Leaving
the Tennessee River
Sunday,
October 7th, Day 146
We are now ending our cruise of the Tennessee River and beginning the trip to the Gulf.
We
drove back from Little Rock to the boat in Fort Loudoun Marina. We brought back
Gypsy’s mom, Abby. We will be dog sitting on the boat for the next few weeks.
Richard is concerned about the trips to shore because unlike Gypsy, Abby is not
potty pad trained.
When we arrived back at the boat, marina personnel had moved the boat to a slip
at the far end of the marina. I only thought the slip at the Vol landing marina
was a long walk. This made that walk seem like nothing. We all got plenty of
exercise that day.
Monday,
October 8th, Day 147
We took the rental car back to the airport, and then had lunch at Ruby Tuesdays in Knoxville. I finally got to do laundry. The count was up to 6 loads. We went to Calhoun’s for a light dinner then back to the boat for Monday night football. One of the bright spots of the day was that we were allowed to move our boat right up to the very first dock by the gate. This made not only doing laundry easier, but also taking the dogs for a walk.
Tuesday,
October 9th, Day 148
Woke to
another day of beautiful crisp fall weather. As we pulled away from the dock,
our new Dinghy caught on the cleat. I was screaming at Richard to stop the boat
as the cleat ripped a huge hole in our inflatable dinghy. So now we will have to
order a patch kit and hope that we can patch it. Ugh!!
We did manage to get right into the Ft. Loudoun lock without waiting. The
lockmaster remembered us from our other trips and even showed us the choices
coozie we had given him the first time through.
We made it to Blue Springs marina. The restaurant there is closed until April,
but they did allow us to use a courtesy truck so that I could go to a small
convenience store for bread and snacks. I cooked prime rib stroganoff and we had
dinner and wine by candlelight. And I said to myself, oh what a wonderful world.
Blue Springs Marina is in a very protected cove and has gas and diesel and 30
and 50-amp power. Slip Cost $28.00.
Wednesday,
October 10th, Day 149
I
was up at 8:30 am. The dogs have been very good about sleeping late. Usually I
have to wake them when I get up each morning. The dogs and I took a walk up past
the old Johnson cemetery then we packed things up and headed for Chickamauga
marina about 10:30 am. After several hours on the water, we decided instead to
stay at Sale Creek Marina. This is a small marina with mostly sailboats, but can
easily accommodate our 41 footer. The place is very rustic with nice concrete
walking paths through lovely wooded areas. There is a small store there but with
very limited supplies. They do give a 25 % discount for Boat US members. The
dogs were happy to see land and romped through the woods. We enjoyed sitting out
on the aft deck watching the beginning of the changing colors. We watched the
baseball playoffs on TV then off to dreamland.
The marina has 30 amp power and gas. Slip cost with discount
$18.00.
Thursday, October 11th, Day 150
Woke to clouds and mild temperatures. The rain is headed our way but holding off for now. We headed out to Chickamauga at noon and made it without problems. The only space they had for us was at the very end of the dock and we will have to move from there by Monday. The walk is still not as long as Ft. Loudoun. We settled in for the night and it began raining slightly.
Friday,
October 12th, Day 151
More rain
today but humid and warmer. Richard went to the office and used the phone line
to get email and Internet stuff.
We borrowed the service manager’s Durango to go shopping and had lunch at
Sticky Fingers.
We got new swivel rockers for the back deck so we had quite a load to get back
to the boat. It was several trips. Once again finding room for everything was
tough.
We managed to stay dry during all our gallivanting as it rained off and on
throughout the day.
The rain had stopped by late afternoon so I took the dogs for a romp. Abby is
persnickety about getting her feet wet so she did her business more quickly than
usual. We just snacked for dinner and watched some baseball on the tube.
Coming to Chickamauga Marina is sort
of home coming for Richard. This is where he berthed the boat while he was in
Chattanooga. The staff is all very friendly and they have quite capable
mechanics.Has
Gas and diesel and 30/50 amp power. Complete repair dept. Slip
fee is $20.00.
Saturday,
October 13th, Day 152
The
boat is snug at the end of E dock and the sun is shining today. I simmered a big
pot of Vegetable beef soup most of the day and we watched College football. We
took the soup to Tom and Gloria Cannon’s house for dinner and had a pleasant
visit. Gloria is recovering from foot surgery so she is couch ridden and going
cabin fever crazy. When we returned
to the boat we saw a boat approaching its slip and the people were yelling our
names. It turned out to be Sherry and Don on “FIVE PM” they told us to come to B dock and party. Just
as we got to their boat, the rain began to pour. We were nice and snug under
cover and we all had a great time.
Sunday,
October 14th, Day 153
It’s a cool crisp morning, but the sun is shining bright. Not much happened today. Chuck and Marsha visited during the afternoon. I took the dogs for a nice long walk along the water’s edge. We had a taco feast and then watched Pro football.
Monday,
October 15th, Day 154
Another cool clear morning with lots of sunshine. We moved today just up river to Island Cove Marina. We are still waiting for our dinghy repair supplies to arrive. We were assigned a covered slip at Island Cove and had problems with our Digital satellite signal. We kept pulling the boat further and further back in the slip and finally got a signal. There is a restaurant at this marina and it’s open Tuesday – Saturday. The Dockmaster, Glen Murdaugh, is very helpful. He called out the electrician who immediately came to fix a defective power breaker at our slip. He then brought us 2 Island Cove coozies.
Tuesday,
October 16th, Day 155
Another crisp cool The dinghy repair kit arrived and Richard found that he could not repair the dinghy himself so we had to ship the dinghy to be repaired. We are really worried that we won’t have the dinghy back by the time we head down the Mississippi to Arkansas for Thanksgiving. We had dinner here at the Pelican restaurant in the bar and the staff here are very friendly and fun. The food is good and reasonably priced.
Wednesday,
October 17th, Day 156
Our friends,
Chuck and Marsha Allen called and we agreed to meet them at the Pelican
restaurant for dinner. There was a 2 piece group playing there ala Hank Williams
Jr. music.
We all had a great time. I even sat in with the band and sang a few tunes.
Thursday,
October 18th, Day 157
Tom Cannon came by and let us borrow his truck for a supply run. I cooked a big batch of Chicken fajitas and we took it to Tom and Gloria’s for dinner. Their son Tony joined us as he is home from college for the weekend. We had such a great evening and we will miss them and all the very nice people I’ve met here in Chattanooga.
Friday,
October 19th, Day 158
We
headed down river to Shellmound for the fall color cruise festival. This
festival is held the last 2 weekends of October and raises money for the
Shriners and all the good work they do. It is a popular event with many boats
making the trip to see the colors in the “Grand Canyon” of the Tennessee
River. Some people arrive in interesting “boats”.
Many people come from Chattanooga, taking the “Southern
Belle” down and the bus back or vice versa.
On
the way down there was a lot of radio activity about a boat going down river at
a very high rate of speed and he wasn’t slowing for anything. He even knocked
one fisherman overboard with his wake. It’s amazing how rude and dangerous
some boaters can be. We talked on the radio to the Captain of “ROSEBUD”, Gar and his wife Rachel. They hail from
Panama City, FL and told us of a nice marina there called Bay Point. We will
most probably see them along the way.
We
wanted to arrive early so we could get a place at the dock since we are
dinghy-less. When we arrived, there was only one spot at the dock left. We
managed to tie to it, at least 10 feet of us did. Richard was worried that we
weren’t supported enough, but we finally got tied down enough to suit him.
There were boats coming in from everywhere. The booths for the arts and crafts
were just being set up. There were
2 stages being set up for the entertainment and it is quite a sight to see all
the boats and booths and stages. We met people on all the boats right behind us
that were rafted off to each other and they used our swim platform as their
walkway to the dock. Some of their children even babysat the dogs and romped and
played with them. That night we had a huge party and sing-a-long on the decks of
our boats.
What a wonderful fall night. Pumpkins and Bales of hay were everywhere.
Saturday,
October 20th, Day 159
We awoke and had biscuits and sausage from one of the vendors. Busloads of people were being shuttled by city bus from Chattanooga.
Our
boat was tied in front of These wonderful people who’s last names we didn’t
get but we spent a great weekend with them and their children. Richard and
Laura, David and Brenda Seymore and their sons Jonathan and Houston, and
Laura’s brothers, Paul and David. It seems to be a common happening, we meet
very nice people and get their first names (which is really all you need), but
fail to get their last names. We have vowed to be better at it.
Our
friend Chuck Allen and his friend Mark arrived and rafted next to us. We spent a
nice afternoon with them. That night we went to Richard and Annette’s
houseboat and had a disco night. Well let me say only the ladies danced on top
of the houseboat. The men just stood below and watched and cheered them on. They
have a great sound system. We saw no clothing removed as had happened in years
past (according to my Richard) so this must have been a pretty tame bunch
compared to years before.
Yes there were lots of RICHARDS!
Sunday,
October 21st, Day 160
We were all a
bit slow to rise but timed our leaving just right and headed straight into the
lock at Nickajack. We docked that evening at Goose Pond Marina.
Slip cost $15.00. They have 30 and 50 amp power and sell gas and diesel.
We met a couple, Ken and Kim who loved our dachshunds and have 2 of their own
almost the same red as our girls.
Then Nick and Elsa pulled their boat up next to us and invited us to join them
for homemade soup and cornbread. It was yummy. We had wonderful boating
fellowship with new friends. Their boat is kept at Alred Marina and we decided
to stop there next.
We are having great weather and truly enjoying and savoring every day of it
because we know we will soon be very cold.
Monday,
October 22nd, Day 161
Did boat
keeping chores then headed to Guntersville, Al to Alred marina. A nice marina
with gas and diesel and 30/50-amp power. Slip cost $27.00.
Watched some Monday night football then had a nice roast in the crock-pot then
off to bed.
Tuesday,
October 23rd, Day 162
When we got
to Guntersville lock and we were told we would have a 3 hour wait. We pulled
along side the lock wall to wait for the tows that were locking up and down. As
luck would have it, one of the tows had to make a crew change, so we were able
to lock down after about an hour wait.
We arrived around 4:30pm and docked at Riverwalk Marina in Decatur. No one was
in the office so we pulled in to one of the transient slips and luckily had
power but no water. The Hard Dock café on the premises was closed (you find
that a lot at this time of year). There are a couple of places in town that will
deliver food to the marina so we called Papa John’s and dined on pizza. Slip
cost $20.00.
Wednesday,
October 24th, Day 163
It was a cold
gray day and we headed out to Florence, AL. It was very windy and when we
arrived at the Florence Marina, the wind was not working for us but we made it
into our slip thanks to the great Captain Richard.
There’s a nice restaurant and bar there called Barnacle Bill’s. We had
dinner there.
The city park next to the marina has a nice river walk and the dogs and I went
for a stroll. That night we had very high winds and a big storm but we were snug
in our boat womb. It was the storm that had all the tornados but as is ooour
luck, we were tied to a dock and no tornados.
Ted Beardsley, the new marina manager was very helpful. They have 30/50 amp
power and sell gas and diesel. Slip cost $18.50 with 25% BoatUS discount.
Thursday,
October 25th, Day 164
We managed to
lock down very quickly at both locks we went into today, Wheeler and Wilson.
Pickwick’s Tenn-Tom marina around 4pm. It’s a very nice marina. There is
more protection from the wakes that you get on the Tenn Tom. They have gas and
diesel and 30/50 amp power. Slip cost $38.00.
There is not a restaurant on the premises, but they will provide a courtesy car
and there are several restaurants in the area. We met up with Rachel and Gar on “ROSEBUD”
again. They came to our boat for cocktails and we had a nice chat.
The only negative thing I could find about this marina is the very long walk to
take the dogs to shore.
Friday,
October 26th, Day 165
We woke early
and headed to Decaturville, AL and the Mermaid Marina. It was a very cold and
windy day. Our Friends Vicki and Joe Granade joined us for the weekend aboard
the boat. We had our heating units going full blast and we had candles burning
on the aft deck for warmth there. Chef Joey grilled chicken for dinner and later
we pulled the keyboard out and had a sing-a-long. It was a great evening.
Saturday,
October 27th, Day 166
We all slept
in due to partying. After coffee, the Captain and Joe left in the boat headed for
Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville, TN.
Along the way, they even managed to find a “lighthouse”
to photograph.
Vicki and I headed out in their Durango for shopping and lunch then on to New
Johnsonville to meet up with the boat again. It was only an hour’s drive by
car and 4 hours by boat. We arrived just as the guys were bringing the boat in
so we were able to catch lines and help snuggle her in to the slip. The
temperature high today was only 50 and the low tonight is supposed to hit
freezing.
We went for dinner at the Pebble Isle Café there at the marina the café is
under new ownership and the food was great. Our waiter was Michael, the
owner’s 11 year old son and he did an excellent job. They will also deliver
all 3 meals to your boat as well.
The prices were very reasonable.
We went back to the boat and Joe was practicing using all the nautical terms he
had learned that day. We all got a big kick out of that.
The marina is
3 years old and expanding. There is 30/50 amp power, gas and diesel. Slip cost
$24.00.
Time changes
tonight so we’ll fall back an hour. We went to bed early.
Sunday,
October 28th, Day 167
Up early and
said goodbye to Vicki and Joe and headed to Green Turtle Bay in Kentucky.
We will keep the boat here for the next 8 days while we rent a car and drive to
St. Louis to see Richard’s daughters and family.
This marks the end of our cruise on the Tennessee River.