I'll try to catch us up to date in this one blog. I have over 2 weeks of stuff to cover.
When I left off, we had just anchored in Dry Creek just above Pickwick Dam. It had been a long day and we were glad to get somewhere before dark. The anchorage was excellent, especially after the bad experience at the anchorage behind Double Island. The weather here was much better, no wind or rain. In the morning I took a dinghy ride and took some pictures.
Cindy's Observations: I forgot to mention at the Pickwick Dam on the up river set of doors was an owl perched on top. How excited I was to see this "screecher." This will be interesting to see what his food of choice is. The blue herons are good at finding fresh churned chum. When we rose to the top and the doors started to open, the owl sat motionless. What balance, what nerves of steel, what the ... its a fake? How could they do that to me.
While Larry was out on his dinghy, my activity for the morning was to remove as much water out of the carpets as possible with the 1 gallon portable shop vac I thought we needed to bring. After a few efficient dumps it was confirmed. The little "sucker" became my newest BFF (best friend forever). Ok, so now I have a weapon for the next rain storm.
We didn't leave Dry Creek until after noon. It was good to not be in a hurry. We decided to anchor out again tonight and found another good anchorage at Union Hollow only 14 miles away. On the way I figured out how to make the autopilot follow the course more smoothly. Sometimes while changing way points, the boat will make a hard turn to get on the new course. Rather unnerving when it abruptly heads toward a buoy and you not knowing when it is going to turn onto the new course. It takes a few button pushes in succession, but it transitions a lot smoother. When I get a chance to get into the calibration program, I imagine I can change a few parameters to make it work better.
When we got to Union Hollow, I used the dinghy to set a stern anchor just to keep us headed in the right direction. Without it the boat swings in the wind, with the current and wind fighting to take control. The strongest usually wins! Of course I took the usual ride around the anchorage to take pictures of the boat.
Cindy's observations: See Larry? Larry's happy. Carpets are drying and we are not going to do any 360's with the stern anchor. The grill worked great and we had a wonderful wildlife show for the evenings entertainment. First up were the diving ducks. Union Hollow was a wildlife reserve filled with several native species. The ducks would totally submerge for a while and pop up in another spot. Next the blue heron flew from one side of the cove to the other fishing. Crows are cawing all around us. The last act was a beaver swimming from the cove out to the river. Life was good on the river that day.
We decided to go a little further the next day and try anchoring again. It's something we are going to have to get good at, rather than spending every night in a marina, which could get rather expensive after a while. We decided to spend the night in Little Bear Creek, about 26 miles away.
We got under way at 9:30 and by 1:30 were anchored in the creek. The wind and the current were again fighting for control. A rear anchor would not hold in the mud and the rest of the bottom seemed to be rock. So I took the rear anchor and hooked it behind a rock on the shore. Nothing was going to move it now!! We all took a ride in the dinghy back up the creek and took a few pictures there also.
Cindy's Observations: When Larry suggested a dinghy ride, my thoughts were who's going to watch the boat. I was headed towards separation anxiety. You want me to get off the boat, put me in an inflatable raft with a pull start engine and take me out of sight from my comfort zone and be excited? Someone will come by and steal our boat, I exclaimed. I have heard stories to this nature (but it is dinghies they take in the Bahamas). Non the less, we slip into the dinghy and off we go. We cruised to the end of the anchorage site and back. See my smile, nobody stole the boat! Everybody was happy.
Next we tackled the second highest lock in the United States, Wilson Lock and Dam. It has a lift of 93 ft. It took us from Pickwick Lake up into Wilson Lake in one long lift. The doors did not look as big as I thought they would, until they closed.
Cindy"s Observations: Well, let me tell you, this is one big ... lock! You know I have this thing about locks right. As we waited for our turn to enter into the chamber I was doing some meditation. Actually I became so relaxed in my PFD I dozed off on the bow in the warm sunshine. Then reality slapped me in the face as we entered the lock. We are in a place only a few people will ever have the opportunity to be. How cool is that! No s...t sherlock, those were ginormous doors. The gears to move the doors were the size of an 8 seat banquet table or more. It became very apparent this lock demanded respect. It had great presence and appearance. The walls were made of several beveled edge aggregate horizontal stacked layers. Iron reinforcements flanked both sides of all the bollard columns. Truly a work of art. I LIKED THIS LOCK! Might it be, my fears could be over? As we rose I was losing sight of the decorative walls that intrigued me. Now my thoughts had changed from "oh! great, another lock (not)" to "wonder what the next one looks like."
After the Wilson Lock we came to the Wheeler Lock which forms Wheeler Lake where the AGLCA rendezvous is to be held. Wheeler lock was big compared to Mississippi river lock standards. It took us up 43 ft or so. Much more than the 6-10 feet we were accustomed to on the Mississippi.
Cindy"s Observations: This lock had some of the same features as the Wilson but the doors were different from one another. Is there an engineering reason for this, or was one damaged and had to be replaced? Now I'm curious about these anomalies. The real estate along this stretch of river was becoming more ostentatious. Beautiful homes on the bluffs and at the shore with matching boat houses.
Shortly after leaving the Wheeler Lock, we arrived at Joe Wheeler State Park
.
Cindy"s Observations: Wheeler lake is the most populated area on the Tennessee River. Turtle Pointe is a picturesque golf course along the shore. Docked by the course was a 4 deck mega yacht. I wonder what their fees are?
We anchored in a cove just past the Marina. The next morning we went into the Marina and spent 2 days there recuperating. They had a sailing race for small sailing craft (Flying Scotts) on Saturday, so we were surrounded by little sailing boats. There was a pretty strong wind on Saturday night, and the sound of the rigging beating against the mast made a ringing noise that made you think of sleigh bells. Noisy sleigh bells!! There was also a home made boat that looked like a small steamboat, complete with a Calliope. It was a little out of tune on the high notes, but very entertaining and unique.
Cindy's Observations: After 5 days of anchoring, I think 3 is my limit. Even if it was a pretty sunset. During 40 min of watching this heron, it caught on average a fish every 10 minutes. Shinny silver ones 6 inch or so, maybe herring or shad. After docking it felt good to be in touch with the world again. When anchored (on the hook) Wifi is not, Ceil coverage is questionable, no TV, keep the generator to a minimum and go to bed at 8:30. First thing on agenda, laundry. At $1.00 a load and free dryer we washed everything remotely dirty. Those prices are a deal! The steamboat was a delight to hear rolling by Saturday Morning from his home harbor at Wheeler. That evening at 5 o'clock there was a wedding ceremony with pictures taken at the end of our dock. Our boat was unexpectedly included in wedding photos. That night at 4 am all those sail boats around us sounded more like a drunken bell ringer convention than cutesy sleigh bells.
Nice update. We are all winterizing in Grafton "Escape Key"
ReplyDelete