It's Christmastime in the city

Bradenton is a great place to begin the Christmas celebration; there's always something going on, and the city has a huge display right by the marina. The farmer's market on Saturday mornings is a fun place to browse and see the gorgeous produce along with local crafts and junque. Saturday the 12th was Winter Wonderland, with snow slides for the kids, booths for everyone, and a pirate Santa!

Poor Old Judy, Admiral of Optimystique, finally arrived back in Bradenton after an extended visit with her Mom in Crossville. Hopefully William will start behaving again now that she's back. Ray and Delilah West (Sundancer) also arrived in Bradenton on the 12th, so we quickly commandeered their shrimp boat for a boat parade viewing spot. John and Susan Tokarz (Alchemy), friends we met on our first cruise and spent time with in the Bahamas, joined us for the evening too. We toasted the arrival of Judy and the Wests, and as an extra treat Delilah played the keyboard (standard equipment on shrimp boats) for Christmas carols.

Monday the 14th was departure date for our trip to Tennessee for the holidays. We nearly smothered in our cold weather clothes (it was nearing 80 in the morning), but had a safe and uneventful trip over the river and through the woods. We're on the farm now in Maryville, waiting for all the relatives to gather for the Christmas weekend and hoping to see some local friends while we're here.

Bradentucky

Bradenton is a beautiful little town, and we just happen to have a great tour guide, food critic, and taxi driver. William has been here long enough to know almost everyone and every place, and the guy knows his restaurants! We love Twin Dolphin Marina, which is has all the amenities -- great clean showers, swimming pool and hot tub, good restaurant with specials every night and bands, beautiful Christmas decorations just outside the gates, and a great staff and nice residents. What more could you need?

We had a good surprise this weekend; cruising friends Lee and Susan Laningham are searching for a boat and ended up in the area for the weekend. We had a mini reunion and dined far too much (notice William chowing down at the Cortez Kitchen). We visited the St. Pete boat show courtesy of William and Whiteaker Yacht Sales, and stayed for the Latitudes and Attitudes party afterward featuring free drinks and pizza and a great band (Eric Stone). Imagine our surprise when we saw Jim from Freedom and Tom and Deb from Heart's Desire, boats we'd traveled with on the Tenn-Tom and crossed the gulf with to Clearwater. Sometimes your wakes cross again sooner than you think they might.

Another surprise -- William was having breakfast across the Manatee River and ran into Jeff Richard (at picnic table by pool with Lee and Susan), who was in the area for training. We cruised back to TN two years ago with Jeff and his wife Elizabeth; they now reside in Tennessee with their new baby Daniel.

We lunched with Paul and Gail Carroll (featured in previous adventures in Clearwater) and Pat and Kat Chadwick, friends we met in Marathon four years ago and then ran into again in the Bahamas two years ago....my, how time flies! Lee and Susan and William joined in, and a good time was had by all (even though it turned from a balmy day into a chilly one on the terrace of the Reef and Grille). It seems cruising friends are better about staying in touch than other friends; maybe we just need to keep up with others' adventures.

Clearwater....and now Bradenton

Clearwater is one of our favorite stops, and we weren't disappointed. William Mayberry, a boating friend of over 30 years and cruising companion on our last trip, drove up from Bradenton to take us to lunch at the world famous Frenchy's. William's second favorite thing in the whole world is a fried grouper sandwich and a cold beer (or two), and Frenchy's is definitely the place for that...delicious! William and Jay discussed the weather predictions, and it began to look like Tuesday was departure day.

Monday evening, friends Paul and Gail Carroll (s/v Puffin; we met in Marathon 4 years ago) took us to their home for a wonderful dinner, evening, and visit. We always enjoy their company, and wish they'd cruise with us. Paul and Jay looked at the weather predictions too, and it was decided...Bradenton on Tuesday (where we'll leave the boat when we return to TN for the holidays).

William is in Bradenton, having lived on his boat there for two years with his lovely wife Poor Old Judy. He arranged a wonderful slip for us...right beside him! It's a great marina (Twin Dolphin), and we look forward to exploring Bradenton before we head back to Tennessee.

Clearwater!

After an easy crossing (no storms, no bumps in the night), we arrived in Clearwater Sunday afternoon to stay at Clearwater Yacht Club. We've stayed here several times before, and the people and accommodations have always been great. It's about 75-80 degrees, sunny, and to Jay's delight there's a keg on the deck of the club! Thanks to a new member campaign, there were lots of folks around having BBQ, and even Jason the Balloon Guy! He was udderly amazing, even for the bigger (older) kids.

The owl and the pussycat went to sea

Goodbye Apalachicola at sunrise Saturday; it was a perfect time (but not quite enough wind to sail the whole time -- it was a motor sail instead). For those who think of the crossing as a romantic, quiet interlude after chugging down the river systems, it goes pretty much like this:

Every statement is answered by "whaaat?", since we've been riding sidesaddle on a Perkins diesel for 30 hours and the only sound that would pierce our eardrums is a crazed chihuahua. Meals are dicey, because if the seas are rolling the cook has to plant feet apart against the cabinets and prepare food as quickly as possible before either the food or the cook slide off somewhere else (picture Richard Simmons on crack). Any venture outside the cockpit means wearing a lifejacket and hooking onto the jacklines, to insure that if you get knocked off the boat by a rogue wave you will thump against the outside of the boat forever afterward to remind the passenger on board to pull you in (a reason to behave as well as possible at all times). Fashion is very important, with costumes remaining in place for about two days and one night. Preparations must be made for cold weather during your watch, so socks may need to be added to the costume, which always makes a bold fashion statement with boat shoes.

On the other hand, the almost-full moon will glisten silver against a sea which looks like chiseled onyx, with whispers of waves against the boat. Dolphins will escort you in groups of two or three, close enough to the boat that you can hear the puffs of air when they breathe. Other boats will be ahead and behind you at times, with only their lights visible in the night. Occasionally a song will come on the radio by Enya, Sara McLachlin, or Chris Botti. When the moon goes down, it looks like a giant pumpkin sliding into an infinity pool. The combination gives you God moments of such beauty and peace that you can't even describe them.

But socks and boat shoes still look dorky, even in a beautiful pea green boat..

Apalachicola for Thanksgiving

Our crossing was good, and we made it into an anchorage in Apalachicola mid-afternoon. We anchored here on our return two years ago, but didn't go into town. This time we went into Scipio Creek Marina for the second night, and headed into what turns out to be a charming town. There are lots of kitschy shops, as in any renovated/restored town, but also lots of history and interesting places. We've sampled the local seafood, and had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Caroline's on the river (scallops over grits and crayfish tails over eggplant!! -- Jay got his oysters Friday at Papa Joe's at the marina). We took the historic walking trail on Thanksgiving day and were graciously invited into a beautiful inn (Coombs House) which has been restored from its construction in 1905. Almost all of the homes and businesses are original structures (renovated somewhat, of course), and it's a nice town to stroll around. Santa Claus arrived on a shrimp boat today (Friday), the huge tree lighting was at the city dock (we're trying to hit one each week till Christmas), a tree festival was in an old museum and an open house was in another. The town was lit up with decorations and luminaries, musicians were playing randomly on corners, and carolers were strolling all over town. Our pictures were too dark to do the lights or tree justice (may have to break down and read those camera directions after all). That's the recreation before we leave early tomorrow morning for another offshore overnight crossing to Clearwater before bad weather hits again Sunday night.

Down the chute into the sea

After a wonderful visit at Fairhope Yacht Club (don't miss stopping there when you head south), we're nearing the sea. We passed Lulu's (Jimmy Buffett's sister's restaurant in Gulf Shores, AL) -- didn't stop this time because we were heading for an anchorage to ride out some nasty weather (that the locals said rivaled or surpassed Ida). The anchorage, in Igram's Bayou, was perfect and had dolphins playing all around the boat. The dolphins that didn't welcome us into Mobile Bay did escort us out (do they remember us??), and it was a good day for travel. After two days on the hook with rains and winds, we traveled a long distance today (about a mile) to Orange Beach. We called Jim and Cindy McKay (top photo), old friends from Blue Springs who are wintering in Orange Beach, to arrange a happy hour or dinner. They arrived at the boat with Ray and Delilah West (middle photo), also from Blue Springs, to meet and greet. After using their truck to reprovision, we spent a nice evening happy houring on Ray and Delilah's boat Sundancer and eating big burgers at The Keg (an Orange Beach legend) with Jim and Cindy. It's always nice to reconnect with friends, especially in beach locations! Tomorrow morning early we leave for an overnight offshore crossing to Apalachicola, where we'll spend Thanksgiving and wait for good weather for another overnight crossing to Clearwater.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We meant to be gone by now, but the wind and weather forecasts kept us in limbo. Good thing, because we got to attend the annual Fairhope Christmas Tree Lighting on Thursday. We planned to walk the mile or two to and from the lighting ceremony, but met Gary at the Fairhope Yacht Club on our way out and he graciously offered to drive us to and from. His son was playing trombone in the Fairhope High School band at the lighting. It was beautiful; there were children in butterfly costumes and Santa hats, there were people strolling around, there was music from the choral society and the band, there were young ladies in antebellum costumes, there was a collection for the local Food Bank.....and the lights were amazing. Fairhope has beautiful flowers all year, and the plantings are changed by season, usually overnight (and published in the visitor's brochures with a listing of all the flowers); the lighting was no less ambitious, and there were so many lights on so many trees -- it was a wonderland. We've seen so many small/old harbor towns that have revived the old city with shops, and many have failed to thrive due either to location or the economy. Fairhope is NOT one of them! We walked around the city on a week day and it was crowded all day, both shops and restaurants. We're so glad!

Fairhope, Alabama -- a great place to be!

We moved to Fairhope Yacht Club on Sunday, a place we visited in 2005 on our first journey. We loved Fairhope (both the city and the yacht club), and were disappointed in 2007 on our return trip when the yacht club was under construction from hurricane Katrina's damage. The club has been rebuilt, and is a beautiful facility. We were invited to join a cruiser's pot luck dinner on Monday and met lots of very friendly members (with lots of cruising stories and lots of good food). Several members stopped by the boat to offer cars, any assistance we might need, and friendship. One couple, David and Mary, not only invited us to the cruiser's potluck; they also invited us to their home for dinner (and when you invite a cruiser to dinner you have to pick them up at the marina, feed them, then take them back to the marina). We plan to revisit Fairhope, and we also hope to stay in touch with some of the very friendly members and cruisers we met.

Is that salt water?????

Friday...big day...end of the waterway and into Mobile Bay!! Salt water, beach birds, sand between your toes; everything but the dolphin escort we got last time (it was a little warmer then). We passed the huge shipping docks, cruise ship ports, and putted right into the bay like we'd been there all along. We're now at Eastern Shore Marina in Fairhope, Alabama, a town we learned to love on our first trip. We arrived at the marina mid-afternoon, and within 30 minutes had been invited by two sailors at the marina to join them for a beach bonfire at sunset. We thoroughly enjoyed the Mobile skyline in the background, the fire on the beach, the gorgeous black lab Maggie, the good new best friends Larry and Tom, and the roasted hot dogs and Tom's "sand grill" ribs. Does this beat working or WHAT??

Back to the business of heading south

Thursday was a wonderful day to peek out of Three Rivers and see what awaited us. There was a very strong current, and the water had risen some, but traveling was fine (as long as you follow the channel markers!?!) and the scenery was wonderful. The waterway widened enough to look more like a lake than a canal, and everything had been thoroughly scrubbed and blown dry by the past few days' weather. We found another very nice anchorage 12 miles north of the end of the waterway, and shared it with two other sailboats we had traveled with sporadically along the way. The shoreline looks like Tennessee (nice green trees) with a smattering of South Carolina or Georgia (lots of Spanish moss) and Florida (small palms), and I keep looking for a pet alligator.

If Ida known this would happen........

All day Sunday, marine radios are crackling with news of Ida's sweep to the northeast, with landfall predicted right smack in Mobile Bay, sending shock waves all up the Tenn-Tom. There were no marinas close enough (and protected enough) to reach in time, so we headed for Three Rivers anchorage, a beautiful place to hide with Omega. There were 6 boats anchored for several days (from Sunday to Thursday), and thankfully no damage and no injuries. Ida settled down, although the winds and rain were heavy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and winds and currents were still strong Thursday. The waterway was flooded above Demopoulis lock, and lots of boaters were (and still are) stranded there. Lots of current, flotsam, wind, and rain, but much less severe than predicted and we were never in danger.

Tootling down the Tenn-Tom

Locking through and moving south, visited Columbus Marina (very nice), Pirates Marina Cove (lots of rescued puppies to enjoy!), and Demopoulis harbor (lots of tugs refueling). On the way there were beautiful rock bluffs, some very nice (and some not so nice) homes, and in one yard a phone booth! Just south of Demopoulis harbor, in the Demopoulis lock, we tied up behind our friends on Omega, whom we hadn't seen since Lee Spry Marina (home of the famous bottom job). We rafted together for an anchorage that night and enjoyed getting reacquainted over dinner. Saturday morning was exciting, because during the night we had drifted closer to shore and Omega was aground. Bill called at 6 a.m. to let us know, so we scrambled up, untied and retied, and pulled him out further. It was too foggy to leave yet, so we just dropped another hook and joined them for breakfast (in pajamas). When the fog cleared we enjoyed another sunny day on the way to Bobby's Fish Camp. We enjoyed a catfish dinner there to the point of gluttony, then hit the sack. Sunday morning started very early too, however, since we heard on the radio that Coffeeville Lock (the last of the famous Tenn-Tom 12 and the total of 18 since we left) would be closed for minor repairs in the morning. They waited for us to make the short trip, and we made it through just in time....to start preparing for Ida's imminent arrival....

Leaning toward better days...

Sunday was quite an adventure. We planned to stop at Aberdeen Marina, since it would be dark early and we don't exactly speed along. The cruise guide showed 6-8' channels into the marina, but cruisers were reporting 4.5'. With a draft of exactly 6', we opted for an anchorage across the waterway which the cruise guide reported as having 10-12' draft in the entrance. Aberdeen Lock was temporarily closed for minor electrical repairs, so we had very little choice. Unfortunately, shoals, wind and current conspired to lodge us firmly in the mud, with less than 6' underneath our NEWLY PAINTED BOTTOM!! The lockmaster at Aberdeen saw our predicament and called the US Coast Guard Auxiliary to help us. Two kind gentlemen arrived within the hour, and after much spinning and pulling, we floated again. Thankfully, by then the lock was operable and we managed to find a wonderful anchorage with 20' of water and a full moon and get the hook down just before dark.

Now, about those pina coladas and sunsets........

The Tenn-Tom in all its glory

Three of the twelve locks are under our belts (keel), and we're sharing the waterway with lots of Great Loopers returning to their home ports after completing the circle (around Florida, up the east coast, west through Canada and the Great Lakes, south down the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, to the Tennessee River and the Tenn-Tom to Mobile and on back to Florida). There was a rally at Joe Wheeler Dam and Marina last weekend, so there's a lot of traffic from trawlers and cruisers.

We also share (or they share with us) the waterway with tugboats, pushboats and barges (this is the Diane Siegel), since this is a major commercial waterway. The operators of both the commercial boats and the locks are very courteous and helpful, and we sincerely hope all pleasure boaters will be the same.

For those who think the waterway is a long and boring ditch, this is our third trip on it in three different seasons, and it's still gorgeous!

Wet again and on the way!

The red grit is almost out of our ears, teeth, eyelashes, etc., and we've been splashed and are on our way again. Lee Spry is a wonderful working marina, with a great staff and owners. This was our second visit there, and we highly recommend it. We met some new best friends, Bill and Charlotte on Omega, who were also sanding, patching, and polishing their teeth with blue instead of red (he looks like Darth Vader and Papa Smurf). After sharing the courtesy truck for a final trip to Lowe's, we had a goodbye dinner on Omega.

Working, working....

Sanding done, painting done (except for where the pads are to hold her up on the hard), most buffing done.....where are the sunsets and pina coladas? Where are the sandy beaches? The lobster?

I've been tricked again!!