We did end up staying one additional day at Green Turtle Bay Marina for the boat show. It turned out that it was me who wanted to stay as I wanted to see the 96 foot and the 80 foot houseboats that were brought in. This was a used boat show with only a about 10 boats, one of which, a cigarette type speedy boat, started to sink at the dock and was hauled away by Tow Boat US. That was unfortunate but somewhat entertaining.

The houseboats were OMG massive. Way more boat than we would ever want, especially if we are not permanently located lakes and rivers. They are inappropriate for gulf or coastal boating. I can’t even imagine trying to drive those things. They even took off a couple of dock signs when they were bringing them in for the show.

We also looked at some other type boats that are smaller than ours just in case we do end up wanting to stay boating but ‘THIS is what’ is just too big and way expensive for a weekender. Seems as though those boats may not be right for us, and Michael says I won’t be happy on something like that after being on ‘THIS is what’. They have space up on the outside deck, but the interior is deep and dark and very enclosed due to lack of windows and sunshine into them. So trying to see anything while out at anchor on a rainy day is not possible.

We also met several people, and even a guy who grew up in Glendora, that stopped by to chat about the loop and different boat types. One couple are out for the winter due to damage they sustained in Lake Michigan when they hit an unseen island, his version of my Russian submarine, waiting for the cold to release it’s grip on that part of the country to continue their journey down the rivers. It also happened to be a very beautiful, warm and sunny day – finally!

We even got the Lottie boat down and traveled around the marina looking at all the other boats. It started right up so all is good there.

We left GTB on Sunday and headed from the Cumberland River into the Tennessee River and traveled down Kentucky Lake to an anchorage a couple of hours away to Vicker’s Bay where we are now waiting for today’s (Monday 4/29) expected storm to pass. So far, finger’s crossed, the storms we have been expecting have just glanced by us and have not been that bad – again, finger’s crossed. Yesterday and today were expected to be up to 40 MPH winds but once we got off the main waterway and tucked in this little cove, it’s quiet and really nothing windy at all. But still waiting for the expected storm to see just how bad that might turn out to be.

Michael continues to deal with the forward toilet issue that we have had since being back after winter storage. He has cleaned it and replaced every replaceable part, has taken the entire thing apart 5 times and still it loses pressure and runs after 15 minutes. He even talked to the toilet people on the phone today and they are at a loss as well. It may be that we need to replace, of course the most expensive of parts at $1500.00 to see, and with no guarantees if that fixes it. It’s not that it’s unusable, it’s just annoying especially since we are gearing up for visitors and that’s their bathroom.

From here we will be anchoring out for 5 more days as we work our way back up the Tennessee River through Kentucky Lake and back into the Cumberland River and slowly work our way to Nashville. Keep checking back on the adventure and see where you would like to join us. Love to all, Gina and Mike