November 3, 2009

Port Departed: Anchorage Choctaw Creek
Port Arrived: Anchorage Bates Lake
Miles Traveled Today: 65 miles
Total Miles Traveled to Date: 947
Hours Traveled Today: 9
Total Hours Traveled: 156

Woke up to the sound of diesel engines near my boat. I was startled and thought that she had drifted into the main channel and was about to be run over by a barge. It turned out that a trawler called Loreal had anchored further up Choctaw Creek and was heading out into the channel. When I popped my head out of the cabin, a lady who reminded me of Aunt Rosie enthusiastically said good morning! I noticed that the anchors had held and was instantly relieved that I was in the same spot that I was before the sun had set.

Since I was up, I weighed anchor and headed out into the channel to continue south. It was a little chilly in the morning and I had on my winter coat. By 10AM the winter coat had come off and I put on my shorts. By 11AM I had my shirt off and sun tan oil on. Called Sandy and told her that my watch had stopped and I needed to use the phone for a clock for navigation purposes. And was concerned that it would not be possible to charge the phone with the continued electrical problems. I then decided that it would be possible to directly wire the charger to the 12 volt batter on the boat. I used some wire and electrical tape and rigged up a battery direct charging unit, by passing the cigarette light receptacle that did not work because of the electrical shorts. After charging the phone, I was able to call Sandy and let her know that I missed her and wished she were with me.

About 1PM I came to the Southern Rail Road bridge. I called the operator in the radio and asked if he would be kind enough to up the bridge so that I could continue south. He raised up the bridge and I was able to continue.

Was passed again today by FreeBird. A trawler out of Escanaba, MI. He called me on the radio and asked about the courtesy flag I was flying. He questioned if it was proper to fly the flag of another nation when not in that nation. I looked it up in Chapman’s (The Boaters Bible). He was right. I lowered the Kiwi flag and flew the blue trout fishing burgee.

Found Bates Lake and motored to the very end passing 5 large trawlers as I headed for my anchorage. Beautiful sunset. Grabbed a beer and the guitar and sat in the cockpit for an hour and played music.

By 7PM the sun had been set for 2 hours. I struggled to stay awake and finally crawled into my sleeping bag at 8PM and quickly fell asleep.