Trip Statistics
Today is November 16 and we are currently at a marina in Demopolis, Alabama,
on the Tenn-Tom Waterway
Trip statistics: August 8, 2008 from Cheboygan, Michigan to
November 9, 2008 at Pickwick Lake on the Tenn-Tom Waterway,
Northeastern Mississippi
Trip statistics: August 8, 2008 from Cheboygan, Michigan to
November 9, 2008 at Pickwick Lake on the Tenn-Tom Waterway,
Northeastern Mississippi
Total days: 93
Total nights:
In a marina: 68
At anchor: 16
Nights tied up to a free dock or wall: 5
Other nights: 2@ home and 2@ hotel
Total miles traveled: 1,819
Total nights:
In a marina: 68
At anchor: 16
Nights tied up to a free dock or wall: 5
Other nights: 2@ home and 2@ hotel
Total miles traveled: 1,819
Total fuel purchased: 423 gallons diesel
Price of fuel: Lowest $2.69/gal. at Aberdeen, MS Highest $4.50 at Grafton, IL
Laundry costs: $93
Linda’s favorite meal to date:
Cajun shrimp and cheese grits, Harvey’s Restaurant, Tupelo, Mississippi
Charlie’s favorite meal to date:
Fried Chicken at Aberdeen Marina, Aberdeen, Mississippi
Weight gain: Don’t have a clue and don’t want to know
Number of happy hours: At least 80
Weather: Past six weeks - mostly sunny days in mid 60's; nights in the 40's or 50’s. This week’s forecast for eastern Mississippi and western Alabama: nights in lower 30’s and days high of 50.
Biggest surprise: Cold weather this far south
Finding a way to watch MSU football on a boat or at a bar/restaurant: priceless!
(Go MSU –beat Penn. State November 22)
Laundry costs: $93
Linda’s favorite meal to date:
Cajun shrimp and cheese grits, Harvey’s Restaurant, Tupelo, Mississippi
Charlie’s favorite meal to date:
Fried Chicken at Aberdeen Marina, Aberdeen, Mississippi
Weight gain: Don’t have a clue and don’t want to know
Number of happy hours: At least 80
Weather: Past six weeks - mostly sunny days in mid 60's; nights in the 40's or 50’s. This week’s forecast for eastern Mississippi and western Alabama: nights in lower 30’s and days high of 50.
Biggest surprise: Cold weather this far south
Finding a way to watch MSU football on a boat or at a bar/restaurant: priceless!
(Go MSU –beat Penn. State November 22)
Life on the Water
When we wrote the first two postings on this blog last summer, we explained to all of you the events that lead up to how our Great Loop trip became a reality for us. Leaving Cheboygan, Michigan on August 8, and taking a year long boat trip seeing the eastern United States by water was way too big of an event for us to imagine. To leave our home and not see family and friends for an extended time was difficult to accept. Our children were very supportive. My mother made me feel the best, though, when she said to just go and enjoy it. ‘If not now, then when?” were some of her words and she also states that the best days of her and Dad’s married life was during retirement when they traveled. (after we four kids finally left the house)
Now we know that it is good to just take one day at a time and the trip doesn’t seem too overwhelming. Charlie and I are now approaching our 100th day on the water and cannot believe how fast the time has gone. We wake up every day excited to go to another new place; always feeling so fortunate to be living our dream. And we can’t thank you all enough for reading our blog. Keeping the blog going is a challenge at times but it certainly makes us feel a little closer to you by getting the information out there.
We knew about the waters of upper Lake Huron before we left and got acquainted with the many faces of Lake Michigan as we headed south on it to Chicago. Now, we are about to leave the Midwest river system for the salt water on the Gulf; getting there in about a week. We thought perhaps before the ocean, it might be fun to give our readers a look at what it is like for us - living on the water.
We have learned how to navigate rivers, go through locks, and talk to tow boat operators.
Deciding on our timetable and checking the weather, either on TV or internet or marine radio, we know how to factor in how far we want to go each day, the most economical fuel usage vs. speed of our boat and how much time it will take to get to our destination. We understand better the several kinds of chart books and we know a bit more about following weather patterns. We have learned to handle our boat in many different docking configurations and we know how long we can be out on the water with the sun and wind and how long it will take to get to our daily destination without being too tired to be of any good when we stop for the night. (Speed x time = distance.) On the rivers, we factor in possible holdups at the locks and the speed of the currents on how long it might take.
When we are underway, we most generally sitting at the upper station (helm) under a protective canvas enclosure called a bimini. It is comfortable and dry and we can see far down the water. In inclement weather, we can choose to steer the boat inside at the lower helm as well.
Both stations have a duplicate set of instruments where we set our course for the day by putting specific computer software chips into a computer called a chart plotter. We have computer chips for all the waterways for the entire trip. We set up our course each day on the computer and constantly read the screen. The chart plotter shows us many things and has a GPS (Global Positioning System) so we constantly know exactly where we are. An auto pilot steers the boat and keeps us on our course until we make a change. There are many gages that tell us such things as water depth, fuel usages, engine hours, etc.
Besides the electronic charts, we also read our paper charts to follow up with more details. On the river systems our books look entirely different; showing us every mile as we go along. At both stations we have a marine radio that is on all the time, broadcasting information to us from other people on the water. We talk to marinas either by cell phone or as we get closer, by radio, to make a reservations.
For marina nights, we check out our preferred port of call ahead in our books to see what is offered and what we need to do while we are there, like getting fuel, pump out, buying groceries, doing laundry, or site seeing. (Sorry to say our extent of shopping has been very limited; mostly to Walmart with a courtesy van from our marinas.) Being in more populated areas could mean we may have a better chance to communicate on our cell phones and get the internet. Marinas like reservations over the phone; luckily we do not need to call ahead very far in advance, (unless we happen to be traveling with several boats) and then when we arrive, Charlie talks to them on the marine radio; listening to the harbormasters’ instructions how to come in and where to tie up.
When we get to our marina, we get out our electrical lines and plug them to our outlets on the boat and into the outlet on our dock, giving us 110 volt electricity. Our electrical panel in the main cabin has two columns at 30 amps each for 110 volt direct current. Once all set up with shore power, we can turn on either heat or air conditioning, hot water heater, TV, coffee maker, lights, microwave, stove, etc.
There is one column on the panel that always runs off of the 12 volt battery. Some things always use power to run from the 12 volt battery, such as the toilet (the head), the fresh water pump, the stereo, and some of the cabin lights. While anchoring or cruising, we can turn the 8000 watt generator on and get the 110 watt power. The generator makes some noise and we generally only run it if we need to such as briefly for heat or to cook with. We actually prefer anchoring many times to docking and look forward to “roughing it” off the beaten path. The refrigerator runs off of either the 110 volt or the 12 volt.
Freedom’s Turn has a 350 hp caterpillar single engine with two main or house batteries. These two batteries and the generator battery all get continuously charged while the engine is running.
We have one holding tank with our toilet (the head) that holds 40 gallons of waste. We can go about one week on a pump out while anchoring and longer if we use marina restrooms. Pump out stations are found at mostly all marinas.
For our water usage for drinking, cooking or showers, we have two 70 gallon water tanks on board. If we do not want to take water out of our water tanks, we can hook up our drinking water hose directly from the dock to our water inlet.
Freedom’s Turn has a capacity of holding 300 gallons of diesel fuel. We try to keep at least 100 gallons at all times. We generally get about 3-4 miles per gallon.
Our boat’s dimensions are 39 ft in overall length and 14.5 ft on the beam. (the largest width on the side) Besides the main cabin where the kitchen area is (the galley) and the sofa, TV area are (the salon), we have a master stateroom, a guest stateroom and the head. And that is it. Besides the outside upper helm area, we live in an area on the inside of about the size of a room measuring 10 by 20!
We communicate with our world back home and to others by the internet and our cell phones. If there are towers nearby, the cell phones actually work better on water then on land. But coverage can be sparse in low population areas. The air card which plugs into our laptop computer works about the same; coverage is dependent on the area. Some marinas have free wi-fi but generally we just use our card. When we have signal, there is a scramble to send emails, publish the blog, and pay bills on line. Sometimes it is a week before we can do all of those things!
By now, we are both accustomed to our roles and do our jobs smoothly. On any morning as we begin to go, I am mostly down below in the main cabin, securing the lockers and drawers, and making sure everything is put away that is necessary for safe cruising. I feel like a stewardess getting the plane ready to take off, securing everything on the boat I can for safe cruising. I only wish I could tell someone about the fun adventure that is in store for them!
Everywhere we go we meet so many people that share with us the excitement of seeing our great country. Sometimes families come down to the docks with their children and point out our boat and explain to them what we are doing. People are always kind and helpful. We collect boat cards from all the boaters we meet so we can keep track of them.
Life on the water so far, has been very agreeable, with us, for the most part. We feel healthier and more grounded and centered then we ever had. We have to work hard at making it good. We respect each other’s differences and for the most part do whatever we can to make it better for the other person. I guess we can say that the mutual respect goes a long way to having so much in common. It actually makes things quite simple.
The new places we prepare for and think of each day as we wake up make our life on the water almost bigger than life itself. Now if all of you could just come to us for mini vacations so we would not miss you so much, we would have it made.
A special hello to the folks at the Meridian Senior Center back home. I heard some of you read our blog and that’s just great.
Take care until next time. Some advice from us to anyone out there might be: live more simply, more deliberately, and you will find out more about yourself. It has been a liberating experience for us.
Linda and Charlie
When we wrote the first two postings on this blog last summer, we explained to all of you the events that lead up to how our Great Loop trip became a reality for us. Leaving Cheboygan, Michigan on August 8, and taking a year long boat trip seeing the eastern United States by water was way too big of an event for us to imagine. To leave our home and not see family and friends for an extended time was difficult to accept. Our children were very supportive. My mother made me feel the best, though, when she said to just go and enjoy it. ‘If not now, then when?” were some of her words and she also states that the best days of her and Dad’s married life was during retirement when they traveled. (after we four kids finally left the house)
Now we know that it is good to just take one day at a time and the trip doesn’t seem too overwhelming. Charlie and I are now approaching our 100th day on the water and cannot believe how fast the time has gone. We wake up every day excited to go to another new place; always feeling so fortunate to be living our dream. And we can’t thank you all enough for reading our blog. Keeping the blog going is a challenge at times but it certainly makes us feel a little closer to you by getting the information out there.
We knew about the waters of upper Lake Huron before we left and got acquainted with the many faces of Lake Michigan as we headed south on it to Chicago. Now, we are about to leave the Midwest river system for the salt water on the Gulf; getting there in about a week. We thought perhaps before the ocean, it might be fun to give our readers a look at what it is like for us - living on the water.
We have learned how to navigate rivers, go through locks, and talk to tow boat operators.
Deciding on our timetable and checking the weather, either on TV or internet or marine radio, we know how to factor in how far we want to go each day, the most economical fuel usage vs. speed of our boat and how much time it will take to get to our destination. We understand better the several kinds of chart books and we know a bit more about following weather patterns. We have learned to handle our boat in many different docking configurations and we know how long we can be out on the water with the sun and wind and how long it will take to get to our daily destination without being too tired to be of any good when we stop for the night. (Speed x time = distance.) On the rivers, we factor in possible holdups at the locks and the speed of the currents on how long it might take.
When we are underway, we most generally sitting at the upper station (helm) under a protective canvas enclosure called a bimini. It is comfortable and dry and we can see far down the water. In inclement weather, we can choose to steer the boat inside at the lower helm as well.
Both stations have a duplicate set of instruments where we set our course for the day by putting specific computer software chips into a computer called a chart plotter. We have computer chips for all the waterways for the entire trip. We set up our course each day on the computer and constantly read the screen. The chart plotter shows us many things and has a GPS (Global Positioning System) so we constantly know exactly where we are. An auto pilot steers the boat and keeps us on our course until we make a change. There are many gages that tell us such things as water depth, fuel usages, engine hours, etc.
Besides the electronic charts, we also read our paper charts to follow up with more details. On the river systems our books look entirely different; showing us every mile as we go along. At both stations we have a marine radio that is on all the time, broadcasting information to us from other people on the water. We talk to marinas either by cell phone or as we get closer, by radio, to make a reservations.
For marina nights, we check out our preferred port of call ahead in our books to see what is offered and what we need to do while we are there, like getting fuel, pump out, buying groceries, doing laundry, or site seeing. (Sorry to say our extent of shopping has been very limited; mostly to Walmart with a courtesy van from our marinas.) Being in more populated areas could mean we may have a better chance to communicate on our cell phones and get the internet. Marinas like reservations over the phone; luckily we do not need to call ahead very far in advance, (unless we happen to be traveling with several boats) and then when we arrive, Charlie talks to them on the marine radio; listening to the harbormasters’ instructions how to come in and where to tie up.
When we get to our marina, we get out our electrical lines and plug them to our outlets on the boat and into the outlet on our dock, giving us 110 volt electricity. Our electrical panel in the main cabin has two columns at 30 amps each for 110 volt direct current. Once all set up with shore power, we can turn on either heat or air conditioning, hot water heater, TV, coffee maker, lights, microwave, stove, etc.
There is one column on the panel that always runs off of the 12 volt battery. Some things always use power to run from the 12 volt battery, such as the toilet (the head), the fresh water pump, the stereo, and some of the cabin lights. While anchoring or cruising, we can turn the 8000 watt generator on and get the 110 watt power. The generator makes some noise and we generally only run it if we need to such as briefly for heat or to cook with. We actually prefer anchoring many times to docking and look forward to “roughing it” off the beaten path. The refrigerator runs off of either the 110 volt or the 12 volt.
Freedom’s Turn has a 350 hp caterpillar single engine with two main or house batteries. These two batteries and the generator battery all get continuously charged while the engine is running.
We have one holding tank with our toilet (the head) that holds 40 gallons of waste. We can go about one week on a pump out while anchoring and longer if we use marina restrooms. Pump out stations are found at mostly all marinas.
For our water usage for drinking, cooking or showers, we have two 70 gallon water tanks on board. If we do not want to take water out of our water tanks, we can hook up our drinking water hose directly from the dock to our water inlet.
Freedom’s Turn has a capacity of holding 300 gallons of diesel fuel. We try to keep at least 100 gallons at all times. We generally get about 3-4 miles per gallon.
Our boat’s dimensions are 39 ft in overall length and 14.5 ft on the beam. (the largest width on the side) Besides the main cabin where the kitchen area is (the galley) and the sofa, TV area are (the salon), we have a master stateroom, a guest stateroom and the head. And that is it. Besides the outside upper helm area, we live in an area on the inside of about the size of a room measuring 10 by 20!
We communicate with our world back home and to others by the internet and our cell phones. If there are towers nearby, the cell phones actually work better on water then on land. But coverage can be sparse in low population areas. The air card which plugs into our laptop computer works about the same; coverage is dependent on the area. Some marinas have free wi-fi but generally we just use our card. When we have signal, there is a scramble to send emails, publish the blog, and pay bills on line. Sometimes it is a week before we can do all of those things!
By now, we are both accustomed to our roles and do our jobs smoothly. On any morning as we begin to go, I am mostly down below in the main cabin, securing the lockers and drawers, and making sure everything is put away that is necessary for safe cruising. I feel like a stewardess getting the plane ready to take off, securing everything on the boat I can for safe cruising. I only wish I could tell someone about the fun adventure that is in store for them!
Everywhere we go we meet so many people that share with us the excitement of seeing our great country. Sometimes families come down to the docks with their children and point out our boat and explain to them what we are doing. People are always kind and helpful. We collect boat cards from all the boaters we meet so we can keep track of them.
Life on the water so far, has been very agreeable, with us, for the most part. We feel healthier and more grounded and centered then we ever had. We have to work hard at making it good. We respect each other’s differences and for the most part do whatever we can to make it better for the other person. I guess we can say that the mutual respect goes a long way to having so much in common. It actually makes things quite simple.
The new places we prepare for and think of each day as we wake up make our life on the water almost bigger than life itself. Now if all of you could just come to us for mini vacations so we would not miss you so much, we would have it made.
A special hello to the folks at the Meridian Senior Center back home. I heard some of you read our blog and that’s just great.
Take care until next time. Some advice from us to anyone out there might be: live more simply, more deliberately, and you will find out more about yourself. It has been a liberating experience for us.
Linda and Charlie
