We will cruise in the Intracoastal Waterway the entire way. While the large ships are gone, the barges are still hanging around. Unfortunately, there are quite a few derelict boats. According to their website, “Latitude Margaritaville is a new portfolio of active adult communities developed by the global lifestyle brand Margaritaville and master developer Minto…
The Wharf, Orange Beach, AL to Baytowne Marina, Sandestin, FL
The first order of business, before our travels begin, is to fix our malfunctioning autopilot. The fault in the system, we theorize, is the result of a power failure which wiped its memory clean. Captain Tom hopes that restarting and recalibrating the electronics, the auto pilot capability will resume and operate correctly. While it is…
Tensaw Anchorage, AL to The Wharf, Orange Beach, AL
Mobile, Alabama, is situated on the Mobile River at the head of Mobile Bay. Its location, and the fact of it being the only deep saltwater port in Alabama, makes it a very important port in the U.S. for shipping and cargo transportation. As we navigate the Mobile River through the port area on a…
Kingfisher Bay Marina, Demopolis, AL to Tensaw River Anchorage, AL
We leave bright and early at 8am. The lines and the boat are still frozen. Ugh! We will pass through our final two locks of the “dirty dozen” today. Hooray! The first one is the Demopolis Lock. We call ahead and arrive to a green light and an open chamber. We are solo for the…
Columbus Marina, MS to Kingfisher Bay Marina, Demopolis, AL
We stayed 4 nights in Columbus, Mississippi. Each day was in the teens, with Tuesday being exceptionally bitter cold with wind chills below zero. It is so cold during our stay that the marina water starts to freeze and the marina’s water lines DO freeze. Therefore, no additional water for our tanks during our stay;…
Grand Harbor Marina, (TN or MS depending where you are in the marina) to Columbus Marina, MS
We stay several days at Grand Harbor Marina to prepare for our journey south. As the boat was winterized, we need to de winterize, fill the water tanks, and top off with diesel fuel. The water at our dock is turned off, as, like everywhere in the south, it is COLD and water lines are…
We are back and cruising! Green Turtle Bay to Grand Harbor Marina
Our final days of the 2024 boating season came early this year! In late July, we departed Green Turtle Bay and spent two long mileage days bringing the boat 300+ miles further south to Grand Harbor Marina on Pickwick Lake. We were hoping by moving the boat further south, we could avoid winterizing. In the…
Paducah, KY to Green Turtle Bay, Grand Rivers, KY
To mark this momentous occasion, we stop and change our burgees. The white one indicated we are in the process of “looping” and the gold burgee means we are officially “looped”! Once we complete our photo shoot and the high fives, we resume our journey on the Cumberland River. The first impression of the Cumberland…
Little Diversion Channel, MO to Paducah, KY
To return to the Mississippi from our hideaway anchorage, we first have to maneuver around the log dam that formed while we were sleeping. It is at Cairo, IL that we will turn off the Mississippi and head into the Ohio River. One would assume, Cairo, with its prime location at the confluence of the…
Alton, IL to Anchorage at Little Diversion Channel, MO
As there are virtually no marinas along this route of the Mississippi, we opt to make the most of the sunny day and push ourselves to the safe anchorage just outside of the city of Cape Girardeau, MO. We leave Alton behind early, at 7 am. Before we leave, we call the lock, which is…