Stranger Things

Our first real exposure to the Looper world came when we were living full time on Kintala. We were part of the migration up and down the East Coast and out to the Islands. Along the way we heard tell of a bit of a legend. There was a boat named Manatee that was said to be a on a continuous loop, having made the circle literally dozens of times. We didn't know too much about "The Loop" and, at that time, didn't find the idea of inland river travel surrounded by land all that interesting. 

We actually crossed wakes with Manatee twice while living on Kintala. We spent  time visiting with Ted, though we never met Sarah. Once was in Marathon where, if I remember correctly, we were all laid up waiting on the weather to settle before taking on the Hawk Channel northbound. The other time, we were anchored in Shark River on the southwest coast of Florida heading south around the Keys. Manatee was anchored up a little further in and it wasn't too long before Ted came putting up in "Little Manatee", his tender. Both  the tender and the boat sport bright orange paint. Though Ted was a "Looper" he had crossed the Gulf Stream several times and spent time in the Islands as well. So we had covered similar ground and had a lot of stories to share. 

Of course we heard more about Manatee once we joined the Looper Community itself. Though it had been several years, word had it that Ted and Sarah were sill going strong. We started following them on NEBO, watching were they were to see if there was a chance we would cross wakes yet again. But it didn't work out that way. Our first try was aborted with the health issues. This time around Manatee looked to be well behind as we started pushing rather hard to make it to St. Louis, arriving nearly two months ago now.

Since getting home, we have been readjusting to land living, spending a bunch of time with family deeply missed while "looping", and getting busy on the project list. High on the list this last week was winter prep. After several days of work, all that was left was a couple of minor issues that would take about an hour. Freezing weather is headed this way. So, after a Grand Daughter's final soccer game of the season this morning, we headed out to the marina.

There has been very little activity at the marina. Once in a while we run across someone else winterizing, or the occasional marina employee. Most of the time we are the only ones around. And so it was when we stopped by the Marina's only operating head on the way to the boat. All of the water has been turned off except for the main office building , its rest rooms, and laundry. So I was utterly unprepared to literally bump into someone walking his dog as I exited the room and turned to lock the door. "Unprepared" is a bit of an understatement, I jumped like a frightened kid on Halloween. 

As you have already guessed, it was Ted walking Patches, third member of his crew. I wouldn't have recognized him but for his and his boat's name embroidered on his shirt. Manatee was tied to the face dock one pier over from First Light. We chatted for a while and it seemed that Ted remembered us as well. It was agreed that after we finished the last of our winterizing chores we would drop by Manatee for a chat, finally getting a chance to meet Sarah as well. 

It was one of those visits that is just shy of magical. Ted is nearly as far off the reservation as I am when it comes to all things social. In fact it would likely be more accurate to put that the other way around as it is just barely possible he is a step or two further out than I am. We are not related in any way, but we are certainly kindred souls. Sarah is a delight and, like Deb, puts up with and supports her partner with a smile and an occasional shake of the head. After a really special and fun visit, we headed for our land side home, leaving them our number should they need anything before heading south trying to beat the incoming cold.

I don't know what the odds are of literally bumping into someone you know from years ago in a place completely unexpected without any kind of planning or foreknowledge. But it will be something we smile about for a very long time.

Let the games begin...

Ed Note: This post spans about a week's worth of being at our home dock.

The marina has been the temporary home for many Looper friends for the last couple of days. The river situation south of St. Louis is a bit questionable at the moment. It looks like they can make Kentucky Lake easily enough with the only concern being how many boats are going to be stopped at the lake trying to decide how hard to push south, a decision made even more difficult with the Florida Big Bend area being hammered yet again by another major hurricane. I'm not sure I could talk myself into taking a boat any further south than I am right now. Both Deb and I are kind of glad that we don't have to make any traveling decisions at the moment. But that doesn't make it any easier for friends who live in Florida and other friends who need to go that way to get home.

Our friends on Number 99 as they pass the arch on their way south.

A couple of days ago, we spent the day as tour guides for our home town, eight of us enjoying the city's zoo and then four of that group going on to visit the Arch. (Deb and I have been there and have no real need to visit it again.) We have also been the target address for some of our friends getting things shipped to them. Getting things shipped is a relentless pain for those of us who travel by boat with a current address being “somewhere on the water”. We have helped out in some other small ways as well. It is what people who live on boats tend to do, as most of us have needed a favor or two along the way. Deb and I have been on the receiving end of a helping hand so many times. It is nice having the chance to be on the offering side for a change.

He seems to think that way is south...

So we headed off to the marina with two granddaughters in tow to a) actually start getting some work done on the boat and, b) meet up for dinner with the gang before they head south in the morning. The  “b” part of the day was a really good time. The granddaughters charmed the group while we shared stories with people who are now good friends that we might not see again for a while.

The “a” part of the day was a little different story. It was the girls' first time on the boat and they fully approve, even if we didn't leave the slip. Deb found some stuff that melts spider poop. Spray it on, wait a minute or two, wipe (or hose) it off. One small step from being pure magic. Ah, but after that things got a bit less fun. I decided to tackle replacing the starboard side midship cleat damaged while on the wall in Grand River. From the start we knew that the outboard wall of the shower stall was the only access point. The was no choice but to get behind that wall.

We didn't remove the wall so much as destroy it. It was mounted with nails buried into the wood, leaving no way to pry it off without trashing the wall itself. I guess nails are cheaper than screws and/or it never occurred to the fabricating or design team that anyone would ever need access to that area again (this in spite of the plumbing lines and wiring runs behind the wall).

Even that brute force method of removal took most of the day. Which sounds bad, and is. But isn't quite as bad as it might seem. The wall is (was) a thin slab of laminated wood-like material  that was showing the damage of decades on a boat. The support wood it was attached to was in even worse shape. And, as is common with boats, the install itself was shoddy with nails sticking out in skin-gouging places where someone kind of missed the target. The wood supports looked like they were hacked off with a dull ax and were even more rotted out than the wall itself. Understandable, as it was untreated raw wood. In my experience it was marine-industry-acceptable since it was all hidden and likely assembled by people making minimum wage with someone standing over them demanding that they move faster and use whatever material was lying around. The low standards of marine industry quality control is my normal expectation whenever I get involved with a boat project, but it is still a disappointment. And, to be fair, it isn't likely the manufacturer ever expected the boat to be in service as long as it has.

After the new cleat is in place, the shower will be rebuilt with new and better material. It's my boat and I can make it as professional-looking as my skill and wallet will allow if I want, even if no one else will ever see what is behind the wall again. 

With the wall destroyed, it became obvious that access to the cleat mounting bolts was still going to be a problem. As expected, the cleat was through-bolted at the edge of the deck with a backing plate. What was not expected is that the three of the four bolts as well as most of the backing plate were then fiberglassed over. It would appear that the deck was assembled as a unit with the cleats installed, then that unit was glassed onto the hull. Thus the outboard bolts are completely buried where the hull and deck are joined. We were stymied for the day, but that was okay as it was time for dinner with our friends. Then home with two tired granddaughters and one worn out Grampy T.

After removing the retractable clothesline, we drilled a hole big enough for the boroscope

so we could be sure the nuts were where we thought they were. Alas, all you could see was one tiny bit of nut edge under fiberglass.

After removing a bit of fiberglass and one of the nuts, the backing plate became visible.

After a day off, we were back at it.  The forward inboard sheared bolt wasn't glassed over and was easily removed. The aft inboard bolt was the one that didn't shear and was still holding the cleat to the boat. That nut was covered with fiberglass but was accessible. A few seconds with a Dremel and I could hold the nut while Deb unscrewed the cleat from the deck. (The nut was spinning in a glassed in pocket.) 

We will be replacing the cleat with a different style that has just two mount bolts. Not as beefy as the original, but it will get the job done. Particularly since we will not make the mistake of running fore and aft spring lines to those cleats while getting bashed against a wall in three-foot rollers.

When the new cleat is installed, we will tackle the job of rebuilding the shower stall. The goal is to make it look more professional and "tidy" than it did. That is not going to be an easy job and will likely take a while. Fortunately, we are not in any hurry to go anywhere. Which is particularly good because the cleat repair and shower rebuild is far from the biggest job we need to do. With the replacement cleat on order and the shower cleaned up from its disaster-in-progress state we decided to get one more task done. It took less than an hour to replace the low pressure water pump that we had shanghaied into serving as a deck wash pump with an actual deck wash pump. Big difference. Not sure when the next time will be that the hook will come up covered in mud but when that happens we will be blasting that mud off with ease.

A day or so after that : With the new cleat in hand, we headed back to the boat. The first task was to "move" the original mounting holes through both fiberglass and backing plate a few fractions of an inch so the new bolts would go in. A brand new beefy round file moved them where they needed to be. Some fiberglass and gel-coat work followed and, had I mixed the batches a little hotter, we might have finished up the install. But  the gelcoat was going to take a while to set and we were about out of day, so homeward we went.

This morning, Grandsons (two) and I headed back to the marina to finish the cleat repair. The Grandsons did the sanding, washer filing and fitting, and final install. All I did was watch, lay down the sealer, and put the final bit of torque on the install. There is still a little gelcoat work to do around the new cleat. Actually, there is gelcoat work all over the boat awaiting attention. The cleat will get its share.

So we are now several days in to our "the-boat-is-a-hobby-not-our-home" post Loop life. A few projects are already well along. It feels pretty good.

The old cleat just taped on till we made it home

The two inaccessible outboard holes glassed in

The two accessible holes ground out so the new cleat bolts would line up with the holes

Waiting for the new cleat to arrive

Guess what needs to happen to that ever-too-long screw???

Washers to beef up the backing plate.

The new cleat installed

Yes, much more gelcoat needs to be done...

More photos from our zoo trip

He told you south was that way!

Two lives

Settling into land life again is, as expected, proving to be both a little harder and a little easier than expected. We didn't go wandering on Kintala until years after our girls had all grown and headed off on their own life's journey. Leaving behind nothing but some possessions wasn't an issue at all. In fact it gave us an excuse for lightening the burden of “stuff” that we Americans are so good and getting buried under. Since we were not leaving family in the sense of leaving people we had seen every day for years, it was a grand adventure.

More than a decade passed between the time we headed out on Kintala as full time cruisers and heading out on First Light as Looper Lites to get the boat back to Saint Louis. During that time on land we had the extreme good fortune of up living as part of the extended family of Daughter and Son-in-Law Middle parent to six of our grandkids. Leaving them, even knowing it was for a limited time, wasn't easy. That feeling faded a little as we worked our way north and west, though it never went away. I think it is fair to say that, once we made the turn at the north end of Lake Michigan, the need to get home started to grow again. By the time we hit the river system it was likely the reason we put in some tough long days, just to make miles.

Last night was only our second night back. We both still wake up in the dark trying to figure out where we are. On the one hand my groggy mind thinks we must slipped the hook and run aground since the berth isn't moving and the background noise is wrong. Last night it took me a while to figure out that the trip was indeed over and I was actually in our bed in St. Louis. 

On the other hand I still have to put a hand on the shower wall because the floor under my feet feels like it is shifting and the walls appear to be tilting some. We are still digging stuff out of storage and are trying to remember where they belong in this giant two room apartment. I had to add another hanger to make room for the Ukulele I bought somewhere along the trip. Which was good because the one Uke wall to the right of my chair had always been a little out of balance. Now it is looking pretty good.

The two youngest girls and I have already started playing games while the two grandsons joined in watching last week's MOTO GP race. It will be a lot of fun watching the rest of the season with them. Yesterday Granddaughter Eldest rode with us back to the boat and helped us bring back some more stuff. It was the first time she had seen the boat. I'm sure there will be plans to start doing some “pleasure boating” soon though, sometime in the next few days, I will get started on getting First Light in some kind of shape. A long day of cleaning and scrubbing will go a ways into making her look like a boat that is cared for once again.

Home sweet home with all the instruments back in their proper place.

But the strangest and most unexpected aspect of being back is that there is nothing that needs done. There is no schedule to keep, no weather that needs checking, no plans that have to be made to get through the next few days. Water and electricity are always available at the twist of a knob or flip of a switch. I don't care how hard the wind blows or how much it rains. I have to admit to liking living on a boat, traveling, seeing new things, and facing the challenges of being safe and smart. But this is some pretty good living as well. I am in no hurry to give it up again. Without a doubt I am one of the luckiest people on the planet in that I get to experience both.  

At last...

Our last night at anchor, at least for a while, was quiet and incident free. I didn't get much sleep though, having tangled with some kind of critter while walking around in Beardstown in Keens—critters that chewed my feet up pretty good. Not as bad as the fire ant encounter a while back, but bad enough. Still, I got some sleep.

SV Galactica

We woke up this morning to nearly perfect weather except for a little fog. We debated waiting but it would take a lot worse weather than a little fog to delay starting the last leg of a 5 month journey to get home. We were on the move before the sun broached the horizon.

We have lived in the St. Louis area for a long time. When we cruised full time on Kintala, St. Louis was still where much of the family lived waiting for us to visit. I have flown over it, into it, and around it literally hundreds of times. We have driven cars and ridden motorcycles along all of its rivers. Still, until we joined the Mississippi river at Grafton and rode it under the Clark Super Bridge for the “U” turn into the Alton Marina and First Light's new home, I had no appreciation for just how big the Mississippi is. This is a serious piece of water. Making it our “home” water will take some time and, I expect, some serious respect. Getting caught out in a midwestern thunderstorm anywhere along this stretch of the river will likely have you crying for your Mama.

After filling the fuel tanks and emptying the holding tank, we settled into our assigned slip with little fanfare. It has all the amenities including a roof. A comforting addition when midwestern thunderstorms start dropping hail on everything under them. In fact, walking up to the office and back to get all signed in, I got the feeling that this was some pretty high class digs for a couple of boat bums.

So we are about to start a new kind of boat life. Rather than full time cruisers on a sailboat or Loopers on a trawler, we are just your average “pleasure boaters” now. Having grandkids and friends along for a day on the water or heading off to an Illinois River anchorage for a night or two will all be for pure fun. No need to get anywhere for any reason. When the boat isn't moving it will be another of my hobbies. First Light is travel weary, showing the miles and carrying a scar or two. She deserves some TLC. I happen to like working on the boat as long as there is no pressure to get it done or need to jury-rig something just to get out of a bind. We did the trip we planned to do. We handled the things we had to handle. We saw cool stuff, met good people, usually made the right decisions and did what we needed to when this or that decision went sour. It is time to turn the heat down a little. We are, after all, entering the winter season of our lives. There is nothing left to prove.

(Ed Note: OK I might have gone just a little crazy on the pictures today...)

Did you know that school buses ride the ferry in Grafton, IL?

The last barge to pass on this trip.

We used to ride our motorcycles to The Loading Dock. Weird seeing it from the water.

The casino in Alton, IL

Coming into Alton Marina

Packing up to go back to the apartment. I think we have a bad case of UAS (Ukulele acquisition syndrome)