GLORY DAYS ON THE GREAT LOOP: UH! OH! ULN!! (UNIDENTIFIED LOUD NOISE)

DAY 152, THURS. NOV. 10, 2011
AM CLEAR, COOL PM CLEAR, SUNNY
DEP. BOBBIES FISH CAMP 06:45 ARR. ALABAMA R. CUTOFF (mm 52.8) 2:15
D. 56.1 sm / 2815.8

We left Bobbies at 06:45 for the Coffeeville Lock, our LAST LOCK of the trip.Well, there is one more just south of Norfolk, VA but that doesn’t count as it is only a drop of a few feet.At about 9AM we hear this very loud noise and the volt meter drops to 10 volts.It lasts for about 3 minutes then stops.About ½ hr. later it happens again.Unfortunately, I can’t identify it, but since the oil pressure and coolant temp is good, I keep on going.The other reason to keep going is there is absolutely no place to stop.We are cruising down a river and you either keep going or beach the boat.At 2:15 we pull into our planned anchorage for the night, the Alabama R. Cutoff at mm52.8.It is about 75’ wide, 100 yds. long, and 8’ deep.You have to pull in, turn the boat 180 degrees then drop the anchor.This is where I discover what the noise was.NO BOW THRUSTER!!!Fortunately, Frank (Once Around) and Frank (Irony) are there in their dinghies and they pretend to be tug boats and help me turn the boat and set the hook.The rest of the night was good, except for the cold.The outside temps dropped to below freezing and there was frost on the deck in the morning.The inside temp got down to 50 and there was frost on my behind.