The picture of the Captain on the front deck and the back of the Delta Queen in this post are thanks to Charles (Chookie) Kilander.
Thursday, May 29
We started the day by walking up to Dockers, GTB’s little breakfast and lunch restaurant. We looked out over the harbor on a beautiful morning, mid 60s clear skies and calm winds. We had a good breakfast and as we were finishing the cook brought little plastic cups with samples of the pie filing she had prepared for the lunch pies she was baking, chocolate and peach cobbler. What away to finish a great breakfast.
We decide that we needed to get moving or we would never get out cruising, Ann and Diana went grocery shopping while Chookie and I repaired the rub rail damage from the lock. Thanks to Chookie it looks good again. Then we washed half the boat and the next half and the third half and final the last half.
With the groceries stored and the water tank full we were off about 1:00. We put the bimini up for some shade, still clear, calm and now in the 80’s. We cruised slowly up (south) the Cumberland River. The lake is high and the main channel is 50 to 60 feet deep with lots of water outside the channel so the driving was easy.
When Barkley Dam on the Cumberland and the Kentucky Dam on the Tennessee were building, (I believe it was early 50,s but I maybe off a little) it formed a long peninsula today known as the Land Between the Lakes. Today it is a National Recreational Area of something like 160,000 acres.
This was all done as one of the TVA projects. The government bought out and relocated the few subsistence farms in the area. This was not well received by most of them. They were happy
living a rural life in the woods, growing what they needed, and for at least a few turning their corn into a more lucrative liquid product. The government 50 years ago did not recognize the great value of ethanol.
We cruised on up the lake with the LBL on our right and populate areas on our left. There are many old creek bottoms that are now flooded and form bays of to the side of the lake. After a couple of hours of cruising we slowly worked our way up one of them about a half mile, until the water quickly went from 20 feet to 10 feet and we dropped the anchor.
I showed Chookie how the davits for the dinghy worked and he and I went exploring further up the creek. After about a quarter mile we saw what looked like a road in the woods. We went in and beached the dinghy and walked up what we believe was a 50 year old road. A few hundred yards over a rise there was a sign, when we got beyond it, it read “Stop Road Ends in Lake Ahead”. We went back and continued our journey up the creek. The banks were all heavily wooded with lots of water birds around. Coming back down the other side we found where the road exited the water.
We ate grilled chicken breast with Diana’s homemade potato salad and some fruit up on the bridge on an absolutely perfect evening.
This picture shows our anchorage, the white specs are egrets. Enlarge the picture to see them better. There were six of them flying around the area.
The day was rated a success by all.
We started the day by walking up to Dockers, GTB’s little breakfast and lunch restaurant. We looked out over the harbor on a beautiful morning, mid 60s clear skies and calm winds. We had a good breakfast and as we were finishing the cook brought little plastic cups with samples of the pie filing she had prepared for the lunch pies she was baking, chocolate and peach cobbler. What away to finish a great breakfast.
We decide that we needed to get moving or we would never get out cruising, Ann and Diana went grocery shopping while Chookie and I repaired the rub rail damage from the lock. Thanks to Chookie it looks good again. Then we washed half the boat and the next half and the third half and final the last half.
With the groceries stored and the water tank full we were off about 1:00. We put the bimini up for some shade, still clear, calm and now in the 80’s. We cruised slowly up (south) the Cumberland River. The lake is high and the main channel is 50 to 60 feet deep with lots of water outside the channel so the driving was easy.
When Barkley Dam on the Cumberland and the Kentucky Dam on the Tennessee were building, (I believe it was early 50,s but I maybe off a little) it formed a long peninsula today known as the Land Between the Lakes. Today it is a National Recreational Area of something like 160,000 acres.
This was all done as one of the TVA projects. The government bought out and relocated the few subsistence farms in the area. This was not well received by most of them. They were happy
living a rural life in the woods, growing what they needed, and for at least a few turning their corn into a more lucrative liquid product. The government 50 years ago did not recognize the great value of ethanol.We cruised on up the lake with the LBL on our right and populate areas on our left. There are many old creek bottoms that are now flooded and form bays of to the side of the lake. After a couple of hours of cruising we slowly worked our way up one of them about a half mile, until the water quickly went from 20 feet to 10 feet and we dropped the anchor.
I showed Chookie how the davits for the dinghy worked and he and I went exploring further up the creek. After about a quarter mile we saw what looked like a road in the woods. We went in and beached the dinghy and walked up what we believe was a 50 year old road. A few hundred yards over a rise there was a sign, when we got beyond it, it read “Stop Road Ends in Lake Ahead”. We went back and continued our journey up the creek. The banks were all heavily wooded with lots of water birds around. Coming back down the other side we found where the road exited the water.
We ate grilled chicken breast with Diana’s homemade potato salad and some fruit up on the bridge on an absolutely perfect evening.
This picture shows our anchorage, the white specs are egrets. Enlarge the picture to see them better. There were six of them flying around the area.
The day was rated a success by all.
Friday, May 30
We took are time getting up and going this morning, it was another pleasant morning and nobody was in a hurry to get going.
The first project of the morning was a little house cleaning. We had not been as careful as we should have been about making sure all the screens were closed TIGHT. The boat was full of small bugs. They weren’t very fast and the small shop vac quickly collected 99% of them. The flybridge was another story, the anchor light was on all night and they were five layers thick in places. A bucket of water, sponge and boat towel finally got the area safe for human inhabitance.
We finally pulled anchor and spent six pleasant hours cruising up the Lake Barkley/Cumbe
rland River. At some point the lake narrows and it is just the river again. The morning overcast cleared and it was a beautiful day. The temperature start in the high 60s and by mid afternoon was in the upper 80s. There was a bit of a breeze but it was in our general direction of travel, so the motion of the boat reduced it, not increasing it as when you drive into the wind.
Shortly after getting underway we went by Eddysville, where this KY State Prison sits right
on the river bank. Everyone that sees it says it looks more like a castle.
The Channel is well buoyed and every mile or so
there was a lighted marker on a post. We think maybe two out fifty did not have an Osprey nest on it. There was almost always one adult in sight and sometimes both and in many we could see young.
rland River. At some point the lake narrows and it is just the river again. The morning overcast cleared and it was a beautiful day. The temperature start in the high 60s and by mid afternoon was in the upper 80s. There was a bit of a breeze but it was in our general direction of travel, so the motion of the boat reduced it, not increasing it as when you drive into the wind.Shortly after getting underway we went by Eddysville, where this KY State Prison sits right
on the river bank. Everyone that sees it says it looks more like a castle.
The Channel is well buoyed and every mile or so
there was a lighted marker on a post. We think maybe two out fifty did not have an Osprey nest on it. There was almost always one adult in sight and sometimes both and in many we could see young.
When the temperature went into the 80s, the deck hands laid down on the job and said we won’t play until the captain turns on the air conditioning.
By 3:30 we were dropping the anchor in a secluded cove of the river next to the Hickman Creek Park. The picture is the entrance to the anchorage as we turned in.
We fixed a couple of screens where the screen had been pulled loss from the edge (we hope fewer bugs tonight).
We had spaghetti dinner up on the mid deck then we took rainbow sherbert to the bridge to finish the meal. We watch an episode of JAG then went out and sat on the bow as the evening final began to cool and watch lots of stars, planes at 35000 feet and a few fireflies. The only complained I heard was the crickets and frogs were too loud.
Saturday, May 31
We had a leisurely breakfast, and we got underway on another lovely morning. Just as we were pulling anchor a tow went by the entrance to the cove.
Ann and Chookie had not seen a tow and barges up close yet. We pulled out into the channel and were about a ¼ mile behind with a highway bridge insight. We called the captain on the VHF and told him we would stay behind him until he cleared the bridge then requested his preference for which side we passed on. He thanked us and said either side would be fine.
There were not nearly as many bald eagles as osprey but Diana got this picture of one.
We had a pleasant cruise forty miles up the river in a relatively narrow channel but deep shore to shore, so easy navigating.
By mid afternoon we pulled into Clarksville, they have a lovely river front park that stretch clos
e to a mile along the water front. We had called and reserved a spot along the free town dock. We cruised by a visitor center with a length of concrete pier. It had a sign that said transient docking, call for reservation and a phone number. We went on up river and saw a floating dock with small boats next to a launch ramp. We went back to the fixed pier and tied up. We were not real happy with the situation when a couple of wildlife officers came by a politely suggested the transient docking was up at the floating dock.We got underway again, went up and found the floating dock was larger than it looked and tied
off in a much more satisfactory situation. We had been told there was no power and were prepared to run the generator, but there was a nice big 50 amp connection. It was great to have power because the temperature had reached 90 and the dew point was in the low 70s. The air conditioning sure felt good.We relaxed a little and then went for a walk to explore the town of Clarksville and find a choice for where we might eat. After finding a place to eat and stopping for an ice tea before the walk back we got back to the dock just as a 52 foot Sea Ray was pulling in front of us. Chookie and I caught their dock lines and had a nice chat with them. They lived in Clarksville but keep the boat at a marina on Lake Barkley. They had come up river so they could take visiting family out for rides.
After freshening up and a clean shirt we headed out to walk to dinner. As we pasted the Sea Ray they asked where we were headed. We told him and he suggested there was a nice locally owned family pub about the same distance in the opposite direction. So we thanked him and started off the dock when he yelled at us to wait a minute. He said it was up a steep hill and his wife would be happy to drive us.
We had a quick ride to down(up the hill)town. The Black Horse turned out to be a great place and we all had a great dinner. We agreed that it
was a fine choice and as we walked back down several blocks of steep hills, we were very thankful we had accepted the ride to the restaurant.Here the Captain seats on the front deck enjpying the End of another great day.
Sunday, June 1
During the night we had an intense electrical storm and heavy rain fortunately, there was little wind.
We took our time getting going this morning, we took the opportunity with shore power to take some showers. We had a leisurely breakfast, then Chookie and I walked up the hill and across the street to get a Sunday paper.
We finally got underway and headed back down river reversing what we had done yesterday. It is amazing that although much looks familiar
, approaching from the opposite direction there are many things you didn’t see the first time.
When we got to Cumberland City, the city ferry was crossing the river empty. We watch him land on the far bank, a car drive on and then he headed back across the river. For those of us
We took our time getting going this morning, we took the opportunity with shore power to take some showers. We had a leisurely breakfast, then Chookie and I walked up the hill and across the street to get a Sunday paper.
We finally got underway and headed back down river reversing what we had done yesterday. It is amazing that although much looks familiar
, approaching from the opposite direction there are many things you didn’t see the first time.When we got to Cumberland City, the city ferry was crossing the river empty. We watch him land on the far bank, a car drive on and then he headed back across the river. For those of us
from the urban area it is amazing how many of these ferry still operate on the rivers.
Half an hour later we saw the Delta Queen headed up river. We waved to all the passengers that were waving at us.
Half an hour later we saw the Delta Queen headed up river. We waved to all the passengers that were waving at us. 
Another few miles and there was a tow with twelve loaded coal barges coming at us in a very narrow section of the river. We pulled way over to the edge of the channel very close to shore, but still in over thirty feet of water.
Shortly before 4:00 we pulled into the same secluded cove at Hickman Recreational Area that we were at two nights ago and dropped the hook. There were a couple of pontoons and a couple fisherman put it was still very peaceful.
After we got the boat settled in we sat out on the front deck and watch a small black cloud go by that gave us a fifteen minute shower. Although it rained very hard, with no wind the front overhang kept us dry.
When the rain quit we fired up the grill and had a wonderful BBQ turkey breast dinner in the sunshine on the mid deck. After dinner, the dishes and putting the boat away for the night we watched another episode of JAG.
Diana took this picture of a beautiful sunset.
At bed time the sky was clear and the stars were reflecting off the mirror surface of the water.
Monday, June 2
Another warm, calm morning. Diana fixed pineapple pancakes for breakfast. After a relaxed start we got underway a little after nine. I think I am going to ask the factory about relabeling the light switches on the helm. There is one that is labeled Anchor Light, it should be entomology light. Leaving a light on the bridge on all night collects a huge collection of bugs for an entomologist to study.
Because it had been calm all night the anchor chain had laid on the bottom all night dragging in the mud as we swung around. It came up muddy for it full thirty feet. Fortunately we had an anchor wash down system installed with the windlass, and it made short work of the mud. This system consists of a thru hull fitting in the bottom of the boat with a pump, and then there is a hose and control in a locker on the boat so that the
Another warm, calm morning. Diana fixed pineapple pancakes for breakfast. After a relaxed start we got underway a little after nine. I think I am going to ask the factory about relabeling the light switches on the helm. There is one that is labeled Anchor Light, it should be entomology light. Leaving a light on the bridge on all night collects a huge collection of bugs for an entomologist to study.
Because it had been calm all night the anchor chain had laid on the bottom all night dragging in the mud as we swung around. It came up muddy for it full thirty feet. Fortunately we had an anchor wash down system installed with the windlass, and it made short work of the mud. This system consists of a thru hull fitting in the bottom of the boat with a pump, and then there is a hose and control in a locker on the boat so that the
anchor can be sprayed as it comes up. When we started out we had a hitch hiker. This butterfly sat on Chookie's hat for at least fifteen minutes.
We countinue to have beautiful scenery.
We cruised slowly down the river enjoying a 
beautiful morning. The river banks are 98% rural with stone bluffs, tree lined bluffs, and low flood plains. The other two percent are developed either residential or commercial. This house caught our attention, but there was disagreement as to whether it was a lovely house or poorly done because it did not blend in. There were some that were impossible to photograph because you could hardly see them in the trees.
beautiful morning. The river banks are 98% rural with stone bluffs, tree lined bluffs, and low flood plains. The other two percent are developed either residential or commercial. This house caught our attention, but there was disagreement as to whether it was a lovely house or poorly done because it did not blend in. There were some that were impossible to photograph because you could hardly see them in the trees.We continued to see many water birds and today
it include osprey again. On the river the last two days there were almost no osprey, now we are back where the river widens to start to form Barkley Lake and there are osprey everywhere. They love these sign posts, every post has an occupied nest. We also saw several nests low to the water on downed dead trees that were caught in the shallow water away from the banks. They look like poor sites and the young looked much smaller since the nests were probably flooded a month ago.
it include osprey again. On the river the last two days there were almost no osprey, now we are back where the river widens to start to form Barkley Lake and there are osprey everywhere. They love these sign posts, every post has an occupied nest. We also saw several nests low to the water on downed dead trees that were caught in the shallow water away from the banks. They look like poor sites and the young looked much smaller since the nests were probably flooded a month ago. 
The herons will sit on any object they can find.
About 2:00 we snaked our way up a buoyed side channel about two miles into a lovely secluded cove in the LBL, Taylor Creek. We dropped the hook and thought we were in for a peaceful afternoon. Unfortunately we have been having trouble with some of the starboard gauges not working intermittently and it was getting more frequent. Now when we went to shut the engine off and the kill button (diesels keep running with the key off) did nothing. We got the manual out and found the emergency shutdown procedure that explained how to stop the engine with a lever on the side of the fuel delivery system of the engine. Now when we check the ignition switch we had no power to the key.
I was thinking about the task of drive twenty five miles to the marina tomorrow on one engine. Fortunately that won’t be necessary. After we got the generator going and turned the air conditioning on (it was 91, calm. and very humid), we let the engine cool down. Then Chookie start a careful investigation of the entire electrical system. After checking all the wiring under the dash he crawled over the entire engine (some of the backside is not easy to get to) making sure every wiring connection was well seated. When he was done everything appears to be working again. He isn’t exactly sure which connection it was but it is the results that matter.
We relaxed until dinner time (some napped) then had a delicious grilled pork tenderloin dinner.
Here are pictures of the crew relaxing after dinner.
We watch another JAG and decided that it was just cool enough to open the boat rather than try to stay closed up with the air running. There was another beautiful sunset.
Tuesday, June 3
More of the same, we took our time over breakfast and finally got underway about 9:20. We snaked our way out the small buoyed channel to the main channel and were off for a run of only 25 miles back to Green Turtle Bay. For the first time we had some significant wind. We had 12 to 18 with some gusts over 20. The boat rode well but it affected our speed by about ½ mph when we headed into the wind.
It was more beautiful scenery and we again went by the Kentucky State Prison. Diana continued to get more bird pictures.
A couple of highlights today were a paddlewheel tug that is now a private yacht that is register in St. Paul. We talked to the owner on the radio. 
H
e just bought the boat in St. Paul and brought it down river. He has not yet renamed it.
H
e just bought the boat in St. Paul and brought it down river. He has not yet renamed it. The second highlight was to watch a large Army? Helicopter practicing mid-air refueling. They 
were circling and we saw them go by three or four times.
were circling and we saw them go by three or four times. 
We got back into GTB and pulled into the fuel dock about 2:00. The picture show the entrance to the GTB harbor. We waited for a couple of smaller boats to finish and move then we slid into the diesel pump and filled the fuel tanks and pumped out the holding tank. Allowing a half gallon an hour for the generator we did just less than 200 miles at just over 4 mpg.
We had our ongoing problem with the starboard engine, now it did not want to start again. We pulled the boat to the far end of the fuel dock away from the pumps. Chookie crawled around the engine again and found that the main electrical connection from battery to the starter was lose at the starter. Naturally it was on the back side of the engine where it was hard to see and harder to get a wrench on. He finally got it tightened and we hope we have finally solved several of our problems.
We then motored over to our slip, got tied up, plugged into shore power and turned the air on. It was near 90, sunny and the dew point was near 70. We got the cabin closed up and enjoyed just sitting back and relaxing after a wonderful six days on the water.
The girls ran to town to grocery shop while the guys did a couple of cleanup projects around the boat and check e-mails with the first internet access in a week.
Finally it was time for everyone to head ashore to the showers as we had reservation for dinner at Patti’s 1880 settlement. This is a famous restaurant in this area that has tremendous food, great service and a good business. We had a great dinner, which words can’t do justice to, so I won’t try. After dinner we visited the gift shop and then t
he extensive gardens before finally heading back to the boat.Here are pictures of the crew after dinner.
Wednesday, June 4
This morning Ann and Chookie are departing to drive to Birmingham, AL to visit a long time friend down there. So after breakfast they packed up their gear and loaded up the car. While Ann was carrying something to the car a guy passing by recognized the National “C” Scow logo on her shirt. It was Bruce Moore who worked for Melges boat works back in the 1970s. He and Chookie remembered each other and I certainly remember the name. We had a nice chat and it only delayed their departure by fifteen minutes. It certainly is a small world.
Now Diana is doing laundry and cleaning while I wash the boat and try and get this blog entry done.
This morning Ann and Chookie are departing to drive to Birmingham, AL to visit a long time friend down there. So after breakfast they packed up their gear and loaded up the car. While Ann was carrying something to the car a guy passing by recognized the National “C” Scow logo on her shirt. It was Bruce Moore who worked for Melges boat works back in the 1970s. He and Chookie remembered each other and I certainly remember the name. We had a nice chat and it only delayed their departure by fifteen minutes. It certainly is a small world.
Now Diana is doing laundry and cleaning while I wash the boat and try and get this blog entry done.
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