety degrees, we're not talking very efficient.


We had just entered the Armory Lock when we started talking to the lock master about the little marina ahead at Smithville, MS.  He advised that they had just had a bad tornado about six weeks ago that had torn the town down. But he said that the marina was open for transient boats.  Meanwhile, the computer generated support service from home is telling us that the marina is closed. A call to the marina via the number we had yielded no answer. Well, it was getting dark and we had no choice but to go and check it out.

When we arrived, we found the marina intact.  However there was no one around and now the second number that we found and called was not answered.  By now our minds had zeroed in on the name Smithville.  Both Eric and I remember seeing and hearing about this little town in the news.  At any rate we parked the boat and plugged in.  We figured if we turned out to be unwelcome, we would just pull away and anchor out.  By now it was dark and the sun wasn't beating down on us. We were ready for dinner and sleep.

What remains of Smithville, all the rest of the town is gone.

It's only a few minutes before a car pulls into the parking lot and "John" arrives.  He comes right over and introduces himself.  No hint of a Mississippi accent here.  Big man, soft spoken and looking to tell all he knows about the current situation and anything else he thinks you might have an interest in.  The good news is he didn't start out with, "You gotta go!",  or something like that.  He is in possession of a cell phone number for the owner and actually gets through to him. After a brief, "We got a boat, uh huh, uh huh, see you in a few", he tells me that the owner is on the way.  The new owner of the marina is the son of the old owner and that is because the old owner had been killed, at age 84, in the recent tornado. His wife is still in the hospital recovering.  I finally find out that John is a live aboard at the marina, complete with a bumper sticker that says "Noah was a live aboard".  He is a retired diesel mechanic from Chicago who bought a house boat down the river someplace and ended up here for a little while... and that was eight years ago.  I don't think John has a wife or significant other, and the boat resembles that remark.  For the recent history, he has just spent his days helping his friends and neighbors who had been affected by the tornado. And, true his word, the next morning as I was drinking my coffee on the porch of the marina, so as not to disturb my sleeping crew, John was headed out with a bunch of tools and a rather large compressor in the back of his little S-10 pickup. Talk about hoarders, where does a guy who lives on a boat, keep all this stuff?   He was also kind enough to tell me where the hide-out keys were for the loaner car that the marina keeps for those of us traveling-by-boat types.



The owner had come the night before, took our money, sold us some sodas and tried to give us a black and white cat which I declined to take even though it did match the boat. After rousting the crew, we departed for yet another Wal-Mart where Eric and Mitchell were able to arm themselves with some light fishing tackle that they just couldn't live without. Up to now Mitchell, Ronnie and Jeff have been using lumber rods so big that they turn heads.  Mitchell just goes about his business with this "One cast, one dinner" attitude  and looks at 'em like, "Well, if you knew anything about catching big fish?"  But now Dad is on the boat and a little more sophistication is called for. We also bag a few much needed groceries.  While returning to the marina, we decide to take a look at Smithville or at least where Smithville used to be.  I won't even try to describe it except to say that a 1/2 mile wide, three mile piece of it, which was pretty much the entire town, is missing!  They have erected a temporary clinic, bank and brought in about 6 house trailers for temporary living quarters.  The devastated town is being hauled away in trucks like so much garbage.

Still Headed North on the Tombigbee River

Locks and More Locks

In the next couple of days we are scheduled to pass through about ten locks.  The first one we came to was the Howell-Heflin Lock at mile marker 266.  This was Eric's first locking through experience and Mitchell got a chance to show off his skills to his dad.  The two of 'em went out on deck to hold the ropes and Mitchell did it all, including telling the "Old Man" what was what and what not to do.  Boy, they can be bossy at that age.  Eric took it in stride and Mitchell was grinning from ear to ear.  

Eric learns how to lock from Mitchell

The name "Tombigbee" came from two Indian words.  The Choctaw Indians called the river "Itomba Igaby", roughly translated as box or coffin maker.  The initial "I" on each word was not emphasized in the Choctaw dialect, hence the French settlers called it "Tombeckbee".

The lock system, built and maintained by the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers, is amazing.  It is their largest ever building project.  It is over five times longer than the Panama Canal.  The total lift on the Tenn-Tom is 341 feet from one end to the other and that is three and a half times more than the Panama Canal.  It stretches 234 miles from Demopolis to Yellow Creek.

Some of these locks are pretty big

Our next night's stop was at Pirates Marina Cove at Pickensville, AL.  It seems that I have seen or heard of a Pirates Cove Marina, might have even stayed in it.  At any rate, it was another blistering hot day and we decided to stay in a marina so we could run our air conditioners on their power.  They had a nice little front porch.  Just my kind of place, not so fancy, but didn't look like it was quite ready to fall down on you.  I met a few of the locals, told a few lies and had a bunch more told to me.  So you can see that I was right in my element.  And let me tell you how much of this country is heavy ''Bible Thumping" territory... where a man can't buy a drink, but you could get smacked long-side-the-head with a Bible, if you weren't careful.

Didn't find one single alligator to show Eric. We must finally be too far north for those critters.  However, the farther north we come, the cooler and clearer the water. That is, if you consider eighty degree water cool.  Which causes one of my random thoughts to come to mind.  All my life, growing up, I heard stories about "Skinny Dippin'".  Now, I was no shrinking violet and would have gladly taken part in those kinds of festivities.  But I never was invited.  In fact, I didn't even know anyone that had partaken.  Butcha' have to remember that I grew up in California, in an area where just a few minutes before, the water in those streams and lakes had been snow,  even in the summer. And earlier on, I lived beside Monterey Bay where one can get hypothermic in a matter of seconds. So skinny dippin' wouldn't have been very enjoyable.  Now having moved to the south,  I know where all that skinny dippin' was takin' place.  It was right here, boys and girls, and I missed it!  Oh, sorry, I just have these thoughts from time to time, can't help myself.

Back to our day...  Just before we got to Pirates Marina Cove, we stopped at the Tom Bevill Visitor Center.  Here, the Army Corp. of Engineers has built a visitors center that is done up right.  They built an antebellum style mansion (Greek Architecture) that became popular in the south just before the War of Northern Aggression.  They use the mansion to house their displays about the Tenn-Tom, its building, maintenance and general information up to and including wildlife displays.

Army Corp. "Snag Boat"

Also, moored at this facility is the U.S. Snagboat Montgomery.  Built in about 1926  (the year my Mom was born) and used until 1982. (I'm still enjoying my Mom).  It now serves as a museum honoring the efforts of man and machine clearing the trees and snags from the water way.  It was originally coal fired and later was converted to run its boilers on oil.  It is a paddle wheel design just as the many boats that commercially plied the water-way  in that era.  We learned that the average 8 barge tow can move as much freight as 120 rail cars or 480 tractor trailer trucks.  A barge can move a ton of freight twice as far as a train and 6 times as far as a tractor-trailer truck on the same amount of fuel. This was some pretty great home school stuff for the boys and interesting to the dads, too.        

TVA built this Antebellum replica for their museum  

   

Yea, Finally Back At Demopolis

Another Leg About To Begin

Well, we made it back to Demopolis and the boat was fine. So with a little elbow grease and picking up, we were ready to go.  Of course we had to do a little shopping first.  And after all that bad-mouthing of Demopolis I did awhile back, guess what, they do have a Wal-Mart.

So we picked up a few provisions (I love those kind of words in association with a trip; it just makes it sound more adventurous) in a store that I am familiar with.  It's a standing laugh around my house when anyone asks, "Where's Mom?", the answer comes back, "Well, Wal-Mart, of course".  All joking aside, I plan on having my ashes scattered in the Wal-Mart parking lot closest to my home and that way I'll be certain that my wife will visit me at least once a day.

Eric (Dad) joins the crew at Demopolis

Our crew has changed for this leg of the trip.  Wayne wasn't able to join us.  He, after all, has eight weeks invested in this boat adventure and now has hay in the field and a number of other things to tend to.  And, of course, there is the distinct possibility that he has just "HAD ENOUGH", at least for the time being.  Hats off to Wayne!  The rest of the crew is the same: Ronnie & Mitchell and myself, with the new addition of my son-in-law, Eric.  Eric managed to get a few days off and will accompany us, as far as we make it til his vacation days are used...Do I sound a little gun shy?  Well, that's the way it goes... if you have been following this blog, you know we have had our fair share of problems. The big note on Eric accompanying us is that Mitchell is just thrilled to have his dad along. What boy wouldn't be.  

A quick note about the marina at Demopolis.  They are in the process of building a new one.  This means just a few yards to the north they have put in a cofferdam, literally digging a big hole and then will let the lake water flood it.  The facilities will be new and the docks will be covered, a nice point for the boaters that sit out the hurricane season here.  The neat thing we learned is they have a nest of Kingfisher birds there that they have managed not to disturb during the entire building process. In honor of those birds, they are going to name the marina Kingfisher.  

The plan was to take our time, wash the boat and sort of let Eric become accustomed to operations in general.  However it was so blasted HOT in this part of Alabama that we decided to set sail and get the wind in our face.  It was a good idea.  A lot cooler traveling along and besides, this boat won't make it to Knoxville sitting at the dock in Demopolis.  

With the late start, we just went about forty miles and got caught in a rain storm. To make matters worse, we ran aground (yes, I was driving).  We then ended up camping out for the night which is referred to as staying "on the hook".  So that is how our first day went.... the bottom line is, we are on our way.







            

Wayne

Waynn and Cabin Boy Mitchell

The Consummate First Mate

I first met Wayne Milhorn about five years ago on the occasion of my moving from Placerville, California to Kingsport, Tennessee.  Our friendship grew as a result of our time together at our local VFW 4933.  Commonly referred to as the Little Club, as it was the littler of the two VFW clubs in town, it is now the only survivor, the other having fallen on tough economics and finally failing altogether. In the course of having some beers and some jolly good conversations, I came to know Wayne more and more.  I would often phone him for a recommendation for anything from a hardware store to a contractor, all small little things that made my transition to a new place to live much easier.

Wayne was born in a small, wood frame house that sits near but not on his farm boundaries as they exist today.  With the exception of a tour in the U.S. Air Force and some temporary duty stints with the TVA, he has spent his life in North Eastern Tennessee. 

As time went on, I found that he had done a myriad of things in his working life and he never seemed to move slowly.  Waking before dawn on most days, he is one of those people that we all know who seem to get more done before breakfast than a majority of folks get done in a day.  He is without a doubt a doer.   He worked at Eastman Chemical when it was still affiliated with Kodak.  He is a journeymen electrician, as is his son after him. He has worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) extensively.  Worked into all this, he has opened and run at least a two small businesses that I know of and maybe more.  I think the reason he is so good at fixing things is that it was his job at Eastman.  He would trouble shoot problems all over the facility on the night shift.  The result was a working knowledge of a great number of things that most of us never have to deal with.  He builds and fixes.  He stands in awe of people like Edison and Ford because he undoubtedly sees the similarities in the puttering they did with his own style of self indulged working on things. He has a graceful skill with young people and an ability to hold their attention and teach them. To people like my grandson, Mitchell, he is an inspiration. 

He has been a pilot, both privately and commercially, all his adult life and even has a small airstrip on his farm where he lives.  I asked him once,  "Wayne, when you take off from here, do you fly under those big transmission lines or over 'em?"  He answered; "Over 'em,  when that plane takes off, it climbs like a home-sick angel!"   I made a mental note that I wouldn't be flying out of his home base anytime soon.  This knowledge of navigation was a God send to us on our recent boat trip.  He actually knew what all those little numbers on the charts meant.  I gained an enormous amount of those skills by watching and learning from him.  And together we learned more about the nautical side of it.    

He hangs out with the love of his life, Connie.  They have a simple enough relationship, except to say that it isn't.  I won't try to delve into that aspect of their lives except to say they are a happy couple.  They have two adult children, a boy and a girl, and grand-kids after that.  You may remember that the reason for parking the boat this last time in Demopolis was so Wayne could be in attendance at one of the grandson's college graduations.  So before you know it, my old friend is probably going to be a great grandpa.

Wayne has a thick southern accent and his use of local colloquialisms makes his speech fun most of the time and hard to understand some of the time. He delights in a good story and loves to tell 'em as much as hear a new one.

To sum it up, he is a regular Hermes Trismegistus, who has made himself an invaluable sailing mate and to whom I shall be forever indebted for his eight week investment in the adventures of the Sea Me Smile.