Day 39
Well, we are 40 days on the river so far. Today was supposed to be a beautiful day, and it was sunny skies and about 60 degrees. Tabbie got us invited to a dinner party at the marina restaurant with some of the other transient boaters (both of the ones we anchored out with a few nights ago, and one other). Something to look forward to!
The marina we are staying at also has services to fuel Tow boats (Barges). While Tabbie was out yesterday on her bike ride, Grant struck a conversation up with the dock master, and was able to persuade them to allow us to take a tour of a Tow boat once a good one came in for fuel. Today, one just happened to be there, and we got the invite! One of the crew took us around to see the engine room, the kitchen, the sleeping quarters, and the bridge. Tabbie was very impressed with the kitchen, and we found out that there is usually between 6 and 8 people on board at any given time, and they rotate the cooking duties… The crew is 20 days on, 10 days off, and this particular boat hauls coal between Mobile and Birmingham. During the pit stop the Tow took on 25,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and 650 gallons of lubricating oil alone! The propellers on this boat are 8 feet 6 inches in diameter!
The boat needed a pump out so we had to go over to the gas dock to get this done, and on the way back to the slip, Grant decided he was ready to try and back the boat in! Oh, boy, here we go! Fortunately a few others saw what we were trying to do, and came over to help out. All in all, it wasn’t a bad attempt, and we had it backed in. With a little more practice, Grant should have it down no problem!! (We hope!)
Grant then decided it would be good to start sanding… He bought a new toy (Black & Decker hand sander) a couple weeks ago, and went to work on fixing the damaged trim that the TV caused when it fell. After that, he wasn’t done with the sander, so he started striping the bench to get it ready to varnish.
We went to dinner with the three other transient boats at 6:30, and had a great meal and conversation with some folks that have done the great loop, and others that have ventured along both the West and East coasts. Well, I guess we are the rookies!! Grant learned a few more pointers about anchoring out, and some more hints about the gulf coast. Tabbie had a nice chat with the ladies who gave her some good pointers on how to keep things tied down in the boat, the locations of some nice quaint shopping areas, and restaurants that we want to make sure we don’t miss. These ladies also passed out their “cards” with a picture of their boat, website and email addresses. Everyone seems to have their own website. Shelly, who is on the boat Trust Me with Jim, has endless amounts of great information. She and her husband make this trip every year and actually go all the way to the Bahamas. They have a beautiful boat complete with wood floors, wicker furniture and a washer and dryer. I hope to get a complete tour of the boat, but from what I saw, it was the most beautiful boat I have seen so far! Maybe one day……
The marina we are staying at also has services to fuel Tow boats (Barges). While Tabbie was out yesterday on her bike ride, Grant struck a conversation up with the dock master, and was able to persuade them to allow us to take a tour of a Tow boat once a good one came in for fuel. Today, one just happened to be there, and we got the invite! One of the crew took us around to see the engine room, the kitchen, the sleeping quarters, and the bridge. Tabbie was very impressed with the kitchen, and we found out that there is usually between 6 and 8 people on board at any given time, and they rotate the cooking duties… The crew is 20 days on, 10 days off, and this particular boat hauls coal between Mobile and Birmingham. During the pit stop the Tow took on 25,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and 650 gallons of lubricating oil alone! The propellers on this boat are 8 feet 6 inches in diameter!
The boat needed a pump out so we had to go over to the gas dock to get this done, and on the way back to the slip, Grant decided he was ready to try and back the boat in! Oh, boy, here we go! Fortunately a few others saw what we were trying to do, and came over to help out. All in all, it wasn’t a bad attempt, and we had it backed in. With a little more practice, Grant should have it down no problem!! (We hope!)
Grant then decided it would be good to start sanding… He bought a new toy (Black & Decker hand sander) a couple weeks ago, and went to work on fixing the damaged trim that the TV caused when it fell. After that, he wasn’t done with the sander, so he started striping the bench to get it ready to varnish.
We went to dinner with the three other transient boats at 6:30, and had a great meal and conversation with some folks that have done the great loop, and others that have ventured along both the West and East coasts. Well, I guess we are the rookies!! Grant learned a few more pointers about anchoring out, and some more hints about the gulf coast. Tabbie had a nice chat with the ladies who gave her some good pointers on how to keep things tied down in the boat, the locations of some nice quaint shopping areas, and restaurants that we want to make sure we don’t miss. These ladies also passed out their “cards” with a picture of their boat, website and email addresses. Everyone seems to have their own website. Shelly, who is on the boat Trust Me with Jim, has endless amounts of great information. She and her husband make this trip every year and actually go all the way to the Bahamas. They have a beautiful boat complete with wood floors, wicker furniture and a washer and dryer. I hope to get a complete tour of the boat, but from what I saw, it was the most beautiful boat I have seen so far! Maybe one day……
posted by Grant & Tabbie | 8:32 AM
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