Well, At Least The Entire Summer Was not A Bust - 2 Short Trips

As I noted in the previous post, we did get two short trips in after the tornado and before giving the boat up to the repair facility for a couple of months.

Our first trip was about 100 miles up-river to Goose Pond Colony in Scottsboro, AL to join friends from our previous association with the Huntsville US Power Squadron group for the July 4th weekend.  For those unfamiliar with USPS (not to be confused with the US Postal Service), it is a national boating organization with a long history of recreational boating emphasis and lots of training courses to improve one's boating knowledge. I've personally taken the Seamanship, Engine Maintenance, Marine Electronics, Piloting, Advanced Piloting, and Navigation courses.  The squadron had a dinner planned for Friday at the local "Docks" restaurant, BBQ at the pavilion on Saturday afternoon, and marina fireworks that evening.

The Tennessee River is almost 800 miles long, originating at Knoxville, TN and ending close to Paducah, KY where it feeds into the Ohio River.  The scenery and "characteristics" of the river change frequently and this stretch is a very pretty section. The river in our home area is primarily residential with wide open areas of the river, some almost 3 miles across with no shallow water to be concerned about, great for boating and water sports. Leaving our home and heading upstream, you pass through a heavy industrial area around Decatur, AL. While the river is still very wide through this 20-mile stretch, the channel is narrow with lots of shoaling on both sides. There is no avoiding the railroad lift bridge for boats with much height at all, but we caught it at just the right time and with no delays.

One Decatur claim to fame is the Meow Mix facility.  Have you ever noticed that the name is in the shape of a cat?

Shortly thereafter you pass underneath I-65 and about 30 miles of "nothingness," primarily due to some designated wildlife areas, farmland, and Redstone Army Arsenal owning most of the riverbank.  Below, Rhonda at the helm approaching the interstate.

There are lots of rolling hills and rock cliffs along the way, just nice easy scenic cruising.

The city of Huntsville has only one marina on the river, "Ditto Landing," and it is several miles south of the downtown area. We have been in and out of here so many times we just didn't take many pictures, but we did get a shot of HMR at their new 60-foot transient slips.  They have some nice walking trails, nice facilities, and an RV park.  Even bought a T-shirt since lots of my many Loop shirts are beginning to look a little worn.

However, I did take time to take a picture of my entertainment for the evening - watching all of the folks loading and unloading their boats at the ramp. I noticed at least two couples that drove up by car and just parked to watch it also.  The Coast Guard Auxiliary had just dropped off one boat they had towed in.  There's always the guy who forgets to raise the engine and then drags the foot of the outboard across the concrete. One guy had obviously just completed some engine maintenance on his, so he backed in and just ran the engine about 30 minutes while at least 30 or 40 other boats were waiting to use one of the ramps.  I'm sure many marriages and relationships have ended at the boat ramp. You kind of had to be there, but one was particularly funny - the guy driving the truck was obviously new at it and there is an art to it no doubt.  He was backing up to load the boat and was still at least 200 feet away and just stopped like, "OK, what do I do now?"  His friend hollered from the boat and said, "Come on back just a little bit more."  Like I said, you had to be there to sense the humor and sarcasm.  Remember, it doesn't take much to entertain me, especially after a long day on the water.

Lots more rolling hills as you continue upriver eastbound.

The highlight of those hills is known as "Painted Rock."

And from a distance.  Have you noticed how nice the view is now with the glass windows instead of the old isinglass?

There is one lock to transition into the Guntersville Lake section of the river and we had no delays. Guntersville is a high-rent district with lots of fine homes and enclosed boat houses.  After about 20 miles of that, there's the entrance into Goose Pond Marina.  Goose Pond is a first-class marina with lots of amenities - bought another T-shirt!

And for some reason, we did not take any pictures of all of the festivities, I guess just busy having a good time reconnecting with the power squadron members and meeting some new folks as well.  Another Gold Looper couple was there, Bob and Liz Staggs, so we had fun comparing notes and swapping stories with them.

And here is my favorite shot of this trip.  I'm picturing in my mind their conversation the night before - something like, "Hey guys, what do you think we should wear tomorrow?"  Like I said previously, doesn't take much to entertain me. 

Anyhow, a good time was had by all and it was a welcome 5-day reprieve from the tornado recovery.

Before our second trip, I also managed to get in some time pursuing an idle problem on our starboard engine.  It just doesn't want to handle much load at all while at idle and will sometimes choke down, usually at a very inconvenient moment, you know, like docking!  So, I had City Diesel in Decatur rebuild the fuel injection pump and they challenged me to put it back on myself!  Always up for a challenge (and it would save about $300), I called my good boating, church, and dominoes friend, Bob Hopson, and invited him to assist with the challenge and offered a free breakfast before we would start.  He was glad to help, with or without the breakfast, and after about 5 hours in the engine room and a test run afterwards, it appeared to be a successful venture.  Thanks to City Diesel and Bob.

Our second trip was a short distance, 35 miles downstream to Florence, AL.  There are actually 4 towns in the metropolitan area - Florence, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, and Sheffield. When you combine all 4 towns together, it becomes one of the largest metropolitan areas in Alabama behind Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, and Huntsville.  They host a week and a half long music festival every year in honor of WC Handy, the first person to pen blues music to paper. So, we decided to take a few days and enjoy some of the festivities, good food, and entertainment.  You guessed it - bought another T-shirt.  We docked at the Florence Harbor Marina, and Bob (now my boating, church, dominoes, and diesel mechanic friend) and Barbara joined us in their RV.

We were a little early for most of the WC Handy music but Rhonda and I did catch a large jazz band, "River City Jazz," and I just happened up on a music seminar and jazz performance by Norris Jones, a prominent lead guitarist from the area.  I have decided to fulfill a long-time desire of mine to play the bass guitar, and I went shopping for a bass and accessories at Counce Music Store in Muscle Shoals. Norris was performing and conducting a seminar there.  Norris is obviously quite talented as are all the members of his band, most of which are family.  My music past is in percussion and keyboard and the bass guitar is just one of those bucket list kind of things.  There are some lulls in the condo repair process, and giving up the boat for 4 to 6 weeks was a serious formula for boredom - I don't handle boredom very well.  It will also be a nice winter project. So, check out my new Fender jazz bass and accessories.  So far, so good.  I decided my plan of attack would be to choose a few songs and use those to get the basics down and become comfortable with the general mechanics of it all first.  I'll tackle the more complex stuff this winter.

Back to the boat trip.  Wilson Lock and Dam is close by (third largest/tallest lock in the world at 93 feet). Also associated with this federal project was a plan to use the limestone nitrates for ammunition needs in WWI.  The war ended before the project was completed and the feds were not sure what to do with it. Henry Ford tried to buy it and lots of the surrounding area to use the cheap power from the dam to produce fertilizer from the nitrates and expand his automobile factory plans. The feds decided to keep it as a government project and later turned it over to what is now the Tennessee Valley Authority.  Ford took his money and plans and expanded what is now Detroit. (And for that Mr. Ford, Alabama is grateful.)

We did lots of sightseeing with Bob and Barbara, even though the rain tried to discourage us. Briefly, here are our stops. The University of North Alabama (UNA) has a beautiful campus and the special attraction is their 2 mascots, Leo and Una. We headed over early to try and catch them outside before it got too hot.

There is a "ceremonial" Indian mound that is listed as a tourist stop so we checked that out.  It is basically a 42-foot high mound with nothing at the top. There is also a museum across the street but the charge didn't seem to justify viewing nothing but a lot of arrowheads and let's just say the attendant on duty was "less than enthusiastic" about his job. Probably will not go back for a second "experience."  

Speaking of enthusiasm, we had 3 other stops that were very interesting and made more so because of the attendants and guides.  I did not get a picture but the marina and RV park has a new visitors center that is nicely done and provides much detail about the area.  

We were fortunate to have a retired history teacher on duty when we toured Pope Tavern.  He spent a couple of hours with us and went room by room with all of the details.  The top floor was used as a hospital during the Civil War.  The most enthusiastic of all though was Tom Hendrix, author of "If The Legends Fade," the story of his great-great-grandmother, Te-lah-nay, taken from her home and Yuchi people in Alabama to the Indian Nations of Oklahoma.  The tribes of the area spoke of the "songs of the Woman in the (Tennessee) River" and Te-lah-nay, who also had special medicinal abilities, longed to return to her native land, eventually escaping from Oklahoma and walking back to Alabama on a 5-year journey. In addition to writing the book, Tom wanted to build a memorial to Te-lah-nay, so he built two stone walls in her honor. Folks, I'm not talking about small projects - he has personally handled every stone in the walls and has been constructing them for 30 years.  One wall, symbolizing the journey to Oklahoma, was short and straight.

The other one winds through the woods for about a half mile, ranges from 4 to 5 feet high and up to 10 feet deep on each side, and has special stops along the way, just as his great-great grandmother made.  Every stone has been laid by hand, somewhere around 3,000 tons of stone.  That's a lot of rocks! 

Tom is on his 23rd wheelbarrow and he noted that it keeps him in pretty good shape - he is 82 and hasn't been to a doctor in 60 years!

We drove by Helen Keller's Home on our way to Tuscumbia but did not stop.

Close by is a pleasant city park in Tuscumbia with rides for the kids, waterfalls, wood carvings, AND ICE CREAM!

The other claim-to-fame for the area is "Fame Music Studios" in Muscle Shoals.  Though small and out of the way of the main recording locations of the American music industry, FAME has produced a large number of hit records and was instrumental in what came to be known as the "Muscle Shoals sound." Started in the 1950s by Rick Hall, the studio is still actively recording, and the history is fascinating with recording artists ranging from Wilson Picket and Aretha Franklin to The Rolling Stones.

So, as you can see, the area has much to see and do, a great tourist town.  On the return trip home, the city was allowing tourists to view Wilson Lock (normally not available to the public since 9/11) so we had a little fun with the kids and broadcast on our loudspeaker to "smile for the camera."

Still In "Recovery" Mode - Boat Projects and Repairs

It has been 3 1/2 months since we were hit by the tornado, and we are still in temporary quarters at Joe Wheeler State Park Lodge.  Our contractor is still forecasting finishing up the condo by the end of August, so we are getting close!  In the meantime, thought it would be good to summarize the past few months.  

We intentionally kept "Help Me Rhonda" in service until a couple of weeks ago - she had lots of cosmetic damage, but structurally and cruising-wise she was fine.  So, we managed to get a couple of trips in and some boat projects completed before the summer temps got too high.  We did finally surrender her to the service yard 2 weeks ago for some major work that will take about 4 to 6 weeks. Here she is getting the bottom sanded and prepped for 4 coats of Interprotect 2000 barrier paint and 3 coats of Interlux Micron Extra bottom paint.  The hull is also being painted from the rubrail down.  Other repairs will include all new canvas and isinglass for the aft deck, repairs and replacements to the handrails and stanchions, repairs to the teak swim platform, and an assortment of other things.

If you recall before the tornado, I was in the process of enclosing the flybridge with glass and sliding glass windows.  After our Loop trip, the isinglass and canvas were in need of replacement and quite frankly, we don't like isinglass.  So, enclosing the flybridge became my fall/winter/spring project and I was about halfway done when the tornado hit.  One of the advantages of having our temporary quarters at Joe Wheeler is that they also have marina facilities here, so it was convenient for me to keep the flybridge project going to completion before the serious summertime temps kicked in. It was a huge project as I had to basically design a square-framework plan to adapt to a "nothing-is-square" flybridge.  I'll spare you all of the details and just show a few pictures of the final project.

Before, anchored at the Bustard Islands in Georgian Bay, Canada

After, docked at Joe Wheeler

I went back and found a shot of the flybridge from inside right after we bought the boat to compare it to all the changes we have made over the years.  Lots of changes!  Have never understood why some owners want to cover up all of that beautiful teak.

Back to the window project - The two side windows in the front are fixed glass and the center window is hinged.  All window panes are custom-cut tempered glass and had to be measured and ordered precisely (within 1/8 of an inch) in order to fit correctly.  I used cypress wood for all of the framework and trim because of its light weight and resistance to decay.

Both sides and the aft windows are a 3-piece sliding window design and also required very exact measurements so they can slide but also not allow much "extra" movement.  I also had to come up with a plan to strengthen the framework to counter rough seas when they occur.  So, the tops and bottoms of all the windows are either completely framed in or have 1-inch teak on both sides.

The teak I used for the trim is darker than the original teak on HMR.  I actually got about 120 feet of this (5 inches wide and 1 inch thick) in a trade for a dinghy years ago.  We think the contrast in shades turned out nice.  There are about 8 coats of varnish at this point, more to come in the fall when we get the boat back.

A few shots from the outside.  Notice I tried to keep the angles of the framework the same as the existing lines on the boat. And needless to say, the view is quite nice now, the protection from the elements is wonderful, it's a permanent fix, and I was able to do this for about 1/4 the cost of new canvas and isinglass which would have to be replaced again and again in the future!  Quite pleased.

While she was "under construction," I also took the opportunity to install a new stereo/CD player.

Flood lights for the outside.  Note the old canvas and isinglass was still in place at this point.

And refurbished the top of the aft deck with new paint and new carpet/trim for the dinghy platform.

Well, that turned out longer than I had planned, so I'll cover Wheeler and our 2 boat trips in a separate post.

Hit By An EF3 Tornado

On April 28th we were hit by an EF3 tornado.  "We" includes our condo, both vehicles, and "Help Me Rhonda."  Our home port, Lucy's Branch Marina, at mm 287 on the TN River, was basically destroyed. Our younger son's boat, a 23' SeaRay, was also at the marina in the dry stack storage and suffered some damage as well.  Yes, this is written 2 months later but it is amazing how your life changes in a few short minutes for months to come - we have been very busy.

On that day, a strong line of thunderstorms was headed our way with the definite possibility of tornado activity. Keep in mind that this part of the country has the nickname "tornado alley" and history has a mountain of evidence to support that. As is the normal precaution, we watched the appropriate news forecasts and alerts, but you always have in the back of your mind the thought of "what are the chances one will actually hit us?"  That doesn't mean you have an attitude of "it's OK if it hits someone else besides us" - it means you are concerned for everyone, but you look at the odds and just don't expect it to be you!

As the line of storms approached about 10 miles from the west, one of the local news channels focused on a triangular area immediately west of us and advised anyone in the area to seek shelter as we were then in an area of significant probability for a tornado.  I walked out on our back deck to take a look - our view downriver extends for several miles in the direction of the storm's arrival.  A couple of small tornadoes dropped down and went right back up in the sky.  Then this larger one formed and stayed there, moving right down the middle of the river eastbound.  Note the house next door for future reference - there are actually two 3-story homes side-by-side there.  Anyhow, one of the residents in the first house and I were swapping predictions about what was about to happen.

It was interesting to watch.  There was a wall of water moving in front of the tornado itself and everything appeared to be be headed just south of us, so he and I both stayed outside to watch.  Rhonda is smarter than the average male tornado-watcher and she had already headed downstairs.  We had decided our safest spot was in the bottom of the stairwell  for several reasons.  We definitely knew we did not want to stay in our unit which is on the top floor and fronts directly on the river. The stairwell is on the parking lot side of the building and is surrounded on 3 sides by brick walls and the elevator on the 4th side.  The stairwell and step frames are steel and the steps and landing areas themselves are concrete, so there is lots of supporting structure to improve your chances.

As the tornado moved just south of us, it "hung a left" and the the wall of water began moving toward us. The guy next door and I finally allowed "reason" to kick in and we headed for cover.  We have one of the severe weather sirens right next door and it was going nuts by this time.  When I got to the bottom of the stairwell, there were five of us there.  Most of the other condo residents and several boat owners from the marina slips had taken shelter at the far end of the building on a lower floor by the pool area.

The actual passage of the tornado took less than a minute.  The door to the stairwell shook as if it would come off the wall.  The pressure change was very evident.  The building shook.  But we never heard the "train" sound that you always hear about.  We finally got up the courage to look outside - the siren was still blaring and the wind and rain continued for a long time.  As it turned out, there were several tornadoes that touched down in the area.  Here's what we found when we went outside.  Keep in mind that our condo building is immediately adjacent to the marina, docks, and dry stack storage.

"Help Me Rhonda" is in this next pile of dock and boat debris, but still floating.

And the view from our deck - remember the houses next door?  Gone, along with our roof.

As it turned out, the guy next door actually hunkered down in the house he was in.  Right after the tornado passed and we went outside, someone found him wandering around in the parking lot and he joined us in the stairwell.  He had a cut on his head, was completely stunned, and had no idea what had happened or how how he ended up in our parking lot.  We called 911 for him and, as best we know, he had the only injury at our immediate location.  Unfortunately, two people were killed a few miles from us when their mobile home was destroyed.  It was determined to be an EF3 tornado with winds at about 185 MPH.  One of every 11 students in the middle and high school student bodies were left homeless after the storm.  It left a path of destruction about 10 miles long.  We gathered our important stuff together like pics, computers, legal paperwork, etc. and headed to our younger son's home about 45 miles away.  The tornado had pretty much followed Highway 72 toward Athens and we must have driven over a couple of hundred power lines with room enough for generally only one lane of traffic available on this 5-lane highway.

There were so many with much greater losses than us and I certainly don't want to discount others' losses compared to ours.  We have great insurance to cover all of our losses and we are definitely fortunate and thankful to have escaped any injuries.  But we do get lots of questions about our particular situation, so here's a general summary.  Our condo suffered mostly water damage with all of the furniture lost in the living room, master bedroom, and dining area.  The roof has finally been replaced and about half of the the inside is gutted awaiting insurance approval and funding for the contractors to move ahead.  20 of the 36 units in our building have damage.  Some of the water damage went all the way down through the building to the bottom floor.   All of our hardwood and tile floors will have to be replaced.  All of the contents had to be packed and moved into storage for the reconstruction process.  We recently finished most of the furniture shopping and our contractor says he hopes to have us back in by the end of August.   Below is part of our condo as she sits today.

Our Dodge Ram truck was totaled and that is a real heart-breaker since she had only 120K miles and lots more left in her - loved my truck.  Every panel on it had some damage, plus some windows and lights.  Even though they are very handy and nice to have, we decided we really no longer "need" a truck, so we bought a Volkswagon Tiguan, their crossover SUV.  Never owned a VW before, but so far we are really impressed. Our car, a Lincoln MKZ, had about 20 dented and other damaged areas that had to be repaired and then got a complete new paint job.  After 2 weeks in the shop, she looks really nice again - kudos to Adam's Body Shop in Rogersville, AL.

"Help Me Rhonda" is a tough old boat and actually fared very well from a structural standpoint.  She was in a real tangled mess for a few days but our new marina owners are well-equipped with barges and cranes and had her free in about 5 days.  I believe another reason she fared so well is because our neighbor on our starboard side had his 35' Carver at a different location when the tornado hit, and as the docks collapsed and moved around, that extra space adjacent to us allowed some extra room for our boat!  In the pic below, you can see that HMR is at about a 45 degree angle to the main walkway behind her with the bow pretty much in the area of the empty adjacent slip.  The boat on her left, Ark Royal, was totaled.

The view from our flybridge.

We were very impressed with Boat US - they had two of their TowBoat US franchises on site the next morning with a large crew, several boats, and a mobile office to assist the marina operator with clearing up the mess and being available for things like fuel spills and sinking boats.  Here is HMR getting towed from the wreckage by TowBoat US and then later about 16 miles upriver to the closest haulout facility to check for underwater damage.  In the background on the hill is a county park that was beautiful with hundreds of massive hardwood trees.  I would guess that at least 90% of those are now gone. 

HMR fared very well at the haulout.  There were only about 5 small damaged areas under water that were attributable to the tornado but certainly no significant holes or damage to any of the running gear.

However, the cosmetic damages above the waterline were significant, at least in terms of "dollars" - nothing on a boat is inexpensive.  Hand rails and stanchions were bent, isinglass must be replaced, lots of hull and exterior scratches, assorted losses like the TV antenna, remote spotlight, etc..  Our boat insurance is with Markel and they have been fabulous!  They had an adjuster on site at the haulout.  He and I, along with the service yard, worked together to agree on reasonable cost adjustments, and we already have the check in hand with work scheduled to begin in mid-July.  The boat runs fine and we asked to keep her in the water until after July 4th so we could get a little boating in before the really hot summer temps kick in and it has also allowed me to continue work on my project of glassing in the flybridge.  By the way, the sections of glass I had already installed held up to the storm just fine except for a few scratches on the front windows from flying debris. The flybridge and aft deck hardtops were significant factors in preventing major damage to the boat.  Lots of the damage to the other boats in the marina was due to their upper structures being mostly rails, canvas, and isinglass, offering very little structural support that could withstand the high winds and dock structures and debris collapsing and flying everywhere.

In the meantime, we are temporarily housed by State Farm at the Wheeler State Park Lodge and Marina. It is the perfect location - about 10 miles away from the condo so we can keep a quick check on things there, typical state park amenities like walking trails and swimming pool, has a great dining room for meals any time of day, and HMR is docked right outside our back door.

The transient docks where we are located have lots of activity on the weekends which is always interesting and "Help Me Rhonda" has some pretty cool neighbors from time to time!  "Sensation" is about 100 feet long, a Westport based in Bimini and enroute to Knoxville, TN - kind of puts a boat's size in perspective, huh!

So, all in all, we are fine, just inconvenienced more than anything, and very blessed to remain safe throughout the tornado.  The question I posed earlier has definitely taken a different perspective now.  What are the chances we will actually be hit by a tornado?  Apparently pretty good!!!!

I could show you all kinds of pictures of destruction throughout our Bay Hill Village and surrounding areas - it looks just like the news footage you see after every tornado and it is very heartbreaking and humbling to witness first-hand.  There have been several storms on the news since we experienced ours and I immediately now think - "well, I know what those folks are going through and the long road they have ahead of them."  It really is a big deal, so if you get a chance to help in the future in areas that might be close to you, I encourage you to take that opportunity.  The community response here has been unbelievable - we are so proud and fortunate to live in this part of the country where neighbors and communities really do care.  There was no theft or criminal activity afterwards and it's also nice to live in an area where everybody has a truck and a chainsaw! Well, almost everybody has a truck. :(