Pickwick Lock Concert

Rod Harris is the skipper of the sailboat SeaDora we rafted up with in Pickwick Lock.  Rod is a musical talent agent and he was traveling with The Professor and The Bull.  Here is a link to the concert they treated us to in the lock.

http://youtu.be/oHCSbtISF-s

Marina by a dam site!

Aye Sea No Snow has made it back to Kentucky Dam Marina.  She spent the summer here last year so she is comfortable here.

We left Cuba Landing at first light.  It was a pristine and uneventful day of natural beauty.  No locks.  No crazy boaters.  No red necks!  No worries.

RR bridge north of Cuba Landing is about 22 feet above the water.  My new VHS antenna is too high so I had to pull the antenna down before I left Cuba Landing.

The Rebecca Ann needed to go under the bridge just as we arrived.

So wouldn't know it?  The bridge was open for us!

Just simple cruising with a slight current at our stern helping us set a record for mileage = 3.4 mpg!!

Papa bird returns to nest after "scaring away" big nasty boat (us).

I wonder what he is diving for??

Beautiful weather again......

Tennessee Time Share

Youngster catches one!

only passed one tow all day today

it was a great day for sailing!!!

We pulled into Kentucky Dam Marina at 4PM with a brisk wind but with the assistance of a great line handler (Christine Wold) and a couple of dock boys we got into the fuel dock and then the transient slip with no problems.

This is it for a while.  We called Fern at Hoppie's Marina and she told us "the river is arisin'" and we best set a spell.  Fern has a reputation for being a well informed mariner so we are taking her advice.  Chris and I are going to drive down to Demopolis tomorrow, then drive the Honda back to Minnesota arriving Thursday night.

Chris is willing to come back later in June to help try to get Aye Sea No Snow up to St. Paul and Melissa can take some time after she completes her theatrical performance (White Bear Theater June 7, 8, 9, 14, 15 and 16th).  That would be really great if they both joined me.....maybe we can even get Kerm to take some time off and "run the river" with us.

A big thank you to Chris!!  She has been the ultimate crew.  It made the journey a breeze and the conversation on the fly bridge was always enlightening or amusing.  Kerm Wold is a lucky man and I need to also thank him as it was his suggestion that Chris take this cruise.

Stay tuned........................................

What a day on the river

We were up at first light.  We had to go 90 miles and get through the Pickwick Lock which can take a while.

We fired motors at 5:56 and pulled out of the marina at 6:01.  Beautiful morning.  A sailboat had pulled out just ahead of us.  We caught up to the sailboat, SeaDora, half way to the lock.

SeaDora

There was a tow ahead of us but Pickwick has two chambers so I thought no big deal.  I was about to learn they only use one chamber at a time so we would have to wait for the tow to lock through.  On top of that, the tow had so many barges he had to make two trips up and down with his load.

AND, the lockmaster informs us they only have one working bullard so if the sailboat wants to go through with us we have to raft up.  That's no problem.  I motor over to the sailboat and the skipper is very friendly and we agree to raft up for the decent.

The lockmaster was doing us a favor because there was another tow waiting downstream to lock up and she could have made us wait for that tow also.  But it must have been my Minnesota Nice accent and she agreed to let us through but we had to be quick.

Being quick was no problem as we had arrived at the lock at 7AM and got out of the lock at 11AM.  I'm sure glad my daughter Rachael was not with us.....though it was beautiful out so she would have gotten a lot of sun while we drifted around waiting.

Now here is the best part.........we raft up while waiting, motor in rafted up, tie off and we are all set to descend.  The skipper of the sailboat is so grateful he tells us the two guys with him are musicians and asks if we want a mini concert.  SURE!  So we were treated to "The Professor and the Bull" on the way down.  What a hoot!  The Professor plays guitar and sings and the Bull plays the washboard.  They were really good and I have a video to prove it (I may have to wait until I get back to town to upload it with Josh's help).

Rod Harris, skipper of SeaDora

So the lock opens and off we go.  We are already trying to figure out where we are going to stop because of the 4 hour delay.  We head down stream and we are flying!  We have a 3 knot current at our stern and we are making time.  In the end we made it the full 90 miles to Cuba Landing Marina just at sunset.

We saw some interesting things along the  way.

Memorial Day Flight

The river is very high!

Flags flying high!

Paddle board dude came out to visit while we were waiting for the lock.

River Po Po

Beer Party

Kids always have the most fun!

Lots of current!!!

Hmmmmmm, maybe I don't want to go for a swim just now!!!

This is one of those days we will remember forever and again it's a bummer that Melissa and Kerm are not here on board.  At least we can share the pictures with y'all!

And look what I spotted less then one mile from Cuba Landing.  These guys were having a great time riding in the river.  What do you think, Melissa?  Maybe I can motor and you can ride the shore like these guys??

We will be at it first thing tomorrow as we have 100 miles to go but no locks so we don't have to push if we get an early start.

Another Beautiful Day on the River

Leaving Smithville Marina

We feel bad for all of you back in Minnesota as we are experiencing fantastic weather.  Warm, sunny, light breeze.

The day started out with a pristine motor north of Smithville.  This town was hit hard by a tornado two years ago and they are rebuilding.

Melissa.  Melissa!  Where are you Melissa!!!!!!

We got to the first lock at 9AM and whistled right through.  Then three more in sequence of an hour each.

Whitten Lock

Only had one boat lock through with us

S/V Dragon Slayer

Whitten Lock is the last one for today and the highest lift.  When you pull out of Whitten you enter Bay Springs Lake.  The serenity of the day disappeared with Americana holiday celebration on the waterway.

After Bay Springs you enter a man made cut that is normally boring but there were lots of recreational activities all along the cut.

Then when you Yellow Creek another onslaught of recreational boating slammed us.  Crazy I tell you, Crazy!

We fueled up at Grand Harbor Marina and my new fuel treatment, XP3 has increased my mileage by 10%....very excited about that!

Saw lots of birds today.

Also saw an interesting house

After we fueled and tied up at Grand Harbor Marina,  I treated Chris to dinner at Broken Spoke Restaurant as Missy and I had discovered it on our previous trips.  Chris deserves a big reward for not only crewing on this journey but for all the work she has done cleaning up the stainless railing on the boat so dinner was the least I could do.

We stopped for a few provisions on the way back and then returned to live music in the marina.  Yuk!

We have a long day planned tomorrow, 100 miles to Cuba Landing so we are leaving at first light.

Happy Memorial Day everyone.....stay safe!