THE PANHANDLE

Back aboard Thistle and we are ready to start our Great American Loop journey on the Intracoastal Waterway. 

The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a 3,000 mile inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Coast's of the United States. Some of the waterway consist of natural inlets, saltwater rivers, bays and sounds, while other sections are artificial canals. The northern end of the Intracoastal Waterway is Boston, Massachusetts and the southern end is Brownsville, Texas.

The next few days we will be on the Gulf Section of the Intracoastal Waterway, and will travel about 250 miles. We entered the ICW off Mobile Bay on the way to Carrabelle, Florida. The ICW provides a channel with a depth of at least 12 feet. The Gulf Waterway was proposed in the early 19 century, but opened in 1949. 

The ICW parallels the Florida Panhandle. The "Panhandle" is the unofficial term for the western section of Florida. It is a strip of land about 200 miles long and 50-100 miles wide. The Panhandle is nicknamed "The Forgotten Coast." The area has remained true to it's southern hospitality and conservative values. Today the Panhandle is known for its  hurricanes, white sandy beaches, barrier islands, and excellent boating and fishing. 

We enjoyed the Panhandle more than expected:) Back in the salt water is a great feeling! 

Once finished with this section of the ICW, we have the only overnight passage on the Great American Loop Adventure. We have been constantly checking multiple weather reports to ensure a safe crossing across the Gulf of Mexico to Tarpon Springs, Florida. 

Leaving Apalachicola in the morning ...all reports look good :)

We will update our family and friends after our approximately 24 hour passage!

XO wish us good luck along with the dolphins :)

Looper Tip: Start checking your weather window to cross in Mobile! (In November 2016 there were only 11 good weather window days.)

Dinner at the Mobile Yacht Club... fresh grouper and Gulf shrimp!

Excellent:)

Thistle's 1,000 hour service, bottom clean and new zincs.

Going from fresh water to salt water ... 

Back across Mobile Bay...we are getting good at this!

We saw the USS Mobil going across the Bay...very exciting!

Entering the Intracoastal Waterway.

Our first stop was one night at Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

We enjoyed dinner and live music at LuLu's, Lucy Buffet 's Restaurant.

 (Yes, Jimmy Buffet's CrAZy SiStEr !).

Our next stop was two nights at The Wharf Marina in Orange Beach, Alabama. 

The Wharf was hosting the World Food Championships. 

It was fun to watch the "Cheferee" judge the cooking contest. 

Best of all...Greg won a fancy cookware set by being the first person to #hashtag the event:)

When we departed The Wharf we decided to "Cheferee" our dining experience!

The bruschetta at red & white won first place :) 

We are in Florida! 

Next stop the Pensacola! 

On our way into the harbor we helped a small sailboat.

That night we enjoyed our first oysters.

Good night Pensacola XO 

The following day, dolphins followed Thistle's wake :) 

We watched and heard the Blue Angels practice... their home base is Pensacola.

(We did not take this picture... impressive to watch, impossible to photograph from a boat?) 

Next stop Sandestin, Florida!

We were fortunate to attend the grand opening of Provisions:)

At the celebration we met some very nice and friendly community members...thanks for your wonderful hospitality.

Sights around Sandestin.  

It's a planned community where everyone rides a bike or drives a golf cart :) 

Our new friends from Sandestin shared pictures from the 4th of July festivities!

More dolphins:) 

Next port Saint Andrews Marina in Panama City, Florida. 

Just The Cook Off The Hook is a floating restaurant in the Marina. It's owned by, Ernie Hall  a    celebrity chef and actor. We cheered dinner and sunset on the restaurant rooftop:) 

Thistle docked with the fishing boats in Panama City. 

Next port picturesque Apalachicola.      

We docked at the Water Street Hotel for the night.  

The town is famous for producing 90% of Florida's oysters. 

Apalachicola.

Departing Apalachicola.

The dolphins are following Thistle...hopefully wishing us a safe journey on our BIG crossing :) 

Stay tuned XO

MOBILE BAY

We finally made it to Mobile, Alabama! (This seems like a huge accomplishment after some very long days on the river system.)

Mobile is Alabama's only saltwater port. Throughout history, the Port of Mobile has always played a key role in the City's economy. It was originally a trading center between the French and Native Americans. Currently Mobile is the 12th largest port in the United States.

Mobile began as the first Capitol of colonial French Louisiana in 1702. During its first 100 years it was a colony of France, Britain and finally Spain. Mobile first became part of the United States in 1813 under President Madison. In 1861 Mobile joined the Confederate States of America, which surrendered in 1865. 

During the American Civil War, Mobile was a Confederate City. One of the most famous naval engagements of the Civil War was the Battle of Mobile Bay on August, 5, 1864. 

Mobile is also famous for having the oldest "Mardi Gras" celebration in the United States (Yes, Mobile NOT New Orleans.) 

Today Mobile is one of the Gulf Coast's cultural centers. It has many museums, a symphony orchestra, opera house, ballet company and a large concentration of historic architecture.

We truly enjoyed our short one night stay in Mobile...definitely worth the visit!

The next day we traveled accross Mobile Bay to Fairhope. We stayed in the Fairhope area for four nights. One night at the Fairhope Yacht Club and three nights at the Grand Hotel Marina. 

The town of Fairhope was founded in 1894. It is a small charming town with a population of about 15,000. In 2016 it was named the best small town in the South by Southern Living Magazine. The town is now a boutique resort and one of the most affluent suburbs of Mobile. 

"Fairhope Avenue" was one of the properties on the 1910 version of the board game Monopoly!

The Fairhope Yacht Club was very nice, but remote from the town. After one night at the Yacht Club, we moved Thistle to the Grand Hotel Marina. Originally we only planned on getting fuel at the hotel dock...after seeing how nice the grounds were we asked if there was a transient dock available? Yes, we were very lucky to stay there the next three nights. 

The Grand Hotel was originally built in 1847. Guests traveled to the hotel by steamboats, that docked at what is now the Marina. During the Civil War the 21st Alabama Regiment camped on the Hotel grounds and the Hotel was used as a base hospital. The Hotel has been destroyed by hurricanes and changed ownership many times. It's still very "Grand" and we enjoyed a restful visit.

After three nights we traveled back across Mobile Bay to Dog River Marina, for our engines recommended 1000 hour service.

Looper Tip: After finishing the River section of the Great American Loop...everyone needs a rest! We highly recommend the Grand Hotel. 

On a cloudy cold day we traveled 44 miles down the Mobile River to Mobile, Alabama.

We docked at the Mobile Convention Center right in the heart of the City. We used every fender available to protect Thistle from the huge cement cruise ship wall. We checked in with the security officer ... a little nervous about our safety, we both decided it was ok to spend the night :) We asked the security officer if there was anything special we should know about? .... He let us know that there was The First Annual River Walk Wine Event starting in about an hour 50 feet from where we were docked!  

 

We changed into warm clothes and walked over to purchase tickets for the wine festival. At the entrance we were asked, if we were checking-in to volunteer?  "Sure we are happy to volunteer:"... thinking we would be moving boxes or trash ? Upon agreeing to volunteer, we were assigned to booth # 35 pouring California wine :) 

The River Walk Wine Festival... A very fun afternoon into the evening:) 

We met some locals at the wine festival that suggested Dumbwaiter for dinner, excellent!

The next morning was clear and cold!!! Feels like 33...Burrrrrrrrr?????

There were Navy ships docked across the Mobile River from Thistle. 

We spent the morning walking around downtown Mobile. 

The Mobile  Convention Center. 

Navigating across Mobile Bay to Fairhope. The Bay is very shallow!!! 

Just ask us in person, to tell the story :) 

Thistle docked at The Fairhope Yacht Club.

We celebrated friends crossing their wake to become Gold Loopers (upon finishing the Loop you are presented with  a gold burgee to replace your white burgee). 

From the Fairhope Yacht Club we traveled about 5 miles to The Grand Hotel. The Hotel has a fuel dock (we really needed  some diesel) and a Marina with a few transient slips. When docked at the Marina you have the opportunity to use all of the Hotel amenities ( pool, gym, lobby, wifi, bikes and best of all a shuttle to the town of Fairhope). It was a perfect place to relax after some looooooooong river days :) 

 

Everyday at 4pm the Grand Hotel Cannon is fired in honor of all our Veterans! 

Then everyone says The Pladge of Allegiance...very inspirational:) 

Smiling at the Grand Marina near the hotel herb garden. 

We rode bikes to Battles Wharf to see the beautiful homes With private piers on Mobile Bay. 

The charming  town of Fairhope populated with "Fairhopian's". 

Lots of great restaurants in Fairhope.  

The Confederate Rest Cemetery.

The Grand Hotel has a nice white sand beach...after reading the caution signs we decided NOT to swim? Watching the sunset from shore on our last night at the Grand. 

Back across Mobile Bay the next morning. 

Trying to imagine The Battle of Mobile Bay in 1861.

Dog River Marina.

Filling up with diesel (for a free slip) with Thistle assigned to N32. 

Sunset and the Thursday night sailboat races on Mobile Bay.
Goodnight XO 

TENNESSEE-TOMBIGBEE WATERWAY & BLACK WARRIOR-TOMBIGBEE RIVER

With our shiny new Vessel Safety Check decal on Thistle, we departed Florence and continued to backtrack on Pickwick Lake to The Grand Harbor Marina. It was about a 50 mile journey under cloudy skies. The Grand Harbor Marina is an AGLCA sponser! They have two courtesy cars, fuel, laundry and great rates for Loopers.  We were docked for one night with about eight other Looper boats (of course we enjoyed sunset, docktails and planned our departure times for the next morning.). Weather permitting, we will all start our 450 mile trip to Mobile, Alabama, down the TENNESSEE-TOMBIGBEE WATERWAY (Tenn-Tom) and BLACK WARRIOR TOMBIGBEE RIVER.

We went to sleep with a plan to depart at daybreak. The weather report is predicting possible wind and rain...we woke up to a bright red sky? We were feeling a little apprehensive to push off the dock (Red Sky in the Morning Sailors Take Warning....). After an early morning discussion (between Loopers) we all decided it was best to push off the dock with our buddy's and start the famous Tenn-Tom Waterway :) 

The Tenn-Tom Waterway connects the Tennessee River with the Tombigbee River ending in Demopolis, Alabama. Then the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway connects Demopolis with Mobile, Alabama. The name "Tombigbee" comes from the Choctaw Indians meaning "box coffin". The river is in Choctaw lands, when they coalesced as people, to the forced Indian Removal in the 1830's. The Black Warrior River is named after Mississippi Chief Tuscaloosa, whose name ment "Black Warrior".

The Tenn-Tom Waterway is the largest Civil Works project the US Army Corp of Engineers has ever completed. Surprisingly, it is the largest earth moving project in history, requiring evacuation of nearly 310 million cubic yards of soil or the equivalent of more than 100-million dump truck loads. By comparison, the French dug 105 million cubic yards in building the Suez Canal and a total of 210 million cubic yards of earth were removed to build the Panama Canal. The Tenn-Tom is five times longer than the Panama Canal with a lift 3.5 times greater than the Panama Canal. The Waterway was built with a minimum width of 300 feet and minimum depth of 9 feet. (We found these facts very interesting and possible future Jeporady questions  :)

This Tenn-Tom idea was originally conceived by a Frenchman in the 1700's, but the first serious consideration by the Federal Goverment was in 1874. The Tenn-Tom was actually opened in 1985. After 8 studies, 22 Presidents, 55 sessions of Congress and 12 years of construction. The initial estimate was 1.7 million dollars the final cost was 2 billion.

The Waterway shortens the trip for vessels to various ports. For example it shortens the trip from Knoxville, Tennessee to Mobile, Alabama by 670 miles and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Chicago, Illinois by 400 miles. The commercial traffic on the Tenn-Tom has never reached a level that was originally envisioned. The Waterway, currently provides jobs and income for the entire region. 

The 234 mile Tenn-Tom Waterway is divided into three sections with 10 Locks:

The first is the "Divide Cut", a 39 mile cut through the river basin.

The second is the "Canal Section", a 45 mile twisting route with locks and man made lakes.

The third is the "Canal Section", a 150 mile stretch with locks and cutoffs to eliminate many server river bends.

The 217 mile Black Warrior River-Tombigbee Waterway has 2 locks.

This portion of The Great American Loop is very rural and rustic, but provided a unique opportunity to see pristine views and unexpected wildlife.We moved pretty fast with some very long days (two almost 100 mile days?). We thoroughly enjoying our six nights on this section of the Great American Loop! 

Looper Tip: This is a great section of the Loop to Buddy Boat! There seems to be Safety in numbers when Locking and Docking :)

Our new decal from the Rendezvous...Safety first and Safety last :)

Grand Harbor Marina in Iuka, Mississippi.

Our boat cleaners suggested that we visit the local town fair. 

The town is built on the site of a Chickasaw Indian village. 

Before the Civil War the town boasted an all-female college and a boys military academy. 

The Civil War brought widespread devastation on September 19, 1862. 

The battle of Iuka resulted in 1200 to 1500 killed.

We are in Alabama!

Yes, we purchased some healing clay? 

The special healing powers won first prize in the Saint Louis 1904 Worlds Fair.

Map of our 450 mile adventure down the Tenn-Tom and Black Warrior River to Mobile.

Red sky in the morning at Grand Marina. 

The day turned beautiful with a rainbow over the Tenn-Tom Waterway.

Day One on the Tenn-Tom, Divide Cut. 

All smiles :) 

Day one 55 miles and three locks to The Midway Marina.

We enjoyed a great Mexican dinner at Mi Toro. 

Thistle!

Day two to Columbus Marina, a 60 mile day with four locks. 

We really like the Catfish dinner at Hucks. 

Day three was 60 miles and two locks to beautiful Sumter Landing anchorage.

The next morning was really chilly!

Too close to call ? 

The spectacular white cliffs of Epes along the Tenn-Tom Waterway.  

Fall colors!

Day four to Demopolis, 55 miles and one lock ...

We were tired, but loved the wine dinner at Bistro (totally unplanned ?).

A very long day day five,  about 100 miles, to Bobbys Fish Camp! 

This place is a Looper must stop... very old school :) 

Bobby's menu and cook book.

The morning at Bobby's. 

Our last lock!!!! 

Let's celebrate:) 

Day six one (last) lock and another long day of travel.

We finished the evening at a nice anchorage on the Tensas River.

Watching the World Series, sunset and pasta carbonara for dinner.

(It doesn't get much better than this :) 

Lots of bird watching, houses on stilts, our first alligator sighting (red circle), random phone booth and constant dredging. 

All and all,  a very peaceful time on the Tenn-Tom Waterway and Black Warrior-Tombigbee XO 

Weather permitting...on to Mobile, Alabama  tomorrow XO