This past May 2019 we had Mariso trailered up to Lake Hartwell in GA, in order to live aboard while being in close proximity to my mom, who lives about an hour south of Hartwell.
We also had several after-Hartwell long range cruising possibilities in mind, but knew that first we had to find out if we and our two old dogs could manage a liveaboard existence while far, far away from our own dock.
We had everything covered at the dirt home, with lawn service and a dear friend checking the house regularly.
I needed this trip. I needed to be distracted by learning how to live aboard this boat, and I needed to see more of my Mom. A few years back, I got knocked down pretty badly, suffering through three years of a travesty on top of a tragedy. Been carrying around what I call "the sorrows" ever since, and I have to find a way to shake it off.
At Hartwell we learned that Mariso is a great platform for living aboard with our two pooches. We explored the lake and made wonderful new friends at Hartwell Marina. Life was fairly simple because we had our car and could do our laundry at Mom's. And Mom loved having us there.
The best thing was that we got the boat organized. (I think Old Dan said it best: "A boat is a puzzle.") Once we figured out the most easily accessible stowage vs. the least accessible stowage, we had the liveaboard organization thing down pat.
I was surprised at first at how easy it was to transition from the dirt home to the boat.
Here are a few pics from our peaceful stay at Hartwell Marina:
One afternoon when hubby Dan, Mom, and I were talking about my sister's upcoming medical treatments, we all simultaneously realized that hubby Dan and I could be of immense help to my sister if we moved the boat up to Knoxville to be near her.
It was amazing for us to be in a position to be able to do this. We are still growing accustomed to this retirement freedom.
We did struggle a bit to find a slip or transient dock near Knoxville. I must have called 30 marinas before I found one. And the marina said we had to sign a one- year contract, even though we only needed 3 months. Oh well. The purpose was worth it.
So, we had the boat pulled up to Knoxville. My only regret was that Mom never got up to Hartwell to see our boat, darn it.
Here's a photo of us following the boat into Knoxville:
Louisville Landing Marina is located in Louisville, Tennessee, a few miles south of Knoxville.
In between assisting my sister, walking the dogs and regular boat maintenance, we found the time to take a few trips around Lake Louden. We discovered Myrtle's Fried Chicken and Beer in downtown Knoxville. We discovered two great dog parks that the pooches loved. Here are a few snapshots:
But then, our blonde dog Lucy, became itchy and unhappy. We took her to a vet in Louisville, who prescribed Apoquel. But she started refusing to go back to the boat when we would walk her. She would lie down on the dock and look at me with those big brown eyes and her body language would say, "MOM, I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO THE BOAT!"
I snapped a photo of her lying on the dock as hubby Dan was talking to a houseboater:
Fortunately, Lucy's struggles did not start until a few days before my sister was due to finish her medical treatments.
Even more fortunately, I was able to arrange for our best friend to stay at our house with our dogs while we cruise downriver to Mobile and then home to St. Petersburg.
So we drove Lucy and Birdie back home, along with our boat trailer, and flew back to Knoxville. When we got home we took both girls to our longtime vet, and he discovered that Lucy had a urinary tract infection. So now I'm thinking she might be okay on the boat in the future!
I've been meaning to start this thread about our cruise down the Tennessee, Tenn-Tom, and Gulf since we started out, but we are already over a week into it. Those of you who have done it know how busy you are when you shove off on your first lengthy cruise, so please bear with me.
Hubby Dan has been making some very cool time-lapse videos of the river. I will be posting those, along with more photos.
I must mention, one of the most refreshing highlights of our trip so far was that fellow TF'er Scratchnsaw contacted us to stop by and see our boat. I did not know that he was a delivery captain for many years. We could have talked all night, and I think someday we will do just that.
Cheers,
Mrs. Trombley
We also had several after-Hartwell long range cruising possibilities in mind, but knew that first we had to find out if we and our two old dogs could manage a liveaboard existence while far, far away from our own dock.
We had everything covered at the dirt home, with lawn service and a dear friend checking the house regularly.
I needed this trip. I needed to be distracted by learning how to live aboard this boat, and I needed to see more of my Mom. A few years back, I got knocked down pretty badly, suffering through three years of a travesty on top of a tragedy. Been carrying around what I call "the sorrows" ever since, and I have to find a way to shake it off.
At Hartwell we learned that Mariso is a great platform for living aboard with our two pooches. We explored the lake and made wonderful new friends at Hartwell Marina. Life was fairly simple because we had our car and could do our laundry at Mom's. And Mom loved having us there.
The best thing was that we got the boat organized. (I think Old Dan said it best: "A boat is a puzzle.") Once we figured out the most easily accessible stowage vs. the least accessible stowage, we had the liveaboard organization thing down pat.
I was surprised at first at how easy it was to transition from the dirt home to the boat.
Here are a few pics from our peaceful stay at Hartwell Marina:
One afternoon when hubby Dan, Mom, and I were talking about my sister's upcoming medical treatments, we all simultaneously realized that hubby Dan and I could be of immense help to my sister if we moved the boat up to Knoxville to be near her.
It was amazing for us to be in a position to be able to do this. We are still growing accustomed to this retirement freedom.
We did struggle a bit to find a slip or transient dock near Knoxville. I must have called 30 marinas before I found one. And the marina said we had to sign a one- year contract, even though we only needed 3 months. Oh well. The purpose was worth it.
So, we had the boat pulled up to Knoxville. My only regret was that Mom never got up to Hartwell to see our boat, darn it.
Here's a photo of us following the boat into Knoxville:
Louisville Landing Marina is located in Louisville, Tennessee, a few miles south of Knoxville.
In between assisting my sister, walking the dogs and regular boat maintenance, we found the time to take a few trips around Lake Louden. We discovered Myrtle's Fried Chicken and Beer in downtown Knoxville. We discovered two great dog parks that the pooches loved. Here are a few snapshots:
But then, our blonde dog Lucy, became itchy and unhappy. We took her to a vet in Louisville, who prescribed Apoquel. But she started refusing to go back to the boat when we would walk her. She would lie down on the dock and look at me with those big brown eyes and her body language would say, "MOM, I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO THE BOAT!"
I snapped a photo of her lying on the dock as hubby Dan was talking to a houseboater:
Fortunately, Lucy's struggles did not start until a few days before my sister was due to finish her medical treatments.
Even more fortunately, I was able to arrange for our best friend to stay at our house with our dogs while we cruise downriver to Mobile and then home to St. Petersburg.
So we drove Lucy and Birdie back home, along with our boat trailer, and flew back to Knoxville. When we got home we took both girls to our longtime vet, and he discovered that Lucy had a urinary tract infection. So now I'm thinking she might be okay on the boat in the future!
I've been meaning to start this thread about our cruise down the Tennessee, Tenn-Tom, and Gulf since we started out, but we are already over a week into it. Those of you who have done it know how busy you are when you shove off on your first lengthy cruise, so please bear with me.
Hubby Dan has been making some very cool time-lapse videos of the river. I will be posting those, along with more photos.
I must mention, one of the most refreshing highlights of our trip so far was that fellow TF'er Scratchnsaw contacted us to stop by and see our boat. I did not know that he was a delivery captain for many years. We could have talked all night, and I think someday we will do just that.
Cheers,
Mrs. Trombley
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