Loop prep - on the hard

On Oct 1 we left Cuba Landing, bound for Lee Spry Marine, in Iuka, MS. Toscana is due for a bottom job, and some misc maintenance before heading out on the loop in Jan. Pics of the trip, and haulout on the 3rd!

July 6 - Happy Birthday America!!

June 29 - I finaly completed my physical today.  Having to go to a new place doesn't help matters any. The "Fast Pace" clinic i have been using since moving to Tenneessee appears to have been taken over by a card carrying Dem, they suddenly require mask wearing. It should be noted none were required June 2020, or June 2021... but now June 2022?? What does all this mean? After the July 4th holiday I have a new mission, make them all miserable at Fast Pace until they see the light!

July 1 - Changed injector pump oil today, and tidied up the engine room for our week of travels. The heat is terrible and is supposed to be all week.

July 2 - Up at 0600 cleaning, stucking the fridge and freezer for the week, loading the dinghy, then pull out and raise the mast... left me one sweaty mess by noon! Quick shower and change and off to the beach again accross from Cherokee for fireworks show #2 and a night out.

July 3 - And we are off again, now turning north, stopping by Cuba for a couple things I forgot, and another pair of slushies for later. Got er Done and Clean Getaway needed to top off their gas tanks and water. We all slid into Pebble Isle' harbor for another afternoon of water, great food, and fireworks show #3!!

July 4 - Happy Birthday America!! We served up a great breakfast, took a spin around the harbor. Billy the harbormaster grabbed some pics of us before we left:

All 3 rafted at anchor

Got er Done leadin the way out!

Toscana

And Clean Getaway 

We cruised 30 miles to Paris Landing for another anchor out fireworks show! Spectacular as always! 

Almost no breeze for the cruise, so we ran from the air conditioned pilothouse for most of the trip :)

July 5 -  Tucked into Paris Landing Marina today, visited with Bubba and Jean who are up here for a month on Reality. Got er Done and Clean Getaway topped off their tanks again and are headed north for a few more days. We are hanging back to visit with some other friends, and may join back with the other two boats on the trip back to Cuba! 

Back in the swing of things!

 Gosh it's been awhile! It has been a very busy winter and spring! With the commercial property selling (I'm still working on getting out for the closing) and all the boat moves last fall, and this spring... well I just haven't had much time to jot anything down.

To the right you may notice the countdown timer... With the sale of the property, a date has been selected. Keep in mind, that is subject to further worsening economic and political conditions... but I'm hoping there is still enough of this nation left for me to get this wonderful trip in!

After somewhere over 2000 miles on other vessels, Toscana finally made it out for her first trip on the season... Nothing fancy, just a trip to the beach!

This weekend, ok scratch that... more like a 10 day plan includes 3 fireworks shows at Cherokee Beach, Pebble Isle, and finally on the 4th, Paris Landing. Then we will have a couple days of hangout near Leatherwood for some time with some of Amy's family! I'll try to get ontrack with updates following the big holiday trip! Have a wonderful Independence Day, and I hope you remember how precious that independence and freedom is in the coming weeks and months!

Nov 21 - Fall Slowdown!

 It's been a rather quiet week this week. I spent most of it at the office, as loopers passing through are getting fewer and fewer. As I write this I'm packing up to leave for Thanksgiving, so there will be no post next week. My personal world is several magnitudes more boring than the boat stories! :) 

I did snap a couple pics of loopers, and also below is a 50' Galeon that has been at Cuba most of the summer. The Owners have a place in Ft Meyers, FL and want to take the boat south for the winter. They are not comfortable making the trip. I am in discussion with them, and may be heading out near Dec 1st with them. I expect a 14-20 day trip, depending on the weather gods.

Not a bad lil ship eh??? :)

As I mentioned I grabbed a pic of a couple loopers that spend Sunday night with us. They are off to Clifton today. Friends Glen and Jean were down, they took 17 weeks this summer and fall to cruise the Cumberland River. Glen is a local boat mechanic, and is busy as hell now doing winterizations. Yes even here in TN, the folks that don't spend regular time on their boats in the winter still need to winterize. They do remain in the water atleast!! :) 

Everyone enjoy Turkey Day, be it at home or aboard!!! :)

Nov 14 - Weekly Update

 11/9

Larry and his friend John on Nepadie left this morning. I grabbed a couple photos for them after they raised the mast. I grabbed some pics!

11/12

After months of consideration I have begun testing Coastal Explorer software for the lower helm. I must say the user interface took a little time to master, however, the route planning and building tools are many times more robust that OpenCpn. I am going to test it running the boat systems on Sunday!

11/14

We took a short trip south around Denison Island, and back. Coastal Explorer out performs in use as well, making it worth the cost to purchase the full license. Attached are a couple pics!

Nov 8 - Weekly Update

Starting today, I am making a change. I always just post when things are happening. travel days are daily posts. Then there may be 2 months without anything. I have decided to make this a bit more follower friendly and put everything in a weekly post. If we travel several days, that will make it a long post. However, it has been explained to me, people are creatures of habit, having a weekly post makes it regular and manageable for the folks reading it. We are gonna give it a try, if you have a differing opinion don't be afraid to share it!

Since returning from the trip, I have have been too busy catching up at work to get a whole lot done. Loopers, loopers, and more loopers! We had 9 in the marina one evening last week! Greeting and talking with them gets a bit overwhelming sometimes. It's too late in the year to start now, but after Jan 1, we are going to keep track of everyone a little better. It helps our failing memories.

On the trip to the Rendezvous, Toscana lost an alternator. Not the old one either, the new one replaced this spring. At the same time, I realized the battery selector switch was not functioning properly, and had to install a cross over cable in the engine room for the trip. I have replaced the switch, and removed the cross cable. I have not yet had a chance to further investigate the alternator to be sure it has failed and not a bad wire someplace before I remove it.

11/4 - Our friends that took off 17 weeks ago to spend the summer cruising the Cumberland River finally returned! 

11/7 - I drove in to Nashville this morning to pickup Larry from Nepetie this morning so he can continue his loop journey.