Pickwick Lake, Ms/Al/Tn

Hey Tony,

Just checking in on your status.

We had an illness in the family that has delayed our getting underway. Hope to sail in 5 or 6 days.

Hope this finds you and yours well.

Last Tango

Sorry to hear about family illness. Hope it wasn't serious.

I am ready to go and every time the weather is great, there is always the up-river 'thing'.

This is killing me - the next 7 to 8 days will be perfect boat travel weather. Sunny, 0% chance of precip., moderate temps and low winds.
So whats the problem? The latest storm flood related problems such as fast down river flow with logs and furniture.

Visit this site National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service This will be the first lock and dam we will hit.

This past Sun or Mon, the river was down to 13 '.
Assuming no new major storms hit, I figure the river will be down to normal by a week from today. Then I would give it another 2 days for most of the debris to clear.

Yesterday, I spoke to 2 people. One on the phone up just upriver of the Tom Bevill Lock and Dam and the other in person that drove down from the Demopolis Lock and Dam. It was not sounding good at all. The guy north of the Tom Bevill said that up there, north of the dam is fine but everything south of it is one heck of a mess. he owns a small marina up there. The guy that drove down from Demopolis keeps his boats (yes, plural) here on the coast. He drove over a few bridges and also went near downtown Mobile and described the mess to me.

Feel free to call me anytime. You still have my number in your PM's?

Tony,
Any interest in trading your Allied for a 24 foot Allegra (Fred Bingham design)
cutter? It is a 1984 build by Willmette Boat works of Chicago and is located
at a marina just off the Western side of Green Bay. Six foot headroom, inboard
BMW D7 diesel. Headsail furler and Autotiller included. Great little seaworthy boat.

Old Sarge

Sorry, because the reason my Allied is up for sale is because the admiral no longer is able to. That's how we ended up with power. I tried, to no avail, to talk her into taking the Allied up to Ky. Lake. She knew that as long as there was a mast, the sails would go up 'just this one time'.

Understood Tony.
The Admiral could give the orders on the Allegra, as I have single handed it
and I'm 75. I'm going to try to get my bigger boat down the rivers from up
here, and thought it would save a lot of time and effort to have a boat already
down South. If someone down South would like to have a boat up North for
the beautiful Summers up here in Wisconsin, it would work out.
By the way, is your Allied on Yachtworld? I was interested in Allieds before
I got my Formosa.

It's easy to single hand a ketch rig.
I wish you luck in your quest.

Hi Tony,

Yes I have your number.

We will probably give you a shout tomorrow.

We are going to hold here until Monday 12th, so we can do a triple Mothers Day with Eileen's mom (89) and our daughter, with her 3 kids.

Since we will be inside until MS Sound, weather won't be much of an issue unless we have a nasty boomer sitting on us.

We are both itching to go, the Tango's pulling on her lines, not much left to do except load perishables and us.

Talk to you soon. Keep safe. Better waiting a while now, that being in a yard with bent shafts, props and rudders......

I'm not sure if there even are any yards between Mobile and Demopolis.
The 12th is about the same time we will be leaving, providing there are no more bizarre, record breaking floods.

Joe wheeler state park marina is first rate.

Tony B said:

I'm not sure if there even are any yards between Mobile and Demopolis.
The 12th is about the same time we will be leaving, providing there are no more bizarre, record breaking floods.

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Hi Tony,

We are in Biloxi WOW. Probably till Friday.

I also need to investigate a fuel leak on my Stbd engine.

Your status?

Last Tango

I didn't realize you had a fuel leak. I assume it has been fixed since we spoke on phone yesterday, at least I hope it was.
We will catch up to each other somewhere along the way.

Tony B

Northward Bound

Getting ready to unplug from Mary Walker Bayou in Gautier, Ms. and wait for daylight in about 30 mins or so.

Finally leaving Mississippi. We enjoyed it but stayed way too long.

Chris, see you along the way. Tonight we will tie up at the Mobile Coinvention Center. Tomorrow I will let you know how that went.

Tony B said:

Getting ready to unplug from Mary Walker Bayou in Gautier, Ms. and wait for daylight in about 30 mins or so.

Finally leaving Mississippi. We enjoyed it but stayed way too long.

Chris, see you along the way. Tonight we will tie up at the Mobile Coinvention Center. Tomorrow I will let you know how that went.

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Nice to see Coffeeville at 11' instead of 30'+ isn't it? What are the reports on logs and trash in the river? Does it look good for the trip to Demopolis soon?

Tony B said:

Getting ready to unplug from Mary Walker Bayou in Gautier, Ms. and wait for daylight in about 30 mins or so.

Finally leaving Mississippi. We enjoyed it but stayed way too long.

Chris, see you along the way. Tonight we will tie up at the Mobile Coinvention Center. Tomorrow I will let you know how that went.

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Hey Tony,

Departed Biloxi at 0730. Crossing Pascagoula channel now.

We will overnight at Dog River to get our mail, head north tomorrow.

Safe passage.

Last Tango said:

...... We will overnight at Dog River to get our mail, head north tomorrow. ....

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Still a good amount of logs and trash coming down Mobile River but not enough to stop us. Just keep a careful eye out.

We tied up at the Convention Center and at the park next door is a Chili Cook-off. two tugs cam by and gave a performance. It was great.
The dock is not too shabby. Only complaint is the different colored fenders are a very hard plastic of sorts. No elasticity at all. I had to deop my fender boards over the side and all is good. I would certainly recommend this a a good resting spot. No electric, no water and no charge. Seems like a fair shake to me.

Any hoooo. Hope to hook up with y9u tomorrow.

Tony B

Did I say that I would recommend this place?
About 3AM a super bright light is shing through my windows. I figured it was a tow vessel trying to make a "U" turn in the river. That's because that is the only light I can think of that is that bright. Anyhow, after a while it was still there so I got out of bed to check it out. Low and behold there is a small cruise ship blinding me. I get on the radio and say "Sssssssssssssup dude". Then re says I have to move and I says "I think you missed April 1". And so he says that I am in his spot and he has reservations. And I says " So did I and I just happened to get there first". He insisted that I move and I insisted that I am not. It is 3AM, he disturbed my sleep, it is dark out with logs in the river and I don't have Radar and he does. Anyway, to make a long story short, I told him that I was going back to sleep and he could have his reserved spot at 6Am. And so I did and he did too.
Anyway, it was an interesting fifteen minutes or so.
Gotta love a commercial captain that thinks he is going to win.
And so it went for night 1.

This inland cruising is a whole nuther culture in and by itself. We have made friends along the way and know that we will meet again somewhere.
On night 3, I finally got to meet "Last Tango" and his mate. We had dinner together along with 2 other couples that we had met along the way.
It was a fun evening. Come morning, we all scattered. Come that night, we ran into them again in a marina 100 miles away. What a nice surprise that was.
Tomorrow morning I will be leaving out of here and going up river about 60 miles or so and through another Lock and Dam system. Then look for a decent anchorage for the night. It has been tough finding one between Coffeeville, Al. and Demopolis. Seems like they all filled in with sand, trees or both. There was still some logs and trash coming down the Mobile river - enough that I wouldn't take my eyes off the 'road'. That dissipated about 50 miles north of Mobile. Then there is just the occasional log every now and then. The further north, the better it gets.

Hey Tony,

We are at Sumpters Landing (anchored) at MP 270. Enjoying a day off / maintenance. We pulled both shafts, replaced 4 cutlass bearings, reconditioned both props, replaced all anodes, and washed her bottom. Tango gained 1.5 knots for the same RPM and runs smooth as silk. All in two days at Demopolis Yacht Basin. Good folks there.

See you upriver.

Chris, Eileen, Lala. Buddy Gumbo. Rufus, Tango and Tiko.

Hey Chris

Glad all went well with the boat. I would definitely consider that place as a winter lay-over area on my way back down. Was really nice meeting you guys.


We also stayed at Sumpter Rec Area when we left Demopolis. We really liked it there. Very quiet and pretty and able to layout a 6:1 scope.
Night before last we pulled into Pirates marina Cove. I think these folks might know you. It is at the top of Tom Bevill Lock and Dam. I had a mechanic help me with my batteries not charging problem and yesterday he too my stbd. carburetor for rebuild. He will be back this morning to put it back in and we will be leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow (Sunday).
I'm laying out some notes for possible anchorages. One above Aberdeen and the other above Fulton L&D. Tuesday, I hope to find a marina in Pickwick Lake and sit out the forecast T-storms. As soon as they clear out we are only a day's run to Joe Wheeler State Park.

Will bump into you again somewhere

regards

Tony B

Tony have you considered a iPad for route planning and locating anchorages? We left the marina on the Mississippi mm 283 last Monday and came thru Chicago today we anchored out every evening using the Active Captain overlay on Garmin BlueChart mobile. The anchorage reviews alone have saved the owner at least $50.00 a night in slip fees. We are in a marina tonight in Hammond, Indiana because this was our 1st stop for fuel and it's cheaper here than in Illinois. The 350 HP Detroits 8v71s burnt 5.5 gallons per hour gen time included. We are on the way up the lake tomorrow final destination is Detroit river just off Lake Erie.

Well I finally made it to Joe Wheeler State Park on the Tennessee River. Got in here yesterday afternoon and low and behold, there was Chris (Last Tango) and his lovely wife. I had reserved a covered slip a while back, that was when I didn't know anything about river flooding and logs and trash and whatever. As I was pulling into my slip, I suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Half quizitive and half panicy, I couldn't understand what happened. Then someone said "its your crane". Another thing I just learned - ask how high the covered slip entrance is. So away we went, to a transient slip for the evening
Being the great guy that he is, Chris removed the crane for me. This morning I folded down my antennas and now am in my slip and Chris faded away into the mist. No tellin' where we will meet up again.


This really looks like a great place to spend the rest of the year.

Welcome to the Tennessee River Tony B . If you have time I width you could make your way to Paris landing or we could make our way to Joe Wheeler . Glad you made it safe , now just kick back . Here's to you !!

Great lesson in patience and using good judgement that you taught us all. I'm sure you never imagined how much would occur before you got there. We all stress to be prepared to revise plans if weather dictates. Now, with you it was the after effects of weather.

Glad to be here

Then again, at my age, I'm glad to be anywhere this side of the dirt.
I love these man made mountain lakes. Tons and tons of shore line waiting to be explored.

Pack Mule: I don't think we will be straying very from here this year. Most likely, we will be heading up that way around April 1, unless we change plans again and head for The Little Tennessee River instead. That would put KY Lake into the following year. But I do think Ky. lake will win out. The admiral is expecting a new grandbaby in a few months and the northern part of Ky. lake will be only about 3 hours by car to St; Louis for more visiting and keep us still only a half day drive from Little Rock.
Either way, we will probably stay at Joe Wheeler til end of March.
This puts me 5 hours by car from Daughters and Grandson in Little Rock and the admiral about 6 hours from son and Granddaughter in St. Louis.

Weather had definitely put a crimp in our plans. We were delayed about 2 months longer in Ms. than planned and so we kind of raced up the rivers to just get here. By doing so, we did not have the time to really enjoy the places we passed up. That wont happen again.

Tony,

Eileen and enjoyed leap frogging up the Tenn Tom with you and Helen.

We are now at Goose Pond and will do a laundry / grocery layover before heading to Chattanooga.

We will stop by for a visit on the way back.

Were you able to get your van ok?

See you again soon.

Last Tango said:

Tony,

Eileen and enjoyed leap frogging up the Tenn Tom with you and Helen.

We are now at Goose Pond and will do a laundry / grocery layover before heading to Chattanooga.

We will stop by for a visit on the way back.

Were you able to get your van ok?

See you again soon.

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When you get to Chattanooga, I live a block from the downtown docks. If you need transportation or anything let me know. I'm in town thru Thursday afternoon when I leave for Ft. Pierce to go back to my boat.

Hey Tony, great to hear you finally made it! Michelle has 2 more work days until retirement and then we will be right behind you (with a stop in Biloxi for a haul out).

Moonstruck said:

When you get to Chattanooga, I live a block from the downtown docks. If you need transportation or anything let me know. I'm in town thru Thursday afternoon when I leave for Ft. Pierce to go back to my boat.

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Thanks very much! I think we are in good shape. Got a slip at Island Cove where I will pick up a new O/B for the dinghy.

Chris:
We were just talking about you guys this morning. We are looking forward to see you again. Now we know where there is a great sea food/catfish house just down the road a few minutes from the marina.
Got my van back here yesterday. Ahhh, how I missed the cultural experience of a Greyhound Bus. They haven't changed in the 40 years since my last Greyhound ride.
When you get here we can get you provisioned at Sams Club or a Super Walmart or wherever, just a short drive from here.
Lookin' forward to seeing you both again.

Blue:
Congrats on Michelle's retirement. Unfortunately, it's not all it's cracked up to be. You still have to make major decisions, like will next year be The Little Tennessee River to the Smokies or Kentucky Lake. I thought retirement would be life without decisions. LOL
Hope to meet up with you guys someday soon.

.

Hi Tony,

Please say hi to Helen from both Eileen and me. We spent 3 days at Island Cove Marina. Nice relaxing time, but the many, many, boats passing the marina didn't seem to understand what 'no wake' means.

That made for a pretty uncomfortable slip a lot of the time, but we were often gone in the dinghy.

We are anchored at Dayton TN now, passing thru Watts Bar Lock tomorrow. Short runs, relaxing and smelling the roses.