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Published: October 26th 2016
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Looking at the chart today, it is incredible to realize that we are more than halfway down from Chicago to Mobile, Alabama. Soon, very soon, we will be in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and enjoying some time in Florida. Looking forward to it as it has been quite cool the last few days; we even turned on our heater the other night!
Leaving Kentucky Lake behind, we cruised down the Tennessee River to Pickwick Lake. This morning, we just joined the Tombigbee waterway, which will take us through the northeast corner of the state of Mississippi and down through Alabama.
Despite spending most of our last week either traveling or at anchor, we have had an eventful time. Each new experience has brought some learning along with it; some thoroughly enjoyable, some – not so much.
Visiting a Freshwater Pearl Farm After leaving Kentucky Lake, we dropped the anchor at Rockport Anchorage at mile marker 107 on the Tennessee River, threw in the dinghy and headed a few miles back up the river to explore Birdsong Resort near Camden, Tennessee.
A few days earlier, at Green Turtle Bay, we had spoken to
Me
A couple people have asked if I am actually here, since I rarely post photos of me. So, here I am! someone there who said he used to dive in this area for freshwater pearls. I was a bit surprised to hear that they have pearls in Tennessee, I had always connected pearls with the ocean –but I guess those wouldn’t be freshwater now would they?
A few days later, we learned that the only freshwater pearl farm in North America was located right at Birdsong Resort. They have a little, one room museum that teaches you how pearls are grown and cultivated along with a showroom.
Some things we learned about pearls:
1. Did you know most pearls do not actually come from oysters? Rather they are found in all kinds of molluscs, and in this area, most are from mussels.
2. Pearls are not generally formed around a “grain of sand”, as I had always been taught. In most cases, it is organic materials that are somehow sucked into the shell that causes the formation of a pearl. In the case of cultured pearls, they insert a piece of mollusc shell (called a “seed”) that becomes the centre of the pearl.
3. “Seeds” are cut into various shapes, which determines the shape of
Pickwick Lake Anchorage
Our anchorage on Pickwick Lake where we swam and paddle boarded the pearl. At Birdsong, they showed us teardrop, rectangular, oval and square seeds, and the resulting different shaped pearls.
4. While China is the largest manufacturer of cultured freshwater pearls, 70%!o(MISSING)f the shells that are used as “seeds” to grow pearls come from the waters of the Tennessee River.
Lesson learned – not every oyster has a pearl, sometimes you gotta use a little mussel! (sorry, my cheesy is coming through again!)
Running Aground They say (don’t know who “they” are, but we all seem to quote them a lot) that there are two types of boaters. Those who have grounded their boat, and those who lie; and that everyone runs aground at some point. Well, we can now say that we have checked that off our list.
Of course, it was in our aluminum dinghy, in a foot and a half of water. Only took us a few minutes to push ourselves off with the oars; but hey, that’s done.
Note: Just to assure those of you who may begin to worry about our safety, even if we run aground on Abigail, with a full keel and protected rudder, Lukus can (and
Our "Canadian Contingent"
Rafted off with Living Life and Tranquility II has) dig the boat out of some pretty shallow spots!
Lesson learned – don’t go up the creek without a paddle (or oars).
Some Gain, Some Pain Earlier in the week, Lukus was thoughtful enough to hang up my hammock chair so I could enjoy sitting out on the deck in comfort (most of you know my penchant for swings!). After our visit to the pearl farm, we sat down to relax and enjoy the scenery. I eased myself into the hammock, and was chatting away when the rope holding it snapped. Down I went, straight onto my tailbone. Took me a few minutes to get up, and a number of days to be able to really move around. But it seems to be healing up nicely.
Nancy and James happened to join us to raft off shortly after the “incident” and showered me with concern and arnica; I am not sure which helped more with my speedy recovery, but it sure was nice to be a bit pampered!
Lesson learned – Steel is hard, really hard! Think plan B is to hang the hammock over the water.
Playing in the Water The same day that Nancy, James and boys joined us, Lukus had a great idea for some fun. He put our inflatable dinghy in the water and tied a line to it to tow their paddleboard; a kind of mix of surfing and water skiing. I was convinced that he had invented a new sport, but apparently it is called “skurfing” (and here I was already planning to patent this idea… ha ha).
The “big boys” had a great time testing out the sport and then Marcos and Nancy both gave it a try. I was tempted, but considering I could barely stand, I opted to wait until another day. They have given it a go one other time; it is a great way to get some exercise after spending days on the boat. Lukus particularly enjoys it and is already talking about getting a wakeboard so he can get in shape (not sure what shape he wants to be).
Sunday, after journeying into Pickwick Lake, where the borders of Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi meet, we rafted up with our “Canadian Contingent” (so dubbed by Andrew). We have been spending quite a bit of time with Andrew and Jack on Tranquility II and of course Nancy, James, Lucas and Marcos on Living Life.
Yesterday was spent mostly playing in the water. I tried paddle boarding for the first time, which is perhaps now one of my new favourite sports (probably because it does not involve full body contact or flying balls!). We swam and some went for dinghy rides. The water here was the clearest we have seen for a while and our anchorage was beautiful.
Lesson learned – Gators are not in all Mississippi waters, have yet to spot one. Course I have seen some pretty strange creatures in the water…oh wait, those were my swimming companions!!
We are now in the Tennessee Tombigbee waterway, which joins the Tennessee River at Pickwick Lake to the Tombigbee River at Demopolis, Alabama. The man-made waterway, completed in 1984 for $2 billion, runs 234 miles and contains 10 locks. It was created by building canals between various lakes and is the largest earth-moving project in history. ~ Phew, that was probably the most educational, technical information I have been able to provide! Mainly because half the time, I don’t really know exactly where we are…however Lukus reminds me we are supposedly on ‘earth’. ~
While the waterway so far proves to be a little less picturesque, once we make our way through it, we will be 248 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. Cannot believe how far we have already come!
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Doug
non-member comment
Laughing
Hey Emy, you really make me chuckle from some of the comments you make. Hope you feel much better from your incident. Keep the blogs coming. Tell Luckus I said hi! Don't forget to save all these blogs for your published book. Have a great trip Doug