Half a Great Loop

I wrote this in two parts, as out trip took two Summers to complete, both "halfs" are here.

Half a Great Loop is a story that I had published by the Great Lakes Cruising Club, of which I am a member and Heartland Boating in 2000. The Second half story which is included below will be in these two publications in mid 2001.

I've caught pieces of it in conversations around the water. People who knew people, who have made the trip on the ICW. And then there were the rare few who have ventured further, onto the Erie Canal and into Canada to the Rideau Canal, Ottawa River and St. Lawrence Seaway. And then the two hundred or so boats a year that do the Great Loop via the Trent-Severn, Georgian Bay, Lake Michigan, Chicago Sanitary, Des Plains, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Ten Tom, Black Warrior, and Mobile, and across the Gulf to Florida. We plan to be one of these, turning our children's next two 80 day summer vacations into our family's Great Loop of America.

Carried along on our Maxum 4600, this Summer it would be our turn. Patti and I along with our four children ages 13 to 8 would start our 2 Summer long Great Loop of the US starting from Florida and heading North to New York City. We would take a side trip over to Newport, RI and then back to NYC, and up the Hudson River to Troy, NY. At Troy we would enter the Erie Canal and exit via the Oswego Canal, to Lake Ontario then across Lake Ontario to Kingston Canada. Kingston would be the start of our first Small loop turning back on ourselves at Alexander Bay, NY. We would take the Rideau Canal to it's end in Ottawa and then the Ottawa River to the St. Lawrence River. The St. Lawrence would take us back through the major locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway back into Lake Ontario. With this done we brought the boat back across Lake Ontario back up the Oswego Canal to the Erie Canal and wintered the boat at Winter Harbor. Winter Harbor is a new facility in Brewerton, NY and provides Heated Indoor boat storage. You empty the refrigerator and they will do the rest. Well, it is almost that easy.

We spent 15 months getting the boat and ourselves ready to go. We needed to understand the boat systems intimately, we needed electronics, canvas work, a 800 lb. dingy lift installed and quite a few owner installed options. We spent weekends and vacations onboard, we learned our jobs and just how small a 46 foot boat can be. There is definitely more work than fun in the early months of working yourself through a new boat. Later on in our trip a boater next to us asked how many boats did I own. I never counted before, this was my 14th boat. I've owned boats since I was 13. Owning a small boat and operating it locally on weekends provides you with about 25% of the knowledge you need to operate a twin screw Diesel Motor Yacht on an extended multi thousand mile, multi port voyage. Be prepared to be a quick study or you might as well walk around with a VISA card imprinted on your forehead. What ever the repair, it will take longer and cost more that either you or the yard estimates. It's no ones fault, it just does. Get used to it.

"Stay in the federally regulated channels". This was our chant after Ponce Inlet.

Georgia is a pretty desolate place along the coast, this with tides that change 8 feet demand great respect. We opted to stay inside in the ICW for a while and leave each day on the rising tide, this would give us the benefit of the tides rise and increase the channels depth up to 8 feet. We are a comfort oriented family, we like satellite TV, Air Conditioning, Microwave etc. To that end we like to stay at first class Marinas. Anyone who has traveled the ICW will understand sometimes ANY marina looks good. We learned this quickly, we have power adapters to convert our 50 amp power plug to two 30's or a single 30 or a single 15 or when no shore power is available to use our 12.5 KW Generator. We have used them ALL. The fresh water in the lowlands marinas of the ICW can be murky and have an odor to it. Prior to leaving we installed a carbon filter in line with the dock water line and had no problem at all. We ran outside for a time in Georgia and South Carolina, our first encounter with a dredge was going seaward in Georgia. The operator's southern accent was working at 100 %, we all listened and thought we understood his instructions. When I called him back, I requested that he watch me and follow me through his instruction just to make sure. I plead novice boatman and begged his patience. It worked and we got through without incident. I still remember it as if I was there today. And as we found out later on in South Carolina when a dredge says "gimme a close pass ona' one bell", he mean about 1 to 2 feet off of the dredge's side.

We have had help on our trip, those who have gone before us have lead the way. They have written books, published their trip on website's and sparked the seed that grew inside of us until it burst and became an obsession. We planned our trip before hitting the water using every guide book we could lay our hands on. The quality of these guide ranged from very good to dangerous. The waterway guides, Southern, Mid and Northern, always had the best most up to date information for the ICW. Greenhead fly's were a major pain in Georgia, and South Carolina. We had bought an electric fly swatter that looks like a tennis racket at the Miami Boat show and our kids were called into action. It worked great. In Canada the odd mosquito didn't stand a chance, we could have sold a couple dozen of them. We found quite a few dead heads floating in North Carolina, trees so water logged that only their bitter end shows above the water line. Missing them required two sharp lookouts listening to the radio for sightings and luck. When traveling up the ICW we heard multiple Coast Guard Radio Station, they would identify themselves and give their notices it gave you a sense of accomplishment to hear one faded out and another take its place.

We would fuel in the evening when we pulled into a Marina this gave the fuel a chance to settle in our tanks and as we would find, some Marinas do not open their fuel docks early. We would plan the next days trip in advance the night before, marking up our charts with notes from our waterway guides. We used those signing arrows you find at a office supply store to follow our position on the chart. Always know where you are. We have heard a boater in North Carolina who didn't know his position calling the Coast Guard. It would have been comical if they were not so desperate for help.

Do not expect Summer dock hands to be competent. It's your boat, protect it and yourself with fenders and precision docking. Move to secure your boat without their aid. If you must use them, tell them what you want them to do. Let all the hands on your boat in on what you are doing and what you expect of them. COMMUNICATE CLEARLY so that you don't enter a dangerous situation.

Boat traffic was down from the reports of the marina operators in the Northeast. It was the kind of year people say Summer never really came. We know, we followed the weather North. There were days we lingered on the ICW waiting for fronts and cold air masses to pass north of us. And then finally while waiting for a weather window in Atlantic City, NJ the winds shifted and blew from the South allowing us to run offshore along the entire coast of New Jersey to New York harbor in no time. One of our items on our new boat shopping list was twin Diesels and a better than 20 MPH cruising speed. Our Maxum with twin 450c Cummins cruises at 21 to 24 mph in it's "sweet spot", it's best fuel economy.

Our run up the Hudson was quick and the end of our trip could have been just as quick, at Roundout Creek we heard that the Erie Canal was closed and had been for weeks, boats were piling up waiting. An intense rain caused a flood and blew out a gate in a dam which brought the pool depth between the locks down from twelve feet to about six, and the navigation markers were all askew to boot. Marina space was filling up as boats piled into marinas with nowhere to go. We moved ahead into the Erie Canal and found that If you were willing to sign a waiver of liability, the lockmastesr would pass you through. We did and we were on our way, a few days later we heard a cofferdam on another dam under repair blew out and lowered still another pool.

Travel through the Erie and Oswego Canals was uneventful but we learned, if your boat draws 4 feet, say it draws 5 and a half feet. Marina owners exaggerate, if you don't want to pay for having your running gear reworked exaggerate first. And always, always ask about the approach depth and how to approach a strange marina.

Lake Ontario has an average depth of 283 feet, and a retention time of 6 years, we passed over her twice using our GPS without any problems at all. Prior to our leaving we bought all the charts we would need for the trip. The bill was just under $1,200.00, I justified it as the price of one prop.

The Rideau has a controlling depth of 5 feet, our Maxum draws 4'. Next year on our great loop trip the Chicago Sanitary Canal would limit our boats height. We had a shopping list of items we wanted our new boat to do and have. After nearly two years of shopping we bought our Maxum 4600. More than once on the Rideau we were told it's the biggest Maxum they (the locktenders) have seen. Two thousand was a good year for the Rideau, the water level was up, the locks were working normally and the weather was magnificent. The Rideau's water depth, channel width and physical lock size along with the fact most of the locks are operated by hand, along with a few bridges, makes the Erie Canal big in comparison. Leaving the Rideau at Ottawa we were now in the Ottawa River. Here we would be going down the 20 meter drop at the Carillon lock, our biggest drop to date, Carillon is huge, the new single lock here replaced 10 smaller older locks. There is a floating dock inside of the lock to tie onto, Twenty three boats took the lock with us. The available Ottawa River guide was in French, we called the marina at Le Chateau Montebello on our cell phone and made our reservation. Eating here in Quebec with the kids was another adventure, the menu's are written in French. We made out well translating the menu until desert. The waitress's English was better than our French so she asked a diner next to us to help translate. We ended up with the 30 or so local dinners translating the desert menu to us and recommending their favorites.

We are using the Canadian charts to navigate the Rideau, Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. While their cost is a bit high, you MUST have them. A chart kit along with a waterway guide would be ideal for this area but it does not exist. Perhaps that is why this area was so fascinating, you really never knew what was around the river bend.

The locks on the St. Lawrence Seaway were built for ocean going freight and they take priority on the locks use. Lockmasters time the vessels through the system to insure a smooth flow of traffic. The Canadian run locks threw us down two yellow polypropylene lines, other boats rafted to us, yes you need fenders for both sides, we held on as they raised the water, Millions and Millions of gallons worth. The American locks had floating Ballard's to attach to, again with other boats rafting to you. This was the only time in over 80 locks we were required to put on life jackets. Hull speed boaters take notice, current in the St Lawrence can run over 4 mph and better when the channel narrows. Be prepared for a long slow trip through the system.

Two Thousand Seven Hundred and One mile, 89 locks, 40 different overnight Locations in Seventy Two days. All hands accounted for and ready to go again next year.

James Clausen
7067 Villa Estelle Drive
Orlando, Fl 32819
E-Mail: billegates@aol.com

Welcome all to the continuing saga of the Clausen Family. As we left our adventurers last year they have completed 1/2 of the Great Loop of America, specifically Florida to Ottawa Ontario. The boat settled down for her long winters nap on the Erie Canal @ Winter Harbor, just above Syracuse, NY. Patti & I returned to our lives in Orlando with our children Aaron 14, Jay 13, Karyn 11, and Laura 9. Our children attend public school in Orlando, that gives us about 80 days in the summer to travel with them, hence our 46' boats name "Summer School."

Starting an extended voyage requires planning and the use of a base. Flying from Florida up to the boat @ Winter Harbor in New York was a mixed blessing. She looked sad after her long Winter, even if it was in indoor heated storage. It went down to 38 degrees overnight my first night in New York, and guess who didn't pack a jacket? I spent five days prepping her to splash, not that I did all the work, John, Jimmy and Leon were the muscle here, I was in charge of the Mastercard. Leslee took care of their phones and the animals on the farm across the street, where of course the kids ended up daily. We ramped up the boat in stages. I came up on 5/28/2001 for the first four days, then our two boys flew up to help and then 2 days later Patti and the two girls. Last year when we left the boat @ Winter Harbor we were told all we needed to do was "empty the refrigerator when you leave her" and fill it up when you launch her. It was almost that easy. Everything worked. I was shocked, but as usual I had my list of what needed to be done, and with a 46' twin screw powerboat it was substantial.

A boat is like an Island. If you don't bring it with you, you won't have it when you need it. The second half of our trip would be different than the first. We would be traveling long distances where there would be no million dollar marinas to call on for help. There would be extended passages with no travel lifts big enough to haul our boat if we had bottom trouble. Just because everything appeared to work, I needed to know that it absolutely worked.

We said our good byes and left Winter Harbor on 6/4/2001 with everything in order, full fuel and a stocked larder. Today's leg was long for a first day, we traveled past one lock on the Erie Canal and came up to Three Rivers and took the Oswego Canal down to Lake Ontario. Lake Ontario had 1 to 2 footers to start with, turning into 2 to 3 footers and 20 mph winds. Really no problem for a boat this size, but it was a bit gray, I hate gray. The only problem we had was that the Raytheon autopilot did not work. Last year we crossed Lake Ontario twice, just like then we had all three GPS units working duplicating the data with two and using the third as an odometer and plotter, we used four "way points" to do the crossing this time. Checking in through Canadian Customs at Belleville Ontario was as simple as calling 1-800-Can-Pass. I took the opportunity here to trouble shoot and declare the autopilot's brain dead, I removed it, and had the parts department at the marina pack it up and sent it away for repair. It would meet up with us again 150 miles north in Bobcaygen as good as new.

Power is always interesting, we require a 50 amp 2 phase outlet. We can adapt to (2) 30 amps or a single 30 amp or a single 15 amp. We have a 50' 50 amp cable, (2) 50' 30 amp cables and (1) 25' 30 amp cable. We have used then all along with our 12.5 Kw Diesel Generator. And did I mention were burning liters of fuel now, not gallons. Eh?

Were early in the season here, just about everywhere we go we hear, "this is our first really nice day." There were a half a dozen channel markers missing upon entering Trenton Bay. We went slow and picked our way in, we used a pair of Canon Image Stabilizing Binoculars, but even though we were about 10' up on the bridge of the boat and current Canadian charts we had a hard time coming in. We got up to the high side of lock six on the Trent our second day where we will spend the night. The lock walls are available to tie up to overnight, but there's no power, so were running the generator and waiting for a pizza delivery, ah the tough life.

The Trent Severn waterway is about 240 miles long and eliminates us from traveling through Lake Erie and using the very commercial, very busy Welland Locks. The Trent Severn will supply us with 5' of water and will leave us at Georgian Bay Ontario after 40 or so odd locks. I had been told that the Trent Severn was one of the most beautiful places to boat in the world. I can say now that I agree, I just wish I had more time there and a shallower draft boat, 4 '2 " was pushing it in some areas as the local prop shop at Buckhorn, where we left $1,700.00 can attest to. Traffic is light on the waterway, except for the weekends, then its best to stay put or have all hands looking out for you. Reservations for dockage on the weekends are recommended. During the weekend when we were in Buckhorn, a 26 foot boat ran through a 16 foot boat just off the marina slicing it in half. Patti got the video of the boat getting towed in and sold it the next day to the local TV station for Fifty Dollars, you go girl.

This year the water level is up to normal levels on the Trent Severn, last year the systems closed for a bit while they "dumped" their excess water. This year the lift lock at Kirkfield was serviced for about sixteen days prior to us getting there. About Kirkfield, one of two lift locks on the system, the hydraulic ram is over 100 years old, the pit on the bottom has never been cleaned out and has accumulated over 100 years of muck and stuff. They had to get two big industrial vacuums trucks, make a special Y and stick the vacuums pipe down the pit along with a man to wiggle it around in order to remove all the nastiness. With this trip, if a lock or bridge fails, you are stopped, you might as well sit back break out the deck of cards and pop another cold one. We would have been content to spend the whole Summer on the Trent Severn, it was really that nice, and we will go back.

Our last day on the Trent -Severn we went through the Big Chute, lock 43. The "Big Chute" is a Railway lock, it's the only one I know of in the world. You drive the boat on and its up out of the water, over the roadway, and down to the basin below on railroad tracks. It lowered us 58 feet, they used slings to support our 35,000 lbs. in the cradle. Very cool, and very quick. The cradle can take boats up to 100 feet and 90 tons. It also adjusts to take a variety of boat types and sizes in a single trip.

Leaving Port Severn, our last lock #45 was so shallow that they made the channel one way. We've been warned that the inside small craft route which normally carries a 6 foot draft no longer does, and that potato channel, up to Honey Harbor would be unusable to us. The end of the Severn River is Georgian Bay, 30,000 Islands, and incredibly clear icy cold water. And a lot a rock, its' called the Canadian Shield. Also there are very few Harbors and Marinas. So it's going to be very little Georgian Bay Small Craft Route for us.

The water level on Lake Ontario was above mean high water, but Huron and Michigan were sitting right at their mean levels and just a bit below. A word about the Lakes is in order here. The Great Lakes have their depth charted using an established mean level. One which when reading your chart NORMALLY gives you more water that is shown on the chart. The mean levels have been established by the US and Canada for all the Great Lakes. It is constantly monitored and numerous stations, levels are published hourly on the internet, via telephone recording and VHF. Have a look at this website and you will see just how importantly it is taken. http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/glimr/water-levels/intro.html#current

Its Saturday, we made Tobermory, as the guide book says "on the tip of the shoal-strewn shores of the Bruce Peninsula." Sounds good, Eh?, about 110 miles on Georgian Bay, the autopilot did most of it. This part of the bay averages 400 feet deep and is very very clean, We left Severn with clear visibility which after 20 miles turned to a 2 mile visibility in fog, then 1 mile visibility in fog, we worked with radar and the chart plotter across the bay. It cleared as we rounded into Lake Huron. This is their big weekend, baseball, beer parties, and there's a pancake breakfast at the firehouse, how could we resist. The water is cold, how cold was it, 46 degrees, our kid don't go in for long, only about 2 minutes rather than the usual 2 hours.

Little Current lies between North Bay and Georgian Bay, we got through the Little Current swing bridge on the 10 o'clock opening, they had one heck of a time opening it for us, the bridges drive gears slipped twice causing the locking pins to deploy twice. Winds were 20 to 30 mph, seas 1 to 2 meters, and small craft wind warnings were up. We were very lucky to have gotten through when we did. We listened on the VHF to the bridges hourly refusal to open to boaters. They sent every boat away until the winds died down at 5.00 PM. Wally's dock service here in town said that they have upgraded the bridge with electric motor's last year in place of the diesel engine, since then they have had problems in high winds.

We ran from Little Current to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, a beautiful 130 mile run across the North Channel @ 25 mph, 2425 RPM, very sweet. We are just outside the locks to Lake Superior @ the Roberta Bondar Marina, Roberta Bondar was Canada's first woman astronaut. Actually there are 5 locks, 4 on the American side, 1 on the Canadian. The Canadian lock has been reduced in size and only passes recreational boaters. Two of the American locks are no longer in operation, there is a proposal to make the 2 non operational lock into one SUPER Lock, time will tell. All 4 of the American Locks were made during the second world war by the US Army corps of engineers. The 2 operational American Locks pass more shipping than the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal combined. Obviously this makes them the busiest locks in the world, by far.

Water levels are down on the Great Lakes and so are the loads on the ships, the channel is in the process of being dredged deeper. So, in the mean time, the ships cannot be fully loaded due to the lakes low water levels. The Sault Ste. Marie has a population of 70,000. Quite a change from Killarney (400) and Little Current (1300).

We took the bus tour of Sault Ste. Marie today, it took an hour and a quarter. The falls originally located here were named "Soo Falls," hence the name, Soo Canal. Well, this is just about as far North as we get to go, we will go into Lake Superior, a rise of about 22 feet, just because. But that will be it. Its 6/22/2001 and we're going to start South tomorrow.

Now here's today's quiz: Who was Edmond Fitzgerald? Yes, he was an actual person. The answer is at the end of the story so think fast! This morning we were fortunate enough to enter Lake Superior on the Canadian side through the Canadian Lock, (reserved for recreational boaters) and come back through the American Locks, specifically the Poe lock, one of the five locks here. The Poe is the newest and largest lock here, built is 1968 it has a length of 1200 feet, is 110 feet wide. We were the only boat in the lock. The cost to us? Free. They dumped just under 22 million gallons of water in under 15 minutes for us to pass through. We then fueled on the American side and did the ritual "clearing of the customs". We have a US customs sticker on board and we called the local Customs Office, I identified ourselves gave them our sticker number and we were cleared. At some US marinas US customs has installed directly connected video phones for the boaters to use, very slick. After we refueled we ran down to Mackinac Island.

Mackinac Island has a brand new policy of taking reservations, you can call on the phone or reserve on via internet. But, if you don't you might still get a slip assigned like we did, if one is available, but only after you clear the breakwater, they MUST actually see you to assign a slip. You can reserve slips through Michigan DNR (Department of Natural Resources) via 800-44PARKS or on the Internet @ www.dnr.state.mi.us but not at the marina. We got an inside slip for 2 days, I went back to the boat and was able to reserve it for a third day by phone which the marina couldn't do right here, no it doesn't make sense.

Mackinac has two motorized vehicles, an ambulance and a fire truck. They bike here and have many, many horses. In fact they have one doctor here and five vets. The food is good in most all of the restaurants, hence our three days here. Jim don't camp, the Marina is very close to the town and for the sweet smell of diesel fuel and exhaust I can hang at the Marina for my fix. There are literally 10 ferry's in sight at all times, coming and going, big fast ones. Everyone OOH's and AH's and rides bikes, then they throw their beer cans and cigarette buts off the ferry's going back to the mainland. Out of every 100 people on the island during the day only one stays over night. Oh do you feel the love?

My health has been poor since halfway through the Trent Severn, traveling down Lake Michigan my health is still poor, I feel burnt out. I keep calculating how far from Chicago we are from each port we enter. Florida is too far away to contemplate. Patti and the kids are doing a wonderful job, me I'm going to bed early, I'll shake if off in about a week when we get to Chicago. Most loopers follow the East Coast of Michigan down and around to Wilmington or Chicago, then enter the Illinois Waterway. We jumped across Lake Michigan from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Racine, Wisconsin. We will enter the Calumet Sag Canal at Hammond, IN, our entranceway to the Illinois Waterway. Lake Michigan was shockingly clean, as we approached Racine the Michigans colors turned to that of the Bahamas, that beautiful Bahama Blue Green, just gorgeous.

Here we sit floating above Dresden Lock on the Des Plains River, which I guess at some point today became the Illinois River. To navigate from here down you must have a Quimbys guide. It gives the latest information on marinas, fuel and restaurants from here to Florida, it’s a necessity not a luxury. And if you get the 2001 issue you can see our kids on the stern of our boat on page 89. Commercial tows get right of way here, and there are QUITE A FEW barges and tow boats. The captains and crews are very nice but we've been sitting here for over three hours waiting for "a hole" that the lock master to fit us into. So far no hole. The is the possibility to lock in with a commercial tow into their "notch." Many of the tows here are three barges wide by three deep. Quite a few arrange themselves three wide by three wide by two wide, They push into the lock, disconnect and the Pusher comes around and fits into the open space "the Notch." We can lock through with a commercial tow only if the commercial tow and the recreational vessel agree, and also the tows barges may not contain any hazardous materials or chemicals. A lot of "ifs." These are the "rules" for the Illinois Waterway, locking rules change with each Core of Engineers District. This is the Rock Island District. Well, we got through but only because after three commercial transits they MUST take a recreational boat transit. Three plus hours waiting for the lock and we got a whole 40 miles today, for 8 hours. We've gone over 1300 miles so far this year, pretty good for a boat, about 1700 to go. And -- ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINE LOCKS -- These are all different locks, if we happen to go through one more than once we can only count it once. I, (Jim) feel better, but I'm so tired at night.

Well, we had a failure today while running, Patti was at the helm. So I blamed her. It’s a guy thing. The linkage locking barrel on the throttle shifter rounded out, disengaged and let go. We were powering down to give some boaters who had beached their boats a break and when Patti pushed the throttle up, no Starboard Throttle. So.... I formed a kid telegraph and went to work in the engine room using the spare barrel that Dale, our Cummins mechanic gave to us. It was all done in five minutes and we were back on our way. Great Job Dale!

Logsdon Tug Service @ mile 88.5 on the Illinois River allowed us to tie up on their barge for $20 per night, with 15 amp power and ice included. The town, Beardston Illinois is right here and you can eat above the bowling alley, which is the white building to the left and its only a block away, we did. It's air conditioned, a huge treat for 6 sweaty dog tired people! When it gets dark here, it's really dark. Barges and towboat ran the river all night long and they painted us with their spotlights and sidelights as they moved along 24/7. Very cool.

From Alton its a run down the Mississippi River past St. Louis and the arch, there are no marinas in St. Louis. And there is no where to stop to see the arch. Yes, the Mississippi River is big and it is muddy. It also had many floating "things," we avoided them all. We stopped for fuel at Hoppie's floating fuel barge, they were 25¢ cheaper on diesel fuel than Alton and besides Hoppie's a great guy in a hard business. Its 199 miles to the next Marina that we can get into, the Mississippi is rolling at 4 mph, and it just keeps rolling along. Tonight it time to stay on the lock wall on the Kaskaskia River, the lock is less than a mile off of the Mississippi and is very quiet. The lockmaster put us on the dam side of the lock and helped us tie up. We were all by ourselves. So what do we do, drop the jet ski and run it around of course. Everyone got pulled in the tube. Jim cooked veal and pasta for dinner, a yum was had by everyone. This is the Wild Mississippi, water levels change up to 20 feet here. And just like the Illinois Waterway it's normal to change two feet either way is a twelve hour period. That means our five foot entrance channel can be 3 feet the next morning. On 7/12/2001 we left the Mississippi River behind us @ Cairo Illinois as we turned up the Ohio River heading for Paducah, Kentucky. It was a big day on the Mississippi, and Ohio River today, 164 miles. Our longest run so far this year, the weather turned to rain, but no wind, thank you. Good thing we started a 6:30 AM. We made time when the rain stopped and the River was clear of "things." Even when it rained we pushed on. We had our patented Clausen's boat electric foot heaters, 100 watts each powered from the inverter, jackets and blankets. It was as comfortable as safety allows. We ended up on the Ohio River at "The Big E". Which is another bunch of floating barges. The big E is a hotel, actually quite big, and quite empty, with that stale moldy smell. They were hoping for a casino here, but Kentucky said NO. So its the big EMPTY, get it. The Big E is in Paducha, KY and in Paducha the place to eat is the Whalers Catch, very nice food and service. The Ohio was spitting up "things" and we had some 10" diameter log type things trapped between the boat and the dock. We cleared them and sent them just rolling along down stream.

Well, everyone told me, I knew it, and I didn't do it. I didn't buy the Cumberland River chart, I thought I would go up the Kentucky River. Every one goes up the Cumberland, every local I spoke to said "DON'T go up the Kentucky River" you will get stuck at the Kentucky lock and won't be able to lock through quickly, it will take you Hours upon Hours. Go up the Cumberland River, and then cross over to the Kentucky River at Barkley Lake on the Barkley Canal, so we did, on Friday the 13th with no charts... Well, we did have the Ohio River Chart that showed us how to enter the Cumberland, and we did have the Tennessee River Chart which showed us up to 1/2 mile above the Barkley Lock. And we did have a Garman 175 GPS map which showed the Cumberland above the dam so we were not exactly blind. We did find the Cumberland River clean and interesting, the only problem that came up was exiting the Barclay Lock, where are we and where do we do? Since we were going to Green Turtle Marina, and we could see it on the Tennessee River chart we just had to figure out where it was in relation to the Barkley lock & dam. The GPS map showed us the detail and the compass pointed us the right direction. We just followed the buoys and called the marina on 16. Green Turtle has an excellent Ships Store, but we needed nothing. Can you believe it! We had the obligatory dinner at Miss Patti's 1880s Restaurant. Yes, they still have their famous 2" pork chop, But as we found out bigger is not always better, the 1' chop was juicier than the 2". They must have had a dozen pies to chose from. All in all very nice, once.

Well, 7/17/2001 we stayed @ Aqua a second day. We needed a break, besides they had good barbecue place close by and a comfortable courtesy van. That's what life our has been reduced too. Smithville Marina is our first stop on the Ten Tom, this is Jessie's home, when the core built the Ten Tom they needed Jessie's piece of farmland. Jessie said "they paid me fair for it, I wodn't aug give um what they give me fer it." Jessie is 75 and wears a bright baby blue coverall with his name on it. His marina is a lot less than five stars. But Jessie makes up for it by just bein' himself and treating you fair. He pulled the New Yorker (courtesy car) around and parked it in the shade with the windows down for us and called down to Mel's Diner (the restaurant in town) to expect us. He says he will keep running the marina as long as he can. Which by his bright eyes and spirit are quite a few more years.

Demopolis, Alabama, 7/19/2001 This is our big town, four square blocks, and we are quite happy to be here. We borrowed the marinas courtesy van. There is a Wall Mart, a Sonic, and a McDonalds. We feast tonight. We'll it turned out to be laundry night to, so Patti got the two boys and I got the Girls. The girls and I gave the engines a going over and fed them some oil. When we were adding oil and looking around I found oil coming from the back of the valve cover, so the girls got out the tools and I removed the valve cover, cleaned it and resealed it. Then Laura saw the turbo oil fitting was leaking and I tightened that. I also saw Diesel fuel again under the engine, just a couple of drips but it couldn't find where it was coming from. We got a wild lightning show tonight, it was so powerful that I shut down all of the electronics on board and killed the main breaker. Just in case. Later we found out that lightning struck a church steeple and started a fire. Patti got to talking with the security guard Clavre after he gave her the laundry room key. He's been a captain of both tug boats and dredges. When they built the locks on dry land he would drive the dredge to make the water go up to the lock. He also dredged out Marina Cove where we stayed last night. He started working as a mechanic at Demopolis Yacht Basin about 17 years ago. Three years ago he took the cut in pay to be security guard. He had enough climbing around and working on boats. He was impressed that Patti could talk about boats and especially engines with him. The most fuel he ever put on a tow was 27,000 gallons. The average amount of fuel per tug is 10,000 gallons. The most lubricating oil he added to a tug is 750 gallons. They have a special tank on board for the dirty oil when they change it out. We left at 7AM from Demopolis hoping to get to Mobile today about 230 miles or so. It turned out to be wishful thinking.

We ventured south to Bobby's fish camp about 90 miles downriver, one floating barge with 60' of finger pier and bought 100 gallons of "just in case fuel." I went inside Bobby's to pay, about 8 tables for Sunday Catfish Dinner, potted meat, Vienna Sausages in the can, and Red Man Ta Backey. We were doing well, in and out of the dock in 10 minutes. It's just as well that we got fuel, our port turbo has been acting up and we burn 15 to 20% MORE FUEL in the port engine. We were still doing fine until Coffeeville Lock, our LAST lock, this makes 154 different locks and two wickett dams. I called on the radio, I sounded the horn, I sent or son Jay up the ladder and then I sent Patti up the ladder. 45-50 minutes with no response. He even left the lower lock gate open, a real no-no. This cost us just under 2 hours, he let in a tow which arrived below us just as Patti found him, he wouldn't give us his name, and pretended his radio was broken, but asked the towboat for a "beverage" on an alternate channel. Oh Joy. Well, at 5:00 PM, I know we were not making Mobile Bay today. I also know the guide says there is no where to dock and very few places to anchor for 120 river miles. It's over 70+ miles between bridges. We are nowhere. I spied a bridge abutment and tried hanging off, the water shallowed, no go. We tried on the wall of the bridge abutment, Alabama marine police, the first we're seen in 800 miles show up and advise against it, but nicely. We moved on, by now the boat is filthy with mud and rust. Wait what's this, a small low barge with a small towboat, "Core of Engineers" on the side, I have Patti hail them from the bridge window. She first asks if they're spending the night, they say yes and then also say yes to allowing us to tie along side. Excellent, we make up and send over a goodie bag to them for their kindness. Patti gets to talkin' boatin' with them. The tug is E. B. Wallace and they do surveying on the Ten Tom and have a working barge. They had just tied up to the mooring cell today because they had lost one engine. They had a mechanic come on board but it's not a quick fix so they will have to limp up on one engine to Carrollton, tomorrow. Lucky for us they were here. We get bounced around a bit during the night, but not too bad. And were off again @ 6:00 AM. We let the kids sleep in and take it out ourselves. We've got 3 and a half ours in before the first of them wanders up to the bridge. We get to see where the 1994 Amtrak train went of the track into the swamps just north of Mobile, no road access for miles, a very nasty place where 48 died. I remember when it happened.

Well, going through Mobile harbor was an experience, a bit dirty with lots of floating "things" in the water, and certainly busy, actually the 12th busiest port in the US. At 3:00 PM we were in the Dog River Marina's courtesy car going for lunch and then shopping for food at "Wally's World." That's what they call Super Walmart in these parts. Our dock is a bit bouncy, its Sunday and there's quite a bit of boat traffic, It should slow down later tonight.

We've got a diesel fuel leak, I spotted it up river and while it wasn't too bad we need to get the fuel leak identified and repaired before we leave its gotten worse, I cleaned up about 10 ounces of fuel from under the Starboard engine. Tomorrow when the engines are not hot, they seem to always be warm, I'll take a look. There are mechanics here if I need them. Always a huge plus.

Monday 7/23/2001 - Mid Day - Dog River Marina, Mobile Alabama. Well, I had a mechanic down to go over the engine with me. They have a huge shop here and they do it all, if your going to have a failure this is the place to have it. We looked and found what looked like a crack in the return line from the diesel Injectors to the fuel pump. When the mechanic pushed it the brazed connection broke open. I love it, a solid failure, to which we can get a solid fix. Parts come in tomorrow. Kids clean the boat today, It needs a class "A" squeaky clean job, they put in 5 hours and it sparkles.

Tuesday, same view. Parts showed up, and were installed without a hitch. Surprise, Surprise. A small lube oil leak was found and fixed sealed on the outboard side of the Starboard Engine. The high pressure lube fitting on the Starboard Turbo was broken open and readjusted to a smother flow angle. A new alternator wire harness installed on the starboard engine. The engine oil topped off, and engine air filters removed cleaned and re-oiled. Our 16 OZ fuel additive bottle was refilled from the gallon economy size, 1 gallon does 2500 gallons of diesel Fuel. We took the boat out and did the sea trial to check for problems, no problems. House battery's tested with the hydrometer and voltmeter, all A-OK. Generator oil checked and coolant reservoir refilled. Both main engine coolant reservoirs checked and levels adjusted. Broken pole holder replaced in the stern. We are ready to rock and roll again.

The kids are taking this delay hard, there are 2 kids in the boat in front of us, they have been fishing and crabbing and shrimping till Midnight last night. They started again today after breakfast and added canoeing and swimming to the list. Well, today it started to rain, it blanketed Mobile and the whole Gulf. So we sit. We can borrow the car once in a while for 2 hours at a time and we get to do some minor projects that seem to always get put off, but that's it. On the 6/25/2001 about mid day we were watching the weather channel along with our ships radar and saw a small break. We threw off the lines and went for it, the rain was light and lasted 2 miles into the Mobile Bay and then it was clear. Mobile, we found out was one of the wettest cities in America. They trade the title of "Americas Wettest City" with Seattle some years. But not recently due to the drought.

The Redneck Riviera, It may say Florida on the map but this is still very much BamA. 7/27/2001 Panama City, FL Marriott Resort. Very Nice, highly recommended, dinner @ (30 degrees Blue), 30 degrees Blue is not a Marriott restaurant, it leases space from Marriott and was full. It was a joy, we spend more on champagne than on food. It's on to Carrabell, FL and the Moorings Marina, dinner here is at "Julia Mae's", Grouper Throat's for everyone. We were here @ Julia Mae's three years ago, the food was good then, and its still good. Very local, very fresh food, very fair pricing. Yes, we got an order of Grouper Throats. No, I will not explain what they are, there must still be some mystery in life.

7/29/2001 Clearwater, FL 175 Miles across the Gulf, plus another 25 miles inshore from Clearwater to Maximo's Marina in St. Petersburg, FL. This is called "The Crossing" it takes you a bit more than 60 miles offshore and can be very dangerous. Either the weather is good to start and turns bad or is bad and clears. This is where boaters do a log jam waiting for a weather window to cross. No one crosses with a bad forecast. I saw Sunday was a good day back in Mobile, we were shooting to be in position to go on Sunday if the weather held. It did, we went, seas were under one foot, winds under 10 mph, sky's light blue and clear, sea dark blue offshore, light green inshore. Engines hummin' @ 2200 RPM, our sweet spot for an efficient fuel burn, we go 22-23 mph there and can go about 250 miles. We stopped half way across and went swimming in water where you could see forever. 7/30/2001 St. Petersburg Municipal Marina. All tied up and signed in on a monthly basis. Very nice spot, we've unloaded the boat, huge amounts of things are going home to Orlando. We called Caesar for a ride, he has a 15 passenger van. We filled the van completely, well I guess we might have gotten in 2 more bags, maybe.

7/30/2001 Orlando, Home. Fini. And the Edmond Fitzgerald answer is. The Edmond Fitzgerald was named after the new board chairman of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, whose grandfather and five great uncles had been ship captains. Here's a GREAT site about the ship: http://detnews.com/history/fitz/fitz.htm PS: He actually approved the loan to build the ship too.

And now here is the statistics for our Two Year trip. The six of us were out for 132 days. We went to 84 different ports and traveled 6335 miles. We passed through ONE HUNDERED AND FIFTY FOUR DIFFERENT LOCKS, Plus Two Wicket Dams.

Updated:4/26/02 Printer Version

Updated:4/26/02
Printer Version