Post #35:  Time Out #3 – Day 176, October 27, 2014

This post is dedicated to my Dad.  Known to others as Hank, my Dad officially turned 90 on October 25, 2014 – he was born on that day in 1924.  A member of “The Greatest Generation”, he grew up during the Great Depression, then served in General Patton’s 3rd Army as it liberated France and Germany in 1944-1945. Like so many other returning soldiers, he married shortly after he returned stateside, and he and my Mom started a family. Four children – two boys, two girls. Nothing remarkable about the story, but everything remarkable about the man, the father, the human being.

Not a lot of money, but a lot of love.  Although he grew up in downtown Buffalo, he wanted to live in farm country. So he scratched and saved to buy a plot of land on a rural, country road. He and my uncle then built my uncle’s house, then our house themselves, since they couldn’t afford to hire someone to do so – every night after work except Fridays, and every weekend. More than just a house, it was a happy home. He worked hard, but always made time for his family. So much more I could say, but you get the sense. How fortunate I was to have my Dad as my father!

So we four kids planned this small birthday celebration for my Dad in Buffalo where he lives. He was insistent that he did NOT want a party, so we kept it small. However, a number of close friends of Trish and I have also become friends with my Dad through our annual bicycle trips – for the past three summers, my Dad and I have organized a week-long bike trip for about 15 of our friends in which we biked each day, then stayed either in a campground or a B&B each night. My Dad drove a 30 foot RV along the route, ferrying stragglers, bringing us lunch, and otherwise supporting us in every way. Yes, my Dad was 87, 88, and 89 while supporting us in a 30′ RV (he would have again this past summer if it weren’t for the Great Loop trip). So a number of the “bikers” wanted to come to Buffalo to see Hank and help celebrate his 90th. We therefore rented an RV in Boston and drove together to Buffalo for the celebration. Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Dad!  You’re the best!

So back to the Great Loop trip. Before leaving for Buffalo, we spent a few days in Fairhope, Alabama, a city about 10 miles south of Mobile on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay where the Joint Adventure is docked. Fairhope was first settled in 1894 when a group of idealists, reformers, and free thinkers left Des Moines, Iowa to start a model community. They found what they felt was a good location and declared that they had a “fair hope” of success – they therefore named their new settlement “Fairhope”. Today, Fairhope is a small, upscale, fairly prosperous tourist city with many restaurants, shops, and boutiques in a charming historic downtown district which is on the National Register of Historic Places – very different from the poor, struggling towns we visited through rural Alabama along the rivers. Here are some images from Fairhope:

I also spent a day in Mobile, exploring the city. The French founded Mobile in 1702 as the first capital of their new colony, La Louisiane – the original settlers were Acadians who were forced to leave Nova Scotia by the British. The original location of the settlement was 20 miles up the Mobile River, where they built a wooden fort. There was a dramatic need for women, however, so in 1704, twenty three women who were taken from orphanages and nunneries were sent on a ship called the Pelican to become wives of the soldiers and pioneers – they became known as the Pelican Women.

The original location of the settlement proved to be poor due to flooding and frequent outbreaks of Yellow Fever, so in 1711 the settlement was moved to its present location at the head of Mobile Bay. When the French lost the French and Indian War in 1763, they ceded Mobile and the surrounding territory (along with Quebec) to the British, and Mobile became part of British West Florida. In 1780, when the British were preoccupied with fighting the American Revolution, the Spanish took their turn – they attacked and captured Mobile. The Spanish then ceded the fort to the Americans in 1813, at which time Mobile became part of the Mississippi Territory until Alabama obtained statehood in 1819. Mobile’s growth was fueled by cotton, which was shipped down the rivers from Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee, where it was loaded onto ocean-going vessels bound for the Atlantic coast and ports in Europe. Mobile became the second leading cotton export city in the country.

Today, Mobile is a smaller cousin to New Orleans (which, by the way, wasn’t founded until 17 years after the first settlers arrived in Mobile). The city remains a major international seaport, which is the lifeblood of the city. The architecture, music, and culture are quite similar to New Orleans, although the Mobile retains its own identity.

Here are some images from my visit:

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we fly back to Mobile, then start heading east along the coast of Alabama in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, heading towards the Florida panhandle. The rivers are behind us, and a new set of challenges await us along the Gulf coast.

 

Post #34 – SALTWATER!  – Day 167 , October 18, 2014.  On board: Paul, Jim K

On Friday afternoon (October 10), as we continued south on the Tenn-Tom Waterway, we crossed the border into our last “western” state – Alabama! The marina is in the town of Pickensville, and 10 miles away is Aliceville.  Pickensville is little more than a wide spot in the road, but Aliceville is a sizable town of about 2500 people. Unfortunately, it is a very depressing town which the economy has left behind. More than half the storefronts in the downtown area are boarded up, and many of the houses are in disrepair. Like many towns we have encountered throughout the trip both in Canada and in the US, the development of strip malls, big box stores, and other retail outlets along the highways have starved the downtown areas for business.  Aliceville, however, suffers even more from a loss of population and from having few well-paying jobs. This is the soft underbelly of the rural south. Here is a sad picture of Main Street in Aliceville:

That being said, there are two truly interesting places in Aliceville, which I stumbled upon while out exploring. The first is the Aliceville Museum in downtown Aliceville. During World War II, nearly 400,000 German soldiers were imprisoned in 511 POW camps in the United States. One of the largest of these was in Aliceville, Alabama, which housed over 6,000 prisoners and employed over 1,000 American soldiers and civilians. The camp was built in just 3 months, and in June of 1943, prisoners from General Rommel’s Africa Corp arrived in Aliceville, followed by prisoners from the European theater. The museum tells the story of the camp, and it is an encouraging one: in deep contrast to the treatment which Allied prisoners endured in German and Japanese prison camps, the prisoners at Aliceville were well treated, as evidenced by the many former POW’s who have returned to Aliceville and to the museum, and by the many displays at the museum which were actually donated by former German POW’s. It is a fascinating museum with a film in which several former German POW’s are interviewed.

Pictures were not allowed inside the museum, but here are a couple of images from an area outside the museum where pictures were allowed:

The other interesting place in Aliceville was the US Montgomery, a 178 foot sternwheeler powered by steam that was built in 1925.  It was built as a “snagboat” – a specially-designed boat used to hoist from the rivers trees, logs, and other obstructions that impeded navigation- known as “snags”. This steam powered sternwheeler – a relic from earlier times – was actually used to remove snags from the rivers until 1982, when it was finally retired; at the time it was retired, it was the last sternwheeler still in operation in the south, and one of only two steam-powered work boats still in operation in the US. It is now on display and can be boarded in Aliceville, and is on the National Register of Historic Places:

One sees some unusual sights cruising along the inland rivers. Here are a couple of interesting ones, the first of which is one of the more perplexing:

Even though there was a threat of rain and scattered thunderstorms, Saturday night we opted to anchor out rather than run over 90 miles with a lock in the middle.  We anchored in a cove immediately next to the waterway – the weather stayed sunny and calm, and the night was clear and windless. Here are some images:

On our last day on the Tenn-Tom, we passed through one of the most beautiful land forms on the inland rivers, called the White Cliffs at Epes. I couldn’t resist taking many pictures, so here are several (I had trouble eliminating pictures…):

Late Saturday, we entered the last stretch of the inland route to the Gulf, called the Black River-Tombigbee Waterway.  A total of 217 miles long, it consists of the lower Tombigbee River below the junction with the Black Warrior River, which then empties into the Mobile River, which takes us to Mobile Bay. The town of Demopolis, Alabama is at the start of this stretch, then it is VERY remote until Mobile Bay – there are no towns and only one “fish camp” with dockage until Mobile.  Therefore, we provisioned for 4-5 days and planned to anchor out for at least three nights.

Here are a few images from Demopolis, another town whose downtown has been decimated by strip centers and other retail development along the highway corridor:

So as you probably know, a massive storm system passed through the midsection of the country, and especially the south, on Monday and Tuesday, bringing huge rainfalls, near-hurricane force winds, lightning, and tornadoes in some places. Knowing that it was coming, we planned our schedule to be in Demopolis, which ended up to be under a tornado watch for about 12 hours. The storm that hit us was very nasty, but fortunately for us, the worst of the storm passed slightly north of us. However, the high rainfall throughout the watersheds that drain into the Tenn-Tom and Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway, caused the water level to rise over 15 feet above normal. The result was swift currents and a resurgence of floating debris, though nothing like we experienced on the Mississippi. Here are a few images:

We stayed in Demopolis for two days due to the storm, then continued south, where we tied up at Bobby’s Fish Camp – it is quite rustic with a single dock parallel to the river, but it served us just fine.  Here are a few images:

As we continued, we arrived at our 140th lock since we left Boston – however, this was a very special lock:  it is our LAST lock until we reach the lock on the Charles River, back in Boston.  Here it is:

We stayed at two more anchorages on our final push south. Both of these were in fairly narrow creeks, so we needed a stern anchor to keep us from swinging into the banks. However, we couldn’t get the stern anchor to hold (a large aluminum Danforth anchor which proved inadequate), so we ended up with a bow anchor out, then tying the stern to a tree along the shore to hold us in place both nights.  Here are some images:

So for the first time since early May – nearly 5 1/2 months ago – we are again in salt water!  We arrived in Mobile Bay this morning – another major milestone on the Great Loop route. We have completed the inland rivers, nearly 1400 miles of waterway that is a unique experience and is the most variable section of the trip. Weather conditions, of course, affect every day on the water. However, on other segments of the trip, a weather system passes and conditions return to normal. On the inland rivers, it can be very different – the effects of a weather system can and sometimes do affect the rivers for weeks. In addition, weather systems from hundreds of miles away that you may not even know about can have a huge effect on you – such was the case when major storms dumped near-record rainfalls on Kansas City and the Upper Missouri River, causing extreme conditions for weeks on the Mississippi – just at the time that most of the Loopers (including us!) were starting to pass through, damaging many of the boats and delaying virtually everyone.  The inland rivers also include the most remote and rural sections of the trip, with long stretches (up to 250 miles) with no fuel, water, provisions, or other services, necessitating anchoring for several nights.  However, it is also one of the most rewarding sections of the trip, with unique challenges, beautiful scenery, an opportunity to see rural towns and meet wonderful and interesting people in a way that you wouldn’t any other way, and a chance to see and understand the unique role that these vital waterways have played and continue to play in the movement of goods in our economy.

So this morning, we pulled up the anchor and ran the last 15 miles through the city of Mobile and into Mobile Bay.  Here are some images:

We’ll be in Mobile for a few days to do some exploring, then we leave the boat here for a week while I go to Buffalo to help celebrate my Dad’s 90th birthday!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Post #33:  CATFISH, GRITS, BISCUITS & GRAVY, FRIED CHICKEN, AND TORNADOES – Day 158, October 9, 2014

We are in the deep south – if I didn’t know it any other way, I would know it every time I look at a restaurant menu – it is signature-south. Most of the menu items are fried. Everything can be ordered smothered in gravy. Every restaurant features catfish for dinner. Grits for breakfast. A side of biscuits covered with gravy at any meal. Big portions.

Paul requested an order of sausage biscuits with gravy for breakfast:

Everything tastes irresistibly good.  We up North turn up our noses at catfish, presumably because catfish are bottom-feeders and somewhat ugly-looking fish – but it is a light, flakey white fish, much like flounder, which are also bottom feeders and somewhat ugly-looking fish. Catfish is really good, especially when it is grilled or baked with lemon-pepper as they sometimes do it down here. However, most of the catfish is served deep-fried. In addition, the health benefits of catfish in the southern diet are often overwhelmed by the health detriments of most of the other signature-south items in the southern diet, as well as the large size of the portions. The unfortunate result is that Mississippi has the highest obesity rate in the country, and the southern states as a group have a disproportionately high level of obesity. But the food sure is good.

After weeks without rain, we finally had a major storm last Thursday night, starting around midnight. Wind, rain, near-continuous lightning flashes.  Around 2:00 AM, anyone who was asleep was awoken by a loud and prolonged siren – a tornado warning. Thinking it’s no big deal and with no real understanding of the implications, we rolled over and went back to sleep when the siren finally stopped. However, the threat became real to us the next day shortly after we arrived at a small marina in the small town of Smithville, Mississippi, just 18 miles away. We learned that, just three years ago, the owner of the marina along with 15 other residents of Smithville were killed in a tornado that virtually wiped out the town. The son of the deceased owner now runs the marina – the empty foundation of his father’s house adjacent to the marina is a sober reminder of the power of nature. The EF5 tornado (the most powerful category) passed within 100 yards of the marina, leaving only foundations in its path; miraculously, the marina was unharmed. Later in the day, we visited a hardware store in town and learned more – the store was new, as the building that had stood since the turn of the century had been leveled. Stories abounded. As the tornado approached, the owner and employees of the store took refuge in an old bank vault adjacent to the store which they used for storage. All survived. That night, we went to the local diner (the only one in town). More harrowing stories.  From a written story on the menu of the diner:

“Bobby and Melanie Edwards [owners of the diner] had been home for an afternoon break from work when the weather turned ominous. When alerts showed Smithville in the tornado’s path, the Edwards went into the basement of their church a couple of miles from their home. Bobby called the diner on the phone. ‘Shut off the gas and get into the cooler’ Bobby recalls urging waitress Brandy Holloway over the phone minutes before the EF-5 rumbled through.  The waitress said ‘You don’t understand. We have customers here’. Bobby said ‘You don’t understand. It’s going to be here in 10 minutes’. Holloway did as she was told. That made 12 more survivors.”

The diner was gone. The cooler with its mix of 12 employees and customers still stood. Bobby and Melanie rebuilt. Others weren’t so lucky. A drive through the small town revealed empty foundation after empty foundation where homes and businesses once stood.

Here are a couple of images:

From now on, if we hear a tornado siren, you can be sure we will pay attention.

Of course, much of the story of our trip is the story of the people that we meet. Everyone has their own story to tell.  I’ve told the story of some of the boaters and fellow loopers whom we’ve met.  Here are some pictures of some local people we’ve met recently in Mississippi:

 

 

 

While much of the Tenn-Tom Waterway is a wide, man-made canal, the dams at each of the locks create small lakes and wetland areas that are very beautiful. Often the channels entering the occasional marina wind through areas that are scattered with trees growing through the water or stumps from trees that have long since fallen. We planned to anchor out on Saturday night, but the wind was howling in the afternoon and we didn’t like any of the possible anchorages that we saw, particularly with the gusty winds. We therefore opted to go into the Aberdeen Marina, with a winding channel that required some focus. Here are some images from Aberdeen, Mississippi:

A few nights ago, I inadvertently left the VHF radio on and was awakened in the night by someone talking on the radio. I turned it off and went back to sleep.  However, it reminded me of the last time I left the radio on and went to bed.  We were bringing the Joint Adventure to Boston from Florida where we had purchased her, and were tied to a dock at a marina about a mile up a river from the Intracoastal Waterway in the low country of Georgia. Around 2:00 in the morning, the radio started to squawk. I was in a deep sleep, out cold;  I thought it was my alarm clock and I groped around in the dark, pushing every button I could find to turn it off. I finally woke up enough to realize it was the VHF radio, so I stumbled to the breaker panel and shut it off, then went back to bed.  Now half awake, I started to connect the dots as I lay in bed.  Could I have pressed the “DISTRESS” button on the radio?  Did I just call the Coast Guard? I sat up wondering what to do, slowly deciding I’d better turn my radio back on when suddenly my cell phone rang (remember, it was 2:00 AM). “Is this Mr. Koningisor?” Yes, it is. “This is the United States Coast Guard.  We received a distress signal from your radio and are preparing to send out a Search and Rescue mission.  Are you OK?” I sheepishly explained what had happened. Fortunately, he pretended to be somewhat understanding and just scolded me mildly. As I lay back in bed, I had visions of helicopters descending upon me next to the dock where I was safely tied, then receiving a bill from the Coast Guard for $25,000. I’m surprised I ever used the radio again.

So we spent a day in Aberdeen, Mississippi, and are now in Columbus, on the Tenn-Tom waterway 335 miles by water from Mobile, Alabama and the Gulf of Mexico.  Here are some images from our stays in Aberdeen and Columbus:

 

Sadly, my Dad and Tom left the boat yesterday to go back to the real world. I will miss them!  So Paul and I are on our own for a couple of weeks until our friend Jake joins us later in the month.  Tomorrow, we continue our march south.

Post #32 – THE MAN-SIZED TOILET STRIKES AGAIN –   Day 152, October  2, 2014.  On Board:  Tom, Paul, my Dad (Hank), Jim K

You may recall that, early in our trip, in Albany, New York, our toilet became clogged to the extent that we had to remove it completely to try to unclog it. Many boats, including this one, are built with a “compact” toilet.  Not very convenient.  So we decided that if we had to perform the somewhat unpleasant task of removing the toilet in its entirety, we would “upgrade” with a brand new, “man-sized” toilet.  Which, with the help of Dave Luciano, we did.  YYAAYY!  A brand new toilet!  No more toilet woes!  Not to be.  Earlier this week, we successfully managed to clog the new one, or so we thought. It turned out that we instead clogged the discharge hose that goes to the holding tank.  Then in the process of trying to make it work (i. e. forcing it when we really knew better), we seem to have damaged the pump on the toilet.  !#@#%&!!.  We were in southwest Tennessee – otherwise known as “The Middle of Nowhere”.  No place to buy parts.  Of course it was Friday afternoon, so parts couldn’t be shipped out until Monday, for overnight delivery on Tuesday. I’ll spare the details, but we kept moving and had the parts shipped ahead to where we would be on Tuesday.  The parts arrived, and our big-boy toilet is again functional. Among other things, we learned that you really need a toilet on a boat…

So – knowing that we had a 60 mile run and a large lock to go through on Sunday, we left early. The lock was only 9 miles from our destination, so when we arrived at the lock by 3:00 PM, we thought we were in good shape.  Not to be – a tow had just started locking up, and he was too large to fit in the lock all at once;  therefore, they had to separate the barges into two sections, lock them up separately, then re-assemble them at the top.  Four hours later – at 7:00 PM and in virtual darkness, we finally were locked through and emerged at the top. For the next hour, we picked our way 9 miles up the river in the dark, including turning the corner from the Tennessee River onto the Tenn Tom Waterway. Getting into the marina in the dark where we had never been and finding our slip was another challenge;  however, by 8:30 PM we were tied up. We were happy to be greeted by our new friends Harvey & Mary Helen on the boat “Lollygagger” (also doing the Great Loop), who quickly invited us onto their boat for a much-appreciated cocktail. We finally had a dinner of beans and applesauce at 9:30 PM.  Just another day on the water!

As are most “loopers” whom we meet, Harvey & Mary Helen are fun and interesting people. Harvey was a Virginia State Legislator for 32 years, and mesmerized us with stories from Virginia politics. We exchanged political views and all complained about one thing or another.

So we have now finished our run down the Tennessee River – a very beautiful river through mostly remote countryside. Here are some images from our final days on the Tennessee:

So we entered the Tenn-Tom Waterway, another significant milestone on our journey. The Tenn-Tom connects the Tennessee River with the Tombigbee River, cutting as much as 720 miles off the trip between various ports and creating the path we are following to the Gulf. The waterway was originally proposed by the French in the late 1700’s, followed by lobbying in 1810 by citizens of Knoxville who urged Congress to construct the waterway. However, the first engineering study wasn’t performed until 1875, when it was determined that the 43 locks needed for a 4 foot deep channel was uneconomic. Another study was done in 1913, in which it was determined that 65 locks would be required for a 6 foot deep channel – again determined to be uneconomic. Further studies were done in 1923, 1935, 1938, and 1945 (as we know, our government likes to study things…).  In 1946, Congress finally approved construction of the waterway. However, continued opposition delayed the project until President Nixon included $1 million for the project in his 1971 budget to build the waterway, and construction began. In 1977, with construction well underway, President Carter tried to stop construction;  nevertheless, Congress continued to fund the project. After spending nearly $2 billion, the Tenn-Tom was finally opened in 1985. Yes, Nixon approved $1 million for construction, and the final cost was just shy of $2 billion. Though the Tenn-Tom Waterway is relatively unknown, the enormous 243 mile project is the largest ever performed by the US Army Corp of Engineers – more earth was moved than in the construction of the entire Panama Canal!  Of course, despite all the studies, the Tenn-Tom will never be “economic”, but we’re glad it’s here – otherwise, we would be fighting the Mississippi River all the way to New Orleans!  Some images:

We used the courtesy car at the marina in Cource, Mississippi to drive to Shiloh to visit the museum and battlefield at one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. The two day battle resulted in over 23,000 casualties on both sides, finally resulting in a critical victory for the Union forces commanded by General Grant. The memorial park is enormous, as the battle raged over a large area adjacent to the Tennessee River. Here are some images:

At Shiloh, we learned more about the battle of Johnsonville and Confederate General Nathan Forrest, who, you may recall from the last blog post, successfully destroyed the entire heavily-fortified supply depot at Johnsonville with a small group of men and some artillery. It seems that, as a result of  the strategic artillery barrage by Forrest, the Union commander of the supply depot became convinced that the Confederate forces were much, much larger than they were. As a result, he ordered his own men to set fire to the supply depot and intentionally burned the $6 million worth of supplies, the remaining ships, etc. to keep them from being captured by the Confederates.  We also learned that, although we up North generally know nothing about General Forrest, he is a major hero in the South and was a huge figure during the war in the South. Below is a picture of a historical plaque at Shiloh which says it all:

Back to our trip – we reached another major milestone on Sunday as we left Tennessee and entered our 11th state – Mississippi. We are now about 450 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. There are reminders everywhere that we are well into the Bible Belt:

We arrived in the Mississippi town of Fulton, just 17 miles from the town of Tupelo, birthplace on Elvis Presley. How could we not go? The marina wouldn’t let the courtesy car go outside the Fulton town limits, so we found a local guy who agreed to take us there and back for a small “donation”. Fearing a tourist trap, my expectations for the Elvis Presley birthplace museum weren’t very high;  however, it was actually quite well done and I learned some things about Elvis that I didn’t know (which was easy, since I didn’t know anything).  Anyway, did you know that: (1) Elvis had an identical twin, who was stillborn (2) Elvis’s family lived in the poorest section of a very poor, Mississippi town during the Depression, and (3) Elvis’s father was a sharecropper and sold a pig to pay his rent. The buyer would only pay $4, but Elvis’s father was desperate.  Knowing that the pig was worth much more than $4, however, he took a pen and wrote in a “1” in front of the “4” on the check, making it $14 instead of $4. He was arrested for forgery and sentenced to 3 years in jail. He was released after 8 months, but lost his job and his house as a result. As a result, he moved the family to Memphis in pursuit of a better life, and the rest is history.

Here are some images:

One last thing from the Elvis museum – the plaque shown in the picture below was on the wall at the museum – I have no idea why. However, you may recall from an earlier post the story of Tom and Tim, the grandfather/grandson team that we met early in the trip and with whom we’ve become good friends. The name of their boat is “IF”. When I asked Tom why, he explained that he loved the poem “IF” by Rudyard Kipling. I don’t know much about poetry, but I happened to know this poem well and recited a verse by heart at the time. In any case, if you are not familiar with the poem, here it is as shown on the plaque at the Elvis museum:

Having completed our day of sightseeing, tomorrow (Friday) we continue heading south on the Tenn-Tom.