Life on the Loop
September 14 - October 15th—ish.
We have been talking about our first month on our loop adventure, so I thought it would be fun to recap some statistics.
Darth was given a 'Captains log’ similar to what you might see on a Star Trek Voyage from Dave, Ally & Lou. (Darth is a long time Star Trek fan… and Star Wars—ofcourse!) His log contains start and stop times, how many nautical miles for each day, fuel consumption and anything else he finds worth noting. Me, I keep a different log that I use for these blogs. Between the two of us I’ll note some of what I consider interesting —since I control the blog writing. : )
Total nautical miles traveled from September 14 - October 15: 903NM
Longest travel day—September 15th: 87.8NM (We wanted to eat at Mel’s Diner before they closed—brisket was worth it.)
Shortest day in NM — October 15th: 12.9NM (This does not include more than one day at same marina.)
Rivers traveled so far: Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee
Total locks and feet locked down: 4 locks; 53’
Total locks and feet locked up: 10 locks; 478’ (I think its harder to go up.)
Nights anchored: 4
Nights at free docks—no power so feels like anchoring: 2
Nights at docks without power but charged for the convenience of a dock: 2
Nights at marinas with power, showers, laundry and courtesy vehicles: 23
Stormy weather: 2-3 nights
Captain Darth’s Log
Navigation station. Guys still with us.
Locking down. Darth positions boat, I tie off the stern, then tie off bow. Darth turns engine off and lets lockmaster know we are secure —using vhf radio and takes the stern tie while I take the bow tie as we lock up or down. We’ve got this!!
After locking down doors open, lockmaster sounds the horn signaling we can leave the chamber. Darth contacts lockmaster via vhf once we clear the lock chamber. I retrieve fenders, ropes as we slowly motor away from lock.
Galley
Salon—and cockpit. Darth working on his log and bunny ears.
V-berth. Surprisingly very comfy.
This guy is following us!!!