Daydream's Great Loop Blog!

Shame that one lockmaster did not lock you thru between the tows. Even if the opposing tow had been closer, I'm pretty sure that lock could have been turned around twice in the amount of time it would have taken the outbound tow to be out of the way of the inbound tow, while you could have squeezed right in. I had something like that happen coming back from the Clinton Iowa C-Brat Gathering earlier this month. I had gotten past two tows north bound, but by the time I reached the lock, there was another north bound in it. I was hoping the lock master would squeeze me thru right after that tow, as otherwise I knew I had a wait with two tows coming up. I called and let the lock master know I was going to be waiting on a dock near by. Soon after getting tied up, the lock master called and said hey if you want locked thru, get it up here.....probably the fastest I've ever thrown lines and gotten under way. I was about 500 feet away from the lock gates, and the first tow was just about abeam. But guess he still had to get situated, and perhaps a split tow. I just floated in the middle of the lock, and was probably one of the quickest lockages I got as well. Thanked the lock master graciously and continued on our way.
 
colbysmith":1e00c6xj said:
Shame that one lockmaster did not lock you thru between the tows. Even if the opposing tow had been closer, I'm pretty sure that lock could have been turned around twice in the amount of time it would have taken the outbound tow to be out of the way of the inbound tow, while you could have squeezed right in. I had something like that happen coming back from the Clinton Iowa C-Brat Gathering earlier this month. I had gotten past two tows north bound, but by the time I reached the lock, there was another north bound in it. I was hoping the lock master would squeeze me thru right after that tow, as otherwise I knew I had a wait with two tows coming up. I called and let the lock master know I was going to be waiting on a dock near by. Soon after getting tied up, the lock master called and said hey if you want locked thru, get it up here.....probably the fastest I've ever thrown lines and gotten under way. I was about 500 feet away from the lock gates, and the first tow was just about abeam. But guess he still had to get situated, and perhaps a split tow. I just floated in the middle of the lock, and was probably one of the quickest lockages I got as well. Thanked the lock master graciously and continued on our way.
Click to expand...

Skipper Bob says the Columbus (Stennis) lock is open only every two hours starting at 6:00 a.m. on weekends. We got to the lock about 7:35 a.m. this morning (Saturday) and radioed the lock master for the 8:00 a.m. opening. The lock master called us right in, and locked us through, and we likewise thanked him profusely! Skipper Bob seems to be wrong a lot of the time, and we have noticed a lot of doom and gloom that has not materialized. I guess Skipper Bob wants to be extra cautious but it seems a bit overboard to us!
 
I think for the most part, at least with the locks I've gone thru, they are usually pretty accomodating. Respect and politeness go a long way with them also. In my case above, I had called both tows as I passed them to see if they had a preference on which side I passed them. I also would not be a bit surprised if there was some other communication going on between the tows and lock master via phone or discreet frequency allowing me thru ahead of them. Or if not, the lock master probably figured he could get me thru while the tow was prepping for lockage. As for calling ahead, I find that many times it's better to just wait until you are within sight before lockage, as I don't think they like to promise lockage until they see you. Colby
 
Pat Anderson":19cvoiv7 said:
Skipper Bob says the Columbus (Stennis) lock is open only every two hours starting at 6:00 a.m. on weekends. We got to the lock about 7:35 a.m. this morning (Saturday) and radioed the lock master for the 8:00 a.m. opening. The lock master called us right in, and locked us through, and we likewise thanked him profusely! Skipper Bob seems to be wrong a lot of the time, and we have noticed a lot of doom and gloom that has not materialized. I guess Skipper Bob wants to be extra cautious but it seems a bit overboard to us!
Click to expand...

Pat you have to remember that Skipper Bob died 11 years ago. Their trip around the Great Loop was years before that. Bob and Elaine, tried to visit as much of the loop important points as possible each year. Elaine was not able to keep up the publication and to "keep it alive" it was sold to Waterway Guide Publications...Although they do a good job with "updates"--They are really to be paired with the updates of the on line Waterway Guides Nav Alerts, which are published almost every day on the internet. Skipper Bob's publication is sort of a general "Guide" at this time--and must be taken as that--not something which is at all up to date....(Especially if you are using the ones I sent to you--since they are many years old.) Many of the anchorages are still great--but some conditions may have chanced substantially. Plus we all know that the type of boat and the cruiser's needs (dogs for example) are very diverse.

Any book guide is probably at least a year behind the times--and even ones of the web are going to be a few days behind. Active Captain, has the reviews--screened by staff--if you are a "trusted" poster, I believe yours will be posted sooner than one who is unknown.

Waterway Guide: has daily e-mail alerts--I subscribe for all areas. Also you can get the most recent information (similar to Active Captain) on line)--but more of a commercial marina prospect.

Also Salty SouthEast Cruisers Net has daily updates on the areas mostly from Alabama to Virginia on the ICW and adjacent waters.

I suspect that one could spend all day reading all of the information on the internet--and avoid all of that messy water stuff, weather; rude lock and bridge tenders etc--as they did a "Virtual" tour of the great loop! I would not be surprised in 10 years to see "Virtual cruisers" on the 3 D virtual reality versions of the Great Loop. Remember we saw Google boats on the Mississippi River last year, doing photography at the rate of thousands of photos a day...The Virtual Reality World is not far off! For more realism, there are probably going to be instructions on the waterproof versions, to hop in the shower (with clothes on, and walk the virtual dog in the rain...) :lol:
 
thataway":3usztayn said:
Pat you have to remember that Skipper Bob died 11 years ago. Their trip around the Great Loop was years before that. Bob and Elaine, tried to visit as much of the loop important points as possible each year. Elaine was not able to keep up the publication and to "keep it alive" it was sold to Waterway Guide Publications...Although they do a good job with "updates"--They are really to be paired with the updates of the on line Waterway Guides Nav Alerts, which are published almost every day on the internet. Skipper Bob's publication is sort of a general "Guide" at this time--and must be taken as that--not something which is at all up to date....(Especially if you are using the ones I sent to you--since they are many years old.) Many of the anchorages are still great--but some conditions may have chanced substantially. Plus we all know that the type of boat and the cruiser's needs (dogs for example) are very diverse.

Any book guide is probably at least a year behind the times--and even ones of the web are going to be a few days behind. Active Captain, has the reviews--screened by staff--if you are a "trusted" poster, I believe yours will be posted sooner than one who is unknown.

Waterway Guide: has daily e-mail alerts--I subscribe for all areas. Also you can get the most recent information (similar to Active Captain) on line)--but more of a commercial marina prospect.

Also Salty SouthEast Cruisers Net has daily updates on the areas mostly from Alabama to Virginia on the ICW and adjacent waters.

I suspect that one could spend all day reading all of the information on the internet--and avoid all of that messy water stuff, weather; rude lock and bridge tenders etc--as they did a "Virtual" tour of the great loop! I would not be surprised in 10 years to see "Virtual cruisers" on the 3 D virtual reality versions of the Great Loop. Remember we saw Google boats on the Mississippi River last year, doing photography at the rate of thousands of photos a day...The Virtual Reality World is not far off! For more realism, there are probably going to be instructions on the waterproof versions, to hop in the shower (with clothes on, and walk the virtual dog in the rain...) :lol:
Click to expand...

Bob, I know most of that! I did not use the Skipper Bob books you gave me, I bought all new ones, and I will be passing them on too, along with all the other books. And the Skipper Bob books all say "Updated annually." Ted Stehle does the best job he can of course!

The "Great Circle Route" book was so riddled with errors that were obvious even before we started our Loop that I sent Ted a single spaced page of corrections - not factual, but things like "See map on page xxx" but when you go to page xxx, there is no map there. He thanked me and said the corrections would be incorporated in the next printing!

The one Waterway Guides Cruising Guide that you gave me that was really helpful was the Great Lakes volume. Even though it was from 2009, it was very helpful. Skipper Bob used to have a Great Lakes book but it was discontinued, so from the end of the North Channel at Drummond Island in the Trent-Severn, Georgian Bay and North Channel to Chicago in the Chicago to Mobile book, Skipper Bob had no guidance!

I get the Waterway Guides Nav Alerts, I subscribed to that a long time ago. That plus the AGLCA Forum keeps me up to date on current changes.

For the most part, the information on anchorages in all the Skipper Bob books is still pretty good, and supplemented with Active Captain, I have no complaints about the information available about anchorages. I try to add a review for AC anchorages where there have been no recent reviews or I disagree with some of the prior reviews. Many of the bad reviews of anchorages are only bad because the writer has a boat with a five foot draft! I also always mention the pet friendliness of anchorages, because many of the pet friendly anchorages have no reviews that mention shore access for pets one way or another. Most of the Loopers we have met have dogs!

And thanks for all your help with everything along the way, we really appreciate it!

BTW, we will be in Demopolis tomorrow for a couple of days!
 
Pat, You are doing a great service to those who have pets aboard! Amazing that not more is written for them. But I have the feeling that many "loopers" go from Marina to Marina--and that is the way they solve the "dog" issue. I think it is far better to anchor out as you do!
 
thataway":2y1zsyx0 said:
Pat, You are doing a great service to those who have pets aboard! Amazing that not more is written for them. But I have the feeling that many "loopers" go from Marina to Marina--and that is the way they solve the "dog" issue. I think it is far better to anchor out as you do!
Click to expand...

But how do you get a 70 pound German Shepard on and off with a kayak? lol
 
ken35216":2f2hlb9r said:
thataway":2f2hlb9r said:
Pat, You are doing a great service to those who have pets aboard! Amazing that not more is written for them. But I have the feeling that many "loopers" go from Marina to Marina--and that is the way they solve the "dog" issue. I think it is far better to anchor out as you do!
Click to expand...

But how do you get a 70 pound German Shepard on and off with a kayak? lol
Click to expand...

That would be a problem for sure! Baxter is a 15 pound Lhasa Apso, and he now presents himself in the cockpit for me to put his Paws Aboard doggie PFD on him, and he can hardly wait to get in the kayak! And he is usually flying through the air off the bow before it ever touches the shore!

Baxter_in_PFD.jpg
 
ken35216" But how do you get a 70 pound German Shepard on and off with a kayak? lol[/quote said:
We have had a number of over 70# dogs aboard various boats--and they did fine with inflatable dinghies. I had one which was close to 80# and she would wind surf with me on a standard wind surfer. I have a Hobie Mirage inflatable Kayak--and it would be satisfactory for that size of dog--but not the type of kayak which Pat has.
Click to expand...
 
Back
Top