Huntsville Sightseeing

Saturday, September 20

Enterprise Car Rental picked me up this morning and we got a rental car for two days. We promptly went out and bought about ten days worth of groceries.

We also did at little looking around Decatur, Alabama and I worked on getting the blog up to date.

Later in the day we spent some time with Dave Smith, the captain of Cat’s Cradle. I had emailed a picture of him going by us to him. He returned the favor and let me directly copy some of his pictures. The seven pictures included here are all his.

The first is Memories at the front of the Pickwick lock with Dahlin, a 52 foot Hatteraus, between us.





This is Bob and Sue on the Hatteraus.

This is Doc and Jean on a 44 foot Manta power catamaran. They are from Sarasota, FL; they are going down the Tenn-Tom to the Gulf and home to Sarasota to complete the Great Loop which they started last October.






The next two are of us near the top of the lock and waiting for the lock gates to completely open.

The last two are the next day when Cat’s Cradle went by us because he was going farther that day.












Sunday, September 21,

Today we took the rental car the 15 miles over to Huntsville and did some sightseeing. First we toured the Space and Rocket Center. I am not going to describe the entire operation in words or pictures. I few of the highlights include a full size shuttle mock up, and actual used command module from an Apollo Lunar mission and a mock up of the Hubble Telescope.



They are next to (on the edge of I am not sure which) the Redstone Arsenal, where much of the early work on the U.S. Rocket and space program was done.

I am sure there is a great deal more on the internet than I can describe, I will just says that if you haven’t been here and are ever anywhere nearby make it a point to get here.

The plane is an A12 an early version of what became the SR71 Blackbird. It was capable of mach 3 (2100 mph) at an altitude over 80,000 feet.







After lunch (and resting tired legs) we went to the Huntsville Botanical Gardens which is only about a mile away from the space center.

They have beautiful gardens and we were just starting thru them when a volunteer in a golf card came by and took pity on two old senior citizens. He gave us a ride and narrated tour of most of the gardens, it was great.

They also have a butterfly building, it is very nice and Diana got lots of pictures, but it is a little hard to see the butterflies.

They have a garden they call the railroad garden. It is a large model railway layout (and larger scale) that was built by two eagle scouts as a scout project. Then all the planting were done and are maintained by the local bonsai club to keep all the plants in scale with the railroad.

For the fall season they have scarecrows thru out the gardens. Diana named these the pot heads.

It was a great day and a nice change of pace from the boat.

Lakes Wilson and Joe Wheeler

Thursday, September 18

It was another beautiful morning, light winds, sunny and mid 60s.

Aqua Yacht Harbor is a large interesting marina. Diana got these panoramic pictures showing most of the slips. There are also two large dry stack buildings, five rows high. These are the first five high we have seen, others have been three and four.






The transient docking is along the outside of farthest covered dock. As we left we got this picture of the other transients we had docked with. The red roof is the marina office; we came out of the space just right of center. Of the six boats pictured on the transient dock the smallest is a 42 foot trawler the Cat’s Cradle.





We have spent several nights at the same marina as the Cat’s Cradle and since they also have two cats onboard gotten to know them. They were also part of the six we had dinner with last night.










As we cruised slowly out of Yellow Creek back to the Tennessee we again past Grand Harbor, this is another picture of a couple the boats docked there. For those people going down to Mobile, AL and then Florida, Yellow Creek is where they go from the Tennessee River to the Tenn-Tom Waterway and the then the Tombigbee River. Currently one of the first locks is closed for repair so there are several boats arriving here and having to wait. It is supposed to open next week. The big rush of boats going south doesn’t start until mid October. Many insurance policies say you can’t be in the Gulf before November 1st because of hurricanes.


















We continued up Pickwick Lake enjoying lots of beautiful scenery, here is another picture of some of the cypress trees. This is low shore line but there are also many stone bluff and high hills along the shores. Since most of the dams were build be the TVA they retained title to much of the shoreline around the lakes and thus it remains only sparsely developed.

Since we planned to stop at Florence Harbor just before Wilson Lock and Cat’s Cradle wanted to go thru the lock and anchor above it, they were cruising a little faster than we were and Diana got this picture as they went by.









By late afternoon we had the entrance to Florence Harbor in site (just before the bridge), when this small tour boat came out. We got in behind him and proceeded easily into a slip. It was a nice marina in the McFarland Bottoms Park. The marina is privately operated on a leases basis from the government. We were glad it was Thursday; everyone was getting ready for a motor cycle rally that was going thru the park this weekend. Upwards of 100,000 bikes were expected.

Friday, September 19,





Ho hum, sunny mild and light winds. We awoke this morning to find that after a late evening cruise the tour boat had pulled in behind us at the fuel dock instead of his normal dock. It gave me a chance for a close up look and Diana a chance for this picture from the back deck. She looked to be relatively new and I had been told this was her first season here.

Looking her up in the government documented vessel, she was built in 2001 and was previously named the La Crosse Queen IV.

I called the Wilson lock on the radio to see about traffic since we were only three miles away, he said they were just working an up bound tow and we could stay in our slip for half an hour. The plan today was to try and run 49 miles to Decatur, AL where we would rent a car and do some provisioning and sightseeing. 49 miles is an easy run but with two locks it could be a long day.

As we left Diana got additional pictures of the Pickwick Belle and the marina.

We proceeded up river and into the channel that goes to the lock. Wilson lock and dam is an interesting lock, it is one of the oldest still in use. The original was built as a pair of locks that each take you up half way and are very small. Later the current main chamber was built with a vertical lift of 93 feet. This was the highest lift in the country when it was completed. There are now a few higher in the Pacific Northwest.

The picture shows the main lock on the right and the original on the left. The original is still operational and used when the main is under repair. However because of the small chamber size and the double lock it takes a full day to lock a large tow thru. For perspective the gate opening on the right is 110 feet in width.

When we got there the tow was just finishing reassembling his barges and clearing the lock then the chamber had to be empty for us. We got in with no problem, Diana is getting more comfortable getting the line on a bollard and the captain is gaining confidence in driving right up to the bollards.

We rode the elevator up 93 feet then out into Lake Wilson. Since Wilson dam was completed before the TVA was formed much of the shoreline is privately owned and there is more development then the other lakes on the Tennessee. Even though the forecast was for 5 to 10 mph winds it was soon blowing 15 to 18. Since we were going into the wind it was not pleasant up top so we drove much of the day inside.

As we proceeded up Lake Wilson we knew we had a tow in front of us and that he would take two hours to get through Wheeler lock, we were prepared for a long wait but proceeded on up the beautiful lake. We got to the lock shortly after noon, there sat the tow waiting as a down bound tow was just exiting the lock and re-coupling his barges. After about twenty minutes the down bound got underway and the lock master comes on the radio and tells us we can enter the lock. It seems that they have a scheduled locking at 1:30 with some priority and there is not enough time to do a double locking and get the tow through but there is time to get us through and re-empty the chamber by 1:30. We thank god Neptune, we are now on schedule to make the Riverwalk Marina by late afternoon not twilight.

Cat’s Cradle having started the day above the lock was 12 or 15 miles ahead of us, but we were able to talk to them by radio. They reported that on Wheeler Lake the wind was causing enough motion that there big Maine Coon cat had motion sickness and we might want to prepare our deck hands. The motion wasn’t bad but Diana sat on the floor with both of them and reassured them. Oreo likes to have his belly rubbed. He stretches out when she does this and is in this position for the next half hour after she is done. The motion does not appear to be bothering him.

We got to within a mile of the marina and had to wait 5 minutes for a railroad bridge to clear a train and lift for us. This is the first bridge of the trip we could not clear.
We got thru and into the marina and stopped at the fuel dock as instructed. The bartender from the restaurant came out to direct us and help us into a slip. It is a short slip and we are hanging out a ways,

Beautiful days on the Tennessee

Tuesday, September 16

It was a cool crisp autumn morning, with temps in the low 50s. We got going about 8:30 with heavy mist on the water, another couple of degrees and it would have been heavy fog. The sun was out bright and the mist soon cleared and it was a beautiful day to be on the water.

On the low lying shores and islands there are many trees but the cypress have an ability with their large root structure to grow where the others can’t.

On the other shores we are seeing many high stone banks. These fascinate Diana and she takes many pictures of the different formations.

If you look carefully (enlarge the picture) the house in the middle looks like a lighthouse.

We had a good day of running to a small marina in Clifton, TN. We had been told on Sunday by the captain of Passport that Clifton had the cheapest diesel on the Tennessee. We pulled into the harbor with two other boats that we had met the previous evening in Pebble Isle. We got tied up to the fuel dock, then they got tied up, then we fueled.

This fueling was not the good news of earlier fills. We took 102 gallons which gave us a MPG of only 2.9. I believe there are a series of reasons for this: 1) We got a short fill last time (part of the reason we got 4.25, 2) we ran wide open a few times for more than a few minutes, 3) in 45 miles of bucking high winds on Saturday, we ran harder than normal to maintain near normal cruising speed, 4) while the boat sat in Nashville for two months it built a growth on the bottom that is causing extra drag. The good news is that with our Boat US discount it was $3.89 a gallon.

After the fueling we went around the dock to get pumped out then to our overnight position. Clifton is a small marina but the service was excellent and the people friendly and helpful.

Wednesday, September 17,

We were again up and way a little after 8:00 on another cool morning. The sun was out and it warmed quickly to a perfect day on the water.

After a couple of hours we came to the Cherry Mansion (named for owner) an 1830s home that was General Sherman’s headquarters during the battle of Shiloh. It is only a few miles from the actual battlefield. The grounds of the home were used for a medical aid station (for troops from both sides). Further up river is the battlefield which is now the Shiloh National Military Park. It is several square miles with a mile of river front. Unfortunately there is no place to stop and tie up. We hope to have time on the return trip to spent a day and rent a car to see it.

About 2:30 we came to the Pickwick Lock, our first on the Tennessee. We got in to the lock and had a bit of a problem getting to the wall with a swirling wind that kept trying to blow us off the wall. We finally made it and watched the two boats that had been at Clifton with us the previous night have similar problems. Then a lovely 44 foot power catamaran pulled in and the four of us locked up 57 feet.

After locking up we exited in to beautiful Pickwick Lake. We had called earlier in the day for transient docking at Pickwick Landing State Park Marina just one mile after the lock, only to be told they were rebuilding the marina and not open. We then called Aqua Yacht Harbor where we knew the other two boats were going and were told they had lots of room.

Aqua is off the Tennessee on yellow creek which leads to the Ten-Tom canal and on down to the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile, AL. We proceeded another eight miles up Pickwick Lake and turned into Yellow Creek (remember the buoys just went from red on the right to red on the left.) Right inside Yellow Creek is Grand Harbor, and it looked grand including big yachts and nice condos. A mile further is Aqua also very nice. Diana got the picture of these lovely homes just across the bay from the marina but then had to be deckhand and didn’t get a picture of the marina. (Maybe in the morning).

The gentleman on the Manta catamaran got a courtesy van and six of us went for a fine dinner at Jon’s Pier.

Live is still good (Somebody prop up the stock market).

Sunday, September 14

Our decision to take a weather day proves to be the right one. About 3:00 in the morning the 20 mph winds began to get very gusty. It was hard to judge in the dark but I think there were many over 40. The day dawned with low over cast and steady 30+ winds with higher gusts. We had only occasional light mist. All the rain went west and north of us. Our friends in St Charles, MO are in for the third flood event of the year.

The marina is part of the Paris Landing State Park which has an Inn and Convention center in the park. We called and they had a park ranger pick us up at the marina at take us to the inn. We had a good buffet breakfast while seated where we could look out across the lake. The low clouds were flying by at a fast clip and the far shore appeared and disappeared as the mist went by. It was dry when we finished so we walked the mile back to the boat thru the lovely park.

The marina office had a nice laundry area and Diana took the opportunity to catch up on laundry. We were told there was a small grocery just up the road so George went shopping. After walking ¾ of a mile (each way) the small grocery turned out to be a convenience store at a gas station. They had beef jerky, beer, three sizes of minnows, lots of chips, but no apples, bananas or other fresh fruit. The choice of bread was wonder classic or wonder family wheat. O well the tote bag wasn’t to heavy coming back.

Diana got these pictures of the lovely marina (and the Coast Guard Base across the harbor). The tall pole is a river level gauge. The X at the bottom is the summer pool level (359) there is another just below the surface for winter pool (354). Today was just over 355. They draw the level down in the fall since winter is the rainy season. This allows them to hold the rain and prevent flooding and have the water in the dry season for power generation. The X way up at the top is the level of the top of the dam above which the level should never go by much. In fact since the dam was built in 1944, I don’t believe it has ever really come close.

By evening the system (Ike) had moved farther north east and a cold front was moving thru. The humidity dropped and the temperature followed. No AC today and the window open tonight.

Monday, September 15

The temperature this morning was 57 with a light north wind. Still overcast but a big improvement over the hot weather we have had.







Today’s plan was to run only 32 miles to a recommended marina, Pebble Isle. We left about 8:40 and ran leisurely up river, 1500 rpm gives us about 6.5 mph. With the light wind behind us it felt almost calm on the flybridge.

They say this railway bridge is abandoned. I sure hope so. The building in the back ground is an old warehouse that loaded grain on to barges before the current dam was build. They didn’t demolish it when the lake was formed so it has sat like this for 60 years.

Along the way we passed the River Explorer, it is a cruise barge. See http://www.riverbarge.com/.
































We pulled into the marina about 1:30. It is as good as recommended and busy. By 6:00 tonight there are 9 or 10 transient boats tight to the long transient dock. In talking to boaters that came from Green Turtle Bay today, they had it even worst yesterday. Wind gusting over 70 mph produce many downed trees, no power and at least one large boat breaking loose from its moorings and drifting into other boats.

After having a late lunch we walked to the nearby Johnsonville State Historic Park. This is the site of a civil war battle in which the confederate cavalry sank union gun boats on the river and destroyed a union army supply depot. Although it was only half a mile to the park, by the time we walk thru the park and back we figure we walked at least three miles on some steep hills. These pictures show a cemetery in the park, the view from an overlook, and part of the trail thru the woods.

On to the Tennessee River

Saturday, September 13

We plan to pick up my sister and brother-in-law on the 23 in Guntersville. We started out having time to burn when we got to Nashville, but the delay with the lock closure burned most of our extra days.

Today’s plan was to run down Lake Barkley cross over to the Tennessee and run up (South) Kentucky Lake to an anchorage at Clay Bay then tomorrow run to Pebble Isle Marina, runs of 58 and 42 miles. When I got up this morning I checked the weather, today looked hot and windy (90 with 10 to 20 and gusty) tomorrow the remains of Ike are suppose to effect this area, winds of 20 to 25 gusting 30 to 45 and 90% chance of rain some of it heavy.

I decided that Sunday looked like a day we might not be able to move and I didn’t want to spent it at anchor in rain and high winds. So we quickly got under way, ran to the Barkley canal, headed up Kentucky Lake past Clay Bay and twelve miles further stopped at Paris Landing State Park Marina. It was 70 long miles; our preference is to run no more than 50 to 55 a day.

We ran the last forty miles up Kentucky Lake with the wind on the nose at 20 to 25 and open stretches of 18 and 20 miles. We had steady 2 foot chop with the occasional 3 foot roller. It was a long day for the Captain and the Admiral was a little uncomfortable, deck hand Oreo suffered from both the heat and the motion and had a really bad afternoon.

It was our first experience with relatively heavy weather. I was pleased with the way the boat performed.

Paris Landing looks like a good marina. State park price is $.70 a foot, they have laundry and showers in the marina building and an Inn at the other end of the Park serves Sunday brunch and will pick us up.

We will make use of the weather day.

There are no pictures today with the high winds and a kitty that needed special attention the camera never came out.

Down the Cumberland

Thursday, September 11

UPS got the part for the dinghy engine here yesterday and the great mechanics at Rock Harbor had it running early afternoon. We took it out for a ride around the harbor and it ran fine. Diana got this interesting picture of the Rock Harbor wall and the slips nearest it.

This morning we got up and got underway. The captain was a little rusty and had a minor problem getting out of the slip. We will need a section of rear rail straightened at some point.
We pulled into the fuel dock and topped off the diesel, we did not fill before we went home in June. We had 302 miles and 3 generator hours on this tank. It took 72.5 gallons. Allowing .5 times 3 for the generator, 302/71 is 4.25 MPG. Much of this tank was leisurely cruising at just 6 and 7 MPH so we did better than the 4 MPG at 8 that is the goal.

After fueling we headed out into the Cumberland and down river. At Ashland City we saw the Braxton Condos we wrote about in the last entry. The Captain didn’t see much of them however, as we had caught our first tow of the day and we were busy passing. It is amazing how long it takes to pass an 1100 foot tow when he is doing 6.5 MPH and you are doing 8.

After getting by him we decided to run hard to the Cheatham lock (about an hour for us) so we could get there in time to lock thru ahead of him, if the lock was available. It was and we waited only about 15 minutes before the gates opened and we had an uneventful (best kind) lockage. He was just arriving as we exited the lock

We then continued another twenty miles to the city of Clarksville’s free town dock where we had a reservation and had stayed before. Although we had been told it might be busy with four other boats on the dock, they never showed and we had a peaceful night with the dock to ourselves.

During the day we saw flags at half mast. It took a moment to remember that it was 9-11, then we gave thanks for the opportunity to continue to live in this great country.

It was a hot day, upper eighties with high humidity. We ran the generator and the air conditioning for the last two hours to keep the deck hands cool. Pikka said meow (thanks dad).

Along the way Diana got this picture of an interesting rock figure along the river bank. It is possible that someone has done some carving, but my guess is that it is natural erosion.

Friday, September 12

Today’s plan was to run to the Barkley State Park Marina, a distance of 68 + miles. This is about the maximum we like to run in a day and we needed to get in before the staff went home. We were up with the sun (not all that early this time of year), had a quick breakfast and were underway by a few minutes after 7:00 A.M.

Here is just one of the beautiful views looking down the river.

Diana (and the captain) continues to enjoy the abundance of water birds along the river. We have seen lots of vultures, egrets, herons (several varieties), osprey, geese and bald eagles to name just the larger birds. Diana is still working on identifying a couple of the smaller species.

Diana is intrigued with getting pictures of the birds in flight. Here are just three of her efforts.

Shortly after noon we past The Donelson National Battlefield. This is at the entrance to an anchorage that we had used in June and we were so busy getting into the anchorage we never got a picture of the cannons.

Today was even hotter than yesterday, mid nineties with more sunshine. Not only the deck hands but the Admiral too was happy to have the AC on most of the afternoon.

By four o’clock two very helpful dock hands had guided us into our slip at Lake Barkley State Park Marina. It is a great Marina with almost new docks and lots of space between them. The price is just $.60 per foot.