Ship’s Log: Days 26-30
September 27 - October 1, 1999
Monday, Sept. 27
We were up early and prepared to depart. I talked with the harbormaster, Jim Stark, a very interesting fellow. During ten months last year, he sailed a Bristol 27 10,000 miles down through the Caribbean, then back up to Kentucky. In December, he is departing on another boat he just bought and plans on a three-year trip to do the great circle. He expects to be through Jacksonville next spring and I invited him to look Nancy and me up, leaving our address.
We departed the marina about 8:20 A.M. and very soon were off Pickwick Lake and into the waterway. The waterway is manmade by the Corp of Engineers at a cost of $2 Billion, completed in 1985. It is basically a ditch, 300 feet wide and about 12 feet deep. Most of it is straight with occasional bends, not the most interesting boating. We covered 36 miles and anchored at mile mark 413 in Bay Springs Lake above the Jamie Whitten Lock. It was a hot day and the water was very clean so we went swimming about Telesis, Perry Yacht Club Style. That is, we had cushions for floats and beers. Later we fixed dinner aboard and retired early.
Tuesday, Sept. 28
We were up early and underway by 7:45 A.M and immediately slipped into the Jamie Whitten Lock. It was an interesting lock as we dropped 84 feet. The lock chamber is a big hole when you get to the bottom with huge tall gates at the down stream side. We then passed through two more locks that day, the Sonny Montgomery Lock and the John Rankin Lock, both are 30-foot drops. At all three locks we ready to receive us as soon as we arrived so we made very good time.
We had a special Bobby Wolfe brunch of bilge stew, which he prepared and cooked while underway. With Bobby’s permission, I’ve published the recipe with this blog.
By very early afternoon we arrived at Midway Marina, mile mark 394 having made 19 miles and three locks. We fueled Telesis and took a slip. I had parts shipped ahead to the marina and they were there waiting for us. By the afternoon, it was very hot again.
That evening, Bob, Bobby and I used the courtesy car and went into Fulton, MS and had pizza at the Pizza Hut. This is another dry county, so no beer with our pizza. This dry county stuff is getting to be a drag.
This is the end of the trip for Bob and Bobby, so this is their last night aboard.
Bobby Wolfe’s Bilge Stew
Perfected after years of experimentation on Sunday mornings aboard DorsieY (Bobby’s boat) at Perry Yacht Club.
Ingredients (per person):
½ medium size potato, sliced
¼ cup chopped cabbage
1 stalk celery, chopped
¼ medium onion, chopped
¼ lbs. precooked meat such as sausages, hot dogs, what ever you have
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
1 clove of garlic, chopped and/or whatever other spices you might have
salt and pepper
Tabasco sauce
¼ cup freshly drawn bilge water from the host boatIn a large skillet, sauté in the oil the potato, cabbage and celery. After the time it takes to drink one beer, add the onion, the meat and the garlic or spices and cover. Do not overcook. Serve hot with the salt, pepper, Tabasco sauce and bilge water on the side to be seasoned to individual taste. Most people, myself included, skip the bilge water. Bread or toast goes well with the bilge stew.
Wednesday, Sept. 29
During the night a cold front came through and it rained lightly most of the night. We awoke to a very cool, cloudy, damp, windy day. Bob and Bobby went to town for breakfast, but I ate aboard and went to work on Telesis. I had a high-output alternator and three-step voltage regulator shipped in from Indigo Products. The earlier problem I had with the standard alternator plus the fact it took hours for it to recharge the deep cycle batteries convinced me I needed to change before I got to the big water when I would be sailing and not motoring all the time. It took most of the day, as I had to run new, heavier battery cables for the system to work properly. I also decided to upgrade the whole system and ordered two new deep cycle batteries from the marina.
Bob and Bobby departed when Cheri arrived and picked them up. It was very quiet at the marina because of the weather. This was one of those busy in the boat days. I ate aboard and went to bed with the electric heater on. For the first time on the trip I was alone aboard.
Thursday, Sept. 30
It was a cool foggy morning, but the sun soon burned off the fog and it was a beautiful day. I spent the morning finishing up the alternator and batteries work, then cleaned the boat above and below decks, rearranged gear and generally got ready for single handing in the coming weeks. I went into town, boy those marina courtesy cars are a big help, and provisioned the boat. I also had photos developed to mail back to Jacksonville (Jax) for the web site.
After getting everything stowed aboard, I spent a little time talking with people around the marina. Many live aboard full time on all manners of boats, houseboats, sailboats, trawlers, cruisers, etc. Most interesting to me were Jim and Leslie Bouldin. They call south Texas their home port and have lived aboard for the past six years on a Rough Water 33 heavy, full keel sailboat with fiberglass hull and wood cabin top. They came north to avoid hurricane season. Their boat is named Dulcina after the good-hearted whore in Don Quixote(sp?). As Jim said, “the boat can be kind and make you feel good or she can be rough and fuck you near to death”. (Jim is retired Navy and a bit colorful in his language) This is their first boat and they’ve been learning sailing and reconditioning Dulcina for greater adventures. They plan an East Coast trip and I invited them to visit us in Jax.
That evening a party broke out on the docks with some of the local live aboard and the transient boaters like me. We drank, shared stories and never did get around to eating. Oh well, we got the important stuff done – !
Friday, Oct. 1
This completes my first four weeks and is my first day alone on the water. I was off from Midway Marina by 8:30 A.M. after the fog burnt off to reveal a cool, sunny, great day. After the night before, I had my own fog to clear from my head.
I immediately entered Fulton Lock, my first of three for the day. The other two were the Glover Wilkins Lock and the Amory Lock. Locking through alone was not difficult thanks to the floating bollards.
I had great cell phone service and spent much of the morning catching up with friends and family via phone, all the while piloting Telesis down the waterways. On the Missouri River, the new depth sounder was the instrument I most appreciated. On the Tenn-Tom, alone, the autopilot is the most valued equipment. It steers the boat on a straight course so I can talk of the phone, change the CD’s, attend to various body functions and keep moving all the while. When you’re only doing six mph, you’ve got to keep moving. I have to keep an eye on the boat’s course, but I don’t have to be at the wheel every moment.
I dropped anchor at 4:00 P.M. near Aberdeen, MS at mile mark 359 having made 35 miles and three locks in 7 ½ hours. I caught up some on my logs and fixed dinner of baked chicken thighs and mixed fresh vegetables all cooked on the grille.
Fulton Lock, MS