We left Green Turtle Bay to continue our trip up the Tennessee River. Our plan is to run the river east to at least Chattanooga and perhaps to Knoxville, or somewhere in between. We would do this side trip and then join the other loopers at the end of October for the AGLCA Fall Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville, AL. That would give us the month of November to tool down the Tenn-Tom waterway to Mobile where we would complete our loop before making our way back to Louisiana around the first part of December. It had rained the last couple of nights we were in GTB and the forecast was for rain the next two days, so this was the day to move on. We were planning on going into an anchorage at Ginger Bay about 50 miles upstream, so we were in no hurry to get an early start. At the last minute we saw Ron and Jan aboard Jolley Tolley fueling up at the fuel dock. Jolley Tolley had just completed their loop at GTB a couple of days earlier and were eager to get to their home in Georgia for a post-loop party. They announced that they were going to go all the way to Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville, TN. We decided to tag along and hurriedly got ready to shove off.
More Kentucky Lake scenery
We were just about through the Barkley Canal which connects Lakes Barkley and Kentucky when we encountered a large tow entering the canal. We were to the edge of the channel and bearing down on a fisherman in a small skiff who was also at the edge of the channel. Capt. Larry slowed down to not wake the fisherman, but the tow's prop wash caused him to loose control. So he sped up to maintain control and avoid a collision, much to the chagrin of the fisherman. We don't really feel sorry for boaters who put themselves in compromising situations and have things go wrong because they expect everyone else to deal with them. Kentucky Lake is beautiful and presents lots of small coves and bays for great anchorages. Parts of the lake are very shallow because hills, houses, and even towns were flooded when the lake was formed by the TVA, making it necessary to stay in the buoyed channel. We followed Jolley Tolley the 70-some miles to Pebble Isle for a rather uneventful, but scenic trip.
Loopers gather for dinner
Dinner on Bavarian Cream
Sunset at Pebble Isle
Jolley Tolley leaves in the rain
When we arrived at the marina, we found Boreas and Larry and Theresa Valentine aboard Lauren Grace already tied up. We had received several e-mails from the Valentine's during our trip, but had not seen them since Port St. Joe, FL. It was a great reunion! After the new arrivals got settled in, we had some drinks on the dock and everyone went over to the marina restaurant for a group dinner. The next morning it was raining, but Jolley Tolley shoved off, determined to make their party. The other three boats remained in port for better weather. The marina staff treated us all to free, fresh-baked cinnamon rolls and coffee which were absolutely fantastic. It was a good day for boat chores, so Capt. Larry changed the engine fuel filters and motor oil and did some other necessary maintenance, while Jane and Julaine borrowed the courtesy car and went to Wal-Mart to pick up some things for dinner that night. That evening everyone came aboard Bavarian Cream for a grilled chicken dinner. Everyone had a good time.
Socked in at Pebble Isle
River scenery, overcast skies
River house and lighthouse on cliff
It just gets better!
More river scenery
Dredging the river
Unique sign
The "big bend"
Docktails with John and Mary
We remained at Pebble Isle the next day while everyone else shoved off. We had to wait for our new ice maker to be delivered, and besides, the weather was not really great for traveling. Our ice maker arrived in the afternoon, but no other boats showed up that day. We had dinner aboard and watched another of Todd's movies. It's hard to believe that of the 60-some DVD's we started out with, there are only a few remaining that we haven't seen yet. The next morning we got an early start to make our way to Clifton, TN. We started with pretty decent weather, but as we proceeded it started to mist and continued pretty much the entire way. Along the way we passed some pretty spectacular homes that were built on the rock cliffs that border the river. We also came to the river's greatest bend which bends through almost 360 degrees of arc. It would only be about 2 miles to cross the land between the beginning and end of this bend, but almost 9 miles to travel the river through this bend. The town of Clifton is located approximately halfway through this bend. We pulled into the Clifton Marina where we were greeted again by John and Mary aboard Mary Frances IV. We learned that they were celebrating Mary's birthday and an anniversary in the next couple of days, so we invited them to celebratory happy hour at the marina's restaurant.
The next morning John and Mary left. We decided to spend an extra day in Clifton. We borrowed the courtesy car and went into Clifton to get some groceries and supplies. Clifton is an interesting town of about 800 people, but at one time it was a busy port. When Tennessee achieved statehood, a vote was held to determine the state's capital. Clifton lost to Knoxville by one vote! Clifton is a very quaint town and one of the few towns along the river that is actually located on and overlooks the river. If you are ever in the vicinity, we recommend a stop. We returned to the marina and spent an afternoon blogging, sewing, painting, and relaxing. Late in the afternoon Brandy IV rolled in and we helped them get tied up. We had dinner aboard the boat and turned in early.
Railed boat lift
River home with a view
Pickwick Lock and Dam, note current
Getting a lift
Tied up at Eastport Marina
Lake Pickwick
Happy hour with the seasonals
The next morning we headed down the river toward the Pickwick Lock and Dam. This would be our first TVA lock that would put us into Pickwick Lake. While we planned to continue up the Tennessee River, this lake is the head of the Tenn-Tom waterway that would eventually take us down to Mobile. So we would again pass everything from this point on. We had an uneventful, but scenic, ride down to the lock. As we approached the lock the channel narrowed and the current increased considerably. Fortunately, we were able to lock through almost immediately on our arrival and did not have to "hover" in the current waiting for our turn in the lock. Pickwick Lock and Dam is a huge structure that would lift us 54'. Since we were the only boat in the lock, we almost felt lost. We got into Lake Pickwick and made our way to Eastport Marina in Bear Creek. The marina is located in Iuka, MS, but across the creek lies Alabama. The marina accommodates transients, but does not cater to this segment of boaters. We tied up at the end of some covered slips and were greeted by a bevy of seasonal boaters with all kinds of questions about the loop. While we were somewhat of an oddity, everyone was warm and friendly and we were invited to an extended happy hour. We found the restrooms and showers very clean and new and there is a restaurant on the grounds. At $1 a foot including electric, we felt it sure beats anchoring out. We will likely stop here again on our return trip through Lake Pickwick. As one of the seasonal boaters put it, "this marina is one of the best kept secrets around here."
Coming into Florence
Bavarian Cream sans sail boat
The next day we made our way upstream toward Florence, AL. This was a relatively short 30 mile run for us and got us into the Florence Harbor Marina around noon. We had very pretty scenery along this section with high rock cliffs lining the shores. It was an easy and relaxing ride until we got to the marina. We arrived to find Lauren Grace and Mary Frances IV already there. They helped us get tied up along with the marina manager. When we got our hose down to connect to the water, we noticed that the sailboat next to us had their hose connected to spigot in our slip. We looked for another spigot, but the manager said that that one was about the only one in our section. Capt. Larry indicated to the manager that we needed to fill our tank, so the manager disconnected the sailboat's line. We attached our hose and proceeded to fill our tank. While we were filling a lady came out into the sailboat's cockpit and began talking to Capt. Larry. He proceeded to tell her about our trip and chatted with her while Jane filled the tank. When we were through, Capt. Larry disconnected our hose and went over to the sailboat to get their hose to reconnect it. While he was trying to reach for the hose, a man comes out and starts yelling at him to leave everything alone. Capt. Larry started to explain that he was just trying to put everything back when the guy got ugly. Capt. Larry got pissed off and told the guy to "go to hell," then told Jane to go to the office and tell them that we would have to have a hose Y-connector. This pissed the manager off, so he proceeded to the sailboat and told the guy that he was the one who disconnected the hose. The manager was told that "they didn't appreciate having their hose disconnected," and when the sail boater was told that he didn't own the water supply on a transient dock, they got mad and left. The whole incident was totally unnecessary and reaffirms some of Capt. Larry's opinions about sail boaters.
Is it moonshine or mineral water?
Finally we wanted to tell about an unusual individual we met along the way. We won't say where we met for his protection, but we met this boater who had played ball around Hammond, LA. When he learned about where we were from, he decided that we were "his people," and he started to do some really nice things for us. For breakfast, he fried us up a mess of thickly sliced, hickory smoked back strap bacon that was absolutely wonderful. Then he gave us a 3 lb. block of frozen catfish to cook on the boat. Finally he produced a Ball jar of moonshine that came from his granddaddy's stainless steel still, "you know, the good ones that won't make you sick." His hospitality to us was unbelievable and his stories were even better. We so enjoyed meeting this guy, that we may consider a return trip just to see him again.
As we mentioned in our previous post, our first night at Green Turtle Bay Marina the group that we had been running with for the past 3 days decided to go to Patti's Restaurant for dinner. We bring this up again so we can share the pictures of the company and food that we enjoyed that night. The next night we invited Floyd and Linda over to Bavarian Cream for docktails. We wanted to go to the yacht club's restaurant for dinner, but when we arrived it was closed. We returned to our respective boats and scrounged up something a lot less appealing. We wanted to get a rental car the next day and Floyd and Linda wanted to also rent a car so they could return to Wichita. Although they are located 20 miles away in Paducah, Enterprise sent a van out to pick the four of us up to get our cars. We said goodbye to Floyd and Linda and took our car for a grocery run and lunch at a Chinese restaurant. We returned to the marina, unloaded our goods, and got ready for happy hour. Capt. Larry made a batch of homemade hummus which was a real hit with everyone. We returned to the boat and had a light supper before watching some TV and turning in.
At the Quilt Museum
The next day we went to the National Quilt Museum in Paducah. Because of this museum and the visitors it attracts, there are several businesses and schools dedicated to the quilting craft. The museum and the quilts were really awesome. It is unbelievable the artistic inspiration and technical expertise that are represented in these quilts. The museum featured the national competition winners over the past 20 years, and the quilts were truly amazing. Unfortunately, they allow no photography in the museum so we have no pictures of these magnificent creations. However, we have no doubt that anyone who visits this museum will enjoy it.
We wanted to spend some time off the boat. Milana and Millette had given Jane another night in a hotel for a bubble bath for her birthday. We just didn't know where we wanted to go. Jane went to the marina office and picked up several brochures about area attractions. We finally decided to visit an area of Amish craft shops in the Marion, KY area, then drive into Paducah to get a motel for the night. Then the next morning we would go to the River Heritage Museum before returning to the marina. We had difficulty with the Amish shops. We stopped in Marion and rode around for almost an hour, before Jane finally asked someone where the Amish shops were. Turns out they were 5 miles out of town. So off we go. We got to the road we were told to go only to find that the shops were not concentrated in a mall-like area, but were located at individual homes strung out over a 3-4 mile section. Being a Thursday, there was little tourist traffic and we thought it awkward for us to drive up to these establishments when it seemed we would be disturbing their routines. We went back to Marion and had lunch at the Marion Cafe, an establishment that was older than dirt. Then we headed on a leisurely drive to Paducah, stopping at each little town and river overlook that we came to.
Jane with Mr. Bubbles
Murals by the Paducah riverfront
I can be a tow captain!
We got our motel room after contacting several and doing some major negotiating. Jane had her heart set on a Jacuzzi spa tub, but didn't want to cost the girls too much for the privilege. We finally finagled an upgrade to a room with a spa tub which normally would have cost $165, but cost her daughters only $99. She was just giggly! She got her bath and then we went out to a mexican restaurant for dinner. The next morning we went to the River Heritage Museum. It was a nice museum compared to all of the others we've been to and focused on the development of commercial river commerce on the inland rivers. At the end of the tour, Capt. Larry got to do a computerized tow simulator, driving a tow up the Ohio River, which he found to be really difficult, but was successful in his attempt. We returned to the marina and bought tickets to a live variety show that was playing at a Grand Rivers theater that evening. The show was really entertaining and we had a fun time.
The next morning we returned our rental car and Jane went to the marina's spa to get a facial. We watched some college football on TV and grilled some salmon for supper. Tomorrow we leave Green Turtle Bay and head up the Tennessee River for our next chapter. It's all good!
We spent our last day in Grafton doing a little sightseeing. We walked around the town which had lots of little shops calling Jane's name. Being a river town at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, Grafton has seen it's share of flooding. Like we remember the years we suffer major hurricanes on the Gulf coast, Graftonites recall the years of major flooding. All around town there are high-water mark signs showing the year and the flood depth. We returned to the marina and used the courtesy car to make a run for provisions. The major shopping in Jerseyville, IL about 15 miles away. Jane is always fascinated by midwest farm fields and is always snapping pictures of corn and soybean fields. Capt. Larry grew up on a midwest farm shudders at the thought of all of the hours he spent working in such fields. Anyway, we got the things we needed and returned to the marina. A little later in the day, loopers Mike and Denniese Liles aboard Lifestyles II, berthed their boat beside us. We decided to get together that evening for dinner at the marina restaurant.
Limestone cliffs along the Mississippi
Interesting formations
Arriving at the Mel Price Lock and Dam
Mel Price lock
The next morning we were up early ready for our run down the first leg of the Mississippi. The goal was to make it to Hoppie's Marina in Kimmswick, MO, about 20 miles south of St. Louis. We had 60 miles and two major Mississippi locks to go through. If we encountered tow traffic at the locks, it could be a long day. While there are some marinas at the first stretch of this run, there are no facilities for recreational boaters in the vicinity of St. Louis. Although they had a slower boat, Mike and Denniese decided to go with us. We left Grafton at sunrise and immediately entered the Mississippi River. With the engines a little above idle speed, we were doing 9-10 knots down the river, because of the 3-5 knot current. The upper Mississippi is very scenic with river-carved limestone cliffs along the banks and we had an easy ride to the Mel Price Lock and Dam. This is a very busy lock for commercial traffic with 30 percent of the world's grain (are U.S. farmers amazing or what) passing through it. Lady luck was with us and we only had to wait for a tow with no barges to finish locking through when we arrived.
Wheee! We meet the Missouri
They aren't kidding!
Coming to St. Louis
Just beyond the Mel Price Lock we met up with the Missouri River. At this confluence our speed shot up to over 12 knots and the water became very turbulent. Capt. Larry was so busy shooting pictures, that he almost missed the Chain of Rocks Canal that bypasses a very turbulent section of the Mississippi. There is a waterfall in this section at a low water dam over which a 44 foot trawler passed and sunk, at the base of the fall, and is still down there. Glad we weren't the second boat! In the canal the current subsided an we cruised leisurely to our second lock, the Chain of Rocks Lock. Again we were fortunate in our timing with a large tow exiting the lock just as we arrived. The wind was blowing hard and Lifestyles II was having a difficult time getting tied up to the wall. He started to starboard, then decided to switch to port at the last minute which caused him to get sideways in the lock. He was all over the place and having trouble when the lockmaster closed the gates and started to empty the chamber. He tried for a starboard tie again when Capt. Larry yelled at him and told him to just float in the center, because we were going down 24 feet. Mike had a hard time controlling his single-screw trawler in the wind, but chamber emptied and the gates opened just before he ran out of room! We exited the lock and followed the canal to where it rejoined the river just north of St. Louis. Our speed shot back up as we entered the current and we were again "rolling down the river."
Gateway Arch
Picture perfect!
St. Louis does not have the prettiest water front with all of the commercial terminals, but the Gateway Arch and the buildings and skyline did provide some photo ops. It was challenging, though, taking pictures and dodging tows and anchored barges along the way. All along the river there are wing dams and weir dams to control erosion and water flow. These dams can project above the surface of the water, be just below the surface at running gear depth, or be deep enough that boats can pass over without hitting them. In any event, these structures require strict attention to running in the channel. As we were coming down the river, we noticed that Lifestyles II had a tendency to run outside the channel where the current was less, but the wing dams were present. Capt. Larry thought about a yell out about the wing dams to Mike, but figured that since he was just a few days from completing their loop, he was aware of the hazards. We continued flying down the river arriving at Hoppie's in the early afternoon. Getting into Hoppie's was tricky. We had to go past it about a quarter mile, then turn up into the current and ease our way to the fuel dock. It was white-knuckle docking, but Fern Hopkins and husband Hoppie were very experienced at handling the lines and guiding us in. We topped off with fuel and got the boat secured at the dock then got off to meet the other boaters there.
Attending Fern's seminar
All happy at Hoppie's
Fern autographs Hoppie's pic in guide
All lined up at Hoppie's
Among loopers, Fern and Hoppie are legendary. Because the Mississippi River is almost exclusively geared to commercial traffic, the clientele that patronize Hoppie's Marina are largely loopers. The marina is the last gas stop and only marina for 238 miles to Green Turtle Bay in Grand Rivers, KY. Since there are no marinas or anchorages in the St. Louis area for recreational boaters, everyone stops at Hoppie's. Fern and Hoppie are also a fountain of river knowledge that they share with loopers every afternoon around 1700. Fern gathers everyone around and tells them what and what not to do further down the river. She warned about wing dams in certain areas that cause considerable turbulence, and even whirlpools, and how to negotiate them. She talks about how to interact with and pass the large tows that navigate the river, and also tells you where to anchor and how to get into the anchorages. She is no nonsense, straight talking, and we found her descriptions and advice to be right on the money. After talking with the four other boats that were docked with us, four of us decided to leave early the next morning as a group to make the 111 mile run to an anchorage in the Little Diversion Channel near Cape Girardeau, MO. Lifestyles II decided to go alone and stay at some closer anchorages.
Leaving early
Bye, bye Hoppie's
River scenery
We meet a whirlpool and turbulence!
Trying to avoid the whirlpool
Meeting a 6 x 5 tow
Tree stuck on a wing dam
Tower Rock
Passing a 6 x 6, they just get bigger!
Coming into Little Diversion Channel
We arrive at our anchorage
The next morning four boats pulled out of Hoppie's at first light. Fred and Julaine Eddy aboard Boreas, Doug and Barb Caddaro aboard Tropical Breeze, and John and Rita Holman aboard Brandy IV. It was an experience leaving with so little light and being caught by the current and whisked downstream. The trip was uneventful until we got to the first trouble spot that Fern had warned us about. Here the river made a sharp 90 degree turn and the wing dams caused so much turbulence that we were facing 2-3 foot waves, whirlpools half the size of the boat, and really fast current that rocked the boat from side to side. Thankfully, there were no tows in the area, because we weren't really sure how we would have passed them. We continued on dodging the tow traffic until we got to our anchorage. Because of the current, getting into the anchorage was going to be tricky, but Capt. Larry followed Fern's advice and went downstream about a quarter of a mile and beat back up against the current. To keep the current from pushing him into the bank, he kept the port engine revving about 1000 rpm's faster than the starboard engine giving him a lot more control. We made it into the anchorage and got the hook set. We enjoyed happy hour by ourselves on then boat and then grilled some pork chops for dinner. We kept an ear out for some predicted thunderstorms, because our anchorage was a storm drain for the town of Cape Girardeau and was susceptible to flash flooding if it rained hard. Fortunately it just sprinkled during the night!
The I-57 bridge
Meeting the Ohio at Cairo
Up the Ohio we go
New Olmstead Lock under construction
Lock 53 under water
Passing over the Lock 53 dam
Lock and dam 53 at high water
A 6 x 6 with 4 on port side (40 barges!)
Going over our second dam
So this is retirement!
The next morning the four boats left again at first light. Two of the other boats were talking about anchoring that evening in more exposed areas of the Ohio River, but Capt. Larry argued that we should be able to put in a long day and make it to the Cumberland Towhead at the mouth of the Cumberland River. None of the anchorages the other captains were considering showed much safety in his mind, and he was determined to go to the towhead with or without them. To make it to the towhead we would have to travel 109 miles with 48 miles downstream on the Mississippi, and 61 miles upstream on the Ohio. The Ohio River was also up considerably, so the current would be stronger than normal. The silver lining was that two Ohio River weir locks had their gates down and we could pass over the dams without locking through the locks. This would save at least an hour's time (or more). To make this happen we would have to travel even faster with the downstream current on the Mississippi than we did the day before. And away we flew! Along the way we went under the I-57 bridge which we cross over every year on our trip to the Indianapolis 500. For the past two years we thought about passing under the bridge as we did the loop, and here we are. We made it to the mouth of the Ohio River by 1030 then turned up the Ohio. Our speeds dropped around 5 mph to a snail's pace 8 mph. There was also a lot of tow traffic that we had to watch out for. We crawled our way up the Ohio with the engines around half-throttle. We got to our first lock and radioed the lockmaster who told us to just drive over the dam (we didn't even have to slow down). We looked over at the lock and it was completely under water! We passed the second lock the same way. Capt. Larry noticed that some of the bars that the other captains had considered as anchorages were under water, so the towhead was going to be it for the night. We got into the Cumberland Towhead around 1700. As we were coming in, we heard the Coast Guard exchange with a boat captain on the Mississippi that was in distress. It turns out that it was Lifestyles II who had run aground about 10 miles from the anchorage we had left that morning. Because of the distance, we could only hear the Coast Guard's side of the conversation so we weren't sure what the full story was. Our three boats were joined by a fourth looper, Floyd Walpole and Linda Hoobler aboard Tumbleweed from Wichita, KS. What a relief to be in this anchorage! We hollered out to the other boats, had a drink or two, and made something easy for supper.
Heading up the Cumberland
Cumberland River scenery
Barkley Lock and Dam
Up 54 feet!
Closing the gates
Almost there
Lake Barkley- we made it!
The next morning we had about 30 miles up the Cumberland River to the Barkley Lock and Dam to get onto Lake Barkley and our marina at Green Turtle Bay. Tumbleweed got a really early start and the remaining boats left around 0800 with Boreas in the lead. We had a scenic and leisurely cruise all the way to the Barkley Lock where Tumbleweed was waiting for use. We no sooner arrived at the lock when the lockmaster opened the gates and allowed us in. This was our biggest (up 54 feet) and newest lock on the trip. We exited the lock into Lake Barkley and had a two mile run to Green Turtle Bay. It was such a relief to be here and it felt that we had finally arrived at the oasis that we were striving for for the past 3 days. Jane was particularly happy to plant her feet on terra firma as they had not touched land for almost 60 hours! We got the boat secured in her slip and everyone enjoyed a major happy hour aboard Tumbleweed, before we were picked up and taken to dinner at the world famous Patti's Restaurant. Patti's is renowned for its 2-inch thick pork chop and desserts. It was a great evening and everyone had a good time.
