New Orleans and into the Delta (aka Bayou Country)

As we made our way across Lake Pontchartarin, we had a beautiful sail on an early Sunday morning.  Sunday actually became the “key” word here, because it was our ticket for a quick trip through the New Orleans channel.  This channel included two locks and a number of lift bridges. This is an industrial work place and full of barges and ships on weekdays.  All it takes to make it a LONG day is to have a “hitch” of some kind and then you wait and wait and wait.  At the end of the channel, we passed into the Mississippi River and right by downtown New Orleans.  St. Louis Cathedral, that we had just visited a month ago by land, stood out against the skyline!  We then entered the Gulf Intra Coastal Waterway (GIW) which takes you through the Delta.  For those of you familiar with the Cal Sag Channel in Chicago, this is very similar but with a swamp background J

 

Our first night in the swamps was at Jones Point.  Steve and Bill picked an anchorage right next to a grave yard…mmm!  Of course, all of the graves are above ground in this part of the country.  They had some trouble getting the anchor to hold, but we made it through the night.

Ship Repair Facility

 

Floating Hotel

Houma, LA was our next stop and we had a great tie up at the city’s municipal dock.  Dec. 3rd is Jeanie’s birthday, so we had to find a great place to celebrate.  We happened to find an outstanding Italian restaurant called Cristiano’s and felt like we were in New Orleans.  Their specialty was char broiled oysters and they were an instant hit with our table!!!!  (I don’t even like oysters, or so I thought!)  With a little hint to the waiter, they brought out a candle lit dessert and we serenaded Jeanie with “Happy Birthday to You”! 

Next morning, we left again along the GIW with a destination of Morgan City, LA.  You might have noticed I haven’t mentioned too much about the sights along the way.  You could sum them up with, lots of barges and tugs, large repair facilities for ships and tugs, and oil rig building facilities.  You see some birds and lots of swamp grass.  My pictures can give you a better idea of the lay of the land!  We arrived in Morgan City a bit earlier than usual, since we needed diesel fuel and groceries.  The dock we had read about was there, but FULL of shrimp boats.  One gentleman helped us tie up at the last available dock space and it was a tight fit.  After the usual docking procedures, I saw the same nice gentleman down at his boat working. Being the friendly girl that I am, I went down to find out the “scoop” about Morgan City.  (where’s the grocery store, is there a restaurant, where can we buy fuel, etc.)  Well, end of the story, he not only told us where to go but offered us his pickup truck to use!!!!  This was a blessing, since we had bags and bags of groceries and it would have been a LONG walk, let alone with our fuel cans that weigh a ton when full.  He, also, had a sign saying “Shrimp For Sale”.  Steve returned the truck and bought 4 lbs of his large fresh shrimp.  We had to take off the heads and shells, but they were voted the BEST shrimp we had ever had! Plus, we have two pounds still in the freezer!

Our stop last night was Intercoastal City.  The oil companies work out of this area and the workers take helicopters to their work sites. This A.M. everyone was “fogged in”, so we met a few of the workers up at the local grocery/restaurant close to our boat.  They fly out to the rigs and either have a seven day shift or stay for two weeks.  It is so interesting hearing them talk about this part of Louisiana and their work.  We had breakfast with the locals and then started out again on our trip down the GIW!  It’s a bit foggy, cool and overcast.  This is a perfect time to go down below and work on my blog!

Just one more update about our plans: We plan to take the GIW to a lake that is on the Louisiana, Texas boarder and head south to the Gulf.  (Hopefully this will be on Saturday)  When we reach the Gulf, we will enter the Safe Shipping Zone and head south to Corpus.  This is around 200 miles or about a two day sail.  Those plans, of course, are subject to weather conditions!  So, keep your fingers crossed for sunny skies and mild winds!  Christmas is coming and I am getting ready to be on land to Christmas shop.  It continues to be a great sail…so until next time, good-bye from SV Kathryn.

 

The Mind is the First to Go!!!!

This is a P.S. for the last blog entry.  Steve always helps me post on the blog spot.com page.  As we did this last evening, he always “proofs” my writing and, of course, he noticed something BIG was missing!  Actually, it was the WORST mishap we have had on the whole trip!  We had driven to Indiana to have Thanksgiving with our children/grandchildren after being in Iowa.  The Friday after Thanksgiving we drove 13 hours straight to get to Mobile Bay.  We arrived around 7:15 P.M., very tired and anxious to check out the boat, get on board and get some rest.  Those of you who know Steve, must know that he is very organized and thinks through his “moves” when it has anything to do with his boat.  So, he had tied the boat up rather loosely on the dock in the marina for the tides.  (Another note: Turner Marine is a boat yard/marina, and the docks are NOT fancy but their claim to fame is their spectacular work on boats.)  We both got out of the car, walked to the boat and noticed that it was high tide, so the boat was considerably higher than the dock.  Steve proceeded to pull the boat toward him and launched himself upward to pull himself on the boat.  Well, something went wrong…he just didn’t give it enough “umph” and I see him turn, try to grab hold of a line and into the water he went. (He just missed hitting the boat with his head and fell right between the boat and the dock)  It is VERY dark and the water is muddy and I finally see him surface.  I am yelling to him to see if he is okay, he grabs onto the dock and assures me he is fine.  We look around and, of course, there is NO ladder.  What seemed like hours and was really only minutes, two men came running from a dock over to see if they could help.  Yes, PLEASE!  After a series of tried ideas that didn’t work, we finally got him to the edge of the marina’s banks.  He and the men were able to pull him out.  Phew!!!  Then he noticed his glasses were gone, one shoe was missing and his phone, wallet, keys etc. were soaking wet in his pocket.  Good-bye Iphone (:  To make a long story short, his boat shoe surfaced a bit later and we fished it out.  Steve wears his glasses all of the time and needs them, so this was a big problem.  We went to bed after he was all dried off and showered off (who knows what is in those waters….ewwwww).  The next morning, Steve decides to put on his snorkle equipment and went into the water surrounding our boat. He WANTED those glasses.  Ever so carefully, he proceeded to move his bare foot over the surface of the marina bottom. (I told him later I thought he was foolish….he would never find those glasses!)  After doing this for about five minutes, he FOUND THEM!!!!!  The Iphone was “toast” but after a trip to Verizon, and some big bucks, he had his new phone!  You see, how could I have failed to mention this whole tale?  Like I say, the mind is the first to go!

We’re BACK!

Yes, we are back on board Kathryn once again and on our voyage to Corpus Christi.  Before I give you the “low down” on our trip, I need to go back over the past month.  When you last heard from us, we were headed to our townhome in Corpus.  We had two weeks to order new furniture, start some painting projects and just get reacquainted with Texas.  Our plans changed quite unexpectedly, when we received word from my brothers that Mom had suffered a stroke.  The following weeks ended with Mom being placed under Hospice care and she passed away Nov. 15^th.  We had a beautiful Celebration of Life service for her at the church she has attended (our whole family, too) since she and Dad were married.  She was a wonderful, accomplished 90 year old woman (the church organist for 58 years) and is now with the Lord and my Dad.

 

Nina Kimm 12-5-1921  -  11-25-2012  Banner at Funeral





Bill, our crew hand, had headed back to Michigan to get Jeannie.  She had broken her ankle in June and had just finished physical therapy the first week in November.  They headed south and met us in Mobile on Nov. 27^th.  So, the crew was ready to GO!

The plan that DIDN’T happen!



Kathryn at Turner Marine in Mobile with mast and sails

 

Our plan for our trip to TX was going to be a 5 day Gulf crossing (straight across the Gulf to Corpus).  We had checked with our “weather man, Chris Parker” and the weather was going to be great with no storms….hoooray!  Thursday, November 29^th was sunny and cool as we left Dog River Marina on Mobile Bay. We started south out of the Bay and passed many ships since we were in the ship channel.  This is a safe place for pleasure boats, since we did NOT want to run into an oil rig at sea.  We were quite giddy seeing the dolphins following the giant ships and our boat.  I just love those “guys”!  We had JUST passed the barrier islands and Steve and Bill decided to put up the main sail when trouble started!  Our original main sail (which was on our list of things to purchase for the boat) got a tear!!!!  For non-sailors, this means the sail would either tear more, or not be effective for our sail.  SO….plan B came into play!  We needed to take Mississippi Sound across to Lake Pontchartrain and then to the Gulf Inter-Coastal  Waterway (GIW).  This, of course, would make the trip much longer and Steve had been so excited to make a Gulf crossing.  So, that is where we are now.

Dog River Marina ready for Christmas



One of may Oil Rigs in the Gulf





Lots of Ships head out of Mobile Bay



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mississippi Sound and Lake Pontchartrain

The 1^st night we anchored along Daulphin Island which is a barrier island along the Alabama coast.  From there, we headed for Cat Island with its white sand beaches for our second anchorage.  Sailing along Mississippi Sound is quite peaceful and beautiful.  You’re really not far off shore, so you can see Biloxi and Gulf Port in the distance.  All along this area, we were delighted once again by our dolphin friends!  Just about this time is when I caught a “bug” that left me feeling kind of “punk” and coughing all of the time.  Good thing I had a nice crew and they didn’t throw me overboard!  There are just so many places to be on a sailboat (:  Saturday, late in the afternoon we arrived at the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain at the Oak Harbor Marina.  They had all of the creature comforts we wanted and a seafood restaurant on sight.  At the restaurant that evening, they had many pictures of the destruction Katrina had caused in the area.  The boats in the harbor, were we were docked, had all been tossed onshore right into the condos!  What a sight! 

My next blog will take us through New Orleans and into the GIW…stay tuned. 

Sunset on Mississippi Sound

Leaving Oak Harbor at first light

1450 miles, 29 locks and 8 rivers….We made it!

Yes indeed, we made it to Mobile, AL and we are all alive and well!  As the heading indicates, it was quite a fete, but memorable!  Let me start with a quick backtrack to the final three days.

 

 

 

Anchorages on the river past Demopolis:

Yes, STEVE spotted the first alligator, in fact, the only two we saw he was the “spotter”.  They were sitting on logs along the bank sunning themselves, and they quickly slid into the water once they heard the boat.  The only picture I got was of its tail (:  At another anchorage, Bill was watching the shore with the binoculars and spotted a young bobcat.  They, too, blend into their environment so well, they are hard to see.  This was it for wildlife!

Anchoring can be a bit unnerving due to the barge traffic.  Steve became a bit creative with the camera and captured the lights of the barge coming around the curve where we were for the night.  Imagine how dark it is on the river and then to see these sweeping bright lights….rather eerie! 

Sunset at anchor

 

Barge passing in the night

October 18, 2012

With much anticipation, we started to see the skyline of Mobile.  This is the day we had been waiting for.  Mobile is a large port and quite industrial along the river.  We sailed through and into Mobile Bay.  It, of course, is a big body of water, but it quite shallow.  You must stay in the channel and watch your depths.  We followed our maps/GPS and “turned right” and headed for Turner Boatyard and Marina.  These are the folks who will be servicing our boat to make it ready for the Gulf crossing to Corpus.  As we tied up Kathryn, it was fun to have our feet on the ground and at the final destination of the river trip.  (No, I did not kiss the dock!!!)  We celebrated with dinner at the nearby Mobile Yacht Club!  Job well done, Steve and Bill!

 

 

Ship docked in Mobile

 

Celebrating our arrival to Mobile Bay at Mobile Yacht Club

Downtown Mobile

Friday morning at 8 o’clock, Steve drove the boat to the marina’s power lift to get Kathryn on to dry dock.  This went without a “hitch” and she is now ready for a “bottom” job and to have the mast put back up!  After cleaning out the fridge, packing our bags and a bit of cleaning, we were out of there!  Bill left for Illinois and our destination was Corpus Christi via New Orleans.

Kathryn being hauled at Turner Mainre in Mobile

 

New Orleans:



Our Hotel

Another bucket list item for me was to visit New Orleans!  I had written a report in sixth grade about the city and it had fascinated me ever since.  It lived up to the pictures in my mind.  We got a hotel in the French Quarter in a beautifully renovated building.  (I won’t go into how LONG you had to wait for the hot water to get to our room for a shower!  There are some good things to say about modern plumbing!)  Then we took a long walking tour from one end of Bourbon Street to the other and various other locations.  We had dinner overlooking Jackson Square in a lovely old home with a 140 ft. balcony.  Once again, if you love to people watch, this is the place to be!  What you don’t see….yikers! You could party all night, but the Janetts weren’t that wild and crazy.  After breakfast the next morning, we were on the road to Corpus Christi, TX.  (Took one stop over at the Costco in Houston…we are having withdrawal symptoms after not making our weekly trips to Costco.)  We arrived on North Padre Island around six o’clock!  Home at last!  We plan to be here until the second week in November and then back to Mobile to sail Kathryn home.  I will pick up our blog journey at that time.  Once again, dear readers, thanks for sharing this adventure with us.  Fondly, Nancy, Steve and Bill

 

Having drinks at Funky Pirate Bar




Dinnter at Muriel's



Demopolis and Beyond…

We arrived in Demopolis, AL on Saturday afternoon at the Kingfisher Marina.  This is a two-part marina and we were on the beautiful new section.  We have seen ALL SORTS of facilities along the way, and this one probably got our #1 rating.  One example was the laundry/showers and bath area.  All done in granite countertops, lots of washers and dryers, white shag bath mats and lovely white rocking chairs to sit in while you waited for your dryer to finish drying.  I can do this!!!  Of course, this is the last marina until you reach Mobile and there is only one fuel stop after this for the next 215 miles.  So it is a “destination” marina.

Where to eat in Demopolis?

When we arrive at a marina, one of our first questions is, “If you are going out for dinner, where do you eat?”  This has always given us good tips and fine food.  Our first stop in town was The Red Barn.  I just had to take a picture of the OLD tractor out in front.  The inside was all done in wood (obviously, like a barn!) and decorated with antique farm equipment and tools. (This is good for an Iowa farm girl!)  The food was delicious, but the warm blackberry cobbler with ice cream was to die for!!!!  On Sunday, we had the loaner pick up truck from one o’clock until three, so we decided to do Sunday dinner at the Foscue House.  This is an 1840’s farmhouse and out buildings turned into a restaurant.  Once again, there were lots of antiques and lots of Southern charm from the wait staff.  The dinner menu gave you choices, including fried chicken or jumbalia, rice and gravy, collard greens, corn muffins, salads, etc….you get the picture…good ‘ole Southern food! 

The Red Barn -  The sign reads, "1939 John Deere Tractor No Seat No Steering Wheel Just right for Farmer Who Lost his Tail and has nowhere to Turn"

Foscue House Restaurant

Dinner at Foscue House



Outside Dining and Barn

 Before returning to the boat, we made one last grocery stop, since there will be NO MORE until we reach Mobile.  Trust me, none of the three of us are suffering from lack of food.

Friends, again!

Upon returning to the marina, we happened to notice our traveling friends on Tide and Time and Flying Free coming into the marina!  What luck!  It is always fun to converse and see where they have been and vice versa.  Also, Christelle from Tide and Time loves Steve’s margaritas, so it was a good excuse for a happy hour get together.  More food, once again, because everyone brought a delicious treat to share.

Off to Mobile



Scenes from the river south of Demopolis

Yesterday morning, we were up early to start our final journey to Mobile.  After the Demopolis Lock and Dam, we were then in the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway.  We have been in fresh water without tides for over a thousand miles.  Our LAST lock on this waterway is the Coffeeville Lock, after which we will encounter salt water and tides.  Also, this portion of the river is suppose to resemble the Georgia swamps instead of a river.  Like I said before, we are on the lookout for alligators.  The river is VERY curvy and winds around and around.  If they made one straight channel, we’d be to Mobile in no time!



Last night we anchored on the side of the river.  We have an AIS system that alerts barges where we are located, so that gives us some peace of mind.  You are always mindful of the barges on the river…I believe that is the first rule of the river!  This morning we awoke to fog, so we sat and waited until we could see and off we went!  So, as I leave you today, we are curving down the river! 

 

First Night's Anchorage

 

Next Morning's Fog Caused a Late Start

 

Coffeeville Lock - Our Last Lock

Doors opening on last lock

Sweet Home Alabama

When I last left the blog, we were in Columbus, MS getting ready for dinner.  As always seems to happen, you meet the nicest people in the marinas and this was no exception.  We had dinner with David and Terri from T D Dream and their friend Frank from Daphne.  They suggested a Columbus restaurant name Harveys and it lived up to their recommendation!!!  I am beginning to wish we had packed a scale…then again it may make me too depressed.  We have not lacked for good food on this trip!

Dinner with new friends at Harveys at Columbus

 

Columbus, MS to Pickensville, AL

We left Columbus Marina after a two hour wait for the lock to “put through” two barges/tugs.  Then it was our turn and away we went down the river.  The scenery along this stretch of the river started to look a bit more “southern” with pines and vines.  Our next stop and only marina on this stretch of the river was Pirate’s Cove Marina at
Pickensville, AL.  Steve subscribes to an online service called Active Captain.  Here people can write ideas, suggestions and comments on anchorages and marinas for Loopers.  Well, we knew going in that the comments went from very “rustic” to “rundown”!  MMMM!  Let me just give you a description, so that you can paint a mental picture of Pirate’s Cove.  As we pulled into the docks, the manager/owner came down to help us tie up.  He was a very friendly gentleman and quite helpful.  Steve, Bill and I jumped off the boat to make our way up the hill to the office.  One had to walk very gingerly so as not to rock the docks too much…not what you would call stable!  The boats that were in the marina were locals, and they did not spend every minute or every weekend polishing and cleaning their vessels J.  Upon entering the office, we were greeted by the manager, two women who took care of the office and three dogs.  (one was Pirate, after which the marina is named)  In the course of five minutes or less, the manager managed to tell us that he “carries” (a gun, that is) and one was also propped in the corner.  The lady at the desk was so kind and sweet and gave us directions to the nearest grocery store that was ten miles away in Aliceville.  I won’t even go into to the condition of the teeth of our hosts…once again, summer teeth (some are there and some are not!)  We got our directions and the loaner van and we were ready to go.  The manager reminded Steve that the “struts” were a bit bad, but just be careful!  (We could tell when we went over a bump!)
 

Rustic docks at Pirate's Cove Marina

 

 

Office at Pirate's Cove

Steve really enjoyed watching the egret catch its dinner at the next dock

Tom Bevill Visitor Center/U.S. Snagboat Montgomery

On our way to our shopping adventure, we happened upon the Tom Bevill Visitor Center right next to the Tom Bevill Lock and Dam.  This visitor center was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and was a WONDERFUL and educational find!  Life in the Tombigbee River Valley reached its heyday in the mid-19th century, prior to the Civil War.  During this period, there was a great interest in the culture of Ancient Greece which swept through the U.S. and especially in the South.  In this area, Greek revival architecture was expressed in their antebellum homes.  On the top of many of these homes was the cupola or “Temple” which was beautiful to look at, as well as to ventilate the home.  As you can see from the photos, this visitor center was a replica of three nearby homes (one of which was Waverly Mansion that we had visited).  Not only was the home beautifully furnished with period furniture, draperies, and lights, but it was an interactive museum.  Included here, were the native animals of the area as well as a historic steamship on the river outside.  The U.S. Snagboat Montgom ery (1926-1982) was the last steamboat powered snagboat to work the Tombigbee River.  A snagboat would go up and down the river and “snag” large tree stumps to clear the river for boats and barges.  Needless, to say, we had an enjoyable and educational afternoon. 

Note the cupola or temple at the top

 

The floor is Italian marble and black Alabama marble

 

U.S. Montgomery Snag Boat

 

 

Aliceville and Pickensville

Both towns we visited, were very rural and seemed as if time had passed them by.  We ended up with Subway sandwiches for dinner, because all of the restaurants closed after two o’clock in the afternoon.  The  good news was, they did have a grocery store, and that was exactly what we needed!

Anchoring At the Heflin Lock and Dam

Kathryn at anchor in the oxbow just past Hefil Dam

As I mentioned, this area is rather remote, so there are NOT many marinas.  Last night, we anchored in a small pool on the downside of the Heflin Dam.  We were the only boat here and we only saw one small fishing boat all night.  From here to Mobile, Steve, Bill and I have a bet going to see who sees the first “gator”.  Yep, folks, we are getting into that kind of territory!  So, we will keep you posted as to who wins.  Tonight we will be in Demopolis, AL. and then it will be 200 miles to Mobile, AL.  Can you believe it, we are almost there!!!

White Cliffs at Epes

 

Well friends, the weather is beautiful here today (yes, it has warmed up…87 degrees yesterday), so I am going up top to be with the crew!  Until next time, so long! J