Adventures on the Rivers
Drove down to the Mississippi River today – the trip was smooth. Finished getting MikoMan ready with a new roof, windows and solar panel. Took her out for a test run before docking at the River Heights Marina.
First of many nights on the River. Everything’s ready for tomorrow’s launch and the start of the Journey at 9 AM.
Got an early start with the goal of reaching Demopolis AL about 60 miles away. Heflin lock was waiting for us and we quickly locked through. The lock Master tossed a newspaper down to Ed.
The shoreline was largely undeveloped. The area is less populated and very “River like” vs much of the Tenn-Tom waterway.
Came to the White Cliffs of Epes. Pretty spectacular!
More white cliffs further downstream.
Reached the confluence of the end of the Tenn-Tom and the Black Warrior River just north of Demopolis.
Pulled into the Kingfisher Bay and Demopolis Marinas. This is one of the two best marinas of the trip with very nice facilities at a reasonable price.
We caught up with Scott and Kelly, the other pontoon couple and some of the other Loopers I’ve met along the journey.
We cycled into town for groceries and a cold beer. Downtown Demopolis is not thriving. There were no bars in sight, a reminder that we weren’t in Wisconsin!
Got back to the marina in time for a get-together with the Loopers. Everyone is going to hang out at the marina for at least another day trying to wait out hurricane Michael.
We got invited to come aboard the SS Nonni, who we’ve been traveling with at times during the past week.
It was interesting to see the inside quarters of one of the “pleasure craft”. Ed has since been mumbling something about buying a boat!
Drove down to the Mississippi River today – the trip was smooth. Finished getting MikoMan ready with a new roof, windows and solar panel. Took her out for a test run before docking at the River Heights Marina.
First of many nights on the River. Everything’s ready for tomorrow’s launch and the start of the Journey at 9 AM.
Due to the current forecast of 100% chance for thunderstorms and moderate rain all day on Tuesday, Sept 4, we’ve decided to postpone the launch one day to allow me to finish setting up MikoMan without having to do it in a storm at the launch site. The new plan is to drive to the Mississippi River on Wednesday, September 5 to finish set up.
The Adventures will continue with the launch of MikoMan on Thursday, September 6, 2018 at 9:00 AM at the River Heights Marina, 4455 66th Street E, Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076. You’re invited to attend!
I’ve continued to change MikoMan to meet the needs of the voyage. Most of the seats have been removed providing more room and reducing weight.
The shelter at the rear of the boat is being built and will include the control console, two bunks, the battery box, solar panel regulator and cooking area.
More work and MikoMan continues to evolve. This included installing the bunks and rain tarps, painting the boat, and adding LED headlights (for emergency) and an inside overhead light.
