Monday - Wednesday, October 26-28 - Our trip to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville was a lot of fun! Unfortunately, with the rain it was hard to see the outside exhibits. But, the inside exhibits, especially the Saturn Hall, were outstanding!
Huntsville bills itself as "Rocket City". It near the Army's Redstone Arsenal which is where early rocket research was done. The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs were managed nearby at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Space camp (remember the movie) for kids and adults alike is here at the U.S Space and Rocket Center.
We spent several hours looking at the exhibits, then left for Atlanta - still raining. The trip from Huntsville, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia is not an easy one. There are no direct routes to take and it was a very long trip. After many hours of driving we finally got to Atlanta, only to have bad rush hour traffic! We sat in traffic for nearly two hours as we headed to Carey's father's house. It is definitely easier to be on a boat!
We had a short, but very nice visit with Carey's dad, his sister and her family. We felt like we were in college - we took our laundry with us to do at Stacy's house! The next time we will plan to visit with the folks in Atlanta is over Christmas! We are excited that our son Paul and his family will join us in Atlanta then. We miss our grandkids!
This morning (Wednesday) we left early to drive back to Huntsville. Again, not an easy trip, but the rain was off and on so it was an easier trip. We stopped at Walmart on the way to finish re-provisioning LeeLoo. Nancy even bought a hot-air popcorn popper - all the luxuries of home. We are now set for awhile!
Tomorrow we will leave for Joe Wheeler State Park with four other Looper boats and will anchor for the night. The colors in the trees are really changing now - should be a beautiful trip! Then on Friday we will head to the starting point of the Tennessee-Tom Bigby waterway that will take us south to Mobile, Alabama on the Gulf, about a 450 mile trip.
Sunday, October 25. Time to get caught up! It's been almost a week since our last blog post because we had no internet.
Monday, October 19. We had a short cruise to Goose Pond Colony Resort, about 40 miles upriver. Our final destination was Chattanooga, Tennessee. We must be adopting the Looper lifestyle because we did not originally plan to make this side trip; we heard from many Loopers that the Tennessee River Gorge on this side of Chattanooga is beautiful. On the way to Goose Pond, we went through Guntersville Lock with a lift of 39 feet. Goose Pond Marina was back a shallow and windy creek, but the facilities were nice. One of the Loopers borrowed the courtesy car and shuttled 16 Loopers to a restaurant at a nearby town for dinner. As good as the facilities were, we had not internet.
LeeLoo docked at Goose Pond Colony Marina
Blue Heron sitting on marker in Tennessee River
Tuesday, October 20 - We traveled approximately 50 miles to an anchorage called Cedar Mountain Creek. We were traveling with 4 other Looper boats and together we passed through Nickajack Lock, another 39 foot lift. This is the highest point we will reach on the Tennessee River; from this point forward, all locking will be down. As it turns out, locking down is easier than locking up because there is far less turbulence when the lock chamber is being emptied compared to when it is being filled.
Going through the locks has gotten easier since we now know what we are doing. Below is a picture of a floating bollard, which is along the lock wall. As a boat comes into a lock, Nancy's job is to capture the bollard with a line that is tied to a cleat which is just out the pilothouse door on LeeLoo. Carey's job is to stop LeeLoo as close to the bollard as possible without hitting the wall! We have both gotten good at our jobs! As the lock chamber is filled or emptied, LeeLoo travels up or down tied up to the bollard. Once the lock through is complete, the doors open, a horn is sounded, and it is safe to untie from the bollard. The boats who are in the lock file out of the lock and continue on their way.
LeeLoo secured to a bollard in a lock.
There are often two choices to tie up to a bollard - a high and a low. We have found we have greater control if we tie to the low bollard.
American Tug behind us in the lock. We will be locking up 39 feet!
Once we cleared the lock, 3 Looper boats tied up to a nearby free pier at a county park. Sum Escape and LeeLoo continued on to Cedar Mountain Creek where we rafted together for the night. Rafting is where the larger boat sets the anchor and then the smaller boat ties up to the larger boat. We all took a ride in our dinghy to explore the shoreline. We had dinner with Tom and Julie on the aft deck of Sum Escape and then played cards. It was a restful evening because we didn't have to worry about the anchor dragging.
Rafted to Sum Escape in Cedar Mountain Creek.
Rafted together - LeeLoo looks small!
On a dinghy ride - notice LeeLoo behind us!
Beautiful shoreline in Cedar Mountain Creek
Wednesday, October 21 - We woke up to fog so we delayed departure for one half hour. Once the fog cleared, the sun came out and the river was beautiful. Our arrival in Chattanooga was a bit confusing because the marina did not answer the radio and the directions we received by telephone were unclear. We tied ups to the commercial dock and then learned we had to move LeeLoo to a different dock. Because the marina in downtown Chattanooga is directly on the river, there are very few conventional slips to pull into, rather, you have to parallel park the boat on a long face dock, This can be challenging because of the river current. When we talked to the office about staying a second night, it was suggested we move to a conventional slip that was off the river. This turned out to be a perfect slip in which to dock LeeLoo, although we were not near any of the other Loopers.
Foggy morning in Cedar Mountain Creek
For more than 40 years, we have driven through Chattanooga on our way to Atlanta to visit Carey's family. For 40 years, we have driven along the Tennessee River as it winds its way into Chattanooga. It was very exciting to be on a boat on the river, looking up at the traffic on the road that we have driven on for over 40 years!
Thursday, October 22 - The city of Chattanooga has a beautiful waterfront and it is a very walkable city. We spent the day walking - just under eleven miles and over 25,000 steps! We made up for no walking while being anchored on LeeLoo! In the morning we walked to a local - and we mean local - grocery store. We also went to the Tennessee Aquarium in the afternoon, where we saw an amazing display of all kinds of jelly fish! Then we took the free electric shuttle bus to the other side of the river and found a Walgreen's and a Publix supermarket for a few more groceries. We walked back over the river on a pedestrian bridge. Very cool!
Tennessee Aquarium
Friday, October 23 - We left Chattanooga with Mazel Tug. Our destination was Racoon Creek, about 60 miles downriver. We locked down through Nickajack Lock, which was uneventful. Racoon Creek was a large, but shallow, lake off of the Tennessee River. We anchored in 7 feet of water near Mazel Tug (Ralph and Linda). We dinghyed over to Mazel Tug for docktails and, while we were there, we saw a bald eagle attempting to catch a duck for dinner. The eagle would swoop down in an attempt to grab a duck and the flock would scurry away. We don't know if the eagle was successful, but it is not a sight you see every day.
Mazel Tug - a 37 foot Nordic Tug in Racoon Creek
Saturday, October 24 - We were preparing to leave when Ralph on Mazel Tug reported problems with his alternator overheating. We stood by until it was clear that Boat US (Sea Tow) had dispatched a boat to come for him. There was no cell service and no one to contact via the VHF radio, so Ralph used a satellite communicator to contact Boat US. Once we knew a rescue boat had been dispatched, we departed for Ditto Landing (10 miles from Huntsville, Alabama) where we were a week ago - and we were last able to update the blog.
Sunday - October 25 - The day was spent at Ditto Landing cleaning LeeLoo inside and out (was she ever dirty)! The Tennessee River is really beautiful, but full of mud that cakes on. We also ended up getting spots of tar-like substance on the outside of LeeLoo, so that took some extra scrubbing. But, now she is beautiful again! Tomorrow we are renting a car for 3 days. We plan to go to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville and then continue on to Atlanta so we can visit with Carey's dad, his sister and her family. The weather forecast is for rain for the next few days so it will be a good time for a visit!
At long last, we have internet! Our cell service and internet connection continues to be spotty. Never fear, we are fine and will continue to update our blog as the internet service allows!
Sunday, October 11 - We left Grand Harbor Marina at 10:00 a.m. for Florence, Alabama. We woke up to a foggy day on the river so had to wait for the fog to clear. As soon as the fog cleared and the sun came out, it was beautiful! We were soon joined by 5 other boats headed our direction. We cruised to Florence, Alabama where we spent the night at the Florence Municipal Marina. Unfortunately, as we entered the marina, the dock master kept asking us if we were sure we had a reservation. It seemed that the person who took our reservation up and quit that day - and took with her the list of boats who had made reservations! They found a place for us on the fuel dock for the night. While in Florence, we shared a taxi with a couple of Loopers and went to downtown Florence to walk around and have dinner. Little did we know that downtown was only about a mile away - we walked back afterwards!
Monday, October 12 - We woke up at 7:00 a.m. and realized that quite a few boats were starting their engines and leaving. Someone had called the lock master at Wilson Lock and found out that if we wanted to get locked through without too much waiting, we had to leave now! It was one of our fastest departures ever! As we looked behind us on the river, we saw that we were with many other boats. It was actually quite a sight to be in a flotilla of boats heading the same direction!
Flotilla of Boats Heading Toward Wilson Lock
The first lock (Wilson Lock) was huge - we ended up locking up 93 feet! We had to tie to a mooring cell and wait for an hour before the lock master told us to enter the lock. Wilson Lock was the first lock that really was challenging for us. We tied up to a bollard on the mid-cleat, but LeeLoo's stern kept swinging out. As the stern swung out, LeeLoo's bow would go into the lock wall. We tried with all our might, but were unable to push LeeLoo's bow off the wall. Carey finally ran for another fender (Bob, as some of you will remember we used for doing man overboard drills) and were able to position into place and save LeeLoo's bow. We did lost a bit of rub rail in the process. Live and learn - more fenders!
The second lock (Joe Wheeler Lock) only locked up 48 feet. Not as stressful, but once again our stern seemed to swing out a big as we were locking up. For the next lock, we will try to tie to the lower bollard and see if that helps.
Beautiful scenery along the Tennessee River
More beautiful scenery . . .
We had planned to anchor out Monday night, but decided to go on into the marina at Joe Wheeler State Park. Unfortunately, docking was a bit stressful as the first slip we were given was simply not acceptable. It was at the end of a T-dock and LeeLoo's stern was hanging out by at least four feet. We were also unable to safely get off LeeLoo because there were metal structures on the dock that made it impossible to get off easily. The squeaky wheel gets results, so we complained until we were moved to a better dock and slip, only to find out that we had to move one more time! Finally, we were given a slip that worked for us.
LeeLoo in her slip - third and final!
Tuesday, October 13 - Joe Wheeler State Park was the main destination for us so we could attend the AGLCA (American Great Loop Cruisers Association) Fall Rendezvous. The rendezvous was scheduled to begin on Wednesday, so we had Tuesday to wash the boat, catch up on laundry, and replace the burgee flagpole that we lost in the Mississippi River. It was a fun day because a lot of fellow Loopers arrived. Joe Wheeler State Park is a beautiful location. The marina is large (with 300 slips) and there were at least 80 Looper boats that arrived to attend the rendezvous. Unfortunately, in spite of the large marina, there are only two showers (one for men, one for women) in the marina office. There is also a state park lodge and one of the rooms was offered up for the boaters to use to take a shower. The laundry facilities were a little lacking, too. One washer and two dryers - for the whole marina!
Wednesday, October 14 - Check-in for the rendezvous began at 3:00 p.m., so we took a shuttle into Rogersville for lunch and a little grocery shopping. The town of Rogersville welcomes Loopers and are were very happy to see us! The best part of the day was that we were finally able to replace our AGLCA burgee and proudly fly it on LeeLoo's bow!
Thursday-Saturday, October 15-17 - The AGLCA Fall Rendezvous was a very successful event. The days were filled with seminars about what to expect as we cruise down the rivers, cross the Gulf of Mexico, and cruise in Florida and the Bahamas. The seminars were relevant and very informative. There were also a number of vendors who attended and offered their products and lots of information. The rendezvous was completely sold out. People not only traveled by boat, but also drove and filled the Joe Wheeler State Park Lodge. Many people who traveled by car are in the planning stages of doing the Loop and do not currently have a boat. One of the events of the rendezvous is a "Looper Crawl" where boat owners sign up to open their boat so that attendees can tour it. We participated in the Looper Crawl, but we were so busy showing off LeeLoo that we barely had time to look at the other boats! We had a steady stream of visitors who wanted to see LeeLoo.
On the last night of the rendezvous, there was an impromptu concert and sing along. Any Looper who played a musical instrument was invited to participate as part of the "band" and Looper who wanted to sing were invited to be in the audience! It was a lot of fun!
Loopers showing their musical talents!
We must comment on the buffet meals provided by the lodge. The quality of the food and menus offered to us was outstanding. The food was plentiful, delicious and creative. The servers were congenial and worked really hard to please us. It was a great experience! Thank you, Joe Wheeler State Park Lodge!
Sunday, October 18 - We left the beautiful Joe Wheeler State Park and cruised 56 miles to Ditto Landing Marina, 10 miles from Huntsville, Alabama on the Tennessee River. No locks today! We cruised with Julie and Tom on Sum Escape. It was chilly all day and we kept LeeLoo closed up as we cruised. That is the advantage to having a Nordic Tug - we can close up the boat and stay warm as we cruise! Again, more beautiful scenery. We have said this before, but the Tennessee River is truly beautiful by boat! We had to pass under a railroad bridge along the way that, when down, only has a 9 foot clearance. As we approached the bridge, a train was going over. After a short wait, we called the bridge master and he raised the bridge to 30 feet for us to pass under it.
Shortly after we arrived at Ditto Landing Marina, several other Looper boats arrived. Tomorrow we plan to leave at 8:00 a.m. and have one lock to go through. The low tonight is 37 degrees! Wait . . . are we in Chicago?
We had a lot of rain last night, but today the clouds have cleared and it is beautiful outside! We spent the day doing a few boat chores and just enjoying the day. We are so used to clean Lake Michigan water and it is amazing how dirty LeeLoo gets in the river.
We went to Freddy T's Restaurant for dinner last night with a group of about 12 Loopers and are going again this evening. Last night we celebrated George and Martha's completion (on Aunt Aggie) of the Loop. They crossed their wake the day before just outside Grand Harbor Marina. We have enjoyed meeting George and Martha and wish them well on their next adventure, whether it may be!
View of the Tennessee River from Grand Harbor Marina
Covered Docks at Grand Harbor Marina
Tomorrow we travel to Florence, Alabama, about 45 miles upriver. The town is just a few miles shy of Wilson Lock which is one of the higher lifts we will experience (approximately 80 feet). On Monday, we plan to anchor at 6 mile creek and on Tuesday we will go through the Joe Wheeler Lock and arrive at Joe Wheeler State Park for the Rendezvous. We may or may not have internet in the next few days, but will catch up with our blog when we do. Stay tuned . . .
We left Green Turtle Bay on
Monday, October 5 for Grand Harbor Marina on the other side of Pickwick Landing
Lock, a distance of 190 miles. We did
this section of the trip in 4 days.
Between the two marinas, we anchored out 3 nights. All three anchoring experiences were
different, but successful.
Leaving Green Turtle Bay - Large Nest on Top of Marker
The first night we anchored at
Standing Rock Creek. It was a wide,
shallow bay off the Tennessee River.
We pulled in and dropped the anchor in approximately 7 feet of
water. The wind was light and there was
no current so we were not concerned about dragging the anchor. We saw blue herons fishing near the shore,
about a half dozen big turtles sunning themselves on a rock, and 2 deer that
came to the water’s edge to drink from the bay. Peaceful.
As evening drew near, we sat under the bimini watching a glorious sunset! We also watched small silver fish jumping out
of the water all around the boat. Then Carey
mentioned that the winter pool (water depth) is 5 feet lower than the summer
pool and not knowing the pool level we wondered if we would wake up in the next
morning and LeeLoo would be stuck in the mud.
Fortunately, we woke up in 7 feet of water!
Sunset at Standing Rock Creek
On Tuesday, October 8, we
traveled 60 miles to our anchorage for the night which was called Lick
Creek. It was a small deep creek that
branched off of the Tennessee River for a mile or so. We could have anchored further up the creek
but chose to drop anchor, in 12 feet of water, about a half mile from the
entrance. We could see the Tennessee River from our anchorage. Because it was a narrow river with heavily
wooded banks, the bugs were bad. We have realized that the screens need to be put up as soon as we anchor to keep the bugs outside! We
expected to see more animal life, but other than seeing a couple of federation
squirrels and a big snake swimming towards the boat (which freaked Nancy out!),
we did not see anything. It was a
peaceful night except for several small, local fishing boats passed us going up
and down the creek.
Carey Relaxing on LeeLoo's Bow After Anchoring
View from LeeLoo's Anchorage Towards the Tennessee River
Wednesday, October 7, was a
short cruising day so we slept in an extra hour in the morning. It was only 40 miles to Swallows Bluff
anchorage. This anchorage was behind an
island off the main river. We dropped
anchor in 12 feet of water and the river currents held us in position all
night. We anchored near an island where
wild goats were reported to be living, but we did not hear or see them. That would have been cool!
Thursday, October 8, was also a
short cruising day, approximately 50 miles. We left at just before 8:00 a.m. in order to
allow time to lock through Pickwick Lock.
It turned out to be a difficult travel day because the current became
strong as we approached the lock.
Earlier in the day we were cruising just under 8 miles an hour and had
to increase engine power in order to maintain that speed as we approached the lock and dam. When we arrived at the lock, we had
a half hour wait . . . not bad for waiting times at locks. We locked up 55 feet with another Looper
boat. The current in the lock was very
strong and it felt like it was all we could do to keep the boat under
control. Once out of the lock the river was calm and we
cruised about 5 miles to Grand Harbor Marina.
LeeLoo docked by a Pilgrim 40 Trawler at Grand Harbor Marina
Sunset at Grand Harbor Marina
The Tennessee River is
absolutely breathtaking by boat. The
fall colors are just starting and there are many places where there are rocky
bluffs. There were places along the
river where we saw eagles, hawks, and hundreds of white pelicans. We saw eagles swoop down in the water, grab a
fish in their talons and fly away. We
saw a lot of big turtles sunning themselves.
We saw the beauty of nature that you would never see from the shore. Along the shore, we would go for miles and
there were no homes, then we would get to an area with lots of homes, most
either high up on the bluff with steep stairways going down to shore or up on stilts so flooding would not damage
them. We even saw a herd of cows come to drink in the river! All in all, it was an amazing experience.
Banks Along the Tennessee River
Beautiful!
Houses Built on Stilts Along the Tennessee River
Fall Colors Start to Appear
Along the Tennessee River - Notice the Cows?
Today, Friday, October 9, we
are in Grand Harbor Marina. There are a
lot of other Looper boats here, most bigger than LeeLoo! We borrowed the marina courtesy car this morning and
drove to Shiloh National Park and then into Savannah, Tennessee to find a
grocery store. So far, getting access to
a courtesy car has been pretty easy. We
just have to remember to sign up for it as soon as we arrive! We plan to spend two more nights at Grand
Harbor Marina and then move on to Florence, Alabama to a marina.
We left Racine, Wisconsin 3
weeks ago today to begin the Loop. It is
hard to believe that it has only been 3 weeks.
We should tell you that the weather here in Grand Harbor Marina today is
86 degrees! Jealous?
The last couple of days in Green Turtle Bay have gone by quickly. The weather is not cooperating, though, with high temperatures in the low 50's, very cloudy, and rain off and on. As we cruised south, we expected better weather! Of course, we are not getting the wind and waves that Lake Michigan is getting so there's no reason for us to complain!
Yesterday we borrowed a courtesy car from the marina and drove to Eddyville so we could find a bigger grocery store and, more importantly, a liquor store to re-provision our pantry. Carey was also able to find a hardware store to buy some supplies to reattach our AGLCA (American Great Loop Cruisers Association) burgee when we purchase another one. We have since heard that a few other Loopers have also lost their burgees along the way. Maybe it was just a rite of passage for us!
Our new Looper friends, Larry and Sherry on Lady KK, arrived in Green Turtle Bay yesterday. They crossed their wake as they arrived and are now Gold Loopers! We were fortunate to join in the celebration of their success last night for dinner at the Commonwealth Yacht Club. We also met their son and daughter-in-law (Steve and Bev) who traveled from Minnesota to finish the Loop on Lady KK. We met Larry and Sherry when they were passing through Racine two weeks ago, just before we first started the Loop. We traveled with them for a few days, then separated for a while. It was nice to meet up with them again and congratulate them on completing the Loop!
Lady KK - 50' Viking
Today is a day to finish up a few chores before we cruise south tomorrow. Get the laundry caught up, work in the engine room, clean the inside and outside of LeeLoo, etc. Normal weekend chores! With luck, the sun will finally come later today. Tomorrow promises to be in the low 80's and sunny, when we leave Green Turtle Bay and cruise south. We will most likely be anchoring out for a couple of nights so once again will be unable to add entries to our blog. Just know that we are having a great time and will have more adventures to share the next time we write!
LeeLoo in Green Turtle Bay Marina, Kentucky
