Great Loop Date 10.16.2010: Who is OB?

I've had many questions from friends who have never seen the inside of OB and are wondering just how we are living in the confines of a boat.  I went through OB and took pictures.  This is how we are and will continue to live for the next 8 or 9 months:

Todd's (the Captain) command center...the lower station in the pilot house.  When you see outside pictures of the boat, this is what is behind those large front windows.  He uses his computer on the right as a back up to the charting program on our boat's GPS plotting program.  He also watches the stock market on it...which makes me nervous when he's driving.

My (the First Mate) command center.  I'm the hardware backup to the computerized chart plotting systems on the boat.  I follow paper charts that are like road maps.  I use the binoculars to look for daymarkers that are like road signs.  I check mark the daymarkers on the chart when we pass them in the boat.  That way if there is a system failure, there is a human backup to where we are.

The Upper Station...Todd drives from here when things are tense and he needs to see 360* around the boat.  He also docks the boat from here.  He has a 'rearview camera' mounted at the stern so he can actually see the stern if he has to back into a dock.  I wish he'd use it!

This is what is behind Todd on the bridge (the Upper Station picture you just saw).  That's our dinghy and dock box.  Our bikes and our little BBQ grill are in the dock box.  There's a little refrigerator on the right and a wet bar above it.  Pretty cool for parties on the bridge.

Our salon or living room.  When you see OB from the outside, it's the big windows along the side of the boat.  The table can fold out and comfortably seat 6 people.  If necessary we can squeeze 8 in.  The TV is still the old version flat screen.  We keep talking about putting in an LED but haven't done it yet.

This is my galley (kitchen). I have a double sink in the island where the TV is located.  There are a lot of cabinets for storage.  You can see the oven.  It has a cutting board top with a stove under it.  Between the stove and the refrigerator is a compactor.  No dishwasher...I have very clean hands from washing them!  Todd dries the dishes.  I do cook fairly frequently.  My refrigerator is not as big as what I have at home.  I'm less likely to keep junk in it.  Our soft drinks and beer are in the little refrigerator on the bridge.  Now we also have a portable DC refrigerator/freezer on the back deck to replace our ice chest.  It also has soft drinks and beer in it.

This is Charlie's bed.  He's so used to his crate at home, we have found him sleeping in the master bathroom (head) many nights.  I didn't take a picture of it but it just fits him.  This is in front of my closet and storage drawers (behind the mirrored doors).

I hung a car hanging rod where the couch turns into a bunk (in our bedroom).  Todd needed closet space and we both needed room to hank our foul weather gear.  Under the bunk is more storage.  I put a lot of our clothes in space bags and they are under that cushion.  The baby gate in the background is for Charlie.  That's how I keep him sequestered in the master stateroom (our bedroom and that's where this picture was taken).

This is our bed.  It is queen sized.  Remember the mattress event bringing the new innerspring mattress to the boat?  That's the mattress and it is so very comfortable.

This is a shot looking down the lower hallway from the salon (living room) to our bedroom.  The cabinet on the left has my combination washing machine/dryer.  It is a front loader and can only handle 6 pounds of laundry at a time but it has been very handy.  I've done all our laundry in it including our sheets and towels.  There is a wall vac behind the sliding doors on the right.  It doesn't pick up Charlie's hair very well, so I have a canister vac with a sweeper head that does an excellent job.  I store it on that couch in our master bedroom way back in the corner where it can't be seen.  The guest bathroom is on the right where you see the mirrored door.

This is the guest stateroom.  It has a queen sized bed too.

GO BUCKS !!!

Great Loop Date: 10.14.2010 (Thursday-Saturday): Life is Grand (at Grand Harbor)…

Day #63: 1576.6 total miles (today: 23.3 miles)
Locks: 13 total (today: 1)
Port #30 – Pickwick Lake, Counce, TN

Blue Angel, Sea Estate, NII Wishin, OB and Quest pulled anchor shortly after sunrise. Today’s destination was Grand Harbor Marina situated on Yellow Creek in Mississippi. Although our boats would be in Mississippi, our feet would touch land in Tennessee when we walked off the docks.

Sunrise at Wolf Island anchorage.  If this isn't Heaven, I don't know what is.

Left to right, Blue Angel with Sea Estate rafted off her starboard (right) side, OB's big nose and Quest forward and off to our right.

Quest got this picture of NII Wishin and OB rafted and getting ready to pull anchor.

OB leaving Wolf Island.  Thank you Judy (Quest) for catching these shots.

Before we reached our destination, the Tennessee River would lead us past Pittsburg Landing and the Shiloh Battlefield. Even from the water, the area felt very quiet and humbling. After we passed Pittsburg Landing, I brought up the history of the Battle of Shiloh on the computer and read it to Todd as we moved along.

Pittsburg Landing from the water.

The battle of Shiloh Apr. 6-7, 1862.

Part of the cemetery as seen from the Tennessee River.

More of Pittsburg Landing along the Tennessee.

After passing Pittsburg Landing, we came to the Pickwick Landing Dam and Lock. A barge was in the lock and we had about an hour’s wait. Once in the Pickwick Lock, it raised us 63 feet.

An aerial view of the Pickwick Lock.

Waiting for the lock.

Charlie still trying to take over as Captain!.

Entering the Pickwick Lock...they just keep getting BIGGER!

OB would be delivered out of the lock into Pickwick Lake, another TVA man-made lake. The lake stretches from Pickwick Landing Dam to Wilson Dam. Pickwick Lake has excellent sportfishing areas. It is the north end of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, which provides a water transportation route to the Gulf of Mexico. After AGLCA Fall Rendezvous, we will be taking the Tenn-Tom Waterway to Mobile Bay.

Our flotilla of Looper boats descended upon Grand Harbor Marina five hours after leaving the anchorage at Wolf Island. Grand Harbor is a sponsor for the AGLCA (America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association) as well as a Boat US Marina. We felt very welcomed here. The marina had two Courtesy Vans for our use at no extra charge.



Grand Harbor Marina.  The marinas keep getting nicer, too!



Those gliders were full of Loopers at Happy Hour!

Happy Hour occurred right on schedule at 5PM in front of the Marina Store/Office. Todd has decided he will need to join AA when we return to normal life. I will probably need to renew my membership in Weight Watchers as well!

After Happy Hour, we took one of the vans to the Catfish Motel for dinner. This restaurant claim to fame is their catfish dinners. I learned to eat catfish last year during the AGLCA Fall Rendezvous in Rogersville, AL. I also learned that I like it.



L to R: Judy (Quest), Todd & Paula Sue (OB), Sharon & Jim (Blue Angel), Connie & Ed (Sea Estate), Jerry & Joan (NII Wishin).



Catfish dinner...what else would you eat at the Catfish Motel?

Ten of us left Friday morning to visit Shiloh. Nearly the complete flotilla fit into the courtesy van provided by Grand Harbor. It was an experience that will remain high on our list of memories during our adventure. Reading about the battle the day before helped prepare us for what we saw throughout the battlefields of April 16th and 17th, 1862.

Shiloh...near the Visitor's Center.

The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and was encamped principally at Pittsburg Landing on the west bank of the river. Confederate forces under Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard launched a surprise attack on Grant there. The Confederates achieved considerable success on the first day, but were ultimately defeated on the second day.

U.S. National Cemetery at Shiloh as well as the Cemetery for the Federalists. We found recent burial monuments on one side of the cemetery for Veterans.

Just after the cemetery entrance, the first battle monument was for Grant's Army.

A closer look at Grant's Monument with the plaque below.

Most of the soldiers buried from the battles of Shiloh are UNKNOWN.  Some graves are marked with monuments above and others are marked with little square marble markers engraved with numbers.

 After the war, the Union forces were allowed to come into the battlefield and rebury their dead from mass graves to individual graves.  The Confederate forces were not allowed back into the battlefield.  Their dead remain in mass graves within the Shiloh Battlefield.

Pittsburg Landing...



 ...the sight where Buell's Army arrived during the night of April 6-7, 1862 refortifying Grant's Army and ultimately turning the tide of the battle.

A replica of the Shiloh church. Johnston's Confederate Army came upon the sleeping Grant's Army early morning Apr. 6, 1862.  Unparalleled slaughter resulted, pushing Grant's Army back to Pittsburg Landing.  Johnston bled to death.  Beauregard retreated the Confederates during the night unknowingly allowing time for Buell's Army from the north to strengthen Grant's Army.  Doing so ultimately lead to the Confederate defeat at Shiloh but not before more than 23,000 Union and Confederate forces were injured, captured, missing or killed.

The new Shiloh Church.

The monument for the Illinois Union Army regiment in the Shiloh Church cemetery.  The big pillar monument behind the Illinois monument is for one of the deceased Tennessee Governors.

Summertime pulled into Grand Harbor as we returned to the dock from Shiloh. Ray and Linda were the first Loopers we met. They were at Put in Bay. We spent two days with them at Pt. Sanilac. Since then, we had been two ports apart until now. It was great to see them again and compare notes on what we had experienced. We went to dinner with them at another local favorite…Freddie T’s.

I found some friends at Freddie T's....

...and so did Todd!

Clockwise L to R: Cam & Tia (Spring Moon), Todd, Ray & Linda (Summertime) and Paula Sue.

Saturday Todd, Jerry and I did some last minute shopping. Todd and Jerry got their flu shots at Walgreen’s. I had my flu shot at WalMart in Pebble Isle. When we returned to Grand Harbor, Squivot was coming in. This is one of the fun parts of Looping. We are forever making acquaintances then reacquainting after weeks of being a port or two apart.

Saturday afternoon, Linda and I checked out the condominium complex. There was a spa with a beauty shop, massage therapist, a nice room to socialize in and bathroom complete with showers. After we checked out the amenities that were available to us, we went up the block to an open house Todd and I had spotted on our trips in and out of the marina. All in all, it ended up a nice walk on a beautiful afternoon.

The afternoon ended in another…yes, Happy Hour.

Great Loop Date: 10.13.2010 (Wednesday): Wolf, Wolf …

Day #62: 1553.3 total miles (52.0 miles)
Locks: 12 total (today: 0)
Port #29 – Wolf Island (Anchorage; Crump, TN)

OB and NII Wishin left Mermaid at 7:40AM getting back on track toward the second scheduled anchorage, Wolf Island. Sea Estate left about an hour earlier to catch Blue Angel at the Double Island anchorage. Miss Ruby and Quest had made it to Double Island as well.

The scenery along the Tennessee River continues to be wooded with limestone outbreaks. We enjoyed the peaceful beauty along will the slower pace of the trawlers. The whole crew has definitely found the comfort in a barefoot, semi-reclined, southern lifestyle. Some would call it lazy. We call it wonderful.

The Tennessee River continually twists and turns.  Luckily we only came upon barge traffic in the wider, straighter sections.

I noticed the water level is definitely going to winter pool.

It looks like about a three foot drop in the water level.

This must be how Tennessee River folk put their boats on the hard.  No charge for a lift out this way plus it's ready for spring as soon as the water comes up.

A dry cove.  Wouldn't want to anchor here!

The fall colors continue to catch our eye.

We found the cypress trees along the way to be interesting.

Apprentice Mate Charlie dreaming of filling the captain's shoes someday.

We passed Riverstone Estates, Bath Springs, TN.

Here's a nice little place...

...or maybe you'd prefer something a little bigger.  Yes, that's all one house!

Around the next bend we were back in farm country.

Then more quiet landscaping.

Other dogs have to be jealous of this guy!

Todd spotted what he thought was flotsam in the water.  It really was just a duck convention.

Aside from the lifestyle, OB is lumbering through the middle of Civil War country. We heard Connie from Sea Estate mention one of the homes Grant used as headquarters would appear on the portside river bank before the Harrison-McGarity bridge. I looked it up online so we wouldn’t miss it.

Cherry Mansion.

Savannah, Tennessee's Cherry Mansion is located on the east bank of the Tennessee River. The historic house served as General Ulysses S. Grant's headquarters prior to the 1862 Battle of Shiloh. Two Union generals died in the house. The well-preserved mansion was built in 1830. Although privately-owned, it remains a "must see" sight for U.S. Civil War buffs who travel to the Shiloh, Tennessee area.

Shortly after passing Cherry Mansion, we reached our anchorage for the night. Quest, Sea Estate and Blue Angel were anchored in different parts of this little diversion from the Tennessee River. We chose a spot behind Quest. The current was very strong here as the water funneled around Wolf Island. Had we chosen a spot closer to the port bank behind Blue Angel, the current would have been less intense. We had a strong hold and didn’t want to go for a ‘do over’.



Our anchorage at Wolf Island is to the left of the main river that you see dead ahead.

After we were all settled in, Quest called for Happy Hour. They had their dinghy and shuttled us to their boat. What a treat.

The sun set, the stars came out and we all went back to our boats to enjoy a peaceful night. Little did we know we were sleeping in hallowed waters used 148 years before during the Battle of Shiloh.