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,