Home is Where the Boat Is
Today, our home is Demopolis, Alabama, and it appears this might be the case for several more days. We have encountered some pretty good weather issues. It’s freezing cold, and the rain has been following us for a few weeks.
When we returned to Columbus, Mississippi, after our trips to Los Angeles and Miami, the rain was imminent. We stayed put in Columbus for several days. I’ve written before about how Jim and I don’t travel when the weather is not good. We had paid for a whole month at Columbus Marina and we were only at day 23 when we returned. We both were getting a bit antsy, and looking forward to Saturday, when the weather day was looking good. We kept the rental car for a few more days and were able to get to a meeting each day, which kept our spirits in check. The TUC Club, in Pickensville, Mississippi is an AA meeting place with an amazing recovering community. Jim and I went to 9 meetings here during our stay in Columbus.We met a “tribe”. Folks that welcomed us by name and who touched our hearts.I counted the other day just how many meetings Jim and I have been too over the last few months. The number was 35 meetings, in different cities, in many different states, and a few provinces in Canada. Each and every one felt like home the moment we entered through the door. You know you’ve found the right place, because you can smell the coffee and hear the laughter.
Being out here on the Loop is difficult sometimes. I get lonely sometimes. When I get to a meeting, I make sure to hug the women. It feels good to connect with girls like me. We are visitors. We aren’t sticking around. Making connections is almost impossible. But hugs go a long way.
The folks at the TUC will hold a special place in my heart forever. I’m hoping that we will be able to return here by car at the end of May. They are having a convention that, believe it or not, is called “Trudging the Road to Happy Destiny.” I think it’s a God thing❤️
We also found a great place to eat in Columbus. Glenn’s BBQ! OMG! We stumbled across this food establishment one evening after a meeting. It is a small, unpretentious, joint, with family seating and a cute waitress, Kimberly, who I just adore. We ordered the rack of ribs, and I kid you not, they were the most amazing, fall off the bone, hunks of deliciousness we have ever tasted! Glenn, the owner, came out to talk to us, where he shared his BBQ story and treated us like family. Nothing fancy about this place. Paper towels, by the roll, on the tables and fried green tomatoes on the menu. Nothing better as far as I’m concerned. When we came back from Miami, we could not wait to go back. We returned to Glenn’s, again after a meeting, and cute Kimberly informed us they were out of ribs. WHAT! Out of ribs? I about cried! 😂 We really gave her a hard time. They didn’t have fried green tomatoes either. Ugh! It was funny. Everything we went to order, they didn’t have. We did have a nice dinner, but it wasn’t ribs! We told Miss Kimberly we’d be back before we left Columbus. She assured us, there would be ribs on our next visit, even if she had to hide them. So, back we went for the 3rd time. Hungry as hell! I walked in the restaurant and saw Miss Kim. I said in my motherly voice, “Kimberly”! She turned and looked, gave a chuckle and told us to sit down. There were ribs in the house!
I tell this story, because, it’s people like this, and places this, that have made our Great Loop Adventure so special. This young lady, and her co-worker Michelle are the real deal. Hard working young ladies, who like to make people happy and appear to enjoy their jobs. They are like a family. Glenn came out at the end of our meal and presented Jim and I a whole rack of his amazing BBQ ribs, wrapped in foil. He told us to enjoy them as we continue our trip down the river. Who does that?
So- if you are ever in Columbus Mississippi, please stop into Glenn’s BBQ. Tell them we sent you, and give them our love.
Jim, Michelle, Glenn, Kimberly, Kim
Saturday, the 10th of November, we got our good weather day! No rain, sun shining. It was fabulous to be back on the water. It had been 26 days and we were ready to tackle the day. We had 3 locks to get through and would be anchoring at the end of our day. The Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway lacks marina stops. The next marina will be Demopolis, Alabama, but that is a two day trip. We got right into the first lock. We actually locked through with Our friends Mark and Lezlie on Antonia and a huge tug and tow boat. It was close quarters!
We exited the lock and waved goodbye to Mark and Lezlie. Their boat, Antonia, is a trawler that travels much slower than the Happy Destiny. They will catch up with us in a few days. I really enjoy this couple. They are from Texas. We have traveled with them several times on the Loop. We met them back on Lake Michigan and have enjoyed seeing them several times in the last few months. That’s how this Loop thing works. We meet people, then, because we travel at different speeds, on different days, and stop at different places, we might not see them again for awhile, if ever. I hope Mark and Lezlie will be forever friends.
Antonia
I met a man Randy, on one of our Facebook Pages of which we are a part. Randy lives on the Tombigbee River at Mile Marker 315.5. He enjoys taking pictures of Looper boats as they pass by in front of his home and he then posts the pictures on the Great Loop Facebook page. It’s always fun to see a picture of your boat while it’s underway! I love it. He noticed the name of our boat and reached out to me via messenger and asked if we were in recovery, because of our Happy Destiny boat name. I responded affirmatively and we now have become friends. He invited us to pull over when we passed and have a cup of coffee. I thought that was so nice. Today was the day we would pass by his home and sure enough, there he was and he photographed and took a short video as we cruised by. I waved and yelled hello. We were unable to stop, just not plausible, but the invitation touched my heart. We have texted back and forth. He is involved in that AA conference I talked about earlier. I told him we might come back for that event. He offered us a place to stay if we do come. Super nice. Here is the video he took of us passing in front of his home. It also happens to be the mile marker that the border of Mississippi and Alabama runs through. Pretty cool! We are now in Alabama. The 18th and final state we have traveled through. Next State - unless Jim makes a wrong turn - Florida.
Randy and his home on the River👋
We continued down the river, got through the next 2 locks and made it into our anchorage for the night. The name of this place is the Tombigbee Oxbow Anchorage. It is right at the bottom of the Heflin Lock in Gainesville, Alabama. Y’all know how I feel about anchoring. It’s not my most favorite thing to do. Yet, here we were, doing it. We traveled upstream, Jim found the spot, and we set the anchor. It caught on the first try. This is a good thing. We went inside to start dinner. We have a generator on the Happy Destiny that allows us to have electricity and heat. Heat is good on a night like this. It is very, very cold here. Like, 40 degrees, heavy jackets and gloves cold. Generator started up, I made a pot of coffee, Jim turned the TV on and we were laughing when we started seeing some channels pop up. We are in the boonies in Alabama. Getting some tv channels is amazing. Then - the generator died! WTF! We have house lights that are run separate on our house batteries, so we had some light, but no heat, no stove, and my coffee was going to get cold! This ordeal is kind of serious. Jim, as usual jumped into action, and assessed our problem child. It appeared the fuel filters were really dirty. Jim was prepared with an extra set and he got them changed. You have to prime the filters with diesel fuel, which we had in a Jerri-can, but, the system got air locked, evidently. Jim couldn’t get it started. He tried and tried to no avail. Acceptance is the key to all of our problems, so we were grateful we at least had lights. Guess what we had for dinner? The BBQ Ribs Glenn gave us back in Columbus. Yep, we threw them on the our propane fueled Weber, heated up some rice and onions in a pan, and enjoyed a lovely dinner on the hook.
I knew it was going to be a long, cold night. I had socks on. That’s how cold it was. I never wear socks! I’m glad Jennifer left me a pair when she was on board. They came in handy tonight. I did not sleep real well, but I did get a few hours. I worry when we anchor. I just imagine the anchor dragging or letting loose and we end up in the shipping channel getting run over by a tug and towboat. Extreme? I don’t know, but I think anchoring is creepy. Some people really love it. I wish I did. It was a beautiful spot.
Morning came early. We had swung on the anchor in the night, which luckily wasn’t a bad thing because we were all alone out there. The current changed direction and so did we. It was unbelievably cold. Jim wanted to get us straightened out. He cranked the engines. Starboard engine ✅ Port engine- Port engine? Shit! No Port engine. WTF! Did I mention I hate anchoring! Jim ordered me to the bow, and thank God The windlass worked. Up came the anchor and we were out of there. We needed to get 50 miles down the river to Demopolis on one engine, and no generator, in 38 degree weather.
We bought an electric floor heater last week so we would have some heat up at the helm on these cold mornings. It has to be plugged in, but without a generator, that’s impossible. Jim came up with this bright idea.
The Weber
Yep. We pulled out the Weber Grill, lit it up, and voila! A heater! Only problem with this is, last night we heated up those ribs. The smell made us both pretty hungry!
The fall colors are starting to show in the beautiful trees that line the river. These huge limestone banks were breathtaking. My dear husband, looking like Nanook of the North, kept us rolling. Another looper passed us. Jim asked them, on the radio, if they had jumper cables. We could jump the dead battery with some cables. This boat was considerably smaller than ours. They had a battery pack that they had never used before. We gladly accepted there offer to let us use it. We were both going to Demopolis, so we would be able to return it to them when we pulled in. They pulled up next to us and handed me the pack. Loopers are good, helpful people. I drove the boat while Jim attempted to jump the battery. It did not work. This little pack was not made for big engines like we have. Jim was kicking himself pretty hard for not having a good pair of jumper cables on board. I told him to stop. We could get some later. I was just grateful we had one good engine and we were doing just fine.
We limped into Demopolis Yacht Basin. We were safe and sound. We got tied up, plugged the boat into the shore power and got settled. 30 minutes later, the battery charger on board had our port engine purring like a kitten! I love Marinas and electricity! Jim got the name of a mechanic, who he called. Matt would be here the following day to check on the generator.
This is what the next day looked like. Turn up your volume for this!
Sunday, November 11, 2018
We used the loaner car here, went to Walmart, bought some groceries and got those jumper cables from the auto parts store. Demopolis is another sleepy town. In the outskirts, there are bigger chain stores, but in town, the storefronts are closed and there is not much activity. Matt came to the boat later in the afternoon to peek at the generator. Diagnosis - Air in the fuel lines. Just like Jim thought. Matt however had “the tool” needed to bleed the injector lines, and within 20 minutes our generator was up and running. In Jim’s defense, he did do all the hard work. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I’m so grateful to be doing this journey with my husband. He is really handy. I’m sure his knowledge has saved us thousands of dollars.
The storm is not done with us yet. There are many looper boats here in Demopolis. All of us headed toward Mobile Bay which is still 225 miles down the river. With so much rain, the river is flooding. There is lots of talk about the safety of our departure. When the rivers flood, the water dislodges all the debris from the banks of the river. Think whole trees being swept into the middle of the river. You’ve seen me post pictures of gigantic logs, that we have dodged back on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. It’s all fine and well if you can see the debris and have time to go around it. The bigger problem is the big stuff, right under the water that you can’t see. Also, the navigation aids, the red and green channel markers, tend to get covered in the rising water. So, now, they are submerged and hitting one of this will put a hole in your boat that could be very, very serious. I also heard a horror story of a boat who ran over a sunken buoy. These buoys are tethered by big heavy chains that keep them in place on the rivers bottom. The boats propellers got wrapped around the chain and it literally ripped the bottom of his boat out. This is a very bad day!
So, we have some decisions to make. I’m hoping we just wait the storm out and allow for the river to crest and return to a lower pool. We have had such an amazing, Great Loop Adventure thus far. Knock on wood, we really haven’t had any serious issues. Our Happy Destiny has delivered us safely to every single port we have chosen to stop at. We have met many loopers who have had trouble after trouble. From bent propellers, to taking on water, to broken shafts, to alternators dying, to transmissions failing, to having to get a new engine. The list goes on and on. Personally, I don’t think waiting a storm out, in a safe marina, hooked up to power, watching cable tv, with the man I love is such a bad idea. We are not in any hurry, we have no place to be at any given time. Yes, it’s cold, yes it’s raining, but moving down the river will get us that much closer to Florida, where, our Great Loop Adventure will come to an end. I’ve got socks!
The reality of “home is where the boat is” has hit me hard this past week. Not having a home on land is very weird. Not having the “what are you bringing to the work potluck” sign at the hospital is weird. Not juggling a timeline, with all my kids, so we can all be together for a meal, is weird. Not already shopping for Christmas presents, is weird.
A lot of Loopers have ditched their boats in marinas and are flying or driving to their homes for the Holidays. I can imagine them returning to their home, putting their key in their door, and thinking, “there’s no place like home”. The hustle and bustle of land life will ensue. Turkeys and hams to be bought, pies to be made. The children and grandchildren invited to Thanksgiving dinner. These days, the Christmas lights going up! As weird as it is for me, I’m not quite sure that I’m going to miss all hustle and bustle that the holidays bring. The traditional holiday events aren’t happening for me this year. I live on a boat, the boat is my home. It’s just different. So different.
I have no idea where Jim and I will be on Thanksgiving Day, and that’s ok this year. All things change, and change is good. I’m living an amazing dream that I’m so grateful for. Paraphrasing Melody Beatty, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a ‘boat’ into a home, a stranger into a friend”.
I have to admit that living life one day at a time is imperative right now. I can’t fathom jumping ahead into the future. Jim and I thought long and hard about our decision to Quit our jobs, sell our stuff, and live on a boat. Holidays will come and holidays will go. My plan is to enjoy every single moment of right here, right now, and hope our kids will send us pictures of their holiday adventures this year.
Thanks for peeking in on us. I’m grateful for y’all.
❤️
