Day 48 & 49 Oct 30 31 Depart Joe Wheeler

I hope you can see how beautiful the leaves are.

There is a store in Scottsboro, AL called Unclaimed Baggage Center. They say this is the only store of this kind in the country. If no one has claimed a piece of luggage in 90 days this store buys it from airlines, cleans the item and sells the merchandise. Curiosity got the best of us so we rented a car Friday and investigated. It resembled a well organized Good Will Store. They had to have purchased overstocked items as sometimes they had several of the same thing. On the return we found another Rosie’s Cantina where we had a delicious meal and a margarita.

Many of these southern counties are dry and you cannot purchase liquor. We went through Huntsville on our way home and it is not dry. We stopped at a liquor store but all they sold was liquor, no wine or beer. He sent us to a grocery store where we were able to purchase beer and wine. I’m not sure I understand their system. Tom remarked on the cost comparison of food to liquor and I have been conservative!

This is our last day at Joe Wheeler Start Park, departure is at daybreak. We have two locks to negotiate and about 75 miles down the Tennessee River to Grand Harbor Marina. Next is the Tombigbee waterway to Mobile. This has been a great facility and relaxing stay in northern Alabama. Time to move on though, and seek new territory and warmer weather.

Day 47 AGLCA Rendevous

Cindy & Alex

Pete & Linda

Rich & Pam

Tom, Diann, Nancy & Ross

Last night was closing ceremony for the 2009 AGLCA rendezvous. This week has gone by quickly with wonderful opportunities to bond with fellow cruisers and to learn from experienced loopers the things to look forward to and the things to try to avoid. This has been a very rewarding and educational experience. If anyone is interested in this venture, I would highly recommend attending one of these rendezvous. There at two annual meetings, one here in Alabama (October) and the spring event held next April in Hilton Head. This event covered the area from here to Hilton Head, and the spring event covers Hilton Head back to Northern Alabama. The friendships we have developed here have been fantastic. We will certainly look forward to continuing these opportunities to connect with each other as we venture on to the next ports of interest.

About 1/3 of the attendees chose to depart this morning at daybreak heading for Iuka MS to either Aqua Marine or next door to Grand Harbor. The weather this morning is forecasted for drizzle, high of 75. Friday’s forecast is same and maybe high winds. We decided that there is no hurry and we will wait here at Joe Wheeler State Park for a clearing in the weather and depart Sunday or Monday.

Diann found a local hair salon that offered to pick her up this morning, take her to Rogersville and bring her back after her appointment. Nice service. We will try to get to town, get some last minute provisions for the trip down the Tombigbee where re-provisioning is limited and marinas are few. We also are hoping the Tombigbee waterway will have an opportunity to recede in the next few days. This area has had a lot of rain in the last few weeks.

2009 AGLCA Rendezvous, Day 44 & 45

We have been in meetings/sessions all day. The discussions are designed to cover the areas that we will be traveling over the next 6-months. Fred Myers, author of the Tenn/Tom Nitty Gritty presented the discussion of traveling the Tenn/Tom, Black Warrior Rivers as well as crossing Mobile Bay. Extremely educational, discussed what to look for in hazards, distance, fuel, harbors, (Far & Few), provision, safe anchorages and waterway protocol.

Late afternoon we elected to offer our vessel for looper crawl (boat open house). This afforded an opportunity for future and current loopers to visits several boats, ask questions & get to meet people from all over the United States (& Canada). This proved to be a very fun event and got to meet lots of nice people.

This evenings event and dinner was a very fun night with about abut 200 attendees. The guest speaker was a NASA engineer/scientist from Huntsville who provided us with a very interesting and educational presentation of current and future NASA course of action. It really was an opportunity for us to get a feel of what direction NASA is going and what it means to the United States.

We are starting to take a look at the weather window of opportunity for departure, destination and the next stop. We don’t have a solution yet, but working on it.
No images tonight, it’s late, air card is to slow for image upload. We will connect with wifi soon and include images.

Day 42 & 43, Friday & Saturday 10/23

Docktail party, 78' Custom Asian Yacht at end of dock , double click image to enlarge

Docktail party

Beautiful fall day at Joe Wheeler Marina

Friday night was a get together by the pool for cocktails and snacks, along with a few games. Once the sun goes down it gets cool real quick so it was an early night.

A few sprinkles through the night but woke up to clear cool skies, warming to mid 70’s by mid afternoon. Had sausage, eggs, toast, and coffee on board and relaxed reading the local Saturday newspaper. Our good friends Ross & Nancy Hiner (From the twin cities MN) 44’ Carver aft cabin “Oddysea” arrived last night and have a rental car for the duration of the Rendezvous. They graciously asked if we would like to ride along to the grocery store in Rogersville this morning. We said most definitely and went for provisions to carry us through departure and on to the Tombigbee Waterway. Thank you Ross & Nancy.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the marina, meeting new arrivals and looking at all of the different types of boats used for the “Loop”.
We went aboard “Constance” a beautiful 42’ Hi-Star convertible. (Mnf in Taiwan) owned by Ed & Constance Grund. Also met Hank aboard “Queen Ann’s Revenge” a 44’ Hampton, full time cruising live-aboards. Also a new arrival a 40’ Selene, a 40’ Nova and a couple of 44’ Endeavor catamarans.

While socializing we were informed through the harbor grapevine network that there would be spontaneous cocktail hour/appetizers at 4:00 PM. Diann assembled her famous dried beef pickle wraps and we were on our way.. Great appetizers/beverages, and meeting new friends..
We are stuffed from the party, but tonight is seafood buffet in the Resort Lodge and we may have to indulge. . So much for weight watchers. Tom said he would like to see if he could gain a couple of pounds anyway.

Day 39 - 41 Darci & Groves visit 10-20,21,22

Deer on Golf Course

Jim & Julie, Darci's Recent Visit To Joe Wheeler

On Noah Genda Aft Deck

Jim, Julie, Darci, Tom & Diann on Noah Genda aft deck

We have been enjoying our leisure time so much that it’s hard to motivate ourselves to do anything constructive. We were kind of shamed into cleaning the last 2 afternoons because the boats beside us Beth and Tam on “Second Serve” (48’ Marine Trader) and Bob and Kem on “Spirit Dance” (49’ DeFever) find projects to work on all day long. Tom started the project of putting “Poli-Glow” on the oxidized hard top. It is a project that we have been procrastinating since we bought the product at the Miami Boat Show two years ago. The product is a labor intensive install, however the end result is amazing. Wish we would have done it sooner. The hard top looks great with a restored high gloss that never needs waxing, just washed with soap and water.

I take a walk every day and sometimes we ride our bikes but we don’t venture very far because it is sooo hilly here. I see lots of deer on the way.

Wednesday afternoon Jim and Julie Groves parked their motor home at Joe Wheeler camp ground and came to our boat for a visit. We were speechless when we saw that our dear friend Darci Banks was with them. What a pleasant surprise and we were clueless that Jim, Julie, and Darci had put this together as a total surprise to us. We had a great time catching up, snacks and beverages on the boat. Jim & Julie were gracious to invite us to their gorgeous motor home for dinner, social and beverages. Thanks Julie and Jim for taking the time to make this work. They continued on their trip south early Thursday morning so it was a short visit but wonderful experience to visit with our dear friends from the QC.

Day 38 -- Joe Wheeler State Park Resort

U of N. AL Mascots (Live Lions)

Deer along State Park Resort 6-mile Entrance road.

Noah Genda in morning mist

Diann next to Joe Wheeler monument

Saturday 10/17 we drove the rental car to the areas of Florence and Muscle Shoals AL . In a local magazine there were many wonderful sounding restaurants for lunch, however as I continued reading most did not serve lunch on Saturday. We did find a foo foo place called Sweet Basil Café which was very good and yes, there were several other men besides Tom. Since I picked lunch, Tom picked dinner at Rosie’s Cantina. He couldn’t have done a better job since this was also excellent. I asked our waitress if there was a college nearby and low and behold a couple of blocks away is the Univ of Northern Alabama. I had read about the two live lions that they have as mascots that live on campus. Leo III and Una are brother and sister and have been at the university for 30 years. We drove there after dinner but it was too dark for me to get a picture, so I copied one from a brochure.

Sunday morning we spent leisurely enjoying the sight of the sun. I took a walk on a 2 mile nature trail and Tom investigated the navigational software called Fugawi on the computer. With a remote GPS antennae and access to every NOAA map printed, the software provides GPS tracking and navigation guidance for whatever area you request. We are both experimenting with this powerful software. Pretty intense.

Tom took the rental car back to Athens today (Monday). We did a little boat cleaning this morning and rode our bicycles this afternoon around Joe Wheeler Park. A few additional looper boats arrived today and happy hour was enjoyed by all as we gathered to watch the sunset and swap stories and experiences. Beautiful day and evening. Tom picked up a supply of Rotella Diesel motor oil for the next oil change due in about 45 hours. We should be on the Tombigbee and he is not certain he can find oil for the required oil change. It was easy to find here in Rogersville. We had dinner tonight in the Resort Lodge Restaurant. Life is good.

Day 33-36 Wed-Sat Joe Wheeler 10/14

Noah Genda from Lodge Deck

Joe Wheeler Marina

Looper boats gathering for Rondezvous

Diann, preparing for walk at Joe Wheeler

We arrived at Joe Wheeler State Park on Wednesday (10/14) in dense fog and this is now Saturday (10/17/09) morning. Since we’re kind of on hold in one spot, there isn’t a lot of news to report on daily. The park is 2600 acres and is located in 3 counties. Whatever outdoor activity you want to do, it is here. We see lots of deer on both sides of the road as we drive by.

The closest town is Rogersville (6-miles away) which is just in northern Alabama about 2 hours west of Huntsville. We visited Huntsville and Nashville last year when we were here so we won’t be going again. Friday (10/16) we called Enterprise Car Rental and leased a car for 3-days. Our first item on the “To Do List” was search out a T-mobile store to try to eliminate our air card connection problem. After an hour Tom walked out with no fix. In the meantime, I walked across the parking lot to Wal-Mart. Although I seldom shop here you can count on them being in practically every town and it is one stop shopping.

The next stop was a Verizon store where Tom bought their air card and spent 1 ½ with a clerk. Our new Verizon card is up and running fine, so we should have communication even when WIFI is not available. Me?? I have food on my mind so I’m in the parking lot asking locals for a good restaurant and directions on how to get there. We were sent to “Lu Vici’s” which was a very good local restaurant.

We did a little shopping where Tom bought a pair of jeans a size smaller than usual. Did that happen for Diann? Nooooooo. Tom found a local barber shop for a quick hair cut (more like a trim). We will venture by car to Florence AL Saturday for site seeing and search out a restaurant for Saturday evening.

It has been a pleasure just to kick back and relax, no schedule, no up and out of here at daybreak and time to converse with other loopers and enjoy the area. It turned a little cool last night however the forecast is mid 70’s next week. Last night at dinner, we overheard a local really voicing a discomfort of the high of today reaching only 57. They should visit the Quad Cities!

We would like to launch the dinghy and do a little local exploring on the water, probably next Mon/Tues after it warms back up. Tom did manage to remove the “Brown Mustache” from the bow waterline as well as the water stains on the swim platform due to the many miles of travel on the river. He would like to vinegar wipe down the boat as well as apply some wax.

Jim & Julie Groves and are in route to Florida by motor coach. Their travels take them through Decatur AL, and they are so gracious to go a little bit out of their way to make an overnight stop in our area. We are looking forward to connecting with Jim & Julie here at Joe Wheeler State Park.

We arrived early so our boat is right in front. Right now there are empty slips but they expect a total of 70 looper boats in the next few days.

We wish we could be at the Safe Harbor Party but I'm sure you'll have fun without us.

Day 31 & 32 Goose Pond & Decatur, AL Oct 12-13

Another Tennesee River Landscape Image,

We left Goose Pond in the rain at 9:00 Monday morning but we only had 20 miles to travel to Alred Marina in Guntersville, AL. This is the most expensive marina yet with 1.25 per foot for slip fees and diesel at $3.49. I'm glad we do not need fuel. They are a Loop sponsor and Tom had them order a replacement HW heater circuit breaker so we’re staying for one night. We used the courtesy car, drove to Wal-Mart, and purchased a few items, one of them being a weight scale because Tom felt like he was losing too much weight. What’s up with that??? His clothes did seem to be hanging on him and with his past cancer we’re always cautious. He weighed when we got back to the boat and he hadn’t lost as much as he thought. I’m not even going near that thing. The river front seafood restaurant where we just had dinner was everything fried- fish with hush puppies and corn bread, not to mention the brownies and cookies we always have on the boat. Low cal, I’m sure. The rain has stopped, however it ‘s supposed to be partly sunny tomorrow with rain again in the forecast for Wed & Thursday.

We traveled 52 miles and 1 lock today (Tuesday 10/13/09) to Riverwalk Marina located in Decatur, AL. Here is a picture of a clever restaurant name; "Hard Dock Cafe". We had a beer and checked out the menu which specializes in blackened catfish. They have 10 courtesy docks and I think on a week-end this place rocks!! Since it was a downpour, we fixed dinner on board. The marina leaves a little to be desired. They do have room for a couple of larger boats but mostly it caters to 26' or less. No fresh water available where we were, no WIFI, no cable TV, no laundry or showers. Just a tie up and electricity. Oh well, on to Joe Wheeler State Park tomorrow.

Day 30, Goose Pond Resort

Diann at Goose Pond Resort, Golf Course in background

Lake Gunterville from Goose Pond Resort


Tom on bike/walking trail at Goose Pond Resort


Diann, end of day, happy hour on Noah Genda aft deck, looper boats in background.


It was such a nice day today, and we are in no hurry (Noah Genda) that we chose to hang out at Goose Pond Resort and Marina. Nice Resort, great golf course, good marina, quiet, relaxing area. We had breakfast on board, we both went for a bicycle ride on well groomed walking/bike path that winds through the woods along the Lake Gunterville, past the golf course, past the lodging facilities and lake side cabins. Weather was beautiful and we really had a great time.




Came back to the boat, used the courtesy car to go for laundry, and a few provisions. When we returned to the boat, we filled with diesel and emptied the holding tank. Fuel consumption remains quite optimistic 2.4 MPG going up & down the Tennessee, best MPG todate, 2.82.


The evening weather was terrific and this marina setting is so quiet, that we opted for cocktail hour on the aft deck. One looper stop by for a few minutes of pleasant conversation and passed on to us a few words of advise from her previous marina visits. Useful tips.




Diann prepared dinner on board, we watched cable TV (provided at transient slips) and I am on WIFI catching up on record keeping and blog.


Rain is predicted for tomorrow (Mon 10/12), however minimal winds, so I think we will venture to Alred Marine Monday, 21 mile trip down river at Guntersville, AL

Day 29, On the Move again, To Goose Pond

• Image 1 Nuclear plant constructed in 1974, never completed, never opened, stands vacant today

• Image 2 Racoon Mountain Lake 1,100 ft above the river. Water pumped to lake from river in slack KW demand time and released back to turbines in high KW demand time.

We rode bicycles around town most of our last day in Chattanooga. Picked up a few provisions at a local grocery store, carried them back to the boat in the bicycle basket which works out well. We had lunch at the “Southern Star” which we found by chance since it is where locals dine to a great menu. The place was packed with locals. With the threat of severe weather we chose to dine on board, capitalizing on all of the doggie bags we have from the Chattanooga restaurants frequented recently.

Another retrofitted shrimp boat arrived at the dock around 4:00 PM. Actually pretty cool looking converted boats for recreational use. Certainly bulletproof and seaworthy, had a single Detroit 6-71n for power.

Our last day and night in Chattanooga was showers, sun, showers, sun until evening when it really cut loose. There were tornado warnings a few miles above us.
We departed Chattanooga at 8:00 AM eastern daylight time to drizzles which cleared off around 9:00 . We crossed the central time zone around noon, gained an hour and arrived Goose Pond Marina around 4:00 PM.

The Tennessee River is different from the Mississippi in there are no wing dams, very few buoys and the river is deep (often 65-105’), commercial activity and barges are minimal. Also you wouldn’t know this was Saturday by the pleasure boats- there weren’t any! I like traveling this river.

We’re are staying at Goose Lake again on the trip back down the Tennessee– the restaurant is open – and we’ve been invited to join 2-3 other couples doing the loop . Allen & Gayle (From Canada) aboard Falkor (36’ Grand Banks) are on their 3rd loop trip. Also at dinner were Rick & Betsy aboard Rick & Roll (27’ Glacier Bay). Dinner was very good and I passed up dessert – very unusual for me but I’ve found this is not going to be any easy trip to continue to fit into my jeans. (Weight Watches end of trip).

We will decide in the AM whether to stay here another day or move on to Alred Marina in Guntersville. Our replacement circuit breaker for the HW heater is suppose to be ready for pick up at Alred and there is a Verizon store in Guntersville that we would like to visit for a new air card.

Day 27 Chatanooga

Images:

Hunter Mansion

View from Pedestrian Bridge

Sculpture in park

Shrimp Boat

Today we did our own separate thing. Diann went for a walk and I will let her explain her venture. I rode my bicycle probably about (8) miles exploring various parts of the community. I rode across the river over the pedestrian bridge to North Chattanooga and back to the Chattanooga downtown area. Nice day, nice ride, about 80 degrees today and 83 degrees tomorrow. Of course I had to stop for a specialty ice cream store near the pedestrian bridge and was not disappointed.

We met the couple off of the shrimp boat last night shown in image. Very interesting retro-fit, actually a pretty neat boat. Quarter inch steel hull, single Detroit 6-71, no bow thruster 25’ air draft. Do you think he gets respect when entering tight marinas? They are live aboard cruisers, cruising where ever, enjoying life on the water.
Diann snapped some pretty good pictures while walking today. (See Attached). We think we may have solved our digital camera issue. We purchased and replaced the re-chargeable batteries and everything appears to be now operating correctly. We are starting to plan our departure for Saturday morning, time to move on.

There are 3 ways to get above our dock and I (Diann) took the way that was closest to the area I wanted to see, however it was 140 steps to the top. The Bluff View Art District was well worth it. I went through the Hunter Museum and all the while I thought of the artists in my family and how much they would enjoy it. The house was owned by the originator of coca cola who bought the formula for coke for a $1.00. He did not have children so he left the company to a nephew but stipulated that he could not get married but instead he was to be married to the company. After that I walked through a sculpture garden and wondered how they managed to get their sculptures onto the rocky bluffs. I hope you can see it in the picture. I enjoyed lunch at an outdoor café with a latte and a turkey sandwich on tomato and basil bread made from the bakery next door. I’m in heaven! Everyone knows how I love my gourmet food.

Do you remember the couple from England who had their boat shipped over? Terry & Sue were walking by the boat and recognized our boat name and stopped for a drink with us. Of course he asked for white wine which I didn’t have cold so he settled for a beer. That won’t happen again. I’ll get rid of the food if necessary.

We had dinner on board tonight and enjoyed some of Luke’s corn (our neighbor from Safe Harbor). When I cleaned out the refrigerator and freezer at home, I wasn’t about to let the corn go so I’ve had it in the boat freezer. Thank you Luke!

Day 26, Chattanooga

1. Image in front of Aqarium

2. Pedestrian bridge over river

3. Tom trying his best to stay connected, no matter what.

Yesterday we spent 2 ½ hours at this incredible award winning aquarium. This venue illustrated the many rivers around the world and the water animals that live in these multiple areas. There were separate buildings for fresh water fish and salt water fish and sea animals.
After a Ben & Jerry ice cream we hopped on the free electric shuttle across the river to North Shore. We were both disappointed in what we found compared to the way the brochure described it. We did know there was a grocery store but we didn’t know we’d have to walk a mile to get there and a mile back carrying groceries.

The bridge in the picture was converted from a highway to a pedestrian bridge. It is the world’s longest pedestrian bridge built in 1909 and is a mile long. I could only get part of it in the picture.

Another bit of trivia, in 1899 the first Coca Cola bottling plant opened here. Also the Delta Queen River Boat is permanently moored directly across the river front from us and used now only as a riverfront attraction as a floating hotel with rooms for rent.
We had dinner last night at “River Bend” restaurant, chose outdoor seating and had a gourmet pizza, actually pretty nice. It appears we will stay here on the Riverwalk of Chattanooga a couple of more days.

Tom needs to remove a defective breaker from the 120 volt breaker panel that serves the hot water heater. Somehow he managed to improvise another source in the 120 panel and temporarily provide power to our hot water heater. Can you imagine living on board without hot water? Marine circuit breakers are not commonly available and he will try to find a replacement in the next 2-3 boat yard stops on our return trip down the Tennessee River. Always something, but we do have hot water again.

Day 24, Chattanooga 10/5

Images:

Diann @ Helm, Gorgeous veiws, Volleyball anyone ?

While still fighting the current, we made it the 31 miles to Chattanooga. This stretch of the river gets as deep as 135 feet and makes a dozen turns. This area is known as the “Grand Canyon of Tennessee” and it is absolutely beautiful. I hope the pictures convey the beauty.

I had to take the picture of the volley ball net in the water only a short distance from the 65’ deep channel. You do not want to get out of the marked channel.

We’re in the eastern time zone now, tied to the Chattanooga City Dock right on the downtown waterfront. There are about (8) boats tied up with us to enjoy site seeing of the area. Chattanooga also has free electric bus shuttle routes in the downtown area, one of which we took to find the BBQ restaurant “Sticky Fingers”. The food was very good right down to the pecan pie. The restaurant opportunities are endless.

Right up the steps from our dock is the four level Tennessee Aquarium. It is the world’s largest freshwater aquarium. Our plans are to tour the aquarium tomorrow, along with other tourist attractions offered on the Chattanooga waterfront. We are looking forward to the turn-around and reaping the benefit of the 5-6 MPH current we have being fighting for the last 463 miles.

Hope to find a t-mobile store tomorrow to find out what is wrong with our air card. Relying on WIFI is OK, however sometimes to weak of a signal. Had a small drizzel/rain tonight but, still warm. Tom is sitting on the aft deck in shorts, 9:00 PM

Day 23 Tennessee River, Hales Bar

Today’s images are all of the Tennessee River Valley about 40 miles downriver from Chattanooga. Unfortunatley, cloudy foggy day, and camera seems to be defective. Maybe a chance for better images on the return trip down river.

We spent a rainy night at Goose Pond Marina in Scottsboro, AL. Fortunately they had cable, and WIFI but the restaurant was closed on Sunday. Darn, their specialties were Hawaiian grilled rib eye steak and shrimp and grits. We left around 8:00 am in a drizzle but the scenery was still beautiful. There was fog on the mountains tops in every direction. We passed several possible anchorages. We passed through Nickajack lock which is the newest on the river constructed from 1964 to opening in 1967. This was our best locking yet using bollards. (These are small barrels that you secure a line around from the middle of the boat and then each of you keeps the bow and the stern off the wall. We are still pushing against a lot of current. On the flip side it will be a nice push on the return trip to the Tombigbee.

The American history on this river, the south and its towns is absolutely amazing. It is fun to read as we pass along the way, look at the beauty, and imagine the history of this magnificent contribution to the Tennessee Valley.

Monday night we are at Nickajack (Hales Bar) Marina which also has cable and a strong WIFI signal but wouldn’t you know this restaurant is closed on Monday! What’s up with that????????????? I’m spending an awful lot of time in the galley!

We have had a stroke of electronic bad luck the last couple of days. Digital camera appears to be failing, get a new one in Chattanooga. One digital hour meter (integral with digital tachometer) went south, will have to rely on the one remaining hour meter. Both tach’s work fine, we talked to Aetna Engineering, send it in and they will repair at no cost. Takes two weeks for repair, can’t go with-out tach so (1) hour meter will suffice. Third issue, air card reflects a signal, cannot open. We will go to T-mobile store in Chattanooga. Always something, but all in all it’s going really well. We are truly enjoying the journey.

Day 22 Sat, 10/3 Wilson Lock TN River

No WIFI at Ditto Landing Marina, blog a day late.

Image of Wilson Lock in in the morning fog

This morning we departed Florence (AL) Marina in a little fog at 7:20 AM to the Wilson lock 1-mile up the Tennessee River. This is a 95’lift, 137’ tall dam, constructed in 1918 by the TVA. It is the oldest lock on the Tennessee River. Wilson lock used to be the tallest lock in America, now the 6th, out done by locks on the Snake River and Columbia River. Wilson Lake is the shortest lake on the Tennessee and also the deepest. Wilson Lock gates were opened, drove in & back out in 20 minutes. The floating bollards make for a pretty secure method of security. 17 miles later we negotiated the Joe Wheeler lock with a 42’ lift. Same concept.

We have been cruising about 10 MPH when not against a strong current. When strong currents prevail we cruise at approximately 8.5 to 9.00 MPH at 1200 to 1300 RPM’s. We are in no hurry, want to enjoy the scenery along the way and capitalize on much better fuel economy, less stress on the boat and crew. All of this current we have been faced with going up the Tennessee, will be a nice boost on the return trip back down the Tennessee. MPH should increase 2-3 miles per hour at the same RPM or less.

Today’s cruise was 81 miles, to Huntsville, AL (Ditto Landing Marina) and was pleasantly surprised to find a very clean, quiet, large marina. Overnight transient slip fee was only 50 cents per foot, most competitive price we have found to date. Arrived at 4:45, conversed with other loopers, had Diann’s very special spaghetti diner on board and viewed one of (12) channels available over air broadcast

Day 20 -- Florence, Alabama

We departed Grand Harbor this morning for a gorgeous cruise up the Tennessee River/Pickwick Lake. The opposing current raises it head every time we approach a lock and dam. Today as we approached the Wilson lock MPH dropped off a couple of miles per hour, sometimes three. But we will recover this hardship on the way back down the Tennessee before reaching the Tenn/Tom waterway heading to Mobile. Again, there isn’t much for population or industry along the way. Although we did see hundreds of bass fisherman and being smarter than we look, we determined there must be a bass tournament. Little did we know it was a big ABA tournament, this being the last day of three, with weigh in at 3:00 PM. We are in Florence, Alabama (Florence Marina on the Tennessee River) where the bass tournament is coming to closure. As you can see from the pictures, it looks like a disaster waiting to happen. We stopped around 1:30 which is our earliest day yet and that made for a very relaxing afternoon. They take this tournament very seriously.

Here is a recap so far, (just to see if you’re paying attention).
500 miles on the Mississippi, 60 miles on the Ohio, 31 miles on the Cumberland and 225 on the Tennessee. We have gone through 14 locks and the states of Iowa, IL, MO, Ohio, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, and now Alabama.

We were going to prepare dinner on board, however the marina restaurant looked like a better opportunity. Met a very nice local couple that offered local knowledge, insight of a very friendly community. After sandwiches and desert, (thinking weight watchers again) we retired to the boat, watched a little TV and called it a night. Up early and head easterly on the Tennessee River. the loop.

Pickwick Lake on the "Tennesee River"

Grand Harbor condos at Marina
Pickwick Lock
Looper friends at Freddy T's
Noah Genda in the fog @ Clifton Marina.





Wed 9/30/09 night we had a quiet night at Clifton Marina in Tennessee. We had fog again in the am, so I fixed a low cal breakfast of biscuits and gravy. We departed about 9:00 am and fought the heavy 5 -6 MPH current from the flooded river for 50 miles. Our guide book said some bollards were missing from the 57’ Pickwick lock wall however we thought surely by now they were replaced. Not so. I think there were only two on our left side and it was impossible to determine if the pin was there or not until you were next to them. The current was much better after the lock. We planned to stay at Pickwick Marina but it is closed for upgrades so we went on to Grand Harbor, 5 additional miles up river on the Tenn-Tom. What a classy place as you can see from the condo picture.

We met up with couples that we had met earlier and had dinner at “Freddy T’s”. Fun time and good food. Today I went with them to a place called Shiloh which is a National Military Park in TN. The civil war was fought here for 2 days. They had a very educational film and then a driving tour around the park. Tom stayed at the boat and cleaned.
Later we used the marina courtesy car (new Nissan 4-door Pick-up) went for groceries, did laundry and went for a dinghy boat ride on Yellow Creek and went over to Aqua Marine and looked at the large harbor and hundreds of boats. Also there are some extremely beautiful high end homes surrounding Yellow Creek/Aqua Marine Harbor, as well as very large expensive homes on Pickwick Lake.
After a 2-day lay-over at Grand Harbor, we think we will continue up the Tennessee River towards Chattanooga and back to Joe Wheeler State Park for the Rendezvous the end of October.