July 25 - 27, 2018
Sister Susan dubbed me ‘a trooper.’ I love my sister! She
has insight into me AND my situation; and, she’s traveled with us which lends
credibility! I made comment recently to Clay that I feel greasy, grimy,
grungy, sweaty, smelly, sticky—you get the gist—by day’s end. It’s been that
kind of summer for us all! But as deckhand, I’m coated in sunscreen, involved
in sweaty activities, and often splashed with river water—all in a day’s work.
I really look forward to that evening shower!
Life aboard the SaSea Sally—or any cruising boat of
comparable size—can reshape and redefine one’s values! Happiness is a walk along
the levee; internet access to download emails which haven’t been retrieved in
over a week; health which enables one to hoist, throw, bend, twist and meet
daily challenges with ease; functioning with a minimalistic approach—less is
certainly more on a boat! A place for everything and everything in its
place—when items are stowed, there’s plenty of room; disarray, not so much!
Now, back to recapping life aboard…
Sally’s Salon opened for business early this Monday morn
(aren’t most hair salons closed on Monday?). With clippers, barber shears and
comb in hand, I briefly reviewed the hair-cutting directions, then went to
work, amazed as always that Clay trusts me with his haircut. Vice versa ISN’T
gonna happen! Thanks again to Brandy for his patience in giving me pointers! My
talent surprises me, infrequently practiced as it is. Haircut, check.
Breakfast, check. Now time to hit the waterway!
We’ve got this anchor pull down pat! Easy pull at 10:14
a.m., using Jacksonville Ralph’s technique of backing the boat to swing the
temperamental anchor roll bar into position. And, we’re off, bound for
Evansville, IN. En route, I called the two marina choices to verify water depth
which is our primary concern—and to validate services listed in our Quimby’s
2013 Cruising Guide (outdated as it is, there are things that don’t change
much). One marina rep became a bit testy with me when repeatedly answering ‘no’
to my routine questions (at least routine for any Looper); she even suggested
the alternate marina—not good business in my books! It’s becoming more obvious
that this isn’t the Loop! But, just as with the upper Mississippi River we
cruised last summer, we’re relishing those little pops of joy!
And Ron at Inland Marina in Evansville was a pop of joy!
Inbound with strong winds at our stern, we welcomed Inland Marina’s dockmaster
Ron catching our lines and processing us through fueling, pumping out, and
pivoting the boat with bow pulpit as pivot point to position at the fuel dock
(doubling as the Tiki Bar and boathouse) for the overnight. What a delightful
and competent fella he was! We shared boat stories over the two hours’
processing time which passed quickly. A certified boat captain with obviously
hours and hours of experience, Ron hailed from Astor, FL on the Johns River
(we’ve been there so Clay and he could talk shop); summer months he spends in
Evansville, assisting his marina manager daughter with dockmaster duties. You
meet the nicest people along the waterway!
Port Captain Norm submitted the following on Inland Marina’s
Facebook page: Great marina at MM 791 on the Ohio River. The Marina is NOT
CLOSED. Gas and Diesel fuel is available 24X7X365. Slips are "Off
River" and free of river current and debris. Tiki Time Tike Bar and CK's
Marina Point restaurant operates during the summer season and offers great
views of the city of Evansville. Convenient to downtown Evansville with all is
attractions. Don't miss a tour on the LST325! Note the “NOT CLOSED”
emphasis; the Ohio River suffered serious flooding this spring and early
summer, and only recently returned to normal summer pool stage. Further, note
“Convenient to downtown Evansville…” ‘Convenient’ does not apply to hoofing it!
I did commence a 60-minute loop which took me to the Visitors Center on the
downtown periphery and back, a pretty but somewhat dangerous walk (asphalt road
with NO shoulder) a lengthy part of the route.
On return, I ramped up dinner with homemade cornbread and
roasted Brussel sprouts to enhance the leftover balsamic chicken (which is
really almost better as leftovers!) Lest you think homemade cornbread and
roasted Brussel sprouts are easy fixes in Sally’s Galley, please do come take a
tour sometime! Susan chimed in without prompt, “Are you crazy?” Yes, sometimes
I think I am! We noted that Monday’s crowd at the Tiki Bar was small and
subdued so noise wouldn’t be an issue overnight, but the bright lights promised
a thick coating of bugs littering our deck come morning.
I took advantage of power and water hook-ups Tuesday morning
to cycle two belly loads of laundry before our morning walk. The location of
the marina was adjacent to the USS LST Ship Memorial (USS LST 325). Called the ship that won the war by Churchill, the LSTs (Landing Ship
Tank) were essential in sea-to-land invasions and many were built in Evansville, Indiana. The LST 325 is 328 ft. Clay failed to
tour the memorial, but I have no doubt it’s on his radar screen on our return
trip (we gotta come back this way)!
Together Clay and I hosed the deck and filled our water tank
in anticipation of three nights anchoring before reaching our next port of call
Louisville, KY. Soon, with the help of above-quoted port captain Norm (aboard
Quiet Company), we disconnected lines and cords and pushed onward toward
Newburgh Lock.
Locking on the OH River is almost a pleasure. The lock
chambers are clean, and floating bollards pretty much negate emergency line
cutting. Please note that I said ‘almost’ a pleasure. The positioning of our
boat along the lock wall set up a seesaw motion as water filled the chamber—not
fun for the first mate trying to hold the position. But quite doable!
Now upriver of the lock, we cruised toward Thursday night’s
destination Louisville, KY, with Clay exploring marina options and relishing
the calm waters. On many of our previous days, Clay had noted the brisk winds,
choppy waters, and the silver glitz of the undersides of leaves along the
shoreline. One hundred eighty-eight river miles stood between Evansville and
Louisville, so we anticipated at least two-to-three days cruising time. What we
didn’t anticipate was a long wait in Tuesday’s waning hours at Cannelton Lock;
we had little choice but to lock through to the other side as river depths of
65’ in most places affords NO opportunity to anchor downriver of the lock for
the overnight. We had sights set on Rocky Point Marina on yonder shore, but
shallow depths were of concern. Where’s the law of averages here? Goldilocks
wants her water depth just right.
With no shore assistance (and even Mother Nature had snuffed
out the sun for the night), Captain Clay and crew thrusted, lassoed, and
secured SaSea Sally to the Rocky Point Marina. SaSea’s props were newly
repitched ($$), and the good captain wanted no part of prop damage, thus
thrusting. Note: SaSea Sally has both bow and stern thrusters (cushy!), which
are imbedded propellers that move the boat sideways (parallel parking our boat
should be a breeze!) Using thrusters in shallow water does not endanger those
propellers.
Once docked, I was assigned the task of old-fashioned depth
finding. We take all of the electronics on the boat for granted, living in the
tech world as we do. But, believe it or not, the first Loopers used the good
ole boat hook for depth measurement. With boat hook in hand, I sunk the tip
into river muck to measure the water depth. Captain was calmed by measurements
at the swim platform; not so much along the shoreside hull!
Too late for shore exploration, it didn’t even enter our
minds as we connected to shore power but were unable to find a water hook-up. I
was thankful I’d started a crock pot chuck roast dinner entrée, so was quick to
serve up supper, clean up and bed down for the night. It had been a long ten-hour
cruising day covering 72 river miles!
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