A Long Week On the Hook

  On Tuesday the 28th, after preparing as much as we felt we had to, soon to be Hurricane Isaac made his appearance here where we were in Alabama, but the most important thing for us was that Isaac was kind enough to make landfall two states away. The first wave produced some respectable wind but it only lasted about ten minutes. After that we had rain off and on for three days but only mild winds.
  We had two anchors out and they both held very well. Sticking them in a few days early helped them settle in to hold us adequately.

  The skies were ominous on Wednesday morning and we were expecting more wind, but it never materialized. We just had more rain and we stayed inside and read our books and played Scrabble and dominoes. Plus we ate good like always.
  Wednesday night was the worst though; there were tornado watches and warnings and the wind was substantial. The anchors were holding but the wind was coming from the one quadrant that brought us closer to the trees than anywhere else. We kept a close eye on things all night and sleep was sporadic.
  Isaac was far enough into the state of Louisiana to allow us to start heading south on Thursday morning, but we enjoyed ourselves so much at Bobby's Fish Camp last Saturday we decided we wanted to go there one last time and Thursday night was going to be the time as they are only open from Thursday to Sunday.
  It was a good thing we stayed around because tornadoes were around us all day on Thursday. We called Lora Jane on Thursday morning and asked if someone could pick us up a loaf of sandwich bread that we could pick up at dinner. She said there would be no problem and asked if there was anything else we needed.
  We dropped the dinghy in the water in between thunderstorms late in the afternoon and motored up to Bobby's. When we got closer, we saw four boats tied to the dock, one of them being the large houseboat that was there last Saturday. It turns out that they have been waiting all week the same as us, but can't leave because they will need fuel when they get to the coast and everybody down there is under water. They are headed for Morgan City which is to the west past New Orleans and cannot take advantage of the marinas that are functional to the east like we will be able to do. They hold less than 200 gallons on their 85 foot houseboat so range is an issue.
  Rosie headed for the dumpster with our two trash bags and went in to get a table and I stayed at the dock to fill our two water jugs. The fella in the houseboat had use of the water hose and as we were unhooking it so I could use it, he spied a ten foot alligator on the opposite shore. I took a picture of it but didn't include it here because it just looks like a log. Believe me, it was a gator unless logs can swim in circles.

  Rosie and I had a good dinner of fresh catfish again and we availed ourselves of several cold Bud Lights too. Somebody please tell Bill Kelly that you saw the RiverBills.com sticker on the wall at Bobby's Fish Camp here on our blog. It's right there to the left of Rosie's head.      
  We sat around after our dinner was but a memory and talked to the waitress and Lora Jane until our loaf of bread showed up. They weren't even going to charge us for the bread but I insisted, a business like theirs cannot afford to be giving stuff away. I know we could have added to their coffers by staying at the dock and paying $1.50 per foot per night, but we have to survive too. We threw some money their way but didn't go crazy about it. We didn't have as much fun as when Harry and Linda came to see us last Saturday but it was a nice change after spending all week by ourselves.
  We said goodbye to the folks in the houseboat and headed back to Swing Set in the dinghy. We cruised near to the bank on our way back and saw another alligator. When we got close, it thrashed into the water so we knew it wasn't a log or our imagination. After seeing the gator, Rosie had a new respect for getting into the water. In other words, she may never get in the water again.
  Unless there is whitecaps on the river in the morning, we are going to lock through and take two days to get to the gulf coast. Water should be receded by then. I know this; there is going to be flooding on this river in the next few days and I want to be off of it, high water on the coast or not.
  We are sorry for the people over in Louisiana who felt the brunt of Isaac, but of course we are happy things were not worse here. I shouldn't speak too early because the there are still dark clouds streaming through the sky as I write this blog, but I think we are going to luck out.
  Like I've always said, "I'd rather be lucky than good".
  Have a good holiday weekend and "be safe".