MISSING

Oct. 7, 8, 2010--- Have we only been home two days? Already missing the boat. Comparing the Ohio River to the Tennessee River is an easy judgement call. The Tennessee is far more pleasant to travel and there are many more marinas to handle pleasure craft. They are also better equipped to handle repairs. There are lots of miles on the Ohio where there are no travel lifts to take a boat out of the water for prop changes and other service that may become necessary. There are some cities along the Ohio with river front walls where boats can dock overnight. We really enjoyed stopping at the small towns to walk the historical streets. Upper end of the Ohio from Marietta to Pittsburgh is more open to pleasure craft (last 172 miles). Not many of the marinas on the Ohio have 50 amp electrical service. Sometimes we had to function with a single 30 amp connection. No matter what, we sure enjoyed the experience!

LOAD TO LOUISIANA

Oct. 5, 2010---Finished loading the rented mini-van. Loaded it was! Just barely had enough room to bring our wives along. Picture on right is the skyline of Memphis, Tennessee. Made a brief stop on Mud Island to check on a property that Keith and Maryann own.


Turned west on I-12 in time to see the sunset. Just 107 miles to go. Makes one think there is light at the end of the tunnel! At Baton Rouge we merged on to I-10 and contined on to Lafayette and then home at Youngsville, Louisiana.




Unloading the mini-van keith is saying "who does this stuff belong to?" It was a good travel day. It took 11 1/2 hours of very steady driving to cover the 665 miles. Keith did the driving to minimize the number of stops. It was a relief to get out of the vehicle at the end of the endurance trip. It won't be long though before we miss being on the Dream Manor.

PACKING

Oct. 4, 2010---Said goodbye to Carl and Ricki Guthrie as they are on their way to do the "Great Loop". They are wonderful people and the 4 Mcgees certainly have enjoyed becoming friends with them. They will make many more friends as they travel for about a year. Sure wish them the best. Felt a little jealous as we watched them leave Green Turtle Bay. On the right side there is a link for Questontheloop. Follow their blog from here or save it in your favorites and keep track of them on the big adventure as we will be doing.


Busy day packing. Things seen in these pictures is only part of what we plan to load in the rental mini-van and haul to Louisiana.




It will be a challenge to make it all fit.

The Dream Manor will sigh in relief and float higher out of the water!

NUMBERS

Oct, 3, 2010---Spent the day sorting through items stored on the boat. There are a number of items (boxes) that will be taken home. Still learning just what is really necessary. The ladies think since this was our third season, they should carry a lot of the clothes home and start with a new batch in the spring! Speaking of three seasons, figured some readers might be interested in the cum numbers. Following information is the cumulation of data since April 2008. Total engine hours 911. That amount of time covered 6913 miles in 543 days. Total fuel used is 6267 gallons. Average fuel consumption 6.88 gph or 1.10 mpg. Average speed 7.59 as compared to 6.74 this season. That season was .85 mph slower and mpg increased to 1.18 compared to the 1.10. Overall the year by year numbers are very similar. One other piece of information--we have now anchored a total of 33 times and done 2 soft landings.

SUMMARY

Oct. 2, 2010---From normal pool elevation of 302' below Smithland lock to normal pool above Emsworth lock of 710' at Pittsburgh, there is a change of 408'. That is the sum of the elevation change made possible by the 18 locks in that part of the Ohio River over a distance of 923 miles.
Total distance traveled on inland waterways this season was 2486 miles. Diesel fuel consumed by the twin 315 hp Yanmars was 2103 gallons. Total engine hours was 311.8 making average fuel usage 6.74 gallons per hour or 1.18 miles per gallon. Time spent warming up the engines the first start of the day, time waiting at locks and docking time reduces the average speed. Spent 164 days on the boat. Anchored out 7 times and made 2 soft landings. Went thru a total of 50 locks. Not easy to compare fuel consumption going up the Ohio as to coming back down. Going up river at 1800 rpm the speed was about 8.5 mph comsuming 5.9 gph. Down river at 1800 rpm the speed was about 10 mph with fuel consumption still 5.9 gph. This late in the season there was not as much helpful current as one might expect. There was conversation about so little rain the locks were considering going to a 2 hour schedule to reduce the number of times the lock would operate letting water go downstream. In other words water is being held back to maintain each of the pool levels. Overall the fuel consumption coming down was nearly as much as going up. Dodging debris going up and operating at lesser rpm's. Coming down the water was much cleaner and we pushed harder to get back. At 2300 rpm coming down river the speed was 11.5 mph consuming 10.5 gph. It has been a great boating season! May not have seen all the sights, but we sure saw a lot of them. The 4 McGees really had a good time. Would liked to have extended the boating season but we have some land obligations that need to be done. Meetings to attend and familiy to see.



Sunrise at Green Turtle Bay.






Commonwealth Yacht Club at the marina is a fine place to eat.







There are decorations all around the grounds.





Fall is definitely in the air as temperature tonight is expected to only be 42 degrees.

GREEN TURTLE BAY RETURNED

Oct. 1, 2010---Sunrise caused a glow on the stairs leading up to the bridge that crosses over Lusk Creek. Made way down the Ohio to Smithland Lock at mile 918.5 with a 22' lift down. This is our last lock on the Ohio. There are 18 locks to this point and 2 more downstream before the Ohio reaches the Mississippi River. We came up through those locks in 2008 so we have now been through all 20 locks on the Ohio.

At mile 923.8 turned to port into the Cumberland River. There was a tow pushed against the point and we had to pass around behind the tug to get started up the Cumberland.

Several places along the bank tree roots are very much exposed. Many of those trees will probably be washed loose during high water next spring.

There are several rock operations along the banks of the river. Passed several barges loaded with course rock.

This barge is being loaded by use of a dump truck.

Traveled 30.6 miles up the Cumberland to the Barkley Lock. This lock raised 57 feet to the level of the lake above the dam. Lake Barkley is a wonderful lake that extends 118 miles. Just past the lock is the turn to port into Green Turtle Bay Marina. Trip today covered 54.7 miles in 6.6 hours.