December 30th. and 31st. Saturday and Sunday

It’s New Years Eve Morning. We said goodbye to West Virginia and hello to Kentucky. Ohio is still with us. We are anchored behind Brush Creek Island (Kentucky). What a beautiful spot. It’s very remote and we have no internet or cell phone signal. Best news of all; it is WARM in the cabin. We played cards last night, a game called 31 that Pat and Vic taught us. (Bob and Victor cheated – obviously I lost!) It was so warm that Lionel put on a pair of shorts. We then had a concern that we would not be able to regulate the heat, that it would operate like our oven and we would be found, sometime in the future, having roasted in the galley; but Bob fixed it. It is now a toasty 67 degrees in the Sun Room and very pleasant.

Yesterday was a nice day. Achievement went along with the river currents at about 12 – 13 MPH. (I think that is what the Captain said). It was Patrick’s birthday – good thing his daughter Valerie made a comment on the Blog – or I would not have known. Anyway I made a coffee cake (Yes! Imagine that! I will never be the same after this trip – I am actually cooking and cleaning!) He knew all about it, but I suggested we have the cake in the wheel house while we were underway. When he came up we all hollered “surprise” and sang Happy Birthday to him. Even lit a candle he could blow out. Could he have lived with out it? Yeah! – but is sure was fun.

Along the river yesterday we saw them loading and/or off loading salt. I missed getting a picture of it. Bob thinks it’s road salt – for snow and ice.

I’m back – we are now underway. About ½ an hour after our target time of 8AM – but we are getting closer. The sunrise this morning was one of the most gorgeous I’ve seen. It was spectacular! Of course you know the saying “red skies in the morning, sailors take warning” – it is now raining.

One of my biggest treats in the morning is watching the guys pull the anchor. Achievement’s windless is a bit cranky; and the combination of her anchor and huge anchor chain and (as happened this AM) boulders – not simply a rock – caught in her flukes it becomes quite a feat. In never fails that the windless will quit, they fix it, then the chain gets hung up, they fix it, then a rock or debris is stuck in the flukes, they fix it, then the anchor is sideways, they fix it, it gets hung up on the bow, they fix it, and finally she is up and we can get on our way. Even with all that, they laugh, tease and congratulate each other for their accomplishments, and the Captain sits in the wheel house at the controls shaking his head. Not sure if it is wonder or dismay. I was thinking this morning that perhaps we should start pulling the anchor the night before. They really are poetry in motion.

We should make Cincinnati today. (This time I’m not lying.) Good thing I’m not the navigator! We are planning a stop in Cincinnati. We want to take on water, the Capt. needs a prescription refill and hopefully we will get to do some sightseeing.

Soon as we regain signal I’ll send this off to Cathy to post. Keep your comments coming – the entire crew reads the blog everyday to see what you all are thinking of the trip. It really is a wonderful way to have this experience and feel that all our friends and family are with us. HAPPY NEW YEAR! We Love you! :)

December 29 – Friday

We are anchored on the Ohio side of the river and just finished a wonderful spaghetti dinner that Patrick made. Today was a short day – Captain says about 30 miles.

We bid a fond farewell to Mike and Campbell Towing Company today. Achievement is in fine form. Her generator is purring, the water is surging through her pipes to the faucets and toilets, her hydraulic fluid is full, driving the windless and her boiler is producing heat (though we have to reset it pretty often).

I didn’t get to tour the Granddaddy Tug last evening. The guys all worked pretty late, but we did have a wonderful dinner at the Iron Gate Restaurant in Point Pleasant. The head server Brooke told us that the tale of the Mothman was a bit different than we thought. She thinks he was the one who caused the collapse of the Silver Bridge. I embellished a bit on the number of people – seems the collapse happened right at rush hour and a total of 44 were killed. Just shortly afterward there was a murder trial going on in town and the man accused of murdering his wife came to court with a bomb strapped to his chest. He blew up the Judge and two others. Their tombstones stand at the courthouse. What a unique, interesting town.

Prior to casting off today, Mike and I got to visit a bit. He very patiently answered all my questions about the barges, tugs and coal. Coal is now augured out of the earth, so the end result is ground up rather than in chunks. (Or the lumps that Santa leaves the bad kids). The empty barges are filled in a number of ways. If the mine is way inland, the coal is loaded on rail cars for transport to the barges, if it is close to the river they load directly to the barges. Barges rely on tugs for propulsion so while they are waiting for their loads they are maneuvered by a line wrapped around a huge wench (it’s called something else – but I can’t remember) with a guide wire that attaches to the other end. That way the barge can be moved forward or aft by sliding along the wire. They are moved in order to fill them with even weight distribution. The full barges are then set up for transport to the consumer. I think Campbell’s main delivery is to American Power Company, though they have customers everywhere. The barges are secured together by wire and depending on width will have up to three across and five deep. Most of the coal barges will be in this configuration. The chemical and fuel barges are a bit wider (52 feet) and will have only two across; otherwise they would be too wide to fit through the locks. (Locks are 110 ft. wide)

Mike is one of those rare individuals that go out of his way to be helpful. He too was taken with Achievement. I think he liked the challenge of getting to know her intimately in order to take care of her ills. He particularly liked the wine cellar. He has a wonderful sense of humor and is a bit of a practical joker. Yesterday he brought some jerky his wife made. The guys loved it. He asked them to guess what it was. They guessed beef or venison. His response was “Nope – its possum and it was sun dried for about 3 days on the road prior.” (It was really venison – very tender and very good – Yep! They did save me a bit)

When we said our goodbyes today I gave him a hug and a kiss. I think I embarrassed him; he had that look of “Aw Shucks” even though he didn’t say it. He will be one of the most memorable people on this journey. We cannot thank him enough! THANK YOU MIKE!

The hook is down.

A little early but we are running out of daylight and entering a stretch of river, about 30 miles or so, that is termed congested and has restrictions on mooring and/or anchoring. We are tucked into a little depression on the Ohio side below two large homes up on a bluff. When we anchored the families came out and waved, very friendly. We are talking about starting a pool on how far from Pitt. it will be before no one knows the boat. We passed a tow about two miles above the last lock 290 miles from Pitt. and the capain calls on the radio to ask if this was the boat from just above the Emsworth Dam. Of course she is and he proceeded to ask about our plans for her and wish us God speed and good luck. Well Pat has made a large pot of Spagetti with Italian sausage, Garlic rolls, so I must sign off for now.
Capt. Bob

Friday December 29th

We checked out of the super 8 this morning all systems up. We are topping off the tanks and should untie from these wonderful people in about an hour. It's a beautiful day, sun shining about 50 or so. A lot more barge traffic today more then we have seen since we left Pittsburgh. We hope to make 40-50 miles today then get into a rhythm. I'll update later tonight.
Capt Bob

December 27th. and 28th. Wednesday and Thursday

I am writing this from a Super 8 in Gallipolis, Ohio while doing laundry. The guys are on the boat fixing her many ills.

On Tuesday we planned on an earlier start – about 8:30 or 9AM we were pulling anchor with the windless when lo and behold, it died. The Capt. figured out a way to get the monster up using muscle power. That thing has to weigh a ton, but they managed to do it. Sorry I missed capturing it on film. We finally got underway about 11:00AM. Shortly after taking off the unthinkable happened – the one and only generator that was keeping us going died a smoky death. Patrick discovered it – I know it had to scare him to death. Now we were in a mess, no heat, no running water, no lights – no nothin’. It was imperative we find a place to pull in, get parts and effect some repair. After several phone calls – everyone was so very helpful – I called Campbell’s Towing in Henderson, West Va. and was fortunate enough to speak to Mike (our Santa Clause). Most places on the river work on huge commercial vessels (tugs and such). Mike referred us to several but told us if we could not find anything else he would try to help us out. Needless to say – he became our savior. It was after dark when he directed us to his yard. We tied up along the small tug – not sure what her length is- but she is huge. He, (Mike) is head engineer, Wes a deck hand on a 155ft. Tug; his Pilot and engineer, Tanner all got to work – in minutes they had the generator up, but it didn’t last long. She overheated again. Wes drove us to the Super 8. I think was a bit disappointed we were not staying on the boat. He had planned on fixing breakfast for us. It seems they are confined to the boat - two weeks on and one week off.

Wednesday morning (of course everyone jumped in the shower as soon as we got to the motel – slept warm – it was heaven) Lionel had to take another shower – just cause he could- we started hunting down a place to move Achievement (Mike had to call his boss in Pittsburgh for permission prior to our tying up). I was elected to go into City Hall at Point Pleasant, W. Va. to plead our case for tie up to the city’s brand new riverfront docks. I met Mayor Jim Wilson and the Chief of Police. They were most cordial – not a problem they said. The Mayor gave me his number and said to call if we needed anything at all – and they would check on us. From there we visited the Lowe Hotel. It is said to be haunted. What a cool place. Lionel inquired for rooms to move to, so we could be close to the boat once we moved her to the City Docks.

The town of Point Pleasant known for the sightings of the Mothman. It is said that the Silver Bridge that crossed the river to Ohio collapsed back in the 60’s. Prior to the collapse there were several sightings of the Mothman by the townspeople. They believe he was trying to warn them of the impending collapse of the bridge. Some 160 people were killed or injured. Since the collapse of the bridge, he has not been seen. They have a statue of him in the center of town. Of course we had our picture taken with him.

It was getting late in the day, so we hurried back to get Achievement moved before nightfall. Lo and Behold she captured the heart of yet another man - the head engineer Mike. He was waiting when we arrived – and said he would work on her. Wow! What a coup! A real professional at all the systems. He had her boiler up and running last night and offered to stay later and get the pumps going so we could stay on board. What a terrific guy! We wouldn’t let him work any longer last night – so we stayed at the Super 8 again.

Prior to leaving I asked if we could see the inside of one of the tugs. He took us on a tour of the 155 footer. I was so excited I felt like jumping up and down. It is so big. Has 11 cabins (big cabins), huge galley with a walk in pantry, TV room and exercise room. The engine rooms are spotless, the engineer on that tug, Jeff, was apologizing like crazy because there was a little bit of oil on the floor and some handprints. (He also told me that he repairs all the systems on that tug, and if he can’t – Mike does.) I invited him to see our engine room if he wanted to feel good! We got to the pilot house – man is that way up there. These are the tugs that move 15 coal barges up and down the river. They are 3 abreast and 5 long. Mike explained the workings of the engines, generators and controls. I got to direct the big spot light. My gosh – it was great! Reminded me of Mark letting me play sometimes at the Fire Station – you know- blowing the siren, shooting the water hose, going up in the ladder truck. I am so lucky! Mike promised me tonight he would take us on the bigger tug (tied up in front of Achievement) so I could take pictures. In my excitement last night, I forgot my camera in the cabin.

So…. for the past two nights Achievement has been well protected by some pretty big guys, and she now has the absolute best working on her. We are confident we will be setting off tomorrow AM with all systems going. What a treat! What excitement! Wouldn’t have missed this for the world!

Pictures as promised

Here are the latest... launching, fireworks, first lock

Wed. Morning 12/27

To finish my tale of woe, The generator repair was not successful. It started, but quickly overheated. Although we were tied up we were dead in the water. Mair got us rooms on the Ohio side of the river so we jumped ship, got hot showers and warm bunks for the night. The boys went for a car this morning. Breakfast will be at Bob Evens and hopefully we'll be off again tomorrow.

Capt. Bob

Tuesday 12/26: Today was not our day

We got up on time with hopes of getting down river to effect some repairs. Well the hydraulic pump threw its belts, Minor problem we replaced and tensioned the belts and proceeded to haul the anchor, about half way up the windless quits. After checking belts, filters, fluid levels and such we still don't know what the problem is. We now have to retrieve the anchor (185#) plus approx 70' of 3/4 “chain by hand. We got the hook up at 10:45 and started down river.

Shortly after Breakfast/lunch Patrick came running into the wheel house saying the generator had sprung a leak and it wouldn't shut down. I ran below to find the engine room engulfed in thick oily smoke, and the generator would not shut down. We finally pinched a fuel line with a pair of vise grips, it stopped.

Pat and Victor proceeded to replace two blown hoses and restart the gen. only to find it was not passing water. Again it wouldn't stop. Pinch, stop. By now we are on down the river and Mair has contacted some facilities. Pat and victor have opened the raw water pump and discovered not only a bad impeller but also a collapsed hose.

Night is falling. We get a call from a Gentleman named Mike with a tow co. at Point Pleasant W.V. Mair had spoken to him earlier in the day and he informed her that they were a commercial yard and could not help us directly but he gave her a list of names and numbers. Well she started calling around and just about all that she called said they only worked on TOW BOATS and BARGES. With the exception of one Gentleman at Two Rivers marina, A fairly new facility who said he would call us back.

As the day wore on we started to be concerned; our anchor windless was kaput. No Boiler. No generator. No water. No Battery Charger. We had been running our navigation lights all day and starting the engines the next day was a concern. When out of the blue or should I say Gray comes a call from Mike. He was worried about us and wanted to know if we had contacted anyone. We told him we hadn't and updated him about the generator. He said he would call us back and hung up. We were all a bit grim when the phone rang again it was Mike, he had a place for us to tie up for the night and he would wait for us to arrive. He talked us in to his facility, tied us up behind one of the biggest tugs I have ever seen and started to work on the generator. I can’t say enough about this man but alas it's past midnight I'll finish tomorrow.

Capt. Bob

December 26th. Tuesday

What a feast we had yesterday! Christmas morning had its trials and tribulations though. We discovered the pumps for our sinks and toilets are kaput, Yep! Means no running water and no way to get the fresh water out of the tanks. After breakfast of Hot Oatmeal (something hearty and warm – we have no heat other than our space heaters) Patrick and Victor spent hours in the engine room trying to get the pumps going. No luck. We hoisted the anchor and cast off about 10:30AM. Lionel got the turkey on the grill about noon, Bob and I were in the wheel house and Pat and Vic in the galley, where Patrick made a wonderful apple pie. We dropped the hook off Mustapha Island on the Ohio side of the river. My gosh – it is gorgeous. Victor managed to make the table look very festive and even though we had to make some concessions – like paper plates and no showers, it was a wonderful meal. Clean up was a treat. Using the stove to heat up water from our bottled drinking water supply proved challenging. But we are getting better at it. The Capt. Charged me with finding the next closest bit town that we can order ahead the pumps we need, hire someone to install and tie up for a day. I thought we were about 60 miles from Cincinnati, but calculated wrong – we are actually about 2 days out of Cincinnati. Internet service is very weak, but did manage to find a number for the chamber of commerce in Meigs County. I’ll call them soon as 9AM rolls around.

Victor is up and making coffee, time to get the Capt. Up. Wonder what adventures we will have today? Supposed to snow – that would be kinda neat.

More Pix coming

I've not got access to my computer, so I can't post the pictures Aunt Mair sent. I'll post them Wednesday afternoon. Stay tuned. Make sure you look at Christmas Eve Post sent by Aunt Mair. It just posted today and it's quite a moving tale. You must read it, it sums up the emotion I think we're all feeling from afar!

Christmas Day

Today was an easy day, only about 50 miles. We are anchored on the ohio side of the river behind Mustapha Island. We started late and quit early. Lionel cooked a turkey on the barbeque; Patrick baked an apple pie in the oven, Mair made biscuits. We had champagne. What a life. We think we are going to stop in Cincinnati for repairs and stores. Our water system has shut down. We need 2 new shallow well pumps, and someone to look at the boiler again. We might get some snow tomorrow. I ate so much I must go lay down. More to follow.

Capt. Bob

December 25 – Monday

Christmas Day. According to our Thermometer on the poop deck it is now 41 degrees at 7:10 Am. The boat is somewhat comfortable. The space heaters take the chill off and today I have my long johns on. I got really cold last night prior to going to bed. Once I snuggled in my sleeping bag – all was well. As I sat here earlier reorganizing pictures from yesterday, I kept seeing flashes of light. The forecast calls for rain today, so naturally I thought it was lightening. Man! A vision of a miserable day in a steel boat with lightening around was not something I looked forward to. I was surprised to see it was a tug, pushing 4 or 5 big barges of coal down the river. Coal is a huge industry here. Yesterday we passed American Coal Co. at the side of river. They had hundreds of coal railroad cars lined up waiting to be filled. I would imagine that this time of the year it would be very busy for them. We also saw several power generating plants that use coal. Bob and I were discussing yesterday how the landscape is so beautiful and the industry that has etched out along the way is so fascinating looking. A marvel of our ingenuity and a testament to our lack of prescience.

The generator ran all night like a charm. We have to pray she keeps working. Without it we have no power to pump water, run our heaters or lights. The running lights and VHF are on 12 volt so we should still be able to make headway. Just won’t be as comfortable. The stove is gas and I guess if we had to we could use the oven to heat up the galley. We are loosing about 200 gallons of water a day to a leak we can’t find, nor do we know where it is going. We carry about 1200 gals. So we may have to find a place to take on more before too long. Poor Achievement! I’ll bet she’ll be happy when all of her systems are either replaced or repaired so she won’t have to work as hard.

Oh almost forgot. The first week on the boat Lionel started out by slamming his finger in the engine room door, his nail looks like heck, then a day or two later grabbed a hot pipe (I think while they were working on the boiler) and burned three fingers – two of which blistered and looked really, really painful. He caught his hand again yesterday, but did not hurt it as bad as the last time. We keep telling him he will be a total wreck by the time this trip is done. I always knew he and Bob were close, but this trip has shown just how close. They are so close in age – one time one will be looking out for the other and the next the roles are reversed. Lionel has been feeling for Bob every time a system doesn’t function as it should. This trip will certainly strengthen that bond.

I finally hear someone in the Galley. I would bet it is Victor. It is now 7:42AM – soon time to get the rest of the crew up and moving. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas to all from the crew of "Achievement Alpha"

Christmas eve Merry Christmas to all from the crew of "Achievement Alpha." We are anchored off a small island near Sisterville West Virginia. It was a beautiful day on the river. We went thru 3 locks today, dropping about 20 feet each time we are still amazed at the attention the boat gets. every one at the locks have to come out to chat, asking about her, where are we going, how old is the boat, just anything to get a better look at her. We passed a tow out of one of the locks and all the deck hands came out and stood and waved until we were past. it was a great feeling. The boat handles really well, it tracks well, does not wander at all. Entering the locks we bring her in just inches off the wall and she tracks right to the far end with no hands on the wheel and her shoulders reared back. and at 120 tons she carries far. Mair says we are on the most beautiful stretch of the Ohio for the next few days according to George Washington. To bad it's winter some color would be nice. We are still having small problems, like overflowing our fuel ta nks, The plumbing is a nightmare. Nothing is what it says it is. But we keep on keeping on. Tomorrow is going to be a short day for us. We should get off the hook by 8:30 or so and run till about 3pm Lionel, Mair, and Patrick are cooking up a turkey dinner, With Champagne and Christmas cake from Ilonka. It don't get any better. Merry Christmas and Love from the crew and Capt. Bob

December 24 Sunday Evening

What a nice day. It was cloudy and cold, but the scenery is outstanding. The Ohio River is a wide river with lots of Barge Traffic. Traveling this time of the year, no one else is on the water. Who goes boating in weather like this? Duh! Us! Anyway the combination of this time of year and the holiday – has even reduced the barge traffic, this is good for us. Today I finally got to travel on the same river – starting at the same point – as the Lewis and Clark expedition. They started out on August 31, 1803 in a 55’ keel boat with an 8’ beam. It took them until September 11th to get to the where we are. We are now anchored off an Island (again on the West Virginia side of the River) not too far from Wheeling. I believe the town on shore is called Sistersville. This stretch of the river is called the Long Reach. It was actually named that by George Washington. Lewis and Clark camped in this area (in fact not too far from were we are now). They said many squirrels swam in the river and Lewis’s dog (Seaman) would catch them. They fried them up and ate them. I didn’t know squirrels swam. Did you? It is beautiful country. Mountains, rolling hills – all dotted with small towns and villages. We passed a town called Moundsville today. In was the site of an Indian Mound Burial Ground that was 65 feet high and was surrounded by a 60 foot wide ditch. (I am using the past tense, because I don’t know if it still exists.) It was about 300 feet off the river, but we could not differentiate it from the rest of the topography.

Our Christmas Eve dinner was terrific. Patrick made us Sloppy Joes. Actually he called them Lumburgers. Delicious! Because it is Christmas tomorrow the decision is to sleep in till 8:AM (Pretty normal time for the guys) but anchor by about 3:00PM so we can enjoy our Christmas feast. We can’t trust our turkey to the oven (it has a thermostat problem and cooks at 600 degrees no matter where the dial is) so Lionel is going to put it on the b-b-q grill.

Tonight tensions are up. We are having a problem with the fuel tanks, water tanks and the boiler is not working. Lionel and Bob have been working all night trying to get it up, to no avail. We are using the space heaters for heat, but the load may be too much for the generator. This poor old gal is huffing, puffing and wheezing. I just hope she can hold her old parts together – at least till we get into some warmer weather, or better yet, till we get home.

Tomorrow we will see how it goes. Till Later….

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve. Other than it being cold it doesn’t seem possible that it is Christmas already. Not sure what happened with our Santa Clause boiler guys – I don’t think the heat is working as it was. Had to fire up my little electric heater last night, and even with that my cabin did not get above 57 degrees. Brr!

We have spent our first night on the hook. We anchored at Cluster Island, West Va. Yep! Not in PA any longer. We crossed the state line late yesterday afternoon. We are on the West Va. Side of the river and Ohio is on the other. The river is the state line between the two.

Our departure time was about 12:30 or so, a little later than the anticipated 10:00. The Captain slept in. Lionel finally had to roust him. The plan discussed last evening over our champagne toast was who ever got up first would turn on the coffee; we’d leave at daylight and have breakfast underway, after we go thru the next lock a couple miles away. I volunteered to put on the coffee when I got up – but was declined. (Obviously 5 or 5:30 AM was not a satisfactory time to get coffee going) Let’s see who will be up next, and who will wake who. These guys are a riot!

Casting off yesterday was very emotional for me. I think it was a bit for the guys too, but they were more into the mechanics of getting under way. Mr. Bolea’s sons, Bob and Randy and grandson. Eli came to see the boat a last time and bid us farewell. Randy took photo’s while Bob with Capt. Bob fiddled in the engine room. Gregg and his girl Kristen came by to wish us well; unfortunately he could not join us thru the first two locks as he had planned.

Bob Bolea offered to come thru the first lock, everyone manned their stations, the engines fired up, and Achievement’s chains were cut free. She actually did have chains securing her to the dock. Seems one time the river rose and her lines rose with the water over the pilings (some 20 feet or so) as she slowly and quietly drifted away. The Mr. Bolea got a call from a tug caption to tell him Achievement had gone for a “walk”. They towed her home and secured her tightly with chains. It was a wonderful to see the chains gone. I swear she shuttered in delight! As Capt. Bob turned her about to head for her new home there was a commotion on shore. Gregg and Kristen were shooting off fireworks, waving and hollering farewells, Capt. Bob was proudly at the wheel, Lionel was blowing Achievements wonderfully unique train horn and she was free at last! It was an awesome moment. To think that this boat was conceived in 1956 as Leon Bibber’s dream, he welded her exterior and placed his heart at her core, but sadly never got to realize the dream of the two of them taking a journey together. Lou Bolea did not come to bid her farewell, (I think it would have been too difficult for him) but I know he did so from his window, he too, a man who was captured by her, fell in love with her (warts and all) dreamed of being able to travel with her, but after 25 years had to finally let the dream go. Here we were bringing the dream of two men to life almost 50 years later. I truly believe this boat was always meant to be Bob’s. He is truly the only other person that would really feel and understand her as her creator and her caregiver for all these many years did. I am really humbled to be a small part of this proud boat’s history, especially the part that set her on the water, cruising the river which was her destiny from the beginning. Bob was just the one to make it happen. I believe Mr. Bolea knew that as well, which is why he very reluctantly gave her up to him. What a momentous occasion! Finally! Achievement on her way, leaving behind a town that had grown so accustomed to her being there. Can you picture her in the middle of the river, her neighbors on shore waving, the fanfare of fireworks, and her horn shouting a goodbye and thank you to all those that had worked on her, spoke of her and made up stories about her? - And yes – a final thank you to Lou Bolea who let her go. Yep – I cried.

Well the sky is now getting light and the kids are all nestled in their bunks with visions of the next lock and the adventure in their heads. Guess I’ll have to roust them, or we’ll never get Achievement home. More later!

WE ARE A BOAT !!!!

As usual things didn't go as planned. I slept like the dead last night. One light sheet over me, a hot shower before bed time, it was heaven. The crew got up early as planned and retrieved the anchor chain from shore side and started the water transfer. Lionel banged on my door at 9am and said get your ass up. We all hustled around stowing gear checking oil topping off all fluids. We came up with a fuel leak on the gen. that required a trip to town for fuel line. We finally unbolted the boat from the dock at 12:30 pm 12/23/06; swung the nose around and headed for the first lock. Rob Bolea went with us to the first lock and gave me a few pointers on boat handling. We made the second lock on our own. It seems everyone on the river knows the boat, all the lock tenders were asking about our plans and how they have seen the boat for as long as they can remember. We made 43 miles today; we are tucked up behind Cluster Island W.V. (Cluster as in...well you know). About 2 miles above the next lock. Mair is working the galley tonight, With Lionel doing the ribeyes on the grill. It will be Champagne tonight for dessert. The boat ran great, she looks smart, a little ragged around the edges but hey She' been sleeping for a while. More to follow.

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The Big Day

Today is the big day! I can’t believe it is two days before Christmas. Bob brought the car back last night. The boiler guys were even better than Santa Clause – they gave us HEAT! Yep! The boiler is up and running. Plumber guys got the hot water heater going. Last night was like heaven. Hot shower, no sleeping bag and I could actually walk around the cabin without a jacket. Now this is living!

Kirsten sent me the pictures of the twins that she is sending out with their Christmas Cards. Made me teary eyed. They are sooooo cute. We had really planned on a family old fashioned type Christmas this year. I am going to miss not being with Gil, Lynda, Sean, my Sammi girl, Mark, Kirsten, Jaden and Kade. Oh! My poor cats. Lefnee and Barnacle are home alone with our next door neighbor Lani seeing to their needs. (God Love her – don’t know how we would have accomplished being away for so long without her.

Prior to casting off we have a bunch of picking up and putting away. (A never ending job) I’m excited cause well get to put down the small area rug in the Sun Room and finally all the little odds and ends will find a home for the trip. It must be that nesting thing! Gregg the next door neighbor of Mr. Bolea has been very helpful. He stopped by and offered local knowledge, some charts and will accompany us today through the first two locks. I am sure the Captain slept better last night knowing that.

While in town yesterday doing the laundry and getting last of the supplies we (Patrick, Victor and I) ran into several people that knew of Achievement and of course were more than willing to share their thoughts on her history and their thoughts on the trip in general. Some were upbeat and some warning of disasters. It really is amazing how much celebrity this boat has. Our blog may need a correction (though one can’t be sure how reliable any of the info is) but according to one person we spoke to at the Laundromat, Achievement had actually fallen into disrepair prior to Mr. Bolea purchasing her from the estate. I think the sale of this boat has actually been difficult for him. I have a feeling he really and truly loved her, tried to bring her up to snuff, but never quite got her finished. Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to talk with him. He is an elderly gentleman and his son has been handling the details. I am quite sure he will be very sad today to see her leave his back yard.

I understand that quite a few people want to be at the dock when she finally casts off. It will be the end of an era in this little town of Glenfield, Nevell Island. Achievement has not only been a fixture here for many years, but the topic of many lively discussions, some rumor and some fact. How fortunate we are to be part of finally getting her on the journey she was intended for, and a beginning of bringing her back to being a proud, smart looking vessel! What an exciting day it will be!

Oh! Another correction for the Blog. The name is Mair not Mare. Mare is a female horse. When I corrected the Captian the response was Oh! Okay – I not sure what the facial expressions were but they got Patrick laughing. Some how I think there was a connection between the horse thing and me? Nah!

Things look good for tomorrow. The plumber guys fixed the water heater; the boiler guru sent in a hit team and got the on board system up and heating. The last of the shopping was done in the morning. The fuel truck showed up on time and we topped off the tanks. He got stuck in the yard down by the boat, we had to drag 150' of 5/8 chain off the boat to pull him up the hill. It was raining, the ground was soft and everyone was covered with mud. The next store neighbor came over and had a drink with us; he bought some charts with him to leave on the boat. He offered us some sage advice, shared some local knowledge and offered to go with us for the first 2 locks as they are the hardest to navigate. Of course we accepted. The van was returned earlier this evening. Tomorrow is kick off day, we top off the water tanks first thing, check all engines and gen. for oil, water, filters and such. Should untie by 10 am. We are only planning on 50 miles tomorrow, shakedown cruise of sorts. We really just want to get away from this dock. Everyone has been great, we got a lot of local support but it's time to get moving.

Good Morning

Today should be a busy day. The new heat guru is due in at noon, the plumber guys should be here any time (they said first thing), the fuel truck is coming. Mare is going to town for last second shopping. If all goes well we are off in the morning. For the uninitiated our trip starts at MM 9 on the Ohio river; we will proceed west thru 17 locks to approx MM 935 Paducah KY at which point we swing back east on the Tennessee river for about 185 miles after passing thru the Picwic lock we pick up the Tombigbee waterway. This is a collection of lakes, rivers, and canals connected thru a series of 17 locks and dams that bring us south to the Black Warrior and Mobile rivers then on to Mobil Bay. From there it's a strait across the Gulf of Mexico to Key West then up the east coast to Miami. The total mileage is about 2500. We expect to average 100 miles a day, which would bring us into Miami by the end of Jan. Maybe then we will PARTYYYYYYYYYY.

Things are winding down for the day. Pat got the broken pipe behind the galley sink repaired, much to our amazement. he did a really good job. (I hate saying that) but he did. The boiler guys came and went, referring us to a higher authority. the plumber guys are due in the morning as well as the fuel truck . we hope to put on about 2000 gallons. Does anyone have a credit card I can borrow for an hour or so??? Lionel is preparing a pork loin on the barbecue. Mare made up some garlic potatoes with onions and stuff , looks and smells great.

We have opened the wine, more to follow...

Today was a pretty productive day. Patrick finally got the starboard engine water pump fixed, it took two beatings but he survived. We have had the generator running for 2 days now and all seems well. We have a boiler expert coming to the boat tonight to check out the on-board system. We desperately need heat. The plan now is to fuel up tomorrow and possibly take off. We are still losing water somewhere, we know not where.

Is it just me?

Or is Dad looking very "Old Man & The Sea!"

Even More New Photos

Looks like the business is done and Dad really & truly owns The Achievement now! Yea!!! Still waiting on the latest update via email. Will post as soon as it arrives. Stay tuned.

More new photos

Here are Patrick's pictures. Some from the trip when they went to look at the lock and some more of the boat. Enjoy!