Moundsville

Let me start this post by saying that Moundsville WV is a really cool
place and everyone should go there. We met some amazing guys on the
public dock on our first night. They were amazing and shared their
beer with us. Love you dudes. When we first rolled into town the motor
was puttering and only running on one cylinder. We were real worried,
but as a result of a mistake on our charts, we docked up to a dock we
thought was public and found Mike the marine mechanic. We eventually
worked out a deal for a new motor with him. We now have a beautiful
new(er) working Johnson 9.9 on the back that certainly works better
than our last motor and won`t be nearly the headache. The story of how
we got this motor was pretty rediculous. Let me tell it to you now. We
got the money we needed to pay him and decided to motor up river about
100 feet or so back to the private dock that led us to Mike in the
first place because it was closer to his shop. We tied up and the wind
started blowing hard. Really hard. So, we ran up and got the motor, as
we were carrying it back down I looked down and turned to Faith and
said, "Where is the boat," in an especially worried tone. She looked
around confused. I saw it down from where we had come from! I put the
motor down and started running. Apparently it was ripped out of the
cleats and the hut acted as a sail and it barreled down the river. Our
canoe hit the end of a dock, bounced off, missed two $50,000 boats and
ended up wedged at the end of a private dock! When I got there, one of
the guys at the dock had a shepards hook out holding our boat from
banging into the dock. We jumped in, Faith and I, and started pushing
the boat away from the dock and all the expensive boats. I think when
they realized the storm was almost there and we had no where to go,
they let us stay at their dock for the night. It turns out the dock
belonged to Mike`s dad. Super cool people. They saw us at our worst
and most disorganized but they were so nice to us. What a crazy day
yesterday was. Thanks for everything Mike and Korrie. To Abbie and
Zane: the chickens miss you already :) Now we are floating down with a
nice downstream wind. We motored for a bit earlier and moved real
nicely. Thanks for reading friends. I`ll update again soon. Peace.

100 miles!

Today we made it past the 100th mile marker. Thank you friends for
your support thus far it means so much. We are making this happen even
if we are only making it a few miles a day sometimes :) We love you
all. In other news, tonight we will sleep at the public dock in the
town of Moundsville, WV. We have met some wonderful people here
already. A guy in a really cool red boat gave us some cold drinks and
food. Cherries and a pepperoni roll, my personal favorite. We also
talked to a marine mechanic who hooked us up. Nice people in
Moundsville. We`ll write again soon. Love ya.

Sorry for the lack of posts :(

Friends, we are still alive. Sorry for the large gap in posts. I was
having trouble getting my phone to work properly with our blog
account. So, where to start? So many amazing things have happened. We
have met the most wonderful people and had such crazy experiences.
Some kind folk have given us tows along the way. We`ve weathered a few
storms, fixed motor issues, pushed through intense head winds, shared
meals and drinks with such amazing people. Those at the Brilliant Boat
Club and Dorsch`s Landing deserve way more than we could ever give.
You are true friends. Also our friend in Toronto OH deserves a shout
out. He took us to the gas station and the grocery store and shared
his time with us, as did our pal in Wellsburg WV. He even taught us
some new knots to try out. We are finding that river people are the
nicest people around. We are currently in Wheeling after two amazing
days spent with our new friends, the Dorsch`s. We are losing a
Vorrasi today, but Faith and I will float on. If this post works then
I will be back on the grid posting a lot more on my phone, thanks to the
technological ways of Michelle The Great. Thank you friends who have
helped us out along the way so far. We love you, and thank you friends
for reading and helping to keep the dream alive. peace. -colin

Day 2: Bridgewater Landings rules, continued...

One of these things is not like the others.

Pardon the interuption, that was all my phone could handle at once. So Dave insisted on taking us to his private marina for the night. He towed us up into the mouth of the Beaver river and docked us up. The people there were the nicest people we have met so far. They shared their food, drink, knowledge, dock space, everything. Thank you friends. Bridgewater Landings rules. If the night couldn`t get any better, Michelle came up from Pittsburgh and spent the night. What a day.

Day 2: Bridgewater Landings rules

Dear friends, day two started with Faith`s procurement of two chickens as I have previously written. We left Sewickly at a decent hour and made it through our second lock shortly after. We then floated for most of the day. The pool that we were in was mosly full of pleasure boats and very few barges so we didn`t need to worry about menuvering too much. We would become surrounded by jet skiers and smaller boats who were just wondering what the hell we were doing. People were really friendly. At one point, some cops came down to the shore and yelled to us, "are yinz alright out there?" We all had a good laugh about that one. We were told by some people we met that there was a public dock just after the convergence of the Ohio and Beaver rivers, so we motored on so we could get there before dark. when we were passing the Beaver river, we met a boater named Dave, or Crazy Dave.

Day 1

Day one went off without a hitch. The engine worked great, although we floated a whole lot as well. We made it through the first lock and docked up just before the second lock at a public dock in Sewickly. Dear Natalie Allen and her roommate Morgan met us at the dock. Morgan fed us flatbread with homemade riccota cheese, Zuccini, cherries, and chocolate. Amazing. We slept at the public dock. No problem with the police , but trains rolled right passed us and honked their horns every time, even at 4 in the morning. Not too much sleep for any of us. For me, the trains, for Vorassi, the plywood bed, for Faith the cold. None the less, we got a good start on the day with eggs and the Dashields lock. Faith also met a woman that gave here too chickens. one year old and laying eggs. It looks like we will have breakfast for a while. love yinz. -colin

Engine troubles + engine troubles+ engine troubles+ redemption = learning the speed at which things move on the river

So for the past week we have been having trouble with the engine. I called in a favor from this awesome guy I met on the river about a month ago. His name is Evan. He was amazing and found some parts for our motor. He also came down and helped us get it running. We took a spin up the river and everything was running smoothly. Now we`re finally good to go. We want to leave tomorrow but it all depends on if we get a few small necessities that we still need. We`ll update very soon. Love you.

Farewell Pittsburgh

Check it! We finally got the motor mounted. You know what that means??? We are leaving, so soon. We took down most of our provisions to the boat and had our first meal. Spaghetti pasta, oil, and spices. Sadly today it relentlessly raining, so the last few things we need to do might need to wait until tomorrow. We will update soon with a departure time and date. That way anyone that wishes will be able to wave us away with their handkerchiefs. Here is a pictures of us running up the Ohio river (motor view). Oh, and my feet are up in the air because I was especially giddy and excited. cheers

Moving Day!

Tony and the folks at the Island Boat Club needed to build some new docks, so we had to move the boat down past the sunken barge at the end of Tony's property. Sadly Faith went to see her parents in Philly so I got Kris and Barker to help. Here are some fun pictures thanks to Barker. Let's keep the dream alive. Love, colin and faith