Month: October 2018

10/19/18 Friday:  Today was great!  We have a really good friend coming to join us for a few days!  Woo-Hoo!  Kennedy was flying in to nearby Huntsville, and would find a ride to meet us up river at Ditto Landing Marina.  Her flight was scheduled to get in before 11:00am.  Ditto Landing marina was nearly 60 miles from Joe Wheeler, so we had some traveling to do.  We thought we should leave just as early as possible to get there as early as we could, so she wouldn’t have to sit around and wait for us.  So – we were up and atum and out of the marina before sunrise!  Thank goodness it wasn’t foggy, so our departure was not delayed.

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10/14-10/18/18:  America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association – Fall Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park.  Here are a couple of goof-balls.  Yes – we are still having fun!

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10/13/18 Saturday:  We had four or five boats that were headed upstream on the Tennessee River today.  We had two locks to get through today, and the Wilson lock was only about 3 miles from where we were at the Florence marina, and then another 15 miles to the Wheeler lock.  Barry on the looper boat Crossroads said that he would call the lock at 6:30am, and let us all know what the lock status was.  We got the radio call at 6:45 and learned that there was a double tow that had just gone past our marina, headed to the lock.  DANGIT! It would take a few hours to split the tow and lift both halves, reconnect them, and get it on its way.  We were told to be at the lock by 10:00.  OK- back to a little snooze for a little while.

We all pulled out of the marina around 9:30 and headed toward the lock.  Along the way, Crossroads let us know that  the lock was behind schedule and it would be longer until we could get through.  We slowed down, and then floated around in the canal for awhile, just waiting.  The double tows take a long time.  On the bigger rivers, we were able to go into the auxiliary chambers while the commercial traffic went through the primary chambers – and wondered why we didn’t get to do that here.  But then we realized that the auxiliary chamber at this lock is a double flight lift.  And I guess it’s only used for emergency back-up.  Oh well.

Around 11:30, it was finally our turn to go in.  We weren’t the first boat to go in, and the other boats wanted to go to the starboard wall.  We didn’t care which side we went to, so we said we’d go to the port side wall.

This is the Wilson lock.  With a maximum lift of 100 feet, (Holy Smokes!) it is the highest single lift lock east of the Rockies.  It is the only neoclassical-style dam in the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) system, integrating themes of ancient Roman and Greek architecture into the structure.  The construction of Wilson Dam began in 1918, a year after the United States entered World War I. The federal government built two nitrate plants at Muscle Shoals for the making of explosives, and Wilson Dam was constructed to supply the electricity needed to power the plants – but the war ended before it could spin up its turbines.  TVA acquired Wilson Dam in 1933.  These walls were huge!

The lock master had advised Barry to let us all know to avoid positioning ourselves in the middle of the lock.  Pleasure boats of our size are advised to go to the front or stay in the back of the lock near the gates.  We took Island Girl as far forward on the port wall as we could.  At least I wasn’t getting a shower under the waterfall!

After the back gates closed and the water started flowing in to fill the lock, I looked back to see what was happening behind us.  Oh My!  The water was just boiling into the lock chamber in the middle!!

After the chamber was completely filled, I looked in front of us and saw that the gates would not split to open like most do.  Apparently, this barrier was going to have to drop somehow.    And there was this crazy big bird hanging out inside.  I was pretty sure he was going to need to relocate himself soon!

Sure enough, the gate and walkway just lowered right down into the water!  I tried to get a time-lapse video of it, but I don’t know if it will post for y’all to watch it or not.

http://lattitudetravel.com/travelblog/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/3D3A8554-93D7-4C4B-B565-8F79F5EA1A7F.mov

Wilson lock

Soon, the gate was below water and we were on our way.  This is looking back and we could only see a small portion of the arch architecture of the dam walls.  It actually stretched quite a ways over to the left of this picture.

We traveled another 15 miles to the next lock.  The tow in front of us was traveling 6.5 mph, and was half way there before we all got out of this one, so there was no way we were going to catch up and pass him.  DANGIT again.  So we traveled slow.  Since we were in the front of the last lock, we were in front of the pack this time.  When we got close, Kenny called the lock and asked if there was anyplace we could tie up to wait while the tow was split and put through this lock.  Yep – we were told we could tie to the auxiliary lock wall.  Sweet!  We pulled right in and tied up.  This was our view looking back.  You can just see the tow on the right where he was loading his barges into the lock.  We sat here for an hour or so?  We had lunch, could relax, and didn’t have to float aimlessly and maneuver the boat, which was nice.

After sitting here for a while, we heard a siren go off.  UH-OH!!  I got on the radio and called the lock.  I reminded him of who we were and where we were, and asked if we needed to be concerned about the siren that just went off.  He said we’d be fine at our location.  The siren was to alert about water discharge from the lock into a large circle pond in the river near us.  OH?  Pretty soon, we saw a huge pile of water bubble up in this big circular walled-in area nearby.  It was crazy violent!

After that happened twice, we heard the all clear horn alerting us that it was our turn.  YAHOO!  We untied and went around, got lined up and finally got to go into the Wheeler lock.

This lock wasn’t quite as tall.

We were finally through the Wheeler lock and had just about 3 more miles to go to reach the Joe Wheeler State Park.  This is where the AGLCA Fall Rendezvous event was happening, which we would be attending.  It is a gathering of loopers who have completed, those who are in progress, and those who are still planning.  We’ve never attended one, so thought this would be a lot of fun since we know a lot of other loopers.  We pulled into the marina at about 4:30.  It took us 9 hours to go 21 miles.  Some days are like that!  At least it wasn’t raining, it wasn’t windy, it wasn’t 95 degrees.  It was a very pleasant day.  We got all settled into our slip, and Mr. Herb on Phanthom came into the slip right next to us.  OH BOY!  We will be right at party-central for the next few days!  😁  He had people on board before his lines were even secured!

We visited with several other boats that were already here – I think this is going to be a very fun several days!  You many not hear from me for awhile.  We are going to be in seminars and so on for several days, so there may not be much to report.  And our wi-if and cell service are not very good here.

10/12/18 Friday:  This was a pretty quiet day.  Herb called and asked if we wanted to go to Muscle Shoals for a music studio tour with him.  Kenny didn’t want to go, but I did!  So Herb and I went and toured the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio.  Here is the history lesson for background:   The four founders of the studio, Barry Beckett (keyboards), Roger Hawkins  (drums), Jimmy Johnson (guitar) and David Hood  (bass), were affectionately called The Swampers, but usually known as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.  Together, they were one of the best-known “house bands” or session musicians in the music industry in the late 1960’s & 70’s. The nickname “The Swampers” was given to them during recording sessions for Leon Russell because of their “funky, soulful Southern swamp sound”.  Initially they worked for Rick Hall, the founder of FAME Studios and they are recognized as having crafted the “Muscle Shoals sound” in conjunction with Hall.  After leaving Rick Hall’s FAME Studios, the four musicians partnered with Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records who provided start-up funding to found Muscle Shoals Sound Studio at 3614 Jackson Highway in Sheffield Alabama.  The first hit to the studio’s credit was R.B. Greaves’ “Take a Letter Maria”. Remember that song?   The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section was the first group of musicians to own a studio and to eventually run their own publishing and production companies.

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10/11/18 Thursday:  Wow did it ever cool down last night!  The stern of Island Girl was facing north, and when I opened the door at 7:30 this morning, a gush of arctic air blew in!  It was in the low 60’s.  OK – not so artic, but it certainly was a shock compared to the upper 70’s when we went to bed last night.  Actually, the cool-not-humid air felt great!  But, it was certainly a day for long britches, socks, and fuzzies.  Add to that a 12-15 mph wind, and we needed to dig out our cool weather duds.

We untied and set off on our way at about 8:00.  Adios Grand Harbor marina.  We’ll see you again in a few weeks!

Today’s journey included no locks, and about 40 miles upstream travel to Florence Alabama.  It is right across the river from Muscle Shoals, which is the original recording studio Mecca for many recording artists including Elvis, Aretha Franklin, Rolling Stones, Lynard Skynard, Bob Seger… the list goes on.   The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, also known as the Swampers, is a group of American studio musicians that founded Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. They have appeared on more than 500 recordings, including 75 gold and platinum hits – none of them their own.  They were the sound behind Bob Seger’s hits, such as “Old Time Rock and Roll”,  Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally”, and Rolling Stones “Wild Horses”.  They were inducted into Nashville’s Musicians Hall of Fame in 2008 with a “Lifework Award for Non-Performing Achievement.”  Maybe we’ll go see the place!

The wind wasn’t bad here at the marina, but once we got out on the lake, it got rough.  The lake runs fairly north/south here, and the wind was coming out of the north.  Fortunately we were going with the wind today, so it wasn’t nearly as rough and uncomfortable as it could have been.  We were surfing the whitecaps and waves on our way south.  And we wore our fuzzies all day!

In the places where the lake took a turn to the east, it calmed down nicely.

This is just a random shot of the Tennessee River today.

It was an uneventful day, without much exciting to report photographically.  I did enjoy some song lyrics with new meaning now that I’ve spent some time in this area of the country.

 Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers
And they’ve been known to pick a song or two (yes they do)
Lord they get me off so much
They pick me up when I’m feeling blue, now how bout you?
-From “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd… now we know what (who) the ‘Swampers’ is!

And then how about this?

 All the folks down in Lynchburg, Tennessee
Been working hard for good ol’ boys like me
I don’t wanna be the one to tell ’em
That stuff that they’ve been selling
Ain’t working like it should
But I damn sure wish it would
-From “Drowns the Whiskey” by Jason Aldean…. He’s talking about Jack Daniels, right?

Speaking of Jack:

You’re as smooth as Tennessee whiskey
You’re as sweet as strawberry wine
You’re as warm as a glass of brandy
And honey, I stay stoned on your love all the time
-From  “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton…. and now we know that Tennessee whiskey is different than all othe whiskey because of the sugar maple charcoal filtering that makes it so smooooooth.

See how smart we all are now?  These songs have more meaning than you thought, huh?

As we approached the Florence Harbor Marina, the harbor master called US on the radio!  He saw us coming on the AIS!  He gave us instructions to our slip, and we looked on the Google map to figure it out.  It was right next to the boat launch.

Captain had to just about drive up on the launch to pivot us around to back into our slip.  This big bird kept a watchful eye for us.  Captain kept watching the depth, and it never got less than 10’ deep at our stern.  Whew!

We got all settled in, and who should be docked right behind us, but our buddy SeaJamm.  She looks so pretty with her Gold looper flag!  They crossed their wake at Pickwick.  But, then there is the For Sale sign, too.  🙁  Sherry & Alan said that they were going to sell her and get something smaller for their next adventures.

When we checked in with the marina office, they had us add our boat card to the board, and mark our home port on the map.  It was fun to see where so many people are from!

We got together with some of the loopers here for docktails.  As usual, there were new people we’d never met before!  One couple is on day five of their loop!

One of the fellas at the marina shoots off a little cannon each night at sunset, so one of us got to put the hammer to it.

Then it was back to Island Girl for some nice grilled steaks.  Yay Chef Kenny!

Tonight we won’t need the air conditioning – it’s forecasted to be in the 50’s tonight.  My how quickly things change in October!  At least we aren’t in the middle of a storm, thank goodness!