We’ve Waited a Long Time to Have Silas Onboard
for a Weeklong Adventure! –

Monday afternoon, Lisa, Silas, and I waved goodbye from shore to Ross and Hadley and headed back to the boat. To see the wonderment in Silas’ eyes, as we departed Gig Harbor, brought back memories of when I was a child spending time on the water in a boat. From Gig Harbor we cruised through the Narrows into Hale Passage en route to Penrose Point State Park, off Carr Inlet. We have never cruised much in South Sound, except for one trip to Gig Harbor in 2011, when we took possession of our Ranger Tugs R27. The day was sunny warm and clear, the water very calm, so we decided to anchor out for our first night. What a delight to have Silas onboard with us.

We wondered what Silas would think about sleeping on the boat, which he has done many times, but always at a marina, never on the hook. We tried to involve him in as many of our boating chores and activities as possible during his week on the boat. We had Silas help as we lowered the anchor into the water.

A New Adventure for Us Too!

After getting settled at anchor and other boat chores, we had dinner followed by games and finally, when it got dark enough, we watched for fish by the blue light under the swim platform. We were all pooped from a big first day of experiences on the boat, so we ended the day all snuggled up in bed for a relaxing night’s sleep. Lisa and I looked at each other, thinking the same thing… On the hook, gently afloat with our Silas securely tucked in between us. A new adventure for us… a week-long boat trip with our grandson.

Silas had lots of energy – think he was a little disappointed in his grandparents though. After a full day of activities, we were pooped. But no nap or downtime for him today, no sir, too much to do on the boat.

After a little game of hide-and-seek, Silas found his surprise bag full of little puzzle boxes. All his favorite characters plus some we all thought Hadley might like.

Every morning Silas needed some quiet transition time with Papa. Lisa knows how he feels.

On Wednesday morning, we pulled anchor to motor a short distance to dock at Penrose Point Park’s dock to spend the day and night. We found out, that this is a wonderful place with many hiking trails, campsites, and a pebble-strewn beach close to the dock. Lot’s for a kid to explore.

Silas and I went out to walk the park, while Lisa made lunch, and to see how far we could skip stones out into the bay. He collected a bag full of seashells to take back to the boat. Silas was so excited when he showed Ana all the neat things he found on our nature walk.

Amazing how kids can keep themselves entertained with nothing other than nature and someone to share it with. We thought about this when a few days into the trip we realized that someone forgot to pack any toys, I mean NONE! The amazing thing was he never missed his toys, not even his favorites. He made do with what we had on the boat and never even mentioned the lack of toys. Of course, we did prepare for his trip by picking up some new activity-type games and puzzles ahead of time and we doled them out sporadically during the trip.

After our short excursion on the beach, Silas and I returned to the boat to have lunch and we made plans for an afternoon hike, through the woods, over to another beach. Later that evening, Silas and I had to row across the bay to the little marina to get ice cream.

We introduced Chutes and Ladders, a board game, to Silas, and he beat us, of course.

The next day we leisurely cruised a few miles away through Pitt Passage and into Filucy Bay for another day and night on the hook. By this time, Silas was so attuned to our routine that one would think he was born to be on the water. We had bought Silas some small-sized, but real, tools, as he is so inquisitive about how things work, we felt he would be interested in helping “Papa” do some work around the boat. I had a couple of fire extinguishers that needed to be mounted, so we spent some time figuring out where and how to mount them. As we finished our chores, Silas mirrored me by putting all of his new tools away.

The post Silas Onboard Kismet – Penrose Point State Park and Filucy Bay appeared first on Trailer Trawler Life Blog – Cruising USA & Canada.

Diamond Island welcomes Kismet back to its beautiful anchorage.

A beautiful fall day presented itself to us as we headed out, from Clifton Marina early the next morning, with a plan to anchor out at Diamond Island. With bright blue skies and a pleasantly warm day, we basked in the scenic beauty along the Tennessee River during our cruise. Lots to see with many boats on the water, some Loopers passing us, and people fishing or relaxing along the sandy shoreline of the river.

The houses along the river are interesting to look at and we enjoyed seeing this herd of cattle grazing along the river. (Above)

We met Bill and Bonnie, on Elissa II (above) during our stay at Clifton Marina, they are from Northport, Michigan, not far from our hometown. Small world isn’t it?

This was our third time anchoring at Diamond Island. We knew there was a number of boats leaving Clifton the same day, so we were surprised to find we had the entire anchorage, on the east side of the island, to ourselves.

Diamond Island (the entrance to the anchorage – above), and the surrounding area, are called Pittsburg Landing where, in 1862, a large force of Union Soldiers stationed themselves for the Civil War’s Battle of Shiloh. On this day, however, it was hard to imagine anything so horrific as a war taking place in this serenely beautiful spot.

As we settled in for a peaceful night on the hook, fellow Loopers, Joel and Debbie, on Watermusic (below), arrived just before dusk and dropped anchor downstream, behind us. The weather the next morning had changed and high winds were expected. Since we had the Pickwick Lock to negotiate, we decided to leave early before the wind had a chance to build, and, as luck would have it, we were relieved to have gotten through the lock without a problem. By the time we made it to Grand Harbor Marina, with the weather quickly deteriorating, we were happy to be tied up to a dock. We were more than pleased to see a lot of Loopers there already, with more headed in later in the day. Of course, a happy hour on the dock was organized and we got a chance to meet several more of this year’s participants in the Great Loop boating adventure.

The post Returning to Diamond Island to Anchor appeared first on Trailer Trawler Life Blog – Cruising USA & Canada.

Kismet will be cruising the Tennessee River for four weeks!

For die-hard boaters, like us, there’s no better feeling than heading out on the road (for trailerable boaters) on the cusp of an adventure, we were just itching to do a little river cruising. We took our Kismet on a 680-mile road trip, from Traverse City, Michigan, before we floated her off of the trailer today into Lake Barkley at Green Turtle Marina, in Grand Rivers, Kentucky. Our intention is to cruise the Tennessee River for the next four weeks.

We had spent a couple of days at home, prior to departure, rigging the boat up and provisioning for our month-long excursion. We also made storage arrangements, ahead of time, for our truck and trailer in Grand Rivers, Kentucky for the duration of our cruise.

The reason for choosing Green Turtle Marina as a starting point is because this marina, nestled in the calming waters of the Kentucky Lakes, is a natural gathering place for “Loopers.” Upon arriving at the marina, they are usually exhausted from experiencing one of the most treacherous rivers in the United States, the mighty Mississippi River (followed by a short stretch of the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers – or Tennessee River depending on the chosen route). By the time they get through the Lake Barkley Lock and Dam, they are ready to unwind and regroup a little before they head out on the calmer waters of the Kentucky Lakes and Tennessee River.

We’d been to Green Turtle before and, even though we’re not currently cruising the Great Loop trip ourselves, we wanted to get to know some of this year’s participants. Launching at Green Turtle will also give us an opportunity to re-explore the beautiful 240-mile stretch of water from Grand Rivers down to Joe Wheeler Marina, in northern Alabama, our final destination, it’s where we plan to attend AGLCA’s 2012 Fall Rendezvous. Our aim is to try to recapture a little of the thrill of doing the Loop and observe the excitement amongst the current Loopers, many whom we hope to get to know as we bump into them while cruising south on the same route.

The first person to greet us when we pulled up to the boat ramp in the marina was Paul Kessinger (his son, John, above, joined Paul on their sailboat, Memsahib, to do the Great Loop boat trip). See what they have to say about that encounter on their blog… The Tardis Project.

Bruce, (above) on Tango, was our dock mate at Green Turtle, he’s doing the Loop boat trip in this 25-foot sailboat. Bruce is the perfect example of the spirit and determination it takes to do a 6,000-mile boat trip. We hope to bump into Bruce again, and several other Loopers we met at Green Turtle, as we make our way down the Tennessee River to Joe Wheeler in Rogersville, Alabama for the AGLCA (America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association) 2012 Fall Rendezvous.

The Tennessee River begins at the confluence of the Holston and French Broad Rivers, east of Knoxville, Tennessee, and runs 652 miles southwest to Chattanooga, Tennessee, down into Alabama where it runs south and west before turning and heading north at the Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee borders. From here the river runs north through Tennessee and the western section of Kentucky before it ends at the Ohio River, just east of Paducah.

When Loopers arrive at Green Turtle Marina they will actually be going upriver, although traveling south, as they access the Tennessee River via the Barkley Canal shortly after leaving the marina at Grand Rivers.

Lisa and I have navigated these waters twice before during our two Loop boat trips and have gone as far east on the Tennessee River as Chattanooga. We know there will be lots of territories still left for us to explore and we’re excited to get started.

Most of the boats tied up to this dock are Looper boats.

We are leaving Green Turtle (below), headed for the Barkley Canal, and the start of our return trip to the Tennessee River.

The post Third Time’s a Charm – Tennessee River Cruise appeared first on Trailer Trawler Life Blog – Cruising USA & Canada.