Jack and Pat's Adventures

  October, 23, 2024 Well, yesterday was a big day!   We went through our last lock of our journey. Our total count of locks from the beginning of our Loop is 109. This last lock, called the Coffeeville Lock, separates the fresh water of the river system from the salt water that runs up from Mobile Bay. The sites along the water also changed. First, we were spotting alligators on the banks of the river, then palm trees and then, when we entered Mobile Bay we were welcomed by swarms of dolphin. We knew we were getting close to Florida. When we left Kingfisher Marina on October 17 th we entered the Tombigbee River. That night we anchored in Bashi Creek. It was very narrow with overhanging trees so our 3 boats had barely enough room to anchor. In fact, we all had to use our stern anchors as well as the bow anchors to keep us straight in the narrow creek. It was a beautiful, quiet setting and we had it all to ourselves. When we woke up the next morning there was a thick fog so...

  October 18 th On October 5 th we arrived at the Green Turtle Bay Marina in Grand Rivers, Ky with our two buddy boats and found a large gathering of other Loopers. We are finding that the further we get down the rivers the crowd of Loopers is growing as the season of the Loop is getting closer to the end for most of the Loopers who started in Florida. Many Loopers who started further north on the east coast tend to plan to spend the winter in Florida or the Bahamas and continue on to finish their Loop in the spring.   They call returning to the port you started in “Crossing your Wake”. We will be crossing our wake in St Petersburg. The highlight of our stay in Grand Rivers was a visit to Patti’s Restaurant. It was like a little village of not only the restaurant but a Moonshine tasting shop ( yes we bought a bottle of blackberry flavored moonshine), several shops and   miniature golf . Our group of 3 couples enjoyed 2 inch thick pork chops,   (their specialty),...

  October 5 th , On 9/29 we left Alton Marina heading down the Mississippi. Within a few minutes we went through the first lock of the day and then passed the point where the Missouri River flows into the Mississippi as the Illinois River did further north. Soon after, we came to a “fork in the road” on the Mississippi where there is a very narrow canal to the left and the Mississippi runs to the right. One would logically think we should keep to the right, but a very large sign read KEEP LEFT. If we had followed the river to the right, we would soon find ourselves going down very strong rapids that could surely tear our boat apart. We followed the sign to the left!!! It wasn’t long before we went through the Chain of Rocks Lock that would be our last lock for the day. The next event for the day was passing the St Louis Gateway Arch that sits right along the Mississippi River. At 630 ft tall, it is the largest arch monument in America and it pays tribute to the western expans...