Chris (my nephew), Jeff (company mechanical wizard), and I drove down to Fulton MS two days early to get "Whatever It Takes" ready for this springs voyage. Among the chores to be accomplished was changing the oil and filters on both 350 HP Detroit diesel engines and the 10 KW Onan generator. I normally have this work done by marina staff but Midway Marina does not offer mechanical services. Jeff bought a brand new pump to suck the oil out. The new pump cost $6.00, attached to a hand drill, and was no more than 2 inches in size. It took Jeff 5 hours, hunched over in the engine room, holding the drill, to suck out 10+ gallons of oil. The pump was smoking when he was finished, ended up in the trash, and Jeff was slightly hunchbacked.
We traveled 65 miles today, through 4 locks, in perfect weather. "Whatever It Takes" ran great. We are docked at Columbus Marina. The Tenn-Tom Waterway is pretty much void of people, homes, bridges, roads, or anything remotely close to civilization. PERFECT
Crew for the first voyage of 2013. Dad, Dave (River Rat), and Chris. An experienced group ready for another adventure.
Jeff (the Wizard) came along to help prepare "Whatever It Takes" for our trip. Notice how hunched over he is; that's not from the weight of the fish.
 |
Preparing to launch the first morning. |
 |
Sorry Dave, I really didn't see your cell phone sitting there. |
 |
Every morning should be like this. |
 |
Still figuring out the new waffle maker. |
 |
Dave and I were having flashbacks to the Illinois River when we passed our first barge. |
 |
One of about 15 houses we passed in 60+ miles. This is definitely a sparsely populated area of Mississippi. |
 |
This is the view after we passed under this low bridge. Dad kept telling me we were to tall. |
 |
At one mile per gallon "Whatever It Takes" stops for a diesel martini every chance she gets. |
 |
End of a great day. For dinner we baked a ham and served with horseradish, mashed potato's, sweet corn and ice cream for dessert. |
No comments:
Post a Comment