Cheerleaders, Friends & Doctors

Well it’s 6:00 a.m. on this Tuesday morning, and since the Admiral is still snoozing, the Captain thought he might take a shot at the blog, especially since it’s been another eventful week on the water.

Last Wednesday evening while we were still at Aqua Yacht Marina, we went out to dinner with our good friend, Bud “Ice Man” McNeal. Bud is the gentleman who helped us move trucks and boat trailers after Duane’s accident last fall, a true southern gentlemen! We had a nice dinner just a mile from the marina at Freddy T’s that included duck & seafood gumbo, which was out of this world!

The evening before our dinner with Bud, our other good Pickwick Lake friend, Kelly Greer, stopped by on his pontoon boat just as we were getting ready to leave for a Wal-Mart run. Since we were not really excited about driving the 20 miles to Wal-Mart, we ended up hanging out with Kelly on his boat for a late night of cocktails and boat rides, although some of us had a later night than others.

I guess we got started about 5:30 p.m ., drinking, chatting, and listening to music on the pontoon. Just after dark, since there was a full moon, we decided to take a pontoon ride back to Waterfall Cove. As we passed by Grand Harbor Marina, the marina that was so helpful during and after Duane’s accident, we stopped in to see if we could find Chip Lucas and his boat, “Chips Ahoy.” Chip is the gentleman who came out in his dinghy last fall when we got on the radio and May Day-ed for help in transporting Duane to the mainland where the ambulance was waiting.

Chip, who also lives aboard his boat, was not on the boat but we did find him on another dock driving around in his golf cart. We spent some time with Chip catching up and thanking him again for all his assistance last fall. I just can’t say enough good things about all the fine folks in this part of the world! After leaving Grand Harbor we boated the three miles to Waterfall Cove only to find that it had clouded up and we were not able to see the full moon. We enjoyed the trip, though, and arrived back at Aqua Yacht sometime around 11:30 p.m.; however, since none of was feeling any pain I can’t swear that the time is accurate.

The Captain had to call it quits about 12:30 a.m., leaving Kelly and the Admiral on the pontoon to tough it out until 2:30 a.m. Needless to say, the majority of the following day was spent recovering from the previous night’s adventures! We finally made it to Wal-Mart on Thursday morning and were joined in the courtesy van by another couple who lives aboard their 38-foot sailboat and were headed into town (Corinth, MS) to rent a car. This couple has put over 20,000 miles on their sailboat over the past eight years, spending time in areas from Canada to South America. I wish we could have spent more time with them; however, I’m sure we will see them along the waterway another time as I’m finding out just what a truly small world it is out on the water.

After returning from our Wal-Mart run and waiting out a rain storm on the docks, we were once again headed out to Waterfall Cove for more adventure on Pickwick Lake, and adventure we found! After a very quiet and cool Thursday night, I went out early Friday morning and caught some fish for another (future) fish fry. This photo is of a nice Pickwick Lake smallmouth bass caught and released within sight of “Life’s2Short” at Waterfall Cove.



Shortly after I returned from fishing, we started our Friday off with visitors from Memphis, and you could hear them coming down the lake from a mile away. We were blessed (some more than others) with the arrival of the University of Memphis cheerleading squad aboard their rented 70-foot houseboat... are you getting the idea of who was blessed and who was not? ;-) We counted at least fifteen folks on board the houseboat but it was hard to really tell how many were on board because they were never all together at the same time.

Now, for the record, there were both male and female cheerleaders and hard bodies abounded all over that boat! “Life’s2Short” had a front row seat for the next 48 hours of the cheerleaders partying and their air-show. After they got their houseboat anchored, which was an ongoing affair, the group had a big time jumping off the roof of the houseboat and swinging off the 25-foot rope swing at the waterfall. The music was loud, the Jungle Juice was cold, and by late afternoon I’m sure the group was feeling no pain, except those who managed to belly-flop in the water when they jumped off the waterfall and the top of the houseboat.

The group actually settled down a little bit about dinner time but I could tell it was going to get “ugly” after the sun went down and they got their batteries recharged... and they didn’t let us down. After dark the music went back up and the clothes came off. I won’t go into details as I’m sure your are getting the picture. :-) One of the nice things about “Life’s2Short” is that when you close up all windows and doors it becomes pretty soundproof so we were able to get a good night’s sleep.

The following morning I was up about 6:30 a.m., and lo and behold some of our cheerleaders were actually up. I’m not sure they had been to bed yet as a few of them were holding and drinking cervezas... ah, to be 21 years old and that tough again. Kelly and his dogs, Harley and Lucky, also stopped by early and were gracious enough to bring us ice - again! Kelly spent a few hours with us and then went back to pick up his wife Melissa and daughter Caroline so they could come back out to the waterfall for a BBQ.

Shortly before Kelly left, I heard that the cheerleaders were in need of some supplies and since I had fresh ice and Bloody Mary mix but no vodka, I rowed the dinghy over to see if I could make a trade. After a brief discussion, a deal was made - they had their supplies and I had a fresh quart of ice cold vodka. I love the barter system, especially when it involves cheerleaders!

The rest of Saturday was spent with Kelly and his family watching all the boats in the cove and enjoying a wonderful feast that Kelly put together. By Saturday night the cheerleaders were much more mellow and we were entertained by karaoke from the top of their houseboat. Lord knows, some of them could have used some singing lessons. :-) Late Sunday morning our weekend entertainment pulled out and then we were joined again by Kelly and Melissa as we enjoyed another leisurely day at the waterfall.

Before Kelly and Melissa left for the day, Kelly and I agreed to meet early the next morning to try our hand at some catfishing. About dinner time, as most of the boats were departing, our friend Bud stopped by on his Sea Doo and brought us a sweet treat from Memphis: two Krispy Kreme donuts. By Sunday evening everyone but “Life’s2Short” had gone home so the Admiral and I spent a quiet evening relaxing and reading in our now private cove.

As planned, Kelly showed up in his pontoon about 7:30 a.m. Monday morning and we headed up the lake to try our luck. After about an hour with no bites we came back to the waterfall and cast our rods off the back of the boat to see if we could catch some catfish right out our back door. After just a few minuets I had a bite and up came a small catfish, this was going to be easy... or so I thought. Well, the catfish had swallowed the hook and, in the process of trying to get the hook out, the fish slipped from my grip and the sharp, spiny, toxin-covered barb on the catfish speared my palm, driving the barb an inch into my hand. This was not going to be easy after all!

After a few attempts to pull the barb out while my hand and arm went numb, we decided it would be best to run to the doctor’s office to see about getting it removed. Kelly and his pontoon came to the rescue, and a short time later I was in Dr. Peters’ office getting the barb pulled out and receiving a prescription for an antibiotic to keep the wound from getting infected. It’s always an adventure on “Life’s2Short” and I am usually the reason for such excitement, much to the Admiral’s dismay. I now know why I don’t catfish much, but since I promised the Admiral a catfish dinner I guess I will still keep trying, either that or find a good catfish restaurant.  After paying the doctor bill, the Admiral decided a catfish restaurant would have been much less expensive!

To spare any additional trauma to my injured hand, the Admiral offered to row Buddy to shore in the dinghy late that afternoon for a potty break. It was rather amusing watching her rookie attempt at maneuvering the oars. Below is a shot of her as she neared shore. You can barely see the top of Buddy’s head in the front of the dinghy.



It is now Tuesday morning and we are once again enjoying our private view of the waterfall. The hand seems to be healing fine and we plan to head back over to Aqua Yacht Marina later this afternoon to pick up the chest freezer they have been working on and download this edition of the blog. After that, who knows what will happen next in this wonderful live-a-board life. All we know is that it’s a new day and we are blessed to be alive and healthy and enjoying each day to its fullest.