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As you all know, Wes has been working in Atlanta since we moved to Mobile but this past week he came to visit! So, I will share some of our adventures.

Of course we went fishing! We went on a party boat- which is anyone can go, and it was $125 each. We went to Zeke’s Marina in Orange Beach, Alabama. Our boat for the day was Zekes Lady. The captain, Dave, has a nice boat. There were bathrooms and inside the cabin was frigid cold since outside was sweltering hot. His first mates, Jay, and Jerry were genuinely nice and helped everyone when we started catching fish. Most people caught Vermillion Reds, and Red Snapper.

Those were in season, but they had to be longer than sixteen inches, so we threw a bunch back into the water. Also did you know that to get the air out of the fish, the first mates would throw the fish way up into the air so when the fish hits the water it would knock the air out. Of course I caught the fish of the day- a Bonita. They are super bloody, so Wes soaked it for 2 days to get the blood out. But he and the pups tasted it with all the blood. He said it was not bad, but I passed.

Another interesting catch was a Remora. These fish stick to sharks, whales and other large sea animals and eat the leftovers of whatever the larger animal is eating. I have a picture here of the Remora suctioned itself to one of the visitors’ arms.

This was a wonderful day trip!

We also went to Mississippi to the Margaritaville Resort, in Biloxi. From Mobile this was about a 45 min ride. We could not check in until 4pm so, we went to the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum.

The museum is named after George Ohr who was a potter and sculpture at the in the late1800’s early 1900’s. O’Keefe is not who I thought it was, the painter but Mr. O’Keefe loved Ohr’s work and made a museum in his honor.

George Ohr 1857-1918 The “Mad Potter of Biloxi”₁

Mr. O’Keefe died in 2016. Besides Ohr’s work there are other artists there and it rotates out. There is also a small cabin on the campus that talks about segregation and civil rights. The art gallery looks like the Bilbao Museum that is in Bilbao, Spain. It was only $10.00 dollars to enter- very well worth it. The museum was about a 10-minute ride from the Resort.

Ohr- O’Keefe Museum of Art

First, I would like to apologize because I do not have any pictures of the resort. I was too busty having fun and I left my phone in the room. Just click the hyper link below and you guys can check it out.

The Margaritaville Resort was so much fun! I really was in the mood for a lazy river…and they have one! They also had two pools, one with a swim up bar and two water slides. There is also a smaller kid section that I of course went through because they had buckets of water dumping everywhere. They also had a huge arcade! We spent quite a bit of time there playing every game you can imagine. To redeem your tickets was a store with all kinds of things.

There were a variety of different restaurants as well. I must give Michael, our bartender in the Arcade restaurant credit. He knew all his beers that were on tap and told me about the local brews that he had. I love tasting local beer wherever we go. The last thing I wanted to say was that everyone had an armband on. The armband got you in everywhere as well as unlocked your room door, so you did not have to bring keys with you. There was a safe in the room so you could just lock up your valuables and walk out the door with your gear for the pool or arcade, also with that arm band you could charge things to the room! I included a picture of this clock because there are no clocks anywhere outside of your room because You are supposed to be on vacation and not be worried about the time. 😉

Peace and Love,

Sara & Wes

1. (n.d.). George E. Ohr. Q Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_E._Ohr

 After I visited Atlanta last week, I wanted to delve into more about Lake Lanier. It has a very interesting story. I have heard many things about the lake. Why some will not go near it and why others love it.

History- The lake is named after Sidney Lanier. He was in the Confederate army, a poet and musician and wrote a poem about the Chattahoochee River called, “Song of the Chattahoochee.” Now Mr. Lanier was from Macon Georgia. The Chattahoochee River is a very well-known river in Georgia. It runs from the Appalachian Mountains and terminates in Lake Seminole, at the Georgia-Florida border.

In the early 1950’s, the United States Army Corps of Engineers built Buford Dam for purposes that included flood control, power generation, and recreation. It is the primary source of water for Gwinnett County. Total cost to create the lake was about $45 million, including buying 50,000 acres at an average of $50 per acre, beginning in 1948. The government moved 250 families, 20 cemeteries, 15 businesses, and six churches to make room for the lake. Flooded areas included Lake Warner, Chattahoochee Park, and Looper Speedway.

Now what I would like to talk about is that the lake is haunted. There have been so many incidents, accidents, and drownings that this lake must be looked at from a different perspective. As I stated above, many were displaced and though it says that the bodies from the cemeteries were moved we cannot be 100% sure that all the bodies were actually moved.

1. Oscarville, Georgia is the name of the city that was submerged. It was at one time a thriving Black community. Oscarville’s Origins:

1. During the Reconstruction era in the late 1800s, Oscarville emerged as a vibrant Black community. It boasted skilled carpenters, blacksmiths, and bricklayers, with farming as its primary trade. While the rest of the state faced struggles, Oscarville experienced miraculous agricultural growth ¹.
2. The Tragic Turn of Events:
   • In 1912, tragedy struck when Mae Crow, a 19-year-old white woman, was found dead near Oscarville, presumably after being raped. The response was tragically predictable: blame fell upon the Black community.
   • Night riders, fueled by racism, terrorized Oscarville. They attacked the community, burning the church—the heart of the town—where people sought refuge. The destruction was devastating .
3. The Submersion of Oscarville:
   • In the late 1950s, the Buford Dam was constructed, leading to the formation of Lake Lanier. Oscarville, with its rich history, was submerged beneath the lake’s waters. The town’s legacy, its resilience, and the lives lost during the attack were swallowed by the rising waters 
4. Haunted Waters:
   • Some believe that Lake Lanier is haunted by the ghosts of the displaced people from Oscarville. Their stories linger beneath the surface, a testament to the painful past 

This tragic chapter in Georgia’s history reminds us of the importance of acknowledging and preserving the stories of communities like Oscarville, even when they lie hidden beneath the waters of progress.

Blood At The Root: A Racial Cleansing In America, by Patrick Phillips is a book about what happened to Mae Crow and Oscarville.

The lake brings many visitors every year and keeps the surrounding businesses thriving. Just having a boat on the lake generates income for the area. The lake is beautiful and though it has a tragic past it should be kept up for future generations.

I hope you have enjoyed this- it was fun doing the research.

Much love,

Sara & Wes

Resources:

(n.d.). Lake Sidney Lanier. Gwinnett. Retrieved March 17, 2024, from https://www.gwinnettcounty.com/web/gwinnett/aboutgwinnett/fastfacts/lakelanier

Lanier, S. (n.d.). The Song of the Chatahoochee. Poets.org. Retrieved March 17, 2024, from https://poets.org/poem/song-chattahoochee

1. Oscarville: The Black town underneath Lake Lanier | 11alive.com 

2. The Former Black Neighborhood of Oscarville, Ga. Is Now Lake Lanier 

3. Horror film ‘Lanier’ inspired by true haunting tale of displaced Black … 

4. Oscarville: The City Under Lake Lanier 

5. Relatives of Oscarville residents speak about Lake Lanier’s dark history 

6. Oscarville, The Town Submerged by Lake Lanier 

7. Forsyth 1912: The Truth About Lake Lanier and Oscarville 

The one thing about ATB that I love is that she is comfortable. So, trying to adjust her inside temperature for summer and especially winter is an ongoing job. First, though we have a window AC unit, it is only for AC. So that means we must have space heaters for the boat. We have two of them and we close off the galley(kitchen), to keep the heat inside the main cabin and our bedroom. Now I know I have spoken many times about our compost toilet, but it is not my favorite thing to take care of on the boat, but it serves us very well. Wes has finally produced a mixture of cat litter, dirt, wood chips, and lime so there is no smell. Though we have two bathrooms on the boat we only use one. The other is a regular boat toilet, and we could have the tank pumped out every month but that comes at a cost. So, for now we will just keep using the compost toilet. Wes is still working in Atlanta so we will leave ATB on the lake until he gets ready to move to Mobile permanently. I love going there and spending a few days on the lake, especially on O dock. It is quiet and our neighbors are great.

We all have dogs too. What is life without a dog or two?

Our Neighbor Jake

Our other neighbor, Axel

Life at the lake in the winter is extremely slow and quiet.

The restaurant, Pigtails, is closed for the winter and the only people you really see are the people who live on the lake full-time. Do I miss Atlanta, of course I do but there is something about living on the coast that does not compare. The ocean is a magical place unlike any other. I found a book in a box, since we are still living out of boxes here at Mom’s, called SWELL by Liz Clark. Captain Clark sails alone in the Pacific with her cat and has documented some of her voyages. A very good book. We have been reading about people who write about their adventures on the ocean. Quite a few people sailing also blog, have websites, You Tube or any other social media outlets. Captain Clark has a website as well. Not too much this month, and yes, I know I am behind on my entries.

Peace and Love,

Sara & Wes

 Good evening! I want to apologize for the long pause in writing a new post. Life gets in the way as we all know. Let me fill you in on what we have been up to.

1^st I have finally finished nursing school and have passed my boards!

2^nd We have moved to Mobile, Alabama.

3^rd. Since ATB is still on Lake Lanier and Wes travels back and forth for work in Atlanta, we have turned ATB into a floating apartment. I must admit it is very cozy. I will add photos of ATB next month.

4^th I have secured a nursing position at one of the local hospitals. I still have my respiratory license though and will never give it up and found a PRN RT job as well.

Wes has settled in on ATB, and she is looking good. We changed our room to the back bedroom because there is more room there than in the front of the boat. Though we have a shower on the boat, now it is not working so there is a shower/laundromat at our old dock which is about 5 minutes away from our new dock that we moved to.

 We also got cable/internet specifically for our boat. Brightlan specifically sets up internet services for marinas and campgrounds. Great idea! So now We can watch Prime, Netflix or regular cable on the boat to make it more home like.

Life in Mobile-

 We went beach fishing last week on Dauphin Island, and of course here is the link- https://www.townofdauphinisland.org/.

Wes finally caught a black drum. Or maybe it is a red fish!?!?! We cannot tell. But he named him Jacob and released him back into the ocean to live out his life. Jacob looked old and he had to weigh at least 50 pounds. Wes was sure that Martha, (Jacob’s wife), would be upset that he had a hole in his lip from the hook used to snatch him from the sea. It made Wes feel better that he released him and that we have it on record as the “big catch” of the day.

Dauphin Island is a great getaway. It is noticeably quiet with plentiful beaches. It is not overly commercialized so there are not scads of people everywhere. Even in the summer, it is not that crowded like other beach towns nearby. And of course, there is fishing! Watersports as well. One fact that I did not know is that migrating birds can be seen in the forest, dunes, and swamp of the Audubon Bird Sanctuary on the island.

We are finding our way around and enjoying the endless beaches here. It is much slower here, but I expected that from a beach town.

Peace and Love,

Sara & Wes

Wow this has been a year! ATB is back in the water!!! She had been out an entire year and now she is back in her slip on the lake. The engine and transmission are on board but are not hooked up. At least she has them. The engine is her original and will be all connected soon.

BRAVEHEART

I want to thank Braveheart for all his teak, electronics, and everything else we found on board that we can use on ATB. The owner, who lives in Michigan, only wanted a brass oil lamp so I sent that to him. We kept his propeller and his name that was on the back of him. We will always be grateful to him and wanted to honor him with hanging up and displaying his name on ATB.

We hope everyone has a great holiday and we will see you in the new year.

Sara & Wes

  As I have told you guys before- we go to Mobile, Alabama quite a bit. One place we visit while we are there is Cedar Point Pier. It was privately owned and now the county of Mobile has bought it and it is free to go and is open like before 24 hours a day. The store is gone but there are more bathrooms and more seating areas.

Update on ATB-

 Wes has finally finished painting the boat! She looks absolutely gorgeous, and I am sure she feels much better too!

Enjoy the Sunny Days!

Sara & Wes

  Wesley has been working quite a bit since she has been out of the water. I just wanted to show some pictures of the boat. We are trying to get her back in the water so we can take Braveheart out to remove the rest of his contents that we need for ATB. The weather has been great to work on her. Thanks to Pat and Lorin for coming out yesterday to see ATB! Also, I wanted to say hello to Chris, my fellow RRT for Northside. We saw him the other day, working on his boat that is next to Braveheart.

Until next time! Enjoy the day!

Sara & Wes

Good Morning!

 I know it has been a while since my, so I wanted to take a minute to fill everyone in on the progress of ATB.

ATB is still at the moment out of the water. We needed to sand the keel and repaint it. Wes has been spending some time sanding the keel. We have ordered the barrier coat- it is a primer for the boat to go on top of the fiber glass. So, we are trying to get this done so we can put her back into the water. It costs more to keep her ut on the “hard”, which is the ground then being in the water.

We have also purchased motor mounts for the engine to sit on so we can place the engine back into the boat. A company here in Cumming, GA was able to fill that need. Wes has also painted the rudder as well. Here are some pics of the before and after. The grey is a epoxy barrier coat, just like primer but for salt water. We need 3-6 coats of this before we can paint it.

I do not know if I told you guys about our other boat that Wes is completely gutting. Braveheart is a 25-foot boat and we have taken all of his electronics, teak, railing, and the mast from him. We just have a bit more teak to go and we will cut it up and send to the junkyard. Below are some pictures of Braveheart.

I did not realize that I have not posted since Thanksgiving! Life marches on, school is almost done, the tumor came back but it is small, and I am on chemo every three weeks. But we are well, and I pray everyone is doing well!

Enjoy the day!

Sara & Wes

            Wow! This year has flown by! We have taken ATB out of the water! It happened sooner than we planned but that is ok. The doc where she was sitting was destroyed by a few recent storms. Not the entire dock just the uncovered portion. So, the marina told everyone on the uncovered dock that we had to move. Since ATB nor our other boat, Braveheart does not run they had to be moved by barge and lifted out of the water. Of course, I was in class and Wes was at work when they moved them both so no video. Ugh! I really wanted to see it, but she will be out of the water again. Here are some photos of ATB out the water. I really did not comprehend how big she was until she was out on the hard dock.

ATB is a full keel boat. That is one of the reasons she is a great open ocean cruiser. Our first job is to sand and repaint the keel. Wes has taken the rudder off and we are looking for bronze housing for the propeller shaft to go through. We decided to go up to north Georgia to what I called the boat graveyard. It was a junk yard for boats. That was an interesting trip. We had one of the employees take us through the yard to see if we could find an old bronze holding. It was creepy walking through there and it went on for miles but we did not have any luck so we will just have to purchase a housing.

O dock is our new home for Braveheart. It will be ATB’s home as well when we finish working on the keel. I cannot remember if I told you about Braveheart. He is a 37-foot Hunter. One of our neighbors on our old dock who originally owned Braveheart passed away and his son sold it to us because he lives in Michigan. We have stripped him of everything that we could get out of him- a toilet, lots of navigation electronics, teak wood, the mast, and the engine. So, we have gotten out money’s worth out of him and will be installing all of that into ATB.

Enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday!

Sara & Wes

  Thanks to everyone who has donated to the beer cap wall! It looks great and though it is not finished yet I wanted to show you the progress.

I added some more pictures of the bedroom cabinets Wes has made and installed as well as the work he has done on the seats on the deck.

I wanted to mention our boat neighbors. We have some that live on their boat full time, and they are the watchers of ZI dock. They let us know if anything is going on. A while back, there were quite a few burglaries. Though the marina put up a gate at the beginning of the dock, that did not stop people from driving a boat up to other boats and stealing equipment, tools and whatever else they wanted to take. Very frustrating and it made us put all our tools in a locked cabinet on the boat as well as double lock the boat to the inside.

 I went out to the boat with Wes after this class was over and I had some time off before my next class to hang out for a while. It was so nice. Quiet too. Our boat neighbor’s dog- Baby came to visit and Wes keeps treats on the boat just for her!

 Until next time…

Sara & Wes