Happy Birthday

A New Year, A New Voyage

March 2nd, 2011

Hi All,  I am in Alabama, helping out while the crew prepares the boats for the next season.  Things here are the same but different. We are in a beautiful home on Dauphin Island but we work at the ship yards which are so dilapidated. I took some pictures. It is pretty interesting. I'm doing a combo of cook, tour coordinator, assistant to the first mate, and I'm revamping the tour system and gift shop inventory. Much more responsibility which is fun. More later...

March 6th, 2011

Things here are very busy. Our hours are much like during the tour season but now we are prepping the ships for the tour. Lots of work. It feels really similar to building a set for a play. We are at a skeleton crew: 5 boys and myself. The captains are away and there are about 4 crew on leave with 1 or 2 spots still available.

The work that I have been doing has been repairing sails, cleaning every inch of the Pinta, going through the food stores and sewing various items to camouflage the modern racers etc. on deck.

The weather has been stormy mostly since I've been here. Yesterday there were lots of storms. 

Today is our day off and they usually go golfing. But not with today's weather. There is, however, a fort and a bird sanctuary that I think I will walk to.

Please send me word of what's new with all of you. You can write to me at thompson.kathy@comcast.net.

Take care, and send my love to everyone!

Kathy

Vols navy, gearing up for the last big push and musical power sources.

So here we are in Knoxville.

Once again a beautiful trip up river and right as we make our dramatic entrance into town next to the University of Tennessee (U of T) football stadium our ship the Pinta glides under a railway bridge when: crack! Her flag staff breaks! I guess this was big city news because it was on the air and wireless all week long. No one was hurt but it sure was an awful sound. Now it's just another chore on the shipyard to do this January.

While here in Knoxville we are docked at the city docks that also dock the "Vols navy". We weren't sure what that was until Saturday last when we discovered it is U of T's homecoming game. It seems that the tradition here is to get into your boat and everyone ties onto each other to make the river one big tailgating party: thus the Vols navy! Everyone has a blast chatting it up with each other and then honking horns and lighting fireworks when they score. And luckily the home team won, which made for some very happy neighbors.

Well this stay in port was very much the same as Chattanooga. Days off exploring, wonderful museums and restaurants within walking distance and gaggles of school kids. As for our crews, most notable was the huge turnover. We had two head home which made our already short-handed crews down to half strength. The captains like the ships to have six on the Nina and seven on the Pinta. But we were about to leave for the Big Push to Columbus, MS and needed a full crew. This meant that by the time we were under way there is virtually a brand new crew because of the different personalities. As cook, I need to gauge what food issues there may be, which of the greenhorns are homesick and what exactly I need in the ship's coffers to feed this new brood.

As I mentioned earlier, much of this week was spent prepping for the next 5 days. We are traveling down the Tennessee river to the Tombigbee waterway to head South. The other cook and I head out shopping for provisions Tuesday afternoon and because we were 3 days past our 1 week mark we had to buy a lot! We had 6 grocery carts filled with our bags which pretty much made the ships' mini van look too small! Feeding 6 hungry sailors is no small feat when we are under way.

In fact being underway is a whole different animal than when we are in port. In port, we are tourguides and ambassadors for the Columbus Foundation. Underway, we are working round the clock getting our ships to the next port.  The crew are on 6 hour watches during the day and 3 hour watches during the night. My job is to keep them fed, the galley and head clean, and their morals up. I don't stay up all night but I also am too busy during the day to take a nap. I am still answering phones and booking tours when we have cell service which is dicy on the rivers. When we go by towns we can sometimes get a quick signal to send an email or two.

Now I want to say that am by no means being a galley slave. While the crew is working or sleeping I am able to manage quite a lot of peaceful time sitting on the deck steps reading, chatting or just watching the world go by. It is so relaxing traveling the rivers. They are so beautiful now as the leaves are just past peak here and tonight we will have clear sky and an almost full moon to help us spot buoys as we travel.

How the crew navigates the river at night is that one steers from the raised aft deck while another is in the bow with a spot light looking for either red buoys to the port side or green buoys to the starboard. We also follow the Nina Star which is actually the running lights for our flagship. Now at times we need all hands on deck, such as this morning when we were going through such fog that we couldn't see more than 5 feet all around us. We lost sight of the Nina and because we were near a highway we couldn't hear her either. Our captain was relaying info from the GPS to the pilot while 2 deck hands were on the bow and I was on the raised aft deck looking for any signs of shoreline or the Nina. The other 2 crew were on call. Pretty wild. It wasn't until about 09:30 that it burned off and we could continue on at full speed which is rip-roaring 7 knots!

Now I really need to return to why I mentioned musical power sources. For anyone who has a boat or has spent time on a boat - and I mean any kind of boat - there are always things breaking down. Remember the fire in the galley? Well that required the stove to be '86'ed. So now I am left with a crockpot, microwave and electric skillet to cook for 7 people. Normally we have the generator going which can handle most everything but I have now learned that I can't have the coffee pot, the crockpot, and the toaster going at the same time or else I blow a fuse. Now the other alternative is I can use the inverter which allows me to get juice when the fuse is out or the generator is not on for some reason. Basically I know to use just 3 appliances at a time  and to then warm it all up if I need to at meal time. It's not as complicated as it sounds. I am getting the hang of knowing when best to use what power source with which appliance(s). It has worked. I can still do a scrambled eggs and bacon and hashbrowns breakfast, grilled cheese and soup for lunch and pot roast with veggies, croissants and salad at dinner. Even had rice crispy treats for dessert. The crew has been so supportive as I have been navigating through this new twist to my adventure.

Well I am nearing my time to head home from the ships to see friends and loved ones for the holidays. This has been an immensely awesome experience. Thanks for letting me share it with you.

Until next time,

Take care,
Kathy

November 1: Storms, Fires, and Tours a-Go-Go

So another month begins! It is hard to imagine that the weather in Minnesota is cold and blustery while down in Chattanooga we are still wearing t-shirts and shorts. At least the sailors are. I am in long pants and a long-sleeve shirt. We have had incredible weather here with only one evening that produced wild storms.

On my day off last week I enjoyed a really wonderful art museum called the Hunter Museum of American Art. They had a pretty good variety of objects and a very interesting photo exhibit of portraits of people that were master craftsmen in old skills like basket weaving, fiddle making, and furniture making. 

When I came out of the museum, the weather had turned and it was pouring. I had heard from some folks that a major storm was coming that may have tornadoes so I thought I had better return to the ships. Once there, the ship had been closed due to the fact that a tornado had skipped down the opposite bank and lightening was hitting pretty close. We waited out the storm under the raised aft deck but still got wet. The ship's upper structure has dehydrated so much because it hasn't been in the ocean for so long. The waves of the rivers aren't really enough to keep the ship totally water-tight. No worries about  sinking. The rivers do just fine keeping the hull swelled. It was interesting to watch the intense weather but it wasn't any worse than what we have in Minnesota. Later we heard that the Chickamauga dam was hit by a tornado and that this is really unusual weather for Tennessee.

As for the fire, one morning when I was getting breakfast ready, I turned on the oven to get ready to make cinnamon rolls when all of a sudden, a fire broke out under the oven! It burned the mop and created panic in me. All i could think of was that I was going to cause the destruction of my ship! 

I called to my crew: Fire! Fire! Where's the fire extinguisher???? One appeared and we sprayed the chemical to put it out. I was rather shaken to say the least. We have no idea still what caused that fire but I have been able to continue to use the oven after the captains inspected it. In fact tonight was the first full crew dinner since the other cook, Constance, left and we had Stouffers lasagna. No Simeks here that I have found. It went well and the crew seemed to enjoy eating all together. 

Right now we have both the captains back so we are 11 in number; 6 on the Pinta and 5 on the Nina. That makes for actually half as many to do tours. This port has been crazy with the whole tour thing. We started out so dead - no one was coming for the first 3 days.  Then it slowly steamrolled to today where we had over 800 school kids, all before 2 pm!  Then we had another 100 or so home-schooled kids after that. We just are doing the tours all the time. Do a tour, then walk up and grab the next. When it is that busy I help with orchestrating where the tours start: they can start at either bow or stern on either ship. This helps streamline the traffic and we can then even accomodate the public who are coming in as well.  

Days like today can be hard and long but they really are exhilarating and very full and enriching. I love talking with the kids and hear their questions. It is funny to think that I know enough about ships and Columbus to talk for a full 45 minute tour.

Well, we are nearing the end of our stay here in Chattanooga and are preparing to be under way to Knoxville. We will be leaving here at day-break on Wednesday morning and will travel non-stop until we get there at 2 pm the next day and start all over again. While underway like that we are on hour watches. Three people on, three on-call and six asleep. As cook I am the only one who can sleep through the night but it is hard to do when the crew is working all night. We did this going from Davenport to Grand Rivers: about 3.5 days and will do it again going from Knoxville to Columbus Mississippi. That will be about a 5 day trip. Then I will be on my way home.

Every day has been really wonderful and enriching.  Hard to imagine that I will have been "a-sail" for just 2 days shy of 3 months.

Well, that's it for now. Tonight I enjoyed a shower and got my laundry done.  Simple pleasures.

take care all!

Kathy

Columbus Day

October 18: Chattanooga

Hello everyone,

We have arrived in Chattanooga and have had some time to begin exploring. Of course, it is after the public heads home and we have eaten. We are presently at Ross's landing and in front of a little park. It might be hard to see from the view above, but for some reason the most popular thing to do on this hill is for people to slide down it on pieces of cardboard!  They do it all day, every day. 

There are other boats here that give rides up and down the Tennessee. The Delta Queen is docked across the river and is a hotel now.


There are also a couple of boats that are on our docks that are connected to the Tennessee Aquarium.  These are incredible cruisers that are piloted by remote control joy-sticks from anywhere in the boat.  They can also turn on a dime, which is amazing to see.  One of the fun things about being on these ships is that they are almost always docked by ultra modern boats. Very cool to show the contrast of several hundred years of shipbuilding history! 

Last evening a few of us explored the waterfront area and found the Bluff View art district. It is a mix of Garden District homes that curve around a bluff and a sculpture garden.

There is the Hunter Museum of American Art there which we will go to on Thursday evening. It was designed by a protege of Frank Gerhy - it hints of the Weisman Gallery on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.  We also found a bocce ball court which is right on the edge of the bluff.  No tossing the little ball anywhere you want to! This is a more precise game played on clay courts.  

We also discovered the most fabulous patisserie that looked like it came right out of Paris. it is called Renaissance commons. The group enjoyed truffles and chocolate cherries.

Being that this is an unusually long port of call (until Nov 2) we get more than our usual amount of days off. But still there is so much to see here that I would probably want to return.
This is a very active community that hikes, kayaks, and rock climbs at the river nearby.  Today was my day off so i am taking care of personal business by computer at the Chattanooga Library which is about 10 blocks from the docks. Next I plan on going to the aquarium, then out to dinner at a nearby microbrewery called Big River. While i enjoy my crewmates and living on the ships, it is a relaxing treat to get away and get some alone time.

That is all for now as I have only 10 minutes left on the computer.

Take care everyone!
Kathy

October 15: Chattanooga

Hi All,

We left Guntersville on Wednesday at 1 pm to travel the Tennessee river to Chattanooga. It was a beautiful float through some awesome mountainous country ripe with Civil War history. The leaves are beginning to turn and it is so colorful.  I saw the Suck Creek and Lookout Mountain, both important geographical aspects to the Civil War. My Southern shipmates find it funny that I am so interested. As I cook below-deck there is a shipmate that yells down to me when we get to a cool part of the river. Very kind.

We arrived at Chattanooga with paddlewheel boats and cruisers welcoming us here. We shoot off our cannons and then dock. Then we prepare our museums and ramps for guests.

Today we began the tours and since the senior deck hand that runs our gift shop is gone for a few days I am in charge of the inventory. Lots of counting postcards and folding t-shirts. Glamourous, I know. Once done, I prepare dinner:  turkey tenderloin, mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans and a garden salad. Once dinner's done a crew hand washes the dishes. That's the best part!

Tonight a few of us went to see the Chatanooga Symphony. Seems one of our crew members is a violin maker and was in withdrawals of live Symphony music. It was amazing music. They played a Schumann piece.  Then their guest artist Midori came on and played an incredible Tchaikovsky violin concerto. Beautiful! Another moment where I find myself in truly another world.

That is it for now. Tomorrow we have a full day of guests and an opportunity to shower at the YMCA.

Love to all!

Kathy