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FLORIDA BAY

FLORIDA BAY

Marathon, Florida

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EVERGLADES

EVERGLADES

Shark River

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RENDEZVOUS

RENDEZVOUS

Palm Island, Florida

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LOVERS LEAP

LOVERS LEAP

San Juan Islands – Stewart Island, WA

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SOUTH SOUND

SOUTH SOUND

Tacoma, Washington

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BLAKE ISLAND

BLAKE ISLAND

Puget Sound, Washington

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FLORIDA BAY

FLORIDA BAY

Marathon, Florida

Turtle

Are You a Turtle?

I was doing laundry at Turtle Cove Marina's Club House during our last day in Tarpon Springs when Jim joined me and we decided to have a beer in the club's bar. It appears Jim had an ulterior motive for meeting me at the clubhouse, he had heard they would have the bar open with an array of snack food available while a football party was starting to heat up. We had met the owner of Turtle Cove Marina, Ed Spaeth, at the beginning of our week's stay at the marina, so he readily welcomed us to the party and while…

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Kismet Docked, Tarpon Springs, Florida

Turtle Cove Marina – Tarpon Springs, FL

The last three times we were in Tarpon Springs by boat, we stayed at the Municipal Marina by the sponge docks. We always enjoyed the stay for it's proximity to the great restaurants and it's also a good spot to hear the Greek music and smell the great aromas wafting from all the little restaurants, but the facility is slowly deteriorating and we just felt it was time to try something different. After hearing several recommendations for Turtle Cove Marina from other boaters we decided to give it a try and we were not disappointed. It's also only a couple…

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Mother Meres Artwork, Tarpon Springs, Florida

We Remember Tarpon Springs, Florida

We dropped the boat in at a boat ramp in Tarpon Springs (below), one of our favorite cruising destinations. Lots of good food, colorful people, and happy music. While at the Farmer's Market on Sunday we came across this memorial to Mother Meres (above), in the 1880s, she became one of Tarpon Springs's most admired women – someone very special from the looks of the ornate memorial. Mother Meres was Pinellas County Florida’s original ‘Garden Fairy spreading her love of gardening. Greek almond cookies are our favorite sweet treat in Tarpon Springs (the best are found at National Bakery and Athens…

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RV Park Palace Storage

Picking Up Kismet and Heading South

RV Park Palace more than met our expectations for a safe and reliable place to store our Ranger Tug, Kismet, for a few months. Tim took care of everything we needed to have done to the boat – it was freshly washed, tires checked for us and after a few minutes, spent mostly talking with Tim and his crew, we were on our way, heading south for a winter adventure in Florida.

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Shaking Hands

Kismet Goes Into Storage Until After the Holidays

It was a fun trip but sometimes good things must come to a... temporary halt (I was about to say END but heaven forbid that our boating lifestyle would end when it just seems to have started). Before we headed out west we had made arrangements with the RV Park Palace, in Chattanooga, to store our boat there while we went home to enjoy the holidays with family and friends. We had a good feeling about this place just from talking with Tim Aslinger. We drove into the RV Park Palace's compound and prepared to store Kismet. Then we watched…

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Boat at Joe Wheeler, Rogersville, Alabama

AGLCA Fall Rendezvous – Rogersville, AL

As "Loopers," we were excited to be able to tow our boat from Lake Powell to Rogersville, Alabama for the AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association) 2011 Fall Rendezvous. Little did we know that, not only would we make new friends, we'd run into a few Loopers that we did the Loop with back in 2005/06. Tom Conrad (above-center), here with his wife Patsy and Janice Kromer, was the MC for the rendezvous. He did a great job. Jim did a presentation on the St. Johns River. Fellow AGLCA Advisory Board members, Audrey Stehle and Patsy Conrad (above-left). Susann and…

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iPad Navonics GPS Tracker, Lake Powell

Making Our Way Back to Wahweap Marina

Our time on Lake Powell came to a close today as we made our way back to Wahweap Marina and civilization. We would highly recommend Lake Powell as a cruising destination for adventurous boaters, whether you bring your own boat or you rent a houseboat. We enjoyed using our iPad with the Navionics app to navigate Lake Powell. Great tool, way outperformed our expectations. This (below) was our carefully saved garbage from our ten-day trip. We also stowed the extra anchor and line we used while on Lake Powell, we won't need it again for a while. We spent one…

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Kismet Beach Anchored, Padre Bay Canyon, Lake Powell

Back to Padre Bay Canyon – Last Night at Anchor in Lake Powell

We spent our last night in Lake Powell anchored in Padre Bay, the same area we anchored our first night out. This time we found a little cove that was quite a bit more protected just over the hill from our first anchorage site. With a very clean, sandy beach off our bow the site was closely protected on three sides. Jim is an old pro at burying the anchor now. It seems like it only takes a few minutes now to get settled versus the 45 min. we started out with. Here (above) you can see how our back…

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Boat Beach Anchored, Dungeon Canyon. Lake Powell

Dungeon Canyon Took Our Breaths Away

We found Dungeon Canyon to be quite impressive. It's another wide open area with lots of sites to beach anchor, and plenty of space between boats for added privacy. As the day progressed, we enjoyed watching the way the light changed on the different rock faces surrounding us as the sun set and the warm, gold glow in the canyon turned more to a pinkish yellow before it cooled off and finally set just before the canyon turned dark. The view at dusk off the stern of Kismet. (Above)     Jim is giving a demonstration (above and below) on how…

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Twilight-Driftwood-MntSheet-Canyon. Lake Powell

Cruising Twilight, Driftwood and Mountain Sheep Canyons

Exploring Twilight, Driftwood, and Mountain Sheep Canyons today. We found this small arch (below) forming just inside one of the canyons. We traveled back as far as we could in each canyon, not many anchor spots available here, so we eventually headed over to Dungeon Canyon to camp for the night. Canyon cruising is very entertaining, before you know it the day is half over.

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Boats Beach Anchored, Oak Bay, Lake Powell

Back to Oak Bay for a Peaceful Night

We would have loved to beach anchor in Davis Gulch today after our tour of it, but the only available site was already taken, so back to Oak Bay for us tonight. As we mentioned before this is a popular spot and even though it is off-season there were a few houseboats already beached when we arrived.

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Canyon Wall, Lake Powell

Canyon Walls of Lake Powell

Here are just a few examples of the variety of wall shapes and colors you might see while cruising Lake Powell. We couldn't help but wonder what they faced to become so sculptured and colored. We saw walls with huge jagged pieces clearly pulling away from their mother rock – we imagined they might soon succumb to the elements and make their final descent disappearing below the deep, dark blue water below.

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Cruising Davis-Lewellen Gulch, Lake Powell

Davis Gulch – A Visual Delight

We were the first boat into Davis Gulch this morning and because of that, this is what we found... eerily still waters mirroring the sculptured rocks and dark blue skies. The rock face took on gigantic organic shapes, a few suggesting arrows pointing into the canyon. Absolutely breathtaking.

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Cottonwood Canyon, Lake Powell

Good Morning Cottonwood Canyon

Our last morning in Cottonwood Canyon was as still as could be. This made it even harder to leave this beach anchorage, but we knew we would have a morning full of visual delights as we headed out toward our day's destination, Davis Gulch, and Llewellyn Gulch. The sky and water could not be bluer and the rock walls stood in high contrast as the sun slowly turned them bright orange.

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Lisa Cottonwood Canyon, Lake Powell, Utah

Just the Two of Us in Cottonwood Canyon

Our anchorage in Cottonwood Canyon was my personal favorite. It was such a beautiful spot, we spent two nights there; I could have spent more. With so much to see, and not knowing what surprises lay ahead of us, we did eventually, but reluctantly, move on, but what a wonderful two days of solitude and peace we had in this spectacular canyon. I don't know exactly what grabbed at my heartstrings while tucked into this isolated, natural harbor, but I felt like we had been transported to another world. To climb high up the rocky shore and look down at…

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Sign at Rainbow Bridge, Lake Powell

The Sacred Rainbow Bridge

We arrived at the bridge late morning after a beautiful ride through the Forbidden and Rainbow Bridge Canyons. Rainbow Bridge is the world's largest known natural bridge. It was once a solid wall of sandstone. During flash floods, sand-filled water scoured away both sides of the buttress. Eventually, the stream penetrated the rock and began to flow through and widen the new opening. The erosion of the Bridge continues today. Native American Tribes and Nations have nurtured a sacred connection with the bridge for centuries. Even today, the Navajo, Hopi, San Juan, Southern Paiute, Kaibab Paiute, and White Mesa Ute…

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Kismet cruising to Rainbow Bridge, Lake Powell

On Our Way to Rainbow Bridge

This is what it looked like (above) from inside the boat as we negotiated the narrow canyons on our way to Rainbow Bridge National Monument. Each canyon, off the main river route, is marked with these buoy-type signs (below-right) that way boaters unfamiliar with Lake Powell, like us, will have a better chance of NOT getting lost. The last tour boat of the day passed us as we traveled up the canyon. We thought this was probably a good thing as the dock and trail won't be as busy when we get there. Only a few boats were tied up…

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Kismet Beach Anchored, Oak Bay, Lake Powell

Two-Night Stay in Oak Bay

On our fourth day out, we found the well-protected, but wide-open, Oak Bay for a couple of nights' stay, we shared a beach with only one other houseboat. This is one of the most popular bays for boaters in Lake Powell. Today we were more comfortable with picking a spot on the beach and it only took us a few minutes to tie ourselves down, mostly because we'd left our lines and spare anchor tied in place on the boat. Most days, we’d leave our beach anchorage to explore new canyons. Later, about mid-day, we’d start looking for a new…

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Kismet Cruising Cathedral Canyon, Lake Powell

Cruising Cathedral and Secret Canyons

The mystery of the unknown is one of the most compelling reasons why we love exploring new (to us) boating destinations. Lake Powell more than satisfied our quest to be inundated with awe-inspiring sights as we made our way up the lake, around the crested buttes and all the rock canyons that the lake has to offer. At 186 miles long, with 2,000 miles of shoreline and 96 uniquely named, and flooded canyons, there was always something new to see, just around the next bend. Our first narrow canyon cruising exploration came on our third full day on the lake.  While…

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Cruising, Dry Rock Creek Canyon, Lake Powell

Dry Rock Creek Canyon – Lake Powell

Anchoring and Stern Tying to Shore in Dry Rock Creek Canyon We found out that sometimes you can go all the way into a winding canyon only to discover there are no beaches to tie up to. As we neared the end of Dry Rock Creek Canyon today, we finally found a spot that looked promising. Since it's only our second night on the lake we're still a little nervous about rocks lurking beneath the water by the shore. We decided to try anchoring and sterling in; this method took a few tries to get where we felt comfortable. Initially,…

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Beach Anchoring Kismet on Lake Powell

Beach Anchoring on Lake Powell

First Beach Anchor – Padre Bay We left Wahweap Marina after three days of weather watching – glad to finally be on our way, headed toward the canyons on the horizon that teased us for several days. For east coast boaters, like us, experiencing Lake Powell for the first time is rather a daunting prospect. All we could see in front of us was rock, and lots of it – almost a foreign concept for boaters from the Great Lakes. It's really okay to be just a little nervous when cruising unfamiliar waters for the first time; being cautious and careful is a good…

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Padre Bay Canyon, Lake Powell

Canyon Cruising

The Amazing Lake Powell Lisa and I have talked for a long time about our mutual interest in cruising Lake Powell on a houseboat, it's been on our to-do list for quite some time. For one reason or another, it never worked out until now, although it won't be on a houseboat but on our very own tug boat, Kismet. Prior to the building of the Glen Canyon Dam, which was completed in 1963, Lake Powell did not exist and boating was nothing like it is today. It took 17 years to fill the canyons up to their full pool…

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Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell

Glen Canyon Dam

The day before we left Wahweap to explore the canyons of Lake Powell we thought it would be appropriate to visit the dam which created the lake we are soon to boat in. We signed up for the tour and learned a lot about the construction and purpose of the dam. Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona in the United States, just north of Page. The dam was built to provide hydroelectricity and flow regulation from the upper Colorado River Basin to the lower. Its reservoir is called Lake Powell, and is the second largest artificial lake in the country, extending upriver well into Utah. The…

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