Dec 13th & 14th Days 154 & 155

We did some shopping and were getting things ready for our trip up North for the Holidays.
The boat is secure for our time away, sure hope the weather is warmer when we return,
If you are following the blog I hope you have enjoyed the ride and we have not bored you to death. It has been quite the adventure so far for us. Some high points and some nail biting times but we have survived and are looking forward to time with family and friends before continuing or adventure. We will leave for home on the 15th at 6am with Dan taking us to the airport and return on January 4th,

WE WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

Lin & Rich
Still GoofinOff

Dec 10th,11th, 12th Days 151,152,153

Got the solid state relay at 11:30 and headed out for Pensacola. This was our first real taste of the Gulf Intercostal Waterway. It was a beautiful day and a great ride. We saw many dolphins some with baby's. They come up to the bow and you think you are going to hit them as they ride your bow wave. We were separated from the gulf by small islands of white sand(not snow). Arrived in Pensacola marina around 3pm nice marina which we will be in for a month while we go home for the holidays. Installed the relay and now the water pump shuts off when the boat is not calling for heat or air, mostly heat now.
On the 11th we said good-bye to Mitch & Carol as they headed out on their way down the coast, hopefully we will meet them again during our travels, they are from New Jersey. Picked up two new 4d batteries from Interstate under warranty. We purchased three in Canada and one went bad and the other had a low load test. The marina got them thru their dealer. They are installed and working fine. Last night the four of us went to a Christmas parade on main street which was nice. Yesterday it was in the 60's and sunny a real nice day and part of the night. Around 11pm Lin woke be to a pounding noise. It had been windy when we went to bed but now had gotten worse. I went out to see swells in the marina and water breaking over the sea wall. Went down to check on Dan and Donna and and Dan and I refendered and ran some more lines on each boat. Was real hectic for a few hours but by 2am thing calmed down. This weather is suppose to be unsettled till Tuesday.
Dec 12th Made it thru the night and finally got some sleep. Today we are doing laundry to be caught up for the holidays. We will close all the sea strainers while we will be gone, check to make sure all sump pumps are working, and put a darker cover over the front windows for sun and protection. We have our flight scheduled for 6am on the 15th and Dan is taking us to the airport as he has his friends truck while they are here. We are looking forward to the holidays and seeing family and friends after 5 months.

Lin & Rich
Pensacola, Florida

Dec 9th Day 150

Yesterday the 8th we went to the Navy Aviation Museum at the Naval Base in Pensacola. It was our 9th state but really does not count because we went by car. The museum was very interesting and we spent about 5 hours there. Went to dinner with Mitch, Carol, Dan, Donna and us. It was very good. Today Dan and I worked on changing the the wire on the dingy davit to a lighter wire to make it easier to store. We also worked on the relay for our heater . New part should be here in the am and then we will head to Pensacola where we will leave the boat for the holidays.

Lin & Rich
Orange Beach Marina, Alabama

Dec 7th & 8th Days 148 & 149

Remember Pearl Harbor and those who gave their all for all of us.
The morning of the 7th we got up to bright sunshine and cold. It was a nice morning so we decided to head out toward the Gulf Coast Intercoastal Waterway. The wind was down on the bay and the water had a light chop. We are learning new terminology for the weather and water conditions. We traveled 52.7 miles today which brings our total up to 3,197 miles. We are in the warm south but as you all know it is not that warm here now. Only gets up into the 50.s during the day and down in the 30's at night. Today during our travel we saw MANY dolphins up close. They would cross in front of us, head toward the bow, and swim along side of us, it was really nice. We stayed at the Orange Beach Marina last night and had a nice fish dinner at Tacky Jacks with other loopers we have meet. Today the 8th we are all going to Pensacola to see the Naval Air Museum and whatever else we find. Pensacola is about 20 miles from where we are. We will spend tonight here as it is suppose to be in the twenty's tonight. Where is the sunshine we traveled over 3,000 miles to enjoy. At least there is no snow yet.

Lin & Rich
Orange Beach Marina
Orange Beach, Alabama

Dec 5th & 6th Days 146 & 147

Stayed in Dog River Marina yesterday due to weather in the bay and cold temperatures. Does not look good today either so we will stay one more night at the marina and then find an anchorage on the Gulf Coast ICW tomorrow night. Might stop at Orange Beach before heading to Pensacola. Sun is shinning but it is only suppose to be in the 50's today. Colder than Lin and I expected but a lot better than the temps at home plus no snow. We did the tourist thing yesterday and will do some more today.

Lin & Rich
Dog River Marina
Mobile, Alabama

Dec 3rd, 4th Day 144, 145

This morning was not good. We woke up to logs hitting our boats. Dan had a 20' log stuck on his bow. Got that one off ok but the debris and logs just kept coming. To top it off there were no owls last night that sounded like wolfs. The only owl we heard was a regular down to earth owl sound.
Back to the debris and logs, the tide was coming in pushing all the main river debris from the storm a few days ago down the Big Bayou Canot we were anchored in. One log was caught under Dans boat we had to tie a line to it and drag it out from the bow, as we were doing that the girls got the boats running and ready to get underway. We decided we had to get out while we could.
We untied from Dan and Donna's boat as a clear spot came, we had to back away from them then go around their stern anchor chain. With Lin on the bow we started to maneuver our way out as Dan & Donna took in their anchors. We both made it out to the main river with our hearts beating a little harder. We traveled the 32 miles to the Dog River Marina just off the Mobile Bay. Our trip took us thru the Port of Mobile which is a HUGE industrial port with dry docks for tugs & barges plus many ocean going freighters. Last night we went to the Bellingrath Gardens which were just beautiful. It was an outdoor garden with millions of lights, lighted scenes, and beautiful flowers. It was hard for us northern people to see roses still budding. We probably walked around the gardens a couple of hours I hope the pictures we took come out. Today December the 4th we will catch up on laundry, resupply the boat and do boat things. It is suppose to be in the 70's today. Back home they are calling for cold, maybe snow SORRY.

Lin & Rich
Dog River Marine, Mobile Bay
Mobile, Alabama

Dec 2nd Day 143

Was foggy this morning but we were able to get underway by 8:30. The river had a lot of foam and debris which made us look at every little thing, luckily it was a short day for us. We traveled 24.4 miles and we are anchored in Big Bayou Canot off the Mobile River. There are suppose to be owls here that sound like wolfs but we have not heard them yet. Tomorrow we will head to the Dog River in Mobile Bay and stay at the Dog River Marina for a few days. Since we are Loopers and if you fuel, which we will, you get the first night free. The second night you stay they give you a $50.00 gift certificate for West Marine. Dockage is only a $1.00 per foot so how can you lose. On Saturday night there is a Christmas boat parade on the Dog Riverwhich should be interesting to see. If the fog is not bad in the morning we should reach the marina, which is 20 miles from here, by noon.

Lin & Rich
Big Bayou Canot, Alabama

Nov 29th 30th & Dec 1st Days 140, 141, 142

Up and at it at 6:30 for another long day. Lin was at the helm when we reached the 3,00 mile mark of our adventure Yahoo! Time and distance is sure going by fast. Still cold nights but hte days are warm and sunny. Went thru the Coffeeville lock a 34' drop this is our 145th lock and the last one till Southern Florida. We traveled 61.4 miles and dropped anchor in Three Rivers Lake, not really a lake. The day was rough as it was cold and rained on and off all day. There was a tornado watch for our area. Dan had a bow and stern anchor down and we were rafted to them, the anchorage was narrow. Early afternoon the storm hit with high winds which made the front anchor drag. I had our engines running as Dan & Donna's boat was over the back anchor. Lin and I maneuvered both of us back into the middle while they re anchored the bow and stern. We got a good set and the rest of the night went well. Every day we are learning a little more about what the boat can do and what we can do. We have learned more about the boat in the last 5 months than we did in the three years since we owned her. The 30th was cold and wet so we stayed on the hook for the day. Today the 30th we woke to really cold weather but got things cleaned up and were underway by 8:40. Traveled 26.3 miles and where the Tombigbee met the Alabama River it is now called the Mobile River. We are at anchor off the Mobile River on the shore side of the Tenas River. We are 39.3 miles from Mobile Bay and plan on being there on Friday.



Happy December



Lin & Rich

Tenas River Alabama