Summer 2011 and Trip to Marathon, Florida



Son-in-law Mike and grandson Finn

This posting starts in Bay Springs, MS where we spent most of the summer, well at least the boat did.  We took a two month car trip to our home in Rhode Island to visit our family and friends.




Bill's sister Betty and our granddaughter Stella and daughter Becky

 



Bill helping daughter Beth attach bike rack to car, Becky in back

We drove back to the boat by a rather circuitous route visiting friends, relatives, and high school classmates in Ontario, Michigan, Indiana, and Maryland. 

Mary, Jane, and Joan before 50th high school reunion

We returned to Mississippi in time to get our boat ready to go to the fall “Great Loop Rendezvous” in Rogersville, Alabama.  The Tennessee River offered many interesting sights – Indian camping tents,

beautiful anchorages with fishermen,

and sunbathing turtles on top of the rocks.  There were twenty-four turtles in this lineup when I first spotted it, some crawled back into the water before this picture was taken.

We finally made it to the rendezvous where we joined about two hundred other crazy “Loopers”, making a boat trip similar to the one we had completed in 2010, circumnavigating the eastern states and Canada. 

After five days of seminars, boating talk, exploring the local stores for retail therapy, (or shopping as it is more commonly known), and music fests; we started south.  Trying to be kind to the lock master, it was decided to travel in small groups so that all the boats wouldn’t approach the lock at the same time.

 Bill was in charge of the early departures and he directed the first eight boats to leave the dock and then “to get into formation” before entering the lock.  The eight boats lined up in two lines in order of their entrance into the lock and the lines indicated which side they were to go to, port (left) or starboard (right). 

It may not seem necessary, but without this organization, things get complicated and locking takes considerably longer.  The lock master thanked everyone for the efficiency and orderliness of this maneuver.

Fall colors and morning mist made morning cruising picturesque.  We stopped at Bay Springs Marina to say good-bye to our friends at the dock where Harbour Reach spent the summer.  The people at our dock are great party lovers, not even skipping a beat for wintery weather.  Our last night there we all celebrated the passing of summer with another potluck dinner, but this time it was inside a big heated tent on the dock.  Food, heaters, and football games on television were all part of the fun.  We’ve discovered that football is a major part of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee life.

In late fall the Tenn Tom Waterway is a major route for boaters heading south.  At 84 feet the Whitten lock is the highest lock on the waterway and it is somewhat intimidating for first-time users.  We’ve been through it many times already, so we just take it in stride.

  One of our favorite places to anchor or dock on the Tenn Tom is Blue Springs.  The nearby area is a park and has good hiking trails.

 

The Mississippi River and the Tenn Tom Waterway are waters that local people dream about travelling.  Each time we’ve been on them, we have seen homemade boats which towboat captains refer to as Wal-Mart’s Yacht Club or the West Virginia Navy.  They are usually made by creative people who want to be a part of the boating world.  This one, nicknamed, The Shack (no relation to the book by the same name), had a young couple and a few chickens as passengers who started their journey in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.


Notice the engine on the stern beside the lady and the canoe dinghy

The bow of the boat, complete with a chair

This next one is a slick, one passenger sailboat that entered the waterway at Tuscaloosa, AL.  We heard that both boats were seen past Mobile, AL, which means they traveled for several hundred miles.  Who knows where they were cruising to?

Oysters are a favorite food for many people.  Commercial oyster boats are common in the northern Florida Gulf region near Apalachicola and Carrabelle.  A little farther east of these towns, people oyster mainly for their own use.  This is in Apalachicola Bay about 2:30 in the afternoon. It looks like they are quite successful.

Seeing birds will always be high on my list of things to do.  When I was at the helm, I asked Bill to take a picture of the eagle in the tree.  By the time he got the camera opened and ready to use, the eagle was in flight.  I think his pictures are better than what I originally saw.



Bald eagle just leaving a branch

And soaring away

After he returned to the helm, I saw many of those amazing white pelicans that were prevalent along the waters of the upper Mississippi River.  They are still one of my favorite birds!

The bayous of the panhandle provide many interesting sights.  This next picture is sunrise on the day we started across the Gulf. 

The weather was perfect, so after starting at 6 am, we continued cruising across the Gulf overnight and then docked the boat at Caladesi Island State Park at noon the next day.  Caladesi is one of our favorite stops on the west coast of Florida.  That is where we spent six weeks doing volunteer work a few years ago.  The sightseeing kiosk that Bill helped build the decking for is still well used.

Our plans were to stay for only one day so we could get to friends' house for Thanksgiving dinner two days later, but one of the rangers convinced us we should stay and take some “macro pictures” for her Sunday talk.  We love the park, so changed our plans about leaving early.  Instead we walked five miles to a grocery store in Clearwater Beach and then back to the Park carrying a thirteen pound turkey, a gallon of milk, vegetables, bread, etc. for Thanksgiving dinner.  We had a great Thanksgiving potluck celebration with two other couples whom we had met before.  A green heron stayed on the dock and kept us all company for the week.

After a week at Caladesi, we headed south to visit other friends in St. Petersburg, Venice, and Palm Island.  It is fun to have good friends spread around the country.


Jeff happily steering

And Jodi enjoying the scenery from the back deck

We decided to visit Everglades City.  It is an old fashioned small town with lots of interesting houses along the water. 

 Many of the palm trees were extremely tall and added a different dimension to the city.

We stayed at the dock of the historic Rod and Gun Club.  There are many air boats in the area for travelling on the shallow waters.

One of the more eerie stops we enjoy doing when we cruise south along the western coast of Florida, is to anchor at Little Shark River for a few nights.  There rarely are many boats anchored on the river and the scenery is somewhat “spooky” at night.  During the day we see lots of water birds and dolphins.  It is a restful place to spend a few days.



Little Shark River shortly after sunrise

We arrived in Marathon, FL a week before Christmas and were excited about decorating the boat for the holidays.  One of our favorite Christmas decorations for the boat is the duck on the front.  He was carved by the original owner’s aunt and is a distinguishing feature that no other boat has.

Our stay in Marathon was warm and enjoyable.  We'll post the highlights of these wintery months later this week.

Marathon, Florida is known for its sunsets