When are you leaving???

Since Gail's retirement date, our most frequently asked question is when are you leaving. As we've said before, we don't really have a schedule, but in trying to answer the question, October. Our rough plan includes some short TN river cruises, a trip to Houston for a Dr. appointment, then head south on Play Dough in the Fall.
In trying to get accustomed to our no schedule/no deadline lifestyle, we just returned from a "n0-destination" road trip to celebrate Gail's retirement. We spent two days on Play Dough at the marina, doing some sightseeing around Chattanooga. Then we spent two days at the Gaylord Hotel in Nashville. We traveled east to the Asheville/Brevard area, then headed south stopping at the GA Mountain Fair in Hiawasee before returning home.

"A retirement morning on Play Dough"

"In the Caves of Lookout Mountain"

"Our view inside the Gaylord Hotel"

"Sliding Rock near Brevard, NC"

"Georgia Mountain Fair"

Weekend of Work and Play

We're just back from a long weekend on the boat. We were able to complete some of the projects we had going, as well as spend some time away from the marina for cruising and training. Gail had time to experience some boat duties as both First Mate and the Captain. Moving the boat in and out of the slip takes some coordination as does anchoring. Gail's training time is short now that her retirement date is less than a month away. We continue to battle spiders at the boat slip. They descend from the roof over the boat nightly and make a mess of the deck as often. We just ordered some "Cob Web Preventor", we'll see how that works. Two of our original boat requirements were TV & recliners. Since our Dish is installed and our recliners are on order, we'll soon be ready for life aboard.

Rodney completes the name change.

Rodney at work on a pump in the engine room.

Gail at the helm!!

Gail testing water from the swim platform!

Beautiful Mountain Scenery

Upgrades to Play Dough

Although we haven't traveled any since arriving at Hales Bar in mid-March, we have been quite busy around the boat. One or both of us, have made several 3-4 day trips to the boat to complete various jobs. Besides several install jobs and cleaning the boat inside and out, we also dealt with a toilet repair issue. We have a couple of major projects left on our list before we are finished. Those include new bottom paint as well as main engine and generator oil changes and tune-ups.


F-N-B
Bottom Paint is a thick protective coating that covers the bottom portion of the boat that is in constant contact with the water. It is designed to wear away and must be replaced approximately every year on a boat in saltwater and every 2-3 years on a freshwater boat. We've had prices from $50-$60 per foot for a bottom job. This includes hauling the boat out and placing it on stands, sanding, two coats of paint and putting the boat back into the water.

This amplifier increases our cell phone from 1/2 watt to 3 watts. It will also connect to an air card to increase our internet coverage.


Cell Antenna is on the right and is connected to amplifier inside the boat. On the left is the
Track-it-TV with its satellite dish.



Removed built-in TV/VCR from cabinet. Made book storage of that space and installed a flat screen TV along with Satellite receiver and DVD player


Removed the "Promised Land II" decal from the transom, waiting for the "Play-Dough" decal

Counce,TN to Guild,TN

Home at Last!
After 735 miles and 16 locks, PlayDough arrived at Hales Bar Marina at 1:30 pm on Mar. 13, 2008. There were distinct differences in the last leg of the trip. The waters changed from the narrow murky rivers to the wide clear chain of lakes on the TN. The banks got steeper and the number of houses increased. Oh yes, and the price of diesel fuel increased as well. Our cheapest fuel was $3.15 per gallon at Demopolis, AL and Hales Bar Marina's price was $3.89 when we arrived.
PlayDough will sit at Hale's Bar for a while. We'll be making weekend trips to the boat while we're cleaning and arranging things. We'll be doing some short cruises in the Chattanooga area. There are some maintainence items to get done and some more gadgetry that I want to install before we start venturing out long distances.




"One of the many Homes along the TN River"

"Cliffs Along the TN River"

"Approaching Hales Bar Marina"

Demopolis, AL to Counce, TN

The second leg of the trip is complete! That's 500 miles down and 215 to go. We've also been through 12 locks at this point. During this leg we experienced some overnight temperatures in the 27-28 degree range. Since our generator picked this time to go on the blink, which means "No Heat", we pulled into marinas in Aberdeen and Fulton, MS. We plugged up to shorepower and stayed warm. We encountered the largest vessels of our trip in the Mobile shipping area and the smallest on this leg, a single kayak headed south.

*F-N-B (For Non Boaters), I'll explain the inverter installation that's being done while at Grand Harbor Marina. This system will use two big 8D batteries to store power. The actual inverter will convert this DC power to AC power for our use. This should allow us, while anchored, to watch TV, use the computer and small appliances for several hours without cranking the generator. While connected to shorepower or running the generator, the inverter will recharge this battery bank. All this will be done automatically by the new system.

One of the Twelve Locks

Playdough tied up at Midway Marina

Headed South for "Spring Break"

The Boat Move

Moving Playdough from her former home at Orange Beach, AL to her new home in TN has begun. Richard and Rodney are breaking the move into three segments, with a week or so at home between trips. The first leg (260 miles), ended at Demopolis, AL, which is where the boat is currently docked. The next leg will be on to Pickwick Lake on the Tennessee River. The boat will be there about 10 days while we have some electrical equipment installed. The final leg of the trip will be upstream on the TN River, crossing north Alabama over to Hale's Bar Marina at Guild, TN.

Passing Through Downtown Mobile, AL

Manuvering around Tows

on the River

"Boat Search is Over"

Soon after we resumed our search for the boat, we found the one that suited our needs. In mid-December, Rodney noticed a recently listed 2002 Mainship 390 named Promised Land II in Orange Beach, AL. The fact that the original owner still had possession of it was appealing to us. After a call to the broker to get more details, Rodney, his friend Tom, and Tom's son Christian were headed to the Alabama coast for a closer look. They spent 1 1/2 days inspecting the boat both at the dock and on a short cruise. Before leaving AL, we had put down earnest money and signed a contract contingent on a satisfactory survey.
At the beginning of Jan., Gail and Rodney returned to Orange Beach for Gail's first look at the boat and to attend the survey and sea trial. After a full day of inspections, the boat checked out fine.





Inspector Checking Engine











Promised Land II

Lifted for Hull Inspection







Once we received the official inspection report, things moved along quickly. On Jan. 15,
we became the official owners of Promised Land II which will soon be renamed PlayDough.
Plans are for Rodney and his friend Richard to move the boat, during the month of Feb., from Orange Beach to a slip at Hale's Bar Marina. The marina is on the Tennesee River, south of Chattanooga, near the I-24 crossing of Lake Nickajack.