Slowed Down

Things here at the DYB Demopolis Yacht Basin have definetly slowed down with the departure of coach and Jan. They left last Thurs for parts unknown. No actually Jan has to get back for grand daughter Lillys b day and for s short follow up class at Indiana State. She goes for some work with the grant she received that began this marvelous adventure. Then it is back to school. Peanut and I have been doing a lot of swimming and a lot of work but it is so hot you can not work all day. Temperatures have been over 100 several of the past few days. Mark Davis has a pontoon boat he lets us borrow for rides and swims etc it has a fish finder on it with a water temperature gauge. The temp was 98 . We went swimming and the top 4 or 5 feet of the surface water was actually hot. Not warm but hot. Not very refreshing. We have been eating a lot of homemade ice cream and fry daddy catfish. When that getsold we go to the restaurant on site and enjoy a big dish of crawfish. Jan was so happy for after being down here for a month eating like that she had only gained half a pound. She did walk every morning with another live aboard here at the marina....so can you say exercise is a good thing ...I think so. Have a big week of jobs planned and then I think Smitty and I are taking a road trip to B and B marina just outside of Chattanooga on the Hiwasee River. We had our boat there for a year....really nice people and a great country singer named Jarrod. Sounds like fun. Well that is my update for now, can not think of anything else exciting. Everyone is excited about BP getting the oil spill under control and that the storm settled down and may actually help by dispersing and breaking up the oil. Thay say there are tiny micro organisms that actually eat the oil and break it down. The storm should help in that process. THANX for tuning in Tom

She is truely a part of our family

A cluster of cypress trees is growing at the end of a nearby slough. We kayaked to them so I could get a few close up shots of these fasinating trees As you can see Peanut rode with us. She loves to ride on the front of our kayaks.

Enjoying Jimmy Buffet with 34,997 of our fellow parrot heads in Gulf Shores

Catch Up

Thought I would share a few photo's with you. We had a great day at rattlesnake cove on the 4th, and a boat full of fun people to spend the day with.

Back From The Gulf

I missed some days of posting for we were at The Gulf of Mexico and time was very scarce. We went there with Mark Davis and his eighteen year old daughter to attend the free Jimmy Buffett concert on the beach. Us and 36,000 others had a great time. The only things allowed in the concert was your blanket and field glasses. But we sure did have a good time and we sure did eat some good sea food. We stayed in a condo on Perdido Beach which is a beautiful place with white sand and blue- green water. Did a lot of swimming and keeping busy site seeing. Went to a place called Flora-Bama enough said on that topic. Went down there on Friday and returned Monday. The boat was still in good shape and the dog -Peanut- was doing just fine staying behind with Dale and Joy -two of our new friends who live aboard here at the marina. We have big plans which we will be reporting to you as they occur. Plans such as a trip to Tuscaloosa to see the Univ of Alabama; a bid fish fry at Mark Davis house on The Black Warrior River; another big catfish has been caught on the trout line , 50 pounder this time to go with the previous 32 pounder; Mark said he is making hush puppies with halopeno peppers in them along with some red beans and rice-sounds good does it not; we are also going fishing and we are going to anchor out. Today we are taking some people to the local Mexican restaurant, which is very good by the way, for lunch for some favors they have done for us. In conclusion we have some people coming to visit which will be fun. We are hoping for son Nate from NY City and friend John Cook from Indiana. So as you can see we are staying busy and having a lot of fun ....all the while we are still doing jobs on the boat. In fact Jan is on the boat while I am posting this and she is cleaning and polishing all of the teak wood in the inside of our boat. And let me tell you that is a lot of wood and I very luckily am not allowed to touch it for obvious reasons.......which does not upset me in the least. I am sitting here on The Wall posting and it is pouring the rain. I have an overhang above me and it is actually cooling things a bit. We had plans to go fishing early this a m but changed them when we awoke to threatening skies. Mark is going to clean that cat this evening so Jan will be able to post some pictures of him. We went over on our own yesterday to take pics of him but he got real aggitated when I tried to pull him up out of the water for the pics. We decided to wait instead of risking letting him get away. He has been tied for a few days with a rope thru his lower jaw . Thank you for reading our blog...sorry I missed a few days. Tom

Photo's from the River

We have decided to stay in Demopolis rather than travel back up to Chattanooga. There is plenty of water to explore, fish to catch and wonderfully nice people to hang out with!

I do envy the simple life - Now

Our famiy camped when I was young. One particularly hot weekend dad was putting up our army surplus tent with my older brother, mom was taking care of my younger brother and I was filling up the water jugs from the nearby faucet, (my job). Across from us was an old fashioned and ornate wagon. I remember being told to be mindful of the owners as they were Gypsies. I remember being fascinated with their dress but the children seemed friendly enough. This particular day the tent was giving dad fits and it was HOT! A little boy wandered over from the wagon and looked in the tent. He looked up at dad and said; you po po people, you ain't got no floor in your tent! He was right we didn't. We slept on cots, had no fancy equipment, and ate well or slim dependent on whether dad was working or the mill was on strike again. My point? We have a nice home and several big boy toys, but none of it has made us any happier than Fred and Sue who have been living, fishing and enjoying the river for fifty years, ( they are in their 70's). They live in a modest home on stilts and enjoy life simply and to the fullest. Always a smile coupled with an exuberant greeting, a fish story or two and a positive attitude. Life for many is so much simpler here and for those we have met it seems to be a rich and happy life...toys not needed.