Lil' Update and another River log -

Well, Graham was able to come home to Nashville for a few days last week since he got to Myrtle Beach about a week earlier than planned. He drove his truck back Sunday morning to meet up with his family for a golf vacation. He said that the sailing went really well and thankfully they missed all the crazy weather! I will let him fill in the details of the trip later on in his own words.

Plus, now it's my turn to sail! I will fly to Wilmington, NC tomorrow (27th) where Graham will pick me up and we will spend a few more days with his family in Myrtle Beach. Then we plan to sail up the coast and stop at various locations along the way. I took a crash course in plotting our course on charts & refreshing my (very tiny) knowledge of sailing skills with Graham last week and will do more once I get to the boat. I'm getting excited to have my very own adventure as "first mate" w/ Captain Stuart ;)

Now back to some time on the TennTom Waterway -



Wednesday - July 23, 2008



A rare treat tonight - COLD BEER! God, I love cold beer. I remember I told Sam (w/ Stomp) that I wasn't buying anymore after I found I had no job....but somethings you can't do without along the River.

9:20pm - Rain coming down, I seem safe in my stupor with a bowl of veggie/beef soup & Radiohead playing. Tied up securely out of the channel is worth every penny but anchoring within 50 ft of great barges passing in the wee hours, holds more spice doesn't it?! Curry can sure cure some Campbell's soup, as can Tabasco. I'm so enjoying my Tabasco bottle opener now that it's opening and not being set off by my radio at TPAC. (it makes music/noise) Reading the book my father gave me ( McIlhenny's Gold: How a Louisiana Family Built the Tabasco Empire), seems perfect for this corridor, loneliness, privation and riches. I think about John, George and Mr. Cox back in Smithville, only 41.5 miles away but seems like eons. Such strong characters in this river mystery. People live everywhere and anywhere. I met two dudes going North at 24 knots average speed-- much faster than my average of 5 knots.

Sights/Sounds along the way --- I now see those kelpish plants which make you feel like you are running through swamp thickets. Figured out the cicadas call was matching the rpm's of my engine and making me think something was wrong with it. Also saw a kid fishing from a pier by a boat launch and thought of Fitz Carraldo for some reason, now that dude had a river trip!

GOOD NEWS!

Graham just called and said they are almost to Myrtle Beach. Even though they had to motor for a while during this leg, they hauled ass he said. I should be hearing from him again soon and I will let everyone know the latest :)

Back to Tenn-Tom Waterway

Ok, I'm getting back on track and copying another log out of Graham's trip down the Tenn-Tom to Mobile.

They left Key West Wednesday morning and are headed towards Charleston, SC. Chris might head back home from there depending on how long it takes them to move up the coast. Graham will go on to Myrtle Beach to meet up with his parents & brother. They hope to be around the area by August 24th.


Tuesday - July 22, 2008

Made 50 miles yesterday but was about 5 miles and 1 lock short of goal. Much to do with tows. I decided to chop day 2 in half, 23 miles and done by noon. I was really tempted to keep going after I breezed in & out of Rankin & Fulton locks (Rankin lock was actually waiting for me this time) but in many ways, I'm happy to take it easy today. It's way less stress as well as a chance to meet locals and see town.

Proprietor, Jessie Cox, talked me into the Smithville Marina and a man named John was there to help me in as well. It's a very rustic Marina, but such a good feeling and the people are so nice. There are many live-aboards from nothern areas here. Smithville Marina is on Mr. Cox's farm which he leases. The water is over part of the old farm which Jessie enjoys looking at from his rocking chair on his front porch. He's an elderly man with his own thick head of reddish hair, freckles abound and some that blend together over large areas. As we sit in rocking chairs on the porch, I eventually prompt him that we need to settle up. Which shows me that while I feel my rhythm is acclimating some, I still have not settled down to the molasses meandering of the Tenn Tom in Summer. (Smithville Marina - $26.50)

The other man John, who was working on his engine, later drove me into Smithville to get water and meet his friend, George. George had sailed around the world starting from San Diego and going West. He was currently working on a wooden boat in his backyard that his Great Grandfather & Grandfather had built in Ohio, then moved it to Michigan and George had motored around on as a child. It was nice meeting some of the locals and getting to see a little of the town.

Now I'm off to get some rest and ready for the next long day on the river....

Land o Keys!

Just wanted to give a quick update to let everyone know that Graham & Chris just tied up in Key West and were headed out to get some Conch Fritters ;) They will only stay one night and then head out for the last leg to Myrtle Beach. I will get more details from them later on tonight.

Stay tuned....

Blog from "1st Mate" Chris DiCroce

http://www.myspace.com/chrisdsailing



Please check out the link above for further details of the trip - Graham's friend Chris has posted some great detailed blogs of the past week at sea and some of the pictures so far....You can find the pictures under "view pics" - which is underneath his picture on the main page and his blog is to the right on the main page (for all you non-myspace peeps)

They left yesterday morning to head down to Key West. Graham said, it should be less than 200 miles from where they were in Florida so it will probably just take a couple of days if the weather cooperates....

1st Phone Call & Update!

Hey everyone -

I've finally heard from Graham on the phone!! I missed the first call but was able to talk to him later on....He & Chris made it to Tierra Verde, outside of Tampa Bay and South of St. Petersburg. He said the first night out was brutal with high waves and howling winds but then it was dead calm the next morning. A couple of days were slow moving with little wind but then it picked back up. They had nice weather the entire time with no rain until they started in for Tierra Verde.

They plan to stay in Tierra Verde for a couple of nights to re-group and get ready for the next leg of the trip down to Key West. I will be talking to Graham more over the weekend and will keep ya posted.....

Hope you are all having a great FRIDAY :)

First day on Tenn-Tom Waterway

Monday - July 21, 2008



Log book entry:



Left Grand Harbor in Pickwick, TN at 6:15am, moving at 3-4 knots


Crazy hot day today, tried to get plenty of water - dipped hat in river a couple of times. Such a wonderful week at home w/ Cristy. Bought more detailed charts for a trip I wonder why I'm taking at this time - driving so far south in August during Hurricane season. Poured over route to Myrtle Beach. Seems more crazy the closer I get to the Gulf.


Had a beautiful time with Cristy in Grand Harbor (the sort of place I was ready to root in) so comfy & nice. She put her margarita down and I began to loose it. She's so strong.

Kept trying to pass Eleanor (a tow boat) before I got to each lock but ended up having to wait on her to go first each time. Got to Lock 1 of 12 - Whitten Lock - at 1:10pm and had to wait until 3:30pm to get in. Out of lock by 4:05pm. Arrived at Lock # 2 -Montgomery at 5:00pm and waited on Eleanor again, was out this time at 5:45pm.

So glad I installed these fans on the boat as well as deciding to leave the a/c unit on board - it's extremely hot. Big lightning show tonight, no thunder. Wonder if not making the locks is really a variable in these plans. Lots of stars out tonight. I did not make my planned destination but I'm lucky to find some water outside of the channel. Some houses and dim lights around. Anchored above Rankin Lock 6 miles short of goal at 7:50pm.

Quick update

Hey everybody -

It's been a while but I want to give you a quick update on things and then I will come back with further details of the last week of Graham's trip down the river to Mobile ( I made copies of his log book to write from)

I went down with Matt & Jenny to Mobile, AL this past weekend to see Graham off and help him get ready for the Gulf. Melody & Chris drove down as well so Chris could join up with Graham. We had a busy weekend but also had some fun - I will put some pictures up later. We got the boys some last minute supplies and they managed to re-paint the top of the boat all white in 5 hours on Saturday. It was a record time for a paint job on the boat! The reason it needed to be re-painted was b/c the boat originally came with parts of the cockpit/deck painted brown. This made a huge difference with heat inside the boat and on your feet outside the boat. It was amazing to feel the difference the white made in keeping the deck and inside cool.

Graham appreciated the help of Matt, Chris and Melody on the paint job (jenny & I ran other errands during the paint job) in the sweltering heat. He could not have accomplished so much in a short amount of time without them!!

Matt, Jenny and I drove back to Nashville on Sunday night. It was a tearful goodbye for Graham & I even though I'm very excited for him. I miss him so much already but I know this is the exciting/fun part of the trip for both Chris & Graham.

They left around 1:15pm on Monday afternoon from Turner Marine and I got a call around 7:45pm that night from Graham. He said that they were still in Mobile Bay moving very slowly b/c the winds were blowing in the opposite direction from where they wanted to go....they even motored for a while just to keep moving. It had taken them about 6 or 7 hours to go maybe 10-12 miles. Tropical Storm Edouard had already passed by Mobile and was out of the way for them but some of the winds from the storm were causing the slow moving trouble.

I probably won't hear from Graham too much until he gets to the East Coast but he is going to check for signals when he can.....It's possible to get cell service from within 30miles of the coast and they plan to only be around 100miles out at the farthest. We shall see how it goes -

In the meantime, I will put up some posts from his river trip and will develop his pictures to post as well.

Thanks for all the love & support!
Cristy