HIGHER WATER

Apr. 30, 2011---A ride in the dinghy provided an opportunity to take pictures that show the change in the water level. Notice the island is covered and the entrance sign is looking smaller. Soon the turtle will be swimming!

Morning shot of the walkway shows people crossing on planks. In the past 24 hours water elevation rose another 2.35 feet. TVA reported elevation at 368.95 feet. Readings being used on this blog are those taken at 9:00 a.m.

Dream Manor is now looking even with the parking lot.

Ship store is soon to have water on the inside of the building. Merchandise has been picked up from the bottom two shelves and stored up higher.




Another look at the Dream Manor shows the relationship to the parking area.


Another comparison shot looking at the Yacht Club behind the fuel dock. Previous photos show how much deeper the water on the stairs.



Took this view under the Yacht Club to see how it compares in the next few days. If water level continues to rise as predicted the floating dock will be wedged up against the concrete support.




Boat Work's building is looking more submerged. Boats in "dry dock" may be in danger of floating off their stands.




Another view of boats on stands.

Boat on stands.

Sailboat behind Boat Work's shop appears to be sunken.

MORE WATER

Apr. 29, 2011---Morning water level check. Keith is showing the ramp leading to the stairs is now a downhill slope to the point where it is hinges at the shoreline. Water rose nearly 3 feet in the past 24 hours. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) reports the reservoir elevation behind the dam in feet above sea level. The morning of April 26th elevation was 358.65 feet. This morning, 3 days later the elevation is 366.60 feet. That is an increase of 7.95 feet.

Notice all the anchors on this pontoon boat. Marina staff members have been working hard to secure the docks as the water level rises. Anchors are being set at the ends of the docks to help to secure them in place. We loaned them our spare anchor and an additional line. Other boaters have also made some of their equipment available.

View behind the fuel dock.

Looking toward the Boat Work's shop, water now covers the open parking area.

View from the backside of the shower house.

RISING WATER

Apr. 28, 2011---Compare this first picture on the right to the similar one taken yesterday. Notice the rusty looking vertical pipes (spuds) that hold the dock in place are no longer visible.

It is difficult to imagine the volume of water that is being held back behind the dams. Water level has risen 6 feet in the past 2 1/2 days. (Rose 1' in past 7 hrs). Keith is looking at the walkway to the stairs. It is nearly level instead of inclining upward.

Dream Manor simply floats with no realization that Lake Barkley is 134 miles long, Kentucky Lake is 184 miles long and are joined together about 1 mile from Green Turtle Bay. Water level here is expected to rise another 10 feet or more. Just imagine how much water it takes to raise these lakes that much!

Walkway behind the fuel dock is already going under.

Water is starting to come up on the land in front of Boat Work's shop. Travel lift will soon be sitting in water.

Channels where the travel lift moves in and out over the water to pick up boats are no longer visible. Looking across the bay, Dream Manor is facing the large tree on the left.

Found a loose connection on the davit wiring. Now that it is functioning okay it was time to check out the dinghy. Found the battery was dead. Got it charged and reinstalled. Put the "Little Dreamer" in the water and held our breath when the ignition button was pushed. Wow, the 20 HP Honda started immediately. Took a ride around the marina to observe the rising water. Island where the sign marks the entrance is beginning to go under water. Behind Keith the retaining rock wall can barely be seen. The Blue Heron sitting on the retaining wall will soon have wet feet.

QUILTER QUEEN

Apr. 27, 2011---Maryann at the Senior Community Center, Grand Rivers, KY. She is smiling because of the "Quilter Queens".

Picture on the right is taken looking east from the Dream Manor. It is intended to be a reference for judging the rising water. Because of downstream flooding on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers water flow from the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers is being reduced by closing gates on the dams.

QUILTS

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

During today’s lull in rainstorms, Maryann went to the Community Center in downtown Grand Rivers to set up a display table during the 13th Annual Quilt Show. (According to the locals, this quilt show has entrants from all over the U.S. and is held at the same time as the one in Paducah.) Maryann heard that one of this year’s Grand River quilts was the Grand Prize Winner last year in Paducah! Here is a sampling of some of the quilts that are being displayed. The Quilt Show starts tomorrow, April 27, and continues through Saturday, April 30. The entry fee is only $3, and it gives you a chance to win a beautiful quilt! Besides quilts, there are many other handcrafted items for sale that would be great gifts.




























No, Maryann has not taken up quilting. Here is a shot of part of her display. She is educating folks about improved nutrition and sharing a business opportunity with those who are interested. If you are in this neck of the woods, stop by and say “hi” to her and enjoy all the lovely quilts. (There is even a rumor going around that the sun will come out later this week!)

Blessing

Apr. 23, 2011---A litttle more active today. Still a cloudy day with threats of rain. Therefore many of the boats did not venture out and were blessed in their slips. "The Blessing of the Fleet" is an age old annual tradition. About 11:30 a.m. the Pastor came to bless the Dream Manor to keep her safe at all times. At 2:00 p.m. we attended the Variety Theatre in Grand Rivers. The afternoon matinee "Big Band Show" is excellent. Terrific music and wonderful singing. First half of the performance was great. During intermission the MC announced a strong storm rapidly approaching. City alarm sirens had sounded for a tornado watch. Many folks in the audience went to a nearby Church for protection. We drove quickly back to make sure lines were extra secure on the Dream Manor. Air was very still and then the front hit. It blew and rained rather hard for a few minutes and the front passed quickly. Radar showed us to be on the edge of the storm. Most of the harsh looking clouds stayed north of our position and continued east. All are safe here. Blessing of the Fleet could not have come at a better time.

LAZY

Apr. 20, 21, 22, 2011----Apparently three days have gone by since the last post. Just peaked at the height of laziness. We have devoted a great amount of time and energy to watching Net Flix and playing games on our individual computers. What a life on the water. Just enjoying the pleasure of being here. Weather has not been great as there has been wind and rain every day. Certainly a fine time to hide inside. Still not much activity in the marina. Boating season generally kicks off at the end of April and early May when the kids get out of school. If you care to see the marina from a web cam, go to http://www.greenturtlebay.com/ and click on the camera in the upper center of the home page. Dream Manor is not in the picture as we are in a slip too far left from the fuel dock. The fuel dock is in the center. It is a lower building with the tall blue roofed Yacht club building behind the fuel dock. There are several empty transient slips left of the fuel dock. We are located farther yet to the left. The picture refreshes rather often so boats can be seen at times coming and going to the fuel dock. May not be quite so lazy when the weather conditions improve.

SOME SUCCESS

Apr. 19,2011---Yipeeee----two things now seem to be working okay. Finished installing the ground fault breaker for the ice maker on the flybridge. Once the unit started running a water leak developed. Pulled the unit out to get into the back where a small line was out of it's connection. Reinstalled and began making ice. Made another trip (30 miles each way) to Paducah. Found the brass fittings at Home Depot to get the water heater back in service. Again spent time in the crawl space that we call the basement. By the time the hot water tank was refitted and put into service, Keith and I both had sore knees and elbows from the ackward working space. However, Maryann is very proud of us for making hot water available on the boat for doing dishes and other cleaning. Yipeeeeee

WATER HEATER

Apr. 18, 2011---Maryann took a few photos today so our readers can see the Dream Manor does still exist! A little windy but quite a pleasant day with temperature reaching close to 80 degrees. Keith and I made another drive to Paducah for a few supplies we needed to finish a project or two. Managed to get the correct fuse for the voltage tester. Not bad for the second trip. May yet get the GFI changed out on the flybridge to put the icemaker back in operation. Picked up a little plastic funnel extension so we could dump the gasoline out of the dingy fuel tank into his vehicle. Want to start with fresh fuel when we get around to running the dingy. A little old gasoline mixed in brother's vehicle surely won't be a problem! Back at Green Turtle Bay we picked up the heating element that we had on order for the hot water heater. Have not had hot water since getting on the boat last week. Figure the element was damaged when the power was first on and no water in the heater. Turned out to be a major event as the plastic drain valve was badly cracked and leaked water any time the valve was opened. Finally had to disconnect the upper line from the heater to get air in the vessel so it would drain at all. After making a good mess we had to completely disconnect the heater and move it away from the wall to get enough leverage with very large water pump pliers to remove the broken valve. Once the valve was removed, more mess was created from bottom sludge draining out on the floor of the crawl space. After working in tight quarters and getting up and down numerous times the last trip up the cutty stairs with a full pan of the dirty bottom fluid must have been too much. As I fell backwards from the stairs I left the pan setting on the cabin floor and fell backwards into the edge of the open door to the lower bathroom. Damaged the door and felt quite foolish from the clumsy maneuver. No I am not hurt. Just a red line down my back made by the door edge. We connected hot and cold water lines together as a bypass around the water heater so water service could be restored to the boat. Still no hot water of course! Will require another trip or two into town for supplies! The saga will continue.

SHOPPING

Apr. 17, 2011---Sunshine and a light breeze. Sure felt good to get outside. Performed a few chores on the boat. Drove to Poducah for some shopping. Needed light bulbs, fuses and of course groceries. Walked through the mall and located a very large rabbit. Returned to the boat and put away the supplies. Quite an enjoyable day.

MORE WIND

Apr. 16, 2011---Another cloudy, drippy, windy day. Great day for more computer projects and of course the entertaining TV. Uncomfortable here, but fortunately nothing violent like was experienced in other areas. Tornadoes are very scary and create so much sudden devastation. Our hearts go out those who struck by such storms.

WEATHER

Apr. 15, 2011---Awakend by the rain making various noises as it hits the sundeck and flybridge, then pours down onto the walkways. Rain stopped mid morning but the wind howled all day. Dense clouds caused a loss of signal for direct TV. Not a problem as we connected my computer to the TV and watched streaming Net Flix movies all day. Keith had several conversations with folks at XM radio before they finally got our system back in service. As darkness fell the rain returned. Perhaps tomorrow will be more pleasant.

SHOWERS

Apr. 14, 2011---Not so busy today. Spent time getting acquainted with local services. Found the showers have been completely redone. They are great! Also the new washer and dryer in the laundry room are a nice improvement. Had lunch at Dockers located here at Green Turtle Bay. With full stomachs we made a grocery run to the local IGA store. Will be nestled in for the rain that is expected tomorrow. Still having electric problems. Switched to another pedestal on the dock to see if that would help. Also found the ice maker on the flybridge will not start. Ground fault breaker will not reset. No telling what else may be discovered as we continue to get the Dream Manor back in full service. No hurry though as we plan to stay right here for a month or two. Rivers are raging from snow melt.

POWER PROBLEMS

Apr. 13, 2011---Learned something about inverters. Boat Work mechanic explained the inverter will not operate if the house battery voltage is below 9 volts. Apparently over winter the batteries went dead. He connected an external charger. While waiting for the batteries to charge we ran a water hose through the window so Maryann could do a little cleanup in the galley. Getting reacquainted with storage areas is always entertaining as we find places to put all the things we hauled from home. Seemed like a lot, but certainly not as much as previous years. We have learned what is really important to have on the boat. There is a balance between comfort and excess. Boat Work Mechanic (Jeff) performed what he calls the summerization service. He checked out the engines and got them all started. House batteries now above 9 volts. Turned on the inverter. Low & behold it began to function! Thought power problems were over as electric equipment began to operate. Water pump now working, so Jeff purged the fresh water system to remove the antifreeze treatment. Keith & I installed new filters in our water system, put salt in the softner and then filled the fresh water tank. Next step was TV. No signal from the boxes. Keith had to call to get them reactivated. Even though the bill has been paid every month the service is shut off when there is extended lack of usage. Inverter panel shows house batteries to be fully charged. Should be good for 2 or 3 hours. However when external power is shut off the control board immediately goes dead. Learned about this problem when power was disconnected from shore. We drove the boat from in front of the travel lift directly across to a slip where the transient boaters park. TV and internet----life is good.

SPRING AGAIN

Apr. 12, 2011---How quickly winter has faded away. (At least in Louisiana). The 4 mcgees traveled in various directions the past few months. Keith and Maryann spent a lot of time in California with travels to Montana and Wyoming. Carol and Allen spent time in Henderson, Nevada. Allen was in Gillette, Wy the months of Dec and Jan. After driving many land miles visiting with family and friends it is time to change the pace. Keith, Maryann and Allen loaded some supplies in Keiths vehicle and we departed Youngsville, Louisiana at 7:00 a.m. Carol stayed behind to finish the dreaded taxes and will join us at a later date. The three of us made our way to Grand Rivers, KY. A 12 hour day covering almost 600 miles. Upon arrival at Green Turtle Bay Marina it was great to see The Dream Manor. The staff at Boat Works had just put the boat in the water after being stored on land for the winter. They had the shore power connected. What a wonderful sight. First order of business was to get our cart off the boat. We made several trips hauling supplies from the vehicle to the boat. Put some water in the fresh water tank and then found the pressure pump would not run as well as other things. Found the inverter was not functioning. With the house batteries not charged there was no power to the circuit that handles the refrigerator. Made a quick trip to a store for ice to help keep some of the food items cool through the night. No power for the TV's! Not quite a disaster as we were all plenty tired. It was not a problem to turn in early, knowing the next day is going to be another busy one.