My First Attempt At Some Pics....more to follow

This is a picture of the beautiful limestone walls along the banks of the Tenn Tombigbee Waterway. This limestone reminds me of my hometown Bloomington, In. I think Bedford, In. is actually the limestone capital of the world. The TTB is a combination of canals cut through the South but also involving the rivers as it makes it's way to Mobile,Al. on the Gulf of Mexico. This waterway was built in 1985 to alleviate the traffic on the Miss River which empties into the Gulf in New Orleans, La. The waterway is at least 12 to 15 feet in all places for it has to accomodate the heavy traffic composed of tows with their barges. A lot of the way down this system the water is a lot deeper then 12 to 15 feet deep because the rivers are very deep. The Black Warrior River here at Demopolis averages about 40 feet deep . So in boating you must pay attention to your depth finder because you are constantly changing from canal depths to river depths. Thanx for checking in.... Tom

The People

When you read the boating books about traveling you always read about the people met along the way. Statements are the people are wonderful, the people make it so much fun, you meet the most wonderful people, etc etc. Well I want to expand on that a little. The reason we are staying put here in Demopolis this summer is because of the people. We had originally decided to travel to Knoxville but we had done that before so Jan and I decided to just stay where we were and enjoy the people we had met and actually became friends with for life. Not just people you meet and soon forget. This summer has been marvelous. We could not go to the Gulf because of obvious reasons , we were not real excited to repeat a big leg of our previous journey so we stayed put. We have had a ball. The good food, the friendships, the swimming, the activities, the skiing, the tubing, the fishing, the boat rides, the exploring, the anchoring out, the jobs we have completed, etc. This has been amazing. There is plenty of water to explore in this immediate area. We can go 100 miles South, 50 miles North, and 100 miles up the Black Warrior. A little quick math and one can see a possibility of 500 miles of traveling with return trips included. Here at the marina the WALL stil happens almost every day with people like Dale and Joy who have been here for a couple of years. They are from Fla and he is a very hard worker with a wealth of knowledge and she is one of the nicest people you could meet and is also a hard worker. I think there is a misconception that these live aboards are lazy and just here for the fun. Not true...their boats would soon be a shambles if they were not constantly caring for it. Everyone we have met seems to work hard and to be very sharp and knowledgeable. Now do not get me wrong they do like to relax and have fun but it is first things first. Another couple from Montgomery, Jim and Jeannie C, come to their boat for a few weeks each month . They are very nice people who are as sweet as can be and are always game for a lunch at the local Mexican restaurant. Archie the nite watchman who is Black American is really a great gentleman who always has a minute to philosophy about just about anything. Always with a big smile and Southern humor. Smitty is out of New Orleans at the present moment . I say that for he has been everywhere by boat . I can not think of any place to tell you that he has not been. As an example he bought his present boat in South Africa. He is another one that is very, very smart. You students reading this need to realize the importance of knowledge. With knowledge you can do anything. A lack of knowledge will hold you back and keep you from reaching your dreams. Get out there and learn all you can about anything and everything. The owner of the marina restaurant is from the East and is a very friendly guy and quite generous with his continuing band parties at Rattlesnake Bend. Another coming up in early August. Mark Davis is the diesel man I have mentioned before. He owns his own business and has a place on the B W River complete with pontoon, ski boat, and all the shelters and fish tubs and swings and docks etc etc. He has a very nice family. They stopped by yesterday in the ski boat and took me with them to pull the son Justin, on the wake board. We then went on a nice long boat ride around Rattlesnake Bend. Rattlesnake Bend is where the river originally made a 7 or 8 mile U shape and the Corp of Engineers made a cut thru to cut off the U. Well the U is called RSB. It is still the river but is not used very much. That does not cover all the nice people we have met but that will give the idea....also....Southern Hospitality is alive and well. Do not forget Jan met the mayor and his wife uptown and they were very nice to us as complete strangers. Great Summer...thanx for tuning in Tom

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