On Jul 25, 2017, at 2:36 PM, Rich Gano richgano@gmail.com wrote:

I am afraid this list is slowing to a stop, but since I am making the
westernmost portion of the loop in reverse on a delivery, I thought I'd give
a report.

We started from Orange Beach/Gulf Shores, AL on 29 May 2017 on a 1400-mile
delivery of a single engine 36-foot Grand Banks trawler.  The eventual goal
is Michigan City, Indiana on Lake Michigan or possibly farther north if we
have time.  The boat's max continuous cruising speed at 1800 RPM is 8.3 MPH.

Our progress up the Tombigbee was slowed by about a 1.5 MPH head current and
a couple of long waits at locks at barge tows got in our way.  we found that
calling the lock tender on the cell phone an hour ahead of our arrival
worked in our favor a couple as the tender was able to anticipate our
arrival and got the lock "turned around" for us so that we could enter
without delay.  Overall, the strongest currents were in the lower half of
the waterway and specially where the banks narrowed the channel and within a
few miles of the next dam.  Up in the northern part of the waterway where
the dams bunch together, there was little current, and we actually had a
following current out of Bay Springs Lake after the last lock.

The lock tenders are now using AIS to check for approaching traffic and use
the speed displayed to judge when the tows will arrive to see if they have
time to get "rec vessels" through before the tow arrives.  We did not have
an AIS transponder for this part of the trip, but I am sure it would have
been quite useful.  I have a brand new AIS transponder and AIS-capable VHF
radio to install for the owner when we return to the boat and am looking
forward to its usefulness on the Ohio, Mississippi, and the Illinois rivers.

We spent three nights at anchorages getting up the 216 miles of waterway to
Demopolis where we waited out some weather for several days at Kingfisher
Bay Marina.  That's the new basin they dug a few years ago just north of the
old Demopolis basin, and the original Demopolis Marina is shutting down.

The night after we left Demopolis, the 34-year old Onan generator decided to
let its exhaust manifold rattle loose, and the next day we pulled into
Columbus Marina.  It is a nice quiet marina and rather unassuming given the
lack of serious infrastructure as compared to a place like Green Turtle Bay,
but I must say the manager there is one Can-Do kind of guy.  He and a
mechanic friend of his got into that generator as soon as it was cool enough
to work down there and identified the problem as well as finding another
problem with the Onan's starter.  The manager found the really hard-to-find
parts online within a day.  The repairs were quite a lot less than I thought
they would be.  Because of the lengthy delay in getting the parts, we were
moved into a nice covered slip for a week.

Our next stop was Midway Marina followed by Aqua Harbor Marina for a couple
of nights before chugging through Pickwick Lock after which we enjoyed a 2
MPH following current for about a hundred miles before in tapered off to
about 1 MPH.  We spent a night at Cuba landing before entering Barkley Canal
to cross The Land Between the Lakes to Barkley Lake on the Cumberland River
and Green Turtle Bay Resort and Marina.

The owner in Canada has set a minimum speed over the ground for the 220-mile
Mississippi River transit of 4 MPH.  Any less than that he feels is a waste
of time, and that pretty much limits us to stage levels at St Louis of 15
feet or less.  If you go to the Trawler Forum and get on the inland rivers
section, you will find a post from me with information from a Corps of
Engineers engineer listing several levels at St Louis with corresponding
estimated current speeds in the bends and straights of the river.

At the slow speed we would be traveling, convenient anchorages are important
every 30-50 miles, and Active Captain has been helpful in pointing them out,
but the river level needs to be below 15 feet at St Louis for the numerous
wing dams on this stretch of the river to be above water and useful as
shelters.  This 15-foot level for the wing dams to emerge was verified by a
port captain for one of the barge companies on the Mississippi.

For the last month the boat has been lying at Green Turtle Bay, and Mary and
I have returned to Panama City to await the rivers pleasure.  It is possible
in the face of high water delaying our arrival on Lake Michigan until too
late in the season that the owner will abandon the effort and leave the boat
where it is until a time TBD.

Rich Gano
FROLIC 2005 Mainship 30 Pilot II
Panama City, FL

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On Jul 25, 2017, at 2:36 PM, Rich Gano richgano@gmail.com wrote:

I am afraid this list is slowing to a stop, but since I am making the
westernmost portion of the loop in reverse on a delivery, I thought I'd
give
a report.

We started from Orange Beach/Gulf Shores, AL on 29 May 2017 on a 1400-mile
delivery of a single engine 36-foot Grand Banks trawler.  The eventual
goal
is Michigan City, Indiana on Lake Michigan or possibly farther north if we
have time.  The boat's max continuous cruising speed at 1800 RPM is 8.3
MPH.

Our progress up the Tombigbee was slowed by about a 1.5 MPH head current
and
a couple of long waits at locks at barge tows got in our way.  we found
that
calling the lock tender on the cell phone an hour ahead of our arrival
worked in our favor a couple as the tender was able to anticipate our
arrival and got the lock "turned around" for us so that we could enter
without delay.  Overall, the strongest currents were in the lower half of
the waterway and specially where the banks narrowed the channel and within
a
few miles of the next dam.  Up in the northern part of the waterway where
the dams bunch together, there was little current, and we actually had a
following current out of Bay Springs Lake after the last lock.

The lock tenders are now using AIS to check for approaching traffic and
use
the speed displayed to judge when the tows will arrive to see if they have
time to get "rec vessels" through before the tow arrives.  We did not have
an AIS transponder for this part of the trip, but I am sure it would have
been quite useful.  I have a brand new AIS transponder and AIS-capable VHF
radio to install for the owner when we return to the boat and am looking
forward to its usefulness on the Ohio, Mississippi, and the Illinois
rivers.

We spent three nights at anchorages getting up the 216 miles of waterway
to
Demopolis where we waited out some weather for several days at Kingfisher
Bay Marina.  That's the new basin they dug a few years ago just north of
the
old Demopolis basin, and the original Demopolis Marina is shutting down.

The night after we left Demopolis, the 34-year old Onan generator decided
to
let its exhaust manifold rattle loose, and the next day we pulled into
Columbus Marina.  It is a nice quiet marina and rather unassuming given
the
lack of serious infrastructure as compared to a place like Green Turtle
Bay,
but I must say the manager there is one Can-Do kind of guy.  He and a
mechanic friend of his got into that generator as soon as it was cool
enough
to work down there and identified the problem as well as finding another
problem with the Onan's starter.  The manager found the really
hard-to-find
parts online within a day.  The repairs were quite a lot less than I
thought
they would be.  Because of the lengthy delay in getting the parts, we were
moved into a nice covered slip for a week.

Our next stop was Midway Marina followed by Aqua Harbor Marina for a
couple
of nights before chugging through Pickwick Lock after which we enjoyed a 2
MPH following current for about a hundred miles before in tapered off to
about 1 MPH.  We spent a night at Cuba landing before entering Barkley
Canal
to cross The Land Between the Lakes to Barkley Lake on the Cumberland
River
and Green Turtle Bay Resort and Marina.

The owner in Canada has set a minimum speed over the ground for the
220-mile
Mississippi River transit of 4 MPH.  Any less than that he feels is a
waste
of time, and that pretty much limits us to stage levels at St Louis of 15
feet or less.  If you go to the Trawler Forum and get on the inland rivers
section, you will find a post from me with information from a Corps of
Engineers engineer listing several levels at St Louis with corresponding
estimated current speeds in the bends and straights of the river.

At the slow speed we would be traveling, convenient anchorages are
important
every 30-50 miles, and Active Captain has been helpful in pointing them
out,
but the river level needs to be below 15 feet at St Louis for the numerous
wing dams on this stretch of the river to be above water and useful as
shelters.  This 15-foot level for the wing dams to emerge was verified by
a
port captain for one of the barge companies on the Mississippi.

For the last month the boat has been lying at Green Turtle Bay, and Mary
and
I have returned to Panama City to await the rivers pleasure.  It is
possible
in the face of high water delaying our arrival on Lake Michigan until too
late in the season that the owner will abandon the effort and leave the
boat
where it is until a time TBD.

Rich Gano
FROLIC 2005 Mainship 30 Pilot II
Panama City, FL

http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com

To modify your Great-Loop subscription options (change email address,
unsubscribe, etc.) go to:
http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/options/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com