I hate waking up with no showering opportunitys, and I wish I didn't have such an aversion to hats because now would be the time to make use of one. Thankfully our time in civilization was over for a few days and there would be no one to judge us but ourselves, and we where all pretty grimey. It was my day to start us off so I'd set my alarm for 7:30. Karla woke me up at 7:26 wondering why I wasn't up. Karla needs a watch! Anyway, false irritation aside, I geared up a lot lighter than I'm accustomed too (it's finally warming up!) and headed out the hatch. We've been beaching cots (Chicken Of the Sea) for the night, when ever possible from the start. That apears to be taking its toll on the swing kee
l though. It's started making an awful clunking noise while beached, and even while under way in wavy conditions. It makes me nervous, and I don't wanna do any more damage, so we've started anchoring totally afloat. We added a second rope to the front of the boat so it can usually reach a tree or what ever, and still leave the boat fairly far out in the river. Then the boat is pushed off shore, and both anchors are thrown out at 45 degree angles from both rear corners. Tension is added, and the ropes are tied to the cleats. It's worked really well so far. We rock when a barge goes by, but it's silent, and we're all very accustomed to rocking by now, so we usually sleep right through the event. No grinding, and no screaming! So I pulled both anchors from the rear, then pulled the boat into shore, donned the rubber boots, and jumped to shore. I untied the rope from a scrap of steel that appeared to be an enormous axel, and climbed back onto the boat. I slipped off the boots, dropped one in the river, dove for it, almost fell over the safety line into the river, recovered, and motored away. Our plan for the day was to make it to Memphis! I'd actually had the Springsteen song "Walking in Memphis" stuck in my head for a few days already. In fact I'd downloaded it in preparation for Memphis a few days prior. The song ran through my head through most of my shift. I motored from 7:45 to around 10:30 when the girls got up. That's when I showed them my new water speed record for a sailboat powered by and 8 horse, 12.7 miles and hour! It's mostly skill.
Jenny took over, and I got to work with a broom and dust pan. Cots (Chicken of the Sea) had weeks of river mud crusted all over. I swept down most of the deck (still pretty gross though, plus there's this rotting turtle that the girls have some kind of strange attachment to up on deck), and attempted to remove some of the puddle of oily gas my 88 dollar generator leaves on the seat when it's run. When Th
at was done I went down below and started watching a movie on my ipod. I watched till I became drowsy, and then I took a nap (only my second the whole trip, partially on account that my bed is also a table). I woke up when the girls switched shifts, and I dug out the atlas.
Our days on the river were numbered now. We had about 850 miles to go, and thanks to the increased current after passing Cairo and the lock and dam system, we could now travel 100 miles a day. I'd done the math to see how long it would take us months before our departure, and had been skeptical that we'd make it ever since. The schedual was just too tight. I figured that if we traveled at 7 miles an hour average, for 10 hours a day, we'd make it in 34 days. That's too long, and didn't account for any stops at all. We still had to try it though, and now that we where averaging 10 miles an hour or better, barring any difficultys, it appeared that we might actually make it! All we needed to descide was whether to go all the way to venice, which is only 10
miles from the gulf, as we originally planned, or to cutt it 80 miles short in New Orleans. I would like to try genuine New Orleans food, but Venice is closer to the Gulf, and thus a sweeter victory! I hope I'm not getting ahead of myself here.
We came up an hour shy of Memphis, much too our greasy hairs displeasure, and started hunting for a camping spot. We tryed one on the right side of the river, but it was wrought with peril (a wing dam, a dam blocking the dishcarge end of a river, freshly submerged trees from flood conditions, and a lot of current). So we crossed the river, and ventured out of the buoys. The opposite site promised a lot of indentations and islands to hide in or behind. One small island in particular appealed to me. It was so small you could barely get out on it, but it had plenty of trees to tie up too, and it would have guarenteed plenty of keel clearance. The girls didn't like it though, so we headed for shore, and ended up in what might have been the best camping spot so far. It was a perfect sandy beach with a steep shore, and when we landed and Karla tied us to a willow, the keel had plenty of clearance. I tossed both anchors out the back, and we all ventured ashore.
It turned out to be an island surounded by a muddy moat. Almost immediatly Karla spotted a huge spider, but Jennys hardcore, and still made flipflops her footwear of choice, while I went with long pants and hiking shoes, and Karla sported steel toed rubber boots. The island was small, and only took a few minutes to explore, but it was only a palm tree away from being something off of "Pirates of the Carribean". We explored the island untill we found the tracks. At first I thought they where from a bird, but Karla pointed out that what ever it was, had 5 clawed toes, and birds usually only have 3 in the front, and 1 in the back. Could it be that we've finally arrived in gator country? Karla took some video, and we returned to the boat just before dark. It was Karlas night to cook, and she got started after I filled the lantern and stove tanks with white gas. She made generic rice-a-roni, and descided to shake things up a bit by not adding the seasoning packets. It definitly changed the meal. I fixed mine with a one dollar bottle of hot sauce I'd bought at a dollar store further up the river, and then I made a cheese cake, and we ate the whole thing. (what? there's no refridgerator for left-overs!) After dishes, the girls cleaned up the boat a little, while I sat trapped at the table (the boat is little). We where expecting company. Drew Bear was gonna fly into Memphis in the morning, and travel to greenville with us. That was one of the few nights as of late, that didn't feature a movie. It was going to be an early morning. We wanted to get to the Marina in Memphis as quickly as possible. Showers awaited!
l though. It's started making an awful clunking noise while beached, and even while under way in wavy conditions. It makes me nervous, and I don't wanna do any more damage, so we've started anchoring totally afloat. We added a second rope to the front of the boat so it can usually reach a tree or what ever, and still leave the boat fairly far out in the river. Then the boat is pushed off shore, and both anchors are thrown out at 45 degree angles from both rear corners. Tension is added, and the ropes are tied to the cleats. It's worked really well so far. We rock when a barge goes by, but it's silent, and we're all very accustomed to rocking by now, so we usually sleep right through the event. No grinding, and no screaming! So I pulled both anchors from the rear, then pulled the boat into shore, donned the rubber boots, and jumped to shore. I untied the rope from a scrap of steel that appeared to be an enormous axel, and climbed back onto the boat. I slipped off the boots, dropped one in the river, dove for it, almost fell over the safety line into the river, recovered, and motored away. Our plan for the day was to make it to Memphis! I'd actually had the Springsteen song "Walking in Memphis" stuck in my head for a few days already. In fact I'd downloaded it in preparation for Memphis a few days prior. The song ran through my head through most of my shift. I motored from 7:45 to around 10:30 when the girls got up. That's when I showed them my new water speed record for a sailboat powered by and 8 horse, 12.7 miles and hour! It's mostly skill.Jenny took over, and I got to work with a broom and dust pan. Cots (Chicken of the Sea) had weeks of river mud crusted all over. I swept down most of the deck (still pretty gross though, plus there's this rotting turtle that the girls have some kind of strange attachment to up on deck), and attempted to remove some of the puddle of oily gas my 88 dollar generator leaves on the seat when it's run. When Th
at was done I went down below and started watching a movie on my ipod. I watched till I became drowsy, and then I took a nap (only my second the whole trip, partially on account that my bed is also a table). I woke up when the girls switched shifts, and I dug out the atlas.Our days on the river were numbered now. We had about 850 miles to go, and thanks to the increased current after passing Cairo and the lock and dam system, we could now travel 100 miles a day. I'd done the math to see how long it would take us months before our departure, and had been skeptical that we'd make it ever since. The schedual was just too tight. I figured that if we traveled at 7 miles an hour average, for 10 hours a day, we'd make it in 34 days. That's too long, and didn't account for any stops at all. We still had to try it though, and now that we where averaging 10 miles an hour or better, barring any difficultys, it appeared that we might actually make it! All we needed to descide was whether to go all the way to venice, which is only 10
miles from the gulf, as we originally planned, or to cutt it 80 miles short in New Orleans. I would like to try genuine New Orleans food, but Venice is closer to the Gulf, and thus a sweeter victory! I hope I'm not getting ahead of myself here.We came up an hour shy of Memphis, much too our greasy hairs displeasure, and started hunting for a camping spot. We tryed one on the right side of the river, but it was wrought with peril (a wing dam, a dam blocking the dishcarge end of a river, freshly submerged trees from flood conditions, and a lot of current). So we crossed the river, and ventured out of the buoys. The opposite site promised a lot of indentations and islands to hide in or behind. One small island in particular appealed to me. It was so small you could barely get out on it, but it had plenty of trees to tie up too, and it would have guarenteed plenty of keel clearance. The girls didn't like it though, so we headed for shore, and ended up in what might have been the best camping spot so far. It was a perfect sandy beach with a steep shore, and when we landed and Karla tied us to a willow, the keel had plenty of clearance. I tossed both anchors out the back, and we all ventured ashore.
It turned out to be an island surounded by a muddy moat. Almost immediatly Karla spotted a huge spider, but Jennys hardcore, and still made flipflops her footwear of choice, while I went with long pants and hiking shoes, and Karla sported steel toed rubber boots. The island was small, and only took a few minutes to explore, but it was only a palm tree away from being something off of "Pirates of the Carribean". We explored the island untill we found the tracks. At first I thought they where from a bird, but Karla pointed out that what ever it was, had 5 clawed toes, and birds usually only have 3 in the front, and 1 in the back. Could it be that we've finally arrived in gator country? Karla took some video, and we returned to the boat just before dark. It was Karlas night to cook, and she got started after I filled the lantern and stove tanks with white gas. She made generic rice-a-roni, and descided to shake things up a bit by not adding the seasoning packets. It definitly changed the meal. I fixed mine with a one dollar bottle of hot sauce I'd bought at a dollar store further up the river, and then I made a cheese cake, and we ate the whole thing. (what? there's no refridgerator for left-overs!) After dishes, the girls cleaned up the boat a little, while I sat trapped at the table (the boat is little). We where expecting company. Drew Bear was gonna fly into Memphis in the morning, and travel to greenville with us. That was one of the few nights as of late, that didn't feature a movie. It was going to be an early morning. We wanted to get to the Marina in Memphis as quickly as possible. Showers awaited!
Hi Wade and crew !!!
ReplyDeleteThis is Doug Winter. I just got your blog address from Gary so I've been reading for the last hour. What an adventure!!!! I cnn't wait for the next blog. You guys stay safe and have fun. Hope to see you deer hunting Wade.