Stepping the Mast
For a sailboat to go down the river systems, you have to take down your mast. We made a trip to Chicago mid September to accomplish that task. The boat yard will ship our mast to Mobile, AL were that boat yard will put our mast back up late November/December. We are now a power boat!
Was this meant to be?
Locks closed!
The AGLCA sent out a notice that the Brandon Road Lock, Marseilles Lock and the Dresden Island Lock would be closed until Oct. 1. So our start date would have to be after the 1st. Much later than we wanted!
A routine Doctor's visit
Kim went to his regular scheduled appointment and his doctor wanted to do an upper endoscopy to rule out a hernia on his esophagus. This was scheduled on Oct. 4. Yep, Kim's birthday. Now we stressed as we waited for the results. Results were fine!
Flotillas
The US Army Corps of Engineers requested that AGLCA organize the 270 loopers into flotillas. This would be a group of 16 boats staggered out through the month of Oct. We choose Oct. 4, Kim's birthday. On Oct. 1 the Corps said we had to push back all start dates by 5 days. Our new date was Oct. 9. UGH!
Kim's Dad
While we were coming back from Chicago, after stepping the mast, we got a call that Kim's Dad was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. They gave him 6 months. Wow! Now what? Do we cancel our trip? In summary, we went day by day deciding to go or not. Our 'cast off the lines' date was Oct. 9. Kim visited his dad every day and was able to spend time with him. On the 8th we had to push our leave date out due to bad weather. Now we would leave on the 11th. Again was this meant to be? Were there so many signs that we should not go? Final decision, we left on Oct. 11 and went to Hammond Marina. We will put the boat in a marina and come back home when needed. Please know that this has been one of the hardest decisions of our lives.