Good Friends and Good Food

Friends Mike and Patricia from Roscoe drove to Grand Rivers, KY and we took a little side trip from the normal Great Loop route.  We went up the Cumberland River to Old Hickory Lake, about 26 miles, by water, beyond Nashville.  They also brought their dog, Josephine, also called Scruffy or Scruffy Jo.  Plenty of people do this trip with dogs aboard, so I figured we'd give it a shot.

Mike and Patricia are "foodies", so when they asked about cost sharing when we were disussing their visit, I explained that the standard protocol was that I paid for anything re. the boat, i.e. fuel, marinas, etc and they could take care of provisions and eating ashore.  Of course I knew that I would be in for a treat because they take food seriously and I was surely not disappointed.

When they arrived at the Green Turtle Bay Marina in Grand Rivers we filled two dock carts to get supplies aboard.  As usual, the weather forecast wasn't very accurate for our first day out.  It was supposed to be warm and partly cloudy, but we didn't see the sun until we were anchoring for the night.  The low clouds muted the scenic Lake Barkely, which encompassed the first 50 miles or more of cruising.  It also limited many of the photo opportunities, but I did get a few.

Now that I'm well over 4000 miles into this trip, I realize I could have had a whole blog dedicated to the "Prisons of the Great Loop".  I've lost track a little, but I've cruised past four or five prisons on this trip.  A very prominent landmark that sits right on the Lake Barkely waterfront is the Kentucky State Prison.  The only maximum security prison in the state.

Its called the Castle on Lake Barkely.  It was actually here well before the Barkely Dam was built, which created the lake.  When the main building was built in 1888, it was just on the Cumberland River.  It holds a chilling record, which, is the most executions in a single day, seven in 1928.

We found a very nice, quiet achorage, just behind Dover Island, near Dover, TN, we crossed from Kentucky into Tennessee about an hour and a half before this spot.  We thought we'd launch the dingy and row Josephine ashore, but darkness came on quick and we decided not to.  Poor Josephine had to hold it.

The weather only improved slightly for day two, but at least it wasn't raining.  Another very prominent waterfront landmark was the Cumberland Steam Plant, which was one of the world's largest when it began operation in 1973.

The two red and white striped stacks are no longer in use.  At 1000 feet tall, they became obsolte when new technology allowed the 600 foot scrubber stacks to be built.  There's another interesting story of an ancient meteorite hitting this area, which was discovered when excavating for the bases of the 1000 ft stacks, but I'll let you Google that if you're interested in knowing more about it.

This part of the Cumberland River is pretty scenic, but there's not a lot of development along its banks.  Every once in awhile, though, we'd come upon something interesting.

The river banks are an interesting combination of high rock faces and others that indicate shifts in the layers.

Our second stop was the city dock at Clarksville, TN.  It was convenient to downtown and we we took a stroll to see some of the historic sites. 

Clarksville is home to Austin Peay University and is just south of Fort Campbell, KY, the very large army base that sits in both Kentucky and Tennessee.  If Denise were along, there would have been a picture of her kissing this guy, but instead you just get me sitting at his feet.

Clarksville is also the birthplace of Wilma Rudolph, a 3 gold medal winner in the Rome Olympics in 1960.  In her prime she was considered the fastest women in the world.  As the 20th of 22 children, she probably learned to run from her siblings.

Dinner was grilled steaks, fresh green and wax beans and roasted potatos all from the garden.

From Clarksville, it was just under 60 water miles to Nashville.  The river begins a series of long loops, where at one point we were only about 7 straight line miles to the city, but 20 by water.  Even though the sky line is pretty significant, it did not come into view until we were only a mile away.

The building to the far left is the AT & T building, known locally as the "Batman" building.

My cousin Linda and husband Scott from Wisconsin were vacationing in Nashville and I had hoped to get here before they left for more vacationing in Gatlinburg, TN.  They were downtown near the city dock and came by for cocktail hour.

You can see in the background that we were just across the river from LP Field, home of the Tennessee Titans.

Which is lit up after dark.

Just above us at street level was River Front Station, the downtown stop of the Music City Star commuter rail line that runs from here to Lebenon, TN a distance of 32 miles.

We were very close to the entertainment district of Nashville, so took a walk around and had dinner.  Mike and Patricia decided they were ready to retire, but I went back out and took in a few bands playing at various places nearby.  Its not hard to find free, usually pretty good, entertainment in Nashville.

It rained overnight and was still raining when we got up, so we relaxed and Patricia made a very nice breakfast.

This is my plate and those little green chunks in the upper left are Jalapeno peppers, just one of the many fresh vegtables from Mike and Pat's garden that they brought along.  Patricia took no chances when it came to chopping these up.

Eventually the rain let up, the skies lightened and it turned out to be a pretty nice day.

Other than the downtown skyline, its hard to tell that the river runs through a large metropolitan area.

We were headed 26 water miles further up the Cumberland to Old Hickory Lake.  This 96 mile long lake is much closer to Nashville by land, so is heavly developed with nice water front properties.

We again found a quiet spot to anchor and while enjoying cocktail hour on the back deck we had these visitors.  Of course they stuck around when we began feeding them popcorn.

Dinner was roast pork and of course more fresh vegetables. 

This was an up and back trip, so we came by all the same sights on the return, but still found things that caught our interest.

The"General Jackson", a 300 foot river boat was at the Opryland dock.  It is the largest operating river boat in the country.

We also got a view of the Nashville skyline from the east.

Thursday, on the way up to Nashville we passed this barge building facility in Ashland City, TN.

When we came back by on Saturday, the two that were in the water were gone already and the grey one had been painted and moved into position for launching.

We picked a new anchorage on the return trip, up the Harpeth River, considered to be the most scenic in this part of Tennessee.  Just before turning up the river, we found a small dock next to a boat ramp and squeezed Tranquility onto it, figuring it would be easier to get Josephine out for a walk here than from the anchorage.

I didn't see a tree with this plaque, so thought maybe it had been cut down to make the picnic table.

The anchorage turned out to be as scenic as described.

Dinner this night was grilled chicken, fresh vegtables and rice.  A flash would have helped this picture.

This stop was also picked because it provided a very short day for Sunday.  We were stopping again in Clarksville at the city dock, where we thought we'd be close to a sports bar for the big Packer - Bear game.

Mike and Pat are Bear fans.  Here Pat envies the Packer flag, which has flown on the bow sprit from the beginning of the trip and is now very faded.

The sports bar that was closest to the dock turned out to be Hooters, so thats where some of us enjoyed the Packer win.

From Nashville to the Ohio River there is quite a bit of commercial traffic.  Tranquility is that tiny little boat on the Clarksville city dock to the right of the tow heading downstream.

At one time, agriculture around Clarksville included a significant amount of tobacco.  To a lessor degree it is still grown in the area.

Our plan for the day was for about 65 miles.  At Cumberland City, TN we waited as the ferry crossed in front of us.

As we got closer to southern end of Lake Barkely we enjoyed some of the scenery that we somewhat missed on the trip up the river.  The low clouds on that first day hid the scenic waterway. 

Fort Donelson is near the town of Dover, TN.  This was the sight of a significant Civil War battle in 1862.

A few more miles and we were back in Kentucky.

I had identified an anchorage that had a recommendation in the river guide book and we arrived right on schedule.  The guide book said we would find at least 10 feet of water all the way back into a well protected cove far off the channel and away from wakes from passing tows.  Just a few yards in, however, the depth sounder alarm went off and before I knew it we had hit bottom.  Stirring lots of mud I worked us back towards the channel and there were some stessful momemts as I listened to the props churning through the bottom.  I was just hoping it was only mud and not large rocks or submerged stumps.  Lake Barkely was formed in 1966 when the Barkley Dam was completed.  The land was previously mostly farm land and at the bottom of the lake are still the remains of fences, buildings and lots of tree stumps.  Even towns were relocated when the lake was created.

We made it back to the channel and got back up to our cruising speed and did not notice any unusual sounds or vibrations.  A prop inspection, however, is on the agenda when we get back to Green Turtle Bay.  It was now getting late, so we called the nearby state marina, but they said they had switched to winter hours and would be closed before we could get there.  Since when does winter in Kentucky start before the end of September?

There was another nearby marina and we were able to secure a spot for the night.  This made Tuesday a short trip, just 28 miles back to Green Turtle Bay.  It was a good side trip and I think Mike and Patricia enjoyed it.  I know I did.  I'm sure I gained some weight.  While the dinners were great and probably healthy, it was the hor d'oeurves every night at cocktail hour that did me in.  These too were great, but usually I just settle for some pretzels or peanuts.

Mike and Pat are off tomorrow, but not yet headed home.  They have been travelling the country over the past several years trying to visit every state capital, including touring the capital building.  They've decided to hit Jefferson City, MO and Topeka, KS before returning to Roscoe.  My brother Ron will arrive in their place and the good food streak should continue.

Good Sleeping vs. Good Boating Weather

It was another "good sleeping" night as the weather remained pretty cool.  Given a choice though, I will take good boating weather (85 and sunny) over good sleeping weather every time.

Barge traffic is a 24 hour a day opperation and when they go by at night, you can only barely make out the barges in front of the well lit up tow.

The weather continued to be cool and when we left Beardstown I was again in all my layers, but as the day wore on the sun came out and I thought it was pretty nice.

As they say, "opposites attract", so of course, Denise didn't think it was warm enough to take off her jacket, let alone her shirt.

The lower portion of the Illinois is not all that scenic and even if you would be satisfied to see the farm fields, you couldn't, because the river, on both sides, is enclosed behind a levee.  There continued to be some interesting industrial sites and barge loading facilities, but the bridges were few and far between.

There were two places where there was a ferry and both appeared to be pretty busy.

This one even included a combine.

We were headed to Grafton, IL where the Illinois meets the Mississippi.

They get their share of flooding in the spring and some times its really bad.

The boaters that had helped us tie up in Beardstown were already here and we spent a little more time talking to them, Ed and Willy from Evansville, IN.  They told us about a famous old hotel in town with a restaurant and an historic bar.

There is a story about a time when the hotel was on fire and townspeople carried the bar from the burning building in order to save it.

Housing on the river front changed dramatically from the lower Illinois River.

To the Mississippi.

The next morning we awoke to millions of May Flies (at least thats what someone else said they were) all over the dock, our boat and the other boats that were there.

Leaving the marina, it was less than a mile to the actual junction of the Illinois and the Mississippi and we immediately picked up more speed.  I had figured I was getting about a half to three quarters a mile an hour boost on the Illinois and now it was about a mile and a half.  You can get a sense of the current when you see it rushing by a bouy.

Just into the Mississippi we came upon the small town of Portage des Sioux, MO.  When flood waters stopped just short of inundating the town in 1951 a shrine, called Our Lady of the Rivers was built.  In mid July every year the town holds the Blessing of the Fleet ceremony. 

As we approached Alton, IL it was time to consider fuel again. I didn't deparately need it, but after Alton there is only one more spot where fuel is available until you get all the way to Kentucky.  I called ahead to the famed Hoppies Marina, 60 miles downriver from Alton, but surprisingly, Alton was several cents cheaper so we made a quick stop and filled up.  We had two locks to get through between Alton and St Louis.

At the first one we encountered a different style from what I'd seen prior.  Since we were going down in elevation, the gate at the up river end came up just a foot or two from the bottom to stop the water from flowing in.  Then the water in the lock was let out and down we went.

Five miles down river from the Mel Price Lock and Dam the Missouri river joined the Mississippi and the current jumped up again, soon we were topping 13 miles and hour, about 4 MPH higher than from what we had been doing.  We were only able to enjoy this ride for a short distance because the turbulence is so great that a 10 mile canal was built to keep boats, including the commercial traffic from the dangerous currents.

At the end of the canal is the Chain of Rocks Lock and Dam.  This is the last lock and dam on the Mississippi.  Consequently, the barge tows become increasingly larger, since they don't have to fit in locks anymore.  We were told of tows as large as 48 barges in a 6 by 8 configuration.  The largest we actually saw though was "only" 30.

When one of these goes by heading up stream they are working extra hard and the water they churn up and the amount of water displaced creates very turbulent conditions for more than a mile down stream.

When we exited this last lock we were now in the downtown St Louis area.  Another place, among many on this trip, that Denise had never been to.  I was able to snap a few pictures while dodging the many commercial vessels moving up and down the river.

There could have been more and better pictures of the arch, but it was right after this picture that the camera battery went dead.  I had neglected to check the level and recharge it, so from here to about 20 miles further south, there are no pictures.

We continued on to Hoppies and with the river pushing us along at 12 and 13 MPH, we arrived at 3PM.  We had read about the historic town of Kimswick, MO, where Hoppies is located and even had a restaurant recommendation from one of the lock masters, but we found out when we arrived that this restaurant, the only one in town, was only open from 10 AM til 3 PM.  Our new friends, Ed and Willy were already here on their boat, "Wilhelmina", a beautiful 52' Krogen Express.

Also here was the boat "Harem", from Holland, MI with Al, Julie and son in law Brad aboard.  We had first met them at Starved Rock a few days ago, but hadn't seen them for a day or so.

In case you're wondering, Al and Julie have 6 daughters, hence the name Harem.  Poor Al.

Besides being the last stop for fuel for the next 250 miles, Hoppies is famous for providing a wealth of current river information and each afternoon Fern Hoppie holds a gathering of all the boaters who are in.  She updates things that may have changed since the books last came out and also shares general knowledge that is especially helpful to rookies like us.

We had a lot of discussion about where we might stop between Hoppies and the Ohio river, a distance of 158 miles.  There are not a lot of good anchorages and no marinas, so a good plan was needed and it seemed no matter how you split it up, there was going to be a long day involved.  Harem and us decided to make the next day a long one and shoot for an anchorage 110 miles down river and we were up and moving at 7 AM.  A few hours into the trip, Wilhelmina caught up and over the radio we learned they had changed from their original plan and were now also shooting for the same anchorage.  Since both of these boats cruise a little faster than me, I boosted the RPMs a little and with the help of the strong current we started cruising at a fairly consistent 14 MPH.

I had already seen alot of quarry operations along the Illinois, but they were getting bigger along the Mississippi and I was staying entertained watching all of the action.

We made the 110 miles by 4PM and even though I was going fast enough for Denise to water ski if she wanted, both Harem and Wilhelmina were already in the anchorage when we got there.  They had rafted bow to stern and were waiting for us to tie up to Harem, also bow to stern.  Since they each had an anchor down already we didn't see a need for a third. 

There were three other boats already there and they too were all rafted together.

Denise especially wanted this next picture posted in memory of her, our, friend Marilyn.

Of course, being rafted, we all got together for cocktail hour.

Julie and Al are behind Denise and me and Willy and Ed are on our port side.

Since we had such success going the 110 miles this day, we decided to shoot for 107 the next day, which would take us all the way to the mouth of the Cumberland River where it meets the Ohio.  There was a bit of unknown in this plan, however, as only the first 48 miles were with the Mississippi current, then there were 59 more against the current of the Ohio.  I had read online that it was running in the 2 to 2.5 knot range, plus there were two locks on the Ohio.

Again we were up early and headed back into the channel.

Still running at 2200 RPMs, we found spots in the last stretch of the Mississippi where we were running near 16 MPH and consistently over 15.  That may not sound exciting to many, but the average for the entire trip to this point is 8.5, so its really. really fast to me.

We were pleasantly surprised on the Ohio and only dropped to around 9 MPH, but it wasn't long and the forecasted thunderstorms arrived.  The first squall went by behind us, but soon enough we were in a deluge.  Visibility was at a minimum and there was plenty of commercial traffic to deal with, but the brunt of the storm soon disipated and we only had to deal with a steady drizzle.

There is a new lock and dam that is under construction that will replace the two current locks in this part of the river when it opens in 2014.  Its amazing at the amount of infrastructure that is put in place to build these locks and dam.

The first lock that we would normally go through was not operating because the river was high enough that they can lower the "wickets" in the dam and we can cruise over the top, which we did.  The second lock, though, was operating and it was still raining a little when we were ready to go through.  While I had been cruising at 9 MPH, Harem was a little faster and Wilhelmina had kicked it up, but arrived at the lock and had to wait an hour and a half for commerical traffic.  We caught up in that time and only waited about 20 minutes.

The rain had let up at this point, but Denise was prepared in case it started again.

We entered the lock just as a tow entered going the other way in the bigger chamber.

I doubt Denise was enjoying this as much as the pictures might indicate, but she has been the ultimate good sport ever since we left Florida.

It was two more hours to the mouth of the Cumberland and again Harem and Wilhelmina were in the process of anchoring when we got there.  Again there were three other boats already there, but a different three than the night before.  This time we only needed one anchor.   It was Sunday night and after coctail hour everyone went back to their own boat and had dinner.  After dinner we got together again on Tranquility and watched Sunday Night Football.

From here it was only 30 miles to the Barkley Lock and Dam, but again it was raining and this time it didn't let up for our locking.  Fortunately, we had a floating bollard and Denise didn't need to go outside.

She had informed me that morning that her 4 to 6 time a year bronchitis attack was starting.  Its become such a routine for her that she automatically gets shots, usually for 3 to 4 days in a row to kill it.

We only had another couple of miles to the Green Turtle Bay Marina at Grand Rivers, KY and in that time I was able to switch Denise's car rental to that afternoon.  Soon after our arrival at Green Turtle Bay we were on our way to Paducah, KY where Denise was picking up a rental car to drive back to Peoria.  She made it, after a couple of hours delay dealing with road construction and has already had a shot. 

My friends Mike and Patricia from Roscoe arrived and we made preparations for our departure.  I'll pick up again in a couple of days as we are taking a side trip up the Cumberland to Nashville, TN.