The HUCK FINN--Adventures of a canal boat on North America's waterways

Photos, captain's notes, and crew's tales from the 26' canal boat HUCK FINN. Itinerary: roundtrip St. Pete. FL/St. Paul MN.

Thursday, August 31, 2006

On the eve of our departure from Paducah, I was walking the city docks and found another irresistable sunset scene.
so there's Old Glory and a period lamppost with ol'Sol' going to bed. Paducah is a wonderful, with an awesomely beautiful waterfront looking north over the Ohio. Just to the East, the Tennessee flows into the Ohio. They've done a near complete restoration of the historic downtown area. It's worth a couple of days of walking and poking around.

I went to the mayor's office to tell him they really need a marina here (there are no public facilities for recreational boaters, no place to buy fuel.) I found out that just 2 days ago, the mayor received a 5.3 million dollar grant from the Feds to build a big new marina downtown! I hope they'll allow liveaboards...yhis could be a nice place to stay for a while. On the town side of the seawall, there are dozens of larger-than-life size murals depicting many aspects of local history and culture. They are extremely well rendered and awesome to view. There are also several nice museums here.
This mural depicts the flood of 1937, which destroyed much of the town. Water was 1/2 way up most of the buildings.

I like this mural because I'm fascinatesd with the job of the river tug pilot. This is an accurate depiction of the pilothouse and helm of a modern tug. As you can see, there's no wheel. All the steering is controlled by lever arms that move rudders bothe forward and aft of the props.

Dannell and I will be leaving in a couple of hours for some challenging parts of the trip. Lock 51, just 1 mile downstream is backed up with at least 30 tows waiting to lock through. It's about a 3 day wait for them. I'm hopin that the lockmaster will occasionally make a break for the few pleasure boats that are also waiting.

Then it's 50 miles down to the Mississippi where we have to slog upstream to Alto where the locks begin and the current slows. The good news is that yesterday's headlin in the Paducah paper was:" River Level Lowest Since 1988" That was refdering to the Mississippi, where the tug pilots are having problems with groundings in the shoal areas.

Will get back to you as soon as I can. Wish us well. We'll be safe. Regards. Captain Brion and Dannell

Monday, August 28, 2006

When Kentucky dam was built, and other dams on the Tennessee River were added, thousands of acres of land were flooded to create what are now Kentucky Lake and Barkley Lake.

Not all the structures were removed from the lowlands before the lakes were filled. Here is an old commercial structure, perhaps a grain elevator or a warehouse, that used to sit on high ground, next to the river.
Just when you thought you'd seen enough sunrises! I couldn't resist this one at Pebble Island Marina, just this morning (Aug. 28, '06) before I untied the HUCK. See what you're missing by sleeping past 6:30 AM?

WARNING: more sunrises and sunsets to come. And I hope to get at least one rainbow before I get to St. Paul.
So you don't believe in mermaids? Here's proof they do exist, at least on the Tennessee River. She's somewhat anatomically awkward...but maybe that's the way mermaids really do look.

Tonight I'm safely tied (not in a creek) in the Kenlake Marina, just 42 miles south of Paducah. Tomorrow, I travel 20 miles to the Kentucky Lock and Dam and get locked through hopefully without much delay. It's a bottleneck for barge traffic, being near the confluence of the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers. So sometimes pleasure boaters have to wait for a series of tugs and tows to go through first. Once through, it's a mere 22 mile dash to Paducah, where I plan to meet my friend Dannel from Champaign. I'm a little concerned about the Mississippi River current--I heard there's been some recent heavy rain in the midwest. We could be stuck in Paducah for a while if the Ole Miss is running too fast.

Thanks to all of you who are sending me e-mails. It keeps me going. Regards. Captain Brion

Saturday, August 26, 2006

NEAR DISASTER! It all started Frid evening when I had passed through Pickwick lock and was rushing down the Tenn. R. at 9 mph (4 mph current boost!) and determined to tie off in Beason Creek for the night. I had spooted it on the chart as a "public access area" and pulled in before dark to check it out. I was pleased to find 10 feet of water depth 100 yards up into the creek, and nosed HUCK up to a hefty tree, to which I tied a bow line. Preferring a tie to anchoring, I was set for a worry-free evening and hit the sack early.

About 5AM I was awakened with an uncomfortable sensation of being squashed against the hull side of the starboard bunk where I was sleeping. I sleepily ignored that for a while, then heard something fall from a shelf onto the floor. Still dark, I grabbed a flashlight and stepped out the forward door to find HUCK tilted 35 degrees and hard aground on the bank of the creek! A glance at the water revealed that the level had dropped about 6 feet from the time I went to bed. By daylight, the water had dropped another foot and the HUCK was listing more severely. Her stern was still in the creek, but tilted toward the water enough that it was partly swamped and beginning to spill into the main bilge of the boat.

A 70-ish resident, across the creek hailed me and we talked about options for dealing with this unforeseen crisis. He said the water "usually starts to come back up around dinner time, but these days on weekends, you never know." The level is controlled by the Pickwick dam which is also a hydroelectric generating plant. They time their water releases based on demand for electricity.

It was a long, uneasy morning, where I tried to force myself to relax knowing there wasn't much to do but wait. I was cautiously optimistic, trying not to let myself be excited, when the creek current began running backwards about noon and the level rose about 1 foot, the stopped suddenly. That wasn't near enought to float the HUCK and get her off the bank, though I tried in vain running the diesel and the outboard full throttle in hopes of breaking her loose.

Enter Lewis...the guy across the creek paddled over in a jon boat and looked around the HUCK to see if we might be able to pull her off. The rudder was in the mud, and a large log lay on the bottom between the rudder and the center of the creek. Pulling on the stern could damage the rudder and maybe the prop too. Meanwhile, water was filling the bilge compartment and rising to the bottom of the engine. I ran the bilge pump full time and it was just keeping up with the inflow. Now it was apparent that if the water started rising again it would swamp the HUCK, ultimately sinking her, before it would float her off the bank.

Lewis went to work. I gave him the end of a 200 foot 1/2" nylon line which he ferried across the creek. He recruited a neighbor with a 4-wheel drive lawn tractor to pullon the line. I tied the line to the bow cleat of the HUCK, hoping to slide the bow down the bank, without damaging the rudder. Lewis came back with a shovel and started digging away at the mud on the low side of the hull, to ease its escape. Lewis' wife, Doris, shouted instructions to the tractor guy, out of my sight, to start pulling when I revved up the HUCK's prop in reverse. 2 or 3 times he backed up and heaved forward against the line and suddenly HUCK began to slide, then tumbled down the bank into the water. FLOATIN AGAIN! HOORAY! Unfortunately, the tractor guy didn't know we were free and he kept pulling. This sent Doris into a screaming dash after the driver to get him to stop. HUCK was running about 5 knots straight for the cabin's log sea wall when the driver got the message. He stopped, but there was enough stretch in the nylon line to continue the pull, while I again applied full reverse gear on the HUCK and held my breath, HUCK stopped just in time to nudge the seawall gently, no harm done.

The wife of the tractor guy came running up to the bank, beaming a proud smile, and exclaimed: "At first we couldn't get it going because the wheels were spinning, but I sat on the back and it dug right in and took off!" Then the driver appeared, and it was obvious that he was a rather simple soul, to put it politely. I don't know if he would have ever stopped, or where HUCK would have ended up, if Doris hadn't caught him in time. But he was also very proud, and very excited. Myself, I was proud and happy for everybody, and quite relieved. It ied HUCK to the seawall of Lewis and Doris's cottage and walked up the log steps to chat with them for a while.

They have lived their since tey were married and seldom leave the property. Lewis fishes a lot and they sometimes feed "upwards of 150 folks" at a Friday catfish fry. He told me about finding arrowheads nearby, and two mexican gold dollars dated 1835 on the creekbank. There's also several small cemetaries nearby with graves of Civil War soldiers. The battle of Shiloh was fought just a few miles south of their place.

Here's another picture of HUCK showing her precarious position. I hope I never get to take that kind of picture again. Fortunately there was never any real danger to my life or limb. And if HUCK got sunk..well, lots worse things can happen. After all, it's only a boat. The best part about it was meeting Lewis and Doris. The lawn tractor guy and his wife had vanished by the time I got up that side of the bank.

Pulling out of the creek, about 1 PM, I could only think of the generosity of strangers, especially common when boats are involved. I thought of the lines from the song "Proud Mary": "If you go down to the river, bet you gonna' find some people who live; It don't really matter, if you got no money, people on the river are happy to give."

Have I mentioned this before? All's well that ends well. Another day on the river with HUCK FINN.

Friday, August 25, 2006

You've probably noticed by now I like sunset and sunrise on the river. So here is a pair for you--first photo is sunrise, 8/25/06 from the dock of the Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina.

Next photo is sunset of the night before, while entering the Aqua Yacht Harbor Basin. This is at the end of the Tenn-Tom Waterway and the start of the Tennessee River. It's about 200 miles to Paducah, TN, where I'll have to decide whether to run up the Mississippi from Cairo to St. Louis under my own power. My 2 sources on that part of the river tell me this morning that the river is about as slow as it gets, 2.5-3 mph.

I think that's manageable for HUCK. I can make at least 25-30 miles a day toward Alton, IL, where a series of locks, all the way to St. Paul, slows the current even further. I'm hoping to pick up a crew in Paducah, a lifelong friend from Champaign, IL, a former mayor and retired school teacher. He's also an avid historian and author. Some company and some help during the trip makes it a lot more pleasant and not so arduous.

For the statistical mided: yesterday the HUCK covered 57 miles, transited 3 locks and consumed .56 gal./hr. of diesel. That's 9.5 miles per gallon.

I have 1116 miles to go to St. Paul. I've come about 850 miles so far. So I guess I'm getting there. Sort of. Rather slowly. "The race is not always to the swift..."

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Hereis the brief sequence of an entire lockthrough at the Whitten lock, on the Northern end of the Tenn-Tom Waterway. Here you see from the South, below the lock, the gates are opening onthe empty lock to let HUCK FINN in for the transit. There were no other vessels waiting, so it was just me and the HUCK. It's all controlled by the lockmaster, who you talk to on your VHF radio. He reminds you to wear a life jacket while inside the lock and to call him when you have your boat tied securely to the wall. Once you're inside the lock, you carefully steer your boat to one of the floating bollards along the walls, where you will attach a loop of line that leads to the bow and the stern of your boat. The bollard goes up and down with the lock water, holding your vessel close to the wall. There can be lots of turbulence when the water is rushing in from the bottom of the lock to fill it up, so your boat gets tossed a bit.



Now HUCK is inside the lock and you see the massive gates closing. They make screechy and clankey sounds that makes you want to be somewhere else. But you end up inside a huge concrete vault, about 400 feet long, 60 feet wide and 85 feet tall.

It takes about 20 minutes for the lock to fill, and it's somewhat of a relief when your boat gets to the top of the wall and you can see land and Pickwick Lake.

This is looking straight up the 85 foot lock wall after HUCK was secured to the bollard. That's water spraying through a leak in the wall. There were lots of leaks caused by the tremendous pressure of the water surrounding the empty lock. You need to have a lot of faith in those walls when your closed in there down at the bottom!

The gates have just closed on the low side of the empty lock. HUCK is secured to the wall and waiting for the lockmaster to open the valves to let millions of gallons of water boil up from the bottom, lifting HUCK up to the level of Pickwick lake above. This is the 9th largest lock in the country, and the last of the locks on the Tenn-Tom, starting with Coffeeville lock, almost 300 miles south.

The lock has now filled more than 85 feet from its original level. You are looking North and the gates are opening to Pickwick Lake, which in a few miles joins the Tennessee River. HUCK's depth sounder shows a water depth of 94 feet under the boat. That's the deepest water we've seen since crossing the Gulf of Mexico 3 weeks ago! The lock is full up to the level of Pickwick Lake.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006


This is the way HUCK FINN's lock line is suppose to look when correctly attached to the floating bollard inside the lock. The boat must be brought slowly up to the bollard, at the bow, then the hose/loop has to be dropped over the bollard. Then the boat is pushed forward, until the securing loop is taught near the center of the boat. That way 1/2 the line leads to the bow, the other half to the stern. When they fill the locks, to raise HUCK, there's usually some turbulence that would toss the boat around if it wasn't secured. That all worked fine when I had Nial to drop the loop while I steered HUCK at the helm. The day after he left, I had my first attempt at doing this alone in Aberdeen Lock. Missing the bollard on the first try, I dropped the loop in the water (bad move) and returned to the helm to circle the boat around for another try. Alas, there was enough slack in the line that it go caught up in the prop and shut down the engine. No forward. No reverse. Just bobbing around angry and embarrassed in the middle of Aberdeen Lock! Fortunately, the HUCK is fitted with an auxilliary outboard motor on the transom, so I fired that up and was able to tie the bow to a bollard with an extra line.
Fortunately Aberdeen Marina was just a couple of miles beyon the lock, so I limped in there using the outboard and rented a dockspace for the night. I was able to dive under the boat (I was sure there were alligators and snakes all around me!) and unwrap the line, which was torn and frayed and had to be replaced. I fixed up a new lockline system and determined that I would get it right next time. Leaving Aberdeen, early the next AM, I was treated to this beautiful sunrise...one of my favorite times on the river.

That day, I transited 3 locks (Amory, Wilkins and Fulton) and nailed the loop on the bollard first try each time. Last time I wrapped up a line in the prop was ten years ago, when I brought my first boat down to St. Pete. from Chicago. That was a case of carelessness and lack of attention also.

I hope it's another ten years before I have to deal with it again. Staying tonight at Midway Marina. I was here before, last April, and got the T-shirt!. I took their courtesy car into Fulton (Mississippi) to get, of all things, a Burger King sandwich. Tomorrow, I'll finish the last of the 10 locks of the waterway, including Witten lock, which, with its 90 foot rise, makes it the 9th tallest lock in the country. It's spooky being in the bottom of that thing. I'll get a picture for you! So again I say: "All's well that ends well." So far things are ending up pretty good. Later


























This view of the Bevill lock and dam was taken from the balcony of the historic victorian mansion on site at the visitors center.

Hours before, Nial and I and the HUCK were lifted about 20 feet in the lock chamber on the left side of the photo. The dam is on the other side of the lock, on the West side of the river.

This was the day we arrived in Columbus, where Nial was to be returned by car to St. Paul. John drove down and met us the next day. He and Nial elected to spend that first night in a hotel rather than try to cram all three of us on the HUCK. It was a very mixed bag of experiences for Nial: many days of oppressive heat, several trips ashore in strange places where he always noticed "weird" people. (Not everyone is from Minnesota!). A few unpleasant tasks--hauling trash, tugging on stubborn anchor lines, fighting off ants, mosquitoes,horseflies, wasps and other assorted pests. One day of boredom waiting for Coffeeville Lock repairs to be completed. There were also many sightings of dolphins, osprey, herons, egrets, eagles, frogs, turtles, even a cottonmouth snake crossing the river and crawling up onto the bank. Oh, I almost forgot the cat-with-no-tail at the Columbus marina.

Nial provided captain Brion many needed hours of relief at the wheel, and traced the path of the HUCK over countless pages of navigation charts. I never heard him complain and he never threatened to jump ship and go home early. I'd say it was much more of an adventure than a vacation. So thanks Nial! Now you can one-up your friends at home who sat around and went nowhere all summer!

Here's HUCK tied to the transient dock at Columbus Marina. I left alone on Tuesday morning after a quick trip to the post office and to the ICW Development Center to get some charts.

In a previous entry I mentioned the severe rainstorm Nial and I endured for a couple of hours until sunset. Here you see the tug and tow (it's called a "tow" even though they push the barges) we were following before the storm hit. The tug is northbound and the storm was coming in from the north. You can see the darkness of the sky ahead.

When it began to rain we soon realized this was no ordinary afternoon shower. The sky became completely dark, so that all we could see were the aft deck lights of the tug, the Bobby Jo James. In the next photo, there's still enough light to see a little, but soon the rain came so heavily, we could see nothing. There was also thunder and lightning and several burst of hail. You can see the rain hitting the river through the open windshield of the HUCK FINN. The tug captain was kind enough to stay in regular radio contact with us and would have warned us of any oncoming traffic. When the rain became too heavy we had to close the windshield, and without wipers, it was very difficult to keep those tug lights in view.

The scariest part was when a severe wind gust (I estimated to be 50-60 mph) hit the Huck and spun her nearly 180 degrees. We would have been knocked down (tipped over) except for the 1800 lbs. of ballast below HUCK's waterline. We were momentarily stuck in total darkness with no reference points and a shoreline a few hundred feet on either side of us. I slowly turned HUCK back to the North, and had Nial open the windshield, even though the rain came pouring in. I've never seen a prettier sight than Bobby JO James' lights coming back into view and giving me a target to steer to. So it went until just before sunset, when the sky cleared, and the tug captain pointed out a good anchorage for us just to our starboard. He blinked those cheery lights several times to indicate it was time to turn off for the anchorage.

Almost all tug captains I have talked to are courteous and helpful and very safety conscious. They are highly skilled and well paid professionals. They are allowed very few mistakes when guiding thousands of tons of cargo down a narrow twisting river, with current and wind always adding to the mix.


Monday, August 21, 2006

Most T-shirt graphics to me are garish, insipid, or just plain dull. When I see one I really like, I'm impressed, and I buy one if I can afford it.

This one I noticed was being worn by most of the staff at the Demopolis Yacht Basin. The quote struck me as being quite profound, and worthy of some serious contemplation.

I discovered that the owner of the marina, Fred, was given the quotation as an old lithograph some twenty years ago. He showed me the original, in a frame, on the wall of his ofice. He decided to put it on T-shirts, and, as he put it," People just never stop buying them. I stopped having them printed a few times, but then I would get requests to make more." To me, this simple quote has a lot to say about life and how one deals with diversity. I also hear in it a call for humility, and a resignation to life's inevitable ordeals. But I leave it to you to find your own meaning (s).


I used the self-timer on my camera to shoot this photo of myself. I was still at the Demopolis Marina, waiting for laundry to dry (not all of boating is glamorous!) As you can see, I'm no Clark Gable swashbuckler, but I'm still makin' waves and looking at 60 years in November. I'm very fortunate to be doing at this time exactly what I want to do. I find encouragement from my Dad, though he's been gone for 7 years, and my best friend Carl, who died 2 years ago. In their own way, they are sharing this trip with me on the HUCK FINN.

I really appreciate the comments I've been getting from some "anonymous" visitors out there in cyberspace. I'm flattered that you find my little venture worthy of your attention. I hope you stay in touch. Though it's listed smewhere else on the blogsite, I'll repeat my e-mail address here: brionkerlin@yahoo.com I will attempt to answer all e-mails received. Kind Regards, Captain Brion

Sunday, August 20, 2006

SEE TEXT BELOW!

After we left Demopolis we had a 50 mile run to the Sumter Recreation Area along the Tenn-Tom. During the day we took turns vacuuming up ants with the mini Shop-Vac. They had swarmed onto the boat the night before, climbing along the docklines and zeroing in on the galley. I got stung on my leg by a wasp while trying to wipe thousands of ants off the power line before setting it back on the boat.

We refilled our diesel cans and headed out in time to make it through the Heflin Lock and get to the Sumter site by dark. It was our best non-marina dockage of the trip. Apristine nature area/campground with a concrete dock wall next to two launch ramps. It was totally deserted when we arrived. That's Nial on the deck of HUCK tied to the dock. My whereabouts should be obvious from the sign! We were able to stretch our legs and returned to the boat for a pasta with sauce dinner cooked on board! We were lulled to sleep by the chorus of bullfrogs all around the basin.

At 4 AM I was awakened by the sound of pickup trucks and boats being launched down the ramps, right next to HUCK. No fewer than 35 bass boats launched in the next 1 1/2 hours for the start of a major Bass Tournement. What to do? I made coffee and went out to jaw with the Alabamans while they lined up for the start. So much for the deserted park!

With a little help from the fishermen, we were off to a pre-sunrise beginning for our last leg to Columbus, MS, where Nial jumps ship to return to Minnesota. The sunrise photo was taken about 1/2 hour after getting underway.

Friday, August 18, 2006


Here are the photos that were supposed to be in the previos post!

There's the picture of Nial at the hel m in Mobile Bay (accidentally ommitted in previous entry).

The marina view is Demopolis Marina, at sunrise. In the background is the Tombigbee River, with Demopolis Lock just about a mile downstream.

On the way to Coffeeville Lock, a couple of days ago, it got a little warm, as this photo of my indoor/outdoor thermometer shows the bad news. Jo would have loved it. Nial almost melted butwas pretty good about toughing it out and not complaining.

Wed. we got caught in a summer squall on the river, with heavy rain, lightning and ferocious wind gusts. Fortunately, we were following behind the tug Bobbie Jo James and were able to follow his lights when there was nothing else to see. I was in radio contact with the tug captain and he was very helpful about staying in touch with us and guiding us through the storm. It lasted about 1 1/2 hours. One gust (about 50 mph) spun the HUCK around and I briefly lost sight of the tug. Nial pushed open the windshield, letting in buckets of rain, but allowing me to relocate the tug and get back in her wake. Right about sunset, at our chosen anchorage, the tug captain blinked his deck lights several times, signalling that we had arrived at the anchorage.

The weather cleared just in time to see a beautiful red post-sunset sky while we dropped our anchor. All's well that ends well.


Thurs. Aug.17. First mate Nial is fending HUCK FINN off the wall inside Demopolis Lock. This was our 2nd lock, the first at Coffeeville, where we had to wait a day at anchor in the scorching sun while lock repairs were completed. Each lock had about a 20' rise.


Next photo shows Nial at the helm of HUCK in Mobile Bay shortly after leaving DogRiver Marina. Passing through downtown Mobile, we crossed the official start (mile marker "1") of the Tennesse-Tombigbee Waterway. Our destination for Nial will be Columbus, Georgia, at mile marker 335.

Demopolis Lock is at about 215, and we're staying Wed. and Thurs night at the Demopolis marina just upriver from the lock. Captain Brion put a new alternator belt on the diesel and changed the oil. Nial got on the computer at the local library, after a welcome stop at the local McDonalds. The marina has a courtesy car for us to run around in. We also stopped for some groceries. Laundry got done and legs got stretched during our full day on shore. Friday AM we leave for the next lock, a full day upstream. Our next marina will be just after that lock. On the third day (Sun. 20th) we should arrive at the marina on the edge of town at Columbus Georgia.

This post is being composed at 4:30 AM sitting in the courtesy car outside the city library, the closest "hotspot" where I can get a signal for my computer. I'm just waiting for the local cop to stop by and interrogate my suspicious activity.

Friday, August 11, 2006

We got a late start out of Panama City on 8/8 because the inverter sizzled and fried and died when I turned it on. That meant no onboard fridge so we mbought a couple of coolers and some ice and got out about 11 AM. Had some nice dolphin visits in West Bay (good luck!) but soon ran into typical PM storm fronts with wind and rain. Nial was very helpful in spotting the next markers to steer to, since visibility was poor. Set anchor in Choctawatchee Bay about 9 PM, but it was quite rough, so we pulled it up and moved to the other (North) side of the bay, in the lee of the wind and were much more comfortable.

Next day we made it to Pensacola Beach, where we paid for a slip in a marina, but were unable to get a power hookup after 3 hours of trying different plugs and adapters. No A/C, but the temp. droped to a bearable 78 for the night. Nial found some dock kitties on the dock in front of the HUCK. Several of them were living under the rocks behind Nial. (Click on photo to enlarge!)

We got out of there at sunrise headed for Mobile Bay. We made almost 75 miles that day, arriving at the Dog River Marina just at sunset. The photo shows the marina just behind the Dauphin Island Causeway Bridge. We had a rough 3 1/2 hr. crossing of Mobile Bay, with a beam sea of 3-4 feet giving us a constant roll. Nial couldn't decide whether or not to get sick and laid down for a long time to think about it. I was very busy at the helm trying to keep the HUCK on a straight course.

We tied to the fuel dock at sunset and moved the boat to another dock the next morning (today). I spent the day installing a new inverter (we drove the courtesy car into town to a West Marine store), and cutting some vent holes to improve the engine compartment ventilation. Nial rinsed the salt water off the boat and played on the computer. We also did laundry. For fun, this evening, we drove back into Mobile to Wentzell's Oyster House, an 80 year running business with great food and lots of atmosphere. My brother Roger used to hang out there with his Coast Guard buddies thirty years ago. We will push off the Dog River dock tomorrow AM after filling our fuel cans. It's 333 miles to Columbus MS, where Nial jumps off to return to St. Paul.

We've already done about 200 miles, so we're nearly half way there. Our first of 5 locks to transit is Coffeeville Lock, 116 miles upriver. Nial is eager to shoot some video of the locking procedures. He's still not quite used to being awakened before 7AM! All in all, things are going very well. We appreciate the responses to our blogspot e-mails. Regards. capt. Brion and First Mate Nial

Monday, August 07, 2006

Oddly, the HUCK FINN trip has had two beginnings: first off getting the boat to Panama City (see previous entries).....then getting the crew together in St. Pete and returning the rental car to Panama City and setting off for good to Mobile.

So here are Nial and capt. Brion outside Brion and Jo's apt. in St. Pete Monday morning. Nial's ma, Juli, had been drooped off at Tampa International the day before after a nice visit and a memorable stay at he Ponce De Leon hotel in downtown St. Pete. She and Nial got to watch a man get hauled away in handcuffs outside their hotel, not to mention the woman carried off on a stretcher by paramedics. Later, in the middle of the night they were awakened by a guy yelling at his girlfriend and begging her not to leave him. The only thing they missed was the ghost of Ponce De Leon who is rumored to still be haunting the hotel hallways.

We made the 400 mile drive to the boat in seven hours, making only one stop at the Flying J trucker's plaza. Nial was unimpressed by the awesome collection of trucker's paraphernalia. Instead of buying a Dolly Parton snow globe, he sprung for a bag of Gummy Worms and we hit the road. So here we are on HUCK's foredeck at the Panama City Marina waiting for a Tuesday morning launch. We had a great dinner at Bayou Jo's a few blocks away. We threw french fries into the water just a few feet from our table. It was a tossup whether the fries would get snatched by the eagerly awaiting catfish, or the gulls diving from the porch roof. Great entertainment!

Back at the marina, we indulged in warm showers and air conditioning on the boat. After a few chores in the morning we should be off by 10:00 AM headed West for Chotawatchee Bay and Pensacola. More later...........capt. Brion and First Mate Nial