Grand Harbor MS to Knoxville TN

Aug. 3 to Sept.6

  We spent 3 days at Grand Harbor enjoying the work out center and pool. Also met up with a couple we met in the fall of 2013 (George & Sandy), from Guntersville, AL. They keep a boat in a marina near here.

  Form Grand Harbor we moved on to Florence, AL and spent a couple of days there. Our first night was spent down town helping the locals celebrate “First Friday of the month”. 3 blocks of Main street was blocked off for music, food, and arts n crafts. The second day there we played tourist with another couple from Idaho, who is also living on their boat. We toured the Fame Recording Studio, established in 1959 as the first professional recording studio, where The Rolling Stones, The Commodores, Aretha Franklin, and the Osmonds (to name just a few) have gone to record there songs. Next we went to the Rattlesnake Saloon for lunch. This restaurant is located on a 3,000 acre privately owned nature preserve. The complex contains a riding stable, campsites, cabins, 2 silos turned into motel rooms, and the restaurant which is actually located in a cave. After lunch our next stop was the Coon Dog Cemetery. Yep you read that right. This cemetery was established in 1937 when Key Underwood's favorite coon dog Troop died. It's the only one of it's kind and as of today there are more than 300 dogs buried in this cemetery. To qualify for burial in this unique cemetery it has been said that 7 requirements must be met.

 

 Rattlesnake Saloon 

 

 

 

  "silo hotel"

 

 

 Coon dog cemetery.

 

  Our next stop was Decatur, AL for 1 night, than on to Guntersville, AL for 2 nights. In Guntersville we got off the boat one night and stayed with George & Sandy. Their house sits on a mountain and over looks the TN river.

TN river

 

 George & Sandy's house with view of TN river.

We stayed in the apartment over the garage.

This bridge connects the garage to the house.

  From Guntersville we moved on to Chattanooga TN. & spent 4 nights there. Friends form Knoxville (Jim & Karen) came and spent the weekend with us. We walked all around town and went up to the top of Lookout Mountain to check out the incline railway (which is a rail car that goes up and down the mountain at a 70% grade) and Point Park (which is a National Park dedicated to the last battle that was fought during the Civil War).

 

 View from top of Incline railway.

Point Park, National park.

 

 TN river & Chattanooga from Lookout Mountain.

 

 Karen, Randy, Sherri

  We took a break from the boat and went up to MI to visit family and friends, returned to the boat and moved on to Knoxville TN. They have a free dock right downtown so we joined several boats that where already there, gearing up for University of TN's first football game. This is big stuff here and very serious. ALL the boats have some type of orange sports memorabilia on them and ALL the people wear orange. Every boat has a tailgating party and we were invited to join our neighbor (Gergg), on his 90' house boat. (fun was had by all)

Knoxville TN

 

 Priorities with football stadium in the background.

 

 Vol. Navy tailgating.

 

 

 

 Also while we were in Knoxville we rode around on their free trolleys, walked to the Market Square a couple of times to listen to music and the Sat. morning farmers market, and took a 6 mile dinghy ride up the TN river.

  The University has a huge Veterinarian Hospital and a Medical Center, where there is a Forensic Anthropology Dept. (called the “Body Farm by” locals). This is a research facility where decomposition can be studied in a variety of settings to gain a better understanding of the timing and circumstances of death. If you want, you can donate your body for the advancement of science.

 

 "Body Farm"

Columbus MS to Grand Harbor MS

Aug. 1 to Aug. 2, 2016 total miles 116

  After arriving at Columbus MS in May we took a 2 month hiatus from the boat and went to MI to visit family and friends. Now we are back on the boat and moving north as far as Knoxville TN. It is good to be traveling again but it also means we are back in the land (water) of Locks & Tows! We are traveling on what is called the Tennessee- Tombigbee Waterway (Tenn-Tom), which was built between 1971 & 1985. This waterway is 234 miles long and goes from the Tennessee River south to Demopolis, AL.

 

4 day old baby birds at Columbus MS.

  Our first day on the water we passed/met 4 tows and went through 4 locks. Those locks combined raised us a total of 107 feet above sea level. The temperatures this time of year are just plain HOT. The average is in the mid 90's and then you add 90% humidity on top of that. Needless to say we are not doing our usual with anchoring out but instead going to marinas for AC. We will be traveling back this way in Sept. which will be cooler and less humid so we can anchor out then.

Tow with barges.

 

 blue & white herons

Some of the scenery along the way.

 

 Approaching Rankin lock early in the morning.

  The second day took us through 3 locks and we only met 2 tows. Those locks combined raised us 114' above sea level. One lock alone (Whitten) raised us 84'. We also passed through another piece of history today called the Divide Cut. This section of the waterway is a man made ditch which is 24 miles long, 280' wide bank to bank and is lined with stone called riprap.

Whitten Lock waiting for doors to open. This lock will take us up 84'.

Going into Whitten Lock.

 

Waiting for doors to shut. (If you look at the lock wall, the dark cement is wet.

That is how far up we will be raised.) 

Traveling thru the Divide Cut.

 

 Coyote on the bank.

Jan. 3 – Jan. 9    Dunedin, FL. to Marathon, FL.

Total miles 293

While in Dunedin we took advantage of their trolley system and spent a day touring south through Clearwater Beach almost to St. Pete Beach. After leaving Dunedin we stopped one day in Gulfport to visit with some friends we had met in 2013 while doing our Loop. From there we cruised south to Cape Haze and anchored for 3 days waiting for the wind to settle down. While there we took the dinghy to San Pedro State park to walk the beach hunting for sharks teeth.

 

Once the wind died down we left Cape Haze and instead of staying in the ICW we went out into the Gulf by way of Charlotte Harbor/Boca Grande inlet and cruised down to Marco Island. Again we had to wait there an extra day for the winds to calm.

We left there on Sat. Jan. 9 at 7:15am with our destination being Shark river, which was 52 miles away and would take us about 6 hours. The skies were a clear blue and the water was FLAT. After a couple hours out there we decided to make a LONG day of it and go all the way to Marathon. 111 miles and SEVERAL hours later we pulled into our slip in Marathon at 6:30 pm. Normally we would not travel after dark but since we have been here several times, we know the area very well and also knew the resort we were going to was well lit.

Priorities tied up at Sombrero Resort.

 

 Pool and Tiki Hut bar. (part of the resort)

 

 Manatees at the dock in front of our boat.

 

 Our home for the next 3 months will be at Sombrero Resort in Marathon, FL. We hope everyone has a great winter. (We plan to!)

 

 

Dec. 24 – Jan. 2   Saunders Yachtworks to Dunedin, FL 

Total miles 397

We spent Christmas at Saunders with some friends from Knoxville TN. who had come down for vacation. During that time we had a boat parade with 40 boats all lit up for Christmas. Since our friends had a car we took a ride along the Gulf coast east to the Florida border.

 

 The Gulf - (a restaurant made from containers that are used on freighters)

 

 Flora Bama (road house built on the Al. and FL. border.

We found out that the window we were waiting there for may not get there till Jan. 6, (Maybe) so we decided to leave and come back here next Spring to have them install the window. We left Saunders on Dec. 26 and travelled thru Ft. Walton, Pensacola, Panama City, and arrived in Apalachicola on Dec. 30.

Pensacola Naval Base

 

 ICW between Panama City & Apalachicola.

 

On Dec. 31 we took off for Dog Island, FL to anchor out for a couple hours. At 3 pm that afternoon we left the anchorage in thick fog to enter the Gulf of Mexico. On Jan. 1 (Happy New Year to us in the middle of the Gulf) after 172 miles & 20 hours we were tied up at a dock in Dunedin, FL.