Tag Archives | Grand Banks

  We watched the sunrise over Mobile Bay as we headed out at 6 a.m. this morning in light breezes.  Like Galveston, they have a long ship channel that leads to the Gulf of Mexico through the barrier islands.  Once we got to the Inter Coastal shipping lane, we turned west and headed under the […]

  What a day!!  We were up at our usual 5:30 a.m. to be greeted by everyone on the dock to celebrate our Gold Loop flag.  Pictures taken, coffee drunk, and we headed down the Mobile ship channel with a dolphin escort!  The first dolphins we’d seen in over a year since we’ve been in […]

As the sun sets on the skyline of downtown Mobile, Alabama comes into view. We tie up at the base of the tall “pointy” building. Crossing our Wake!! We cross our wake here in Mobile Bay to finish the Loop!  Today we were up at 4 a.m. to leave by 5:30 a.m.  with 120 miles […]

  Yes, Rainy days, Monday, and FOG!  The good news is that we didn’t have to slow down for fishermen today.  They were far too smart to come out on a foggy morning and rainy afternoon.  But, we made great time for the 100-mile stretch we had to transgress.  We left the dock at 5:30 […]

  Not much is on the news here but the “BAMA” crimson tide.  And, we could easily have turned east up a river and gotten ourselves to Tuscaloosa today.  We cruised 100 miles and conquered two more locks. Up at 4:30 a.m., we contacted the lockmaster, who told us we needed to wait for one […]

Lone telephone booth stands on the bank in the boonies in case you want to make a telephone call going down the river. Pirate’s Cove Marina in Pickensville, Alabama The migration south is definitely with us. We left Columbus this morning with 9 other boats and the 10 of us were locked through together at […]

Columbus Marina, Mississippi and Halloween Perhaps this is the friendliest marina we’ve visited in many days.  A crew of three met us on the fuel dock with jokes and help with the lines.  Of course, they loved my Halloween hat too.  Our good friend and LYC member, Jacob Deegan with his boat Aurora, are also […]

Smithville, MS Sunup was beautiful as we watched some of the moisture from the outer bands of Sandy paint the sky.  Yes, we are in the Deep South and while the sun is bright here, we hear on the radio things are not so good on the east coast.  We are now at mile marker […]

Streams are controlled when they pour into the Tenn-Tom Canal Bay Springs Marina, Mississippi Leaving Grand Harbor on the Pickwick Lake in full sunshine means we are well on our way south.  While the East coast is huddled down for hurricane Sandy, we blessedly are basking in bright blue skies and canal banks bathed with […]

  A beautiful fall day with the late afternoon sun streaming through golden leaves greeted us as we drove through the Shiloh battlefield populated by white tail deer and wild turkeys.  This was the battle that determined the control of the western rivers and the Mississippi River Valley.  Even though the Confederates put up a […]