Fall Cruising on the Tennessee

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We left on Tuesday morning and stopped for the night at Marsh Creek, an anchorage we'd always wanted to try. It was a beautiful spot, quiet and off the river. There was a dredge working near the mouth of the creek, but they quit around 4:30 and we enjoyed the peacefulness and the solitude. The next morning we were greeted with fog, which cleared out by mid morning. We were surprised when we got back on the river that the fog had not cleared there yet. It didn't take long until it burned away except for a few wisps of low fog and some interesting-looking fog tubes that swirled up and then dissipated.

After all the heavy rains down south, both Pickwick Dam and Kentucky Dam are spilling until further notice. This means we had a strong current in Kentucky Lake and higher water than normal. We anchored the second night at Wolf Island, just past Savannah, behind a small island that split the strong currents around us. We got good hold with our anchor and were secure for the night, again waking to fog. Approaching Pickwick Dam our speed slowed to 4 mph against the current (as opposed to our normal haul-ass speed of 8 mph.) The water level at the dam on the Kentucky Lake side was 9 feet above normal pool. The Pickwick Lake side was 2 feet below normal pool, making the lift in the lock 44' instead of the normal 55'.

Once in Pickwick Lake, we made our way to one of our favorite anchorages at Whetstone Branch, where we swam with the Ivory and felt much refreshed for it. The water was 75 degrees, which as Kerry put it, is just a bit cooler than refreshing. It rained that night for about an hour, then cleared off giving us another beautiful, sparkling day. We headed for Ross Branch, another favorite, but detoured into Indian Creek by JP Coleman SP and then into Bear Creek to get some extra running time and charge the batteries.

The moon was nearly full last night and the fog moved in early, but was gone by 9 this morning and we headed for Florence. We passed the Pickwick Belle and watched a crop duster plane working near the river. We're staying tonight at Florence Harbor Marina in Florence, AL. We'll enjoy hot showers, do some laundry and maybe eat at the restaurant here. They're supposed to have a live band tonight, so we probably won't get to sleep early. I'm surprised and pleased to find wifi here at the marina.

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