The next day…
After our, shall we say ‘interesting’, trip into Florence Harbor Marina, we took a few days off to make some appointments, run some errands, and rest up a bit before our next leg. That decision was based on two things. One we needed to do those errands and stuff, and two, the weather had decided to, well, suck. Thunderstorms every day, and just enough sun to get the cabin nice and hot before the next downpour started. The portable AC we bought just before we left is not really designed for marine use. But it has done a decent job of keeping the cabin cool during the day and it was on sale, so there’s that. We think it was money well spent.
The next day started about 7:00. Partly cloudy, but rain on the way. Let me just go ahead and say - when we are back on this part of the river again and need a place to spend a day or two, Florence Harbor Marina will be that place. The transient docks are very nice. The marina is in the midst of Florence’s nicest city park. Met up with the harbormaster to check in and well, he was just the kind of guy you want doing that job, if you’re a boater passing through.
The marina monitors the VHF radio traffic from Wilson lock, so he has an idea of when boats that have made reservations will actually arrive. He had heard some of our conversation with the lock master, and he knew we’d had a very long day. Upon learning we wanted to stay a few days, he reminded us of the “stay 7 days, pay for 5” special they run. And offered to let us move to one of the slips on the sailboat pier of the marina, where the boat would be a bit more secure while we were away. Power and water included. Nice, thanks Kyle.
By 7:30, we were in our new slip. Some coffee and breakfast, and a bit more rest from the previous night. The next several days would include a hardware store run, dinner with friends that live in Florence, moving our cars from Decatur to the Pickwick marina, lunch with Hartselle friends, grocery runs, additional insulation in the fridge, dinner with Huntsville friends, and probably a few things I’ve forgotten. The forecast wouldn’t really improve until Wednesday or Thursday of the next week, so plenty of time to get things done. Oh, and lunch at the on-site restaurant - delicious and reasonably priced. I think we’ll like it here this week. (Editor’s note: We did!)