Up the Tennessee River

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Oct 21 Day 4 on the water

We woke up to another cool crisp day. We planned on leaving early, but were enticed to stay for complementary fresh warm cinnamon rolls. Glad we did, for they were delicious. We fueled up with 3 gals diesel and pumped out the holding tank and headed out on the river. We managed to sail for about 1 hour, but with light winds from the south we motored most of the day. We crossed under Interstate 40 around noon. We are basically out of Kentucky Lake now. It looks like a wide river at this point. The river depth is 40-60 feet deep. Later in the day we motored through a gorge with high rock cliffs. Arrived at our first anchorage, Lick Creek, at 5:30 pm., about 200 yards of the river channel. Rick called my attention to a red light near a bend during the night. It took us a while to determine that it was the running lights on the front end of a barge going up stream. A short while later we saw the tug pushing it. These barges are probably over 600 ft long. Another great day.

Distance sailed over water, 44 miles Distance on river made good, 37 miles.

Critter count - 1 possum, lots of water fowl, We have seen bald eagles just about every day.

Question of the day: The knot meter on the boat reads 5.5 miles per hour and the GPS reads 4.5 miles per hour. Both meters read the same when we started the trip. Why do the read different now?


Oct 22 Day 5

Wayne is getting lazy so Rick is covering this day
We got an early start today. The anchor was hoisted and we were on the way by 6:30 am. The wind is still out of the south so we continue to use the engine. The Tennessee River has high hills along the bank. There are high rock ledges along the river in some places. There are lots of homes on the river edge. Most are probably summer cottages The ones that are not up off the river on high rock ledges are built on high pilings. We stopped at Clifton, Tennessee Marina to fill our water tank and dump off our garbage. We topped off the fuel tank with 4 gallons. The weather has turned cloudy and rain is in the forecast. The river takes a big bend here and since we had some wind to our backs we sailed wing and wing for a couple of hours. With preventer rigged up, we had a great smooth sail down wind at about 4.5- 5.5 knots. While under sail we cruised by a new marina that was not indicated on our map. We recognized Amber Lee’s cousin at a transient dock in that marina, Laura Lee , a 44’ Irwin from Port Huron, MI, the folks who were gracious enough to give us power to run our heater 2 nights ago, when it was still a bit chilly. They are somewhat easy to spot for they are with out a mast. It was shipped ahead of time to Mobile Bay, for it was too tall for some bridges. After hailing Laura Lee, they responded on 16 turning to channel 68, they said they just saw us sail by. We discussed our anchorage for the night, about 6 miles ahead. They indicated they would catch up to us in the morning. We anchored in a beautiful little cove about ¼ mile off the river called Indian Creek at 6:30pm. We are glad we found this protected cove because we had high winds and lots of rain during the night.


Oct 23 Day 6

Rick’s words
Haven’t seen Laura Lee yet, however we did leave at daybreak under dark misting clouds. It is 10:30 now, the sun has popped through, blue sky ahead. Looks like the weather will be in our favor. The main was just hoisted, breezes in a favorable direction.

Wayne’s words
Our goal for the day is to get thru the lock at Pickwick Dam. That is 37 miles up the Tennessee River, the same distance that we made yesterday. It took us a little longer than expected because of the increasing current in the river. The current is about 2 mph and we are going 5.5 mph. That means we are only covering 3.5 mph towards our destination. The last 3 miles were very frustrating since the current was over 3 mph. We finally made it to the lock at 5:30pm but had to wait for 45 minutes while they locked a barge down stream. We were in this massive lock all alone. It’s about 1,000 feet long and 80 feet deep. By the time they had raised us to the level of the next lake, Pickwick Lake it was dark. I knew that there was a good anchorage about 1 mile away at Pickwick State Park. Karen and I had had camped at the Park last March. I set a coarse on the GPS that I thought was the anchorage. We made it to the little cove and dropped the anchor at 7:30pm.


Oct 24 Day 7

We sailed only 11 miles today. An we truly did sail. The wind was on our beam and we hoisted the gennacker and were going 7 mph towards our destination, the Grand Harbor Marina in the State of Mississippi.. GrandHarbor This is a very nice marina. Since we anchored out the last 3 nights we think we can afford a night at a nice marina. We need some rest and relaxation before going through the cannels and downstream on the Tombigbee River. Going down stream sounds good, after yesterday’s struggles going upstream. We shared a courtesy car with a nice couple from North Carolina who are doing the “Loop”. We picked up a few more groceries and had some good Tennessee barbeque for dinner This couple started from their home in April and will get back home this coming April after wintering in Florida. They told us some good stories about the places they have been in the US and Canada and how much they are enjoying the trip. This is the end of our 1st section of the cruise. We have finished the Kentucky Lake and Tennessee River and are at the entrance to the Tenn-Tom waterway. TennTom Will update ya all in a few days.

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Photos

Interstate 40 Bridge
Saw lots of truck traffic crossing this bridge

Mermaid Marina
We are both sorry that we didn't stop here!

House on Stilts
We saw many of these on the lowlands along the Tenn River.

Shiloh Military Park
A gun pointed towards the river. I hope it is Union and not Confederate

A Trawler Headed South
Many of these passed us each day

Comments

[Mary Kovats]

we are so jealous
Dear Rick and Wayne, Boy do you two know how to live. What a great trip. We are land bound and back to work living vicariously through your blog. Keep the messages coming. We love it! Regards, Mary and Peter

[Karen S]

Sounds like some great days on the water. Fun to read your updates. Take care brother. Hope you get to watch some football once in awhile and cheer on #4. Karen