Another Week on Bay Springs Lake

Sunday afternoon, July 26th, “Just Rosie” came in to Five Fingers to find a place to anchor. That evening we had Mo & Joe over for fresh fish which was really, really good! After dinner we took a little dinghy trip to say hello to “Just Rosie” who invited us over for a shrimp boil Monday evening. We then ran in to John & Sandy on his dinghy and followed them back to “ThatsMe” for a tour. It was dark by the time we returned to “Life’s2Short.”

Mo & Joe relaxing on the back of “MOTU” on a cool, cloudy Sunday afternoon.

The Admiral doing a little boat maintenance of her own – cleaning the fan.

Don & Rosie relaxing on the bow of “Just Rosie” on a peaceful Sunday evening in Five Fingers Cove.

Todd went fishing with John again early Monday morning (this is getting to be a habit!) and brought back enough fish to give both Mo & Joe and Don & Rosie a meal-sized package. Mo & Joe left the anchorage early Monday afternoon and headed back to Bay Springs Marina. “Daphne” locked through to Bay Springs Lake about mid-afternoon and also anchored in Five Fingers so the whole gang joined us for dinner on “Just Rosie.” Great food and a fun time was had by all!

John shows off his prize catch, the pull-top off a Vienna Sausage can he caught on a spinnerbait!

Rosie getting ready to serve the gang her awesome shrimp boil!

“Just Rosie,” “Daphne,” “L2S” and “ThatsMe” getting ready to enjoy dinner.

It rained virtually all day on Tuesday but stopped long enough to dinghy over to “ThatsMe” for another fresh fish dinner. Frank & Joyce (“Daphne”) provided fresh catfish and potato salad; Don & Rosie (“Just Rosie”) brought baked beans; John & Sandy (“ThatsMe”) had more fresh fish (bluegill) and fried potatoes; and Todd & I were in charge of dessert: Irish cream brownies and coconut honey balls. I don’t think anyone went hungry!

Chef John cooking up the fresh bluegill and potatoes.

The gang getting ready to eat on the back of “ThatsMe”.

John has graduated from pull-top lids to monster catfish!

We had more rain overnight and awoke to a mostly cloudy Wednesday morning. Todd went out fishing in his dinghy for a while and brought back a large catfish which he grudgingly filleted for me – thanks, honey! He went fishing again that afternoon but didn’t catch anything. The remainder of the day was spent reading and relaxing, primarily on the boat although we did go to the beach for a little while later in the afternoon to get some fresh air.

Thursday was also cool and cloudy with more chances of rain. Todd and John went fishing early but came back mid-morning empty-handed. Don & Rosie dinghied over about 2:30 to use our phone and computer to catch up on a little communication. We have a good signal here with AT&T but they don’t with Verizon.

Rosie communicates with the outside world from Five Fingers Cove.

After Don & Rosie left we decided to dinghy over to see where “Daphne” was anchored. John was out in his boat fishing nearby and Frank was also out checking his catfish jugs. We did a little exploring and then stopped by “Daphne” on the way back to “Life’s2Short” where Frank & Joyce were generous enough to give us a bag of catfish fillets. I smell another fish fry in our future!

Blessed with a beautiful evening rainbow.

We spent a quiet morning just hanging on the boat Friday and then went over to “Just Rosie” about noon to share mimosas with Don & Rosie and John & Sandy. “Daphne” had left the anchorage that morning headed for Pickwick Lake. It was a beautiful, calm day so we took our cooler to shore mid-afternoon to enjoy our ever- expanding beach (they seem to be letting a lot of water out of the lake and our beach keeps growing!).

We hauled anchor Saturday morning and pulled the bow of the boat up on the sandy beach so the Captain could finish cleaning the sides of the boat and get rid of our Tenn-Tom moustache. We then motored over to Bay Springs Marina to pump out the holding tanks before tying up to the dock behind our good friends Chuck & Pip aboard “Miss Pip” who had just returned to Bay Springs from Prizer Point on the Cumberland River.

My niece, Jennifer, was due to arrive from Missouri Saturday afternoon so we took the marina’s courtesy van to Tupelo to re-provision, which turned out to be quite a marathon event. Jennifer caught a ride to Bay Springs with our friend Phillis who had been visiting friends and family in Kansas City and was driving back home to Crystal River, FL, with a detour to Bay Springs Lake to see long-time friend Mo. We met Phillis and her husband Bob through Mo a few years ago and have since become good friends.

Anyway, we finally made it back to the marina sometime before 6:00 p.m. and began hauling our many purchases down to “Life’s2Short.” Phillis, Jennifer and Mo, who had been hanging out on “MOTU” for a couple of hours waiting for us to return, made their way over to “Life’s2Short” where we visited for a while before joining the Saturday evening dock party that was already in progress. It was a fun evening and a good time was had by all - welcome to the boating life, Jennifer!

Jennifer flanked by Mo & Phillis while the Admiral looks on.

Chuck & Pip catch up with Phillis and Mo while Honey keeps guard.

Dock party photos.

The resident boaters on C-D dock at Bay Springs Marina welcome Chuck & Pip back with their very own cake!

“Pelvis” serenades John & Sandy while Mo & Todd cut a rug.

Sunday morning was spent doing laundry, putting away the rest of the groceries and taking care of a few boat projects such as hosing off the boat, removing and scrubbing the windshield cover and refilling our water tanks. We said our good-byes to Chuck & Pip and Mo and left the marina Sunday afternoon to return to Five Fingers where we once again anchored and tied our stern to shore.

Jennifer & Brenda enjoying the afternoon on Bay Springs Lake on our way to Five Fingers.

After we got settled we took our chairs to the beach for a little swimming and relaxation and then dinghied over to say hi to Don & Rosie who were still anchored in a nearby cove. That evening we grilled a big slab of salmon for dinner and ate on the bow of the boat, enjoying the view and the cooler air.

Today is Monday, August 3rd, and we will spend one more night at Five Fingers before making the 35-mile trip to Pickwick Lake. Jennifer is planning to stay with us through next Monday so we will post another blog update early next week covering the remainder of her trip. We’ll do our best to make sure she has a memorable time!