Day #2 on the river

Forecast today was for 100% chance of rain with expected amounts of 1-2"! Needless to say we debated whether to cruise today or not. We woke at 6:30 a.m. to check the weather. It was not really raining yet and looked like it may not be that bad so we decided to go for it.

Caleb really enjoying piloting the new boat so here he is first thing this morning:

We cruised the length of Wilson Lake to Wheeler Lock. Here is my dad getting ready to enter the lock. We wear leather work gloves as the walls are rough:

Approaching Wheeler Lock in the rain. It is not near as large a rise as Wilson Lock. We started @ the bottom with depth finder reading 9 feet and it was reading 58 feet at the top:

Getting in the lock:

Caleb took a picture of me as we were tied off in the lock heading up with the incoming water:

And then on Wheeler....we found FOG! WOW- tons of fog. We had miles of super thick fog. If it was not for our radar and GPS chartplotter we would have had to pull over to wait it out. But, we were able to slowly proceed using radar and GPS for navigation. It was beautiful but we had to keep a constant watch:

Here is the RR bridge coming into Decatur. Fog had begun to lift. The RR bridge rises up in the middle due to low clearance so we could pass under:

We had planned to go to MM 333 to Ditto Landing Marina but decided the fog and rain were enough for one day so we stopped at MM 305 at Riverwalk Marina in Decatur, AL. Currents were really bad today and more junk in the river from the flooding. The funny thing about this marina is they have a car for transients but it is none other than.....a LIMO! Yes...an old 6 door limo is the transient transport around town. Pretty styling. Unfortunately though it was not stocked with caviar! :)

We had a visitor later today that came to see us in the slip next door...a blue heron hunting from the docks:

View from the marina:

Us docked at the transient dock in Decatur:

And as the weather began to break, a beautiful sunset with promises of tomorrow:

So far the boat has run just great. All the house systems function great and without issue and the engines have run perfectly. No racor fuel filter changes yet, no oil burning off, etc. We've put 15 hours on them over the last 2 days and so far they are doing great. We are really, really enjoying how cruising friendly this boat is and how much space we will have for the family this year. So far we are really loving it!! The big rains today also helped us confirm no window leaks so that is good. Tomorrow is supposed to be a little cooler (mid 50's) but sunny. We plan to get an early start first thing in the a.m. so stay tuned....