"Sail Away Lady Sail Away"

There is a song I heard at a old time music festival that says sail away lady sail away ...if I die in tennessee send my bone back home to me sail away lady sail away...

Sunrise on October 3rd at Paris Landing Bill and I had so much fun the first 2 days we were exausted but we had a great time crusing to the next anchorage. There is a bridge that leads to nowhere. An abandoned mill. A ferry boat that was hauling folks across. Beautiful homes along the shoreline and lots and lots of rocks and trees. Trees in the middle of the lake.

The anchorage mm 106.5 was behind Rockport island it was beautiful and peaceful. It had deep cool water. It took me about 45 minutes to set the anchor. Then we ate a bowl of chile while we watched a tow with 15 barges go down the river. I took about 65 pictures throughout the day they will not all fit in the blog of rocks, trees and hills its so beautiful. God made beautiful country didn't he? OCTOBER 4 2012 Got up very early, cleaned the boat made and nice breakfast then headed up the river we may stay the night in a marina we will see........

Began Our Great Loop Trip October 1

October 1st was cold, cloudy and rainy bit it did'nt dampen our spirits or stop the trip. Our Tanks were filled, holding pumped out and we left Kentucky Dam Marina about 0930 am our first destination Ginger Bay 30 miles south on Kentucky Lake, we have anchored here before. Ginger Bay is a beautiful quiet cove with birds, herons, deer and other critters that look at us with curiosity as we enter their cove. The Bay is surrounded by trees and rock formations that have been wash smooth and round by the waters.

We arrived in Ginger bay about 230pm set the anchor, then made a started the generator and cooked a delis meal of spagatti with garlic biscuits. With our bellys full and having warmed up from the cold cruise we then took a nap. It was too wet and cold to be outside. Our first night uneventful very peaceful and long. There is a sad story about Ginger bay that a couple ancored there, turned their generator on and fell asleep never to wake again. NOT us we woke to live another day on our way to the Great loop. Day 2 October 2 2012 Leaving Ginger Bay for Paris landing. left the Bay at 830 am, we met our first barge and tow of the day just outside the bay we passed with no problems but it was so dark and drisseling rain that we had to turn the running lights on.

In this picture the I79 bridge and a tow barge in the distance we could hardly see it, by the time we arrived near Paris landing the sun was trying to peek out and our excitement was building.

The entrance to Paris landing has a coast guard station. Sooo cool! On arrival to Paris Landing we met a couple on a beautiful albin trawler "No Regrets" Berry and Denise helped us dock, they plan to do the loop someday, too.

In this picture Bill is helping to send Berry and Denise off on their M/V "No Regrets" they are heading to Joe Wheeler for a short cruise then back to Green Turtle bay. Bill and I hope to meet them again someday. At Paris Landing we checked in, today we are doing laundry and hope to meet up with a friend we met at Rottering Marine summer of 2011. He lives on a sailbaot here in Paris Landing.

While our laundry washed we walked around the campgrounds to help pass the time. There are persimmon trees, I have not seen persimmon trees since I was very young. There were persimmon tress at Grandma and Grandpa Rauls in Fredricktown, Missouri. You don't want to eat them until it frost because they are bitter. I guess they are for the birds. However I have seen recipes for persimmon pie. We met 2 other couples doing the loop Ross and Laura on their M/V The Zone and katie and Jessie on their sailboat The Next adventure. Docktails were on The Zone a 52 foot Jefferson, then we walker about 1/4 mile to eat For supper we ate at the Paris Landing Lodge "Crazy Chicken Night"

Ross and Laura told of their experience around the Loop it sounds so exciting We can hardly wait for the adventure to unfold.

Only 6 days

Here we are 6 days before we beging our trip. I have been back home to Missouri to visit with family since last Thursday, came home yesterday, all went well I slept in our real bed and took a real shower. The boat is stocked with groceries and supplies. Bill is working on last min. repairs to the electric and gauges. Todays weathter is cloudy. I have pinned on Pinterist 2 years of crock pot cooking recipes. Today we will finish gettting the dingy ready by painting the boat name and starting the engine then do a trial run . I will try again later to post pictures to the blog spot.

2 weeks before we leave Kentucky Dam Marina

Bill and I have 2 weeks before we leave! It still feels like a dream but here we go! This summer has been full of adventures and exploring here at Kentucky Dam Marina. I will try to upload pictures very soon.
Proud Lady is in the best shape she has ever been in since we owned her. We purchaced a different dingy and engine to handle stronger currents. Today we are doing some cleaning, changing oil.

It feels to me like its has been longer than a 16 months since we moved to Kentucky. Our plan to leave in 2011 was delayed by repairs to Proud Lady some because she is old some because she was damaged in the flood 2011.

Now about the name Sarayu sails thats because we had a sailboat when we began dreaming but when we seen the waters that we will be traveling WE HAD TO GET A BIGGER BOAT then we bought Proud Lady.
So here she is 2 weeks before we set out on the GREAT LOOP ADVENTURE.

Rivertrip to Paris Landing: the shakedown

Good Morning! July 24 2012 Bill and I did a shakedown trip to Paris Landing in Tennessee 50 miles. After 4 years of dreaming, planning, training, repairing and some tears Bill and I were able to do a rivertrip. On Thursday July 19 2012 we stocked Proud Lady and headed out on the open lake from Kentucky Dam Marina to Paris Landing Tennessee. Aprox. 47 miles. We anchored out in Ginger Bay beautiful forest green waters reflected the surrounding trees in 10 feet of water, deer came to the waters edge for a drink, frogs chirped several blue heron watched as we had invaided their dwelling place. The quiet was so loud that stress from working faded away. The sunset was gorgeous. Strange things happen while at anchor..... Thursday evening we hooked a home made fish attraction. Bill my hero skillfully cut it away with his hack saw and we were able to set the anchor. Friday we headed out back onto the lake another 13 miles we arrived at Paris Landing. We met up with a friend that we spent the summer with at Rottering while being repaired, Ken, it so happened he was having a family gatering a send off for his nephew who will be on assignment for the Marines. We were welcomed and enjoyed the food and fun with Ken's family.

March 25, 2012

Back in November we winterized the boat and moved into an apartment in Paducah to sit out the cold harsh part of the season. We purchased a 30'x60' tarp and covered the boat in its open slip. A covered slip was unavailable so this was our only alternative unless we wanted to change marinas completely. We were blessed with a much warmer and milder winter than we had anticipated. A very light snow fell only once over the winter and the temperature fell below freezing only a couple of times. Having the apartment was good for us so we could get away from the boat for a few months but Bill managed to come down two or three days a week to work on stuff and basically work on systems that needed some work.

Moving at the end of February was hectic as Bill didn't move as much stuff from the apartment back to the boat as he'd expected to do. Things and stuff were in disarray for about a week but we made it liveable and of course didn't miss a meal.

Since the move back onboard Bill has installed a new freshwater holding tank(bladder), new freshwater pump, new hot water heater, new head in v-berth bathroom, and new pump on master suite bathroom head. He also installed a new AM/FM/CD player in the Flybridge and got the old Hailer working again. The Hailer is primarily used as a notification device, much in the same way a loud speaker is used. It also is used as a sounding device when navigating the boat through foggy areas. We have radar to see our way through fog but the Hailer puts out an audible signal for other boaters in the area to let them know you are there in the area.

Had the A/C looked at the other day by a marine mechanic and he has a new thermostat on order. After he completes the A/C repair he's going to balance (syncronize) the engines so they will put out equal amounts of thrust at the same time. The other day, after getting the engines back in running order, we pulled over to the "pump out" dock and with the engines being out of sync we were all over the place. You'd have thought I was a drunken sailor. After pumping out we went out onto the big lake (Kentucky Lake) and played with the throttles and transmissions to get a feel for her (the boat)again. We don't know what changed but something has and that's why we're getting the engines sync'd again.

We still have some thinning out of unnecessary items and numerous maintenance items to do before we shove off this fall but we'll get there. I'm certain of that.

Oh, and I finally got the boat documented with the Coast Guard and Homeland Security. The privledge for documenting a vessel is not having to pay for annual registration fees, but, for whatever reason in Kentucky, you have to pay taxes on the boat as if you are a homeowner. The tax man is never far away.

Until our next blog entry we wish you fair skys and smooth sailing.

Bill & Joy

Bon Voyage for Alan and Sandy Thursday evening