The Half Loop

Day 4

1 lock, about 6 bridges, 12 hour day, filled 157 gallons

Start: Tall Timbers Marina mile 120

End: Grafton Harbor, mile 0 Illinois River

Pulled out of TTMearly this morning, before 7. No one on river in morning. Air is clean and fresh. Nice breeze, cool. River is down a bit, can see shore line. Saw American eagle sitting a top a small tree left of river. On either side of river there are houses on stilts. Hard to imagine water getting that high, would look like the house was in the middle of a lake because the water would spread out. Must be good luch to see a wild bald eagle on July 4th. Trees are all the way at the edge of water, half trunk out in the airwith roots sticking out everywhere. Sems they might easily fall into the water. Met some large barge traffic (3x5). All seemed to be stopped. River is still. Little branches everywhere in water. Lock coming up. Went down 4 feet. Held bow and stern lines as we went down. Passed large large fertilizers/grain storage. Pontoon boat with confederate flag. Entered part of river with wingdams. Theseare partial dams under water on sides of river. These create shoaling, where sediment collects, less depth, keep clear. Most of day was through river with forest on either side. One town had a ferry for cars to cross. Weather was much cooler today, partly clouy. Countryside on eitherside of river is starting to have more hills. Bridge at 25 feet, with lower hanging metal, looked like falling apart, some areas lower than others. Put antenas down and went slow underneath. Passed under by less than 1 foot above anchor light. Arrived at Grafton Harbor, seems like party harbor. Country music/classic rock coming from Oyster Reataurant. Boat pulls in, piled high with drunk rednecks, blaring music, loud sound system. This harbor has a wall to block current coming from upstream. Creates mini current going upstream into the harbor. Lost startboard engine when docking at fuel dock. Immediately came back on. Tied off and fueled up. Dock worker told about how the river rises. Points to their sign to water mark 6 feet above my head. Old couple come to say hi. Old man, short and stock for his age, wearing a Tommy Bahama captains hat. A lady, skinny, in ikini top and fuzzy pink shorts, sunscortched wrinkly skin, 70 years old?, Hugh Hefner lookalike. Lady was excited to talk. Noticed the boat was from New Buffalo, MI. She was from Nile, MI. Showered on boat. Ate dinner at Oyster bar. Dozen gulf oysters, $1 each, jambalya, red ebans and rice, Cucumber Mule (cucumber vodka, ginger beer). Best oysters Ive eaten, tried with spicey cocktail sauce, horse radish, and tobacco sauce. The cocktail was best. Funny pool sign.

day 5

2 locks, about 10 bridges, fuel 48 gallons

Start: Grafton Harbor, mile 0, Illinois River

End: Kaskaskia Lock, mile 117

Lat start today. Needed to chane fuel filters. Dick Hamms thought that was the issue. Dock worker helped out. Changed all 6 filters, 2 rear, 4 front. Rear were clogged. Engines running smoother today. No RPM drops. First day in Mississippi River. The river is about 2.5 times the width of the Illinois River. Depth is greater, 30-50 feet. Much more tug traffic starting as we pass St Louis. Larger tug (5x6, 2 tug push). Seeing more industry again around St Louis. More current through here. Gained about 3 knotts. Hills getting taller, cliffs seen. Barges keep getting larger (6x7). Just outside of St Louis, see two men in a canoe. First met them at Grafton Harbor. They were decked out with camping gear. They asked where we were heading, then they said they were also heading in the same direction, down the Mississippi to New Orleans. Come into St Louis. Pass by the arch. Oil refinery, quary on side of river. Stopped for fuel at Hoppies Marire Services, mile 158. This dock was created by stringing togetherabout 15 small old barges. Diesel fuel should be crystal clear if it is pure. Most diesel is colored though. Pink diesel mostly, has a die in it. The light green diesel might have algaeside in it. Before St Louis, passed through 2 locks, both only went down 4 feet, floated through both. Quickest locks, made great time. This was the firstday weve driven from the cabin. Isolated rainstorms. Tied up on the outer wall of Kaskaskia lock for the night.

day 6

About 4 bridges

Start: Kaskaskia Lock, mile 117

End: Angelo Towhead, mile 1, anchored

Fresh morning air. Storms on horizons. Cooler air, morning fog rolling over hills. Rain up ahead, but moving away from us. There are wingdams here. A few large barge. Water is deep. Usually 40-50 feet, ent up to 100 feet. More waves, enough to rock the boat. Some areas of water haver swirling water. Large log/tree stump are floating by, avoiding these. Traintracks have been following the starboard side of the riverfor most of the Mississippi river. A few logs looked to be over 8 feet long, basically whole tree. Saw first river boat. Had4 stories on it. Paddle wheel behind it. Moving same pace as us. About 11 knotts. Looks like it would topple over in a hurricane. Wonder how they survive in New Orleans. Huge tugs through here (6x7). Sky cleared and weather turned hot, sun out. Port Left, Starboard right, bow front, stern rear. We anchored near where Ohio and Mississippi rivers meet, west of point, there is an island in Mississippi river seperates main river from a shallowerside river. Anchored in side river, dropped plow anchor. Hardly used any gas today. Did not push engines too hard, 1500 rpm.

day 7

2 locks, fuel 192 gallons

Start: Angelo Towhead, mile 1, anchored

End: Green Turtle Marina, mile 32, Cumberland River

Foggy morning, burned off early. Hot weather. Dropped ancher last night, archor held well despiteriver conditions, 2.5 knott current, large trees floating and knocking boat. I stay up til 1 am checking baot. Rob woke up at 2 am to watch boat rest of night. Set anchor alaems, they would watch gps and alaem if we drift. Medium log stuck on under bow, 3 inch diameter 8 feet long. Use boat pole to push log away. Later large tree trunk floats down river, has massive root system still attached. Hits anchor rope horizontally dead center, too far to use boat pole, starts to twist and roll around the rope. The twisting motion might have been the reason the roots did not tangle the rope. Bumped the boat then kept on moving. Lucky, otherwise there was not much we could do. Size, roots 2 feet wide, trunk 1 foot wide, 8 feet long. More large logs hit all night, I get up often to check boat. I sleep where I could hear the hits best in the bow of the boat. Early morning big hit. Startles me. I jump up, hit head bar inside soft part of boat ceiling, half asleep still, fumble with the door handle, hit shoulder on wall, stumble, trip on doorwaybecause I forget there is a step there, grab flashlight to look outside. Back to sleep. Rob pushes 2 more medium logs off. We decided to unanchor as soon as fog cleared. Pulling up anchor was hard especially with current being strong. Engines on, slowly crept boat forward, with less tension I pulled rope onto bow deck. Pull piece of metal off winch to stop rope from being sucked in, did not want wet rope in the boat. Wrapped rope 3x around top section of winch, used winch to pull rope in, until chain came up. Then used lower section of winch to pull chain in. This process was attempted multiple times until it worked. The current would try to push wrong way, the force would snap the rope out of my hand. Finally the anchor was almost up, current cleaned off anchor, needed second pair of hands to pull anchor all the way up. Turned upstream on Ohio River. Barges tied up on either side. Against the current running boat 1700 rpm. No wake zone area where they are building new lock. Going against current all day, through Ohio River and Cumberland. Sohot, no air up top. Saw 2 american eagles today, flew ahead of us on Cumberland River. Lock raised the water about 40 feet. Entered Kentucky, feels southern now. People have a Kentucky southern accent. Tommy was the dock worker who helped us tie up. Had Kentucky southern accent. Started hearing people say yall everywhere. Fueled up here. Justin stopped by to update the chart plotter and check the radios. Radios, wires, antenas were completely shot. All need to be replaced. Charts now updated. Only with southern region of US because the chart plotter is old and cant handle all the new data. Tommy told a story of anotherbig boat that had went outside the channel in the mississsippi to give more room to a towboat, then hit a submerged dyke, cracked hull, had to pump water until help came, destroyed props. Cleaned boat, showered, ate at Yacht Club. Glad we are not against current anymore. We went so slow. Went from going 12 kts to 7 kts. Had an increasingly difficult time dodging tree trunks and logs because we were against current. Cumberland seemed to clear up. This marinais nice/huge. Haas about 100 slips. Lots of big boats. Huge house boats. All covered slips. Made it to Green Turtle with plenty of gas, even after going against current. This means we can probably make it 300 miles across the Gulf of Mexico. Ohio R. to Cumberland to Kentucky Lake to Tennessee River

day 8

About 3 bridges, 1 ferry

Start: Green Turtle Marina, mile 32

End: Cuba Landing Marina, mile 115

Decided to replace upstairs radio. Justin checked and was not getting a reading from the antenna. Also replace part antenna. New radio has gps built in. Justin was able to get in early then expected, allowed us to still leave with time. Walked down to boat store, picked up a few supplies, then headed out, through channel into Kentucky Lake, then heading upstream in the Tennessee River. Very hot early morning, decided to pilot from in cabin for most of day. Ran generator/AC. Ran engines at 1700 rpm because were going upstream. Passed by abandoned dock, mile 78. Did not see docks, looked like the 2nd floor of building, 1 floor completely submerged, maybe made of cement? Railway bridge closed, 2 feet higher than boat. Saw nest on top of channel marker in river. American Eagle nest. Arrive at Cuba Landing marina earlier than expected. Tie up on fuel dock. Bough fish hook in boat shop, spinner bait. Washed entire boat, bow and stern.

day 9

1 lock, fuel about 220 gallons

Start: Cuba Landing Marina, mile 115

End: Grand Harbor marina

Fog over water early morning. Leave early. Wanted to get an early start since we are going 105 miles upstream today. I took boat out of marina. Use engines to steer at low speed, not rudder or throttle. Throttled up once in open water, odometer went to 0 but we still had engine power. Only happened on starboard side. Most of the day quiet. Went through 1 lock. Went up slowly, compressor was broken, but then fixed. Arrived at Grand Harbor Marina, just in time for gas before they closed. Rob went in to pay, so I fueled the boat. Put in 10 measures of fuel agent, pumped gas. Young dock boy waiting to help. Senior in highschool. Wanted to study graphic design. Tied boat to fuel dock for the night. Lots of boat traffic all day today. Went to pool. Talked to Tennessee man. He told us about how his sons do travel baseball. Grand harbor had nice boats, all big, all covered slips. Also had condos. Ate food, showered, bed.

day 10

7 locks

Start: Grand Harbor Marina

End: Columbus Marina

Woke up and underway early, not much fog. I captained boat, reversed, spun 90 degrees, then out of harbor. Long hot day. First lock was biggest so far. Went down about 60 to 70 feet. All dams/locks looked the same, all built at the same time, largest Army Corps of Engineers project, to create the canal system from the southern lakes all the way to the gulf of Mexico. This lock made awful sounds as we went down, screeching, giant whooshing sound, maybe rishing water behind the lock door. As we descend to bottom, start to see large doors, riveted closed on side walls, 4 feet by 4 feet, they have tiny risted holesthat have burst through and spewing water. Booming rush of wind sound as front doors open. All other locks go down about 20 feet. Each lock seems to bring new sceenery. Canals are tight. Have manmade look. Locks look very government. See small single engine plane above. River snake in lock. These locks were mich more strict on rules when entering and leaving. Told us to keep tied until the horn sounds. Arrive at Columbus Marina. Lily Pads everywhere, cover river. Aligator seen. Only eyes poking above water. Cruising along edge of lilypads. Dock was shitty. Tied up at fuel dock. Most cleats felt loose. Another large boat tied up here. Looks transient as well. Probably about 65 foot boat. 

day 11

3 locks, fuel 238 gallons

Start: Columbus Marina

End: Demopolis Yacht Basin

Marina was close to first lock of day. The lock was ready for us. Lock asks for boat registration/coast guard number, wanted to know where we came from, where we were going, size of boat. Went down about 15 feet. Hot again today. Interesting rocks/cliffs onside of river, white rocky cliffs. Making good time. All locks were prepared for us, had green light and doors open. Still logs floating down river. Arrive at DYB. They have comercial size fuel dock. Tug tied to outside of fuel dock. Cheapest fuel so far. $2.37/gallon. Tie up to dock for night, covered slip. People are very nice here. Anna-marie tells us the rules and lets us check out the free marina car. Quickly wash the boat/ shower. Walk to parking lot. Car is crappy old buick. 2 keys, one for door, other for ignition. Has gear shift behind steering wheel. Lights to tell what gear you are in do not work, just have to guess. Shocks don’t work well. Dinner in Red Barn. Pass by the Projects/sectioned housing. Frog fell onto car. Sticks to windsheild for entire ride home. 

day 12

2 locks

Start: Demopolis Yacht Basin

End: Bobby’s Fish Camp

Received news that ock had opened last night. We were told not to get up too early because there were about 7 barges trying to get through. The barges went through at night. We slept in. Met a nice couple that had a big steel boat. Left dock about 10am. Lock was not prepared to let anyone through. Crane in the way and started working again. We waited after radio the lock. At 12 pm they locked us through. Long day. River would go from 40 feet to 8 feet if you were not watching. Saw eagle, 4 deer on side of river, white birds (herons?). More cliffs. Spanish moss hanging from trees. No civilization. 2 medium sized barges. Radio us, said pass on 2 whistle. Arrive at BFC. Nobody around to help us. Radios but no response. Boats already tied to dock. No room. Have to raft to another boat. Power across their swim platform. Other boat says theyre leaving at 6am. Brocolli pasta and bed because we have an early morning.

day 13

1 lock, about 3 bridges

Start: Bobby’s Fish Camp

End: Dog River Marina

Called lock, they open at 7am. Fog in the early morning, burns off fast. Houses on stilts along the water. Driving downstairs because rain on horizon. Another barge, passing on 2 whistle. River winds around corners and bends. River was about 40 feet most of the way, but would instantly be at 7 feet if you werent paying attention. Hit 3 things today. First was small. Second was light tap from submerged log. Third was another submerged log, hit hard, splintered some smaller pieces off. This part of river is narrowing and not well marked. Some buoys are seen on shoreline. Seen several whole trees submerged in water channel, steered around them. Oil pressure alarm went off several times, we decide to drive only 1 engine, turn rudder about 15 degrees starboard so that boat goes straight. Left turns now much easier thna right turns. See Mobile, AL, in the distance. There are tall buildings. Boat through boat port section of Mobile. See military boats being constructed, see ocean freighter ships from other countries. Have to pass a frieghter in the tight channel out to the ocean, more difficult because we only had one engine. The frieghter threw large wake, despite going slow. Very shallow outside of channels. Tried hailing one of the marinas. Never heard back. Tried calling, but phones were shut off. Turns out, they had a new number and new website that google was not finding. Pulled up to Dog River Marina. Tied up to fuel dock. Cleaned up quick and went to Mobile Yachy Club for dinner. The MYC had a great view of the bay. Grouper with wine sauce on jasmine rice. Had sweet tea since I was in the South. Walked there and back. Have not seen as many confederate flags as I thought I would. Storms were chasing us today, but they never caught up to us. We have been extremely fortunate with weather. Storm came laterthat night. Lightning stuck nearby, it lit up my little room, which is normally pitch black. Then the loud thunder came. Next lightning sound much further away, storm was already moving away, go up to put covers on sides of boat to keep rain water out.

day 14

Fuel 187 gallons, oil change 5.5 gallons per engine

Start: Dog River Marina

End Dog River Marina

Today we stayed at DRM in Mobile, AL, for maintenance on boat. Alot of workwas done. Up early to try to get some work done before it got hot. Very hot and humid all day. Walked down to West Marine Express shop. Picked up valve for front bilge pump, and otehr little things. THe store was very helpful. The store didn’t have the amount of engine oil we needed. They directed us to Ray around back. Ray was extremely helpful and knowledgable. He had the 15 gallons of shell oil, had the wrench to borrow, buckets to borrow for old oil, bottle of coolant. The boat need 5.5 gallon oil per engine, bought 15 so we had extra oil. Pumped out old oil, burned through 3 small pumps. Changed the engine oil filters. Wrote the current date and engine hours on filters. Cut open plastic 1 gallon water jug, bottom half Rob used to catch dripping oil, top half used as a funnel for oil going into engine. I handed Rob 1 gallon of oil at a time as he poured into the engine. I carried oil buckets out of bilge, 5.5 gallons on each side. Found loose bolts on engine shaft collar, tightened all on to the engines. I held one wrench while Rob cranked the other. Extremely hot in bilge, been drinking water all day. We turn engines back on, low oil pressure alarm continues to go, guages now signalling high enough operating pressures. Need to solve alarm issue before using engines. Talked to Ray several more times. Showed him pictures of engine room and of the alarm sensor. He gave instructions on how to test, determine if sensor is bad, or if wiring is bad. Sensor seems to have gone bad. Unplugged now so alarm is not on. Have to watch oil pressure gauges now. Dumped old oils. Returned fuel filter wrench. Had a hard time undocking from dock with just 2 people because of wind and tide. Fuel and pumpout. I did fuel. Able to undock and tie up easier with 3 people. Big boat in front of us is stuck at fuel dock because they have fried their batteries. Ran without water. Cant get new batteries until Monday (KerriAnne). Ate the leftovers for dinner. Calm night. A few interesting metal sailboats, look like battleships. 

day 15

Start: Dog River Marina

End: --- boat through the night

Today we make out way out of the Mobile bay into the Gulf of Mexico. Long bay. Making our way to Panama city today. Going to be a long day. Swarm of birds seen around fishing boat as we leave. 3 dolphins are following the boat as well. As we move farther up I see a man frantically waving me down, takes his shirt off and waves that above his head. I see theres a kid on board too. Slow the boat and head that way. They have no radio aboard, engine is not working. These guys are morons. We tie them to the boat. This guy ties rope to his arm. I tell him to take it off. We call Coast Guard for them. We give CG their cell number. Their cell is not set up completely. They keep pointing us into the harbor, they wanted free tow all the way back. Theyre fishing off their boat as we tow. We get confirmation from CG that we should tow them to side of channel and let them ancher til they get in contact with friend. They told us to just untie and they werent anchoring. Finally we were on our way. Half the day wasted. Needed new plan, decided to boat through the night so we could catch up on time, stop in Carrabelle, FL. Boat through ocean for short time, then through the intercoastal at Pensacola. Follow this to canals then to Panama City, then to Carrabelle. Saw mini 2 person aircraft (glider with small engine). has floats on botton to land in water, also saw 4 parasailers. Pensacola intercoastal is wide and can move through quickly.

day 16

Fuel about 70 gallons

Start: --- Boat through the night

End: C-Quarters in Carrabelle

Boated through the night. Intimidating at first, we were downstairs wehn it got dark, realized we could see better upstairs. Had to rely on radar and chart plotter more. ICW was a mixture of small open waterways and tight channels/canals. Ocassional light rain. Rob and I would trade shifts driving because we were tired. I fell asleep on the cussions upstairs. Rob would wake me when he was unsure and needed help navigating in the dark. I would use the hand light and scan the horizon for the green and red markers. I would keep the light on them and call them out so that Rob could line up to them. We eventually got better and it was a one person job. After I had slept about 2 hours, I took over so that Rob could sleep. I put on a long sleeve shirt and light jacket because it had become chilly withthe light breeze and light drizzle. I take over while moving through a channel. It was dark and eerie. Then I came out into an opening with markers. The channel quickly changed directions, I had one hand on the wheel, one with the flashlight, I was quickly drifting out of the channel and I kept one eye on the depth meter and the other on the horizon quickly scanning for green and red markers. I found the markers and quickly spun the wheel back into the channel. This continued for the rest of the night, switching off shifts until the sun came up, pulled into Carrabelle. Dock woman was very helpful pulling in. Saw brown down building and docks, old fishing vessels. We fill with fuel. Clean the boat. Shower and laundry. Went to raw bar shack down the street for dinner. Ordered Oysters and grouper. Had to run back to boat for wallet, nervous that it fell out of pocket, found in my room on boat. Talked to old lady on dock. Dark leathery skin, cut up nose, two tiny dogs, (doxen and maltese?) this lady has sailed around the americas with her husband in this sailboat. Told strories about Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and other places that I have never heard of. Probably about 80 years old.

day 17

Start: C-Quarters

End: Mar-Marina

Woke very early for a long trip to Tarpon Springs. Been told to watch out for crab cages as we head into their channel. They can be destructive if a boat runs over them. They have a buoy, then rope to a cage down below. The rope will twist around a propeller if run over. We leave early to avoid getting to Tarpon Springs wehn it is dark. I was still exhausted, so was Rob, he was still blury eyed and hard to communicate with in the morning. He would say the oppostie of what he intended for everything then correct himself. The channel is relatively wide and easy to navigate even in the dark. Make out way to the gulf and move out aways from land before setting up a waypoint for Tarpon Springs. Scattered storms around us and wind at our back. The storms and wind creating larger waves/swells. The waves would hit the boat at an angle in the strerm, this lifted the back of the boat, you would feel the boat ride down the wave like it was surfing, this created extra speed, you would feel instant acceleration, 9.5 kts to 12 kts, some bigger waves even got my adrinaline going. For the rest of day I slept on and off, needed to recharge. TS very nice. See some dolphins as we come into channel.

day 18

Fuel about 120 gallons

Start: Mar-Marina

End: Crows Nest Marina

This will be a quicker day. Some dolphins in our wake, they occassionally jump completely out of water. Pulled into channel, very nice area. Nice beaches. Saw a little stringray jump completely out of water frantically flapping as if it were flying. Then fell straight bback into water. Went to the tavern for dinner. Best oysters here. Early night, don’t usually have time like this to relax.

day 19

Fuel 160 gallons

Start: Crow’s Nest Marina in Venice, FL

End: Rose Marina in Marco Island, FL

Long trip, so we get up early to get in earlier. Traveling south off the coast of FL. Decided to end up at Marco Island instead of anchoring in the Everglades. School of dolphins swim in our wake today. Some jump out of the water in front of the bow, others are jumping in and out of the wake behind the boat. I first noticed this when I was on the stern on the boat. I was heading into the cabin, behind me I hear a smacking sound, I turn around see nothing, then another smack, turn around again and nothing, keep looking, pull out video camera and finally I see the dolphin smack the water. See more boats with the pastel colored hulls, all boats around here are in great condition, yellow pastel, light blue pastel, aqua pastel. Water is calm, not much wave. Long entrance channel to Marco Island. Huge houses along water. Water into Rose marina gets shallower, dock boys are unattentive, were floating up and no one is directing us. They suggestwe use pump out. They tell us one of their diesel pumps isnt working. They were not even sure they would be pumping gas today. They pointed us toward the pumpout. We follow their suggestion. As we approach no one immediately comes to help. I have to tie up as if it were a lock since no one helps. Finally someone come over. Theres no easy way to get on dock either. They have to hand us the pump. After we are pumping for a bit we notice not much is happening. We ask, they say oh yah, it has a break somewhere in the line and theyre fixing it still. So, it doesnt pump much out. They tell us to wait for suction to build up. We wait for a while before we give up. As we pull away the props hit something hard underneath us. Props seem to be ok, we’ll find out tomorrow. We ask, he says “ oh yah, our dock fell in over there, thought we got it all out.” Tie up boat, go to boat shop. Wifi here is garbage. Find new type of boat soap, mentions deisel on label. This is miracle in a bottle. This is the first time Ive seen us make a difference in the black soot on back of boat. Its coming off in layers, faster than ever, still will take effort, but theres hope now that the boat can be cleaned. Walk to dolphin tiki bar for dinner. On water, lobster special, maine lobster with claws, potatoes, corn, pain killer drink. So good.

day 20

Start: Rose Marina

End: Coral bay marina in Islamorada

We start early, long trip to Islamorada today, still dark when we leave, but its easier to boat at night now, because we have done it a few times. The channel is clearly marked with lighted buots. Out in the ocean and we ourselves toward Islamorada. Water becomes shallow as we move toward keys. Occasional dolphin seen. Water becomes still, so flat that you could probably water ski on this. See “flying fish” do not know real name for these fish but that is my best attempt at describing them. They do not have wings. They occasionally will pop out of the water, they move their tail so fast that they skate across the top of the water in a straight line on top of their tail, occasionally falling over but going so fast that they bounce on their belly a few times, pop back on their tail and keep going, eventually, usually after 10 to 12 feet they plop back into the water. Rob saw a turtle. Relatively close to Key West now if we went directly south. Water becomes clear enough to see bottom of the water, about 4 to 5 feet underneath boat. In the distance we can see recognizabled areas of the keys that we have been to, like the major highways connecting the different keys. We pass marathon. Pull into Islamorada, mangroves all around, can see all types of fish in the water, some parrot fish. Relatively ncie dock for the keys. Wash off the back of the boat and prepare for the final day. Surprisingly, no mosquitos here.

day 21

Fuel at Gilberts

Start: Coral Bay marina

End: Manatee Bay Marina

The final day. Shorter day so we sleep in. Lori on the boat with us today. Clear skys, clear water. Lots of boats anchored in the shallow waters. Hit something in the water, middle of channel, plenty of water underneath, something must have been sticking up. More vibrations from Starboard engine and propellor. We troubleshoot, engine seems better after we restart the engines. Stop at Gilberts Marine for fuel. Dock lady is nice. The marina is owned by some rich russians. But some goggles, pull into open waters, Rob jumps in the water with goggles to check on propellers. Everything looked fine. Must have had sea grass wrapped around and fell loose. Hit something else, boat seems ok despite the hard hit. The boat will be taken out of the watersoon, everything can be checked then. Water is shallow as we approach Manatee bay. Cannot enter or leave marina unless high tide, even at hightide we are touching bottom. Should nt come in on full tank of fuel.We push out way in. Tie up. Meat fisherman steve. Clean up boat. Pack up bags, off baot and heading to Miami. This is the end of an incredible adventure.