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Americas Great Loop

The Great Loop from Florida follows the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, the Hudson River, the New York Canals, the Great Lakes, then south on the Inland Rivers to the Gulf Coast and back to FL to complete the Loop. もっと詳しく

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🇺🇸 Miami, United States
Americas Great Loop 旅行者
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日226–227
2025年11月25日 8:00〜2025年11月26日
1泊
🌬 25 °C
海抜: 海水位
アメリカ Islamorada 24.966307, -80.55968524°57’59” N 80°33’35” W
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Days 50/51: Leaving the Florida Keys
11月25日〜26日, アメリカ ⋅ 🌬 25 °C
We used up a day packing, cleaning up the dodgy old apartment we'd had the use of for free, and helping Rosie with some computer and phone issues. Then the next day, I cooked bacon and eggs (to use them up), we finalised packing, turned everything off, and headed back out onto US-1 for the run up to Key Largo, off the Keys, and up to Florida City to the Everglades Alligator Farm. Rosie had found a brochure that described a bit of a zoo and airboat rides. We were there within 2 hrs, watched some gator feeding, then set off on our scheduled airboat ride (25 min, which I thought was a bit short), followed by a gator show and a walk around the gator farm.

After that, we set off for Miami and I bought us in via Old Cutler Rd, which provided a great look at some very nice homes in some very tree-lined streets. We proceeded around the city on I-95 and then out to South Beach so I could show Rosie the art-deco district and the hotels along Ocean Drive. Then it was a 30-min drive in traffic, back across the city to our hotel for the night near the airport. Tomorrow, I'll drop Rosie there--she goes on to Washington DC, NYC, Las Vegas, and SanFran--and head back to South Beach to check into my hotel for 5 nights before my own departure back to Australia.

Graeme and Lorraine and I have already 'done' Miami, so there's nothing for me to rush out and look at, apart from the beach if the weather's good. So I'm just going to swan around the hotel. And an 8-month adventure will be at an end.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 What do you call a government wildlife fund to assist the growth of the alligator population? GATORAID (hahaha...snigger)
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旅行者 V8 car engines, aviation propellors turning at the speed of sound (so they sound like a topdressing aircraft), so it's earmuffs ON and get ready to get wet! We were warned...
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旅行者 Capybaras are semi-aquatic animals, adapted to life both in water and on land. They are stocky, barrel-shaped rodents with long, shaggy brown hair, webbed feet, and a very small tail. Native to South America, they inhabit forests and wetlands from Panama to Argentina. They are highly social and known for their calm nature, often forming bonds with other animals.
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日222
2025年11月21日金曜日 1:31
🌙 22 °C
海抜: 8 m
アメリカ Hialeah 25.853901, -80.267725°51’14” N 80°16’4” W
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Day 49: Drive to Key West
11月21日, アメリカ ⋅ 🌙 22 °C
Having read the book "Last Train to Paradise", and been utterly fascinated by the the building of the extension of the Florida East Coast Railroad to Key West, and after 3 visits to Florida to stay with Milt Deno and never having gone, I've always hankered after seeing the Florida Keys.

"Proceed to Key West", said a distraught Henry Flagler when his engineers asked him what to do after a destructive hurricane. So today, we're taking the 1½-hr drive down to the 'end of the line', although we'll probably take longer than that to get there. Rosie has made chicken sandwiches for an en-route lunch, although there are about 100 cafes, bars and such on the way. But the sandwiches are delicious, we've saved money, and our inheritance beneficiaries will benefit. So, win-win.

I've made no plans re accommodation... it's too hard to make last-minute plans, and the prices--even for Key West at this 'slightly shoulder' time of the year--are excessive. So I decide to play it by ear and as we swing off the Spanish Harbor Channel Bridge onto Big Pine Key, I pull into a non-descript, paint-flaking Key West Visitor Centre (there are several on and around Key West).

We go in and find British/American 'Penny' (from Yorkshire) behind the counter. With an iPod in one ear, she swings into action and finding her is the best thing we could have done. She knows all the non-corporate accommodation houses and managers and soon finds us a two-bedroom apartment with kitchen, landscaped pool outside the door, in the Old Town, one block from Duvall St, and right at the southern end close to the 'Southern-most Point' in the USA. USD250/person/night for two nights. We're happy.

We unpack and head up Duvall St on our toes. It's 13 blocks and 1.08 miles... just enough to get our legs back in action. We're headed for the Conch Train [say 'conk', not contch] to have a prior look at the town. Penny said "Take the Conch Train, not the hop-on/hop-off trolley, the route and commentary is much better." Who were we to argue... and again, we're happy except that the driver went too fast for us to get good photos, so we determined to take the car out tomorrow and tour around for that.

Back to the Santa Maria Suites in time for the end of Happy Hour, then a shower and walk a couple of blocks to a restaurant for dinner, and it's Goodnight Irene.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 The brick wall is crooked because the original owner, Bernice Dickerson, had a local plumber and handyman build it in the late 1800s, and he used locally sourced, often uneven, materials and a free-hand style that was common at the time.
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旅行者 U.S. Route 1 is approximately 2,380 miles long, and runs from Key West, Florida, to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border.
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旅行者 "The Kapok Tree, Ceiba Pentandra (also called the Ceilba tree or Silkcotton tree) grows to 40 m (130 ft) or more. It was the sacred tree of the Mayan people who believed that souls of the dead climbed a mythical kapok whose branches reached into heaven. This is not surprising, as a kapok tree can grow 10 feet taller in a year. Kapoks are beautiful trees with wide buttresses at the base and large, flattened crowns of leaves and branches. The trees drop their leaves once a year in the dry season exposing the branches. The dropping of the leaves may lead to the opening of large bell-shape flowers, though this only happens every 5 to 10 years. The foul-smelling flowers have 5 petals and are white or pink. They open in the early evening in time to be ready for the bats to arrive. Tropical bats provide most of the pollination for the kapok tree. Cross pollination is enhanced, since only a few flowers open each evening. The branches come from the top of the tree and extend horizontally which allows them to be covered with other plants called epiphyle. Most commercial kapok comes from the Island of Java in Indonesia. It was used to make furniture, insulation, and stuffing, and was found inside some life jackets because the fibre is light-weight and water proof. During WWIl these life jackets were known as Mae Wests, because when inflated they gave the wearer a buxom silhouette similar to that of the famous actress. Unfortunately, the fiber is not usable for clothing because it is short and breaks easily so you can't make thread out of it like cotton. Kapok oil is made from the seeds of the tree and is then used to make soap. The seeds are edible and are eaten in some areas of the world such as the island of Celebes in Indonesia. The wood is soft and is called bendang locally, It is used for making dugout canoes, carvings and caskets."
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日221
2025年11月20日木曜日 0:01
🌙 22 °C
海抜: 8 m
アメリカ Miami 25.7701, -80.192825°46’12” N 80°11’34” W
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Day 48: At Islamorada
11月20日, アメリカ ⋅ 🌙 22 °C
Took Rosie to see if there were some Manatee hanging around a particular marina (nope) so continued on to Theatre of the Sea. Not bad, but seemed a bit like a 'poor man's' SeaWorld (Queensland Gold Coast). This attraction was built in an old quarry from which the builders of the Flagler railroad to Key West extracted rock. In a landscaped area, they've created a series of interconnected ponds into which--at one end-- they pump 2,000 gal of seawater each day. This filters through the ponds over a period of 6 days and returns to the ocean through the ground.

Cooked on the BBQ again, with a salad. Walked out along the 387-ft length of the apartment complex jetty to watch the nightime launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sending 29 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Well, we couldn't see the actual lift-off from down in the Keys, but from our jetty, we saw the fiery exhaust of the ascending rocket, albeit faintly, until it went through a cloud layer and, keeping track courtesy of the live commentary on our phones, we were also able to discern the faint glow of the booster, once separated, completing its arc through the night sky and falling out of sight in the far distance to seaward. Following stage separation, the first stage landed on a droneship, stationed out in the Atlantic Ocean beyond the Bahamas, and the livestream included live vision of the booster rocket landing back on the droneship. This was the 23rd flight for this particular first stage booster.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Except for the launch (and booster landing on the droneship... both being below our horizon from way-south as we were) here--in graphic form--is what we did see, faintly in the sky that evening
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日220
2025年11月19日水曜日 8:00
☀️ 23 °C
海抜: 8 m
アメリカ Hialeah 25.8539, -80.267725°51’14” N 80°16’4” W
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Day 47: At Islamorada on Plantation Key
11月19日, アメリカ ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
We're worn out after yesterday (at least, I am). A landscaping crew arrive at 0900 and commence to trim all the palm trees with a chain saw... splattered coconuts all over the car park etc. Rosie rescues a couple, but they're too green and tasteless. We drive to the local Visitor Centre and get some local info. Then its down the highway to Robbies to see the tarpon being hand-fed. Not exciting, but we stay for a drink and some conch chowder. That was worth it! Back at the apartment, we had a swim in the pool, I cranked up the sauna (dry... can't throw water on the rocks... not good) and had another dip in the pool. I cooked steak on the communal BBQ and Rosie threw some veges together.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 I did not like to see tourists throwing food to them.
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旅行者 I think I'd be able to get this going... some UHU glue and No. 8 wire. Robbies Tiki Bar
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日219
2025年11月18日火曜日 8:00
☀️ 20 °C
海抜: 8 m
アメリカ Hialeah 25.8539, -80.267725°51’14” N 80°16’4” W
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Day 46: Stuart to the Florida Keys
11月18日, アメリカ ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
This is it! The last day of my Loop adventure. We cast off at the Burr Yacht Sales marina at 0815 on another bright and calm morning, and head down the St. Lucie River for the final 8½ miles to its confluence with the Indian River/Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. At this point, I'll have achieved the whole point of the Great Loop exercise... to cross my wake.

This happens at 1030 at the famous 'crossroads', and we turn right to head the last 5 miles of my boating journey, down the Great Pocket to Peck Lake (part of Hobe Sound on the Indian River), and into the Loblolly Marina, whence we departed on 14 April. The marina staff tie us up and we're done.

I've completed America's Great Loop... 5,374 miles; 3,009 miles from Hobe Sound, Florida to Traverse City, Michigan via the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the Hudson River, the Erie Canal, and the Great Lakes (negotiating 39 Locks and taking 48 days, including a forced 2-week delay on the Hudson River), then 2,365 miles from Traverse City back to Hobe Sound via the western rivers and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (negotiating 30 Locks and taking 37 days). So, I'm a Looper and my sister Jan and brother Graeme and his wife Lorraine from NZ, and Rosie Inglis from Benalla, Victoria, are Half-Loopers. And thus, I'm twice as loopy as thry are!

Nina and Leland Louise look after the boat while Preston runs Rosie and I across to the Enterprise Car Rental agency. We have a 4½-hr drive down I-95 and US-1 to Islamorada on Plantation Key. We have 7 days to investigate the Florida Keys. Rosie will fly out from Miami on the rest of her U.S. holiday on 26 November and I'll do likewise on 1 Dec, for Dallas, and on to Melbourne.

Rosie has an old Japanese friend who--many decades ago--was sent to Florida by his employer to learn about the 'space race'. The story goes that he befriended an astronaut who owned an apartment down on Plantation Key. The Japanese chap went to stay there, liked it, and purchased it from said astronaut. Mr Japanese then returned intermittently to vacation, but has not been back for 2 years, and we get the key from a neighbour per prior arrangement. You might be able to imagine what greeted us when we opened the door, despite a very reasonable job of dusting and vacuuming done by the good neighbour.

So, the place may be pure 1971 inside, and stuffed full of household items as if he'd just moved house from Japan to here, but the kitchen works and so does one of the toilets, there are beds to sleep on and a dining table and couches in the lounge, the a/c, lighting, and hot water works too, after I flip the various circuit breakers, and there's still a bit of room in the fridge for our stuff. Importantly, there's a pool and an excellent outdoor cooking area with two gas BBQs and a large community/games room. So it'll do... it'll HAVE to do. Although it's free, I'd have preferred a hotel with every luxury, but here we are.

I just want to see the engineering that's gone into connecting these keys together, including Henry Flagler's "overseas" railroad. Rosie want's to see the wildlife, particularly the Manatee (sea cow).

The Overseas Railroad (also known as Florida Overseas Railroad, the Overseas Extension, and Flagler's Folly) was an extension of the Florida East Coast Railway down to Key West, a city located 128 miles (206 km) beyond the end of the Florida peninsula. Work on the line started in 1905 and it operated from 1912 to 1935, when it was partially destroyed by the Labor Day Hurricane. Some of the remaining infrastructure was used for the Overseas Highway on which we'll travel.

And thus endeth the big day...もっと詳しく
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旅行者Sounds like your getting far to used to luxury Ferg....great trip we've enjoyed your blogs, if a bit long winded at times😆
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旅行者I think you're confusing a WebLog with a Facebook post. But regarding luxury, my view is that you can never get too used to that. I plan on many years yet, of indulgent luxury.
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旅行者 Part of Henry Flagler's 'Overseas Railroad'. This bridge is single-track, with double-track on both sides. It also hosts the fast Brightline commuter trains. It's a chokepoint.
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日218
2025年11月17日月曜日 9:49
☀️ 23 °C
海抜: 8 m
アメリカ Hialeah 25.853901, -80.267725°51’14” N 80°16’4” W
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Day 45: Clewiston to Stuart
11月17日, アメリカ ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Today, we cast off at 0800 and head out across Lake Okeechobee; destination the Burr Yacht Sales Marina at Stuart. I'm getting awfully close to CROSSING MY WAKE!! 🤪. Tonight we will eat heartily at The Outback Steakhouse in Stuart (a brasserie well-known to some of my brethren), as Preston celebrates the completion of another successful annual transmigration from south to north and back again... and for the first time with one charter customer for the entire round trip. He has generously permitted us to celebrate with him, on his nickel. I may order some expensive wine.

We have a dream trip in dream Florida weather. Leaving Clewiston, the Lock is open and we sail straight out (as we sailed straight in yesterday). After a cruisey 2¾-hr runaway cross Lake Okeechobee [say 'Oak-a-chobee], we find the Port Mayaca Lock wide open, both ends, and we sail straight through that as well.

What then follows is a pleasant jaunt along the St. Lucie Canal, beneath a few highway bridges and through two railroad swingers that are open for us. Preston knew they would be, anyway, as he's intimately and industrially familiar with the railroad timetables around here. We wave at vessels passing us and we gaze at the riverside lifestyles, once again revealed to us.

Gradually, the vista changes to become decidedly outer-suburban until we encounter the St Lucie Lock. This is the last of 75 locks we negotiate on the Great Loop and it is the ONLY one where the Lockmaster rigidly enforces a rule to "completely shut your engine(s) down" (we do wonder what 'partially' shutting your engines down might entail). Anyways, we three vessels heading east duly do as required, and we're all lowered about 20 ft into the St. Lucie River.

In short order, we're passing riverside marine industry and we soon arrive at the Burr Yacht Sales marina where about 7 staff members are waiting to welcome Preston back and to leap aboard to handle the lines. Rosie and I have a beverage while the Burr folks all re-connect with Preston and discuss many things.

Burr Yacht Sales are the U.S. representatives for Fleming motor yachts and this marina is one of their two east coast dealership bases. The other one--at Edgewater, MD--we visited in May while heading north. Here, in Stuart, FL, it has to be said that the presentation of this Fleming agency rivals the best prestige car dealership you've ever seen. The property and its standard of presentation for the potential buyer is utterly 5-Star.

Preston gets one of the company prestige Toyota vans, and takes Rosie and I out to the Outback Steakhouse for a celebratory dinner. Preston and I have the full rack of ribs... Rosie has the two lobster tails. We all share in one of the signature 'Blooming Onion' dishes.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 . Preston describes the lake as a shallow basin like a huge saucer.
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旅行者 A sugar cane field near Clewiston is ignited behind us as we plough across Lake Okeechobee.
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旅行者 "Well, let the canefields burn. Let the flames rise. Let the politicians and the bankers in the city look up In wonder at the glow in the skies... Let the canefields burn. Let me feel no pain. When I drown my soul in whisky, and dance in the flames"
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日217
2025年11月16日日曜日 9:41
⛅ 23 °C
海抜: 8 m
アメリカ Hialeah 25.853901, -80.267725°51’14” N 80°16’4” W
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Day 44: Fort Myers to Clewiston
11月16日, アメリカ ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
[Photos to be added]
We depart the Sweetwater Marina at 0815, with Rosie passing the lines as I'm a bit injured. Yesterday, while stepping off the boat I had to reach my foot across to gain the dock and our power cable was right there, lying along the dock. It was where my foot wanted to go, so I stepped on it. Bad idea! It rolled under my flip-flop and I went down on both knees (don't tell my orthopaedic surgeon) and strained something in my upper left chest area. Rosie got the First Aid kit out and dressed my knee wounds, and I limped over to the bar for some more meaningful treatment. I spent a slightly uncomfortable night and am a bit ginger this morning.

The Caloosahatchee River is mirror-smooth on a beautiful 15C morning, and we move about 4 miles up-river to the first Lock, a minor lift of only a few feet. The river is scenic. We see landscaped residences for the monied folk and less-landscaped residences for the less-so. We see boats and docks. We see people fishing. Everything is sunny and calm. It's Florida in November, after all.

I'm familiar with Clewiston--our destination today--having come there from Lake Placid with my brother and his wife on a "Sugar Express" steam-hauled excursion train prior to commencing the northbound half of my Loop journey back on 14 April. Our railroader captain, Preston, was running the locomotive on that day--something he does regularly every year--so he's well-familiar with Clewiston.

I've lost the rest of this narrative now, twice, trying to get it done with stuff going on around me and I've not the energy to rewrite it a third time, so I'm just ending it here... unfinished. Goodnight!もっと詳しく
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旅行者 This rendition of the map by the Nebo software doesn't show that when we turn the big corner at Moore Haven, we're up against Lake Okeechobee, except that at this point, the lake is marsh, not water. When we run the 12 or so miles to Clewiston we're in a waterway that defines the southern edge of the lake. I think I added a Google Maps image in here somewhere.
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旅行者 Our first Lock for today. Only one half of the gates are working, so, after that westbound vessel is out, we manoeuver in through that same gap.
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旅行者 This vessel is a luxury charter yacht based in South Florida (primarily Miami and Hollywood) that cruises the waterways of South Florida. Formerly known as Wrecking Krew, Floridian Princess, The Grand Princess, and The Grand Floridian, this 125-foot vessel features four decks, can host parties, weddings, corporate events, and other celebrations of up to 500 guests and is certified by the United States Coast Guard for 520 passengers. The vessel cruises the waterways of South Florida, such as the Intracoastal Waterway, and offers views of the Miami city lights and Biscayne Bay. Preston believes the owner--who has a boat-building company--has it for sale but cannot sell it. The owner is PVA member Captain Winston Knauss and the company operates out of Bal Harbour, in Miami Beach, Florida.
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日216
2025年11月15日土曜日 7:46
☀️ 19 °C
海抜: 8 m
アメリカ Hialeah 25.853901, -80.267725°51’14” N 80°16’4” W
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Day 43: Venice to Fort Myers
11月15日, アメリカ ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
We're off the dock at 0700 with the help of Jack and a momentous degree of input from Rosie and I. Afterwards, our captain is sufficiently joyous that he commends us for our performance. This is not to be accepted lightly, as Preston is not instinctively given to doling out praise. We luxuriate in it for as long as we can.

Today, we'll run down offshore to the Boca Grande entrance to Charlotte Harbor and then down the Pine Island Sound (this is the GIWW) to St. James City and Cape Coral. Here, we'll turn left up the Caloosahatchee River and run through Fort Myers along the Caloosahatchee River to the our marina destination. This will be an 8-hr day.

The cruise down the coast is under clear skies and only a slightly lumpy sea. The main excitement for us is dodging the crabpot marker floats that are not painted for easy visibility and that sometimes, are almost under the bow before they're noticed. Having a crabpot line or chain sucked in by our props is not desirable!

The broad, 3-5-mile-wide, expanse of Pine Island Sound is calm and shimmers in the bright sun. It's Saturday... there are as many boats in this part of the world as there are cars, and the people and their boats are out in force.

We forge upstream on the Caloosahatchee River and finally dock at Hinkley Yacht Sales' Sweetwater Marina. The restaurant and bar is two boat-lengths away, so... 😁もっと詳しく
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旅行者 The blue triangle is an AIS return from a mega yacht called "Driller" heading north across the entrance on the GIWW.
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旅行者 The Seminole Gulf Railway (SGLR) runs into Fort Myers and crosses the Caloosahatchee River. It is a short line freight and passenger excursion railroad that operates two former CSX Transportation lines in Southwest Florida. The SGLR's main line runs south from Arcadia into Fort Myers, crossing the Caloosahatchee River via a bridge and series of trestles. The railroad has been operational in the Fort Myers area since 1904 when the original Atlantic Coast Line railroad reached the city. The bridges over the Caloosahatchee were damaged by Hurricane Ian in 2022 but were repaired and reopened in 2024.
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日215
2025年11月14日金曜日 5:29
☁️ 17 °C
海抜: 8 m
アメリカ Miami 25.7701, -80.19280225°46’12” N 80°11’34” W
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Day 42: Anna Maria Island to Venice
11月14日, アメリカ ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
I went for a 50-min walk this morning, on a beautiful, calm, day... 21C. We're in no hurry and after warning a diver who's cleaning the hull of the motor yacht moored next to us, we pull the lines and the power, and ease away from the dock at 1045. for the 45-mile run down to Venice Beach.

Not much to report, today. We run down offshore to Venice in beautiful, calm weather, dodging crabpot markers that seem to pop up ahead of us at 'short notice'. The GIWW between Anna Maria Island and Venice is apparently 'shoaly' and 'bridgy', and not for this boat (even though you can never have too many bridges!). Perhaps we'll be able to return to the inside at Boca Grande for a brief run down to Cape Coral and Fort Myers.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Seen at the marina. Dual props--sometimes called TRP (Twin Rotating Propellors)--counter-rotate and eliminate the tendency of outboard engines to 'prop-walk' in response to the torque produced.
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旅行者 Horace doesn't need a long tongue, as he's got a long neck...
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旅行者 A crisp little breeze had sprung up that worked against our docking manoeuvers. Marina staff, Jack and Rick, were on the radio to Preston and on the boat. They made short work of the process. Rosie and I had little to do except make sure these guys had access to the right lines. They were stars!
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日213
2025年11月12日水曜日 10:15
☁️ 20 °C
海抜: 8 m
アメリカ Hialeah 25.8539, -80.267725°51’14” N 80°16’4” W
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Day 40/41: Apalachicola to Tampa
11月12日, アメリカ ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
Today's the day. Actually, our run will be from Apalachicola to Anna Maria Island in Tampa Bay, not Tampa itself! The sky is clear and the wind is calm. The temp at 1000 hrs is 15C and the High here is forecast to be 19C (66F). Around noon we'll cast off and conduct a 2¾-hr voyage up Apalachicola Bay, beneath the bridge we drove over yesterday, then turn out into the Gulf for the 165-mile (266-km) crossing to Tampa Bay. Should take us about 24 hrs. Preston gives us a briefing on safety when running at night. Rule 1: Do not go outside the cabin, or pilothouse during darktime. If you go overboard, you'll never be found. Rule 2: Refer to Rule 1. Rule 3: See Rule 2.

Having decided we would all benefit from a leg-stretch before 24 hrs on board, we visit a very nice lady, Anne, who is looking after the Raney House museum today. She shows us around and knows the history backwards. What a marvellous old mansion. The family had six servants; three male and three female.... hmmmmm. The family lived here during an era in which Apalachicola was one of the largest ports by export trade (mostly lumber and cotton) on the Gulf coast.

We then repair across the street to the pop-up burger joint and get lunch (I have a fried flounder sandwich) which we take back and eat out in the cockpit. We get to work and are under way by 1315, heading out onto Apalachicola Bay for the run up to the East Pass for passage out into the Gulf of Mexico. We have over 900 gal of diesel on board (of which we'll use less than 200), our freshwater capacity is at 42% and the watermaker will have that at around 70% by the time we arrive. We have food a-plenty and the engines are running like sewing machines. We're good to go.
Some dolphin friends arrive and it's good to see them. In fact, the Apalachicola Bay is a marine ecological disaster zone. Its oyster industry--once the largest in Florida--has been completely wiped out and other species are in great danger. Why? Because of fresh water use on land and a reversal of water flows caused by the manmade waterways, some of which we've just negotiated from Mobile, cutting through watersheds. I'm glad we could see this area and I hope that steps can be taken by the state that will mitigate this crisis.

We roll on up the bay and at 1545 Preston makes the critical right turn that takes us around the shoaling and through the East Pass. A group of fishers on the shore of Dog Island wave us out of the bay and by 1615 the barrier islands are falling astern and our only company now is a pod of dolphins. We're at sea.

We head a little into a blustery wind to make a track of 145° with a 1-2 ft swell. It's comfortable and the evening closes in as we have Rosie's patented shrimp cocktails with her patented seafood sauce (Rosie shouted us 3-doz which I picked up on the wharf prior to departing).

We doze on the couch or nap on our beds and take a watch in the pilothouse. Preston has made the pilothouse bed and will take his naps there. The crossing is uneventful, the moon rises (that's good!), and the instruments show no other traffic around us.

At dawn, we're still 5 hrs out, and we have corn muffins, crispy bacon, and scrambled eggs. The tops of the tallest buildings on the Clearwater beachfront are visible, about 20 miles away on our port side. Eventually, we can see the buildings along the Gulf shore of St. Petersburg, and in due course we're in the channel and entering Tampa Bay. The bay extends away to our left beneath the 4-mile-long, cable-stayed, Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge (which has its own tragic history), but we're not going that way. We turn right and head down to our destination island and Galati's Marina inside the tight little Bimini Bay, where we tie up at 1230, after 23¼ hrs.

We're well-placed to continue into the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway tomorrow for a short day down to Venice Beach.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Scipio Creek in foreground, Apalachicola River beyond.
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旅行者 This is on Water St, just down from where we moored. No trace remains.
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旅行者 David G. Raney was a prosperous merchant from Virginia who arrived in Apalachicola in 1834. He established a successful commission company and served two terms as mayor. The Raney House was built in 1838, and is a historic landmark representing the prosperity of the era. It's now known as the Raney House Museum and is managed by the Apalachicola Area Historical Society. Three of Raney's sons served in the Confederate forces. One son, David G. Raney Jr., was a marine officer aboard the C.S.S. Tennessee and was captured at the Battle of Mobile Bay. Another son, George Pettus Raney, had a distinguished legal career, serving as Florida's Attorney General and later as Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court. The Raney House became a museum after the city purchased it in 1973, preserving the family's artifacts and offering insight into 19th-century life in Apalachicola.
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日211–214
2025年11月10日 13:33〜2025年11月13日
3泊
☁️ 28 °C
海抜: 8 m
アメリカ Miami 25.7701, -80.192825°46’12” N 80°11’34” W
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Day 38/39: At Apalachicola
11月10日〜13日, アメリカ ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
Our first morning is brisk. We awake to a fine, clear day but with a bitterly cold northwesterly wind. 8C, "feels like 4C". You can say that again! Preston has looked closely at the forecast and believes we'll be here until at least Wed, for favourable weather for our 24-hr run across Florida's 'armpit' to Tampa.

Rosie goes to explore the town. I spend several hours updating the Blog and eventually go off to do the same, subsequently gravitating to a craft beer taphouse. It's freezing cold in the wind, and warm away from it.

Our second morning (Tues) dawns the same as yesterday, but even colder. At 0845 my weather app is showing Apalachicola as being 5C ('Feels Like -2C'), expected High of 15C.

I get a local taxi (the only one) out to the airfield where the rental car agency lives. With the car safely in hand, we three (Preston comes along... thankfully) set off to explore St Georges Island and then we drive inland to Tallahassee, the state capital, where Rosie is keen to see some architecture from the 'oldendays'.

With that done, we head back to Apalachicola--buying and eating boiled peanuts on the way--then we do a last grocery shop and it's back to the boat. Then back out to the airport to return the car, our friendly taxi man back into town and Rosie and I go out for dinner, which ends up being at the Taphouse.

Tomorrow... the Gulf!もっと詳しく
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旅行者 The tidal current down Sciopo Creek has pushed this rubbish against our bow. We'll go astern off the dock so as not to need the bow thruster. Sucking this rubbish in would choke it immediately.
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旅行者 The Apalachicola & Northern Railroad may have filed for closure but not 'abandonment', which Preston tells me in the USA is a legal term. This means the railroad can leave its trackage in place (albeit overgrown and not maintained) and no-one can touch it. 20 years ago this was a main line between Port St. Joe and Tallahassee.
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旅行者 The tall building behind houses the State Governor's Office and the Florida Welcome Center Capitol (whatever than means).
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旅行者 Photo off the wall at the airport. This is a very nice wee place to stay. The historic downtown area (close to where we're moored) is full of cafes, restaurants, brewhouses, art galleries, and brick-a-brack shops.
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日210
2025年11月9日日曜日 9:01
⛅ 26 °C
海抜: 8 m
アメリカ Miami 25.7701, -80.192825°46’12” N 80°11’34” W
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Day 37: Panama City to Apalachicola
11月9日, アメリカ ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
What of Panama City and Panama City Beach? The place is known for beautiful beaches with white sand and clear water, tourism attractions, and its fishing industry. The region is also recognised for its military presence due to Tyndall Air Force Base and the Naval Support Activity Base, as well its active shipbuilding and paper mill industries.

We're off the dock at 0730. What will the weather bring today? We're expecting colder weather and perhaps even wet and windy weather to catch up with us soon. As we depart the marina in Grand Lagoon, the day is calm, 25C, and a bit humid. Today, as we head 'across country' to reconnect with the Gulf, we are wondering how long we might be delayed at Apalachicola until we can make the ocean jump across the 'armpit'. When we do, we expect to make landfall around Clearwater and go into Tampa Bay.

Anyway, back to today. Departing Panama City we head across St Andrews Bay heading for the DuPont bridge--carrying Hwy 98 to points south along the Florida coast--and into East Bay. We'll follow the meanderings of East Bay for almost 20 miles up to its head, where we enter the Gulf County Canal for a run of around 30 miles to Lake Wimico. After a 5-mile traverse of that lake, we'll enter the Jackson River for the 10-miles down to the Gulf coast at Apalachicola (no relation to Coca, and just to be survived, Preston says).

Leaving Panama City behind, our voyage along East Bay continues, with some significant changes of course, until at 1030 we're finally entering Wetappo Creek, with a few sinuous miles yet to run to the canal. The voyage along the Gulf County Canal is mostly unremarkable (but never uninteresting) and I tried not to overdo the canal photography.. Some fish are jumping, and there are a few pelicans and some other birds but that's the extent of the wildlife we're aware of.

With 3 miles to run, the canal becomes 'Searcy Creek' on our charts, and this takes us out into Lake Wimico. It's becoming more cloudy, although the temp is still 26C. The humidity is low but quite noticeable. There is a forecast 'Freeze Watch' for Port St Joe--which is down on the coast and off behind us now--for tomorrow evening. Brrrrr (in advance).

At 1410 we emerge from Searcy Creek directly onto the lake. The channel across here is be followed... no ifs or buts. I steered down the canal, but the channel across Lake Wimico is a task for El Kapitan. We exit the lake into the Jackson River (which becomes the Apalachicola River) for the final 20-odd miles to Apalachicola on the Gulf coast.

Anyways, Preston gets us safely to our mooring at the old ice-works warehouse in Scipio Creek with--it goes without saying--Rosie and I handling the lines, which we are able to hand to a helpful couple on a 44-ft TrawlerCat, who've moored ahead of us. We've seen this boat off-and-on since leaving Chicago, and the last time was on the Lock wall in the Kaskaskia River, just off the Mississippi.

Safely moored, Rosie goes off for a walk to explore the street out front of the old ice works and I go across the road to a bar where a very good solo guitarist is making mellow country music noises.

Cheeseburgers on the grill tonight.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Nebo lost cell communication for a while on the Gulf County Canal.
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旅行者 This shark-themed tour boat is known as the "Shark Boat" or "Mega Bite" and is apparently a popular attraction in the Tampa Bay, area, specifically operating out of John's Pass in Madeira Beach and Clearwater Beach. The boat is a one-of-a-kind 40-ft vessel designed to look like a shark and is used for dolphin-watching tours. The vessel is known for creating a large wake that attracts dolphins. The tours take passengers to see bottlenose dolphins and other marine life in the Gulf of Mexico.
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旅行者 Borrowed from the interweb
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日209
2025年11月8日土曜日 9:25
☁️ 19 °C
海抜: 319 m
アメリカ Atlanta 33.7485, -84.387133°44’55” N 84°23’14” W
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Day 36: Shalimar to Panama City
11月8日, アメリカ ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
At a civilised 0745, we're off the dock and moving out into Choctawhatchee Bay for a 30-mile run to its head. To the right, the Destin Bridge carrying Hwy 98 crosses from the far eastern extremity of the long, skinny Santa Rosa Island to Destin and Miramar Beach on the Point Washington State Forest 'mainland'. Ahead on the distant bay horizon, those with good ocular acuity (😄) can see the 3.6-mile Mid-Bay Toll Bridge carrying Hwy 293 across the bay. The dolphins again rendezvous with us, as we run up to 2,400 rpm for 20 min, to 'give the engines a go'.

From the Mid-bay Bridge, a further 15-mile run up the bay gets us to the three-mile-long Hwy 331 Causeway and Bridge. From the start of the Gulf ICW off Mobile Bay to Panama City, this part of Florida needs bridges to connect numerous islands and to span wide bays. As a wise person once said, you can never have too many bridges! Within a further brief 3½ miles we've run the length of Chocktawhatchee Bay and are suddenly in 'The Ditch'.

We run along the canal for its 20-mile length--meeting one barge tow--slide beneath the Hwy 79 bridge and emerge into West Bay, FL. 36 days ago we departed from West Bay (in Grand Traverse Bay) at Traverse City, MI. The weather has been sunny, around 25C (77F), and with a gentle following breeze. It increases by a knot or two in West Bay, and produces a small swell of >1 ft.

After a voyage of around 10 miles across West Bay we enter Grand Lagoon and run beneath the Hwy 98 Hathaway Bridge - about 8 miles to run to our destination, the Lighthouse Marina. Tonight we'll eat at the Grand Marlin marina restaurant... about 30 yards in front of our boat.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 The USS Pierre arrived in early November 2025 in preparation for its official commissioning ceremony on November 15, 2025, at the Port of Panama City. This event is historic as the USS Pierre is the nineteenth and final Independence-variant LCS to be constructed and commissioned into the U.S. Navy fleet. This vessel is the 19th and final Independence-variant littoral combat ship, designed for near-shore (’litoral’) operations. The ship is named to honor the citizens of Pierre, South Dakota, for their support of the military. Following the commissioning, the USS Pierre will transit to its assigned homeport in San Diego, California. An Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is powered by a combined diesel or gas turbine (CODOG) propulsion system consisting of two General Electric LM2500 gas turbines and two MTU Friedrichshafen 20V 8000 Series diesel engines. This system provides the power needed for both high-speed (40+ knots) sprints and economical, low-speed transit operations, driving four Wärtsilä waterjets for propulsion. The ship also has four diesel generators for auxiliary power and a retractable, bow-mounted azimuth thruster for enhanced maneuverability. Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) problems include mechanical and structural failures, cost overruns, and design flaws. The Independence-class has suffered from hull cracks. The program also faced significant cost escalations and delays, and the mission modules designed to give the ships flexibility proved unreliable and difficult to implement.
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日208
2025年11月7日金曜日 10:45
☀️ 18 °C
海抜: 319 m
アメリカ Atlanta 33.7485, -84.387133°44’55” N 84°23’14” W
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Day 35: Orange Beach, Al to Shalimar, Fl
11月7日, アメリカ ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
We're away from the excellent Wharf Marina before 0900 and are soon crossing the lower end of Wolf Bay. We'll then traverse the length of Bay La Launch (yes... truly, 'La Launch'!) and then Bellville Bay and the Sunset Pass canal to Big Lagoon. We'll pass the U.S. Naval Air Station Pensacola (maybe we'll get to see the Blue Angels again), then the outlet of Pensacola Bay, and we'll be into the Santa Rosa Sound for a 40-mile run before we turn up toward Ocean City and Shalimar, our destination for today.

Well, we do indeed get to see our own aerial display by the Blue Angels. As we motor along Big Bay, and through Robertson Strait into the lower end of Pensacola Bay, and past Fort Pickens Strait--an opening to the Gulf--a group of three in formation sneak up from astern and blow us away with a raucous exhaust cacaphony. After that, we're treated to a lengthy fly-around as another group join up and a couple of soloists too. It's noisy, they do a bit of smoke, and we're thankful for seeing them. "Teamwork, Professionalism, and Precision" is their motto... I'll pay that!

We continue on a broad sound, in calm, if humid, conditions. On the Gulf side, the scene along the narrow string that is Santa Rosa Island alternates between high-rise condos and sand low dunes. The dolphins visit again and take up station of varying sides for a while. The broad Santa Rosa Sound eventually narrows and requires some 'steering' as we follow the channel, still mostly in 20 ft of water.

The bridge carrying Hwy 98, the Miracle Strip Parkway, slips overhead and with that we've entered the wonderfully-named Choctawhatchee Bay. A left turn takes us up towards Shalimar and our dock for the night at the Two Georges Marina.

Yesterday, returning to the marina from Pensecola, we stopped at a church stall and bought a 'used' (probably a Halloween decoration) pumpkin. Tonight we're having homemade pumpkin soup, cold roast chook from the fridge, and hot roast veges from the air-fryer. It's all good, but the pumpkin doesn't have the same flavour profile that we're used to. Interesting.

The rain arrives as we settle down. It'll pass.もっと詳しく
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旅行者What is the first words to the Alabama song 'O Susanna '?
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旅行者"I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee"
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旅行者 I borrowed this from their website.
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日207
2025年11月6日木曜日 19:31
🌙 17 °C
海抜: 319 m
アメリカ Atlanta 33.7485, -84.387133°44’55” N 84°23’14” W
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Day 34: At Orange Beach
11月6日, アメリカ ⋅ 🌙 17 °C
So, we're not actually 'on' the beach... our marina on the ICW is a 4½-mile drive away. But you have to go through the precinct of Orange Beach to get to Pensacola. And to Pensacola we went, because I wanted to see the famed U.S. Naval Aviation Aerobatic Display Team, the "Blue Angels".

But I drove with a heavy heart. The Naval Aviation Museum on the U.S. Naval Air Station Pensacola was closed (we knew that) due to the government shutdown, and the next Blue Angels public practice session (they have several each year) would be on 15 Nov, by which time we might well have completed the Loop. As we drove up and over the Perdido Key Bridge, Rosie sings out, "There they are!". And sho-nuff... there they were... wheeling over Pensacola Bay in a classic Diamond Formation, with smoke. We only saw them for about 3 seconds. A short time later, as we drove along 292, Sorrento Rd, the jets came low across the highway, one behind the other, with gear down. They were in the pattern for landing. And that was it, not a scheduled practice session, just some practice, and we lucked onto it for 3 seconds. There was nothing left to do but go for a drive through and around Pensacola and then over the lengthy Pensalcola Bay Bridge and the Pensacola Beach Toll Bridge to Shaggys at Little Sabine Bay, for lunch. Rosie has developed a taste for Gulf shrimp which must be satisfied.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 St Louis San Francisco Railroad 1350-Class No. 1355, on display on Garden St, Pensacola, FL, was built by Alco for the SLSF as a Consolidation type (2-8-0, 1306-Class) in 1912, but was one of seven SLSF Consolidations converted to Mikado types (2-8-2) at the Frisco's main Shops in West Springfield, MO, between 1943 and 1946. Despite an almost 30% increase in overall weight (from 226,400 lbs to 225,600 lbs on the drivers), the new Mikado delivered the same tractive effort (53,355 lbs) as the original Consolidation and, like the original Consol, this coal burner has a 50.3 sq ft grate, 26" x 30" cylinders and 63" drivers. It also operated at a boiler pressure of 195 psi but has a larger firebox and an increased total heating surface. The original 1306s were assigned to freight runs on Frisco's Eastern Division, from Springfield to Monett, MO, as well as the Southern Division, Springfield to Thayer, MO. The rebuilt 1350s worked on the River Division between St. Louis, MO, and Memphis, TN, as well as the Southern Division from Amory, MS, to Pensacola. The Frisco donated No. 1355 to the City of Pensacola in 1957.
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旅行者 We were too busy eating shrimp and stuff to take photos, so I borrowed this from their website. We were there at lunchtime in the blazing sun (in the shade), but if you went there for dinner, you might well see this.
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旅行者 This old bus is parked at the pub's downtown Pensacola location. It is a unique and festive landmark for the pub and is used for local events, such as parades and races. You can see a mechanical "waving" Elvis in the driver's seat. The bus is apparently just one of many unique features of McGuire's Irish Pub, a Pensacola landmark known for its impressive collection of dollar bills stapled to the walls and ceiling and its large, themed dining rooms. I just have to return and go there! Feasting, imbibery (what a great phrase!), and debauchery. Who could resist?
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旅行者 So glad to see McGuire’s still exists! Many MANY favorable memories from time spent there … and yes they had a great atmosphere for imbibing adult bevvies!
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日206
2025年11月5日水曜日 12:24
☀️ 21 °C
海抜: 319 m
アメリカ Atlanta 33.7485, -84.387133°44’55” N 84°23’14” W
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Day 33: Dog River to Orange Beach
11月5日, アメリカ ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Today is a modest skip across Mobile Bay to enter the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. This is the next (and final) part of my Great Loop voyage. From here it'll be the GICW, and a small bit of off-shore, to Fort Myers then across the Florida Peninsula via Lake Okeechobee, and finished!. Maybe 12 days, if we're lucky.

We make a leisurely start and cruise out into the bay.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 The Mobile Bay Middle Lighthouse began operations on December 1, 1885, and Mobilians could observe a white light with red flashes every 30 seconds out in the bay. The facility was built on an iron undergirding, and both the tower and the hexagonal keeper's house it supported were patterned after lighthouses operating in Chesapeake Bay. The Mobile Bay Middle light used a Fourth Order lens, and when fog covered the bay, a bell sounded every five seconds as a fog signal. The lighthouse was automated in 1935 and deactivated in 1967. After decades of neglect, the lighthouse underwent almost $350,000 in renovations under the guidance of the Alabama Historical Commission. The original iron tower and light were replaced with a modest pole topped by a solar-powered red light.
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旅行者 If they'd answered their phone as we came down the river, we'd have stayed here for two nights
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旅行者 One Mercury 500R outboard motor costs between approximately USD72,000 and USD85,000, according to ChatGPT.
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日205
2025年11月4日火曜日 10:47
☀️ 15 °C
海抜: 319 m
アメリカ Atlanta 33.7485, -84.387133°44’55” N 84°23’14” W
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Day 32: Tensaw River anchorage to Mobile
11月4日, アメリカ ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
Just a lazy 50 miles today, down through the heart of the Port of Mobile to Alligator Bayou and the Grand Mariner Marina for a couple of nights.

It's anchor aweigh at 0730, and--with the morning mist on a crackerjack day lifting languidly off the river--we're soon pushing back out into the Mobile River for a run, with the ebbing tide, down toward the Bay. Area couple of GFBGS boats have snuck into our anchorage overnight, and they soon pass us, heading downstream to a gas station somewhere. Preston gets me to snap a quick photo of the one with 4 outboards... "Graeme'll like that one," he says.

We catch up with a downbound barge tow and slow down to let them meet an upbound tow, after which we sneak past on his 'Two', 30 ft off the bank and with 10 ft depth... but it's all done safely and we only see 10 ft for a few feet. We've been watching numerous flamingos diving and catching fish, and as we get closer to Mobile we begin to see alligators up on the muddy riverbanks, getting their cold reptilian blood warmed up. Pity they're all some distance from us, and we can only get distant shots on our phones. It's about slack water now, and those muddy banks will soon disappear.

The Mobile River brings us directly into and through the Port of Mobile, but we continue past the city and out into Mobile Bay. We're heading for a narrow inlet leading to a large estuary called Dog River. We follow the main shipping channel for a while, then cut across to our right via a side channel. The Grand Mariners Marina is just inside the inlet, and we're secured there by 1400. Preston thinks we'll have missed a golden opportunity to experience the famous culinary delights of Dauphin St if we don't go into the city for dinner. But Rosie and I decide that neither of us feels like walking the length of the street to view what restaurants have to offer, and we decide that I'll BBQ some hamburger and we'll warm some buns up and construct some 'burgers-with-the-lot', using up bits-and-pieces in the fridge. We may still get to see Dauphin St later.

We settle down to a beautifully calm and mild evening. Tomorrow will not require a departure at 'sparrow's'...もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Alabama knows that you can never have too many...
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旅行者 Tensaw River anchorage to Dog River, near Mobile... just along a bit from Rabbit Creek.
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旅行者Does Preston have to pay to use all those locks?
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旅行者No, Maurice. The state of NY provides free use of the locks and on the western rivers (which we've just completed), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages the locks and makes no charge. If there was a fee, I'd end up paying it in my charter fee.
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日204
2025年11月3日月曜日 9:21
⛅ 9 °C
海抜: 319 m
アメリカ Atlanta 33.7485, -84.387133°44’55” N 84°23’14” W
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Day 32: Bobby's to Tensaw River (anchor)
11月3日, アメリカ ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
Off the dock at Bobby's Fish Camp at 0600 and feeling our foggy way down to the Coffeeville Lock where we're into the chamber at 0630 for a 30-ft drop to tidewater, along with 6 other rec vessels.

As we depart the Lock, the rising sun commences to burn off the mist and everyone takes their positions. Two RFBGS (Run Fast Between Gas Stations) vessels overtake us, we overtake a downbound barge tow in 13 ft of water, and a couple of hardy bloopers tuck in behind us, satisfied with our intended 10 mph for the day.

We voyage on - the river wide but not particularly deep, sometimes twisting and turning madly. At midday, we're 20-odd miles from Mobile as the crow flies, but about 100 river miles. At 2:15 we meet the Alabama River, which, having joined with the Tombigbee, now becomes the Mobile River and will take us down to Mobile Bay (tomorrow).

By 3:00 pm we're at the meeting with the Tensaw River into which we all turn for our anchorage. Make mine a margarita...もっと詳しく
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旅行者 The Tensaw River--the name derived from the historic indigenous ‘Taensa’ people--is a distributary (the opposite of a ‘tributary’) of the Mobile River, about 41 miles long. It is formed as a bayou of the Mobile roughly 6 miles south of the formation of the Mobile by the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama Rivers. The Tensaw flows alongside the Mobile and Middle Rivers, with the Tensaw being the easternmost flowing river. Numerous back channels extend off the main channel. It enters Mobile Bay near Blakeley and Pinto Islands around 1.8 miles east of downtown Mobile.
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旅行者 Good old Nebo captured most of our day...
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旅行者 Hello Rosie. Did you back the only Aussie horse in the cup?
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旅行者We're not sure what the 'only' Aussie horse was. Rosie did have Half Yours for the win.
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日203
2025年11月2日日曜日 11:37
☁️ 15 °C
海抜: 319 m
アメリカ Atlanta 33.7485, -84.387133°44’55” N 84°23’14” W
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Day 31: Demopolis to Bobby's Fish Camp
11月2日, アメリカ ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
The Tenn-Tom Waterway ended yesterday as we cruised past the confluence of the Black Warrior River at Demopolis, and turned into the Kingfisher Bay Marina. From here, we'll be officially on the Tombigbee River, not the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.

Today, we're up and ready by 0500, but there's a couple of barge tows down at the Lock, so we cool our heels. The pre-dawn shows a clear sky and no fog. At 0600 we hear the Lockmaster on the radio say he's planning to tell the rec vessels (that's us... all 30-odd of us) to come down and be ready in 40 minutes. We fire up, cast off, and are #2 away from the marina and into the river. We lurk at the Lock for 30 min then, when called in, we slip through a curtain of developing river-mist, to enter the chamber as #1 on the port-side wall. We wait as a dozen following boats come in - some of them having to raft-up, including one to our starboard side.

We drop 40 ft, and once the gates open, we're off and away. This will be a long sector today, so we're running at close to 1,700 rpm to get the river behind us. Apparently, Bobby's used to have a great restaurant, but it became too much for the family and closed in 2020. But for us it is--at least--a dock to tie up to, which is preferable to anchoring.

There are two other boats at Bobby's when we arrive, and we tie up on the available dock space - half-on and half-off the dock. Two more vessels arrive after us and raft up to the other two ahead of us. We are not a good raft host, since we have an unstable mooring. The local Labrador brings his rock to me to throw, and I make the mistake of doing so. He's my mate for life, and I have I throw it 400 times before I make it back to the boat, and safety. I feel like a baseball pitcher at the end of a ballgame.

Tomorrow, we have the Coffeeville Lock, just down from the fish camp. This will drop us to tidewater... yikes, we're still more than 110 miles away from Mobile Bay!もっと詳しく
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旅行者 The birds know that little fishlets will be isolated in the pockets of the Lock gates as the water level recedes.
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旅行者 "45 North" in the lead position on the port-side wall and "Unwinding" (a big Kadey-Krogen) on the starboard side wall were both moored too far ahead to permit the gates to fully open. We were up forward in order to allow following boats to grab a pin behind us. By arrangement, the Lockmaster partly opened the gates to let the two boats that were rafted against us to cast off and go through. Then we two boats moved astern to allow the gates to be fully opened, and off we went (and Robert's your father's brother!).
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旅行者 A 3-way meet, as we'd say in the railroad business.
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日202
2025年11月1日土曜日 21:52
☁️ 11 °C
海抜: 319 m
アメリカ Atlanta 33.7485, -84.387133°44’55” N 84°23’14” W
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Day 30: At Demopolis
11月1日, アメリカ ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
Today was a 'rest' day. We got the marina courtesy car and went into town to do a food shop. Getting back to the boat and putting everything away, it was decided between Rosie and I that neither of us was sufficiently attracted to the town to go back and look around. So we stayed on board, Preston washed the boat down, Rosie went for a walk, and I attacked my over-full Inbox. Another major river in the region, the Black Warrior River, meets the Tombigbee here at Demopolis. It is the Tombigbee's major tributary. The river is named after the Mississippian paramount chief Tuskaloosa, whose name in the Muskogean language meant 'Black Warrior'.

Tomorrow, we intend for a pre-dawn departure to try and be ahead of the 30-strong blooper flotilla that is expected to depart here from 0800. So it'll be a departure in the dark and we're hoping for no fog. It'll be a 100-mile day and we'll anchor out tomorrow night. The first challenge will be the Demopolis Lock. How everything will work out tomorrow is yet to be known. Daylight Saving time reverts here tonight.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Nebo tracks our southbound October voyage. Traverse City, MI, to Demopolis, AL... call it a month.
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日201
2025年10月31日金曜日 7:55
🌙 6 °C
海抜: 319 m
アメリカ Atlanta 33.7485, -84.387133°44’55” N 84°23’14” W
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Day 29: Warsaw (anchor) to Demopolis, AL
10月31日, アメリカ ⋅ 🌙 6 °C
[Under construction]
We're up at 0630 looking for a quick getaway from anchorage... but a line of blue running lights away downriver in the darkness evidence a barge tow stopped against the bank and it's soon obvious why - there's fog down on the river. So Preston cooks sausage (not 'sausages') and biscuits, and we have another leisurely breakfast.

We finally weigh anchor at 0800, head out into the stream, and make for the Howell-Heflin Lock & Dam, as number 3 in the flotilla. Howell-Heflin drops us about 35 ft and we extricate ourselves from the floating weed and head for Demopolis.

We're looking for Jones Bluff to starboard and a shart left-hand bend in the river. This will warn us to have cameras ready for some Blogworthy scenery, unique to this place on the river.

The famed White Cliffs Of Epes [EPE-iss] hove into view as we round a sharp bend in the river. This view is an Alabama icon. We overtake a PowerCat and forge on to Demopolis and the Kingfisher Bay Marina. Having docked, I hightail it around the 1 km walk to get to the marina office to book the marina courtesy car for a grocery shop tomorrow.

I return to the boat, have a lazy but well-deserved beverage with Rosie, then we get ready for the marina Halloween Party. Sleep-in tomorrow!もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Nebo has lost contact with us for the beginning of today's run, but most of it is here.
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旅行者 And the Norfolk Southern Railroad bridge.
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旅行者 The Epes [EP-iss] cliffs are part of the Selma Chalk formations which were deposited at about the same time as England’s famous White Cliffs of Dover. They’re also a window into what Alabama was like during the time of the dinosaurs. As a matter of interest, the remains of the French-built ‘Fort Tombecbe’ are closeby. Lured by the white cliffs, the French built this in the late 1730s, as they tangled with the British and their Native American allies. It became an important, if largely forgotten, supply post for European settlers and later gave the river its name. During the 1700s the western hemisphere’s three greatest empires looked to the New World as an untapped source of wealth and power. Through trade, colonisation, and military dominance, France, England, and Spain struggled to gain a foothold in the wilds of America. By 1700, England was well-established along the Atlantic coast, and Spain held tightly to La Florida. The French controlled Canada, and a vast portion of interior North America that they named La Louisiane after Louis XIV, the Sun King. The French established forts throughout colonial Louisiane to protect their settlements, strengthen Indian alliances, and hinder English encroachment. There is perhaps no other place on the mainland of North America where colonial powers came so close together than at Fort Tombecbe, situated on a bluff overlooking the Tombigbee River.
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日200
2025年10月30日木曜日 10:40
☁️ 10 °C
海抜: 319 m
アメリカ Atlanta 33.748501, -84.387133°44’55” N 84°23’14” W
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Day 28: Columbus to Warsaw (anchor)
10月30日, アメリカ ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
Sweet Home Alabama! Lynyrd Skynyrd sings us into this section of the western rivers voyage. A leisurely breakfast indeed, then thrusting of the dock at 0800 to find that we're No. 5 of five vessels inching out through the marina entrance... we have a foot to spare under the keel. The Aberdeen Lock is right here, so we float around for 20 min before we get the green from the Lockmaster. We're No. 5 in and (after a 23-ft drop) No. 5 out, but by accord with the other captains, "45 North" takes up lead station, and we forge on at a steady 9-10 mph, Rosie at the helm. 23 miles to go to the John C. Stennis Lock & Dam.

We Lock through John Stennis with a minor delay (waiting for a Nordic Tug straggler to get themselves in behind us) and continue down-river. 28 miles to the Tom Bevill Lock & Dam and a further 32 miles to the Warsaw Cutoff, and our anchorage.

Last year, Preston tells me, there was no-one here... this year there's 4 bloopers already in the good anchorage spots. We amble around for 15 min looking for an acceptable and not-too-deep anchorage, and finally secure same.

When Preston is satisfied the anchor is holding, the instruction is, "Let the party begin." 'Finished with Engines', and we thus repair to the cockpit for (appropriately) cocktails.

We're having a chicken casserole tonight, but it's no more than we deserve...もっと詳しく
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旅行者 The vertical sticks ahead mark the shallow, skinny, channel.
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旅行者 The Montgomery” was a steam-powered vessel built in 1925 or 1926 (depending upon your source), retired in 1982, and now a floating museum. The vessel was used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to remove snags (fallen trees) from rivers to keep them clear for navigation. It is one of only two remaining steam-powered sternwheel snagboats in the United States and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989. Montgomery cleared snags and obstructions from the Coosa, Alabama, Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, Flint, Black Warrior, and Tombigbee Rivers until her retirement. After retirement, the boat underwent restoration and is now on display as a museum ship. The vessel was powered by two high-pressure non-condensing Joy-valve steam engines, built by the Charleston Drydock & Machine Company. Each engine had a 14-inch cylinder with a 72-inch stroke and produced 325 bhp, with a single Scotch marine boiler providing steam at 210 psi. The boiler burned coal when the boat was new, but after WWII she was converted to burn No. 2 diesel fuel. The engines were connected to an 18-foot diameter, 20-foot-wide stern paddlewheel. Each piston pushed a heavy crosshead along a slide attached atop the cylinder timbers (actually steel structural members that supported the cylinders and crossheads at their forward end and the paddlewheel shaft at the aft end. The crosshead and slide were unusual in that they had a curved upper surface, thought to assist in centering the action of the piston. The crosshead pushed and pulled the pitman (an overgrown connecting rod)--a feature of stern-wheelers--that turned the crank and thus the paddlewheel.
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旅行者 On the Tenn-Tom Waterway - the Tombigbee River section.
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日199
2025年10月29日水曜日 9:47
🌧 9 °C
海抜: 319 m
アメリカ Atlanta 33.7485, -84.387133°44’55” N 84°23’14” W
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Day 27: Fulton (Midway) to Columbus, MS
10月29日, アメリカ ⋅ 🌧 9 °C
No boring photos of Locks today. You've (almost) had enough. The scenery along the waterway is pretty much constant, and the industry we see is still huge heaps of woodchips and a damp, mulchy-looking shredded material.

We're still in Mississippi. On a cool morning, in the rainy darkness, Rosie helps Preston get us off the dock and away from Midway Marina. It's only a few miles down the Fulton Pool to the Lock, for a 23-foot drop (measured by Rosie from the depth scale in the chamber). Two other bloopers have gotten an early start and follow us into the chamber. We're about to drop, when our nemesis, "Perfect Seas" calls from 2 miles back and cries "wait for us". So, as we did at Whitton yesterday, we--and the others--do again.

Out of Fulton, and 15 miles to run to Wilkins Pool and the Glover Wilkins Lock & Dam. But first, we have to pass two barge tows. The second is on a curve and its captain co-operatively puts the head of his tow to the right-hand bank and holds position while we four PCs slide past on his 'One'.

A light fog drops upon us as we motor down towards Smithville and the Glover Wilkins Lock. "Perfect Seas" is perfectly positioned right with us (for a change) as we get the green from the Lockmaster and motor straight in. When the Lockmaster gets 4 calls that 4 boats are secure on the floating bollards, he sounds the horn and it's "Dive, Dive, Dive!" We dive down 24 feet. The Amory Lock & Dam (the 'Thad Cochran') is 5 miles ahead. Most of the Locks have been named to honour people, usually politicians, who've had something to do with the creation of the Waterway. In this case, the honoured person is Mrs Cochran's little boy, Thad (actually, 'William'). He was an attorney and politician who was a senator (R) for Mississippi from 1978 to 2018. He previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1973 to 1978.

Once again, we're in luck. There's nothing coming up, and the Lock is ready for us. We sail in, secure (as do our accompanying three vessels), and are dropped 23 ft.

We depart, and 4 miles later pass the confluence with the Tombigbee River. This is where the 'Canal' section of the T-T Waterway ends and the 'River' section begins. The Tombigbee River course winds sinuously through a marshy land, but the waterway cuts through the crazy curvature, and we come along Aberdeen Lake, to the Aberdeen Lock & Dam, 11 miles down from the Cochran. Again, our luck holds. The Lockmaster has the gates open and we have a green light so straight in we go.

Time for a stocktake. Today, I'm 4,460 miles into my Loop, so I'm beyond ¾ of the total distance; Hobe Sound, FL-to-Hobe Sound. The weather has been good to me/us (except for when I returned to Georgia and South Carolina in the depths of their summer... that was a challenge). I'm well, no colds or flu. Just a couple of brief bouts of hayfever. Lorraine had left me some tiny magic pills for that, that work like magic, so I'm good if it ever recurs. I've driven around 10,000 miles in Enterprise rental cars without any dramas--from sea-level to 11,000 ft asl--(so that I'm now a Gold member), except for one infringement for passing a school bus in upstate NY when it was stopped (which I cannot remember doing, but which the rental car agency paid and deducted from my credit card weeks later). My left elbow got sore and still is... maybe 'tennis elbow' (it happened while I was lifting hand weights in a hotel gym), my new knee is holding up and my other one only reminds me it's there every now and then. I've lost some weight and maybe I might lose a bit more. So, this extended trip is going well for me (taps fist against skull).

We arrive at the Columbus, MS, Marina at 1500 and get tied up in the rain with help from the marina staff. The free marina car is booked out, so we won't get to shop until we reach Demopolis, AL, in two days. But we'll make it... even if we're down to our cans of baked beans.

We'll have a more leisurely start tomorrow (and maybe a leisurely breakfast) and go 50-odd miles to anchor near a wee place called Warsaw.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Nebo lost contact for a wee while after we departed Midway Marina.
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旅行者 A zoomed-in view of our progress today. It's too bad that a Nebo view of your progress can show nothing of the geography, geology, and topography of the countryside you travel through.
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旅行者 The big one has been for sale for a number of years. No buyers.
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日198
2025年10月28日火曜日 7:00
☁️ 10 °C
海抜: 319 m
アメリカ Atlanta 33.7485, -84.387133°44’55” N 84°23’14” W
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Day 26: Grand Harbor to Fulton
10月28日, アメリカ ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
We're in the great state of Mississippi and today will be our first on the Tenn-Tom. We're off the dock around 0715 in dim light and under a leaden sky, and are soon sailing the length of Yellow Creek (more a small lake, really) to the entrance to the Tenn-Tom, in company with 3 bloopers (happy days!).

A pleasant cruise ensues, with Rosie at the helm, as we wend our way along the waterway for 24 miles between developing fall colour, to enter the top end of Bay Springs Lake. Eight miles down the lake, we encounter the Jamie L. Whitten Lock, and life gets interesting. This Lock is the highest we encounter on the entire Loop, and will drop us 81.4 ft to a continuation of the Tenn-Tom. A further 4 miles through scenic Tishomingo County and we are at the G. V. "Sonny" Montgomery Lock & Dam. As we head south, a buck is spotted swimming across the river between the vessels in our (now) 10-ship flotilla. It's behind us and I hope to get a video from someone to put here in due course (PS: this evening we meet the crew of "Slow Poke", and the lady generously promises to email a copy of the video. It is awesomely bloggable!). The captains warn each other to watch out for the animal, which makes it across and disappears into the riverside forest. A further 8½ miles--most of it along the Rankin Pool (Beaver Lake)--and we arrive at the John E. Rankin Lock & Dam. We're almost done for the day - after this Lock it's a lazy 5 miles to the Midway Marina near Fulton.

We tie up and Rosie and I go for a walk in the light rain, ending up at the marina restaurant.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 We've left the Tennessee River and are on the Tenn-Tom.
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旅行者 The primary purpose of these baffles is to reduce the velocity of the water coming from creeks and streams. This prevents the faster-moving creek water from creating dangerous turbulence and disrupting the slow-moving barge traffic on the waterway. By slowing the incoming water, the baffles cause sediment and silt to settle before reaching the main channel. This prevents shoaling, which is the accumulation of sediment that can block or shallow the waterway and disrupt navigation. Shoaling has historically been a significant issue in the Tenn-Tom. The baffles also help stabilise the banks of the waterway and the areas where the creeks enter, mitigating erosion and protecting the integrity of the constructed channel.
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旅行者 From Florida to Florida, this is the daddy of all the Locks (including the biggies on the Welland Ship Canal)... we drop just over 81 feet. That leaves 260 feet for the other 9 Locks to take us down.
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日197
2025年10月27日月曜日 10:30
🌧 11 °C
海抜: 319 m
アメリカ Atlanta 33.7485, -84.387133°44’55” N 84°23’14” W
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Day 25: Clifton, TN, to Grand Harbor, MS
10月27日, アメリカ ⋅ 🌧 11 °C
Our departure from Clifton is under leaden skies at 0745, but totally calm and the temp around 15C. It rained overnight and more is forecast for today, but we're not a sailboat and we'd rather have precip than puff.

I'm thinking about the comparison between our beautiful weather conditions here and those of the last week in Otago and Southland in New Zealand, where a gale-force storm has blacked out the entire region and caused wind-driven havoc. We hope folks have a generator, a good fuel supply for the BBQ, and plenty of candles. Hundreds of power poles are down and lots of comms are out. Here's hoping for the most expedited restoration of power possible.

We cruise south on a mirror-calm Tennessee River with little to do by gaze at the passing riverside residences and pass a couple of barge tows, one downbound and one upbound. At Pittsburgh Landing we encounter the Civil War battleground of Shiloh. Oops... I must apologise to our captain for a momentary gaffe; the 'War of Northern Aggression', I should have said.

The weather is holding and the river is glassy. We negotiate the Pickwick Lock up into Pickwick Lake, and make for Grand Harbor. A friend of Prestons arrives at the dock with the replacement glass jug for the coffee maker (that I broke in the sink a week ago) and takes us into the village for a few necessaries. I'll cook lamb chops upstairs on the grill tonight, and Rosie will do fried onions, smashed spuds and brussel sprouts.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Departing Pickwick Lock... our last major lift for the trip. It's all downhill from here to Lake Okeechobee in Florida.
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旅行者 I shot this with my iPhone looking through a binocular eyepiece. This poor heron has something stuck in its beak--possibly a fishing hook and maybe some line--which it tries to remove by rubbing it itself with a preening motion. As far as we could tell, it wasn't successful.
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旅行者 The Tennessee River is utterly epic! Its main navigable channel is 652 miles long. The navigation pool created by Kentucky Dam (where we joined the river near Paducah), which includes Kentucky Lake, extends about 184.4 miles all the way to the Pickwick Landing Dam. From the Pickwick Dam, the river is navigable for a further 468 miles through Chattanooga to just beyond Knoxville, TN. But we're not going there. We turn off Pickwick Lake and into Yellow Creek, to access the Grand Harbor Marina for the night. This is the beginning of the next sector of our journey... the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (colloquially known as the 'Tenn-Tom'), a partly man-made waterway that connects the Tennessee River here at Grand Harbor, with the Tombigbee River on which we'll run down to Mobile, AL, [say 'Mobeele'] on the Gulf (of Mexico!). This section involves navigating a series of 10 locks and dams to move between water levels. The "Divide Cut," a 29-mile canal, connects the Tennessee River and Tombigbee River watersheds. After the Tenn-Tom, we'll follow the Tombigbee and Mobile rivers south, leading directly into Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
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