Touring the Tennessee River

Sunday, September 28, 2014

It was hard to leave the nice resort at Green Turtle Bay, especially since Roger and Mary on TA TA had just arrived. We caught up with them and their adventures and had met so many other wonderful people who are doing this challenging loop trip, but we are looking forward to cruising on the Tennessee River. We left around 7 a.m. just after 4 other boats had pulled out. After making the short trip onto Barkley Lake we cruised the canal which connects to Kentucky Lake.

 

Short canal which took us between the two lakes
 

We had the lake to ourselves except for a couple of barges. It was smooth, wide and very pretty. The lakes run parallel to each other and the land between the two lakes is called "Land between the Lakes," appropriately enough.

Before we knew it we were at Paris Landing State Park and we were given the choice of one of many empty slips. There were lots of houseboats, some near us were live-aboard.

We just backed into one of many empty slips -
the boating season is ending
 

Our mascot, Chris, has on his custom made life jacket
 

We had no locks today but we had been remiss in getting our friendly frog mascot, Christopher Croaker, a life jacket which is required in the river locks. We couldn't find one in his size so had to manufacture one. It is amazing what you can do with a little bubble wrap and duct tape.

Captain’s Log September 28, 2014

Departed: Green Turtle Bay, Grand Rivers, KY 7:05
Engine hours: 6.0 hrs.
Actual hours: 6 hr. 10 min.
Miles covered: 43.86
Arrived: Paris Landing Marina, Buchanan, TN  1:15 p.m.
Spent time adjusting new prop shaft packings. Water temp much warmer now, prop shafts to 95-103 degrees, not sure if new packings are getting enough cooling
Wx: Calm nice day, sunny to partly cloudy, smooth water.

Monday & Tuesday, September, 29-30, 2014

Foggy morning at Paris Landing – we woke up to some fog and by 8 a.m. it had really socked in. By 9 it was lifting quickly and we pushed off right after Lucky Us.  Haze cleared to bright sunshine. It was a wonderful cruise over glassy water with wooded views and some homes along the shore.

Many homes were built on land carved right out of the river banks
 

 

Lots of white pelicans along the way
 

Pelican feeding frenzy
 

I think white pelicans are my new favorite birds and we are migrating right along with them. We learned that they are herders, meaning that they come together and herd fish into a shallow area and then all together they duck down to feed. John snapped the above photo while we were in Grafton.

Our destination for the day was Pebble Isle where the people were friendly and accommodating - very generous with southern hospitality. They have a restaurant there and every morning they serve hot cinnamon buns to boaters - very sweet treat!

These cinnamon buns were about to disappear!
 

 

Evening view at Pebble Isle - Halcyon and Lucky Us are in front of us
 

 

Unusual old boat with rounded stern - about 30'
 

The second day we were there, several more Looper boats came in and the owner at Pebble Isle wanted to do something special for us. So he called in the chef that evening and they served up some wonderful hors d'oeuvres for a cocktail hour, including fried mushrooms, fried pickles and fried jalapeño peppers along with a tray of crudités. We lingered for more than an hour, got to know each other better and didn't need much dinner after that! 

 Captain’s Log: September 29, 2014

Departed: Paris Landing State Park Marina, Havana, 9:05 a.m.
Engine hours: 4.21 hr. – 31.31 statute miles
Actual hours: 4 hr. 10 min.  
Arrived: Pebble Isle Marina, New Johnsonville, TN 1:15 p.m.
Took on 120 gallons of diesel. Packings still not dripping as desired
Wx: Clear, wind light and variable – very nice cruise

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

We were the first to leave in the morning - everyone else must have stayed for those great cinnamon rolls. The cruise was lovely with a smooth river narrowing down a bit.

Making our wake on the Tennessee
 

We saw more white pelicans, turkey vultures and over a dozen monarch butterflies along the way. I wished a butterfly would land on our boat and hitch a short ride south, but most of them seemed like they were intent on crossing the river.

 

Saw lots of cliffs - some with houses on top
 

We arrived at Clifton Marina by mid afternoon and another Looper boat came in soon after. It was very hot and we were glad to be able to plug in and turn on the A/C. We will explore the town, stay for two days and expect several more loopers to come in for shelter from some thunderstorms predicted tonight with cooler weather following the front. 

Captain’s Log: October 1, 2014

Departed: Pebble Isle Marina 7:40 a.m.
Engine hours: 8
Actual hours: 7 hrs.  55 min
Statute miles covered: 62.62
Arrived: Clifton Marina, Clifton, TN 3:35 p.m.
Wx: cool, clear, very little wind, sun warmed us and hot by the afternoon