troubleshooting – INNTW adventures

3 Nights in Mobile, Alabama

December 5, 2018 Kelly Comments 6 comments

Stats for November 8, 2018

Origin: Okatuppa Creek Anchorage

Destination: Mobile, Alabama Convention Center Free Wall

Distance: 125.8 miles

Speed: 11.4 mph

Time on the Move: 11 hours and 8 minutes

We were planning on waking up at Okatuppa Creek about 15 minutes before first light so we could be ready to zip out of there as soon as we could see. There was a big group of 10 boats 5 miles down river at Bobby’s Fish Camp that were all organized to arrive to the next lock early so they could lock through before scheduled maintenance. We got a message from a friend who was tied up with the group about their timing about 10 minutes too late for us to even make the lock, and we still couldn’t see a thing because we were tucked in under some trees. Not to mention the fact that we were leary about logs and trees that we saw coming into the river with all the heavy rains yesterday. I messaged our friend back and said there was no way we could make it and we would have to get in after the maintenance was taken care of.

Mike had a different plan, though. He did not want to sit around and wait for maintenance to get started. Before I knew it, he was fired up and pulling up the anchor. I got out the portable spotlight so we had a chance of seeing something as we snuck out of our anchorage. I also quick messaged our friend back that we were going to run on plane and try to make it, so hold the lock for us. That gets to be a sticky situation because people IN the lock don’t really like waiting for people who are RUNNING for the lock. That being said, when you’re RUNNING to make the lock, you totally feel like the people IN the lock could easily wait just a few minutes for you to get there. This particular lock had a malfunction with the drains and it was dropping very slowly, and that’s why they were doing maintenance later that morning. It also meant that if we missed it, we would be waiting quite a while for it to turn back around. Mike never looked back, though. He felt confidant that we could make it. Luckily we did not see 1 log or branch the whole 6 miles or so before we got to the lock. (Sure could have been because it was still quite dark and the spotlight only lights up so much). We ran on plane the entire way and entered the lock just as the boat before us was secure. Whew!! Another case of “glad we didn’t stay and wait.”

There was a celebratory feel (lots of picture taking, cheering, and waving) in the lock that morning because it is the LAST LOCK on the river system. Any boats that finish in Florida or up the whole east coast (until New York, maybe??) are DONE LOCKING COMPLETELY for the entire loop. Locks are known to be a nemesis to a time schedule. They are known for long delays due to commercial traffic and maintenance issues. Sometimes there is no place to tie up or anchor while you wait hours for your turn to go through, so you just have to idle in one position and avoid all the other boats that are also waiting their turn. Now we did not have many big issues locking, and we are so thankful. Other than the 2nd lock where we watched 2 boats get thrown around before they got out of it, and Mel Price where we aborted the mission once due to debris blocking the path and ended up doing a full 360* spin into it the next day, we did not have any trouble. But we will have plenty of locks still to come in the spring. I believe we’ve done about 30 locks so far, so that leaves about 70 for the spring and summer. But for the near future, we’re done.

We were the last boat to leave the lock, so we had an amazing view of the looper boat parade ahead of us. When this many boats are close together, there is always some jockying for position as we exit the lock. The faster boats call to pass the slower boats. The sailboats know right away they are going to get passed. Sometimes it’s easier and smoother than others. This time it took a while because there were so many boats, but it all worked out. We passed by our sailboat friends on Twin and talked to them for a few minutes on the radio. It’s funny how your “friend” boats kind of come and go as everyone travels different speeds, different distances each day, and stays different amounts of time at each location. Seeing a familiar boat from a few weeks back feels like you just ran into your best friend thousands of miles from home.

I bet you know our weather for the day, so I won’t cover that. We played games and worked on school work and wore Halloween costumes. We may or may not have brushed our teeth.

This section of the river is anything but straight, so we had lots of switch backs. It kept things interesting, doing all that curving around. You can see where we were around noon. This is probably where Mike started to think that he didn’t really want to stop at the planned anchorage near where it says Saraland, but instead, he wanted to go all the way to Mobile Bay. It was a discussion point for the rest of the day.

Passing this guy in all those curves was fun.

At some point the Captain and his Gunner had a photo shoot.

Eventually Mike trumped my vote to stop and anchor before sunset. He made it clear he was ready to be DONE with the rivers, so we were going all the way to Mobile Bay. We heard about a free wall at the convention center you could tie up to, so we put all our eggs in one basket and hoped they wouldn’t all break just minutes before dark (again). We had to run on plane for a bit to make it there before dark (again), but we were all excited to head into Mobile Bay. (Which actually, I learned later, we were still in the Mobile River. Close enough!!)

We passed through a cool swampy area before we started to see signs of a busy port.

Several trains passed us on the tracks that go right along the river. Hard to see, but super cool.

Hayley (or Princess of Love and Beauty) taking it all in.

We passed by several big ships and realized we weren’t in Kansas anymore.

Tying up at the wall was pretty easy for us and we were set before dark. I worked on making dinner right away while Mike decided to check out the bilge pump in the engine room. Our pumps turned on several times throughout the day which wasn’t exactly normal, so we didn’t really know what to think of it, though everything looked okay underway.

The kids kept themselves occupied while we got all tied up. Magic Tracks are a favorite on the boat!! Unfortunately they had to pick up their cool obstacle course so Mike could get in the engine room.

It didn’t take long before everyone wanted to help. Mike’s so lucky to have all these helpers!!

After going in the engine room, it seemed that there was a lot of water in the bilge. We ran hard yesterday and again today, so we thought maybe that was the culprit. For whatever reason, there was still quite a bit of water in the bilge, so Mike had his helpers hand pump out a bunch of water. He didn’t seem too worried about it, but it was just another thing for us to keep an eye on. Funny how 1 thing gets fixed and 2 more pop up. It’s always something on the boat!!

I was amazed by our view from the wall. We were right across from the Austal shipbuilders where they are building LCS vessels for the US Navy. This LCS-22 was parked right along the river and her baby sister was still being put together. We heard it takes 6 months from start to finish to make a ship here.

You could see and hear welders working on this one all night long. So fascinating!!

Of course we did some research on these ships and they’re amazing. Some loopers said they have seen them out in Mobile Bay doing some sea trials. I really don’t like being close to BIG boats, so I’m glad we didn’t see any underway, but they sure are cool to see from afar! You can check out this LINK to read more about the LCS vessels.

Aside from staring at those babies, there were tug boats passing by and so many interesting things to see. I loved our spot for it’s proximity to the action. I took advantage of mild temps and all the entertainment to catch up on blogging.

I know I don’t LOOK super entertained blogging here, but I was. 🙂

The next day we did some adjusting of the lines because we were really dealing with TIDES for the first time!! When we woke up our big fenders were actually below the concrete wall, so we were bumping up against the wall and making some weird squeaking sounds. Just a few adjustments and we were good.

Classin up the place with all our wet towels on the rails.

We went walking and exploring around downtown Mobile. There were lots of little shops and restaurants/bars close by, as well as several museums and parks. The weather was supposed to be in the mid-70’s through early afternoon, and then drop drastically (obviously, because we were in town!!) and get very windy. So we took advantage of the warm morning to run around and chase lizards and ogle at palm trees.

We saw the same HUGE ship that we saw yesterday when we were getting into Mobile as it was heading back out to sea. He even honked for us!!

Tried to figure out if we could strap this guy to our bowsprit, but I just don’t think it would work.

Hayley found a place where everybody knows her name!! 😉

When you find a teepee in a bookstore, you might as well get cozy with a book!!

Look at this teeny-tiny crab we found walking in a parking garage (of all places?!). He was barely bigger than a fingertip and blended right in with the concrete, but Mike spotted him. We all got a kick out of watching him walk sideways.

Toby serenaded us with a sweet song. His favorite lately is “Remember Me” from the movie “Coco.”

After it got chilly we took a vote to see which museum we should go to. Of course the kid museum won because we are outnumbered. Not the adults’ first choice, but we figured the kids deserved something kid-oriented after all those long days on the rivers. We went to the Exploreum and it was your basic science center. Fun, but not amazing. That is….until we found the upstairs animation exhibit!! The Exploreum was suddenly way more fun for everyone once we found that exhibit!! Hayley loved tracing cartoon characters with a light box and the rest of us were into making our own animated movies.

That night the wind really picked up and created quite a chop on the water. It was a bit nerve wracking with the waves and wind, but we were very secure and Harry Potter kept us distracted until bed. (Who am I kidding?? The kids always sleep great, no matter where we are or what the weather is.) I woke up in the middle of the night hearing an engine nearby. It was loud enough to get me out of bed and peaking out the window. There was a HUGE freighter right next to our boat, with three tug boats working to keep it under control against the wind and waves. I watched it for a bit and then realized it was heading to the wall right in front of our boat to park and unload. I watched as the tug boats worked hard to push it over to the wall, but I knew that 1 wrong move and that freighter would blow right back towards our boat. I tried to make an escape plan in case something went wrong, but I’m not sure we would have been able to move fast enough to get out of the way. After worrying about this and watching through the only 2″x2″ square in the window that wasn’t fogged over for about half an hour I finally figured we were safe enough and went back to bed. Here was our morning view…

Looking on the bright side, I hoped he would block our waves, but he didn’t. The water in this picture is quite a bit calmer than it was overnight.

And later another one came right by…

It was sunny but chilly and still very windy–there was no way we could push off that wall if we wanted to, so we bundled up and headed back out on the town. We came across a big festival in the park, hit up the last 5 minutes of the farmer’s market (only cherry tomatoes and sweet potatoes left), and visited the Mobile Police Museum.

The boys chased squirrels while we listened to a live band play. Don’t those trees just look like they’re in the south?!

There were a lot of pictures, uniforms, and stories about policing Mobile for the last 150 years. I promise Colin wasn’t handcuffed.

We took a lunch break at a local brewery. The kids loved eating from the taco truck and playing games outdoors. We loved the relaxed atmosphere. Serda was a fun place!!

After rock, paper, scissors got boring, they moved on to table top pool.

After lunch we checked out the Mobile Carnival Museum. Turns out that Mobile holds the record for the most consecutive annual celebrations of Mardi Gras and NOT New Orleans. Mardi Gras actually started in Mobile in 1868 and has been celebrated every single year since. Our tour guide taught us how Carnival is focused around the most elite and established families in the area and is actually like a hierarchy of royalty in the Mobile area.

Waving to the masses from a REAL Carnival float!!

Some recent royal outfits. Many of these outfits cost tens of thousands of dollars and are covered in real furs and crystals.

After we left the Carnival museum we were ready to burn off some energy in the chilly temps before heading back to the boat for the night.

Tomorrow we are looking forward to moving through Mobile Bay and continuing south! Thanks for reading and following along!!

3 Nights in Iuka, Mississippi

November 23, 2018 Kelly Comments 0 Comment

Stats for October 31, 2018

Origin: Zippy Creek anchorage

Destination: Aqua Yacht Harbor in Iuka, MS

Distance: 2 miles (big jump today!)

Speed: 5 mph

Time on the Move: 24 minutes

After relaxing for a quiet morning in Zippy Creek, the kids were anxious to get to Aqua Yacht Harbor and get the Halloween party started with their friends on Living the Dream and Have Another Day. We weren’t quite sure what Halloween would bring, but the kids were in good spirits and seemed excited for the events of the day. They talked quite a bit about what they would be doing if they were at school that morning, and I hoped this Halloween would not be a let down.

As soon as we were tied up in our slip, Taylor Swift was ready to rock.

After exploring the marina for a bit, the boys decided it was time to get dressed as well. Colin transformed into Harry Potter and Toby suddenly became a ninja turtle. Mike was all dressed as a Captain, so I rummaged through the dress up box and found some leis and a parrot head. It was a great excuse to break out my coconut coozie.

Now we were also on standby for a haul out that day, and of course, the service department was ready for us just as we were done getting dressed up, and the other families were relaxing on our sundeck. But the service department was very busy and backed up with loopers having prop issues from traveling flooded rivers, so we couldn’t let them skip over us. We got everyone off INNTW in a big hurry and watched as the workers drove her over to the lift. The irony was not lost on me that Mike was all dressed as a captain and some other dudes were driving his boat away. The kids went with the other families to start some mid-afternoon trick or treating while Mike and I went to watch our boat and our home get lifted out of the water.

They did not like some movement they saw in our hull as the straps tightened when she was lifted, so they set her back down again and re-positioned the straps. Nerve-wrecking, let me tell you!!

We scheduled this haul out because we knew we hit (at least) 3 “things” on the rivers. We heard 2 big thumps on the Illinois and 1 on the Mississippi, but we never saw any of the culprits. I’m sure they were submerged logs or trees. Eventually Mike began to notice a new vibration in the engines. He was pretty sure it was the starboard side and he guessed we damaged the prop with a chip or something. Over time, if that prop was wobbling it could cause further damage to the prop shafts or cutlass bearings, and we certainly didn’t want anything to get worse. Mike also noticed that the starboard packing nut was dripping much faster than earlier in the trip AND our tachs weren’t synchronized anymore, so he wondered if all of these things were a result of the mysterious vibration. He didn’t want to push the engines and run at faster speeds until we could get them checked, so there we were, hanging in a sling on Halloween. I know exactly what all that stuff above means NOW, though before this trip, I wouldn’t have been able to follow half of it. If I lost you above, just look at that picture of our house hanging from 2 straps and you get the idea.

We were all anxious to get under there and take a good look. It has been quite sometime since we’ve seen the bottom out of the water. I sure have thought about the bottom and all those metal pieces that stick out to steer us and push us and keep us safe MANY MANY times in the last few months, so seeing them all again was a relief. A relief because they all looked PERFECT!! No one could find a knick or scratch or anything wrong except 1 measly old zinc that had slid down the prop shaft.

We decided not to even take the props off and send them in for further inspection because they looked so good. We felt like the luckiest boaters in the marina because there were boats everywhere waiting weeks for shafts to be sent from Europe or paying thousands of dollars to fix props or even worse. And here we were, just going to inspect our girl, give her a bath, and get her ready for salt water.

During her bath they got rid of all those zebra mussels that we’ve been carrying around since we were in the Great Lakes. Yuck!

We also had to replace the anodes to get the boat ready for salt water. She had magnesium bars attached to her previously in fresh water to reduce corrosion on other metals that sit in the water all the time. However, magnesium doesn’t work as well in salt water (I have no idea why…?!) so we had to replace these bars with zinc anodes. If they help protect the bottom of the boat, zincs it is!!

And that was it. After that small task, INNTW went back in the water and we resumed the Halloween festivities. Our best conclusion about the vibration we were feeling is that it could be a result of the tachometers reading different numbers. One of the tachs is right and one is lying and we just don’t know which one to believe. This means Mike might have been running the boat harder than we thought, causing the vibration. Eventually, we will have to figure out exactly why the tachs aren’t reading the same, but it isn’t a main concern at this point. There is still a problem with the packing nut, but that most likely isn’t the cause of the vibration. As long as we know we aren’t causing any damage by running at higher RPMs, we feel good about pushing it when we need to.

That whole boat haul out interruption really messed with my Halloween picture taking, though, so I don’t have many pics of our kiddos in their costumes. Here is our INNTW crew in front of the boat all dressed up (minus my parrot head!).

By the time we were done handling the boat, the kids had already trick or treated through most of the marina. We were surprised at how many loopers had candy and other special treats ready for us. We were ready and had plenty of candy on hand to give to boaters that weren’t prepared for this huge influx of trick or treaters. The kids also had a candy scavenger hunt around the common area on our dock, which they loved.

Here are all the kids from INNTW, Have Another Day, and Livin the Dream all dressed up and ready for candy!!

They couldn’t resist this doggy, all dressed up, too!

If you get nervous about your kids running around dark streets on Halloween, just imagine them running up and down DOCKS in long robes, masks, and sunglasses?! Luckily no one went for a swim!!

The kids took a break from trick or treating and traded candy and ate a ton of it, I’m sure. Then later in the night, we rented a movie for all the kids to watch while the adults decompressed on the sundeck of INNTW. Just when we thought the Halloween excitement was dying down, we had a visit from a real mermaid, complete with bubble and fog machines and she easily doubled their haul. It turned out to be a pretty great Halloween!!

While the kids were looking through their full candy bags, the adults joined up with the other loopers in the marina for the famous “Docktails.” It was nice to chat with some new boaters, and hear about their river tales. Hearing about all their repairs made me feel so lucky to have INNTW with a clean bill of health!! Just look at this group of loopers!!

The next morning started off bright and early with Tobin asking for his monthly gift from his bestie, Eva, back home!! You might remember that she sent a surprise for him to open every month while we were gone on our WHOLE ENTIRE trip. What a good friend (with awesome parents)!! Tobin loves these gifts and looks forward to them every month.

Mike challenged the older kids to sort their candy and make a graph showing what they got. That kept them busy for a few hours!!

It was another cold and rainy day and we are SICK of cold and rainy days. So we packed up in the courtesy truck from the marina and headed to the Corinth Museum. We were actually very close to the Shiloh Battlefield, but that requires a lot of outdoor walking and with the rain, we were looking for history that was a little more dry. Corinth turned out to be a great museum to help us understand the importance of the area for both the Union and Confederate soldiers. There is a railroad intersection in Corinth, not to mention proximity to the river, that both sides of the war wanted to control.

Since we had the truck and a little time left before we had to return it, we went to Waffle House which was a first for the kiddos!

Then back to the boat for more chores for some of us, more reading and playing for some of us, and more candy eating for all of us.

I would like to report that this plug issue is now all replaced and we have sufficient a/c and heat as needed!! Woo hoo Mike!!

Our last day at Aqua Yacht was another work day. Mike had a mechanic coming to help him change out a thermostat for the port engine. Since late summer, the thermostat has been running cold off and on, but lately it has been cold all the time. Mike was worried about the damage that could result from ignoring the problem longer, he had the part, and he found a guy with ALL these tools to come and help. It was nice to cross another chore off the “boat to-do list,” but I’m telling you, you cross 1 thing off and put 3 on. It is ALWAYS something with the boat!!

Unfortunately, they weren’t able to fix the leaking packing nut, so it continues to drip faster than it should. We are moving this fix towards the top of the list since it is becoming more of an issue (2 drops a minute is what the rate is supposed to be, but we have about 30 drops a minute currently).

Have Another Day was kind enough to let us run rampant on their boat for the morning while all this work was taking place. Because of course the whole entire salon floor has to be opened for any real work to get done. After a few hours of playing inside, we all met up with Livin the Dream for another playground climbing session. We spent lots of cold, drizzly time at this playground. Thank goodness for friends!!

Thanks for reading all about our adventures!!

1 Night at Pebble Isle Marina

November 14, 2018 Kelly Comments 4 comments

Stats for Sunday, October 28, 2018

Origin: Green Turtle Bay

Destination: Pebble Isle Marina

Distance: 73.1 miles

Speed: 9.1 mph

Time on the Move: 8 hours and 2 minutes

We left GTB bright and early hoping we could get to our destination early enough to enjoy the warm, sunny afternoon that was forecasted. We were treated to calm pastel skies at sunrise.
Turning out of GTB we got to turn west this time and head thru the canal to Kentucky Lake. Shortly after we reached the large body of water that is Kentucky Lake, we realized that it was actually pretty choppy out. The weather was calling for partly sunny skies and 15-20 mph winds out of the north northwest. However it appeared that the wind and waves were coming from the south which meant they had a long narrow lake to pick up some steam. We saw 1-2 footers for the first 3 hours of the day, but they were coming right at the bow, so we didn’t feel them that much. The forecast later in the day called for them to start coming out of the north, so we hoped that when that change happened, they wouldn’t hit us on our beam for too long or the ride would be quite uncomfortable—something we have not had to even think about for weeks!! Luckily, the waves didn’t come at our side for long and when they did they were pretty unorganized, so it didn’t roll the boat too much.

It was a little rougher once we turned onto the lake than we were expecting, but you can see that it is a huge body of water, so we shouldn’t have been surprised.

We enjoyed the changing leaves and pretty shorelines. We saw several bass fishing boats (who were bouncing around quite a bit—Hayley actually said she’d pay $10 to ride in one it looked so fun!!) and several tows pushing barges. At one point, the most excitable tow captain we have met so far told Mike to “get right up on them red bouys, right up on em.” He said he was “coming hard at us, but he would knock it down if he needed to,” and not “to worry because he wouldn’t hit us.” Of course, that doesn’t actually make you feel any better—I would have rather had him say he’d just pass us on the 1s, but I get the feeling he was pushing hard against the waves and wind to get where he needed to be, and maybe that had him a little flustered. Luckily Mike had the Lions game and Sirius XM fantasy football radio to listen to the keep him occupied.

Here is a pretty congested area with a sailboat sandwiched between INNTW and a tow.

Mike had a good set up for watching Sunday Football while autopilot did lots of the work!!

Mike replaces our American Flag with this Lions Flag every Sunday.

Hayley worked on some friendship bracelets.

The history of Kentucky lake is pretty interesting. It used to just be an area through which the (narrow) Tennessee River flowed. However, in the early 1940s the Tennessee River Authority decided to build a dam which they knew would flood the entire area surrounding the river. And by flood I mean permanently raise the water levels by 55 feet and completely destroy entire towns. Throughout the area, our charts showed plenty of submerged roads, buildings, and bridges that were plunged underwater for good when the dam opened in 1944. Some signs of the old town still remain, sticking out of what is now Kentucky Lake. History is so interesting, especially when you get to see it in real life!! The fact that this area was completely erased, along with all the civil war history along the river, is fascinating.

This is the old grain elevator that used to be 6 stories high. Now, the first 3 floors are always underwater and only the top 3 floors are visible.

This railroad bridge used to connect to the grain elevator. Most of it is still standing today.

While we were underway, Mike worked on a little electrical issue we’ve been having lately. One of the power panels has been tripping, and we couldn’t figure out the cause. So we would flip it back on and it would work for a short amount of time before it tripped again. After a short time knowing something was wrong, Mike looked into the situation further and found that the connection where the cord goes into the boat was actually frying. Thank goodness he caught the problem before it melted more or caused a fire. He plans on replacing one end of the cord and it looks like he’ll have to replace the receptacle on the boat, as well, before we can have heat or air through this power cord. It’s always something on the boat. However, usually the “something” doesn’t look quite so much like it will cause a fire.

We got to our destination around 4:00 in the afternoon and we were anxious to get off the boat and burn some energy. After we tied up, the Zeefs tied up right next to us and we got everyone moving as fast as we could to take advantage of the warm weather and daylight. We were less than a mile from Johnsonville state park with lots of history and walking trails, so off we went.

The kids found some replicas of Civil War era barracks to play in and we read about the horse corrals and railroad transfer station that used to occupy the land here.

You can also see the hillside filled with headstones marking unknown graves.

We also found two vines strong enough that everyone could swing from them and two armadillos. That’s right—real live armadillos!! Hayley walked off the trail at one point and came running back screaming about some creature she had seen. Mike asked if it was a coyote (obviously he didn’t really see it) and Hayley responded she thought it was an armadillo. We had just about gotten over that big surprise when I looked towards the end of a long concrete wall and saw an actual armadillo walking towards us, out of the brush. Poor guy had no idea what he was walking into. Once everyone got a chance to see him we let the kids go after him, and we were amazed at how fast those buggers can actually run!! It also sealed the deal that Hayley must have seen an armadillo, so the mystery was solved.

It’s so nice the kids have buddies to hang with sometimes!!

We walked back to the boat for some grilled cheese and tomato soup and family game night. After a late night playing with the Zeefs the night before, we went to bed early to get ready for another long day.

Thanks for reading!!

1 Night at Heritage Harbor in Ottawa

October 30, 2018 Kelly Comments 0 Comment

Stats for Monday, October 1st

Origin: Joliet Free Wall

Destination: Heritage Harbor Marina

Distance: 45.5 miles

Speed: 6.9 mph

Time on the Move: 6 hours and 39 minutes

The next morning Mike returned the rental car and came home with donuts. It was a perfect start to our 2nd day on the rivers. We left the Joliet wall (shortly after we inhaled the donuts) along with several other boats that were on the wall that night. A lot of the “deciding when to leave” depended on if you could get a spot in a marina 45 miles or so downriver. Again, due to the backup at the lock further downstream, many loopers were at a standstill. If the boats aren’t moving out, there might not be room for more to move in. We were lucky, though, and had secured a spot at Heritage Harbor Marina for the night so adios Joliet!! (Hayley pronounces it Juliet, by the way.)

Passing barges–our new favorite past time!

Our trip was *fairly* uneventful and scenic along the way. We had 2 locks to get through and we did have to raft up with another boat in one of them. It gave us a chance to meet Deb and Rhett on the sailboat Twin and get to know them a bit. We also traveled with the sailboat from the lock incident the night before another pleasure craft that was local to the area.

Look at these cute little “houseboats” we passed. More house than boat, but they were all floating!!

Our view of the loopers ahead of us and a lifted railroad bridge. The book says if they are down that means a train is coming. You cannot call to have it lifted, it just automatically lifts when there are no trains in the vicinity. Interesting…

I loved the Army Corps’ lock building and changing leaves on the tree. Beautiful view from inside the lock.

We were anxious to get to Heritage Harbor where we heard there was a great pool, playground, and other looper amenities. By the time we tied up on the dock, we were hot and sweaty and looking forward to jumping in the pool. The pool, however, was a tad bit freezing and only one brave soul from our boat went it. Of course, it was the pirate who doesn’t actually know how to swim yet. After a short time at the pool, the kids were, unfortunately, equally unimpressed with the playground. That left Hayley and I to inquire about borrowing the courtesy car so we could run some errands. Lots of marinas along the loop have courtesy cars where you can actually use a car, free of charge, for a few hours. This is an amazing thing for people who need to go to laundromats and grocery stores, like us. So, the girls were off taking care of errands while the boys took showers and checked out the cable TV connection.

We loved these cute signs by the pool area.

The next day, we weren’t exactly sure what we were going to do. The boats that left Heritage Harbor the day before got through the lock that was previously closed, but they had to wait for hours and hours to let the commercial traffic through, and then the lock broke down again. Supposedly it would be up and running soon, but we weren’t sure what that meant. The marina told us about a great website where the corps actually lists all the vessels waiting to pass through locks, identifies how large they are and if they are going up or downstream, and tells you how long they have been waiting. It is a very useful website at times like these. Also, the lockmasters were *generally* very nice (to us) and helpful when deciding when to take off in the morning.

Mike ended up finding some chores to get done on the boat and Hayley and I went for a run around the facility at Heritage Harbor. It is a growing community with homes, cottages, a restaurant, and who knows what else in the complex. It was a great place to explore on my first run on the loop. (That’s right–I’ve been lazy!!).

Mike needed to go to the access area under our bed to figure out why the air conditioning in our room wasn’t draining properly. Several hours, lots of water, and quite a bit of trouble shooting later, it is mostly fixed (good enough for now). Seems like they could have made that hatch a bit bigger!?

Next up, he checked the strainers that collect junk from the river so that it doesn’t get sent through our engines (or something like that…)

My little runner chick (though this run was full of complaining about her ankle, sock, tummy, leg, etc…you name it!!)

We heard from our sailboat buddy from the day before, Twin, that they were at the town docks, just 3 miles downriver, and had power and dockage for free. They said there was room for us and a cute little town you could walk to, so we decided to untie the lines and head on down for some free dockage.

Thank you for reading about our stay at Heritage Harbor!! We love your comments and questions, so feel free to leave them at the end of the posts!! Thank you!!

We had a fun day at Heritage Harbor! See INNTW on the far right in this picture.

4 Nights in Ludington

September 20, 2018 Kelly Comments 4 comments

Stats for Friday, September 7th

Origin: Frankfort Anchorage

Destination: Ludington-Harbor View Marina

Distance: 50.7 miles

Speed: 9.4 mph

Time on the Move: 5 hours and 23 minutes

We left Frankfort nice and early knowing we had a bit of a ride to get to our next stop. Setting the alarm is quite a commitment to get moving early! Plus, we knew Mike would have about half an hour of cutting weeds off of the anchor before we could actually get moving. And whew! We were right! Lots of weeds in Betsie Lake!

INNTW enjoying a smooth, sunny day on the water!

Hayley wrote a blog post about her Top 10 Favorites so far during the ride…jammies and all! Check it out on our “From the Kids” page!

Mike worked on re-wiring some of our electronics to put them on different circuits. We’ve had a problem with the breaker tripping underway, so we’re hoping the problem is now solved. It is always something on the boat!! And just look at all those helpers!

We arrived in Ludington just in time for me to finish making lunch while Mike unloaded the bikes off the boat. It should have been a simple task, but you know how that goes. We all heard a big commotion at the side of the boat, and I rushed out to see what was going on. It turns out that as Mike was setting Toby’s bike trailer onto the dock it bumped Colin’s bike which, in turn, sent Colin’s bike into the water. Mike was about 2 feet too far away to reach it as it bumped and turned just the right (wrong?) ways to fit into that tight space you see in between the boat and the dock. Colin’s bike sunk fast and we weren’t sure we had anything long enough to reach it. The depth in marinas is usually pretty significant to allow bigger boats to come into the slips, and sure enough, we tried all those hooks and nets you see next to Mike and we didn’t have anything long enough to reach the bike. Mike went right up to the office to see if they would have anything longer, and they gave him the long yellow pole you see him holding in this first picture. The pole gets to be 18′ long and Mike had to extend his whole arm down in order to feel the bike. After we had this longer pole, it only took some ratchet straps and about 5 minutes of trying to get the bike out. Crisis averted! I knew Mike would get the bike out, I just didn’t know how long the ordeal would take.

Colin never actually seemed too worried about his bike being down 18′ in the water, but he sure was relieved when Mike pulled it back up! I think Mike was pretty relieved, too!

After lunch we attempted to swim in the pool, but it was a bit chilly. Somehow we all ended up in the hot tub instead!!

Grandma and Grandpa Herbon were coming to visit, so we didn’t swim for long. Instead we visited, checked out the playground, and then checked out brewery #1 of the stay. Never a dull moment around here!!

We saw this cool mural and the boys wanted to be a part of it–they’re catching birds supposedly.

We were treated to an amazing sunset after dinner. Hayley was so excited to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa in their hotel room so we packed her up and sent her off, put the boys to bed, and then enjoyed our view of the Badger ferry from our sundeck.

The Badger is a car and passenger ferry that goes between Ludington, MI and Manitowac, WI daily. The Badger is well known because it is the last remaining coal burning steamship on the Great Lakes (see all that smoke coming from the smokestack?). It was interesting to watch it dock, as well, because it drops it’s anchor first, swings 180* around it, and backs into the dock. The dock was literally behind our boat so we had a great view!

Toby enjoying Mom’s coffee (really it’s just fancy hot chocolate!).

We had breakfast at House of Flavors the next day where the kids actually got ice cream with their breakfast. A place after my own heart, obviously!!

They also have these cool benches and EVERYONE just had to have their pictures taken on one…

Toby hid a rock on his bench, so that is what he is proudly showing off!

Next up we walked to a playground on the beach to burn off the extra ice cream energy. We left that playground to head back to the playground from the day before. These kids live the life, I tell ya!

After some errands and more visiting with Grandma and Grandpa, we said goodbye for today, until we see them again–hopefully soon!

Kelly’s college roommate, Rachael, her husband, Ryan, and their 3 kids were headed over to meet up with the INNTW crew next. The kids loved showing off their bedrooms and toys on the boat, and soon there was a toy explosion and boys were building with legos while the girls were playing with whatever they could find in Hayley’s room. It is so fun to see how these kids play so easily together and have so much fun, even though we only see each other once or twice a year. After the toy explosion and some more playground time, we walked through the boat and camper show on our way to brewery #2 of the stop. We love how the kids can keep each other entertained at dinner (mostly) so the adults can catch up (mostly). Thanks so much for the visit, Rachael & Ryan!!

Checking out an RV at the camper show. Would we rather have an RV than a boat?! Nah…

Lots of laughs (and crumbs on the floor) with this crew!

Ludington Bay Brewery was super yummy! If you take enough pictures of a big group, one of them is bound to be pretty good!!

Don’t forget sweet baby, Fallon! Colin and Hayley loved trying to make her smile!

The next day (whatever day that was…) we packed up a picnic lunch to take with us on a bike ride to Ludington State Park. We hoped to make it to some more sand dunes, but there wasn’t much of a bike lane through the park, so we stopped to enjoy the beach and the view at the first spot we could which turned out to be fantastic until the flies from hell arrived. Those buggers were biting and they were everywhere. But we had a great time until they showed up!

Enjoying a sandy pb & j with his fly friends…

We appreciated a visit from Kelly’s cousin, Mike, who lives in Ludington. He stopped by the boat, but when we weren’t there, he came right out to the beach to visit there instead! That is some service! Thanks for making the effort to visit, Mike!!

After playing in all that sand, we had to rinse some of it off and the pool seemed like a logical way! It was still pretty chilly, but we had some daredevils today…for about 2 minutes, at least!

Monday morning we had some routine maintenance scheduled at the boat, so I left Mike behind with this guy to take care of changing oil, oil filters, and whatever else needs to happen down there. The kids and I went to the clubhouse for boat school and goofing off. Of course, we snuck in laundry and another playground stop, also!

We looked out the window of the clubhouse to see this big freighter coming down the channel, so we quick ran out there to get a closer look. It was the Mississagi and she parked right behind where the Badger parks.

We made a detour to the playground on the way back to the clubhouse…and a skate park!

The floor of the boat was still all open at lunch time, so we took one for the team and headed back to House of Flavors for ice cream for lunch!!

We rounded out our Ludington stay with another view of the Badger as it comes in to port, cheering the Lions on in Monday night football, and another playground stop.

Spinning around to back into dock. The back of the ferry is already open with the first trucks to drive off visible in the back.

Hopeful about a new, fresh season for the Lions. Our hopes were dashed. Will the Lions flag fly again…that is the question.

Mike’s set up for Monday night football. Not too shabby.

After 4 days, we plan to move on in the morning for more great adventures!! Thank you so much for following along!

4 Nights in Frankfort

September 13, 2018 Kelly Comments 2 comments

Stats for Monday, September 3rd

Origin: Leland Marina

Destination: Sleeping Bear Dunes to play, then onto Frankfort Anchorage

Distance: 40.7 miles

Speed: 8.7 mph

Time on the Move: 4 hours and 41 minutes

We had a perfect chance today to move on from Leland, stop by Sleeping Bear Dunes for some exploring, and then drop anchor in Frankfort before dark. This means we will skip the Manitou Islands, but the weather isn’t giving us a nice stretch of calm to enjoy them, so I guess we’ll settle for Sleeping Bear and move on.

Before we left, Mike had to take a quick look in the engine room for something or other. This basically means he pulls our whole salon (living room) floor apart and we have to all stay put while he does something very important (not always an easy feat with 3 kids who are SO CURIOUS about what goes on down there!). This trip to the engine room seemed especially important because he needed to wear safety glasses and rubber gloves and he also needed special water. Of course we couldn’t find the “easy to get to” rubber gloves, so I also had to pull the whole storage shower apart to get to my “cleaning” rubber gloves which aren’t easy to get to because I never actually wear them for cleaning (or maybe because I rarely clean…?). Anyway, he tells me he topped off the water on our battery bank. Very important! After the floor was put back together, we were all set to head out on the first leg of the day’s journey.

We were excited to see sand dunes in the distance!

Colin read. He’s working his way through the Harry Potter series currently. He started them around the beginning of August and he’s now about halfway done with book #5. He’s a maniac.

With a whole shoreline of dunes, it was hard to know where to stop. We ended up stopping just north of the actual dune climb and we had the place mostly to ourselves except for a half dozen or so people that walked by while we were there.

We anchored right next to the dunes and dinghied over to shore. The water looks calm but the boat was pretty rolly just sitting there, and not very comfortable to hang out on, though the view was beautiful. The dunes might not look that steep, but that is an optical illusion. They were steep. Toby kept asking if they were going to be “tall-tall, like up to Heaven and into space.” He was disappointed when he saw them from the boat, but he was thoroughly entertained while climbing them!

It was a tad tricky to get in the dinghy because of the rolling swells, but eventually we all made it!

You can see some fog over the dunes in the background.

As soon as we beached the dinghy, the kids hopped off and started right up, life jackets and all! They made it look pretty easy to just run right up that bad boy, but let me tell ya…it was pretty steep! Toby got about halfway up this part and just started crying because he was scared he was going to fall. Colin rescued him and took him down a slide he made to get down to the bottom. After a few hours here, you will sure have sand EVERYWHERE!! Especially if you are 7!

Climbing up right next to the kids. We’re guessing it was about a 45* angle. Which is a mathy way of saying STEEP! Luckily it rained a bit the night before and I think that was in our favor.

Taking a break about halfway up, which was actually the top for me.

The water was a beautiful teal color, but it wasn’t actually clear at all. I think the waves stirred up the sand, making it cloudy but beautiful to look at.

See Colin about halfway down on his slide?!

Toby looks like he’s smiling, but I’m pretty sure he was actually clinging for dear life.

Hayley, Toby, and Mike made it to the tippy top. Then they realized there were actually just more and more dunes behind the first one.

The water was a perfect way to cool off and rinse off.

Knowing we still had about half of our trip to go, we left the dunes around 4. We had a very fun, exhausting afternoon climbing them, but we were ready for a break. The kids can’t wait to climb another dune!! We enjoyed a calm trip to Frankfort along more sand dunes. As we got closer, we saw an influx of fishing boats.

Chess and checkers have gotten to be quite popular among the INNTW crew. Thanks to this magnetic board, we can play underway!!

As we pulled in to Lake Betsie in Frankfort we were overwhelmed with the amount of fishing boats EVERYWHERE!! And then we noticed that the salmon were actually jumping out of the water all around us. Mike didn’t wait more than a minute or two after dropping the anchor to get a line in the water. He and Colin took the rest of us to the playground and then dinghied around the lake trying their luck. Eventually, it started to rain, and Mike said he hoped one of them would just jump in the boat. They were really jumping that much!

Sure enough, that night the boat next to us heard quite a commotion in the middle of the night. They wondered if someone was trying to steal their dinghy, but they soon realized a 40″ salmon had jumped right into their dinghy and was flopping around. Quite a wake up call!! Mike was jealous that they actually had a salmon jump right into their boat, but unfortunately, they threw it back in. They said it would have been way too difficult and messy to clean that surprise guest in the middle of the night on their boat. This story gave Mike hope that maybe one would jump in our boat and he would get his chance.

The next morning was the first official day back to school for so many of our friends, and it was a weird, bittersweet feeling for all of us. To celebrate our first official day of boat school, we started off the day by sleeping in. Then, we cuddled with TV and coffee. It was amazing. I was curious about how the first day was playing out at my school back in St Clair Shores, but I got plenty of texts and updates from my girls in the trenches throughout the day. The kids seemed semi-oblivious to the fact that their friends were all heading back that day, but we talked about it a bit and looked at lots of “1st Day” pics!! I think we’ll be over that nostalgic feeling about missing school real quick!!

Not having to rush around on the first day=priceless!!

We wrote some more post cards and of course used the extra stickers on the sheet of stamps as goatees.

We watched some TV, wrote some post cards, and read some books before we decided it was time to get off the boat and explore Frankfort. Our kids had their first day of school pics on the playground, on scooters, and on the beach. Doesn’t get much better than that, no matter what grade you’re going into!!

We rounded out the first day with lunch out, more playground time, exploring the town, a little more playground time, and then a trip to the grocery store before heading back to the boat. After a long day of gym class, we wound down with some “Sid the Science Kid” to round out our subjects for the day. I could get used to this! (Or, I already am, depending on how you look at it!)

It was quite wavy on the lake, and we enjoyed watching the few boats that went by. We were sure glad to not be out in the waves!!

Grocery shopping by scooter and dinghy requires some impulse control. Should have taken pics on the way to the dinghy, but our hands were full of shopping bags (as were the scooter handlebars!).

No day is complete unless we find something to make our pet. However, Tobs easily understood this small snapper would not be a good choice, so maybe we’re making progress.

Only the essentials!! Gotta have my pops!!

The next day we woke up to a rainy, windy day. We were fairly protected being anchored in the lake, but it was a bit rough at times throughout the day. Check out those waves hitting the breakwall! Yikes!!

The waves eventually made our good luck chicken want to toss his cookies.

The boys practiced some good ol fashioned arm wrestling. At first Colin thought you were supposed to lay your arm backward instead of using your muscles to push it forward, so Toby smoked him a few times! It’s funny what they don’t know sometimes!!

Hayley is learning to type on Typing Jungle. She is doing great! Gotta love learning in your robe on the sundeck. Life is good.

We spent part of the rainy morning playing cards on the sundeck. All of a sudden I noticed a giant bird swoop down right behind our boat to grab a fish. I was amazed at how big his talons were, and then I noticed his legs were white–it was a bald eagle right behind our boat!! Everyone was so excited to see it, but it just grabbed a fish and flew away. We did see him come back our way, but he was too high to see easily. Now, everytime a big bird is flying overhead, Toby is sure it is an eagle.

The next day we took advantage of beautiful sunshine and cool fall temps to hang out at the beach. What a perfect way to spend a not so nice on the water kind of day!!

We pretty much had the beach to ourselves!

This kid is either reading, digging a hole, or making a dam. Always…

Thanks for following along on our adventure!! We hope we will encourage you to start your own adventures–big or small! Do it now!

4 Nights in Traverse City

September 3, 2018 Kelly Comments 2 comments

Stats for Sunday, August 26, 2018

Origin: Sutton’s Bay Anchorage

Destination: Traverse City Marina

Distance: 19.4 miles

Speed: 8.1 mph

Time on the Move: 2 hours and 23 minutes

Cool-kid Toby just lounging… (Hayley and I are writing–boat school!)

We enjoyed a great trip to Traverse City with sunshine and calm waters. Whew! I told Mike I was anxious for a beach day, so when we were all tied up, that’s exactly what we did. We were quite the site with beach gear, skim board, and three scooters all piling off the boat. Again, we always joke about all the bikes, kayaks, lilypad, etc on the boat–we’ve got all the toys, but we sure use them! Unfortunately, the sun went away shortly after we got set up at the beach, but that didn’t slow the kids down, so we adults didn’t let it get to us either.

Mike loves his cooler with speakers. Thanks DTE!!

The kids got a kick out of this sailboat–the lower peninsula of Michigan is part of a paw print.

The next day was a rainy, blustery one, so we stayed tucked in. Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Herbon for all of the string (I think from a past Christmas gift?!)–we had our first big day of making friendship bracelets on board. We youtubed some quick tutorials for the fancy versions, and I did the good ol fashion knot style from back in the 80’s. This kept us busy for a couple of hours, and now we all look like we have lots of friends. We also did a bunch of laundry, watched a bunch of Daniel Tiger, and watched a bunch of rain fall.

In the afternoon, the skies cleared up and Mike unloaded the bikes so we could go on our own self-guided brewery tour. We checked out North Peak, The Workshop, and Mackinaw Brewing. It was a nice mix of relaxing and adventuring for everyone. We ended the night with a dinghy ride around the bay with a quick stop to meet the nice folks anchored by the beach that were also by us in Sutton’s Bay. It is great to meet other boaters and hear their stories, and it is especially fun when you cross paths with them again and again. Kind of like neighbors if you live in a house.

North Peak (You might notice one of my stellar parenting techniques is to bribe the kids with chips so they won’t want to order food at the restaurant…)

Taking advantage of wifi to update the kindles…we must have looked like we are technology obsessed, lol! I call this everyone occupied and happy–parents with beer and kids with kindles. Toby doesn’t look thrilled because his is charging…

We ordered pizza and soup here–half off pizza night!! Yum!

The kids are practicing their hand at their ring toss/hook game. Also another stellar parenting technique.

Last stop on the tour–Mackinaw Brewing Company

The water in the bay was calm so we went for a spin before bed.

Monday night brought in a wicked wind/rain storm around 1:30 am (so actually Tuesday morning). Mike and I both jumped out of bed and watched it blow through the marina. A big sudden wind is quite interesting in a marina because all the boats are moving and bouncing and it’s hard to tell if they are moving and bouncing more than they really should be. We saw some flashlights out on other boats as people went out to tighten lines and make sure all was secure–Mike thought about popping out to check ours, but decided they were just fine (and they were–great to be prepared!!). It was a little unnerving heading back to bed, but great to know we were in a marina and not floating around on anchor.

The next day we set out to bike the TART trail from Traverse City to Sutton’s Bay. We didn’t quite make it all the way, but we did go about 17 miles by bike. Toby was in the bike trailer behind Mike, but Colin and Hayley were self-propelled and they did great (they were probably less sore than I was the next day)!! We saw a little bit of everything along the way, including 3 wineries where we stopped for tastings. We loved exploring, and it was a great activity, but somehow it seemed uphill the WHOLE WAY. Literally. Hayley and I walked our bikes a few times. We also saw some debris from the storm the night before and several areas we passed through were without power. We planned it right and took the Bike and Ride bus back, arriving back at the boat about an hour before another stormy night. Mike snuck in a quick bike ride to the grocery store to pick up a few things (see–I told you he’s amazing!!), we had dinner, and snuggled in for some classic Disney Peter Pan before bed. The second night of storms was not near as rough for us and it also occurred while we were still awake, which always helps.

We appreciated this nice trail for riding!!

Tasting wild grapes along the trail. We also gathered a fine assortment of pears and apples that no one really wants to eat.

Hayley practicing her pull ups at a stop along the way. This girl rocks!!

We passed several downed trees and lots of branches along the trail.

Walking our bikes….some of those hills are STEEP!!

Dancing with your daughter in a winery….INNTW?!

Toby contemplating the view–gorgeous!! (And eating more chips…)

Beautiful view of Grand Traverse Bay on a very steep downhill. (The only downhill of the whole day!)

Waiting for the bust stop. Hayley was DONE with our biking fun by this point, so thank goodness Mike’s plan to catch the bus home worked out! And the boys are doing what boys do…

Happy to have made it on the bus!! Toby’s first time on a school bus!

We realized while we were waiting for the bus that we actually didn’t have any cash, so we were worried they wouldn’t let us on. That is probably why Hayley is crying in this picture. And again–she was DONE biking!

Our last day in TC was a lazy one–Mike and Hayley checked out the farmer’s market. Hayley and I walked to the Post Office (twice) to send off my passport for renewal (Bahamas, here we come!!). We did some boat chores. The kids enjoyed having PBS kid TV for the morning shows, played legos forever, and practiced magic tricks. Eventually I was going stir crazy, so I rounded everyone up to walk out to the break wall with me. The kids found a playground that kept them busy for an hour and Mike and I enjoyed watching the sailboats (all of a sudden—dozens of them!) on Grand Traverse Bay.

Mike investigated our stuffing boxes and packing putty. This is where the prop shaft rotates and the floor above this area was all wet after our bumpy ride the other day. Not quite sure why, but I’m sure we’ll be fixing something related to this in a future post.

Haircut time for the captain. When you’re the barber, you get to cut your own hair!!

Hayley and I did some browsing, which to her means she begs to buy everything. This is hard when you live on a boat and are trying not to buy frivolous stuff but is another good life lesson. Call it boat school, I guess.

The kids played with this thing for a long time at the playground–it was like a hamster wheel.

The next day, Thursday, was forecasted to be a perfect travel day, so we went to bed knowing we’d be up and at em early. Excuse the millions of pictures, but after 4 days, there was a lot to share!! Thanks for reading about all of our fun in Traverse City!!

2 days in Killarney, Ontario

July 31, 2018 Kelly Comments 9 comments

Stats for July 29th

Origin: James Bay, Ontario

Destination: Killarney, Ontario

Distance: 19 statute miles

Speed: just under 9 mph

Time on the move: about 2 hours

We changed plans pretty quickly when we woke up in James Bay with very little power left on our boat. It is clear that something isn’t working between our generator and our inverter. Somehow they aren’t communicating because the generator isn’t repowering the inverter like it should which basically means we are out of power and need to head to a marina for shore power. Our plans were to head to Beaverstone Bay to anchor a few more days, but Killarney has the nearest marinas, so away we go!

Our trip was beautiful with rocky islands everywhere. Picturesque! Absolutely gorgeous. You just can’t capture the beauty with a million pictures, so excuse me while I try again and again.

Navigating into a tight channel surrounded by granite rocks and people in kayaks everywhere–what could go wrong?! Nerves of steel…

There are several marinas in Killarney and we were lucky to sneak into what has to be the most beautiful marina I’ve ever seen! It is like a resort–straight out of Dirty Dancing or something and it has FREE laundry and a POOL!! Woo Hoo!! Mike and I can’t believe our luck. Killarney Mountain Lodge is amazing!

Fishing on the dock with INNTW in the background. That is another looper boat in front of us. We’ve caught up to the pack of loopers, it seems, because we see that AGLCA flag everywhere!

We’ve been seeing water snakes everywhere! Luckily, not too close!

What is even better is that we heard from another looper family right away that they are meeting a third looper family in Killarney later that day. We all met up at the annual town festival and it was great to meet other looping parents and let the kids play with other boat kids. These people are a wealth of information and will pretty much be on our same schedule in the weeks/months to come, so it is amazing to meet them and their kids!! We are waiting for the Wilson’s to meet back up with us soon and we’ll have 4 looper families together–8 adults and 10 looper kids!! It’s amazing how sometimes a diversion from the plan turns out better than expected!

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and live music at the lodge–this guy was amazing, playing all those instruments and several others. He had the place dancing and singing all night!!

When we first arrived, we tried to get ahold of some mechanics or electricians to help with our inverter problem and it seemed everyone was busy, out sailing, etc, so we just sat on it for a while and enjoyed the lodge and amenities. The marina is right on a channel, so lots of boats pass through, but it is also very peaceful and beautiful here. Rocks everywhere and everyone enjoying outdoor activities. Everywhere we go seems more beautiful and magical, somehow. Killarney is amazing!

A pretty great view for some ramen noodles!! ; )

Colin taught me to play chess by the pool.

Mike’s morning bike ride view. No bears, unfortunately…

It was sooooo lucky that one of the other Looper parents, Ben, is very knowledgeable about boats. After a quick call to a contact who has helped Mike with the inverter previously, it took Mike and Ben about 2 minutes to fix our inverter issue so it is working just as it should. I understand that they had to loosen a screw to make the generator operate at a lower output frequency so that it would communicate with the inverter. Whatever that means–fixed sounds perfect to me!!

We are off today (7/31) to an anchorage close by with at least 2 of these families to test out that new inverter connection. Looking forward to more fun with friends on the water! Probably no data connection for a few days, but I’ll have lots of good pictures to share when we return! Thanks for following!!

2 days in James Bay, Ontario

July 31, 2018 Kelly Comments 10 comments

Stats for (what day is it?!) July 27th

Origin: Tobermory, Ontario

Destination: James Bay, Ontario

Distance: 30 miles (maybe?)

Average Speed: 10ish mph

Time on the Move: 3 hours or so

**this is all kind of sketchy because the captain took his phone swimming while we were at James Bay and that is the closest/easiest place for me to get the above data at this moment….so those are guesstimates. 😉

We left Tobermory Harbor, heading for an anchorage in James Bay on the morning of 7/27. We loved Tobermory! It was beautiful and bustling and full of fun places to explore, but honestly we were tired of the hustle and bustle and wanted to spend some time at anchor. We had hoped to get further, but as moving day neared, the winds were expected to build throughout the day and remain high for a few days so we wanted to get somewhere and get tucked in before it got too windy. James Bay turned out to be the perfect place!!

This map shows you what the bay looks like on a map–just a little inlet where we can tuck away from the wind and potential waves on the open bay.

We swung past Flowerpot Island on our way out of Tobermory. These rock structures are famous and the island is covered with trails to hike. We enjoyed our view from the water.

The rowdies checking out the islands surrounding Tobermory. Big rocks everywhere!!

The middle third of our trip was through unprotected waters and we had some waves to contend with. After we were far enough north, Manitoulin Island blocked the waves and the ride was much more calm. Toby took care of some chores on the honey-do list.

As we got closer to the bay, Colin helped us do some scouting. This area of the island is pretty remote and we had fun using the binoculars to search the shoreline for any signs of people. We ended up seeing 2 tiny cottages, a chair set up by a fire pit, and two campers tucked away in the woods. Other than that, it was pretty desolate.

We set the anchor (no problems!!) just as the wind picked up, but we had great holding with a sandy bottom!

After lunch C + H tested out the new tube behind the dinghy and it was AWESOME! They liked going over the waves the best and Mike and I loved that we got to check out the shoreline a little closer as we zoomed around. Toby liked all the extra space he had without all of us crammed in there (but we couldn’t get him to go for a ride–even with an ice cream bribe!!)

We landed the dinghy and did some exploring along the beach. There were tire tracks in the sand, so we weren’t too surprised later that night to see a car drive along the beach to one of the remote cottages. No animal prints except for some dog tracks, a few deer footprints, and lots of Canadian geese markings.

I was obsessed with taking pictures of our boat from shore and looking for anything creepy.

After dinner from the grill and a **busy** game of Yahtzee, we were treated to an amazing moonrise. This picture doesn’t begin to do justice to how big or pink the moon was. It was breathtaking.

The next morning Toby was obsessed with fishing from the moment he woke up, so Mike got all the kids set up with poles after breakfast. No luck on the fish, but they are already begging to try again!

We had just about zero connectivity out there, so we were pretty in the dark for weather, etc, but we were just hoping for the best. Luckily we were tucked in tight and had great holding. It was pretty windy on our first evening, but settled down by bedtime. On the 28th, it was overcast in the morning, but was bright and sunny in the afternoon. Perfect!

We went on another dinghy ride hoping to get some signal to check weather, and then we went for a hike along the shore. According to my map app there is a lake close to the shore, so we were hoping we could get to it. However, the brush was too thick (Mike’s scared of poison ivy! I’m scared of anything that could be living in the woods or building webs in there!) so we just enjoyed the hike.

Hayley loved her turn to drive the dinghy!

We found these awesome vines growing along the beach, and they made perfect jump ropes!

We came upon this cool airstream trailer on our walk. It had a sign on the corner about various antelope hunts and rendezvous it was a part of back in the 70’s. Awesome. Only a tad creepy.

We stopped to make some rock art along the shore. INNTW!

The skies cleared during our hike and we were ready for some water fun. The big kids went kayaking (Colin actually kayaked to shore and spent about 2 hours building a dam), and we all went swimming, and even Toby jumped in right off the swim platform. It was COLD! Like the kind of cold that you can’t catch your breath and you just want to get out as quick as you can, COLD. It was about 62*. Brrr…

Mike and I enjoyed a few moments of peace on the swim platform while the littles watched a movie and Colin constructed his dam. This was amazing!!!

**While he was cleaning up from our afternoon of fun and water toys, Mike took an unexpected swim off the dinghy with his phone in his pocket. The NEW PHONE that we had to make a few special trips to Verizon and the post office for right before we left. He was totally fine, just wet and surprised, but this means we’re down one cell phone (unless the rice trick works…). It’s always something!!

After dinner, we put Toby to sleep early with our Harry Potter read-aloud, and then we had another game of Yahtzee.

We had another beautiful sunset. What an amazing few days in James Bay!!

Everything about our time in James Bay was amazing except one thing. We realized on our second evening that our invertor wasn’t charging like it should. We did some trouble shooting and finally decided we had to unplug anything that wasn’t absolutely essential. Mike assured me that our starter batteries wouldn’t be affected (so we wouldn’t be stranded out there), but he didn’t seem too confidant that we would have power in the morning. Sure enough, we woke up with barely any power left–not even enough to charge my cell phone over night (and remember, we’re down to just 1, so I feel like it’s really pretty essential!!). So, our plans to head to another anchorage changed so that we could head into a marina and get shore power. We’re hoping we’ll have a marine electrician who knows just what to do to fix our problem in a jiffy. If not, 2 nights at a time on the hook will be our limit. Off to civilization in the morning! Killarney here we come!

1 Down!!

June 7, 2018 Kelly Comments 2 comments

We found it!! 1 problem solved and the morale in this house is much better today!! The engines are back up and running–whew!!

The electronics installer was talking the situation over with another resource Mike contacted about the whole “engines not starting” thing, and they realized the problem is this switch labelled Engine Shutdown System. Sounds perfectly logical, right? Well the two settings are “normal” and “override.” Who would have thought the switch needs to be on override all the time?

As soon as Mike got the call that they solved the problem, he had to drive down to the boat and fire them up himself. Success!! We are sleeping much better in this house tonight!

Now, just waiting on that inverter to fix the shore power issue!! 😉

INNTW adventures

a family of 5 living with the "if not now, then when" mindset

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