On Sat we used the Grand Harbor van and went to the Shiloh battlefield park. Sid (Something Special) and Dan (Tranquility) joined us. In a word, wow. Hard to believe 23,700 lives were lost in two short days. And seeing Pittsburg landing where the troops arrived to fortify Grant (he would have really been a goat had these troops not arrived in time) and learning how the river played a critical role in the battle was really interesting. Grant was not following orders to not engage the enemy until these troops arrived so had they been delayed another few hours the history books would have read a lot differently. Speaking of that, the dock master asked us how we liked the tour and being a good Southerner, wondered if we asked for the alternative ending at the documentary movie....pretty funny guy. The logistics of the troop movement, thinking about the massive efforts to bury the dead, the awful carnage that occurred and life in that day and age were really sobering. We are glad we made the visit.
On Sunday we moved on to Florence Harbor, with Julie again piloting out of the slip and marina (and everyone was waving and commenting what a great first mate I have....little do they know she is the admiral and I merely the chief engineer), and retrieved a new VHF radio, sump pump and general mail forwarded there.
A little football to watch along the way. Love that DirecTV.
On Monday it was a work day. First, I went to Ace Hardware and Best Buy to get parts. Then I tackled the pesky water intrusion issue on the anchor rode locker. I had plugged both holes earlier thinking that I would not accumulate much water and mud each time I retrieved the anchor. But it rained a couple inches and we found that the bow sprit drain terminates in the locker too. So we had about 8" of water after the rain. Ok what now? Plan B. Installed a short hose to one of the drains and put a scupper type valve on the end. The test was running here.....Dry!! So as long as the rainwater drains with the gravity scupper (it should) I will have succeeded in fixing a design flaw on the boat (that was probably due to the PO installing a splash guard that redirected the water toward the drains).
Next up, installing the new VHF. Of course the "direct replacement" was not that easy. Cut out in the dash was high enough but not wide enough. Needed another 3/8". So out comes the hack saw and shop vac. Thanks Kevin B for the short hack saw you gave me....would not have been able to complete the job without it!! It's always nice when one has all the necessary tools to complete a job. And the new radio works great!
Also went to my retinal specialist appointment. Short answer is the retinal tear has healed well and no further follow up is necessary. The Doctor spent a lot of time explaining things to me (especially considering this was a one time visit). We are hoping that the floaters will dissipate with time (not yet though). But great news.
Next was replacing the old wireless router on board. It was so old it still had WEP security (this comment is for you Jordan and Dave Couch). So after making like a pretzel to get out the old and the new one in, the challenge was to get the wireless amplifier to talk to the new router. Long story short, it works now after "fiddling" with settings, google searches, etc to find the solution.
So now it was dinner time so we ate on board then went to Publix to re provision. By the time we got back to the boat it was bedtime! Long day and I still need to find some time to replace that lazarette sump pump!
Tuesday was a travel day with both the Wilson and Wheeler locks in the short 21 mile trip to Joe Wheeler. We got a late start as the rental car needed to be returned and the GPS sent me to the wrong end of town. The Enterprise rep says, "oh, that happens 10 times a week". GPS sends you to the wrong place. So we called the lock master and he said, "get on down here and join the 10 boat parade".
As usual, waits at the locks got us here after 3 in the afternoon so it took about 7 hours to move 21 miles. The locks lifted us a combined 150+ feet and we were travelling with 11 other boats. At the Wheeler lock a 64' boat would not fit with all the others (he arrived last) so he had to wait another turn of the lock.
90+ foot lift here at Wilson.
What a beautiful setting here at Joe Wheeler! This reminds us of some of the parks we camped at in West Virginia years ago. We took a walk around the facility and hope to explore the area by dinghy when we get a chance.
Docking here was a significant challenge. We are berthed right in front of the lodge and of course there was a 15 MPH crosswind and a slip that it two feet wider than our boat. Aborted the first attempt but succeeded on number two. Our dock neighbors were helpful guiding us in but said, "you can't move that heavy boat!" Here is the finished product. Only Kevin Keech or Matt Doornbos (or perhaps many of our other boater friends) could have done better.
The next few days will be busy with all the AGLCA Rendezvous activities. We will leave here on Sunday heading further upstream to visit Chattanooga and beyond.
Well, time to sign off and enjoy nature here. The trees are just starting to change and it should be in the 70's again today with bright sun. The weather has been really great (thanks Mort). And the marina it filled to the gills for this event. We understand there is actually a pretty sizable waiting list for both slips and rendezvous spots. It seems there are more people doing the Loop this year...fuel prices and general economy maybe??
We are excited that Sarah and Joe will be our first guests on the Loop (well I guess they already were along with Brett for one night in Portage IN) in mid Dec in the Tampa area. We are so glad they will be travelling with us for a few days!
Well, off to the Rendezvous. Will update again in a week or so.
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