Capt. Steve's Cruises

The above pictures are general photos taken along the way on the Mississippi River, Ohio River, and the Cumberland River. As you can see, you have no idea what kind of boat is pulling up along side ya! I am still upset at Dad for not letting me ride in the "Jaws Boat!" Just kidding of course.....kind of.

So the Tennessee River is as beautiful as I remember it as a kid. Back in the day (early 80's) we as a family owned a small class "C" racing sailboat. Kentucky Dam Village (where we started out this last Monday morning after saying good-by to Green Turtle Bay) is where we sailed as kids. The Balks joined us on our family sailing trips (Jim, Anne, Stephanie, and Brad) and we always had a stinking blast together!! I for sure enjoyed the duties and the excitement of sailing as well as being taught the basics of boating. But I assume that my sister Laurie, Stephanie and Brad will all agree that the evenings hanging out with kids our own age and of course doing "kids will be kids" mischief were the best of vacation times. All four of us kids having to sleep out in the condos living room on a pull out bed was a little crowded to say the least; but no broken bones when one would eventually fall of the edge on to the floor middle of the night....bonus!

Another hilarious memory of Kentucky Dam Village (well hilarious now) is another tale on the water....I know Imagine that?? This time the crew consisted of my immediate family, my Uncle Rick and Aunt Kathy Edwards and their kids (sorry Amy you were not born yet). Also our Grandparents Rosemary and Warren Edwards joined us. All were ready with life preservers in hand. We rented a pontoon boat (which are commonly know as "party barges") for the day. Everyone mentioned above scrambled to find the best seats on board. An hour into the three hour tour, my sister and I decide to dangle our feet in the water off the front bow of the boat. No more than three minutes pass and a police boat...yes a lake police boat?!...with his flashing K-Mart blue light and all pulls up next to us. He makes us turn the motor off and ties up to us. "I am going to have to issue you a ticket." states the cop-wana-be. "FOR WHAT?!" states everyone in the boat in perfect unison. "By regulation, individuals are not allowed to have any extremities in the water while operating a motor craft." states Barney Fife. At that point everyone looks at my sister and I and we slowly pull our "extremities" back in the boat. My Uncle Rick steps up to the plate to save the day and mentions "You show me where it is written in any law documentation because this is absurd!!" Fife jumps back into his "lake cruiser", grabs an official copy of Boating Rules and Regulations of Blaaa Blaaa Blaaa and tosses it at my uncle. So in essence he literally threw the book at him I kid you not. In Fife's best Terminator impression he states to my uncle "look at page blaaa blaaa paragraph blaaa blaa." Nothing we could do at that point except complain for an hour with a ticket in hand until the motor on our lake worthy party barge quits!! Oh yeah....dead in the water, middle of the lake, 1/2 tank of gas with no clue why. Now here at this point of the tale I have mention how wonderful, friendly, courteous, and helpful boating folk are in general. We got towed back to dock by a couple who saw that we needed help and threw us a line without question. All in all quite an eventful day. By the way it was the slip clutch on the prop that failed for those boaters wondering hahaha....Hmmmm I hope "Fife" isn't reading this blog!

So we have been heading down the Tennessee River for the past couple days with its rolling foothills dotted with an occasional tree turning brilliant orange or dark burgundy. Steep cliffs and rocky bluffs are a welcome change of scenery on this river. Large mansions adorn the cliff walls with magnificant views of the river landscape below them. I sure would not want to know the cost it took just to construct the zig-zag mountain type roads down to the property's riverfront where their boat houses stand?! But I can not help but imagine the sunsets that light up their Great Rooms every evening. I would assume the orange and purple glow would make that hard day at work a bit more worth it every night. It sure would for me at least.

The mornings have been a bit foggy, which is typical for the river this time of year. We are usually up by 7:ooam ready to pull anchor and start the daily adventure (not before coffee of course). But the fog hangs around until until about 9:00am until the sun burns it off. It sure does make for some cool pictures. Now I wish I would have purchased a professional, loaded up to the max with features, make Ansell Adams jealous type of a camera! But the Sony Cyber-shot is holding its own.

Well faithful readers we are almost to the Tennessee-Tombigbee River (tomorrow Thursday, 10/6). That will be our last river until we arrive at the bay of Mobile Alabama. Five rivers successfully navigated when we reach the Gulf of Mexico. Mmmmmm seafood and endless margaritas! I apologize now if the blog is a little illegible or tends to waver out of common sense because I do not skimp out with tequila in the margaritas. Immediately upon entering the Tombigbee tomorrow we will be docking at Grand Harbor Resort for a few days. This marina sits right on the border of Mississippi and Alabama. WhooHooo the comforts of home again for a few days without running the boat generator...and TV! You can only stare at the stars for so many nights without thinking "All right give me some NCIS or something." Thank God for Netflix Instant (when we have Internet access). Take care everyone and God Bless.