OLD MAN RIVER - THE LAST DAYS

Friday January 23, 2009 - We pass through Baton Rouge and are that much closer to New Orleans. On any other day we would anchor for the evening. However, past mile 195 on the Mississippi River, there are no places to anchor outside of the channel. The river becomes more narrow and there are no outlets, jags, islands, nothin'. In one of our Mississippi River guides we come across Weber Marine at mile 167 - supposedly we can tie up to them. Josh calls them and arranges our evening sleepover.

Baton Rouge

One of many ships we see within and past Baton Rouge.

Will learns how to pull himself up and stand in the cockpit.

Traffic on the river.

I get us ready to tie up to Weber Marine - we figure since it is a barge, tying up will be like a lock.
Uh, it ain't like a lock.

Weber Marine is very personable, talkative and helpful. They don't charge us to stay the night - they are just south of the Sunshine Bridge and are surrounded by barge businesses. Before we goto sleep Josh comments "We are sleeping among giants."

At 11pm, the circus begins. Barges are running all around us - our boat reacts and is suppressed by our lines. The barge we are tied up to acts as a huge wall we are being thrown against. We wobble, we bop, we lunge and we duck. Josh and I remain in our sleeping bags in the forward cabin hearing the hum of oncoming barges and anticipating the next round of wakes. (Will does great and sleeps through it all - after a bout with teething pain). In the morning I comment that sleeping there was more like "being in the toy in the bath of a giant child." Although, writing about it has made me think that a toy boat in a washing machine would be a better anology. In any case, we were very happy we stayed with Weber Marine. Our last day to New Orleans was cut from an 18 hour day (110 miles) to a 12 hour day (75 miles).

The sunset at Weber Marine.

Saturday January 24th 2009 - We wake up with anticipation. It's 5:30am - and it's too dark to begin our trek. But, we are out and about by 6:30 am. Thank you Weber Marine!!

All too soon we are enclosed by fog - thick and dangerous fog. Josh uses the GPS and Radar to navigate through the river. I position myself on the bow and look for potential problems. The main problem is my visibility - 25 feet to 100 feet. Not much time to react if anything did come up. Josh is able to see oncoming barges with the Radar - this piece of equipment is completely necessary on the river, any river. We do this for 2 tense hours - and we get some nice photos.

The fog is like ribbons when it's not too thick.

Fog and sunrise.

Thick fog is disorienting.

Big ship, little tugs, smoke on the water.

New Orleans skyline!

French Quarter.

Thanks New Orleans!

After the fog had lifted, we had some really nice comfortable weather. It was fantastic and a really nice day to be out on the water. Once we got to the lock at 3:30pm it was starting to cloud up. I didn't realize it would take us so long to get through the lock and canal and into the mouth of Pontchatrain. By the time we arrived at the last lift bridge, it was 5:30 pm dark and rainy. Again, it's great to have the GPS.

Josh takes us through the storm and into Schuberts Marine. We had a little bump along the way - there is more than one way to go once we get to the inlet that services Schuberts Marine. We tie up at the Yacht club and Josh, looking like Gordons Fisherman with red foul weather gear on, has to find someone to help us. Eventually he gets someone who doesn't turn their nose up at him and we make our way to Schuberts. It is definitely a welcomed sight!! We tie up, turn off the engine, turn on the batteries, eat dinner and go to sleep. We sleep in the next morning - we wake up at 7am.

Waiting on the industrial lock. The only lock to get through on our journey to lake Pontchatrain. The 1st of 7 lift bridges we need to get under.

The Florida Bridge.

The Almonster Bridge.

After the lock and before the lake.

A ship that is part of a scrap metal yard.

OLD MAN RIVER - THE SECOND LEG

Thank goodness this week brings warm weather - and then cold weather again. Luckily we don't run into any bumps in the road. Here are some photos summing up the second leg of our trip. We are not in New Orleans yet, but we are almost there!

Monday January 19 - Will gets to play in the cockpit.

Monday January 19th - Evidence that the cold weather is not good for our cushions.

Monday January 19 - Sunset at our anchor site

Tuesday January 20 - Will in his usual getup minus a hat with earflaps.

Tuesday January 20 - We sight a styrofaom cup in the Mississippi River.

Wednesday January 21 - Power lines and our masts. Josh is now an expert in figuring out if we will clear them. I can never tell - you really loose all your depth perception on the river.

Wednesday January 21 - An example of many of the smokestacks we saw along the bank.

Wednesday January 21 - Will stands up in the cockpit.

Wednesday January 21 - For the Architects out there. Nice.

Wednesday January 21 - Birds on a log.

Thursday January 22 - Sunset at our anchor site.

Friday January 23 - Sunrise at our anchor site.

OLD MAN RIVER - ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Sunrise at Greenville Yacht Club.

Our weather window has arrived and we decide to leave Greenville on Sunday January 18th. We get up with the sun, dress for the weather, and get the boat in order. Josh starts the engine, we take off the lines and we're off. About 100 feet off the dock the engine dies.

Maybe we aren't suppose to finish this trip.

Luckily the wind is in our favor so we just float on back to our previous spot on the dock and tie up. Josh has been working on the engine all week and all week it has worked. He determines that their is no fuel getting to the engine - our culprit is a small handpump that intersects the fuel line and a fuel filter. It is a supplementary pump used to make changing the filters that much easier and quicker. But when the engine ran dry, the pump collasped on itself and a small ball within it plugged up the fuel line. So, no matter how much Josh bled the engine, this stinking little ball would rear its ugly head. With the pump removed we were on our way again - at 10 am.

The weather was nice and sunny and Will was finally able to come out of the forward cabin and play with Dad.

The wakes of the barges - can you imagine kayaking down the Mississippi with all these around you?

Josh's usual stance during the day. I think sailing is in his blood.

Sunset at our anchor site.

OLD MAN RIVER - GREENVILLE YACHT CLUB

Greenville Yacht Club is a welcome stop on the Mississippi River. The people are so sweet you think they are up to something. But they aren't, they are just nice and helpful people.

The manager of the Yacht Club drives Josh to get the alternator checked out. She offers to drive him, she didn't want us to have to use a cab. See? Just helpful people. But, we stay mainly to ourselves because we were told "you don't want to go out at night." And "I suppose you already know who to stay away from, who not to mess with." Hmmm. In any case, Greenville the city isn't much to write home about . . . sorry Greenville.

The alternator ends up working like a champ - nothing is wrong with it. Josh has to investigate the engine and the wiring more intimately. Will and I play in the forward cabin while Josh has to open up the salon to find a possible super expensive needle in a haystack. It takes a few days, but Josh determines that the wiring is at fault. The battery selector that is on the breaker panel, and a logical choice to use, is essentially wired to nothing. Essentially, we had been on both batteries since we departed Memphis and it took two nights to drain them. The battery selector we were suppose to use is tucked up underneath the bench of the nav-station. Who knew?

Josh being the Renaissance man that he is, re-wired the batteries and battery selector so that it is all logical and makes sense. Whatta guy.

So now the alternator and the batteries are talking to one another. We check the weather for the next few days and it's not good. It is cold. We are tired of cold. We decide it is best to wait for warmer weather, which is forecasted for the weekend. Since we have a few more days, Josh installs a new fuel tank, works the radar into our GPS station and works on the automatic pilot. Whatta guy.

During our down-time, we explore the city. Which doesn't take too long. However, Greenville has so much potential . . . Josh and I see a parallel to Chattanooga.

We begin to explore the city.

The Yacht Club and its docks.

The Jubilee Casino - tied up to the Yacht Club.

The Lighthouse Casino - up river.

A typical Greenville street.

A tasty and well-priced cafe. They close at 3pm though!

I take Will to the park - it's too cold to enjoy I suppose.

Will humors his Mom with a smile.

Schelben Park - up the bank from the Yacht Club . . . and next to the dumpster of the casino.

Another way to have fun in the park .

Ice on the dinghy - waiting for warmer weather is wise.

A reminder of home while on our way to the laundromat. (It was in the sidewalk).