Day 30 - Happy Anniversary — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 36, fuel purchased $0, slip fee $0, daily high temperature 74*F

Today is the end of our first month on our cruise. Our one month anniversary.

The horror of traveling at 6 mph. The engines cry out to be set free to run at the high rpm’s they were designed for. To quote the singer James Taylor’s song Traffic Jam – ” it hurts my motor to go so slow.” This is the price we pay to be part of the herd. We will give it a few days and decide if this is the best approach for us. The herd will anchor in Cotton Springs for the night. We will see what level of socializing will take place at anchor. We know they will all have their dingy launched so they can take their dogs ashore. The sailboat that we saw at Green Turtle Bay passed us this morning. This is the sail boat from Michigan that had their mast removed from their deck and shipped to Mobile. Yes, a sailboat passed us.

It took 5.5 hours to go 36 miles. Changing Latitudes can cruise that distance in a little over an hour on her own. Panda Bear set the pace. Her top speed is 6 mph and she got a little boost from the down-bound current. We passed a 1965 Pearson Ariel sailboat along the way. We chatted with the owner Paul on the radio. He bought the boat in Muskegon, Mi and started bringing her to Ft Lauderdale on July 1. He was held up at the locks in July due to heavy rains and flooding. He had to stay between locks for weeks at a time. He claims the 1965 Pearson is in original condition. It is the second fiberglass design boat built by Pearson. The fiberglass is very thick because boat builders didn’t know how strong fiberglass construction could be back then.

1965 Pearson Ariel – Imagine with Captain Paul

We heard other horror stories about boats cruising the rivers in July during the floods. Several boats were tied to the Kaskaskia lock wall for five days waiting for the river to drop. They were running out of food and water and were not allowed to walk on the lock due to 911 restrictions. Finally after a few days the lock master relented and let a few of them go to a supermarket and resupply the group. I have no idea how they arranged for a car to pick them up way out there.

One of the boats that cruised down the Illinois river after us described the river as being so low that they sucked mud into their engine cooling system. I asked them how they knew they had sucked in mud. He said we could see mud blowing out of our exhaust.

We are anchored in a beautiful tributary called Cotton Springs at mile marker 412.5 off the main channel of the Tenn-Tom. We launched the dingy and explored the shoreline. The leaves on the trees are finally starting to show their fall colors. We are within one mile of the Jamie Whitten lock. We will transit a total of three locks and cruise an additional 20 miles and anchor again tomorrow. We will anchor in Fulton at mile marker 392.5 just above the Fulton Lock. This anchorage was chosen by the herd because there is a boat launch and dock where they can walk their dogs. On Thursday we will stay at the Columbus marina in Columbus, Mississippi at mile marker 335. You can calculate how far we will travel each day by subtracting the distance between mile markers.

The leaves are starting to show some fall colors.

We are in the middle of nowhere watching the Cubs lose game three of the playoffs to the Mets 5 – 2. One more loss and they are out of the playoffs and the Mets will play in the World Series. All you need to watch TV in the middle of nowhere is a generator and satellite TV.

The middle of nowhere is very beautiful.

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote of the day.
Don’t worry about the world ending today. It’s already tomorrow in Fiji.”
– Daria Blackwell
(variation on quote attributed to Charles Schultz’s which references Australia.
Fiji just happens to be exactly halfway round the world from here.)

Stay back from the dams.