Paducah Adventure

The waning days of winter brought us sunny skies, some wind and a great Saturday for venturing to Paducah, KY.  Since we are located in our Lake Barkley condo we have a quick drive to the "big city". 

No hurry today, Adm. Denise likes her morning sleepy time.  The girls, Bailey and Bella  and I were up at 6 am. for the morning coffee.  WORK, WORK WORK.  Bailey does look a bit sleepy here.  I did manage another gloss coat to finish our flag stanton for the boat transom.  I think that is 3 coates of stain and 3 coats of gloss.  This is my learning project in dealing with teak.  Next the hand rails on "0 Regrets". 


Yep, the old guy and beautiful lady walk the streets of Paducah about 1939.  Yes, I was a young man in those days, can you tell by my period hat?  I do not know where all these great cars came from but Bonnie and Clyde walked right by us.   

We ventured to Paducah with no real plans except lunch and a wine tasting.  Well, I suppose that is a plan. We had a good lunch at Shanties with a very attentive waiter.  The wine tasting would come later but prior to that we had a good red wine with our lunch.  You know a glass of wine at lunch really smooths out the rest of the afternoon.  I suggest everyone try this during the work week, keeping a happy face remainder of the day.

What do you do when the TRAIN is bearing down on you?  Well, let's just say the laundry bag will be a bit full.  This vintage steam locomotive is located along the wall on Water Street, which is adjacent to the Ohio River.  Makes sense. 

The flood wall above protects downtown Paducah from a raging Ohio River.  The gapes in the wall are closed by flood gates when needed and this wall has worked great in past years.  The city commissioned artists to paint murals in each panel of the wall which greatly improved the view along the river.  Now we are lobbying for a sea wall or some docking along the river so we can bring our boat down river for a weekend visit. Many boaters in Kentucky and Lake Barkley would frequent the downtown if docking was available.

This is the view of a barge loaded with concrete which appears to be the only "dock" along the Paducah riverfront.  While this may work we do not know if it will be there this summer.  I do not know how good security may be in evenings when all is dark along the river.  Maybe a call to City Hall will answer that question. 

 

 

The above is the view looking up river from the flood wall. The City of Paducah could benefit from a developed riverfront with this view.  I would imagine condos and various businesses could take advantage of this Ohio River view. 

 

Well another day has passed with warm sun and a great afternoon in the company of Lady Denise.  I have bets that tomorrow will be very bit as good.  Y'all come along for the boat rides this summer, starting April 1.  

 

Happy Sailing,

 

Adm. Denise, Capt Barry, Deckhands Bailey and Bella.  

REMAINING WINTER BLAH'S

No matter how hard I try, this winter, glummy weather does not seem to remove itself from our location.  I have asked many times, the weather gods, to get over it and bring on Spring.  We could use the rain anyway.  Now, today it is blowing 30 mph, cooling southerly winds and narry any sun after 3 pm.  Yuck.

Well, then I need to be positive and write about better and more interesting days.  Recently an acquaintenace of our decided to sell his boat.  In doing so, he wanted to remove the dingy from the pier. So, being resourceful, he backed his restored, antique 1966 truck down the ramp and left it at the bottom of ramp to retrieve the dingy. Well, upon looking out from his boat the truck was GONE!  He did find the truck with help from my friend Captain. Bill the anytime scuba diver.  Can you imagine watching your antique truck being pulled out with Diver Bill in the bed. This was one expensive dingy ride.

As most of our readers know, we spend a great deal of time in our lakefront condo.  We are considering some major changes to the development.  One of those is the extension of our courtesy dock so boats like our 0 Regrets can dock. Water is typically only 4ft. near the dock.  Now the dock is sitting in the mud due to the low water level in winter months.  Hopefully, this summer we will be able to reach the dock.  We are even considering later construction of a small marina with covered slips for sale to condo owners. We will be at head of the list. 0 Regrets is on the way.

The above picture is a post card from 1929.  My Grandfather O. A. Young opened the first "tourist camp" between Chicago and Nashville in the same year.  My father and his brother were made to ride the running boards handing out flyer's to encourage travelers to stay at the camp. Camp they did with on a few cottage with plumbing rented at $8 per day.  We have a menu from the cafe with steak, fries and drink at $1.25.  A good deal. 

Moving on to lovely wife's philanthropic activities.  It seems Adm. Denise is a board member for our local Habitat organization.  The Habitat runs a Restore facility selling donated furniture etc. at very low prices to raise money to build a home for those who are approved.  This photo is the ribbon cutting by the local chamber of the renovated store and new manager. It seems they raise about enough $$$ per year to build one home.  Other homes are funded by local donations. The buyers of these homes repay the local Habitat organization and assist in the construction. A great organization.

Well, that is about our weekend.  As you can see, I needed to pull into the post history, wet truck, floating dock and ribbon cutting.  What a week!  Hopefully, future posts will include sun, sailing and more FUN.  Stay tuned.

Happy sailing,

Adm. Denise, Capt Barry and deckhands Bella and Bailey.

While the below is our motto, our boat name "0 Regrets" mirrows this motto. 

 
We plan the remainder of our lives along this motto.  We do not want to be sitting on the porch wishing we had done this or that. 

As anyone who has read only one post on this blog will know, we plan to skid into the final slip with the "woo hoo".  It is the ride that is important. 

I started another post entitled "Dogs and Diesel" but for the life of me I cannot recall why the title.  I understand the Dog part but have no idea where the diesel came from.  So, we will just  skip that idea.

As is my habit, I typically stay at Lake Barkley for an extra day and evening.  After all, Adm. Denise has a "real" job.  I just work on my own. YEAH!  So, I typically work from the condo with a break every so often for a doggy walk.  they need the exercise.  
   

Well, this is the best I can offer in February.  A sunny day with temp about 50 deg. F.  The "girls" and I were enjoying a wonderful walk along the shore.  The tide was out, must be a full moon.  So, we are enjoying our late morning walk, trying to imagine this is summer and boats are cruising the lake.  The Only boats we see are towboats with those 1,500 ft. barges attached.   But I must admit, I enjoy watching these giants ply the waters. 

While on this therapy walk, we spy the condo boat dock. It seems due to the low level of the Mississippi River, the Corp. of Engineers have continued to pour our water through the dams to support the river.  Then, what do you get, but a boat dock sitting in the mud.

So, As you can see, our courtsey dock is sitting in the mud.  We cannot get our boat here in summer more less in the winter pool months. We hope to extend the dock so the larger boats can visit.  We only have to find the $$$.   Well, our walk continued but nothing really exciting to report.  So, on the weekends I continue to plan our long range cruising, i.e. Bahams and beyond. 

The above photo is part of our hoped for cruising grounds. The winter and Spring in the Bahama waters has to be  more that perfect.  It is only 64 miles from Key Biscayne to Bimini and then onto the Grand Bahamas.  Sounds like a good cruise to me and no liquor bill at end fo the cruise.  Maybe I can get the Adm. Denise to come along for the cruise.  Afterall, Captn
Barry and the crew, Bella and Bailey will be on hand for the cruise.

 

Well, I suppose that is enough dreams for one evening.  I will continue to dream & plan for the escape from the "real" world.  So, here we are at the Lake Barkley look out.  We hope to see you all on the water, soon.

 

Happy
Sailing

 

Adm. Denise, Captn. Barry, Deckhands Bella and Bailey. 

 

 



2009 Phaeton FOR SALE

OK, I am shamelessly promoting the sale of our beloved Phaeton 42 QBH Motorhome. As these pages have indicated, we are transitioning our travel from motorhome to boat "0 Regrets".  Therefore, we would like to sell the Phaeton and move or sail along.

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Yes, this is the Phaeton land cruising on the shore of Lake Seminole, GA.  We enjoyed several days along the shore watching the gators, watching our dogs. Must always be aware of our reptile friends.

This view shows the other 2 slides giving the coach so much more room.  The satelite is a hi def. tracking satelite with great reception.  We only have 4 televisions, one in the slide.


  

This is the view looking to the center of the coach. Behind the TV is the 1/2 bath and across hall is the washer and dryer, stack units.  The coach makes a double air bed and the coach on left folds down to a wide, single bed.  An island pulls out of the cabinets with great storage. 

This view is looking to the front with captains chairs, 40" TV above the windshield and cabinet galore.  The appliances include a 3 burner, gas range, microwave/convection oven and a full, house size refrigerator with pull out freezer. I could put a cow in the freezer.   

The above picture is the KING bed, with temperpedic mattress. Great sleep with access to the full bath in rear of the coach. Notice the ceiling fan, makes sleep so comfortable.

The view to the left is the 1/2 bath located between the bedroom and the front portion of the coach.  This bath is great for travel, no more crawling across the bed for access to a bath. The washer and dryer (stacked) units are located across the hall from this bath.

This is a view of the double vanity in the full bath at rear of the coach. My wife loves the double vanity and good lighting.  Notice the tile floors, heated when using the 2nd gas furnace.

This is a better view of the full bath with large shower. The closet is across the rear of the coach with great storage and access to circuit breaker panel.

To the left is the full size shower with skylight.  This is a real comfortable shower with seat and room to turn around.  Tile floors and added warmth when using the rear gas furnace. The 3rd. heat pump serves the rear portion of the coach as well. 

So, come along for a great adventure aboard the Phaeton QBH 42.  Lastly the basement includes large slideout trays with access from both side of the coach, 100 gal. fuel capacity, large black and gray water tanks, freshwater tank at 100 gal. and endless storage.  We have enjoyed our travels in comfort and hope her new owners whill also enjoy the ride.  

You can find additional photos on http://www.rvtrader.com/?cmp=Google&gclid=CLHZm-b9q7UCFcef4AodFDoAqA 

If you have any questions, please reach me through this blog.

See you on the water or along the roads.  HAPPY SAILING,

Adm. Denise, Capt. Barry, deckhands Bella and Bailey.

MUDDLING THROUGH

During the winter months I feel as if I muddle through each day.  Well, that is not really a bad thing, considering I plan to "muddle" through each day remaining in my life cycle.  Kind of like that butterfly, just not a pretty picture of me. 

"If you’re going to muddle, you might as well muddle at the base of a majestic mountain, alongside a rushing river, under a canopy of scented pine boughs, overlooking a green meadow with flowers waving, above ocean waves crashing on rocks, next to a still alpine lake, from a red-rock promontory where eagles fly, or in the desert with the winter sun warming both body and soul."

 http://rvsueandcrew.com/ One of my favorite blogs. Check out RVSue and the crew.  She is an inspiration to all who boondock in the RV world.

The view of the locamotive rock with a walk up for Sue's dogs is a good climb.  We have only boondocked around Kentucky Lake and never in the desert.  Someday, someday.





AS discussed in this blog, we have traveled via motorhome and boat in the past few years.  Well, like all good meanders, we read many magazines about our travels.  All who wander are not lost, so the bumper sticker goes. 
    

The pic to the left is a sample of the magazines we follow in planning our travels. Now the motorhome is not equal to the high quality of our Phaeton and the boat is about $2 million much superior to our trawler.  One can wish for for the best, right!  As we plan to cruise the blue waters, the Nordhaven would be our choice.  Just a bit short on the $$$$.  So, buy our motorhome and we might be able to upgrade the boat.  We will cruise no matter what but just a bit easier without a land yacht. 

Now, during the winter months of 2013, we do experience some strong winds. Now, straight line winds have damaged pier 6, 3 times in the past 3 years.  Seems Pier 6 has had such bad luck.  Fortunately our pier was not damaged.    So, our wait continues till spring and summerization of the boat.  Then, cruising again!  

Well, friends, another day in winter wishing for Spring. Things could be worse but a bit of sun would be fine.  

Happy Sailing,

Barry, Denise and Bella, Bailey (deckhands).