Time....

This week catches me working part time at a welding shop as the owner takes a week off and my job is to sit in his office chair and answer phone and do a few other odds and ends . Nothing hard,I'm not a welder and before I retired I rented space here at the shop to park my equipment and still have that space rented to store our 5th wheel and truck and it's where I do repair work on our vehicles. Tomorrow is oil change day on my old Mercury villager (314000 miles) and later next week I'll load the C Dory on the trailer and service it ,clean it , and get it loaded for the trip to Kentucky (here at the shop) and the destination is ' Traces on the Cumberland' where I'll stock it with food ,they will help me launch, and the Cumberland run will start. The canvas has been repaired, the door now straightened and plexiglass put in so 'Bobcat' is ready to go. Some time near the end of June ,Diamond Sea Glass in Canada will build the new door and ship,but for now she is as ship shape as she needs to be and mother Cumberland is calling! I still have not learned how to post a picture but when I do I'll place a picture of the boat and I hope to be able to write every day on the boat and place pictures of the travel. I don't have a smart phone and I'm hoping I can transfer pictures from the iPad to the post as I can do that now when I email someone. I've been able to do a lot of short cruises as the River here ( Mississippi) while still at flood is dropping and has been pretty clean with 'trash' so short evening rides have been doable. As the 'Bob' is kept on a hoist, in a covered dock and I live only 7 miles from my Marina ,it's easy to go after I close the shop this week and take a run. It's full moon time of the month and as the River here makes a sharp bend and actually runs from the west to east , you can see the sun setting upstream and the moon coming up downstream. Water  under a full moon makes for a visual ' nite camp' ! It's ( full moon) a short time each month when a evening cruise is a real 'mood'  calming time. For now......out

And the plan goes on.....

It's all just a dream, ain't it ? That's just so much of the fun....the plan! Mines on hold ,somewhat,the tornado and damage to my boat have put me on hold...but it's gettin better. The Bimini is torn but if the local canvas people can't repair it before I want to leave ,the top is still livable and I'll just deal with it. Now the real stopable damage is the cabin door. It's a mess ,BUT I've contacted the manufacture in British Columbia ,Canada and it can be replaced just takes 6-8 weeks to deliver. Ok ,in the meantime the door frame is somewhat able to be straightened and a temporary ( plexiglass) window can be installed and the door remounted and that makes the cabin secure ( bugs) and I can plan to go. Time is screwed up with all this so I'll have to move departure back till mid June and at that time it mite not doable to do the upper reaches of the Cumberland as the lake level on the Cumberland lake mite already be drawn down and the river levels too shallow ,below the dam,for my draft . BUT from Celina,Tn. down the river is doable year round so maybe I can't do quite as far but I can do the navigable Cumberland . I've received so much help from 'Traces on the Cumberland ' and a chart from them on the upper reaches and depths and can't thank them enough. When I'm ready to leave I'll sure contact them to see if the upper river is doable,their Marina facility is on the river and they know!The storm sure squashed my spirits but a few days,and looking into repairs, time frame , temporary repairs , and the sudden realization that it's all still doable have me all fired up .I'm dreaming of a nite hanging on the hook, a little rum,gentile motion of the boat swinging on the hook,and the quiet.......it's the plan!Sure wish I knew how to place a picture on here ,would love to put a shot of her (the boat Bobcat) so you knew what I'm on! So maybe you don't care ! Oh well ... Nite ...Jim

What plan!

So much has happened.Replaced the jabsco pump and seals ($80) the John works great, new batteries are doing fine ,weather here is crap! Been raining raining ... So son told me about some Marina changes at a Marina we used 25 years ago so decided on a gloomy Saturday to drive there 20-25 miles and look. Called him to discuss what's goin on and why son and I thought they mite be doing the 'improvements' and what a boring day this was and son suggested ( the 25 C Dory ) is all enclosed  why I didn't just go for a ride ? Seemed like a good idea so I went to where ' bobcat' sits on its hoist under a roofed dock ,dropped it and went for a short cruise. Now realize I relish trawler speed ( 4-8mph) and away I went on our muddy Mississippi up stream thru a cut ( breakfast chute ) to us locals but Bolter Chute on the army corps of engineers chart then a gentile turn east ( River here for a short spurt runs west to east) ,throttle back as now I had River current on my beam and down I went at 1500rpm 8+ mph ,nobody else out , great ride , time to just think ( dream) plan ( more dreams) and enjoy the occasional eagle ,other wildlife and solitude. Rainy days have a advantage for that. All Is good ! Needed to be home by 4 so cut short my cruise and turned thru the 522 island cut and headed back up the dardenne slough to my Marina ,( Lake Center Marina umr224) and watched the weather turning..........a quick storm was developing and I thought I had plenty of time to reach my dock and be done. As I got closers I realized it was gonna be close and picked up a little rpm and as I turned into my Marina the wind ( breeze) had suddenly died and made for the idle in easier.........then BAM noise , docks moving , stuff flying and silence! All in maybe 45 seconds, but what a mess ,boats drifting ,massive dock wreckage and debris everywhere and the Marina channel suddenly blocked by a whole long dock with cruisers still in their slips drifting across and colliding with the docks on other side of channel blocking my way and boats drifting every way all around me. Did a 360 and headed to a open 'safe' spot and tied boat to a 'courtesy' dock and then awled by the wreckage got ......' scared ! No one hurt ,rainy day had kept boaters home, my Bimini top is torn and the glass door into cabin shattered and bent but ....that's it! Wanted to write about the good info I got from the Marina in Kentucky' 'Traces On The Cumberland 'about launching ,River levels, a 'chart' available and storage for the truck etc. But all is now on hold as I need to repair the damage to the'Bob' and to top it all off weather wise the rain is now causing flooding and my Marina will soon ( tomorrow next day) be unreachable as road will flood . So the boats alone till water goes down and I'm on hold...but it just means making plan changes... And ... Parts ...to replace those broke . It's not the destination ...the journey ! The Cumberland is still the dream...till next time....Jim

Bobcat swims upstream

Hello out there ! Almost the end of April 2017 and I'm gonna try to learn to be a blogger. I'm 72, slow learner and my patience sometimes overwhelms me when I goof on this iPad . I want to blog about my River travels and since I first tried this a few years ago ( and gave up) I've travelled the Illinois to Chicago and back ,the full length of the Tennessee and this year I'm planning on doing the Cumberland River from its upper end of navigation at Celina,Tn down to the confluence ,the Ohio River. Last year I did the Tennessee starting at Knoxville,Tn. and  going down to the Ohio and up it to Smithland and pulling the boat out at Golconda,I'll. marina and trucking back to my home port on the Mississippi River ( umr224). So a little about my boat and me. The boats a 25' C Dory powered by two 90 hp Honda's.I pull it with a 4x4 F -250 ford.Last year my wife and I and 13 lbs.of dog named 'buddy' did the Tennessee . Because of Buddy we watched the chart for public ramps and docks for Buddy potty stops and every night went to Marina's so both we and him could exit the boat for showers and relief. This year wife has other obligations and I will do the Cumberland by myself as 'Buddy' loves her the most and will stay home with her. The good side of that is that I will be able to 'hang on the hook' and not have to be at a Marina every night.The dory has a small but useable head (bathroom) and a spray shower and a water heater.So while I plan to stay at marina's like every other day and when I need to grocery shop, I can get by just staying on the boat. I'll sleep in the forward cutty cabin and I have a gen, micro wave and a small ( think dorm room fridge) fridge on board ,the fridge runs off a 2000 watt inverter. If it turns really warm the boat also has a roof A/C as long as I'm plugged in to shore power.Running the gen to run the a/c is to loud when at anchor but if I'm underway I could run the gen to run the A/C but that would be really unusual . One day last year on the Tennessee we took a side trip down the TennTom in Mississippi on a very hot July day and ran the gen a/c then. But in May I don't think that will be any problem. Half the fun of the trip is the planning . The Cumberland has a dam ,Wolf Creek ,that has no lock so while I could start right below the dam and run the whole River I've learned that the river is to shallow for a boat with my draft ( depth of water I need to float in without hitting bottom), if there are any non boaters out there that explanation is for you.So the last Marina is at mm332(Granville Marina) that I can launch at,leave the tow rig, and motor up to the head of navigation at mm381 and then turn and slowly motor down the Cumberland.I say slowly as I like to run at trawler speed 6-9 mph and observe the countryside and wildlife and life! I'll pass thru 4 lock&dams ,one of them(Cordell Hull lock& dam) is so seldom used by commercial traffic that they require calling a day before to schedule meeting you there and lockage thru. River travel is a 'Adventure' for sure.A little bit of river term talk might be necessary here in case a reader is not a boater. River length is measured in miles with mile '0' being at the point where the River runs into the next River or the ocean! Mile '0' on the Mississippi is down in New Orleans at the gulf .As you start up the Mississippi River the miles start adding ,at the confluence with the Ohio River the mm (mile marker) is 950 ! So the Cumberland starts at mile 0 where it runs into the Ohio and as you travel up the River the miles add. The first dam after leaving the Ohio is the Barkley lock at mm31 . So River travel way back when was mostly downstream with the current,so your thinking canoes were paddled both ways but think about commerce. Way back before the steam engine commodities were shipped down the river on flat boats and then the flat boat was sold for lumber etc. As such ,as most River travel was headed down the river the 'banks' were referred to as the right or left descending bank ,and the mm were 'high' at the point of origin. Hope I'm clear to you! So I'm gonna start at mm381 the head of navigation at Celina,Tn.and travel down the river 381 miles to the confluence with the Ohio. As I watch the charts ( maps on water are called charts) if the chart shows a Marina on the right that means the right bank headed down! I now have a confirmation from the Marina on storing the truck so I'll travel there ,launch ,plug the shore power in and start the fridge.While its cooling down I'll drive to a grocery store and get provisions about a week to 10 days worth as the fridge is small and the little freezer can handle only so much...( TV dinners are a big part ) as the cooking gene passed over me! I'm gonna try to insert a picture of my boat so you have a better idea of me and it!Well I told you I'm a little slow,on a email I can insert a picture but it's not working the same on this blog . If I learn I'll put it in. Until next time ,Jim on the 'Bobcat'