10 December 2020 Southport, FL
This section of Cruisin’ Through
will describe the delivery of the 44-foot Gibson houseboat Miss Patricia from
the marina at Joe Wheeler State Park, AL along the north shore of Wheeler Lake,
a part of the Tennessee River west of Huntsville to Orange Beach, AL. The voyage includes 63 miles along the
Tennessee River going through two locks and another 500 miles down the Tom
Bigbee Waterway with its ten locks and through Mobile Bay and part of the Gulf
Intracoastal Waterway to Orange Beach where the vessel will be turned over to
its new owner.
A bit before Thanksgiving 2020, Frank,
the gentleman whose company rebuilt our boatlift and boat cover after Hurricane
Michael wrecked them, called to ask if Mary and I would be interested in moving
a 44-foot houseboat he was interested in buying from Wheeler Park to Orange
Beach where he would take it over from us for the last two days of transit to
Panama City. He originally expected he
might buy the vessel and leave it there in Tennessee until March, but later
conversation with the Scott, the seller, indicated that he would need the boat
to vacate the slip it is in by 1 January 2021.
Frank went to look at the boat and settle on a price with Scott the
weekend of December 12-13, and pending survey, he came back enthused about the
excellent condition of this 2001 Executive model Gibson.
I have been in touch via email
with Scott who has been most gracious in providing me with manuals for the
engines and generator as well as a very complete inventory of the spares
carried aboard. As all boaters know, the
more spares you carry, the less anything will breakdown – it’s a boat thing.
At present, our plan is to depart
Southport on 27 December for the 7-hour drive to Wheeler Park and spend the
night aboard the boat. The current voyage
plan calls for eleven underway days of 50-60 miles each with us hopefully
arriving at The Wharf in Orange Beach on or before 15 January 2021, seventeen
days after departure. 15 January is a
Friday, and Frank wants to take the boat over on a Friday afternoon so he can
cruise it to our pier over the weekend.
His business demands that he be here and in charge during the weekdays.
As Scott is planning to buy
another vessel, much of the housekeeping equipment will leave with him. Frank has a big list of suggested replacement
items including a coffeemaker (Kuerig preferred) for Mary (I can’t stand the
stuff). He has already reported purchase
of that vital item, and you-know-who is now quite ready to venture forth.
With climatology reports for
December and January indicating daily temperature ranges of 54-35 and 52-32
degrees Fahrenheit respectively, we will have to take plenty of warm clothing
since we will be required to be outside on deck whenever locking through. We had already invested in a couple of electric
blankets.
All the marina stops along the
way have been called to ensure they will be open and have gasoline for the two
Crusader 320-HP main engines which will cruise us at one gallon per mile at
around 10 MPH. With 240 gallons of gas
aboard, we will be good on fuel since the longest run between fuel docks will
be 120 miles. The boat can reach speeds
of nearly 20 MPH, but gas consumption of an unknown huge amount ensues; so that
sort of speed will be reserved for short spurts as required like hurrying to
make a lock availability.
We will not be able to reach a
marina before dark every day, and so will be anchoring overnight about three
times. Anticipated morning fog may delay
our departure once in a while further complicating matters.
