Boat Chores, Depth Sounder, and some Dog Fixes + an interesting sailing ship

Monday, September 23, 2019
Day 38 on the Loop – Grand Rivers, KY (Green Turtle Bay Marina) (0 miles)

 We were in no particular hurry to get up this morning, and had relaxed breakfast.   I called Hertz to confirm my rental car reservation and shortly after making that call I received a call back from them that Ben (At Ease) had called them to let them know that he would be returning his car and offering to give a lift if they knew of anyone who needed one.   I rode over with him and then gave him a lift back to the marina.

 The decks got a good scrubbing. To really get them clean I basically have to do them by hand with a nylon scrubbing sponge.  That gets old in the sun and heat!

I also confirmed that Justin from Shelby Electronics would be coming over to look at my depth sounder and that a mechanic from the Green Turtle Bay Boat works would be over to look at a variety of issues, from the fridge that was pushing away from the cabinet, to an oil and fuel filter change, to a raw water wash down that had failed.

 Nathan arrived and went through the work that needed to be done.  As he was finishing up gathering the information he needed to order parts Justin arrived to look at the depth finder.  It turns out that the "transducer" which sends out sound waves through the hull, was completely detached from the hull.   This explains why we had readings ranging from nothing to 3,021 feet.  Justin applied the appropriate epoxy and the problem seems to be fixed.   With some nights of anchoring out ahead having a working depth finder is very important!!!

 A number of friend arrived today from Paducah, and shared more stories of dealing with the very controlling, and very talkative, lockmaster at Barkley lock.    

 I also got a few dog fixes today as Pepper and Popeye arrived on board Aleska while I got to see Tom and Patti's dog Calli a couple of times.
Popeye is ready to go ashore

Calli from Gemini Gypsy... A real sweetie!

In the evening Kathleen and walked about a mile into Grand River to have dinner at T. Lawson's, which was recommended. 

 On the way we walked over a railroad siding that held a line of over a mile of coal carriers.
Now imagine a similar view behind you on the other side of the bridge..... The black material in the cars is coal
After a good dinner, the model of a 7-masted schooner above the bar caught my eye.  It was a model of the Thomas W. Lawson.  The ship was named after a local copper baron.  The ship was built in 1902 and sank in 1907 off the Isle of Scilly (off the southwest coast of England).  She was the largest sailing vessel without an auxiliary engine ever built.
Model above the bar


Thomas W. Lawson marine drawings
  

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