Our decision to stay put yesterday proved to be a good one. Not only did it rain off and on all day but in the evening we had a thunderstorm followed by an all night rain. This morning was low overcast and wet but the rain stopped about five this morning.
Since we had a longer day planned we got up and underway by 8:00. It was still warm (upper 60s) and the day cleared slowly to be another pleasant day. Just over an hour after we left Aqua was Pickwick Lock. We waited about ten minutes for the chamber to be opened and got through without any problem.
This puts us back in Kentucky Lake. There are no more locks until we leave the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers to go to the Ohio and Mississippi for the return trip to St Charles.
Another hour down river was Shiloh Park where we were on Monday. Here is a picture of Pittsburg Landing where the Union forces came ashore and one of the national cemeteries above it.
These pictures show more of the beautiful
scenery.
Before 4:00 we were pulling into the nice little marina at Clifton, TN. This is not a big facility but they have very helpful staff and the cheapest diesel fuel on the river. We pulled in and got 100 gallons and a pump out.
The mileage on this tank works out to be just less than 3.5 miles to the gallon. We had hoped for four, but I am afraid that is only a target for ideal conditions. There are a number of things that I think are preventing us from the ideal; a fouled bottom, idling waiting for locks (6 on this fill up), and a thermostat stuck open on one engine. This causes the engine to take much longer to warm up and that tank is using more fuel. Still I am very happy with 3.5, since standard gas engines would be closer to one.
Thursday, October 9
This morning was cool and clear, with heavy dew. We took our time getting up, had a cooked breakfast (as opposed to the normal bowl of cereal) and finally got underway a little after nine.
There was not a cloud in the sky all day and although the temperature warmed to the seventies it was chilly on the flybridge. There was about a ten mile per hour wind that no matter how the river turned was in our face. This gave us an apparent wind of 15 to 20. Despite the wind chill it was a beautiful day.
By 3:00 we were pulling into Cuba Landing marina. This is a nice little marina in a secluded cove. Shortly after we were settled in a PDQ 34 power cat came in and tied across the dock from us. We had looked at PDQs before we bought the Gibson.
On shore, sheltered from the wind it was actually warm. We enjoyed the afternoon chatting with our neighbors and then watched a beautiful sunset as we grilled marinated chicken breasts for dinner,
Live continues to be good.
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