Nov. 15 - Dec 1 2022 Stuart, FL to Mobile, AL

 St Lucie Lock and Dam

Aisling Nua at St. Lucie Campground

On November 15 we were near Stuart, Florida.   We docked on the St. Lucie River at the beginning of the canal that travels across Florida.   This is the Okeechobee Waterway which includes Lake Okeechobee.

It was nice to return to this place where our dream of doing the Great American Loop began.  In November of 2016, while camping there in our RV, we saw a Ranger Tug.  We then started looking, and we bought a 27 foot Ranger Tug which we named "Aisling" (means Vision)    We started our Great American Loop journey on Aisling in the summer of 2017.  

A year later, in November of 2017, while again camping here, we saw an Endeavour TrawlerCat 36.  We started looking for one and we bought one which we named "Aisling Gheal" (means Bright Vision) After selling  the Ranger Tug, we again started our Great American Loop journey from Cape Canaveral, FL in March of 2018.    

We now are continuing the Great American Loop on our third boat, a Rosborough 25 named "Aisling Nua" (means New Vision). 

On the Okeechobee waterway on Aisling Nua

Travel across the Okeechobee Waterway

Tuesday, November 15,  Travel Day 16   

We were on our way to Indiantown Marine - a short run of  14 miles.  It was a nice cruise. Indiantown is a very nice landlocked marina to be in case of a hurricane.

Crossing Lake Okeechobee

Wednesday, November 16, Travel Day 17  

We got an early start of 7:30 so that we could get across Lake Okeechobee, a large lake that can get VERY rough with wind.  We had a lock to go through that lifted us up 2 1/2 ft.  Although this large lake can be very rough in strong winds, we had perfect weather.  We were across Lake Okeechobee in 3 hours.  It was a very clear and calm crossing. We had one more lock before we would be at Port Labelle Marina where we were going to spend the night.  Jeff was able to do the line work at the dock.  His ribs are healing.  We had a very pleasant night with the temperature in the upper 50's.  

Thursday, November 17  Travel Day 18  

We left LaBelle Marina at 8:00 am.  It was a sunny day with 10 mph winds.  We went through our last lock on the Okeechobee waterway.  At noon we went past Ft. Myers with 15 mph wind behind us.   We cruised past several Ft. Myers marinas which had been destroyed in the recent Hurricane Ian.   We saw wrecked boats being salvaged with large cranes.   We were now on Florida's West Coast.

Cabbage Cay

West Coast Florida

We were looking forward to docking at Cabbage Cay and experiencing the restaurant.  Hurricane Ian had damaged this place, but they were able to re-open the restaurant rather quickly.  This was because it had been built on a prehistoric Calusa Indian shell mound and is one of the highest points in all of Southwest Florida. 

The docks had sustained major damage from Hurricane Ian, and they lost the electric service at the docks.  However they had room for our little boat to tie up for the night.  We were very happy to get the wonderful help and direction from the dock hand, Jeff.  We enjoyed our evening of a wonderful meal.  The boat was rocked all night from a northeast wind.  We used the diesel stove heater in the morning to take the chill off the cabin.  

History of Cabbage Cay

In 1936 Alan and Gratia Houghton Rinehart bought this undeveloped land to build their "island dream" winter estate.  The main building has six working fireplaces, a storm shelter, and a rainwater collection system with 12,000 gallons of storage built into a concrete foundation.  There is a water tower which the Rineharts built and is still used today.  The water tower has a capacity of 6,000 gallons and has weathered many storms since the 1930s.  The only way to get to the island is by boat.

Friday, November 18 Travel Day 19

As we left Cabbage Cay we saw a dolphin.  It was a cloudy day with a 23 mph wind.  We went across Charlotte Sound with 2 - 3 foot waves on our starboard (right) side.  Barbie felt very safe being rocked  side to side at almost 45 degrees knowing that this boat would right herself.  After all she was built to take the rough weather off Nova Scotia!  

We did change our heading a bit to make the ride smoother.  Once in the channel we had no more rocking.  It was very comfortable.  We went to Sarasota's Marina Jacks, a very large marina with 50+ foot boats and several commercial tourist fishing/sight seeing boats.  We walked 0.8 miles to Whole Foods and bought some provisions.  

Marina Jacks in Sarasota

Saturday, November 19 Travel Day 20   

As we left Marina Jacks at 7:15 we had 6 mph winds and a temperature of 56.  It was mostly cloudy.  By 9:00 we were in Tampa Bay and by 10:20 we were across the Bay.  We again had a rather bumpy ride.  We arrived at our marina in Clearwater.  Due to weather we stayed Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights.  Weather predictions look good for traveling on Tuesday, November 24.  

Sunday, November 20 

Stayed at the marina in Clearwater Beach.  Sunday and Monday were "wait for weather" days.   We did some boat projects and explored the restaurants in this beach town.

Our Red Mustang rental car

Monday, November 21

We rented an Enterprise car.  We thought we were getting a truck.  However the truck wasn't available so we were given a RED MUSTANG convertible!  Barbie really enjoyed the POWER!  

Local sponge boats in Tarpon Springs

We drove to Tarpon Springs, and ate lunch on the waterfront at Demitri's.  Tarpon Springs was settled by Greeks who brought their food, cooking and sponge collecting skills with them.  It is a very busy touristy town.  

Tuesday, November 22 Travel Day 21

Leaving Clearwater Beach, we had to make three long passages in unprotected water.   These passages would take us across the large expanse of the Gulf of Mexico.  Some boats choose to do a direct crossing of 175 miles which would be about 20 hours offshore and overnight!

Instead, we chose to do the crossing over three days of about 70 miles each day, in daylight, and staying much closer to shore.   We planned to stop at marinas in Crystal River and in Steinhatchee before crossing the Gulf of Mexico to Carabelle, FL.

Leaving Clearwater Beach, the wind was forecast from the North - North East at 8 - 10 mph .  The wind increased to 12 - 15 mph and waves were 2 feet with some white caps. However the ride was very comfortable since the wind was coming toward us.   We experienced battery low voltage problems and had to turn off our autopilot for two hours.   The autopilot requires a large amount of electrical power.

By 1:00 the wind was decreasing and the batteries had increased in volts.  The auto pilot was again steering with winds at 7 - 8 mph.  We were getting into more shelter from the east winds and waves were less than 1 foot.  

We were docked in our slip at the Crystal River Marina by 4:50.  We had a nice quiet night.

Steinhatchee Marina

Wednesday, November 23 Travel Day 22

This day we traveled about 70 miles to Steinhatchee.  We stayed at the new marina there.   The first slip we went into did not have 30 amp electric and our 50 amp electric adaptor did not fit into the receptacle.  We had to move to a different slip.  There was very little wind and Barbie went in bow first so there was no problem getting into the slip.  Unlike other marinas, this one had no singe dedicated fuel dock.   We were surprised that  gas and diesel fuel was available at each slip.  

There were 4 other loopers at the marina.  All of them are going south.  We are the only looper going north.  

Crossing the Gulf of Mexico

Thursday, November 24, Thanksgiving Day Travel Day 23

We left the Steinhatchee dock at 7:20.   We were excited that this was our passage to cross the Gulf of Mexico.    This would take us about 50 miles from the nearest shore as we crossed open and unprotected water!

It was a foggy morning with the temperature 63.  By 8:00 am the fog was lifting so visibility was getting better.  We changed time zones so we are now in Central Time Zone instead of Eastern Time Zone.  We will be in this time zone until we get past Chattanooga, TN.  We got a nice push from the 10 - 12 mph wind that was behind us.  We arrived in Carrabelle and were at our slip by 3:30. 

Traveling the Panhandle of Florida

Friday, November 25, Travel Day 24

We left the Carrabelle dock at 8:45. It was VERY FOGGY and we had a hard time seeing navigation aids. By 10:45 the fog lifted. We saw dolphins.

We were going to Apalachicola Town Dock. At 12:30 Barbie made a big circle to head the boat out of the harbor and did NOT pay attention to the chart. There were LARGE shrimp boats tied at the dock so she assumed there HAD to be PLENTY of water. Well, we went aground!

This time we did NOT try to use the engine too much to try and get us off. This could damage the engine by sucking up sand. Instead we called for help from SeaTow.

SeaTow towing us off the sandbar at Apalachicola

SeaTow was able to get to us within 30 - 45 min. They towed us off the sandbar to deep water where we re-started the engine. By 2:15 we were in a slip at the City Dock South of bridge and we had electricity. We enjoyed visiting the town brewery and the seafood restaurant.

Saturday November 26  Travel Day 25

We  stopped at St, Andrews Municipal Marina and bought fuel.  By 4:15 we were anchored in West Bay.  We had traveled 77 miles. This was the first time we had anchored for the evening on our cruise.  We used the Rocna anchor which did a good job holding us this night.   However the boat keep swinging from side to side.  Jeff rigged an anchor bridle to help prevent this.

Sunday, November 27 Travel Day 26

After a VERY bumpy night with wind speeds of 15 - 20 miles per hour,  Barbie made breakfast on the Wallas diesel cooktop.  It worked very well.  The Wallas has NO control over the temperature of the cooking surface.  However, the left side is HOT and the right side is warm.  Barbie successfully made hash browns, egg and sausage for Jeff and oat bran and sausage for herself.  

Juana's Pagodas

The next night we went to a restaurant, Juana's Pagodas. They had a few slips.  However, the wind was blowing so hard and we decided we could NOT get into the slip.  There was a boat ramp with a dock that we tied to and ate supper at the restaurant.  As we were leaving the restaurant we were told we could not keep the boat there all night.  We motored into the bay and anchored again using the bridle that Jeff had put on the anchor.  It was a very pleasant night. 

Monday, November 28 Travel Day 27 

That night the batteries were  running low.  At 1:00 am we ran the engine for a half hour to charge the batteries.  In the morning Barbie cooked breakfast on the Wallas.  We are glad that we have the Wallas - it provides heat for the cabin and cooking does not use electricity except to run a fan.  The Wallas runs on diesel (the only diesel on the boat).  

Wharf Marina

By 8:20 we were on our way to Wharf Marina.  The wind had died down during the night and it was a calm, sunny day.  This was a very nice passage of 50 miles.  Wharf marina had fuel and modern docks.  

Tuesday, November 29 Travel Day 28 

We were on our way to Dog River Marina by 7:30.  The winds were 12 - 15 mph and we were going with the wind.  It was a very pleasant ride.  We only had 28 miles this passage.  We arrived at Dog River Marina in Mobile, AL.  We had made arrangements for a mechanic to do the 100 hour routine maintenance on our engine -- changing the oil and filters.

Wednesday, November 30 

The prediction was to have a strong storm coming to a tornado-prone area called "Dixie Alley."  We were a little bit south of the area.  Wednesday morning around 6:00 we had a lot of lightning and thunder and rain.  By 7:00 the storm had passed but the wind was continuing to blow.  We were tied up and safe at Dog River Marina.  The marina has a courtesy car which Barbie had signed up to use at the 8:00 - 10:00 time.  The rain had stopped and she went to Publix Grocery Store to buy provisions.  Jeff stayed on Aisling Nua waiting for the engine mechanic to come.  

Engine Maintenance at Dog River

Our planned route from Mobile

We had successfully crossed the open water upper part of the Gulf of  Mexico by taking three shorter hops instead of a 178 mile direct crossing.    We were pleased that this major passage was behind us.

Dog River marina was about 12 miles from the start of the Tombigbee Waterway.   We were now ready to travel the last 12 miles to the beginning of the Tombigbee Waterway which will take us 450 miles into the Tennessee River.  Once on the Tennessee River  we will travel 350 miles to Kingston, Tennessee, our home marina. 

First 680 miles Thursday, October 27 - November 14, 2022

 On Monday, October 24 we rented a one way UHaul Truck from Oak Ridge, TN to Osprey Marina in Myrtle Beach, SC.  We only had about 3 dock cart loads of items in the truck.  The truck was available while a rental car one way was not.  When we got to Osprey Marina we unloaded a few of the items and slept on Aisling Nua.  It was nice to be on the boat.  

Loading the truck with cruising gear

On Tuesday we put the last items on the boat and went grocery shopping at Lowe's the food market for fresh food and an ice cream cake.  On Wednesday, October 26 we did a few items and had a boat naming at 5:00.  We had asked all of the marina employees and the live-aboard residents to join us for the ceremony.  We wanted to be sure that all of spirits of the water knew who Aisling Nua is.  This Rosbourgh had been named "Last Toy" in Farmer Cay, Bahamas and "Annie M" in Michigan.  She is now known as Aisling Nua, which means New Vision.

Boat naming celebration

Travel Day 2, Thursday morning, October 27  (our first travel day was taking Aisling Nua from Little River, SC where we bought the boat to Osprey Marina) We had breakfast. At 8:30, our live aboard friend, Bob, helped us with our lines, and we left Osprey Marina.  The marina had been a great place to work on our boat but it was time to leave if we were going to get to Oak Ridge and the Tennessee River before it was really cold and winter time.  

This day we went 101.1 miles to St. James Yacht Basin, Charleston, SC, mile marker 450+ on the Intracoastal Waterway. We saw dolphins as we were leaving Myrtle Beach, SC.   

Barbie has driven over 6000 miles on the ICW and into Canada and on the Great American Loop into many locks and marinas. However, that was with two different boats that had inboard diesel engines.  A single outboard gas motor is different.  Getting out of our slip at Charleston the current caught our boat and we were pushed into the boats on either side. The anchor of the boat on our starboard (right) side got caught in our bow pulpit.  Hopefully only minor damage was done to either of the boats.  We gave the marina our insurance information and haven't heard anything from them.  

Travel Day 3 Friday, October 28

We arrived at Lady's Island Marina in Beaufort, SC by 5:40.  We went  64 miles.  Traveling to Lady's island Marina the batteries were not getting charged.  We ended up using Jeff's phone as our chart. 

Travel Day 4 Saturday, October 29 

Arrived at Hilton Head Harbor Town Yacht Basin by 2:00 pm .  This is a condo/marine with MANY EXPENSIVE yachts.  We were given a bottle of wine.  We again experienced loss of voltage on House Batteries which are two flooded cell type 24.  Jeff removed the batteries and we took an Uber to West Marine (8 miles away), took 2 dead batteries and bought 1 AGM type 27.  Jeff got the battery installed by 6:00 pm and everything put away so that we were eating dinner by 7:00 pm.  

New house battery and two new boat fenders

Travel 5 Day 5 Sunday, Oct. 30  

Barbie had no difficulties getting out of slip.  She is beginning to learn how to drive successfully with the outboard motor.  We saw a couple of dolphins. We tried to use the autopilot but it wasn't working correctly.  By noon the house batteries were not working and the new battery was nearly dead! We docked at Thunderbolt Marina.  We took an Uber to West Marine and bought a new starting battery AGM group 35 and a new battery charger.  Concerned that the new AGM we had bought the day before might be ruined because it had been deeply discharged luckily was not ruined.

Travel Day 6 Monday, Oct. 31 (Halloween) Isle of Hope Marina

Barbie docked at the gas dock beautifully.  However, when trying to get into the slip the current kept pushing the boat away.  Luckily there were no other boats around.  On the third try the dockhands really helped and we were docked.  

Jeff was perplexed as to why the house batteries kept discharging.  We had replaced all of the batteries and the battery charger.  He finally looked at fuses and found one that had blown.   

After lunch we took the marina's complementary loaner car to West Marine and luckily they had the necessary fuse we needed.  We also went to Kroger for a few items.  Jeff replaced the fuse.   Barbie washed clothes and we watched a lot of kids trick or treating at a large Southern house near the marina.  

Travel Day 7 Tuesday, Nov. 1

Beautiful sunrise.  Left the dock at 8:00 am with NO ISSUES.  Turned on the cruise control at 9:00 am.  Batteries performing correctly as well as the cruise control.  We had a non-eventful cruise (the BEST kind).  Docked at 4:30 after traveling 92.2 miles to Jekyll.  The transient dock is a very LONG dock.  We were arriving at slack tide.  Barbie had NO problem docking.   Looking forward to taking the complimentary gulf cart to town in the morning.   We enjoyed a nice supper of fried egg plant and rice.

Jeff had noticed a message that one of the boat's monitoring gages gave us that we needed to check oil.  After figuring out how to get the motor housing off, the oil appeared to have too much oil.  We decided that we should have routine maintenance done.  After calling around and getting information about a good Yamaha maintenance marina we got an appointment for routine maintenance at Sadler Point Marina.  Because of the concerns about maintenance we did not use the gulf carts. 

Travel Day 8 Wednesday, Nov. 2 

Barbie was concerned about getting away from the dock. The current was rather strong and we were between two large.  The dock hands told us to turn the wheel INTO the dock and go forward.  (They held the line - this would turn our stern away from the dock and it would get pushed by the current.) Once the stern was away from the dock being pushed by the current, then put the engine in reverse and back out.  This worked BEAUTIFULLY!

We had lovely, sunny weather!  High near 80.  We were in our slip at Sadler Point Marina by 5:00 pm.  We went 77 miles.  Tomorrow Aisling Nua will be hauled and will get engine maintenance.  

Barbie made porkchops and sliced potato with mushroom soup for supper.

In Port Thursday, Nov. 3

They didn't finish all of the work (waiting for a part) so we stayed on Aisling Nua on the land.  There was a very nice taco place right at the marina. 

Getting annual service for our outboard motors

Putting us back into the water

Travel Day 9, Friday, Nov. 4

We were put back in the water at 7:35 am so that a 50 ft. boat could get hauled out because they had prop  problems. 

By 1:45 we had gotten fuel and pump out at Lamb's Yacht Center (under a railroad bridge about 1/4 mile away) and on our way.  

Very nice cruise.  The current was pushing us and the wind was pushing into u.s  

By 4:50 we were docked at a free peer on Sisters Creek with wind speed of 16 -17 mph.  Barbie did a very nice docking.  Had supper of stir fry chicken with rice.  

Travel day 10, Saturday, Nov. 5

9:00 am on our way.  Used our 25 hp kicker motor for 45 min.  Went about 7 mph with kicker.  Since it was Saturday we had more boat traffic.  We experienced some HUGE boat wakes that made Aisling Nua ROCK and would have sent things flying except we put things away.  

We traveled 24.7 miles to Marineland.  

Travel day 11, Sunday, Nov. 6 (time change to standard time)

Before we left the marina we got a pump out.  This was our first experience getting an in-slip pump out.  They bring the machine to the boat.  

Wind was 15 mph.  Experienced some large boat wakes since it was a Sunday and many boats out. Arrived at Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach. Went 35.5 miles.  This is a LARGE marina.  They have an employee in a little skiff that leads you to your slip and then the employee ties your boat up.  Nice quiet night.  One of the workers, Coach, gave Jeff about 8 Budweiser's.  Also bought some nice note cards.  

Travel day 12, Monday, Nov. 7

A storm will be coming to Florida this week.  We went 48.2 miles in 5 hours 45 min.  We saw winds speeds of 25 mph on our port (left) side.  We were rocking over the waves.  Very glad that the auto pilot was working and house battery was being charged.  The waves really got big around 1:00.  Jeff got a salad but Barbie didn't get her salad made because it was too bumpy. 

We got to Titusville Marina around 3:00 and had an Enterprise rental car a little after 4:00.  By 5:00 Jeff was washing the boat getting rid of the salt and also washing the engine out.  We will stay at this marina until Saturday, after the storm is passed.  Saw a manattee swim under the boat while Jeff was flushing the motors with water.

Tuesday, Nov. 8 - Election Day

Jeff and I had done early voting in Oak Ridge before we left.  

We both woke up around 4:50 am and watched the eclipse of the moon for about 40 min until it was gone.  

Putting on extra dock lines

The storm was becoming a very LARGE tropical storm named Nicole.  It was predicted to cross the whole state of Florida and turn north. In preparation for the storm we used the rental car, went to West Marine and bought more dock lines and put them on Aisling Nua.  We decided we needed even more dock lines so bought lines by the foot at the Marina.  We also reserved a motel for Wednesday night, November 9.  We felt that Aisling Nua was as secure and safe as we could make her.  

When Jeff was getting off Nua, he tripped on one of the lines holding the boat.  He almost fell into the water between the boat and the floating finger peer. He did NOT fall into the water but fell on the concrete pier near a cleat. He received a slight elbow scrape and hit his right side pretty hard!  We were thankful that he didn't break a leg or arm.

Wednesday, Nov. 9 Hurricane Nicole arrives in Titusville

The storm was not expected until Wednesday evening. We contacted our grandson, Alex, who is going to University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando.  We made arrangements to visit him and the campus. It was less than an hour travel time by car.  We had a nice time with him and his roommates/friends.  We enjoyed a breakfast together.  We were experiencing some rain squalls but nothing bad.

The storm picked up with more wind and rain during the night.  The hurricane made landfall just south of us and the most damaging winds of the northern quadrant hit our location.  We were glad that we spent Wednesday night in a motel!  Sometime before dawn a sheet of aluminum siding blew off the motel in front of our window and car. It was scary -- winds were about 75 miles with gusts 84 mph.  

Thursday, Nov. 10

We ate breakfast at Denny's. We returned to Aisling Nua around 11:00 am to find that everything was fine with her.  However, the marina did not have electrical power.  We ate lunch on Aisling Nua and stayed on the boat Thursday night. Jeff had a lot of pain on his right side.  We were planning on leaving the marina and continuing our cruise on Friday.  

Friday, Nov. 11

As we got into the car to do last minute errands and return the rental car, Jeff said “Barbie, you’ve got to take me to the ER”.  We had been to this ER a few years ago when we were camping and Jeff had a tick bite.  Barbie couldn’t believe WHY he needed to go to the ER.  He had been acting fine, experiencing some pain, but nothing that she felt was bad enough for the ER.  

Emergency room visit for two broken ribs

We went to the ER and were there from 3:30 - 9:30 pm.  Most of that time we were waiting.  Jeff had an X-ray and a CAT scan and the doctor told him he had 2 broken ribs!   That evening we. debated rather to have Aisling Nua hauled and we would continue our cruise back to Tennessee in the spring, have her trucked back to Tennessee or just continue on our trip.  

Travel Day 13, Saturday Nov. 12

The next morning we decided to continue on our trip.  We returned the rental car, released our lines with the help of another boater, got fuel and pump out and were on our way from Titusville by 11:00.  It was a sunny day with light wind.  

 As we passed Canaveral Barge Canal mile 885 on the Intracoastal Waterway, we crossed our outbound starting point from Aisling Gheal of March of 2018.  We cruised to Melbourne Harbor 41 miles.  Jeff did well.

At Melbourne Harbor Marina

Travel Day 14, Sunday, Nov. 13

Going to Ft. Pierce 47 miles.  Mostly sunny, calm winds.  On our way by 8:40 am.  Non-eventful day.  In our slip at 2:00 after getting fuel.  Nice cruise.  Ate aboard Aisling Nua. 

Travel Day 15, Monday, Nov. 14.  Beginning 4th week from leaving home

We were on our way to St. Lucie by 8:00 am.  Sunny, calm wind.  66 degree.  We would go through our first lock on this part of our cruise with Aisling Nua.  We were at the lock by 12:00 noon.  We waited 1 1/2 hours for the lock!  Tow Boat US was also waiting for the lock. Barbie practiced maneuvering Aisling Nua backwards during the wait.  We had reservations just on the other side of the lock at the St. Lucie Corps of Engineers park.  This will begin our cruising in territory that we had never cruised  before.  

On the St Lucie River -- boat dock at the lock

Getting Back on the Loop -- After a Three Year Pause

We have not written a blog in three years!  A lot has happened!

Moving our Residence to Tennessee

During the time on the rivers of Tennessee we decided that we ought to move from the Towson, Maryland area to either Oak Ridge, TN or Florida.  

Jeff was born in Oak Ridge and graduated from Oak Ridge High School, Barbie's parents had lived in Oak Ridge during World War II.  Our son, Eric and family had moved to Oak Ridge, TN in 2018.  

Barbie did NOT want to move to Florida since they have hurricanes.  Our daughter, Emily and family, live in the Ft. Lauderdale area and we worry about her during hurricane season.  Jeff said we'd live in north Florida near Jacksonville and the St. John's River where we would be safe from hurricanes.  Barbie did not want to live there and start a new life not being near either of our kids and family. 

As of our last blog reporting, we cruised up the Tennessee River.  By the middle of October, 2019, we were on Watts Bar Lake and rented a slip at Long Island Marina in Kingston, TN, not far from Oak Ridge.  

Our marina in Kingston, TN

We decided to look for a house in Oak Ridge, TN.  After several weeks of house shopping we found a house that met our needs.  It was built in 1960.  The previous owners were Harold Schmitt (spelled the same as we spell our name), they had three daughters (Barbie is the middle of three girls), Dr. Schmitt was involved with ORTEC (Jeff's Mom had been a secretary at ORTEC).  The house was on the market for only 1 day when we saw the listing. We had gone back to Maryland but Barbie flew down to see it and we put a bid on the house without Jeff seeing it.  We settled on the house the end of December, 2019.  

COVID Pandemic

Our plan was to move into the house, sell the Maryland house and continue on the Great American Loop.  However, both of our puppy dogs, Hans and Greta, were getting older.  Also, by January, 2020 the COVID pandemic was starting.  We did not want to be on a boat and get sick.  Therefore, we kept the boat at Long Island Marina and stayed in Oak Ridge.  During the summer of 2020 we moved our things from Maryland, sold our house in Maryland and began our life in Oak Ridge, TN. 

Selling Aisling Gheal

Hans and Greta both died in the winter of 2021.  However, Covid was still a problem.  We were settling into living in Oak Ridge. We had planted a garden the summer of 2020. The summer of 2021 we increased the size of our garden and canned tomatoes, okra, pickles, beets.  The summer of 2022, Jeff had a complete left hip replacement.  We had not done very much boating in the summers of 2020 - 2022.  By August of 2022 we decided to sell Aisling Gheal, the 38 foot catamaran.  We were considering not owning a boat for a while, but we decided to buy a smaller cruising boat for our Tennessee lakes.    We liked the idea of an outboard-powered boat that could go fast when needed.

Buying Aisling Nua

Jeff started looking at Rosborough boats.  They are "Pocket Trawler" 25 foot, and designed to be trailerable.  They are built in Nova Scotia, Canada and are very well made and safe.  We found our next boat in Myrtle Beach, SC and bought her the first part of August.  We named her Aisling Nua (Irish for "New Vision"). 

Outfitting Aisling Nua

We moved her 30 miles from Little River, NC where we bought her to Osprey Marina in Myrtle Beach, SC.  We waited there about three months (Aug, Sept, October) to avoid being in Florida for the hurricane season.  Meanwhile, we made several trips from Oak Ridge to work on outfitting her.  Some of the projects we accomplished were:

• Replace the anchor
• Install 500 watt solar panels
• Replace the marine head
• Re-route the galley sink drain to overboard
• Install 3000 watt inverter with a battery bank of lithium batteries
• Install a portable Engel freezer 

Jeff working on solar panels

Barbie on check-out cruise on the river

Cruising Plans

We are renting a one way U-Haul Truck on Monday, Oct. 24 to take our last trip from Oak Ridge to Myrtle Beach.  We plan to continue the Great American Loop,  by completing the part we had not finished when we stopped in Kingston, TN.     Travelling down to Florida, we will pass Cocoa FL where we had started the loop in March of 2018.   We plan to continue around Florida and up the Gulf Coast and panhandle of Florida to Mobile, AL.  There we will take the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway up to the Tennessee River -- thus "crossing our wake" to complete Americas Great Loop. We will take the Tennessee River to Long Island Marina in Kingston, TN. about 30 miles from our home in Oak Ridge.    

Cumberland River to Nashville, Sept 10 - 19, 2019

On Tuesday, Sept 10 we left Green Turtle Bay Marina in Grand Rivers, Kentucky, heading up the Cumberland River on our way to Nashville.  Our first day was a 60 mile cruise to an anchorage.  Jeff had an anchorage picked out.  At 4:00 we were heading into the anchorage, Barbie was at the helm.  There was indication on the chart that a shallow place was in the middle of the anchorage but it looked like it could be avoided.  However, Barbie went aground.  Jeff used the engines and maneuvered us off after about 10 minutes of being stuck in the mud.

We left that anchorage.  Jeff saw another possible anchorage on the chart at river mile 80.2.  However, he went aground again and put our engines in reverse to back out.  This time the propellers  sounded like they were hitting gravel rocks.  Jeff put the dinghy down to try and tow us off.  However, the boat was stuck too firmly and finally Jeff quit when the tow line got caught around the dinghy prop.  At this point he called TowBoat US for an emergency tow.

Five minutes later, a large tug and tow came past us.  Barbie said, maybe the wake will get us of the ground.  Jeff was skeptical, but as the wake rocked us, we did get free.  We started the engine and were back on our way at 4:40 PM.  We were very grateful and called TowBoat US to cancel the emergency request.

We went another 10 miles and anchored behind Dover Island at Dover TN.  This was a beautiful anchorage - easy to get in and fantastic holding ground. The town is a stop for a Riverboat which we saw as we went by.

Riverboat at Dover, TN

It turned out to be a lovely anchorage all night.  The current, of about 2 miles an hour, kept us pointed up stream.  The temperature was 83 and partly cloudy.  We enjoyed a dinner of pork chops aboard Aisling Gheal.  We slept very well.

The next day we went 37 miles to Clarksville, Tennessee.  Because of flooding that had happened in the spring, the entrance to the marina had shoaled.  Barbie kept very close to some "lily pad" fountain heads in the channel and we did not go aground.  Once past the opening it opened up to a lovely marina with a depth of 8 feet.  It was very hot, 94, we were glad to have AC.  Rick, the dock master, was very helpful.  The walk from the marina to grass was quite long and up a very steep incline.  When I told him we had two old dogs, he got us a cart so that we could transport the dogs from the boat to grass.  We rented a car in Clarksville and spent the next day exploring and eating at a lovely brewery.

Clarksville TN Marina

The next day, Friday, September 13, we cruised 43 miles to the Commodore Yacht Club in Nashville, Tennessee.  It was HOT - 93 - when we arrived.  We turned on the AC and rented a car.  We went to a restaurant that was close and Jeff thought it had good food.  As we entered the restaurant, Barbie noticed the smell of cigarette smoke and thought, "I haven't smelled cigarette smoke in a restaurant for a long time.  I guess we're in the South".  We sat at a table, ordered our food.  After our food came the people at the table behind us, started smoking.  It was unpleasant and the food wasn't that great.  After we finished our meal and were about to leave, the people behind us must have finished their meal and lit up an after dinner cigarette.  Barbie noticed that they would take a puff on their cigarette and then blow the smoke up so it did not interfere with them, but blew back on us!   Jeff looked up the Tennessee law about smoking in restaurants.  If the restaurant has a sign that says:   MUST BE 21 to ENTER that means there can be smoking inside.  After this experience we started noticing if there was a sign as we entered.  If there was, we did not go in that restaurant.

In TN this sign means the patrons can SMOKE!

On Saturday we visited a quilt shop and found the house at 3808 Nebraska Ave, where we had lived 40+ years ago.  When we lived in the house, it had a grate in the floor in the middle of the house that had the furnace below it in the basement.  This was Barbie's first experience of living outside of Boulder, Colorado.  We moved there in January of 1971 and moved to Towson, Maryland, in August of 1973.  After the first winter with ice storms, Barbie did not want to live where there were ice storms.  After the first summer, Barbie did not want to live where there was heat and humidity.  We got both in Maryland, but it wasn't as hot plus we started sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.  The house on Nebraska Ave looked as if it had been remodeled with new windows and probably AC.  It was a very nice brick house.

Our first house while Jeff was a graduate student

Sunday was our day to visit Vanderbilt University where Jeff did his undergraduate and graduate work and Barbie worked as the librarian in the Biology Department.  There were a lot of changes on the campus and the Biology building had been completely rebuilt.  Jeff tried to locate his mail box where he received letters from Barbie, but that was all changed.

Visiting Vanderbilt University after 50 years

We also drove past St. Thomas Hospital where Emily was born.  It was totally changed.  We were going to go to some downtown breweries for lunch, but we would have had to pay $12.00 to park.  We went back out into the suburbs and ate.

St Thomas Hospital where Emily was born 1972

We cruised back to Clarksville on Monday and enjoyed another meal at the brewery.  Tuesday we got the oil changed in the engines and Barbie did the laundry, which we do about every two weeks.  Again, the employees were wonderful.  Before we left on Wednesday we got a pump out.  We cruised to the same anchorage by Dover Island.  It was hot - 91.  Since we were anchored we had to run the generator if we wanted to use the AC.  We were able to run the generator for several hours before it stopped.  By this time the temperature was cooler outside. We opened up the companion way and hundreds of mayflies were all over the electronic screen.  They also started coming in the boat.

At anchor, swarms of Mayflies were attracted to our lights

We quickly closed the the companion way door and kept the hatches closed.  Luckily the AC had cooled the boat enough and the outside temperature was cooler so we were not too uncomfortable.  Jeff and Barbie had never seen a swarm of mayflies before.  They are related to dragonflies and live in the adult stage for only 24 - 36 hours.  They are attracted to light.  They do not bite or sting people.  The next morning Jeff swept up thousands of dead bodies that were on the deck and the cockpit. 

Mayflies were attracted to the anchor light

Thursday, Sept. 19 we cruised back to Green Turtle Bay Marina.  We took the golf cart shuttle to town and enjoyed dinner at the local restaurant.  The next morning Jeff spent several hours getting all of the mayflies off the roof of the cockpit and the boat and washing the boat.  The mayflies had been attracted to the anchor light we had when anchored at Dover Island. They were inches thick.  

Mississippi, Ohio and Cumberland Rivers, August 30 - Sept. 9, 2019

From  the Illinois river, we had reached the Mississippi river at Grafton, Illinois on August 29.  We stayed one day and moved on 15 miles to Alton, Illinois, where we stayed several days to sight-see.  Alton is the closest marina to the St. Louis Arch since St Louis does not have a pleasure boat marina. We rented a car and enjoyed going to breweries and quilt shops in the area.

Both Jeff and I knew that the St. Louis Arch existed but after watching some YouTubes we learned a lot more about it.  The design had been chosen from a competition among architects held in 1945, but the actual building of the arch did not start until February 12, 1963.  It was completed on October 28, 1965. Like the construction of the Erie Canal, engineers had to solve many construction difficulties.  We were impressed that not ONE person lost their life in the construction of the arch.  We enjoyed watching this video on YouTube which is a one hour documentary about the Gateway Arch.

We went to the Arch on the evening of Memorial Day and it was not crowded. We made our reservation to go up the arch just before sunset so that we could see the sunset.  It was lovely to be that high in the arch at that time to observe the sunset.

Sunset from the Arch

Barbie taking pictures of sunset from the top of the Arch

Mississippi River and south leg of the Arch

At the quilt shop, Dora's Spinning Wheel, in Alton, Illinois, Barbie met the owner and learned that the owner's father had worked on the building of the arch.  He also was in some of the footage of the video shown at the Arch.  The mid 1960's had many good things accomplished in the United States: building and completing the St. Louis Arch, February. 12, 1963 - October 28, 1965, the signing of the Civil Rights Act, July 2, 1964, and landing on the moon, July 20, 1969.  

We began our journey down the Mississippi River on Wednesday, September 6 at 7:00 am and we were in the first lock at 7:20 am. Today we were going to go 84 miles.  We usually went 40 - 60 miles in a day.  

We cruised past the St. Louis Arch and tugs with barges.  There was a lot of commercial traffic near St. Louis.

Passing the St Louis Gateway Arch

The Mississippi River is a big river.  The Missouri and the Illinois Rivers join the Mississippi River near Alton, Illinois.  With the currents from these other two rivers the Mississippi becomes the "Mighty" Mississippi.  We were given an nice 5 miles per hour push from the current.  Many places we saw and experienced the whirl pools and eddies of the river.  The river has many wide places but also meanders and has rather narrow places. 

Upper Mississippi River with our anchorage at Mile 21

Again, we were very glad to have A.I.S. (Automatic Identification System) so that we could see, on our navigational charts, the tugs with barges coming toward us up the river and ones that we were approaching and going to pass going down river.  We often contacted the tug by name and asked the captain if they would like a one whistle pass (I intend to keep you on my port, left, side) or a two whistle pass (I intend to  keep you on my starboard, right, side). 

We had two locks on this first day.  We were able to get into both locks without a long delay.  We used floating bollards that were in the lock to put our lines around.  Barbie always is at the helm and Jeff gets the line around the bollard from a midships cleat.  

We were traveling at 13 miles over the ground due to the push of the current of the Mississippi River.  We were tied up at the Kaskaskia River Lock wall by 3:05. We went 84 miles plus two locks in 6 1/2 hours.  It was very hot.  Supper was grilled chicken, corn on the cob, and boiled potatoes.  

We tied up to the Kaskaskia Dam just one mile off the Mississippi River

The second day on the Mississippi River we started cruising at 8:30 am.  We went through a whirlpool that sent the boat 45 degrees off course.  We had to follow a slow tug and barge system for 3 miles to a bridge before it was safe to pass.  This barge system was large -- 
5 barges wide by 6 barges long.  

At 3:45 we anchored at mile 21 (21 miles above where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi).  We anchored between two wing dams. Wing dams are jettys of rocks under the water and perpendicular to the shore to slow the current down.  It was a very pleasant anchorage and we were out of the way of the tugs and barges, but not their wakes, which didn't bother us.  This was a 98 mile day.  The push from the Mississippi River really helped us get down the river.  We had no locks this day. We only have 21 more miles on the Mississippi then we turn onto the Ohio River.  

The anchorage on the Mississippi river -- quiet except for the current!

Friday, September 6, was our third day on the Mississippi River.  We started cruising by 8:45 with a temperature of 74 degrees.  Barbie missed the cool temperatures of the summer in Canada when the high for the day was 74 or 78.  

We turned onto the Ohio River at 10:00 near Cairo, Illinois.  Since the Ohio is joining the Mississippi and the current of the Ohio is going into the Mississippi the navigational aids become red on our right (returning) and green on our left.  Just before we turned off the Mississippi River we were cruising at 14.3 miles per hour over the ground.  Once we turned into the Ohio, going up stream and against the current our SOG (Speed Over the Ground) went down to 8.5 miles per hour. 

The point where we reached the Ohio River blue water ahead

The wind was behind us pushing us but the current was against us,  but this condition still allowed our ride to be comfortable.  After about an hour we came to the Olmstead Lock.  We ended up waiting almost three hours for the lock.  It was a difficult and stressful three hours.  We tried to anchor but it was too deep and not good holding ground.  Barbie used the engines to keep the boat headed into the wind and waves.  However that meant the current was pushing us away from the lock so she had to keep going in reverse a little and try to keep heading into the waves.  

When we first got to the lock at 11:45, Barbie went below to make lunch and let Jeff steer.  Within minutes the boat was rocking from side to side and food and dishes were sliding making it impossible to prepare salads.  Barbie came back up to the helm and lunch was put on hold until finally at 2:40 we were in the lock with a tug and barge.  The temperature was 91 degrees. 

Olmstead Lock and Dam on the Ohio River before Paducah, KY

At 6:05 pm we were approaching the last bridge to Paducah, KY.  We were tided to the slip with engines off at 6:35.  The temperature was 91 degrees.  The dock is a floating dock.  The poles are three feet diameter!  You can see that they have had water to within 10 feet of the top.  The water is very low at this time, 15.5 on the river gauge.    However, February 2019 it had reached 53 feet!

The Paducah Transient Docks where we stayed three days

Taking the dogs for a walk

The National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY

We visited the famous fabric store Hancock's of Paducah.  Barbie has ordered fabric from this business.  When she visited it she resisted the urge to buy any fabric.  There was just too much to try and choose only a few fabrics. 

The famous fabric store, Hancock's of Paducah

We were at the point where the Tennessee river joins the Ohio River.   From this point, the Tennessee river runs about 648 miles to Knoxville.   Jeff felt like he had "made it safely home" since he was born and grew up in Tennessee.  He now felt that since we had made it through the Mississippi River we could relax and go slower.  We ended up staying in Paducah for three nights.  We rented a car and visited several breweries and quilt shops. We also went to a farmer's market on Saturday morning.  

On Monday, Sept. 9 we traveled 34 miles from Paducah to Grand Rivers, Kentucky.  We were going into the current instead of being pushed by the current.  We also had about a 30 minute wait at the lock. There was very little pleasure craft vessels and only one tug and barge the whole day.  We were missing the cooler weather of Canada and Michigan where the high never was above 80.  We were now experiencing temperatures in the mid 90's.  

Illinois River August 23 -29, 2019

We have been anticipating (and Barbie has been worrying about) cruising on the inland rivers with the tugs and barges.  One barge is 200 feet long and 35 feet wide.  The barges are tied together, making a tow of 5 barges long and 3 barges wide, being pushed by a tug that is 65 feet long and 35 feet wide. Since they are so big they have very little maneuverability.  When Jeff found out about AIS  (Automatic Identification System) he immediately wanted to get it so that the tugs could see us and we could see them around the corner.  All commercial vessels are required to have AIS.  Pleasure Craft (PC) are not required to have AIS.  The AIS gives the name of the vessel, the width and length of the vessel, and the speed over the ground and other information.

Example AIS plot -- approaching hidden barge

In the 1800's, as Chicago grew into a large city, they had a problem with the garbage and sewage that they were dumping into the Chicago River.  It was polluting the source of their drinking water, Lake Michigan.  In 1892-1900  the Chicago River was dug deeper, reversing the flow of water so that it no longer drained into Lake Michigan. This formed the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and opened the way for ships to navigate from the Great Lakes through the inland rivers.

On Friday, August 23, we left our marina in Chicago and within just a few minutes we were in the first lock that lifts you from Lake Michigan into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

Lock from Lake Michigan to Chicago River

Chicago New East Side

Lake Street as we continue through Chicago

Going through Chicago was very interesting and luckily uneventful.  Within two hours of leaving our slip we were out of Chicago and going down the Illinois River.  We started at mile 319 and would travel all 319 miles to the Mississippi River.

About 2 hours down the Illinois River we saw a tug and barge.  We passed our first tug and barge with no problem.  Then we saw that the river was blocked by a barge going across the full width of the river.  Since we had AIS, Jeff knew the name of the tug and called them.  The captain told us that two barges had gotten loose and he'd have them under control soon, so come on down.  We started down and then noticed a tug coming in from a side harbor.  Jeff called this tug.  It turned out there were a total of three tugs involved. Eventually a tug captain asked us to duck in behind a space between barges on the side of the canal and wait until the barges and tugs got sorted out.  It took about an hour, but finally we were told it was safe to pass.  We untied from the barge and followed a tug.  However, we noticed a PC (Pleasure Craft) coming towards us at a fast speed.  This reckless PC  passed us causing a big wake.  Barbie steered through it, but was not happy.

Tied up to a barge to escape danger -- see video below

Video of the tug and barges passing

The US Army Corps of Engineers is currently in the process of upgrading several of the Illinois River locks. These locks are being worked on during the day which stops ALL traffic, but the locks open during the night for barge and pleasure craft to lock through.   Since barges have priority, the pleasure craft are given only two times to lock through -- 7:00 PM and 5:00 AM

Therefore, we had to be ready to navigate the river at night, in darkness.  We had often navigated at night in previous boats but never in Aisling Gheal.  We got through the first lock by 9:00 pm. Jeff sat on the bow with a strong flashlight looking for the channel buoys and Barbie was at the helm.  We used our "ears" (walkies talkies) to communicate to each other.  It was a anxious but uneventful passage.  We anchored out of the channel just before the next lock that would open at 5:00 am.  Jeff kept awake most of the night making sure we were out of the channel and that the anchor (or chain) held us.  At 4:30 we got busy pulling up the anchor and getting to the lock.  When we exited the lock it was still dark.  Again we had to navigate with Jeff on the bow communicating to Barbie at the helm.  We had a beautiful sunrise.

Night-time locking was necessary because of construction

Dawn after navigating the river at night

A third lock was also having construction work done. We called the lock keeper and he told us to wait over in the pool away from the lock.  We got over there and anchored, not knowing how long the wait would be. We waited a total of three hours while a tug and tow had to be locked through separately.  A second tug had to be called to help stabilize the tow while its tug was locking through.  When we finally were called to enter the lock, there was a loud noise of jack-hammers demolishing some of the old concrete and the lock grounds were a total mess with construction materials.

We had pleasant docking in Joliet where the town dock was free and close to the Mygrain Brewery.  In Peoria we rented a car and got the laundry done and found three very nice brewpub restaurants. 

After the 319 miles on the Illinois River, we arrived at Grafton, Illinois where we entered the Mississippi river. We stayed at Grafton Marina one night then we moved 15 miles to Alton, Illinois where we stayed several nights. We rented a car to visit St Louis since there are no marinas there.