Good News from A Friend and My First Solo Outing!
Friday, August 23 2019
Day 13 on the Loop – Alton, IL (~1 mile)
Got some great news this morning that a good friend might be able to join me from Alton to Green Turtle Bay Marina, which is in Grand Rivers, KY. That will be a seven day segment, going down the Mississippi, then up the Ohio, then down the Cumberland.
Having my friend contact me encouraged me to plan out this next leg of the trip. Terry, the Training Captain, had given me some suggestions for the portion down the Mississippi and I also looked Quimbys, a very helpful guide suggested by other Loopers as well as "The Loopers Companion Guide." While looking at those I was also referencing the Corps of Engineers chart that I have on my laptop. The screenshot below shows what it looks like near to Alton Marina. The lock that we will go through shortly after leaving is shown on the right hand side of the picture. This is the one I went through with Terry.
In the afternoon I plucked up my courage and took Sunny Tug out solo. This was my time operating her all by myself. I just practiced in the marina (actually, operating in open water is easy) and did some of the same exercises that I did with Terry.
There is not much space between my pier (E-dock) and F-dock so it takes some maneuvering to get out from the slip. Luckily, during an earlier charter I had been taught how to turn the boat in place using forward and reverse and putting the wheel hard over. Using this technique you can turn the boat almost in place without use of the bow and stern thrusters, though I always appeciate having them available!
I also practiced bringing the boat along side, both port and starboard side to and then getting off to tie up. This is the scary part! If the wind picks up and you are not tied off to a cleat then you will not be able to hold the weight of the boat and it will drift away. I am very prompt to get at least one line on as soon as I can.
I also practiced backing into the berth. It is helpful to do this since the electrical connections are at the stern of the boat, so the pedestal is a lot closer when you back in. You can also step on/off the swim step and onto the dock. The trick to backing in is to anticipate the swing and gently bump the throttle in reverse to get her in. I am still using the bow and stern thruster quite a bit for this maneuver!
Now for the really exciting news..... I also took the boat over and had her pumped out. :) This weekend is going to be very busy in the marina and I did not want to have the tank go full and have to deal with trying to get to the fuel dock with lots of other boats. To be honest though, the building that you see behind Sunny Tug is the bathroom and shower facility, so it would not have been horrible if the tank filled up! The cost was $5 and I gave a $5 tip to the guy who pumped it out.
Got some great news this morning that a good friend might be able to join me from Alton to Green Turtle Bay Marina, which is in Grand Rivers, KY. That will be a seven day segment, going down the Mississippi, then up the Ohio, then down the Cumberland.
Having my friend contact me encouraged me to plan out this next leg of the trip. Terry, the Training Captain, had given me some suggestions for the portion down the Mississippi and I also looked Quimbys, a very helpful guide suggested by other Loopers as well as "The Loopers Companion Guide." While looking at those I was also referencing the Corps of Engineers chart that I have on my laptop. The screenshot below shows what it looks like near to Alton Marina. The lock that we will go through shortly after leaving is shown on the right hand side of the picture. This is the one I went through with Terry.
In the afternoon I plucked up my courage and took Sunny Tug out solo. This was my time operating her all by myself. I just practiced in the marina (actually, operating in open water is easy) and did some of the same exercises that I did with Terry.
There is not much space between my pier (E-dock) and F-dock so it takes some maneuvering to get out from the slip. Luckily, during an earlier charter I had been taught how to turn the boat in place using forward and reverse and putting the wheel hard over. Using this technique you can turn the boat almost in place without use of the bow and stern thrusters, though I always appeciate having them available!
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| It feels quite skinny when you come to dock! |
I also practiced bringing the boat along side, both port and starboard side to and then getting off to tie up. This is the scary part! If the wind picks up and you are not tied off to a cleat then you will not be able to hold the weight of the boat and it will drift away. I am very prompt to get at least one line on as soon as I can.
I also practiced backing into the berth. It is helpful to do this since the electrical connections are at the stern of the boat, so the pedestal is a lot closer when you back in. You can also step on/off the swim step and onto the dock. The trick to backing in is to anticipate the swing and gently bump the throttle in reverse to get her in. I am still using the bow and stern thruster quite a bit for this maneuver!
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| Sunny Tug in her space at Alton Marina |
There is usually a party on J-dock on the weekends. Ask around for any retired firefighters. -Steve
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve,
ReplyDeleteThere was quite the party here last night, with the band, etc.