Locks: 17 total (today: 2)
Port #36 – Florence Marina, Florence, AL
BOO !!! Halloween on the water. I had the decorations but we didn’t have any little ghosts or goblins visit us. Of course, our neighborhood at home doesn’t have very many youngsters. We’ve only had a small crowd of tricksters over the last 13 years, but they are always so cute.
Today OB started back tracking. Rendezvous over and the temperatures getting colder let us know it was time to start working our way south again. We awoke to a dense fog.
The fog began to lift around 8:30AM and an armada of 4 boats left for the lock. NII Wishin alerted us the lock was waiting. Water hose, power cable and lines were hurriedly taken from the dock home we’d had for 10 days. Even in all the rush to leave, we were glad to finally be underway again.
With in 10 minutes we were moving into Wheeler Lock. This time OB was sporting 4 new, big, red fender balls to help protect her from the lock walls. Our last trip in the Wheeler and Wilson Locks had us moving just a little too close to the cement walls for comfort. I was still a bit unnerved wondering if the draining of these two big locks would be as rough as the assent had been.
Todd brought OB into the Wheeler Lock and we easily tied to the first bollard on the port wall (left side of the lock). We waited for about 15 minutes while others made their way from Joe Wheeler Marina to the lock. The lock doors closed and the lock drained rapidly. Our ride down was a piece of cake!
OB’s trip down the 15 miles of Wilson Lake were uneventful as was the ride down the big Wilson Lock. The lockmaster was jovial and talked with many of us as we entered the lock. We had to wait a bit for one boat that hadn’t made it to the Wheeler Lock with our armada of 9 boats. Waiting is never a problem. We’re Loopers and Loopers are not supposed to be in a hurry!
After the Wilson Lock, most of the armada of 10 boats went in to nearby Florence Marina. NII Wishin, OB and 3 other Looper boats stayed for the night. The other 5 boats took on fuel and left of Grand Harbor or Aqua Yacht Harbor.
Before Todd and I went to bed, I took down my flashing jack ‘o’lantern and my flying goblin. Both have kept us in the Halloween spirit for the last two weeks. I stored them away for next year…just in case we might be on OB.
Day #81 (Monday): 1810.9 total miles (39.5 miles today)
Locks: 17 total (today: 0)
Port #37 – Aqua Yacht Harbor, Iuka, MS
NII Wishin and OB were up and back on the river by 9:30AM. We only saw one barge on the way back to Yellow Creek. The sky was clear and there was little or no breeze. It was a beautiful day to be out on the water.
Finally back in Yellow Creek and on the verge of going into the Tennessee – Tom Bigbee Waterway, it was time to have OB pulled from the water and checked out from stem to stern. While we were at Joe Wheeler Marina, Jay on Windsong put on his dive gear and checked our props for damage from our adventure in the Mighty Mississippi. OB’s port (left) prop had one blade with a bent edge. Continuing to run with a prop that was out of tune could damage the transmission.
Todd called Aqua Yacht Harbor and scheduled OB for maintenance. OB had some other smaller problems that needed attention. The oil sending unit on the port engine continued to read zero when OB was at slower speeds. The circuit breaker for the radar and radios wasn't big enough to take the surge when keying the radio. The spot light on the bow wouldn't turn with the remote. Since we bought the 63 quart electric cooler style refrigerator/freezer, we needed a canvas cover to protect it when it rains. AND in every marina, the security lights are so bright, if I woke up in the night my body thought it was 6AM and refused to go back to sleep! So I wanted canvas covers made for the two hatches in our master stateroom.
NII Wishin led the way into Yellow Creek. Jerry and Joan had mail coming into Grand Harbor and made the turn into their berthing for the next few days. We continued a mile down Yellow Creek to Aqua and tied up the the fuel dock at 2:30PM.
It took a while for the wheels to get rolling on the business at hand. By 4:00PM, OB was in the lift. The props were removed, OB was dropped back into the water and towed to a guest dock where 3 other Looper boats rested. It was a weird feeling to be propless in the water.
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| Up she goes! |
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| There's that rough edge... |
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| ...see? |
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| Everything else looks good underneath. Those sharp things are spurs. We have them on both shafts. They cut lines that might otherwise get caught on the shaft. However, we're still vigilant. Spurs aren't 100% protection against lines on commercial fishing nets and crab traps (called crab pots). There are two zincs on each shaft, too. They are those round, ball shaped things to the right of the strut. They help keep the metal on the props and shafts from being eaten away by electrolysis when we get into salt water. |
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| Poor OB...you can see where the log hit the back waterline above the white stripe then whacked her again on the keel, knocking off some bottom paint. No fiberglass damage though. |
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| Aqua's 'Mini Me' tow that pulled and pushed us to our dock. It looks like a barge but is a whole lot smaller. It was efficient though. |
Late afternoon, Todd got the keys to the Courtesy Van and we headed to Savannah, TN to restock our food supply. The Courtesy Van was a disaster. It was filthy inside, the left side mirror was missing, the windshield wipers wouldn't work most of the time (and we desperately needed them in the rain), the transmission would grind down on the hills to the point we thought the van would stop, the steering wheel had a good two inches of play in it making steering in the rain and the hills difficult AND when we finally got back to the marina, the window would not roll down so Todd could use the security card to open the gate! We were glad to get back to boat in one piece and have a glass of wine.
Wednesday, the mechanic showed up and fixed to oil sending unit, put in a new bigger amp fuse switch for the electronics and changed the o-ring in the air conditioner sea strainer. The canvas man measured the refrigerator/freezer to make a cover. He also looked at the master stateroom hatches to come up with some way to put a shade in place when light at night is an issue.
The spotlight still needs to be replaced and we forgot about the darn wiper motor. Todd made another trek to the repair shop this afternoon. Did I mention the dock we are on is at least a half mile long…and we are on the furthest dock from land? We are definitely getting exercise we’ve missed over the last 2 ½ months.
When Todd returned from the repair shop he had great news...the props are finished and back in the shop. They will go back on tomorrow. An electrician will be down tomorrow to check out the spotlight and the windshield wiper motor.
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| Nothing prettier than fixed, tuned props !!! |
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