It was time for another trip on the View, this time to Baltimore for TrawlerFest. I will be giving my Cruising America's Great Loop talk on Saturday, Sept 29^th.  But first we had signed up for a Grand Lakes Yacht Club 35 mile cruise on the Katy Leigh south to Leatherwood Marina and Resort. It meant packing for the boat and the View.  Friday we drove to Murray, dropped the car off in the shed and drove the View to Kenlake Marina where the boat is moored. As it turned out it was easier than we first thought. Overall we only forgot a couple of things like a sweater and gloves for the early mornings. The cruise to Leatherwood took place on an absolutely perfect, clear and sunny day. We led the way by leaving an hour ahead of the other 8 boats.  

Once docked the Katy Leigh drew a crowd of Leatherwood boaters who apparently had never seen a Grand Banks trawler. Mavis and I toured about 6 couples.   Then it was party time from 4:00PM till all hours for many in our group. Dinner and the bands started at 4:00PM. Leatherwood is in Tennessee and has a full bar at the Pirates Cove bar and restaurant. The next morning we were up at 7:00, had breakfast at Pirates Cove and were underway at 8:00AM. It was another perfect day with a little fog on the water. Since it was cold we ran from below rather than the fly bridge.  

My new chartplotters, radar, and AIS got a good workout. The AIS shows  the name,  position, speed, and heading on the chart plotter for any tow boats within 15 miles on the river.  We got back to Kenlake at 11:45 and were on the road by 12:30 heading for Elizabethtown. Today,  

Monday, we stopped briefly at La Grange KY ( 20 miles east of Louisville) to meet a new client, Randy Troutman, at the corporate headquarters of  United Marine Underwriters.  His office building is on a beautiful horse farm.  Tonight we are at a very good RV Park called Spring Valley, in Cambridge OH.