Thursday

We beat feet up the river in leisurly fashion from Chattonogga this morning. We had to get gas in the morning and Deb made a magnicifent approach to the dock. The spectators said it was the best they had seen all week!!! We fueled up (don't ask) and then had to go back upstream 2 miles before escaping the shoals and hitting the main channel. This was perhaps the prettiest 35 miles of the trip. great deep canyons - passed the Tenneesee Aquairum boat twice. Really nice. However, all good things come to an end. We waited 3+ hours to lock up at Watts Barr., Got a hook down which held well and waited patiently. Caught up on emails. Finally got through and put the hammer down. 20 MPH to Blue Springs after spending the morning at 6 MPH. Nice resort here - bought gas, ice and water. Plugged in and have the air conditioner on full tilt. Shoving off at 7:00 am to go the last 100 miles. Dogs are doing really well. Tonight is a three bottle night...........

Crossed the TN border

These pics were taken between the Nickajack and Chickamauga locks....well known to be the most beautiful part of the TN river. Very narrow, windy, and DEEP (over 100 ft at times - which was kinda scary), and surrounded by the gorgeous mountainous scenery. This st rectch cluminates in Chattanooga, where we had over a 2 hour wait at the Chickamauga lock, which consists of only one short chamber. Unfortortunately we arrived right after they began breaking a downbound barge apart for passage. Fortunately, though, there was a beautiful park with a dock that we could tie up to and wait. (

Fighting our way upstream

During the last couple days, we've felt the effects of the torrential rains this area has endured. Travelling through northern AL and southern TN, the currents have been horrendous! Not to mention the debris. Luckily we were not delayed at all when locking up. (probably because we were the only idiots to be out on the river..) Needless to say our gas mileage has been affected. I told Tim I don't even want to know what we're getting. At times the river was flowing 5 MPH. If only we were travelling DOWNstream!

Good pics of tall lock

Day Nine - Outrunning the storm

We left Pickwick right at sunrise. Cloudy and overcast with a slight drizzle. After a few anxious moments we sorted out the bouys (OK - Deb did) and got on the Tennessee. After making only 50 miles yesterday and Deb wanting to be in Knoxville Thursday night for her grandchild's birthday party, we hit it hard. We drove about 17 MPH for a couple of hours and then the rain caught us. Deb ran the radar and I drove. Passed a few commercial vessels headed in both directions and ran with all the canvas down with little visibility. The radar was fantastic. Got up to the lock system at Wilson Lock and dam. Took great pics - the small lock was a two step while the big one was 100' lift. Awesome. Then just 15 miles later we locked again at Wheeler. Just a couple of miles later we stoped for fuel at Wheeler State Resort. This is run by the state of Al. Well worth coming back. SUper place and people. The marina was closed but there was a phone number to call for help and the lady who helped us fuel was great. 35 miles more and we're up a little unused canal off the river at about 321.

More photos - Sun

Check out the wild goats in the middle picture. In the red shirt is our fearless navigator trying to find out where the heck we are.

Sunday

Sunday was challanging...

The weather was really difficult. We had thunderstorms chasing us up the Tennessee all day. As we approached Pickwick lock and dam the current was really strong. The boat was working hard to make progress against the current. Then the storm caught us just as we entered the lock. Totally soaked locking up and the lightning and thunder was impressive. In a very timid voice we told the lockmaster that we were in no hurry to leave. She laughed and after opening the upper gates told us to stay as long as we wanted. As the rain abated we finally ventured out. We found Pickwick State Marina, where Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama all come together. We bought fuel there and wound up spending the night at this very nice marina. Beautiful sky as well, and the Harbormaster's wife drove Deb to a local grocery store to get some steaks. Really nice ending to an 'interesting' day.

Lower Lake Barkley - Saturday

Saturday morning we pulled anchor and headed south on Lake Barkely. This lake extends some 200 miles from the dam (Barkley Dam, oddly enough) to the next dam - Pickwick. We had anchored out in a cove, which was tricky getting in and out, due to shallow water. In the end however, it worked out really nice and we had a quiet evening to ourselves. The next morning it was raining and heavily overcast as we started down the Tennessee. There were hundreds (and hundreds..) of boats out on the lake for a bass tournament. Note the second picture in our blog. Thought it depicted the bridge to nowhere. Not sure what happened to the other half of the bridge, but evidently the ferry picked up where the bridge has left off.

FRIDAY NIGHT CAMPSITE

We just got anchored. Pic of Tim checking up on his parents.

GREEN TURTLE MARINA

This marina was absolutely beautiful. We stayed here 2 nights. Was so impressed with the ammenities we will probably plan a family trip down here. Condo rentals, 3 pools, tennis courts, boat rentals, beach, etc.... Our new GPS chip got fed ex'd on time, so we were able to leave around 10:30 Friday. Went through the Barkley canal and are now on the Kentucky lake. Only went about 50 miles today due to the late start. We anchored out in a cove for the night. A test of our "lack" of skills was put to the test as we did this during a a brief, but windy, storm. Got 2 anchors out and tied to a tree. Storm has passed and we are now cooking dinner and enjoying well deserved adult beverages! For people that know Tim's boating experience...have you ever seen him clean the boat?? (had to include this picture...He's obviously not editing my blog..)

`Day five - Cumberland River to Lake Barkley

Bought gas in a Marina in Golanda Illinois. 100 miles or so from our last stop. This is the only place to fuel for 50 miles in either direction. It was super windy, and the channel entrance was very narrow. Deb did a magnificant job of ba6cking down on the gas dock so we could get a rope to the guy helping us. It was even more exciting getting out as the wind was trying to impale us on a row of boats in front of us. We locked down at Smithland and then 2 miles past this lock our time on the Ohio ended as we entered the Cumberland River. This is very narrow and twists and turns for some 32 miles to get to the Barkley Dam. This is a high hydro power dam, which together with the dam on the Tennessee 3 miles away forms the Land Between the Lakes. We hd to hustle to get to Green Turtle Marina where they wanted to check us in to their transient slip by6. We ran the Cumberland at almost 20 miles per hour - never having been much over 10 for the rest of the trip. GReat fun. Along the way we also got flagged down by a guy with a dead engine. We towed him about a mile to a landing then got going again. Up the spectacular Barkley lock almost 60 feet. Two nights here, a chance to clean the boat and do laundry. The next hurdle is a failure of the GPS. We spent the Thursday on the phone with a couple of people and if Fed Ex works out, we will have the part we need tomorrow and be on our way.

Night number three

Found a really pretty spot to tie up behind some islands right above a dam. Put one anchor down and then tied a rope to a tree, using the dingy. Dogs loved this shore, and marked it appropriately. Big dinner and early to bed, but ran the air conditioner to cool the boat off for the evening. The next morning we dawdled a bit, making coffee and bacon, as the lock we had to go through was just 45 minutes down river from when we pulled the hook and shoved off. Ran hard for four hours then got gas. Don't ask....

My wife is a saint.

Taking the dogs for a walk

This is how you take the dogs for a walk on the river....

Assistant Navigators....

Tell Linda DeWorth our dogs are cuter then hers.

These are supposedly authentic replicas of the Nina and Pinta (Columbus, right guys?). They were in Owensboro and getting ready to sail to Lousiville - perhaps Cinci after that... Wonder if their icemaker was working.

This is an uncommon view of a bridge. This was apparently recently built, as it didn't show up on either the paper or electronic charts. This part of the river is very shallow and bouyed heavily. Remember to keep the reds to your left!

Check out this beautiful sunrise after the fog lifted....

As we noted, we got up super early to 'hit the road'. Our goal is to get to Lake Barkley in four days, so we can spend some extra time there. To do so we need to average 100 miles per day. The boat runs best at 10 MPH, so on the third day we hit it early. Too early. It was pitch black. Deb was glued to the radar as the river twisted and turned. At the narrowest and in a sharp series of turns we ran into two tugs with barges. They shined their spots on us, probably wondering what the heck we were doing out there at that time of the night. Just as we cleared these guys by scooting way over into shallow water, the fog descended. More fun. This was the 2 hours of terror to go with the 20 hours of relaxed cruising. We won't do this again...

The second evening was crystal clear and about 50 miles from any city. The stars were unbeliveable. We had several adult beverages and admired the stars for a number of hours. We dingyed up on shore to walk the dogs and then returned to the boat to spend the night. The next morning we got up about 4:30 - big mistake...

After Louisville the river runs several hundred miles through a wilderness part of the two states. This evening we simply stopped at a wide part in the river and dropped two anchors out.

This is downtown Louisville - TT's birthplace. We noted there was not a plaque. The lock down is just past downtown, a mile or so down a very narrow canal. Very interesting approach to the city. We locked down with one boat - the last time we shared a lock for a few days.

Our first night we docked up to this gas barge located 25 miles north of Louisville. A very nice couple ran this that made the world BEST pizza from scratch! A campground is located on shore which made great frisbee activity for our 2 dogs. Great 1st night!

Tim's on guard inside the lock...

Entering Markland Lock on our first day. Anxieties EXTREMELY high as we are virgin lock passagers.

Here's Tim at the controls going through Cinci.

FAREWELL TO CINCINNATI

This is the beginning of our trek from Cincinnati OH to Knoxville, TN. We left on Sat 9/12 at 6:30 AM and anticipate travelling 100 miles per day, which should put us at our destination in 10 days. This is the view from Manhattan Harbour as we were leaving. What a great marina! And our neighbors, Keith and Katherine, were the best! Thanks for the "bon voyage" gift. All four of us enjoyed it!