10/27/18 Saturday: We had a nice peaceful night at Joe Wheeler State Park. The guys on Just Right and Halcyon Days were going to call the lock at 6:30, and then call us on VHF 69 with the news at 6:30am. The sun doesn’t even wake up until 7:00 around here! We were awake around 6:00 though. There was a big yacht named Checkers that fired up and was departing the harbor. They weren’t that loud, it’s just that our ears tend to hear motors, especially since our pillows are near the hull and waterline.
The VHF call came. The Wheeler lock is only 2 miles from here, and the lock master said it was currently all clear with nothing currently in sight. The other boats were pondering whether to go have breakfast in the lodge, or go while the coast was clear. I voted go. They decided that way too, so we agreed to get off the dock just after 7:00 and make our way to the lock. Then I looked outside and what to my wondering eyes should appear…. but a giant fleet of bass boats! It is Saturday, and apparently there was a tournament of some sort going on. There were at least two dozen boats, with their navigation lights on in the early dawn light. They were all single file, puttering up to the boundary line for ‘no wakes’ – which was directly across the bay from our bow. It was really fun to watch them all put the hammer down and take off like lightening as soon as they got to that sign.
Our lock buddies today were good luck charms, because we only had to wait a little while for the lock doors to open. YAY! I think Checkers was ahead of us and we just had to wait for the lock chamber to fill and reopen for us. Soon we were on our way to the next lock, just 13 or so miles away.
The Wilson lock was almost ready for us when we got there, and we didn’t have to tread water much at all. This lock is HUGE! And the ride is so much nicer going down in a lock than going up. They just pull the plug in the bathtub, and the water drains away.
We had just the two, Wheeler and Wilson locks, to go through – separated by about 15 miles or so. Today was another wind-in-our-face day, with lots of splashing of lake water all over the bow and windshield. Once again, I was very thankful for an interior helm, and Captain admitted that he is getting accustomed to driving from inside. It’s still not his favorite, but it beats wind, rain, and cold!
At the bottom of the Wilson lock, we traveled a short canal. When it opened up to rejoin the rest of the river, the view was pretty cool. I don’t remember seeing this when we traveled the opposite direction going up river. Just beyond this bridge was a huge rock cliff.
To the left of the bridge were these huge federal mooring cells. These are here so that the tows/barges can pull up and tie off. I don’t know if these are still in use, but they looked like huge planters. Notice the bass boat at the base of the one on the left. And then there is a big house up on the hill. I just thought it was a cool picture with a lot of variety.
We cruised right on past Florence and the marina where we previously stayed. The trees turned red while we were gone! I see our friends Sabbatical in there!
We saw a few places where there were more fishermen and bass boats. Tis the weekend, after all!
We were going another 40ish miles from Florence, and we had the wind hitting us head-on. Island Girl rode really nice through the waves. They were just about one to one & a half foot, so with the wind, it was just enough to keep splashing the windshield. This picture was through the middle – where the wiper still wasn’t working.
When we were almost to our turnoff, I saw this waterfall. I’m pretty sure this is the one that Charlie took people to see in his pontoon boat, back when we were at Grand Harbor marina a couple of weeks ago. It’s not a huge waterfall, but I don’t think there are any big giant waterfalls in this part of the country! It was a pretty little cove.
We arrived at Aqua Yacht Harbor by 3:00 or so. There were a lot of looper boats here, but they were all spread out around the marina, and it’s a big marina! The marina had us come to the fuel dock first to get registered and a map for our slip assignment. This is one of the best boat yards around, too, so boats will stay here and get work done. I did a couple of loads of laundry, while Mechanic Kenny worked on a few odds & ends. Since the middle windshield wiper quit working during the splashing about, that was top on the list. The pump for the wiener-dog wash down hose quit working again awhile back, and he’s been trying to figure out how to fix it. There will be some nights coming soon where we will have no choice but to anchor in the river, and it’s likely that I’ll want that wash down hose working. Laverne still doesn’t like to start when she’s cold, and that still has him quite perplexed. And, when we go fast, one of the dripless shaft seals likes to spray water. UH OH! But he assures me that it’s only when we go fast. But doesn’t that mean there’s some opportunity for the dripless to be dripping? 🤔
While we were motoring along today, I was little Miss Suzy Homemaker, and thawed out some meat and prepared a meatloaf for dinner. OOH yea – I still have some Michigan Cherry BBQ sauce that is the BOMB! This worked out great, because when it got to be dinner time, I just popped it in the oven and baked it while I made taters and salad. Although the taters were way easy to fix too. I buy small bags of those little reds or little yeller taters. I put em in a bowl with a bit of water and microwave them for a few minutes. TaDA! Perfect taters! Or “tay-toes”, as our 2 year old granddaughter would say. We had a great meal and a nice relaxing evening on board. We heard that Rascals Retreat just crossed their wake as they came into this marina today!! Charlie was out recruiting people to come to his home to help them celebrate. He is such a great harbor host! We were pretty tired, so we stayed home. We visited and planned to travel tomorrow with the boat Justified docked next to us, as we start down the Tenn-Tom. We’ll have three locks tomorrow on our way to Midway, although the first one is 38 miles down stream, and then all three locks are in a 15 mile stretch. It’s still kind of nice to travel along with someone, so we’ll set the ol’ alarm again, and get a move on around 7:00. We agreed that getting the earliest start possible is good, since you never know how long the locks will mess with your day.