October 23, 2008

End of Cumberland River Trip

Thursday 10-23-08
We motored on upstream Thursday, dodging barges. The 61' Hatteras had been removed from the rocks. The Coast Guard broadcasts daily notice to mariners, and they had continued to list the Hatteras being aground for over a week. We saw more eagles, and lots of white pelicans. Here's an eagle sitting along the shore.

Rain most of the day. We decided to stay overnight at the Kentucky Dam Marina, and start home Friday.

Friday.....................Got loaded on the trailer and slowly made it back home
If you enjoyed this travel log, donations for the January trip can be sent to our home address.

October 22, 2008

CRT 16

Wed 10-22-08
Anchored behind Dover island mile 91

I'm getting better at logging on to unsecured wifi networks. A hospital in Clarksville had several networks, but the signal comes and goes as we drift by. So it's guerrilla WiFi. Try to send and receive before I loose the signal. Get on and get off. (No, Captain Ron.................there's no gorillas on this river.)
All is well and good until I try to download a video or giant photos.

CRT 15

Wednesday 10-22-08
Here's one reason we don't travel after dark
A barge coming under a bridge

Here's what the river looks like every morning

We're still 120 miles from the Kentucky Dam marina where we left our truck and trailer.
The forecast calls for rain Thursday and Friday. We plan to haul out and drive home Friday morning.

October 21, 2008

CRT 14

Still Tuesday
The children's prisons here have more atmosphere than those at home.

When we passed this house going upstream, I said I thought it might belong to Alan Jackson maybe.

Going downstream, I had my computer on, and logged on to the WiFi coming from it. (It was unsecured)
The name on the network was "Fort Jackson"--any questions?
We have stopped tonight at Riverview restaurant and boat dock. Mile 158.
I had to extend my arm really high to get these photos.

As I've said before.................our boat looks small everywhere--except in the rearview mirror of our Tahoe.

CRT 13

Tuesday, 10-21-08
We got to the Old Hickory lock about 9:00 this morning.
The view going in is quite different from going out.
Here's in

Here's out

Just as we went out, we met a barge going upstream. If we had been 10 minutes later, we would have had to wait hours for the barge to go through.



Going downstream, this really does look like a plane crash

until you get directly in front of it.

CRT 12

Tuesday 10-21-08
Yesterday, as we passed by a nice house on Old Hickory, my computer showed a network available. The name of the network was "lake house" So I typed in a password..........lakehouse........and I was online.
Today, I hope to get on a marina's network in Nashville.
Last night, we anchored just upstream of Old Hickory lock. If we do 3 days of 60 miles, we will get back to the Dam Marina Thursday night. We may stop short if we're delayed at one of the two locks.
I got up early this morning and started Jake's generator. It will run the heater on low heat. Not really that cold today, but it takes the chill off.
When we anchor out, I run the generator a few hours in the evening to charge the batteries and run the refrigerator. We also plug in the TV, computer, phone chargers, iPod charger etc.
Roughin' it.
The score so far is Eagles 18, barges 8. That will swing the other way as we go back through the industrial areas around Nashville.
We passed what looked to be a "Dr. Seuss" island. Either that or something from granddaughter Kiera's bedroom wall.

We got to our anchorage early yesterday. Pam sat out on the bow to read, and I sat out back.

That's the farthest apart (25') we've been in over a week.

October 19, 2008

CRT 11

Sunday 10-19-08
We were scheduled to lock through the Cordell Hull lock at 8:00 am local time.
When we woke up at 6:00 local time, it was 38 degrees, and the lake was fogged in. We had no choice but to head to the lock. We were the only boat scheduled through in the foreseeable future, so if we wanted out of Cordell Hull Lake, we had to be there.
We had a difficult time finding the channel marks, but finally, the fog started to clear, and we could see the dam.

There was something stuck in the gate, and the lockmaster couldn't open the valves. So, he opened and closed the gate several times to clear it and we were on our way.

Since the temp has dropped we wanted to plug into shore power for the heat, so we pushed on today at 10 mph, for about 80 miles, and stayed at Cherokee Boat dock tonight.

We can get TV stations from Nashville, so we got to see the end of the pitiful Colts game.

October 18, 2008

CRT 10

Saturday 10-18-08
Staying at Defeated Creek Marina. Still no WiFi.
There's a wedding here at the marina this afternoon. The bride came out of a houseboat down the dock from us.

We asked the guy at the marina if he knew the lockmaster at the Cordell Hull Lock. He said sure, you want to talk to Pat? I explained that we would like to go back through the lock tomorrow (Sunday) instead of Monday. (You're supposed to schedule Sunday openings on Friday) So he called Pat on the phone, and Pat said "sure, come on down, I'll have the gates open at 8 am." We will need to set our alarm to get up early enough to get there by 8. Hope we're not fogged in again.
Saw three more eagles today.

Later, we saw a beaver swimming across the river. But the strangest thing today was when we saw four deer swimming across the river.

Here they are climbing out on the bank.

The temperature has dropped quite a bit. It had been in the 80's. Today, I doubt if it reached 60.
When we got up this morning, the thermometer inside the boat was reading in the 40's.
(That's one reason we're in a marina tonight--we have a heater that works on shore power.)

October 17, 2008

CRT 9

Cordell Hull lake is not heavily developed like Old Hickory. Lots and lots of stumps, logs, snags etc

We saw four eagles today, bring the total up to 10. (Barges still 8)
There's two eagles sitting on the downed tree in this photo.

These river photos are starting to all look alike--even to me. We turn around tomorrow. I hope Pam can remember that the red ones will be on the port side now.

Most of the time, we can't see beyond the banks of the river. For all we know, there may be a Wal Mart on both sides, but from our perspective, we're traveling in a wilderness.

October 16, 2008

CRT 8

Thursday, 10-16-08
We left old lock # 9 about 10:00 am.

Before we left, we walked up the old cobblestone road to explore the countryside.

At the top of the hill was a "No Trespassing" sign with a hand painted "Stay Out or Be Shot"
Pam immediately pulled up her hood for "camo" mode.

We saw an eagle sitting in a tree along the bank. So far the score is Eagles--6, towboats met --8, souls saved--2 (we rescued 2 guys in a fishing boat.)

I had called to schedule locking through Cordell Hull Lock. Told them I would be there at 3:30. We were cruising along about 15 miles from the lock just after noon, thinking we would be early. There was static coming over the VHF radio, and I thought I heard someone say my name. I turned up the volume, and could just make out someone saying "Tom Moore". I called back, and found out it was the lockmaster telling me he had arrived at the lock early if I wanted to get through prior to 3:30. So we bumped up our speed from 6 to 8 mph, and got there early.

He had the gates open, and as we went through, the lockmaster leaned over the wall and confirmed that we plan to go back down on Monday at 8:30 am. I told him yes, but if we decide to come back earlier, were there any other boats scheduled before Monday? No other boats between Thursday and Monday, but if we decide to go back earlier, he said the marina down the lake knows how to reach him.

After about a 60' lift, we are now in Cordell Hull Lake.

We anchored in Buffalo Creek tonight. Mile 325. It has rained most of the day. There's a solar vent directly over my head where I sleep in the V-Berth. Last night it leaked and dripped on my face. Pam suggested I pull a plastic trash bag over my head to keep it dry. We may have been out here long enough.
The Cumberland River is navigable for 385 miles. The same trip by car (Ohio River near Paducah to Celina, TN) is 190 miles.

October 15, 2008

CRT 7

Still exceptional weather today. ( Wednesday ) It's been sunny and in the 80's everyday. We might get some rain tomorrow.

We went by the house once owned by Johnny Cash. It burned a few years ago.

We stopped at Cherokee Marina for gas and ice. Pretty nice boat on the end of their dock. The guy at the marina said it was built in 1932 by the Pullman Train people. He also said it was in the Bogart movie "Key Largo". I think it now belongs to Hank Williams Sr.'s daughter. (She was born after Hank died.) Name on the boat is "Jett Stream"

Gas at this marina was $3.29. We are going to try to stop there on the way back downstream. Bought 58 gallons--but we weren't completely full when we left.
The guy at the marina asked how far we were going today. I said we would spend the night anchored in a cove somewhere along the way. He suggested we tie alongside a old lock wall at mile 281. So we did.


October 14, 2008

CRT 6

Yesterday, before we got to Nashville, we passed a deluxe cabin on the river.
It had a guest house, a very nice dock etc, and an airstrip and hangar out back.
The property stretched about 3/4 of a mile along the river.
I think it belongs to somebody like Alan Jackson maybe.

Then a little past Nashville, we found another guy with an airplane.

We made it through Old Hickory Lock without much waiting.



Tonight, (Tuesday) we're anchored in a cove in Old Hickory Lake.

We are about mile 218. I just discovered that in order to get the Cordell Hull Lock to open (mile 313.5), we need to call several days ahead. So tomorrow, I'm going to call and make a request to open it on Thursday afternoon and again on Monday morning. We plan to turn around midday Saturday. If the lockmaster doesn't show on Monday, we may need to extend the trip.
So far, we've used about 1/2 tank of gas (40 gallons). we'll stop somewhere Thursday or Friday to buy more. The price of gas at Rock Harbor Marina was $5.95 / gal. Hope I can do better than that!

CRT 5

Started out Slumberin' on the Cumberland again this morning.

Further on down we could see Nashville

I thought that "bridge to nowhere" they've been talking so much about was in Alaska.................

We saw three paddle wheelers today. The first was the Delta Queen downtown Nashville.

Then at Opryland the Music City Queen, and the General Jackson.

People were standing out on the decks waving to us as we passed by. What a mooning opportunity.
I just couldn't get Pam to do it.