SIRENS

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The day started out pretty nice here in Green Turtle Bay with sunshine, warmth, & humidity. Later in the afternoon black clouds started to travel rapidly overhead. That evening we were treated to a spectacular light show complete with thunder, driving rain, strong wind, and tornado sirens! Dream Manor was rocking pretty good! Luckily we were just on the fringes of a tornado which actually touched down by Memphis. Never a dull day on the river!

. The first is a sign at the gas dock. The second is one of the nice, plush rugs in the shower house. That is a fine looking turtle! The third is a picture of the radar screen while we were in the middle of the storm. Lots of red on the screen. Wind gusts reached a strong 61 mph.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL9GekCQXCY

BUSY

May 23, 2011---Keith stays real busy performng upkeep tasks on the boat. Got the new house batteries installed with some assistance from Boat Works. After much agony and study on the hot water heater he found a broken wire that has been the problem all along. The cook is much happier with hot water readily available in the galley. Keith proudly installed a new American flag on the mast mounted high on the radar arch. With the water level back down to a comfortable level marina personnel are busy cleaning and repairing from the flood damage. TVA reports a water level of 360.1 feet elevation which is down 12.4 feet from the crest. Anchor and lines we loaned them to secure the docks during high water have been returned. Boater activity is expectd to increase this holiday weekend.

OHIO RIVER

May 22, 2011---Maryann went to the Cincinnati area for a few days for some Juice Plus+ events and trainings. Before returning home, she visited our boating friend, Ron Friend, at the Manhattan Harbor Marina. As you can see by the pictures, the water is still very high there. B dock is the only walkway that wasn’t covered by the flood waters of the Ohio River.

GTB

May 17, 2011---Keith and Maryann returned to Dream Manor, still docked where we left her in Green Turtle Bay Marina. As you can see by the photo, our dock walkway has once more re-emerged from the water! The river level here seems to be what it was pre-flood stage. Mother Nature is still alternating between sunshine and rain with frequent thunderstorm warnings.

KNOXVILLE & PORTLAND TENNESSEE

May 16, 2011---On Monday Keith and Maryann drove to a Harley dealer in Knoxville, where Keith bought a new pair of boots. While there, they also bought a raffle ticket on a new HD Street Glide motorcycle. Representatives of the Winston-Salem HOG (Harley Owners Group) chapter said they actually donate the raffle proceeds to the program that flies WWII Veterans to Washington, D.C. to see their Memorial. Keith & Maryann said they would happily give them some PR on the 4 McGees’ boating blog. After leaving there, they drove to the Gibson plant in Portland, TN, to pick up four new house batteries for Dream Manor. It was nice talking with the Gibson owners, but the depressed economy is hitting the houseboat business hard.

NORTH CAROLINA

May 14-15, 2011---Keith decided to take a side-trip to North Carolina on the way back to Dream Manor, just because he had never been there. He and Maryann spent the weekend in Winston-Salem sight-seeing. On Sunday they attended a Greek Festival, where they ate yummy food, shouted Opah! while watching costumed children dancing, and toured a beautiful Greek Orthodox church. Maryann snapped a picture of the Wake Forest University Medical Center, which is currently investigating the effects of Juice Plus+ on nutritional status and various markers of cell health. The research is being funded by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

NOMADS ON THE MOVE AGAIN

Keith and Maryann got antsy after being in Louisiana awhile and decided to head north to check on their Memphis property and Dream Manor. They left Youngsville on May 12th and stayed the night with friends in Mississippi. The next day, Friday the 13th, turned out to be “lucky” for them, as they discovered that their home on Mud Island in Memphis had NOT been affected by the flooding MS River! What a relief! Included are some photos of the low end of the island plus some surrounding areas.

HOME

May. 4, 2011---Overnight the water level rose another .50 feet to an elevation of 372.50 feet. That makes a total rise of 13.85 feet since I started keeping track nine days ago. Dams are releasing more water as the levels are near the top. Barkley is releasing 90,300 cuft per second and Kentucky dam is releasing 187,000 cuft per second. Huge volumes of water as there are 7.48 galllons per cuft! Since it is expected to take two or three weeks for the water to receed we decided to load up and return to home in Youngsville, Louisiana until the marina has an opportunity to return to somewhat normal. It will certainly take some time as water even got into their maintenance office which is located above the ship store. Notice Maryann is waiting in the boat which is being used to ferry folks across to shore. The temporary board walkway is rather risky to cross. Maryann pulled on the rope to guide the temorary ferry into position for unloading. Put the supplies in Keith's van and we made the 658 mile trip to Youngsville. Arrived at 9:45 p.m.

A quick picture of water flowing from the Kentucky Dam on the Tennessee River. Downstream is just a froth from all the turbulance.

Typical view of water along the road. This was taken just outside Memphis. The Mississippi River has spread out covering lots of farmland and causing severe flooding problems.

HIGHER WATER

May 3, 2011---Water elevation at 372.00 feet. Up 1.25 feet from yesterday for a total of 13.35 feet. Man in the water working on the board crossing said it was @#!--># cold!

Getting closer to the top step.

Dream Manor just pays no attention to the water level. Only the crew notices looking out the cabin window we are higher than the cars on land.

Larger boats that were in the dry dock area began to float.Last of them were moved and tied to the floating docks.

Dry Dock area looks empty now.

Remember when Keith was standing under the Yacht Club. Now the floating dock is forced up against the concrete supports.

Another view of the Yacht Club.

Ship store now has water inside.

Ship store sign looks lonesome in the water.

RAIN RAIN

May 2, 2011---Two photos for water level camparison. Elevation of Barkley Lake is now 370.75 feet. An increase of .70 to a total of 12.10 feet. Dream Manor now seems to be above the parking area. Keith's two seater bicycle is waiting for warm weather. It rained most all last night and today. Still raining as this report is written. Barkley and Kentucky Dams are both releasing more water attempting to control the lakes near the current level. Still the level increases due to heavy rains.

Even the Great Blue Heron seems unhappy about the dreary weather.

Water level got so high that boats on jacks in "dry dock" began floating. Marina employees used a small work boat to push the floating boats over to dock slips where they were tied down for control.

PADUCAH GROC

May 1, 2011---TVA report shows water level at 370.5 feet an increase of 1.10 ft in last 24 hours. Total increase of 11.40 feet since first recording the data on Apr 26th. The planks are still serving okay as a walkway.

Getting closer to the bottom of the elevated structures. Should be okay though as the dams are releasing more water and the level is more stable.

Drove to Paducah for groceries. crossed over the Ohio river into Illinois to check out the flooding. The large bridge crossed the river but all the low lands on either side are covered with water nearly up to the road.


This older power line is not far above the water.

Short trip into Illinois.





Returned to Kentucky. Checked out the retaining wall in Paducah. All the gates are in place and there is no way to see how high the water is behind the wall. Must be some pressure because there was a place where the water was coming up thru a crack in the sidewalk. It looked like a little fountain.

Baby geese seemed unconcerned that it has rained off and on all day.