Day One…The Maiden Voyage! Destination…Home to our kiddos!!

11/14/20

A challenging day!

Our plan was to leave Dog River Marina this morning at sunrise. We got up, showered, got everything ready to go, went to turn on the generator and….nothing! We couldn’t get it started . Finally got it started and on our way at 8:30 am (only 2 hours behind schedule). This was James’ first time driving the boat and he had to back out from the marina and he did it like a pro! So proud of my captain!!! It took us about an hour to get through the narrow channel to the shipping lane in Mobile Bay. Now…this was a sight to see! Not only are you navigating through waters where you have never been…but you are passing HUGE barges along the way!! Intimidating?? Oh yeah! But my captain…again handled it like a pro…I have no idea what those barge captains were saying but he was communicating beautifully with them! The one that stood out the most to me was the one who asked if we were loopers and James told him we had just purchased the boat and were headed back to our kids and grandbabies in Tennessee. He said, “Beautiful boat and God Bless!” Yes!! This is what we need…God’s blessings on this journey!! I also got to experience my first "railroad crossing" on the water! It was really cool (other than having to wait for the train to pass so we could be on our way!) So, around noon, I decided to go fix some lunch. Went downstairs and no power! Turns out the generator was not on. We kept turning it on, but it would soon go off. We had to wait until we anchored to work on it. At this point, I am thinking we are going to lose our two weeks of groceries that are in the refrigerator and freezer. Stressed? Yeah, just a little. And then James tells me that we have some kind of leak…somewhere…I don’t know…he knows and doesn’t seem too worried, but I am thinking…are we going to sink?? He says no, so I will trust him. We finally find a place to anchor and then he works on the generator. I text my girls and told them to pray that he can fix it and that he doesn’t get too overwhelmed. Praise the Lord! He got it fixed!! I know this is our first real day on the boat and we have to work out all the kinks, but I am not going to lie…I was just a bit worried and stressed. We decided to go relax in the hot tub before dinner and it was so nice! Now, when I post these “oh so awesome” photos of the beautiful scenery, the hot tub, etc., just remember there is more chaos behind the scenes that I am not sharing! LOL So now, here we are (anchored at Tensaw River inlet), all settled in and James is grilling burgers (they were delicious!). And now it is time for bed…I never thought I would be an early riser, but I have been waking up at like 4 am so yes, I am going to bed at 9 pm! It was a good day. Tomorrow will be even better. We will still face challenges, but nothing that our God can’t handle! God is good all the time! Be blessed friends!

PS...I will add photos later...very low cell signal in this area

I have better signal now so I will try to upload some photos from yesterday.