Canoeing the Mississippi

We met a fellow named Charles McVie from Mobile,
Alabama, canoeing the Mississippi.

He started at Lake Itasca -- the headwaters of the Mississippi -- and is paddling to the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana. He made 42 Miles this day. Did I mention he is 72 years old?  I think in a previous life he was a French Canadian voyageur. He travels with his dog Scout, a Skipper key. The dog rides on top of the canvas cover. He sits on the floor or bottom of the canoe and uses a kayak paddle.

Charlie took a video of US, and texted it to us.
  Here's what we look like on the move!

Guttenberg Marina

Off the river in the Guttenberg Marina at Guttenberg, Iowa for the night.

Locking Through

Locking through at Lock and Dam #7 on the Mississippi River at
LaCrescent, Wisconsin.  The ride down was about 9 feet.

Winona, Minnesota

Winona Marina, Winona, MN

Wabasha, Minnesota

Chief Wapa hasha, or Wabasha -- his fate is similar to Chief Sealth (they mangled his name into Seattle and built the city on what was once his land).

Bridge at Wabasha, Minnesota, across the Mississippi River to Wisconsin.  

We are stopping for the night, waiting for the fuel dock to open.  Many places are closed on the weekends.  This marina -- Parkside Marina -- will cease operations on October 14th, in anticipation of winter.  

No travel lift here, but a submersible trailer lifts boats out of the water.

Submersible trailer is driven backward down the ramp into the water to pick up the boat and onto the hard for storage.

Sights on our Way from Red Wing

Dan at the helm as we left Red Wing.

Red Wing Amtrak train station and Red Wing Levee Sea Wall. 
Our condo is three blocks up the street.

Last look at the Red Wing grain elevators and empty barge waiting to be loaded and hauled down river, then on to Korea or China.

And We're OFF...

All aboard!  This ship is leaving port.

John Hesford, a friend and fellow resident of the Central Park Condos, came by to wish us well and give us a farewell hug. He was our last visitor to visit us on the good ship Gammel Dansk in Red Wing. Thanks to friends and family for stopping by to check out the little Nordic tug -- not so much to see us, but to verify that it was true we are doing the Great Loop. Finally, I might add.

Thanks for all the well wishes and the wishes of "Bon Voyage."

Boating Essentials

The fan is packed and ready to go.  

Mary is still working on the essentials for life on the river:  food, water, coffee and her St. Christopher medal (Patron Saint of Travelers). 
She might need it.

Practicing "See You Later"

At the Downtown Red Wing Crew Sea Wall: 

Gammel Dansk, Dan & Mary and Tori the Seeing Eye Dog, 
practicing our best "See you later" pose

Captain Mary

Captain Mary with a steady hand on the wheel of the
 Nordic Tug Gammel Dansk

Making Preparations at Ole Miss Marina

Bay Point Park in Red Wing, Minnesota

As we make final preparations for push-off, the Ole Miss Marina is the temporary home for the Gammel Dansk.

This sculpture in Bay Point Park is a tribute to the people who came to trade at this spot along the river.  

Mary does her tug boating in a Hawaiian style Hula dress.

Preparing for the Adventure Part 2

Our friends sent us off with a "Great Loop" pie. 

 

We have not yet determined if it is having a your pie and eating it too, or if it is a pie in the vein of humble pie.  We hope to be back on Bainbridge Island after our adventure, and provide a slice of Great Loop Celebratory Pie to all our island friends!

Dan grows a real beard.

The Gammel Dansk bow whiskers are removed.  Bow pudding, or bow whiskers, were used by old-timey tugboats to protect the ships they pushed around the harbor.  New working tugboats use tires or rubber bumpers.  All Nordic tugs pay homage to the bow whiskers with wooden strips that appear in the shape of bow whiskers.  The bow whiskers that Dan is holding are made with a kind of nautical knot tying called "marlinspike."  It is a lost art, except if you were a hippie in the 1960s and learned how to macramé and tie cords and thick yarns into a fringe.  We just extended that into bow whiskers and an old-timey tugboat look for the Nordic tug Gammel Dansk.

Mary Readying the Boat for Launch

Mary waves during the launch from the Baypoint Marina Boat Ramp into the Mississippi River at Red Wing, Minnesota.

The Dry Boat and the Important Tool

The Nordic Tug Gammel Dansk blocked and just waiting on the hard to be picked up by the Flagship Boat Transporters. Next stop: fresh water on the Mississippi River.

 

This is the machine called a Travel Lift. It is common in the Marine Industry. Particularly in Marinas and Boat yards where boats are removed from the water on to the hard (lands) in Minnesota the water can also be hard at certain times of year. We will escape that fate by spending winter in Florida. 

And here is the Gammel Dansk lifted from the hard for its journey from Washington to Minnesota.

Preparing for the Adventure Part 1

Stairway to the Gammel Dansk

The North Harbor Diesel Repair employees supplied a solid and sturdy stairs with rails to board the boat.  Tori refused to take the stairs.  She is so smart.

Mary oversees the preparation of the Gammel Dansk for Transport... 

... from the Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes, Washington to Red Wing, Minnesota for the Great Loop adventure down the Mississippi River to Mobile, Alabama, across the Gulf of Mexico to Florida for the winter.

We signed the boat transport contract and sent money to Flagship Boat Transport. (They are out of North Carolina, and were transporting a boat from the East Coast to the West Coast, so were very happy to have our Gammel Dansk along for a big chunk of the return ride.) Our days of dreaming of this adventure are over: We are not only involved -- we are committed. 

The plan was that the boat would be transported no earlier than September 5th and no later than September 20th. Well, it's the 6th of September, and the boat began its journey today! It will take 3-1/2 days from Anacortes, Washington to Red Wing, Minnesota. Both marinas have a travel lift. In Anacortes, it was used to lift the tug out of the water and load it on to the semi-truck transport trailer. There will be a travel lift in Red Wing to lift the tug off the transport trailer and into the river (just a few blocks down the street from our house!). 

This will be one of the first time tugboating in the fresh water of the Mississippi River. No special equipment is needed transferring from the saltwater of Puget Sound to the freshwater of the Mississippi River. 

Our Great Loop adventure has begun.   

Leaving Washington Waters

While the Gammel Dansk was still in our Cap Sante slip... 

These intrepid rowers were headed out of our marina area to have a little ocean row.  They shouted in unison with each rowing stroke:  GAMMEL...DANSK, GAMMEL...DANSK.  They wanted to come along on our Great Loop trip.  I shouted, keep rowing -- sooner or later like the Vikings, they would hit dirt and find a new land.  If it is cold and icy, I advised them to row backward on the double quick.

Greg Mustari, with a steady hand and calm demeanor, guides the Gammel Dansk...

Under Greg's helpful and experienced piloting, the Gammel Dansk made its way from our L Dock, Slip 45 at Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes -- as you'll hear in the video below, Greg shouts "Got Lucky Again!" as other boats moved out of his way -- to the North Harbor Repair haul-out dock.  Greg also helped oversee the loading process so we did not have to be present when the transport truck arrived.  We call him the Nordic tug guru (or, according to Dan, the Yoda of Nordic Tugs).