Manatees!

They are incredible! These gentle giants were wonderful today. Look at how close you can get to them. You can see this one's face and eyes. I have many more photos below, after telling you about Steinhatchee and the trip here to Crystal River.

As soon as we arrived in Steinhatchee last Thursday, we went to pay the marina fee and this parrot startled me as I opened the door. It took me a few moments to realize he was real. And he had a partner sitting nearby. This made it really seem like rural Florida in the unspoiled Big Bend area where we were.

This is one of the houses we saw on our walk around Steinhatchee. Note all the crab pot bouys for decoration! I learned to hate those things since we had to weave an obstacle course around them coming and going, and again yesterday when we came here to Crystal River. Anyway, this house again reminded me of the kind of place this area is: earthy in a fisherman sort of way!

We decided to stay in Steinhatchee an extra day since the Gulf was rough, AND, we couldn't depart until the tide rose in the afternoon. That would have made it too late to arrive at the next possible river to the south, Suwanee, because of the tides.

I should mention that when you cruise in my size boat along this part of FL, you are a prisoner of the tides. The rivers here are so shallow that you may travel in and out of them only at mid tide or higher. I mentioned our plans for Suwanee River and the dockmaster suggested I speak to the local guy who rescues grounded boaters (with the company that has pulled me out of the shallows twice on this trip!). He said even if I entered Suwanee at highest tide, it'd be dicey and he would not recommend we go there. Who am I to argue with THIS guy?? So we planned to go to the next possible anchorage 25 miles farther on Saturday, but ONLY if we would leave before dawn to avoid the low tide.

Here's another house on our walk around Steinhatchee. It also captures the way of life here in this old, small fishing village. On our walk I was thawing out, since I'd frozen earlier while cleaning the barnacles and growths in the bow thruster prop blades. Even with my wet suit, I was so cold, and it took a long time to pick and brush and clean in that narrow opening in the bow (and on both sides of the bow). My hands ended up with 25 cuts (which I felt all too painfully when I made the mistake of eating salt and vinegar chips. lol).

But the good news is: the bow thruster works normally again! Sitting for 2 1/2 months allowed it to get all nasty and therefore ineffective. And boy do I need a bow thruster when docking!

One more photo that reminds me of what this area looks like. Many of the trees had tons of moss like this.

After our walk and I stopped my shivering, we took a bike ride. Here's Bert, and in the background you can see Breaking Away at the marina dock.

After a cozy night in our heated boat that protects us from the 20-something lows at night, we were up at 6:00 in the dark to prepare to leave by 6:45 - which we did! We beat the low tide, and escaped back out into the mine-field Gulf with all the crab pots. Our goal was a 60-mile trip to Cedar Key, half way to our next destination, Crystal River with the manatees. But once we got to where we'd turn into Cedar Key, it was early enough that we decided to just go on to Crystal River. It would be a 95-mile trip.

It was a horrendous 95-mile trip!! It was the roughest day on this entire trip, with 25 mph winds, 4-6 foot swells hitting us from the back and side, and we confirmed later there was a small craft advisory. I could not use Otto Pilot since the swells were crashing at the stern, so I fought the wheel for 10 hours. Luckily, Breaking Away is a safe trawler for these conditions, and we plowed on in, relieved to be safe and sound in a marina. Poor Bert got seasick early on, so he had a truly miserable day.

We awoke this morning after a long sleep to recover from the stress, and immediately wanted to go see the manatees. Boy, were they better than we ever imagined! We kayaked only about a quarter mile from a new marina farther up the river, and there they were, coming and going along a little channel that had several side channels with houses on one side and nature on the other. It was a bright, sunny day and the tourists were out. Many many boats carried manatee viewers and snorkelers.

This picture shows a mama and her calf. They move so slowly, if at all. And they seem to have zero fear of humans and our kayaks and boats. Unfortunately, about 50 of this endangered species dies from propeller wounds each year. When we first saw them swim by us so close to us and near the surface, we were so excited.

They come up every few minutes to breathe. This one is breathing, and only the snout surfaces. They can get up to 10 feet long and 2000 lbs, yet it seemed many were bigger than that.

Here you can see its eyes as he was right up next to the kayak!! Oftentimes they were just under us or next to us, hardly moving.

Bert and I kayaked far back into the river, which is fed by natural warm springs, which is why they like it here so much (and why I could go into the water without freezing). There were quite a few tourists out crowding some parts of the waters, so we went down one of the channels between rows of homes and found our own treasures. We were all alone for 45 minutes with a group of about 20 that just hung out there to delight us.

On the kayaking back to the marina, I got this shot of a huge one with Bert in the background. There were still tons of tourists out and about, and they were not disappointed as the sea cows were everywhere.

Once back to Breaking Away, I got out my wet suit, mask, snorkel, and fins, threw them into the dinghy, and went back to try swimming with them. Bert took a bike ride (and bought me a scraper for hull barnacles). I motored along at idle speed to avoid them, and then cut the engine and paddled in the final 100 yards to where I wanted to snorkel. As luck would have it, I was the only human there, right where 30 or so had been earlier.

It was fabulous, beyond words! I pretty much stayed motionless out there, and they came right up to me and stared me in the eyes a few inches from my mask. I couldn't believe it. At first it was scary to have such a huge beast so close, but they were motionless and I soon lost my fear and just pushed them away if I needed to. One took a liking to me and would always return to face me up close. She yawned once and green vegetable yuk spewed from her mouth. I finally wanted to see some others and swam away and suddenly there she was next to me, not wanting me to leave her. I put my hand on her back and let her pull me along.

Another one out there seemed like it was 20 feet long. It had to have been a granddaddy since it had lots of algae and green on its body. A big school of fish kept cleaning off the green as he just lay there still in the water. I swam up close and personal with them, all alone, for about 30 minutes before heading back.

More local color in manatee land. Bert and I saw this on our bike ride. We were too late for the Manatee Festival in town this weekend since it closed at 4:00.

Earlier, after my snorkeling, I scraped barnacles off the metal trim levelers at the back of the boat and brushed the green gunk off the hull. Luckily the prop and rudder were completely smooth and clean. I also had to wash the boat down to get all the salt off, and a few other chores like vacuuming. Bert cooked a great steak dinner,

All in all it was a fabulous day, and I'm glad we came all the way here from Steinhatchee to have the entire day for fun and chores and bike riding. Tomorrow we plan to make it to Tarpon Springs, which will get us off the open Gulf and back into the protected Intracoastal Waterway.

Successful crossing!

This is the scene we enjoyed after successfully crossing our section of the Gulf today. A sleepy fishing village in a mostly uninhabited and natural section of Florida, on the Sheinhatchee River (pronounced Steen-hatchee).

Here's another photo from the river here, one of many sunken boats left to rot along our route since last Saturday.

The trip across was just fine. Thank goodness for Otto Pilot! We left at the crack of dawn after refueling almost in the dark. We puttered across the waterway past Dog Island, and once we passed it we were finally out in the open Gulf of Mexico for the first time. At that point, I just set Otto on the straight-line route to Steinhatchee, and Bert and I relaxed most of the rest of the way across.

The headwinds and swells never got too large, it was sunny much of the time, and we just kept hoping the favorable weather would hold. It did, but barely. It started raining on and off as soon as we arrived, and by now (9 pm) it's pouring outside. We're snuggly tied up at a marina, and ate at our first restaurant since we began last weekend.

I almost didn't land when I arrived here; more like almost crashed into all the boats down current from me! The dockmaster waved me in to land on my starboard side AGAINST the current. I don't know how one can land against a strong current, and essentially I didn't. Bert threw her a line as my bow went straight into the dock (gently). Bert luckily hopped off the bow onto the dock, and helped pull me in against the flow. The two of them almost could not hold on, such was the force of the current pushing my boat away from the dock. I couldn't do anything to help. They kept using all their muscles and gradually were able to pull me in. So much for experience - I still don't know how to pull off a landing like that.

This is a picture of a dolphin swimming right behind the propeller wash! We had more dolphins play with us as we got close to our destination. Even more notable were the crab pot floats we had to avoid. Hundreds upon hundreds of them during the final 15 miles, all scattered about forcing us to dodge this way and that way, lest their lines get caught in the propeller. I'd read about them, but this was ridiculous!

Depending on the storm, we may stay here all day tomorrow and another night. We can depart and enter the next few rivers down the coast only in the afternoons at high tides, and the weather forecast is for continued rough weather and seas. So, we'll see what comes

It was a sad day for Bert. He learned last night that his dog of 13 years, Peanut, had taken a sudden turn for the worse with his kidney failure. He went to bed knowing only that his wife would be taking Peanut to the vet with the possibility of having to put him to sleep. He learned this morning as we were crossing (3-hour time difference) that indeed that's what had happened last night. We had a few toasts to Peanut after we landed this evening.

Ready to cross the Gulf!

Tomorrow morning we will make our only ocean crossing of the entire Great Loop trip. It should be okay, but you never know. I've been in the ocean before -- off of New Jersey -- but we could see land the entire time and could dodge into a harbor if the weather turned bad. And on the Great Lakes we could take refuge if needed as we cruised within sight of the shore. But many have asked all along, "Will you ever be out at sea?" Tomorrow will be the only time, where we are out a great distance from land and must either make it all the way, or turn back to our origin.

We are snuggly in a marina here in Carrabelle, FL. It's the last city on the Intracoastal Waterway before it ends and one must cross the "armpit" (bend) of Florida over to the Steinhatchee River, about 80 miles away. We need to make it before sundown not only for the light to see, but because a big storm is scheduled to arrive by sundown tomorrow. I'll hope the seas are calm enough (they're supposed to be) to travel at a faster rate than I usually do - about 9 to 10 mph. We will fill with fuel tomorrow morning at 7 am and then take off.

Now that I've built up all this suspense, I'll try to post a quick blog entry tomorrow night announcing how it went.

The Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland!! I always wondered whether I would pass through any bayou land or swampy areas on the trip that would remind me of the beginning of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. In the past three days we have! Here is one of many examples of the little shanties we have seen in the wooded swamp land we've passed through. I have another photo farther along in this blog.

On the other hand, we've seen even more land with high-rise condos and stately homes. It's hard to believe the density of the condos. This picture is just one of hundreds we've seen lining the waterway.

To explain, the entire distance to here from Mobile, AL has been in an inside waterway called the Intracoastal Waterway. For the most part, it is separated from the Gulf of Mexico only by a thin strip of barrier islands. On both sides of the waterway are a constant supply of high-rise condos and estates

In two other instances, the waterway has been a canal dug through swamp land. One cut was 25 miles long, and the other 45 miles. THAT's where we saw the shanties and other scenery that looked like Pirates.

In one of the canal sections (yesterday) we kept flushing these birds along in front of us, much as cattle drivers would push the herd forward. As we'd get close, they'd fly forward and land again, and the process kept repeating almost the entire 25 miles. Most of the birds were pelicans, and it was fun watching them dive for fish and gulp them down as we got closer before they had to fly off in front again.

Ever since we reached the Gulf, we've also had tons of fun with the dolphin. They do love to play with boats, and ours is no exception. They swim alongside us, right behind the propeller, or they surf (and jump) in our wake. And so many of them!

Here is Bert driving the boat. It's been so cold this week that we've navigated from the downstairs helm a majority of the time. On several occasions we've done something I haven't done yet on Breaking Away - running the heater while underway, which requires the generator.

And yesterday was really foggy most of the day. Worst fog yet on the trip (other than a short spurt of it on the TN River one morning). We had to slow down and keep a sharp eye out. That's when your GPS chartplotter pays for itself since that's the only thing showing you where to go. I would have just stayed in port otherwise. (Yes, I know, you can use paper charts and a compass to run blind, but I wouldn't now that I'm spoiled with the Garmins!)

How about this sighting in Panama City?

Here is just one of hundreds of fancy estates lining the waterway. Multiple boats, big home, big view, big pocketbook.

Last night we anchored in California Bayou (the night before was Joe's Bayou). We grilled steaks in the calm evening with a full moon. When we went to bed it was totally calm. When we awoke this morning it was totally calm. What happened in between was anything but calm! A squall blew over in the middle of the night and was a doozy!! We were rockin and rollin as if in a hurricane. I couldn't sleep with the force of the wind, the pounding rain, and the waves bouncing us around. I'm glad the anchor held!!!

Here's another of the Pirates/Caribbean shanties from today. This one actually looks like the one on the ride.

Interestingly, we are about the only boat out here in these waters. We've seen only two other boats doing the Loop, and only about 10 other boats total in the three days we've been out. A few small fishermen, a couple large fishing boats, and a few sail boats. I think it's the wrong time of year for boating in general here, and most Loopers are ahead of us. Certainly, it's been too cold for outdoor activities.

Doesn't this look just like what a swamp is supposed to look like? In the final miles of today's 45-mile cut canal, this is what we saw. We expected to see alligators, but we didn't, no matter how many logs we at first thought might be! Lots of pelicans again today, and cormorants, a few eagles, hawks, and egrets, and...I'd need my sisters to identify the others.

After three long days of non-stop travel, we arrived here in Carrabelle at the end of the Intracoastal Waterway until it picks back up in Tarpon Springs, which is just north of Clearwater. Luckily there was an IGA grocery store right across the street, since we had already run low on a number of items.

In just the last three days, we've run 27 hours and 215 miles. On each of the days, once we started we never stopped all day. We're tired, yet tomorrow will be the longest yet. Then we'll get to rest for a day while the storm passes through on Friday. Can't wait to see what the unspoiled natural coast of FL will be like, up the Steinhatchee River.

Bert and I arrived yesterday! The first thing we did when he arrived with his rental car was go to a grocery store. Wine was on the list, as you can see. So was blackberry cobbler. We're really roughing it, aren't we? As I type this, the cobbler is in the oven. mmmmmm

So far so good on everything still working on the boat, and finding all systems as we left them on Nov 3. I couldn't believe coming back after 2 1/2 months to such a clean boat and nothing out of sorts (other than my bike chain, but rust is inevitable there). I arrived a few hours before Bert, and got things going and heated up. I ate a soup-and-spaghetti dinner from what had been left here.

Last night was so cold! We're going to leave the heater on tonight so it won't drop to 50 degrees as it did on the shivering last night.

We had visitors right away this morning! This is a picture of Annie, her daughter Carrie, and Carrie's friend Dylan. Annie and Carrie are friends from Charlottesville, VA, although they moved here about 10 years ago so it's been a long time since we've visited. We drove Bert's rented car to the airport early this morning, and then Annie picked us up there and returned us to the boat. We had a wonderful visit on a beautiful, sunny morning.

This picture shows where Breaking Away has been since last Nov 3. I'm looking west toward Alabama, which is precisely where we traveled this afternoon - "backwards" to AL. I wanted to stay one night in a state other than being in Florida for 4 1/2 months, in case FL decides I have become a resident of their state and needs to charge me taxes.

When the time came, the engine started right up, we released the six tie lines, and traveled all of 3 miles into AL since the border was only about 200 yards west of us. We got to see dolphins playing near us along the ride!

When we got to this marina, we did several chores. One I had planned to do was scrub the hull, but after I donned the wet suit and dipped in the water, I jumped right back out again! It was FREEZING. So, I did my best by getting in the kayak and scrubbing the sides from there...but it didn't work too well. Still, I stayed with it for a long time to get as much of the gunk and barnacles off the hull as I could. I'll hope for warmer water in Key West to finish the job then.

Late in the afternoon, Bert and I decided to take a bike ride. Well, he got to anyway - 21 miles! But my chain had rusted solid, and it took almost an hour to get it operational again. I had to work on each chain link, one at a time with WD 40 and then lube oil, and manually pry each link back and forth to get it cleaned and free to move. I eventually did take it out for a ride, but I must have ridden only a few miles. But it was my first time on a bike outside in about three months!!

While I was on my short bike ride, I took this picture of the houses here on their stilts. The hurricanes are common enough that the home owners want the flooding to stay below them. We saw these stilted homes along the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers too.

Tomorrow we plan to make some good distance to the east. We have about 200 miles until the Intracoastal Waterway ends, at which point we have a 70-mile crossing on the Gulf to reach the Steinhatchee River. Look it up on a map, and you'll see how we are rounding Florida's Nature Coast bend before reaching civilization again down by Tampa Bay. We hope to see manatees! The weather forecast is for rain tomorrow. Breaking Away can handle it! See ya soon.

Will resume trip on January 15

My vacation from my vacation will end Saturday when I return to Pensacola, FL Saturday to resume my Breaking Away adventure. Bert Stock, my friend from Valencia, CA will join me until we reach Key West. Then, Hawthorne High friend Lee Smith will be with me for about two weeks as we cruise north to Daytona Beach. Both Bert and Lee have been on the boat before. I look forward to seeing them again and getting back into the saddle (although I will miss Janet!).

This is a picture of a sports sculpture outside the orthopedic surgeon's office who repaired Janet's torn rotator cuff in a surgery on Nov 11. He is the "famous" doctor for the Cincinnati Bengals and Reds, and his office was a virtual sports museum of autographed mementos and photos of famous Cinci athletes. I loved it. This sculpture is a man swinging a bat, and it's made entirely of baseball bats. Janet's surgery went well, and she's improving her range of motion. However, it is still painful and full recovery is months away.

This is of Cheryl, Janet and me on Christmas morning. We loved Cheryl's week-long visit. Cheryl and Janet had lots to yak about, both being elementary school teachers and book readers.

I've gotten some serious school experience during my time here, as a full-time volunteer in Janet's class. I really do like it, helping teach math, tutoring some of the kids, and in general helping with the daily routine. I look forward to seeing them again in late February.

I visited Simi Valley in early December to pack my things into the motorhome, which is stored at Bruce Perry's (my boat mate in May and June).

In about 10 days I hope to post again with an account of the first four or five days in Florida's Big Bend.

We saw an alligator!

What, you expected a picture of it? Well, sorry, it slipped into the water before I could get my camera. But we really did see a 5-6 foot alligator on the bank of the Tombigbee River here in Alabama, about 80 miles north of where we are now on the Gulf Coast. Rick was doing "bow duty" (sightseeing from the bow) and he spotted it slowly plodding toward the water. I got out the binoculars and watched as he took his final several steps into the water. So cool! No more swimming for us!

This picture is from Columbus, MS, the last time we stayed in a marina before tonight. We are now in Mobile, back in salt water, but luckily we've seen no signs of the oil spill.

When I last posted, we were in the marina in Columbus on our first of two days there. It was a good thing we stayed the second day because that was the day the terrible winds and rain swept across the Midwest and did so much damage. We were at the southern end of that front and also had periods of intense winds and rain. When it cleared in the afternoon, we used the courtesy car and went sightseeing.

Columbus has about 200 antebellum homes because it was never touched during the Civil War. This was just one of the many spectacular estates we saw.

In front of the Columbus Court House was a Civil War statue. On the top was this soldier holding his rifle. A local man clued us in as to what the statue becomes when you view it from the side..... (see next photo)

....a Klansman. Oh my gosh. I suppose their official explanation is that it's just a coincidence. I doubt it.

The scenery along the entire Tombigbee River has been naturally beautiful - just tall trees or cliffs or sandy beaches, with hardly any industry and only an occasional dwelling. It is a very curvy and winding river too, so it gives you the sense that you're on a wild waterway compared to the major rivers we'd been on before. The houses are "country", certainly not the estates that have been more typical along the entire Great Loops waterways up til now.

Here's a home, but what made it interesting was the phone booth sitting there. They must have a teenager who lacks a cellphone but still wants his phone privacy!

This is the US Snagboat Montgomery, at the Tom Bevill Visitor Center in Alabama. We anchored and took the dinghy to the dock next to the Center for a visit. This old paddlewheeler is on display, having been built in 1926 and in service until 1982. It has a crane on the front that lifted trees and other debris from the rivers to keep them clear for river traffic. The center was full of interesting displays on the Tenn-Tom Waterway and the days of steam paddlewheelers.

One two-mile section of the river had these dramatic chalk cliffs.

Here's another section of cliffs, and this picture is neat because of the reflection in the glassy morning water. Several spots along the river had stunning cliffs like this. So beautiful! We had the river virtually to ourselves for the past five days. A few barges would pass us each day, but we would almost never see another boat, other than small fishing boats, until we reached our anchorage.

The anchorages are few and far between along the Tenn-Tom, with only a few marinas. The last marina was at Demopolis, but it has been full because when the oil spill happened, boats from the Gulf were taken up there and have stayed.

The safe anchorages were only about every 35 miles, so those of us on the move these past four days have tended to aim for the same ones each night (although there was some leap-frogging too because boats cruise at different speeds). They were LONG days of non-stop cruising; four 9-hour days and one 10-hr day. As we would finally arrive at our intended anchorages, we had to sweat out whether we'd get a spot because they are small and hold only a few boats. Luckily we always did, but there's no room to swing on your anchor, so we had to set a second anchor out behind the boat.

This picture shows one narrow anchorage, where we had this boat in front of us (who anchored with us four times) and another behind us. It ALSO shows the fog we had that morning. What a harrowing experience THAT turned out to be. The fog looked like it was lifting, and this boat in the picture left, so we did too. As I entered the main river, it became pea soup and I could not see anything. I used the Garmin to stay mid-river, I traveled only at idle speed, I sounded the horn every two minutes, and had my radar on. It stayed like this for about 20 minutes or more, and finally the fog was gone. The next picture shows what we left behind.

See how thick that fog was that we just emerged from? I hope that won't happen again. I would never have gone out if I'd known it was going to get this thick.

Here we are entering our FINAL lock of the entire Great Loop. It was the 101st lock and the 104th time we locked through (once I went thru the same lock 3 times, and once twice). This was 116 miles north of the ocean here at Mobile Bay, so once we descended, we had tides again for the first time since my first lock on the Hudson River at Troy. I remember how nervous I was at that first lock, and how routine they had become by now.

The farther south we went, the more the banks of the river looked like bayous and swamps. This picture was as we neared Mobile, and to me it really looked swampy. The number of cranes and Great Blue Herons and other birds increased too.

Here we are today approaching civilization again, Mobile. It is our first big city since St. Louis, and our first city at all since Columbus, MS.

All of the river through Mobile was industrial, with factories, refineries, and ports for ocean-going ships. This picture shows the final ocean liner before leaving the river and entering Mobile Bay, which is essentially the Gulf of Mexico. We followed a marked channel south for about 10 miles and then followed a secondary marked channel to the west into Dog River to our marina. As we were getting fuel, a couple came up and proudly announced they had completed the Great Loop only 8 days ago!

Tomorrow we'll enter the Intracoastal Waterway a few more miles south, and head east to Pensacola, FL. Breaking Away will be docked at a marina there for 2 1/2 months while I take my "winter break" with Janet. I'll be visiting So. Calif for a week in Dec to visit Rich Hess, Katie, Sarah and Anthony and Bonnie, Beth (well, Rick too I guess, hahaha), Bruce Perry, and other friends. (By the way, right now the Jan 15 to Feb 13 spot on the boat trip is wanting of a first mate(s). Anyone who would like to join me for all or part of that segment, down the FL Gulf Coast to Key West and up the Atlantic side to around Miami, is WELCOME to call me. Please do!(805) 624-2062.)

By the way, I've put 522 hours on Breaking Away since the start of the trip on May 4. I've had 22 visitors/guests (not counting the Bon Voyage drop-in on May 2). I've added 1,332 gallons of diesel fuel. I've run aground twice. I mentioned the 101 locks. I should have counted the beers!

Mississippi Meandering

It's been 8 days since my last posting, so I'll be brief to keep this from being a novel. We have traveled 215 miles southward in those 8 days, on the Tennessee River in TN, and then on the Tenn-Tom Canal in Mississippi. The scenery, friendly people and adventures continue to be fabulous!!

The picture above is typical of the beautiful scenery along the TN River in the south part of the state. The banks of the river have limestone cliffs and occasional estates or modest homes. This time of year here is perfect, with the trees changing colors and the weather warm during the days and cold at night.

We anchored all by ourselves behind an island at the town of Clifton, and dinghied a few miles to the city. It had an historic old downtown, but gosh, no pubs. We enjoyed the walk and old buildings, but soon traveled back to Breaking Away for happy hour and a grilled chicken dinner. What a peaceful site we had that night!

As we continued south on the TN River (which, by the way, is upriver since it flows northward from the MS/AL border to the Ohio River), we continued to relish the views such as these cliffs. We had the river virtually to ourselves. A tug/barge passed perhaps once a day, and there were quite a few fishing boats, but that was it. We are late in the season here.

Then we reached Savannah, and look at this mansion on the river bank! We anchored just past the city, again in a secluded spot behind an island. We dinghied to a landing at the city, and did some sight seeing in this historic Southern city. I visited the TN River Museum while Rick tended to some personal matters. We then had a scrumptious dinner at a grill where we were the only patrons. We made it back to the boat just before it was pitch dark.

The next morning, Rick and I biked 6 miles to the Shiloh Battlefield National Park. We had to load both bikes into the dinghy, and once we found room to sit, we puttered up the river a short ways and unloaded for the ride. This was a famous 2-day battle in April, 1862, with 23,746 casualties. Basically, the Confederate Army won the first day and drove the Union forces back and captured 2100 soldiers. Overnight, Gen. Grant's forces were reinforced with arrivals from the north, and they reversed their losses and the Confederates retreated. So, in one sense, nothing changed other than 23,746 tragedies. I know, there were more strategic consequences that resulted, but....

We rode our bikes around the 4200-acre park to see some of the places we'd seen in the descriptive video at the Visitor Center. They have put cannon and monuments at all the spots where forces fought during the two days. There are 217 cannon, 156 monuments, and 650 historic tablets scattered about. It was sobering to see and read what happened.

Ironically, "Shiloh" means "House of Peace". The battle was named for the Shiloh Church which sat in the middle of the battle arena.

One happy part of the battlefield park was the Shiloh Indian Mounds National Historic Landmark. They have preserved the remains of a native village from 800 years ago, the highlights of which were the mounds. The pre-historic town was the center of a society that occupied a 20-mile stretch along the TN River.

Rick and I took the 1-mile walk through the remains of the old village. This picture shows one of the many mounds still there. They served as platforms for important structures like a chief's house or a religious building.

Rick and I rode back to the dinghy (and stopped at a classic southern biker bar for lunch), dropped the bikes off at the anchored boat, and then went on to tour Savannah. This had been a crossing spot for the shameful Trail of Tears saga in 1838 when the government forcefully displaced over 16,000 Indians from their homelands and made them march hundreds of miles to their new reservations in Oklahoma. Nearly 4000 died. An American tragedy in all senses.

We walked the Historic Homes tour and this picture was one of 21 sites. They were all really cool! We then walked to a grocery store and a liquor store and hauled all of it back to the dinghy and boat. (Note: Most grocery stores don't sell booze. Certain stores sell beer, but only separate liquor stores can sell wine. So, we have to shop at three different stores to get our "food". Those who passed these laws weren't thinking of us who must walk and carry our bags.)

So last Thursday we continued south. Not every residence along the TN River is a mansion. Pretty interesting site, huh?

We soon reached the Pickwick Dam and Lock, right above the border to Alabama and Mississippi. We lifted 57 feet into Pickwick Lake. This was my final lock going up. All remaining locks (12) would descend back to sea level. We immediately went to a dock to fill the fuel tanks. For the first time I could calculate my exact miles per gallon since the rivers all have mile markers. Other than the fact that the generator uses the same diesel fuel, I got 3.0 mpg. (So, it would have been more without using the generator.) Considering Breaking Away weighs about 25,000 lbs, maybe that's not so bad.

We then cruised a few more miles and entered Mississippi, and almost immediately tied up at a fancy marina, Grand Harbor. We used the courtesy car to go shopping (we asked ahead this time to learn that most of the counties we'd be cruising through to the south were dry, so we needed to stock up on important items). I then changed, for the first time, the fuel filter on the engine. It was successful, but I did get fuel all over me. The usual fuel filter changes are completely clean, but this one is messy.

The next morning Rick and I performed one of our REALLY THOROUGH boat cleanings. It took a long time, but whoa did Breaking Away need a deep scrub all over!! Then, we installed the new horn that I'd ordered a week earlier and had delivered to this marina. It's hard to believe, but when we were done, the horn actually worked!

We departed late, at about 1:30, and went all of three miles to anchor out in the "middle" of Pickwick Lake. We decided to go explore nearby Goat Island. Who should immediately come to greet us but these four furry beasts! They stayed right with us, watching our every hand movement, for about 15 minutes until they were convinced we were not going to pass out any Halloween treats. Then we never saw them again...and the island was pretty small. What we DID see, however, were two more armadillos! These were shy, and didn't let us get close enough for a photo. In fact, they can really sprint when they want to. We saw one go into his underground tunnel to escape.

This picture is trying to show how deep the cut is in this part of the Tenn-Tom Canal. When we headed south from Pickwick Lake/TN River, we first took the Yellow River, but quickly entered a cut canal. This initial 25-mile section is called the Divide Cut, and it cuts through the hills that divide the TN River basin from the Tombigbee River basin. The deepest cut was here where I took this photo, 175 feet down from the natural hills.

The Army Corp of Engineers removed 150 million cubic yards of earth from this section of the canal, more than was removed for the Suez Canal. The entire Tenn-Tom Canal (connects the TENNessee River to the TOMbigbee River) excavated 350 million cubic yards, twice that removed to make the Panama Canal. Construction began in 1972 and it was completed in 1985. Before this, anyone doing the Great Loop would have to take the Mississippi River all the way to New Orleans. Yuk. This new route is SOOO much better, with the Ohio River, Kentucky Lake, the TN River, Pickwick Lake, this new canal, the Tombigbee River, Mobile, AL and tons of scenic beauty and waterways and people compared to the industrial MS River.

Every day Rick makes THE BEST sandwiches for lunch!!

After cruising through the Divide Cut section of the Tenn-Tom Canal, we ended up at Big Springs Lake, just above the first dam and lock of the canal. We anchored all by ourselves in this beautiful cove, with the changing autumn leaves reflected in the glassy water. Rick and I kayaked, we dinghied to the (closed) visitor center and took a nature hike, and then had happy hour.

The only problem with this spot was it had no cell phone or computer connection, so I dinghied out into the lake and drifted a long way north in the wind for a conversation with Janet. Luckily I was able to get the dinghy up on a plane to return the long distance quickly, by tying the gas tank to the front of the boat to shift weight forward. (Normally with the gas tank at the rear, one person cannot go any faster than 1 mph since the boat tilts backward when you give it any throttle.)

That night Rick grilled juicy steaks for dinner, to go with baked potatoes and a garden salad! YUM!

The next morning we loaded the bikes into the dinghy and went to shore for bike rides. After three miles we came to the Natchez Trace Parkway!! This is a bicyclist's paradise just as the Blue Ridge Parkway had been for my "comeback triumph" ride in 2008. It too is a National Park roadway, 444 miles from Nashville, TN to Natchez, on the MS River. It originally was a Native American trail and later a trade route. Now it is a 50-mph scenic roadway with no commercial stops the entire distance. I rode 14 miles north and into Alabama, then came back. Rick went the other direction. I loved it, and someday hope to do a group ride the entire length with Paul Wood, who led the Blue Ridge Parkway ride.

Rick and I showered up and headed off for the day, first going down this HUGE James Whitten lock, an 84-foot descent! That was the highest lock I'd been on yet of the 90 or so I'd been through. Can you believe how high those lock walls are?? This time we were not alone; another cruiser joined us for the mighty drop.

After that first lock, we dropped through three more during the day, anchoring out for the night just above the lock at Smithville, MS. That was last night, and boy, did we have a wild and crazy thunderstorm hit us for two hours in the middle of the night! I don't sleep well when we're anchored and we get nasty weather. I'm up a lot checking on our position and everything. We were swinging in big circles, but at least we did not drag anchor. We survived.

We pulled anchor early and immediately went through the lock we were next to. We had two more lock-downs today, and got to enjoy the river scenery to ourselves. This picture is another "Bridge to Nowhere", but nearly all of the river was beautiful and natural. There are wide "lakes" all along, but they are very shallow and we must cruise only in the marked channel right down the middle.

We have ended today at the Columbus Marina, at the town of Columbus, MS. We plan to stay two nights. We used the courtesy car to go shopping and eat at a Mexican restaurant in town, and tomorrow I have several things on my to-do list: change alternator belt on engine, bike ride, see the 200 antebellum homes (Columbus was not hit during the Civil War), hair cut, dinghy ride around Columbus Lake, and sleep in since I'm finishing this blog posting at nearly 1:00 am.

On Wednesday when we leave, we will quickly enter Alabama and continue down the Tombigbee River toward Mobile.