Chattanooga Choo Choo

Yesterday we went from Ditto Landing to Goose Pond Marina in Alabama. Goose Pond was fairly easy to get into with a well marked channel and there was plenty of room. The wind was up and we had some issues getting into the dock, but we made it with the help of others.

Several other Loopers were there and we had happy hour on our boat and then went to dinner with 4 other couples at a restaurant within walking distance. The food was OK but the company was great. The weather was cold and rainy when we went to bed but this morning it was just cold. We knew we had a long way to go today so we left at 7:00. There were 4 boats and we were led by "Passport" who did a great job. We had to go through one lock which was pretty easy but the current was against us and we did not make great speed.

We arrived in Chattanooga around 5:30 Central Time which was 6:30 Eastern. The dock was full but everybody pitched in to make room for us which was much appreciated.

The scenery was spectacular even though it was a very long day so it was worth it. I am not really sure what is on the schedule for tomorrow but I know that it won't start early.

Sid and Evelyn on "Something Special" who we are travelling with

"Muddy Waters" was in the lock with us and they were at Goose Pond.

It's a bridge, but it looks like a rainbow doesn't it?

A house on the top of the mountain.

Eagles - I think

Another nice house way up there.

Tour boat in Chattanooga

This is where we are docked for the next two nights.

Still Going East

We are finally traveling again after 14 days at Joe Wheeler State Park. The time went by pretty quickly but we were getting pretty anxious to get going. We had a visit from our boat neighbors at the Port Clinton Yacht Club in Port Clinton, Ohio. Diana, Earl, Janet and Doug stopped by on their way to the NASCAR race at Taledaga. They pulled an Airstream camper that they all slept in. They lost a few parts on the way, but they got there and home successfully so all was well.

We shared a rental car with another couple so we had multiple trips to Walmart and other places. Most of the boats did not arrive until Thursday or Friday before the rendezvous started but the marina was quite full in the end. There was fog most mornings but it burned off quickly.

The rendezvous consisted of seminars all day about different subjects such as going down the Tenn-Tom or making the Gulf crossing and also engine maintenance. The rendevous included breakfast, lunch and dinner each day and there was a cocktail party each night which was a great way to meet new people. I think the best thing about the whole deal is the people you meet and sharing the common goal of doing the Loop. There were over 200 people so we did not get to meet them all but the ones we did were all fantastic. I took some pictures the last night of some couples that we got to spend time with and that we hope we will see down the line. The pictures below are just a sample of the great people doing the same thing and they are from all over the country. It was a fantastic experience.

In my last post I said we were going to start heading South but we decided to head East to Chattanooga because we heard it was a great trip. We will have to come back West before we head South but we will still be in the Gulf by Thanksgiving and hopefully in Florida by December.

Great time with "home" friends.

Ginny and Mike supervising the cable repair guys.

This is a sample of how well attended the rendezvous was

Ginny and Ginny catching up

Very foggy each morning.

By the way the boat is a 1964 Chris Craft Roamer owned by a great couple from Lexington.

This was the group picture but my camera was not wide enough to get everyone

Jim and Dale on SweetPea.

We met them in Charlevoix.

Dean and Beth on Kismet from Racine, Wisconsin.

They were docked across from us and we had a great time together.

Bill and Cindy from Ol'Smuggler.

We met them in Grand Harbor when we stayed there a few weeks ago.

Mike and Gail from Happy Hours - from Australia.

Sid and Evelyn on Something Special.

We are traveling with them to Chattanooga.

Frank and Carrie on Once Around from California.

Pam and Billiy on Godspeed.

They are from Louisiana and big LSU/Saints fans.

Their dog is SugarBaby.

Joe and Pat on Glory Days - we are not sure who is behnd them.

Joe is one of the orneriest and funniest guys I have every met -

I really don't know why Pat puts up with him

Some of the boats leaving Joe Wheeler this morning.

Joe Wheeler State Park

We have not done much travel since the last post, in fact we are only 25 miles from the last post at Florence, AL. When we were in Florence we used the courtesy car and went to visit a local Frank Lloyd Wright house which was very nice. We were also able to go to Outback for a dinner. We decided to got to Joe Wheeler last Thursday and stay there two weeks through the rendezvous. We were going to leave about 9:00 A.M. but we noticed a large tow go by and knew we would be waiting at the first lock which was only about 1 mile away. The tow was a double which means only 1/2 can fit in at time so it takes about 3 hours to get it through the lock. We watched the AIS and when the tow was leaving the lock we left the marina (about noon) and thought we would get through the lock and get in front of the tow before the next lock which was about 20 miles. It took much longer for us to get through the lock than I thought and by the time we got out it was really too late to catch the tow even though we tried. We called the lock master and he said we could tie up at the lock wall and wait for the tow. There was another boat with us and we tied up and turned off the engines and had lunch. It was about 5:30 when we finally got through the lock. Luckily we were only about 1 mile from out destination so we made it before dark.

We got setup in our slip the next day and on Saturday we had Enterprise bring us a rental car which we used for trips to Florence to the West, and Huntsville to the East. We went to the Space and Rocket center in Huntsville where they also have Space Camp for kids. It was a nice trip and the weather was good.

I heard there are going to be about 70 boats come in for the rendezvous and there are about 20 here now so many more are coming. We have been having happy hour outside our boat at 5:00 for the last few days and the group gets bigger each night. It is raining now so maybe the happy hour will be cancelled tonight. We have decided to go the Chattanooga after the meeting which will take about 7 days up and back so we won't we heading South for a while yet.

Frank Lloyd Wright House

A very tall lock to go up

Tied off on the lock wall waiting for the tow in the background to get through

When they let the water out of the lock this is where is goes

Joe Wheeler in Alabama

There was a couples Bass tournament at the marina last weekend

Another car show in Rogersville, AL (Another one for Wayne)

Ain't she pretty

Deer are everywhere

Space Camp

The party is getting bigger each day

Not Lost, Just Going the Wrong Way

We stayed at Clifton Marina on Thursday night after stocking up at the local store. Sonja, who runs the marina was exceptionally nice and very helpful. She let me use the barbecue grill for some hamburgers which were great. When we got up to leave the next morning it was a little foggy but I thought it was doable so we left. As you can see from the pictures, maybe we should have stayed another 1/2 hour - but we did fine. I had the radar on and stood on the bow with binoculars which really just make the fog thicker, but I looked good.

When we got close to the next lock there was a tow coming so we had to wait off to the side for him to get around the corner which was fine because there was another boat behind us that we needed to wait for at the lock anyhow. At this point we are on the Tennessee river headed up stream. The Tenn Tom is the waterway that will take us to Mobile so we turned right and went down about a mile to Grand Harbor Marina. Grand Harbor is probably the best marina we will be in until we reach the Gulf. There were other Loopers there and we met three people from Ohio so it was very nice.

The real highlight of the stay was our trip to Shiloh National Park where the battle of Shiloh in the Civil War was fought. The park is very large and most of the tour is done by car. I won't give you a history lesson because I don't teach well, but over 23,000 soldiers were killed in two days of fighting with muskets, bayonets and cannons which really makes you think.

We stayed at Grand Harbor three nights and then we moved on towards the Great Loop Rendezvous in Rogersville, AL. If we were not going to the party then we would have continued South on the Tenn-Tom but Joe Wheeler State Park is on the Tennessee River so we had to back track up the Tenn-Tom and head upstream on the Tennessee which means we are really going the wrong way but we are not lost Wayne.

We stopped at Florence, AL Marina on Monday night and will be here for thee nights before continuing to Joe Wheeler. There are not many Loopers here right now so the courtesy car is available and we are taking advantage of it to go to - you guessed it a WalMart. The Rendezvous starts on October 23 so we are well ahead of schedule. We will stay at Joe Wheeler from the 14th through the 26th and then come back down the Tennessee to the Tenn-Tom so we can continue South.

Statistics:

Total Nights Since Start: 73

Nights at Marina: 69

Nights Free: 4

Miles Traveled: 1,729

Engine Hours: 192

Gallons of Fuel Purchased: 1,317

Average MPH: 9.02

Average Miles Per Gallon: 1.31

% of Expenses:

Fuel: 35%

Marinas: 21%

Food including groceries and eating out: 27%

Other: 17%

Clifton Marina

Fog leaving

Leaving Clifton

I said the fog wasn't very thick

I guess I should have look further

The tow we waited for

Ginny on station

Grand Harbor Marina

The next few pictures are of Shiloh

Wild turkeys

Florence Marina

I think this boat could use some weeding - but it has a Dish.

Civilization at last