On our way again

Arrived at Port Charles 9am on Wed. Had props off and sent out with a promise of return on Monday by noon. They arrived at 1:30 and were back on in half an hour. After a test run, they discovered the packing in the shaft was getting hot. So hot in fact that Paul (the marina owner) got blisters on his hand when he touched it. Tried other sizes and felt it was fixed so we started for Alton around 5:15pm. After half hour it was hot again so we turned around and went back and stayed on the gas dock. Within the hour we had terrible winds and downpour. I was glad we were there as I don’t think we would have made it to Alton before the storm. Paul was right there Tuesday morning to lift us out, tried other size packing and did a test run and headed out again. Headed back downstream to Alton at 11:15; 11:45 turned around because it was hot again. Finally got on our way after another size packing installation at 2:15 and everything has been okay. On our way to Alton we saw Asian crap jumping high out of the water. Glad they can’t reach us.

Alton Marina is a very first class operation, kinda wish we could stay a couple of days, however we should head south to make up lost time from prop repair. We will decide in the morning depending on weather.

There are 3 other Loopers staying here. One from Minnesota, one from Connecticut and the other we haven’t met yet.

Pirate Ship

Interesting day at Port Charles Harbor. Local area artist TIm Woodson, campanion Martha Ifland and very talented dock friends Jim & Bill have been busy converting a 28' 1977 Carver Mariner to a pirate ship named Gypsy Rose. Today was launch date and a trip to Grafton for an event called "Pirate Days". Unique, talented and quite interesting individuals. Fun was had by all.

Rainy day today, bottom paint is complete, looks great. All new bearings are installed, just waiting for props to be returned, hopefully tomorrow. We are having fun enjoying local interests. Last night went to the St Charles local airport for a display of world war II vintage airplanes, food and a dance. Very interesting, guests dressed in period uniforms and civilain clothing. Good time.

Port St Charles & the rest of the story

Our 1st morning out, when we pulled anchor and hit the rock pile, we could not get off . Tom tried pulling us with the dinghy but it wouldn’t budge. The only boat around were 2 guys fishing in a flat bottom. Tom set off in the dinghy to ask for help but half way there the motor quit running. He rowed back to the boat and although he didn’t think he was out of fuel, we did add more. Off he went only to have it quit again but this time he couldn’t get back to the boat before the current was swiftly taking him down river. The fishermen were moving to another spot so we flagged them down. He towed Tom back and then tried to pull us off but his 50 HP Honda couldn’t budge it either. Our only option was to power off. I hope I never hear that sound again. It was much much worse than nails on a chalkboard! Tom was too upset yesterday to talk about what might be wrong with the boat. He envisioned not only new props but also bent rudder and who knows what else. Today we pulled into Port Charles (not Polestar as I said earlier) and were pleasantly surprised with only having to repair the props. While it is out of the water, Tom decided to have a few other items serviced!

We have extremely high accolades for the fast, courteous professional service offered by Port Charles Harbor (Paul Hopkins, owner). 9:00 A.M. drove right into the slings and the props were off in 30 minutes. Props are in a local prop scan shop due back here by Friday night and installed Saturday A.M.

Diann & Tom

What rocks? Sept 14 1st nite out

Monday. We had a very enjoyable anchorage below lock 18 last night. As we were leaving this morning, I was at the helm and hit something that has given us a vibration. We're going to have it looked at in Polestar in St Charles, MO.
Tom still has enough trust in me to let me get behind the wheel again today.

The weather has been fabulous. Nothing else to report.

Diann

What a send off!

Thank you to our friends and neighbors who saw us off from Safe Harbor on Saturday. A special thanks to our daughter Dawn, Kevin, Sydney, Riley and Jensen who drove from Cedar Rapids and who saved us after we neglected to close the garage and lock the house. Too much excitement! It was Toms fault of course.

We appreciated everyone showing up at LPYC and having dinner with friends and son Gary, Cindy and Connor. We missed you Tyler but thanks for the calls from you and Blake.

Jim and Brenda Hampton went above and beyond with serving Bloody Marys and Mimosas Sunday morning. He even christened the boat with champagne. We love the engraved picture frame of our boat.

After we were under way, we had cookies for breakfast. THANKS Ann
We will try to edit this post with digital images at anchor tonight

Safeharbor Bon Voyage Party

We just arrived home tonight from the most wonderful Safeharbor Bon Voyage Party hosted in the home of our dear friends Don & Suzie and Bob & Diane Corwell. One of the most difficult part of the journey is leaving our wonderful friends at Safeharbor. Thank you Don & Suzie, Bob & Diane for a wonderful enjoyable evening, sharing your beautiful homes with all of our Safeharbor boating friends. Diann & I would like to thank everyone for attending, we will truly miss everyone of you.

Final preparation

Still working on bringing the to-do list to closure. The condo hot water heater was replaced today so now we can continue with laundry to finalize what clothes to take on the boat. Shoe selection is another chapter. The 2-year old fresh water pump on the boat went south and Tom found one in stock at Adventure Campers on Brady Street and replaced the water pump today. It is always something and I'm sure we will have many of those.

Went to the post office today, finalized mail forwarding, thank you Andrea & Jeff Lanum


3-days to departure, ready or not