Aquaholic: July 2016

Friday, July 8, 2016

7/7/2016 Thursday- day 12 and final day of this adventure!

Started the day at Marietta Boat Club. Very nice facilities and great hosts! Erik biked into town to get some extra oil, as we used all of our extra in the previous days adventures. Pancakes for breakfast, filled water tank, and headed up the Muskingum toward home.
We arrived at the first lock, Devola, a little before 9am. Lockmaster arrived right about 9 and locked us up. Our Lockmaster was the McConnelsville regular lockmaster and he was going to follow us up opening the locks as we went. We continued making good time locked through Lowell and Beverly making it through both canals without hitting anything but a little mud. The accomplishment of the day was getting through Luke Chute without bottoming out, YAY! Then through Stockpot without problems. Just as we neared McConnelsville lock we hit something hard (felt like rock). Instantly felt vibration from port engine. UGH! Later Erik would investigate to find we messed up the port prop pretty bad. Limped through McConnelsville lock then ran on one engine to Rokeby our final lock before home! Stopped for a cool off swim now that we had arrived to our pool. Then finally, a little after 4pm, we pulled up to our dock and home.

While out on the aft deck this morning this garr

Came swimming up to the back of the boat

Inside the doors to Marietta Yacht Club is this sign that lists important info., emergency contacts, etc. I kind of got a kick out of the last line at the bottom of it listing contact info for Alcoholics Anonymous

Devolla lock and dam, the first of many to come today

Pic from inside the lock

The lock doors being opened manually after rising to the upriver level. Muskingum locks were built in the early 1800's and are the only remaining hand operated lock system in the US that is left.

Stopped and chatted with two guys in canoes who had started up at Pleasant Hills Lake Dam and traveled down to Beverly OH so far (probably about 80 miles) and we're continuing on down to the Ohio River

House with this sign on a bend in the river

Little ducklings were stuck inside one of the locks we entered. They got out when the water level was bright up and doors opened. I did a good video of this also. It was comical watching them swim up to the Crack in the doors as they were opened; at first they couldn't get through because of the current

View of the historic Stockport Mill Inn from inside the lock

Not only did the lockmaster follow us up the river in his truck to operate each lock, but he also turned the walk bridge to accommodate our height in the canal leading out of mcconnelsville

That's our dirt home! We made it :-)

Two peas in a pod :-) We bought our new 'River Life' shirts at Marietta Harbor which is a municipal dock/gas/treat store that is operated by folks with physical and mental disabilities. Proceeds go to their programs

7/6/2016 Wednesday - day 11

82 miles and 2 locks down the Ohio River today traveling between Wheeling WV and Marietta OH. It is somewhat nice cruising into a familiar town and port. It sure feels now like we are getting toward the end of our journey and that comes with mixed emotions. The trip has been so enjoyable that we are both certain we could easily continue on if my job and our bank account would allow it! Maybe I can convince Renee that we should continue down the Ohio tomorrow instead of up the Muskingum??? ;-)

Well.....we almost made our journey to Pittsburgh and back without mechanical issues. 30 miles north of Marietta on the Ohio and we started losing oil pressure on the port engine quickly. Upon examination found a sensor under the oil sending unit that had sprung a leak and was spewing oil everywhere. Managed a MacGyver fix while on the water by removing a series of brass fittings and sensors in order to screw the sending unit directly into the block. Back cruising and made it to Marietta :-). Those silly sensors can't be that important......right? ;-) hoping she'll make it through the final stretch home up the Muskingum tomm!

We stopped for a bit before entering Marietta and floated behind an island, cooked an early dinner (fresh ground beef burgers made from our new Pittsburgh friend, Laura's, grass fed cattle!). Went for a quick float/swim to bring the body temps down from the hot afternoon sun.

After gassing up and pumping out our holding tanks we settled into our slip for the night at Marietta Harbor. We then headed up into town where we found a really nice and welcoming AA Meeting to attend followed by a stop at Whits Frozen Yogurt for some goodies to bring back to the boat to enjoy. With treats in our bellies we retired early to get rested for the last leg of the journey tomorrow.

Leaving Wheeling Yacht Clyb, great place, great hosts(Ken and Cheryl)

Leaving Wheeling headed to Marietta

One of many barges in this section

Industry turned to beautiful scenery as we traveled along Wayne National Forest

Uh Oh!! Lost oil pressure, oil spewing out of sensors below oil sending unit. Made a MacGyver fix while Renee continued driving down river.

These extra parts after fix...can't be that important?!?! ;-)

Thanks Bob Wilson from Marinette FB page for identifying part and helping through temporary fix.

Beautiful house along river

Finally Marietta and our beloved Muskingum!

Good-bye to the mighty Ohio River!

Biking in Marietta

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

7/5/2016 Tuesday - Day 10

Today was primarily a traveling day since we are aiming to be back to home port by Thursday evening. We woke and departed from the SW side of Pittsburgh (Midway Boat Club) early. We traveled 81 miles and through 4 locks today without incident. I kicked the RPM's and speed up a bit from what we had been traveling at (from about 11mph to about 16mph) in order to not make for a long day. We made it to our planned dock at Wheeling Yacht Club by about 3pm and after getting settled and getting the AC pumping we sat and chatted for a while with a couple of the members.

While cruising downriver this afternoon I caroused craigslist and found a used Diamondback Parkway bicycle with a VERY comfy looking seat for sale in Wheeling. I contacted the seller who agreed to bring it down to the boat club when he got off work. It was a score....a MUCH better ride than one of the bikes we had been using. Anyone want a cheapy bike with an incredibly uncomfortable seat? I've got one you can have :-)

On the reccomendation of our hosts at the boat club we walked up the hill a short distance to Uncle Pete's Restaraunt which proved to be very good. Renee and I split a tasty rack of ribs....yum!

So, here we are at the end of another wonderful day of travel sitting on the bow of the boat in our zero gravity chairs and enjoying our Java and sunset. God is good!

Cruising back by Holiday Yacht Club where we stayed on our way up

A cook old house. Also a stearnwheeler with its paddle wheel up on the bank.....getting serviced maybe??

Back through a very industrial area....enough cranes?

I wonder if clouds ever look down at us and say, "look....that one looks like an idiot"?

Yet another nice sunset this evening

The view downriver (toward home) from the marina we're at. This is the I 70 bridge

My new (well used) super comfy seat bike :-) my butt will be so haphaphappy!

I think we could get used to this

7/4/2016 Monday - Happy 4th! Day 9

Woke early as usual, showered, pancakes for breakfast, and pushed off from Fox Chapel. Great marina and we really enjoyed our stay. Headed for pittsburgh for some more sightseeing before fireworks. First we tied off to the wall near the point and walked into downtown to find an atm. Sat in the square and listened to a saxophonist. The point park was setting up for the festivities. Took a short nap then boated north about a mile to Peggy's marina to gas up for the ride home. Tied off of our new friends Laura and Chuck near Heinz stadium. Walked to Carnegie Science Center and toured a decommissioned submarine, the Requin. This was VERY neat! Thank you Laura for the passes!!! Waited out the rain on the boat for a little while and had dinner, hot dogs with coney sauce. Also enjoyed a taste of Laura's home raised cattle steaks....YUM!!!!
When the rain died down we said goodbye to Chuck and Laura, what great hosts!!!!! We boated up the Ohio a little bit and anchored just outside of the Rivers Casino. Enjoyed a really good band "Bon Journey", cover band that played Bon Jovi and Journey. Watched an amazing fireworks display, sorry no fireworks pictures. A picture just doesn't do justice to fireworks :-) After the fireworks we headed up the Ohio. Locked through Emsworth to avoid the delays in the morning when they were closing the big lock. This was the most exciting locking experience we've had yet! The lock chamber was pretty full. One of the cruisers got their rope up to the lockmaster and was then dumb enough to tie it to his boat and we think then went down into his restroom (darned beers were running through him I guess). Well, the water level started to be brought down and the boat was being lifted and majorly tipped from being tied off on the lock wall side! Everyone was screaming at the lock operators to stop the valves. In the mean time, the boater came up and cut the rope and the boat came splashing down into the water.....yikes! Then, when boats started exiting the lock after the doors were open, another boater who was obviously a novice decided to push off from the wall and head for the doors without waiting his turn. This obviously angered a big house boater on the opposite wall who was next in line and he went ahead also. They lightly clipped each others boats. Enough excitement for one night....thankfully,we got a spot at Midway boat club for the night. Great people at Midway, aren't all boaters great people though!?!?! Good nightssleep for the trip home!

'Dragon Boating' appears to be the thing to do if you're older folk in Pitt

HAPPY July 4th friends!

US Requin, a submarine that was commissioned from 1945-1968. The tour was very interesting

Pitt skyline just before forwworks

And another

Sunday, July 3, 2016

7/3/2016 Sunday -day 8

Woke up with plans for a relaxing day.....or at least a little relaxation! Started with MUCH needed showers. While we showered we got some laundry started. Headed back to the boat feeling clean and refreshed. Erik fixed us omelettes then we started cleaning the boat. Erik cleaned the outside while I cleaned the inside. Whew!!! So much for relaxing :-\ Made a plan and grocery list for the ride home then biked to Walmart and Giant Eagle for a few groceries. I also picked up a cheap antennae and can pick up a few local channels on the TV. We walked the docks boat shopping and visiting. Met lots of great people. Erik made smoked sausage, red taters, peppers, onions, and mushrooms in foil on the grill. While I iced a swollen knee(just sore from all of the biking). Erik rode up and got us Baskin Robbins :-) sitting on the boat blogging, watching some TV, and listening to fireworks off in the distance. Another wonderful day on Aquaholic.

Sunrise on the Alleganey

Fox Chapel Yacht Club

Fox Chapel Swim Team ;-)

Clean boat!

Sunset behind Erik working on our blog

Another sunset!

7/2/2016 Saturday-Day 7

Another great day today! We are finding plenty to keep us busy here in Pittsburgh. We spent lots of time and rode many miles on our bicycles; my butt bone and back are barking!

We started by riding from where we docked for the night (on the Allegany across from Heinz Field) across the Ft Pitt Bridge and over to the Duquesne historic lift. It was pretty cool to read and see all the history of it. Some great engineering. Also excellent views of the city and the three rivers were to be had.

Back over the bridge, we stopped at "The Point" park which is also home to the historic Ft Pitt. There we toured the only remaining structure from the original fort, a stone and masonry house and read about all of the history.

Back on the bikes to crossed the Duquesne bridge and over to the West side of the Allegany and headed South. Things were starting to really get crazy with tons of boats tied up against the walls adjacent to Heinz Field were Kenny Chesney was performing later in the evning. Some new friends we met, Laura and Chuck (more about them later), reccomended going to "Bicycle Heaven", a very cool bicycle museum and shop. I had in the back of my mind that I might buy a new seat for the garage sale bike I was riding with a seat that felt like it was a brick.....no such luck finding a reasonable one. however, it was well worth the ride because the museum was very cool! It was in a huge, old, 2 story warehouse and had THOUSANDS of bikes of all shapes/sizes/eras as well as what seemed like millions of other misc. parts. Neat stop. Leaving there, we headed back North along the Allegany and up to another bridge North of three rivers a couple miles. We were actually looking for a McDonald's (seemed like a good time for caramel frappes!), when we stumbled upon "The Strip". Headed up the "Mon"(local for Monongahela) is a trendy 3 or 4 block stretch of shops and markets that had all kinds of interesting foods and fare.

We headed back to the boat for a quick rest before going to dinner with Laura(crazy zebra lady! Hahah long story) and Chuck at The Oyster House....yummy. It has been in its same location on Market St since 1870; anything in business that long has to be good and it proved to be so. After dinner we came back to boat and coasted off up the Allegany 9 miles and 1 lock to go to Fox Chapel Yacht Club where we had a slip reserved for Saturday and Sunday night. The cruise upriver offered a spectacular sunset behind us. There were A LOT of boaters heading upriver with us and we locked through with 17 other boats! Based on the music/dancing on the other boats, interesting conversations overheard, and swaying people we suspect many of them may have had a beer or 20 ;-). We arrive at Fox Chapel at about 10pm and had to search around for a bit to find the dockmaster. We could not find him so we docked up at the courtesy dock and decided to stay there for the night. Just as we were pulling the covers up on us he came knocking on our door ;-( Back up we were to transfer over to our assigned dock. Exauhsted, we went to bed.