Happy Canada Day!

It's July 1st, and hard to believe that we have been in Alabama for 3 months now!

While the unexpected repairs to the boat have taken up more time than we would have liked, we are nearing the end of the major work.  I have 2 new commodes, a new holding tank (including all new hoses and fittings), waste treatment system, and a new water heater.

We have had the salon furniture reupholstered (love seat and 2 tub chairs), and have found a nice little wicker set for the aft deck.   When the air conditioner started giving trouble, we thought that was next on the list, but Michael found that the intake was just clogged with weeds.  He was able to clear it, and flush the system, so we're able to keep up with the oven-like conditions here in the south.

Now we can move on to getting the autopilot and water maker we want for our winter journey.  My sister reminded me about the movie 'Money Pit' - and yes, some of this has been unexpected.  But it's a boat, which really means Bet On Another Thousand!


The heat here is incredible, reaching 104F yesterday.  Walking from air conditioning into the outside is like walking through a physical wall as you hit the humidity and heat.  If you're outside, you're sweating.  Everyone is damp, all the time. The "cold" water temperature straight out of the tap at 2pm is 92F or 33C, no need to turn on the hot tap :).

With the heat comes an explosion of growth in the water.  In much the same way zebra mussels invaded our waters in Ontario, there are two kinds of weed growing here that are not native, and therefore get quickly out of control.  The TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority), who maintains the waterways here, does come around to spray these weeds - using an air boat so they can get up close and personal in the shallows.  It seems to have worked, at least within the marina, but there are huge areas of the river that are completely impassable due to the weeds.  They keep the channels clear, so you really need to watch where you are and make sure you stay in the channels.

Yesterday we went to Guntersville, about 30 miles away, for the Alabama Song Writers Festival - well, really we went to see Taylor Hicks perform!  It was all free, and right on the water.

We got there about 6pm, and it was still brutally hot.  So we ate ice cream, and drank lemonade while we wandered the craft tents, and met up with some boating friends.  As the sun went down, so did the temperature - a little.  As the crowd gathered for the headline act, the harbour filled with boats of all sizes, their lights twinkling in the fading light.  Hicks is an Alabama boy, so got a very good welcome from the crowd.




Today is Canada Day, although no one here knows anything about that.  The big party here, of course, will be on the 4th.  Boats are being decorated, and flags are everywhere.  Here's a snap of me with Doris (of shrimp & grits fame), her son Dan (former mayor of Scottsboro) and, of course, Uncle Sam!

There will be a big fireworks show put on by the city of Scottsboro at our marina, which is city owned.  We have been told to expect huge crowds that night, so need to decide if we will watch from the water or from shore.

Happy Canada Day to all of our Canadian friends and family!!

Honey don't use the little one!

So yesterday I needed some 3/4" Marine ply as a secure base for the water heater a piece about 2 feet square would do the job... so I headed off to the local lumber supply house to see if I could get partial sheets or an offcut to suit.
Was told they only sell full sheets and they don't offer a cutting service.... the price for a sheet was $82, a bit stiff since I only needed an 1/8th of a sheet.
Decided I would go with regular ply and seal it with paint so I asked the older gentleman behind the counter if they might have partial sheets of regular plywood.
He replied no but he had a part sheet in his porch and if it would work for me I could have it. I said I'm sure it would work and he said I could get it from him after he finished work at five.... I asked if there was anyone there now to show me where it was and I could pull it out. He said sure just let me call my wife to let her know you are coming. After a couple of tries on the phone he remembers the correct number and gets through.
He tells her that a gentleman is coming around for the plywood that is behind the fiberboard on the porch and that if she hears me rustling around for more than 10 minutes she should get the gun, "Honey not the little one get the 12 gauge shotgun as you don't want to leave any pieces around!"
He wanted no money and I thanked him and headed off with map in hand. On arriving in his driveway I told Mundy to stay in the car in case she needed to call the cops to save me!
Life in Alabama is never dull for us Canadian city folk.

Summer!

We've been in Alabama for two months now, and life has settled into a very comfortable rhythm.  The weather over the past couple of weeks has been very hot and sunny, prompting us to look for somewhere to go swimming.  We found a couple of good spots, courtesy of some of our neighbours, and went out with a small group to watch the sunset over the water on Memorial Day.  The water temperature here is already warmer than it ever gets in Ontario - even by the end of the summer, so I was perfectly happy!

But all that heat also brings spectacular storms, charging through the hills and along the river valleys.  We've been caught out once or twice, and soaked to the skin in minutes.

Lurch continues to freeload, and the swallow eggs have hatched.  No pics of the babies, I'm afraid, as they are way down inside the nests, and invisible to us.  Mum and Dad dive bomb anyone who looks like they're getting too close!

We went back to the drag races last week, and Roger, who was racing 2 cars, won first and second place!  That apparently hasn't happened in 10 years, so he was, understandably, very happy.  Here he is, at the helm of Copper Queen.

Repairs and renovations are coming along nicely.  We have a newly upholstered love seat, and are just waiting for the tub chairs to come back.  We have new furniture for the aft deck, and are very near to completing the plumbing, treatment system and new water heater.

We have a deadline now, in the form of a group excursion to Guntersville City Harbour (about 20 miles away), to see Taylor Hicks of American Idol fame perform on the 30th of June at the Alabama songwriters festival .  We will travel there and back in a watery parade of sorts.  One of the very experienced locals has volunteered to lead us all home in the dark, but it promises to be a lot of fun.

A little work, a little play

I am continuing to do some work for the folks in Toronto, but I have to say that the office here is a whole lot nicer, and I really don't mind going to work!! As you can see, I'm all set up with a portable desk and headset, so can work from just about anywhere.



Yesterday was clean-up day at our marina.  A good number of the boat owners turned out at 8:30, grabbed garbage bags, and began to clean up the shoreline all around the marina.  We collected bags and bags of trash - bottles, cans, cigarette packs, and various unidentifiable pieces of garbage.  There was also a flea market, where anyone could bring what they wanted to get rid.  Michael had his eye on this beauty, but decided in the end that we really didn't need a motorcycle!!

Lunch was provided by one of the local boat sales companies - fried chicken, potato salad, and baked beans, with dessert, of course.


After lunch, we went for a pontoon boat ride with Dave & Kay, neigbours from down the dock.


There's a little bay not far from here, with 3 massive 'dolphins' in the middle of it.  These are pilings that were put in for the river barges to tie up to in bad weather.

The barges don't go in there nowadays, and the dolphins have become home to a family of ospreys.  Mama wasn't impressed with us, thinking that we were getting much too close for comfort, and took off across the bay to draw us away from the nest.  Her mate was close by, also keeping watch.  Eventually she came back to the nest, and Michael was able to get this amazing photo.

"It's as country as cornbread"

I heard two new expressions last week.  One was an expansion of something I had heard many times before.  Somebody told me he may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer (that's the bit I'd heard before), but that he was good for more than just spreading butter!!

The other - "it's as country as cornbread" - was used to describe something we were going to experience for the first time - local drag racing.  I've known for many years that Michael harbors not-so-secret redneck tendencies, and here in Alabama it seems they have free reign.

Roger, one of our neighbours, and a really nice man, invited us to go the races last Friday night.  Roger runs a trucking company, and has a huge houseboat just down the dock from us.

When he invited us to join them, he warned us that it was "country as cornbread" which amused me immensely.  We think Scottsboro is country, so really had no idea what to expect.  So off we went, armed with a cooler full of beer and red plastic cups from which to drink it.

Have I told you that we have landed in a dry county?  Imagine that!  This is how it works.  The county is dry, which means that you can't buy alcohol.  However, the township of Scottsboro has elected to NOT be dry, except on Sundays.  So we can buy alcohol within the town limits from Monday to Saturday.  Beer and wine at Walmart and FoodWorld and the Piggly Wiggly, spirits at the ABC or Pinky's.  But I digress.

We headed off to the races, armed with a cooler full of beer and red plastic cups from which to drink it, and left the highway for single lane country roads until we reached Sand Mountain Dragway.  It's a two lane track, that draws anywhere up to 40 or 50 racers every Friday night.  There are junior dragsters (under 14 years old), guys driving souped up cars and pickups, and the pros who haul their cars in custom trailers and have their mechanics come with them!  Women compete head to head with the men, and there are one or two who frequently win!

Of course, our friend Roger is in the pro class.  Tonight, he and his son are running four cars between them, so they are very, very busy, and Michael and I are left to our own devices.

We got there early, but the crowd grew quickly.  They were of all ages - babies to grey hairs, and everyone seemed to know everyone else.  It truly seemed liked a big family reunion.  But then, of course, there was the noise.  We had to walk across the track to get from the spectator side to the competitor side, or to get to the concession stand or washrooms, so were right in the middle of it all.

Apparently, part of the art of drag racing is 'burning in' your tires.  Every car, before it gets to the starting line, sits and spins its tires to heat them up and increase the tire pressure.  This creates huge clouds of blue, smelly smoke - or is that testosterone I smell?



And did I mention the noise?  Thank goodness I remembered to take ear plugs!  But if I had forgotten, I would have been able to buy them here, along with Tylenol and/or Mylanta.  This is the first time I have ever seen this on a snack bar menu!









So here's how it works - at least from my perspective.  The track is 1/8th of a mile.  Two cars get to the start, spin their wheels and create a lot of smoke and noise, wait for the lights to go out and floor it....for about 6 seconds till they get to the finish line, when it's all over.  Does anyone else see any parallels to anything else here, or is it just me???  (I see another Captain's Log coming up, as Michael is sure to want to give you all his own side of the story!)

Turns out it isn't just driver against driver, or car against car, but they have to try to predict what their reaction time will be and how quickly they will cover the distance - and then they have to meet their own predictions.  So there is more than just driving skill involved.

Having said all this, I will say (very quietly so not too many people hear me) that I did have fun - for a while - and we will probably go back again sometime soon.  Could it be that those redneck tendencies are contagious?  Could I catch it just from prolonged contact?  I'll let you know :-)

A Red Letter Day!

The sign maker finally came round to do the lettering on the boat.  It's official - and we have the signage to prove it.


After a simple dockside ceremony with some of our new friends & neighbours, and a suitable sprinkling of champagne onto the vessel and into the water (to keep the sea gods happy), the former Peaches & Cream was re-christened Done Dreamin'.

I know, you're thinking that it is customary to break the bottle of champagne on the hull - but there was no chance of that!!  A sprinkling is sufficient, and the rest was enjoyed by all present.


For our Ontario friends, you need to know that here, Costco boasts a fabulous wine section!  And this bottle of Moet et Chandon was only $38 - less than half what it would have cost at the LCBO!  They even have Chateauneuf de Pape (Michael's favourite) bottled for Kirkland and at an equally amazing price.


At least we won't go thirsty!

Life is good on the river

I have been remiss in keeping this journal up to date, and will blame it squarely on the river.  It has a way of slowing everything down, and everyone with it.  The recent 80 plus degree temperatures (that's 27C or so, for you northerners) also work to keep things moving more slowly, note the lower inside temp. courtesy of the on-board A/C .



I am continuing to do some work for the AOHC, and take part in teleconferences from my office on the bridge.  That's just lemonade in the glass, folks!! Honest.

The view through my office window.....






We have, of course, been busy preparing for the new toilet system.  Most of the pieces have arrived  new toilets, lots of new hose to replace the smelly old ones, and various other necessary bits and pieces.  The holding tank, arguably the most important piece, has yet to arrive, but is expected this week.  So we are still waiting for the final assembly.


In the meantime, we have been enjoying our new home, and getting to know the neighborhood. 




We have launched the small boat ( a 14ft Rossiter we brought down with us) and have been out on the river a few times.  






We saw our first bald eagle last weekend - not close enough for pictures, I'm afraid, but a magnificent sight.  There are osprey here, too, but they are quite shy.  They nest on platforms or channel markers just like the ones on Georgian Bay.






There are many others like us, who choose to live on or near the water.  Some of the homes we see from the water are quite spectacular.

We heard that this area has not suffered from the recession like other areas of the country, mostly because of the aerospace industry work in Huntsville.  With all that government money, they have managed to keep the economy fairly strong.

There are a lot of boats for sale in the marina, and now a new idea for river condos.  Outright purchase or timeshare on a riverboat!  This 'model' arrived in the marina last week, and is tied up at the end of our dock.  We haven't had an opportunity to go on board yet to see what they're offering, but the idea is certainly different.



But these condos are the most interesting that I have ever seen.  These tiny swallows have worked feverishly to build their mud nests in the rafters above our heads.  They make a terrible mess of the decks, dropping mud and other stuff all over.  Many of the boat owners here use their water hoses to spray the nests down, but once it looked like it was ready for eggs, I didn't have the heart.  We will watch for the babies, and try to get pictures if we can.