Until we begin again

"Velsignet" is docked securely in the safe harbor of Kingfisher Bay Marina in Demopolis, Alabama. In the parking lot sits our Suburu and enclosed trailer with furnishings to include or swap out of our boat.  We'll be driving towards Minnesota tomorrow morning via Noblesville, Indiana to spend the night with Mike's sister, JoAnn, and her husband, Scott.  After traveling at an average speed of 7 mph for the past 2 weeks on our boat, will it feel strange to cruise at 70 mph again in our car?

Harbormaster Anna-Marie welcomed us on Saturday evening and helped us into our covered A-3 slip. We have paperwork completed for the marina office, a hurricane plan submitted to our insurance carrier, and preparations made for Puget Sound Mobile Wash's payroll this Wednesday.  Besides these things, our tasks are focused on making "Velsignet" our own and preparing to leave it until we return.  Making our space comfortable, creating storage space, installing adequate lighting and water filtration systems are priorities.  Lists abound for "what to bring home," "what to bring next time," "need to pick up," and "need to order."  In the heat of the afternoon (currently 92 degrees), we will get the water hose, brush, Soft Scrub and Windex out to wash the salt water from and shine up the exterior.

Across from our slip, our backdoor boat neighbor is Van (MV "SS GG").  Van helped Mike with some heavy lifting yesterday.  Van also washed our absent next door neighbor's boat "RecRoom" this morning (Van said he promised to keep it clean while our neighbor was away for medical appointments).  Farther down the dock are Gold Loopers (they just completed their Looping adventure this spring), Craig and Carolyn on "CWay."  Last evening, as Carolyn fed the turtles, we all enjoyed a beer on the dock and Mike and I picked their brains about storing our heavy 7.5-hp motor for the dinghy.  We liked what they shared with us; problem solved!  We've also met Foy on "Living Wright" (guess what Foy's last name is?).  Foy is a local and keeps his boat here at Kingfisher; Foy assured us that he'll keep an eye on "Velsignet" and make sure she's alright in our absence.

Until we officially begin our "America's Great Loop" adventure, this will be my last blog.  Thank you for being a part of our initial journey as we got to know our boat and get a taste what it will be like to live on it for a while.  When we leave Minnesota to do the loop, we will continue to need your support, encouragement and involvement in our journey.  Certainly on this trip the right people have been put in front of us to support and encourage us at exactly the time they were needed.  "Velsignet" means "blessed" in Norwegian and how very blessed we feel having such opportunity with just the people we need beside us.

After a long 12-hours on the river, we arrived in Demopolis, AL on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m.   Demopolis is one of Alabama's oldest towns and has a population of approximately 7,500.  It's history is interesting:  It was founded by some French expatriates after Napoleon was exiled out of his country.  They hoped to make it big growing wine grapes and olives; needless to say, they're idea didn't work out very well!  

Our second lock was the Demopolis Lock.  The following photos display the process of getting through it.

You can see by the measurement on the left that we are being lifted higher in the lock.

Mike is on deck with his life jacket (a requirement when in the lock).

We're now at the upper river level waiting for the Lockmaster to sound the signal and open the gates for our departure.

The lockmaster's office.

White egrets not only lined up as if watching the lock process, they seem to have fun swooping
in the lock water to catch a fish.

From the parking lot, this is Kingfisher Bay Marina.  "Velsignet" is the 3rd boat from the building in slip A-3.

Okay kids....is this a butterfly or a moth?  What kind is it?
This very large creature (I'm guessing it's wing span in this photo is 4") parked itself on our deck this morning.

Here we are, nestled in our slip.

And guess whose boat is just down the dock from ours?  Ed.  I wrote about Ed in an earlier blog.  Ed has been our advisor and encourager all along our way.  While Ed's "ITSOK2" is docked in Kingfisher Bay Marina, Ed is enjoying summer in Canada.

This is Carolyn and Craig's Gold Looper Burgee.  We want one, too, but have to earn it like they did.

A visual of the dock and slips.

Here's Mike in his office just wrapping up work for the day. Now on to cleaning and scrubbing!

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