Day 33

On Wednesday morning, 10/14/20, we awoke to some early fog, which eventually turned into more perfect cruising weather and temperatures to finish crossing Chickamauga Lake.  After a long and peaceful travel day, we traversed the tiny Watts Bar Lock into beautiful, but lesser-known Watts Bar Lake.

On Wednesday evening, the anchorage we’d originally had in mind was too exposed to the brisk westerly winds coming across the river, so we found another anchorage called Butler Cemetery.  This anchorage was protected but was also surrounded by the back yards of multiple lake homes.  We sat up in the flybridge for adult beverages and to enjoy the sunset, when we noticed a person walking behind one of the houses in what appeared to be nothing but a beach towel.  We were far enough away we couldn’t really see if the person was male or female, and we exercised enough tact not to whip out the binoculars for a closer look, but it was pretty easy to tell this person was staring out at our boat anchored behind their house.  After standing and staring for a few minutes, the person was joined by another person clad only in a beach towel.  That person stopped and stared at us, too.  Steve finally saw there was a hot-tub out behind the house toward which these two walking beach towels had been headed.  Still, we did NOT pick up the binoculars.  It was almost dusk, but apparently our boat was too close for comfort, because the beach towel people ended up dropping the top back on their hot-tub and going back inside their house!  I hated that we ruined their plans, and it was a shame they were so paranoid, because we really were too far out in the water to see anything, but I’m sure these folks assumed we had binoculars onboard and might finally let our curiosity get the better of us.  😉

Position: N 35° 48.147, W 84° 36.317

Distance traveled:  50.9 NM

Total distance traveled: 480.5 NM

Time underway: 6 HRS 25 MIN

Total time underway: 62 HRS 27 MIN

Total marina nights: 27

Total nights at anchor: 6

Locks today: 1

Locks Total:  7

Day 32

On Tuesday morning, 10/13/20, we awoke to two nice surprises!  The first was the gloriously stunning fall weather for our travels, and the second was the Erwin mechanic returning to install our newly-rebuilt generator starter at 8:30 am!  We were very fortunate that the technician was able to have that starter rebuilt, as replacing it with a new one would’ve cost us a cool $983.00, for the starter alone!  The starter installation went quickly enough for us to leave Chattanooga by 10 am, heading for Chickamauga Lake.  As with all transfers from one lake to another (we were going from Nickajack to Chickamauga), we had to traverse another lock.  (I’m slowly figuring this out…)  The Chickamauga lock was smaller than the ones we’re used to and so the waters were more turbulent, since we were still locking UP river.  Entry into the lock and looping our line over a pin went smoothly, but the turbulence as the lock was filling quickly caused extra work for Gilligan on the line and Skipper up at the helm.  The turbulence kept pushing Legacy up against the lock wall, which is really not good for our fenders or the “socks” that cover them, as they get simultaneously smashed and drug up between the boat hull and the rough wall.  Steve tried to push the boat out with the bow and stern thrusters, but as soon as he’d let off on them, the boat went right back against the wall.  I got the bright idea to sit on one of the steps going up to the flybridge, place my foot against the lock wall, and use my leg muscles to push the boat off the wall.  Of course, the turbulence was bouncing us around, so I had to reposition my foot over and over and realized at one point this stunt would be a great way to lose a boat shoe.  During all the jostling, I noticed our line holding us on the pin was getting pinched between the ballast and the wall.  Every time I pulled it free, it slipped right back down again.  By the time the lock master opened the gates and blew the all clear horn, that line would NOT pull off the pin.  Steve had to come down from the helm and help me wrestle it free.  For a split second, we were afraid we might have to cut the line loose, but thankfully did not.  We did have to inform the lock master on the radio that we were “having trouble with a line”, to explain our delay in departure.  But our guardian angels came through for us and the line was spared from the dreaded line-cutting knife.  We both found Chickamauga Lake to be one of the prettiest we’d cruised so far on this trip.  Lots of rolling hills and thick woods of autumn color.  The splendid lake homes continued along the banks east of Chattanooga, but slowly began to dwindle the farther we got from the city.  The further east we moved, the more natural and “untouched by man” the lake and its surrounding terrain appeared.

Our original intent had been to end our travel day around 3:30 pm and anchor on the Hiawassee River, which comes off of the Tennessee River southeast of Graysville, TN.  The anchorage we found was beautiful and completely private, but too shallow and narrow for Steve’s comfort, so we had to abandon it and return back down the TN River a little ways to an anchorage in Sale Creek, which wasn’t as private (a camp ground surrounded one side of it), but it was wide and deep enough for Steve to be able to sleep that night.  While sitting up in the flybridge that evening, I noticed the top of what appeared to be a chopped off telephone pole in the water about 350 feet from where our boat was anchored.  The top of it stuck about 5 inches above the water line.  I wondered aloud what that lone pole might be (have been) for.  The next morning, as I was showering, Steve knocked on the door and told me to look out the window and I’d see what that pole was there for.  When I looked out, there was a giant heron standing on the pole surveying our anchorage for his breakfast.  Well, of course that’s what the pole was for!

Position: N 35° 22.077, W 85° 04.006

Distance traveled:  42.1 NM

Total distance traveled: 429.6 NM

Time underway: 5 HRS 22 MIN

Total time underway: 56 HRS 02 MIN

Total marina nights: 27

Total nights at anchor: 5

Locks today: 1

Locks Total:  6

Day 26 – 31

I can honestly say that Wednesday, 10/07/20, has to be the best day we’ve experienced aboard Legacy, so far.  From the Shell Mound Recreation Area at the Nickajack lock to just west of Chattanooga, we cruised through a beautiful segment known as “the Grand Canyon of the Tennessee River”.  Perfectly clear, humidity-free weather only complimented the breath-taking beauty of this part of the river.  Towering hills and bluffs surround a very curvy, winding path that forms the deepest portion of the river also referred to as “the gorge”.  The river depths in the gorge are astounding.  For a river which normally ranges between 12 and 60-foot depths, it plummets to deeper than 130-feet here.  One reason for this depth is the river follows an ancient earthquake fault at this point.  For about 2 full hours, we were treated with spectacular views around every single bend.  I kept wishing that family and friends could’ve been aboard to witness this place with us.  I was overwhelmed to the point of tears, and decided that maybe this whole boat life thing isn’t so bad after all.

Our tie-up in Chattanooga was in a lovely area, and within walking distance of several restaurants and the famous Tennessee Aquarium.  We were the only inhabited boat on the transient dock, plus there was a locked gate at the top of our dock, which didn’t bother me, considering our proximity to downtown.  One of the most exciting things about our arrival to Erwin Marina was to retrieve the multiple packages we’d ordered from Amazon to ship there awaiting our eventual arrival.  One of those items was an all-weather puffy coat for me that was about a month past-due, weather-wise!  We were also anxious to have one of Erwin’s technicians look at our boat to determine our latest problem with our starboard generator, which suddenly refused to start for us.  Thank goodness for the port generator!  Without it, we would’ve been pretty uncomfortable the night before, when we’d anchored-out at Shell Mound.

Even though we could walk to many places, we decided to rent a tiny Ford Fiesta from Hertz because we had multiple errands to run over a period of several days.  I had prescription refills to pick-up, a long overdue haircut from Great Clips, a broken Hoover carpet cleaner to FedEX back to Hoover, and we were anxious to FINALLY get to ride the Incline Railway up to Lookout Mountain, which we’d tried to ride during two previous trips to Chattanooga, but without success.  The two prior trips had been anniversary trips, which meant they were in February, which we finally figured out is the month the Incline Railway annually closes for maintenance.  This time being in October, we knew we were golden.  And besides – third time is always a charm, right?  Sadly, it was still not to be. ☹  We pulled into the parking lot, spent 15 minutes trying to get the pay-parking-meter to accept our payment (it denied every one of our credit cards, causing us to fear maybe something bad had happened with our identity until we found out it was denying everyone else’s cards, too!)  It finally accepted $2.00 worth of quarters I fortunately still had with me from my last time at the laundromat.  Parking paid, we donned our obligatory masks and hiked up to the ticket counter, only to be told that – due to COVID – the railroad was operating at reduced capacity, which meant all their tickets for that day (AND for each of our remaining days in Chattanooga) were already sold out!  Curses – foiled again!  With that I concluded the Universe is quite obviously forbidding us from riding the Incline Railway.

During our stay, one of our favorite places to eat was Scottie’s On the River, which was less than a quarter of a mile from our boat.  We enjoyed a delicious Sunday brunch at Hennen’s downtown, and drove the Fiesta out to another one of our favorites in Chattanooga, Boathouse Rotisserie and Raw Bar, also located on the river, but several miles away from our boat.  We lunched outside at a fun restaurant called Food Works and drove to Walgreen’s to get our annual flu shots.  Then tropical depression Delta came through and dumped a ton of rain on us.  We had anticipated that, but were still neither one thrilled with traipsing around in the rain, but did so anyway so we could lunch again at Big River Brewery downtown.  The SUN finally returned on Monday, 10/12/20!  We used that day to return the rental car and provide me with a Hobby Lobby fix to buy some crocheting yarn.  😊  I’m making myself a navy-blue “nautical” cowl, to wear with my new coat.  The Erwin boat technician had determined our starboard generator needed a rebuilt starter and had to order a part to get that done.  We’d hoped the part would arrive on Monday, but then realized that was Columbus Day, which meant we’d have to wait until Tuesday morning, the 13^th, to get our generator repaired before we could leave.

Position: N 35° 03.366, W 85° 19.018

Distance traveled:  32.9 NM

Total distance traveled: 386.5 NM

Time underway: 4 HRS 29 MIN

Total time underway: 50 HRS 40 MIN

Total marina nights: 27

Total nights at anchor: 4

Locks today: 1

Locks Total:  5

Day 18 – 25

The weather on Friday, 09/25/20, was drier, but still cloudy and cool.  I spent a lot of the day performing one of my favorite chores – defrosting Legacy’s tiny refrigerator.  It’s been DECADES since I had to defrost a refrigerator, yet, here I am again.  We drove Alred Marina’s courtesy van into Guntersville for lunch at Wintzell’s Seafood restaurant for two tasty seafood entrees. 

Saturday, the 26^th was still cloudy and gray.  Spent it cleaning the boat, inside and out, as well as catching up on laundry.  EXCITING…

Finally, Sunday, 09/27/20, dawned bright and sunny.  We threw off the lines and pointed the boat eastward, traveling upriver from Alred Marina outside of Guntersville, AL, to Goose Pond Colony Resort marina outside of Scottsboro, AL – both marinas located on the very large Lake Guntersville.  It was a short but beautiful trip with sunny skies, smooth waters and very little boat traffic, and we arrived at Goose Pond at 2:00 pm.  The water depths of the channel approaching the Goose Pond marina were nerve-rackingly shallow and lined with water grasses and lily pads.  LOTS of lily pads!  I told Steve I really felt this area should’ve been named Lily Pad Pond, rather than Goose Pond.

 

We tied Legacy to a transient wall that the harbor master directed us to. It was a nice private area, with only two other boats in the transient area. We were very protected, so little rocking was felt. Once we had the boat secured, everything plugged-in, and registration completed, we walked around the marina grounds, checking out all the boats on multiple piers.

We found an obvious live-aboard boat – a Cheoy Lee trawler – that reminded me of the Clampett’s truck as it traveled westward from the Ozark mountains to Beverly Hills, CA, post oil-strike.  Let’s just say it was very “ornate”.  Skipper reiterated to Gilligan that, even though Legacy is a live-aboard boat, she will never look like this Cheoy Lee.  (I don’t know why he felt the need to emphasize that… Just because I have a known fondness for front porch, back porch, and garden hardscape, does not mean I plan to trash our boat.  Sheesh!)  In addition to cottages, a lodge, golf courses and restaurants, Goose Pond Colony’s marina is large and often hosts fishing tournaments, such as the Bassmaster’s Elite Series, which was in full swing for our entire stay. Every afternoon at weigh-in time, Steve walked up to the big staging area to view the day’s winners.  I prefered to watch the bass boats race across the water at top speed (the larger the wake, the better), only to come to a complete stop at a predetermined potential fishing spot, where poles are quickly deployed and lines are dropped.  What I don’t understand is why the fish haven’t long ago figured out this routine, and so now simply avoid swimming in the areas beneath these boats wherever they race to a halt…(?)

In keeping with the quirkiness of this live-aboard lifestyle, late on Sunday evening, after we’d finished dinner on board and were preparing to watch our nightly Cheers episode on Amazon Prime, Steve opened Legacy’s door to look out at the moon and discovered a couple standing right on the dock next to the back of our boat!  (This was around 8:30 pm.)  He startled them as much as they startled him, I think, so they immediately began exclaiming how nice they thought our boat was!  From inside, I heard Steve respond, “Oh, well, thank you!”  Evidently, they’d been standing out there for awhile and we think felt conspicuous for doing so, because the man just continued talking away to Steve, as though they were long lost pals.  After listening for several minutes, Steve got from the couple that they’re the owners of the live-aboard Cheoy Lee we’d seen earlier that day.  They eventually said good night and ambled on off the dock, but we were reminded once again how strange our new lifestyle can be.  Can you imagine being in your “dirt home” watching TV at 8:30 pm and looking out your back door at the moon, only to find your next door neighbors standing on your back porch, just staring at your house?? 

On Monday, the 28^th, we took the Goose Pond courtesy van into Scottsboro to run errands and check-out the town.  We weren’t as impressed with the town of Scottsboro as we were Guntersville, but did manage to eat a good lunch at BuenaVista Cantina in the same parking lot as Home Depot, where we also needed to stop.  What could be handier than that?  On the way back to the boat, Steve stopped at a liquor store only to turn around and walk right back out when he was literally shouted down for taking too long to pull his mask out of his pocket and put it onto his face.  With that kind of customer service, they can obviously do without our money!  😐 (No worries, though, we soon found another, friendlier liquor store on up the road.)  Once we got back to the boat, the ominous cold-front that had previously roared through Arkansas, western Tennessee, and Mississippi finally made it to Goose Pond Colony Resort in Scottsboro, AL, with some dark, gruesome-looking clouds, heavy rain, and frequent, close-by lightning strikes, but still very little rocking!

Tuesday, 09/29/20, was not the clear, bright and crisp Fall morning we expected.  It was definitely a lot cooler, but still overcast and gray.  Since I no longer have access to my yoga sessions (oddly enough, I could not locate any in Scottsboro, AL …), I ordered a fitness DVD called Grow Young Fitness to do here on the boat.  The man that leads the work-out is very enthusiastic, with a thick Canadian accent.  Our DVD player is located in the galley/salon, so when I watch it and work-out, Steve gets to enjoy the DVD with me, unless he wants to go down into the aft-berth, or outside.  Needless to say, he does not physically participate in the workout, but is always happy to provide running commentary making fun of the workout leader and how he talks, which of course is a welcome addition (NOT) to my exercise routine.  Even though these exercises are probably meant for individuals in a bit more sedentary physical condition than I am, they are still beneficial to me as they help with coordination and balance, which I am sorely in need of! 

After my DVD workout, I put on my tennis shoes to go for a solitary nature walk around the resort.  These wonderful fall temperatures are very conducive to long walks on the many paths and trails.  These walks have become a daily routine for me – they get me out of the boat, strengthen my muscles and hopefully help me lose some of this boat-weight I’ve put on.  Steve has yet to join me on any of these walks, even though he keeps saying he’s going to start.  His most common excuse is that “it is too cold out.”  On Tuesday evening, we were able to dine at one of the resort restaurants called The Docks, as it had been closed on Sunday and Monday.  We enjoyed our meal, but of course, had to hurry back to the boat so we could watch that sad excuse for a presidential debate at 8:00 pm.  We suffered through almost an hour of it before switching over to Cheers reruns. 

On both 09/30/20 and on 10/01/20, the weather was warmer and spectacular.  The kind of days that just lure you outside and into the glorious brightness.  I went on more, longer “nature walks”, exploring several woodland trails that practically begged me to follow them.  On one of these walks – as with others in our TN River travels so far – I saw another regal bald eagle gliding through the thick pine trees that line the shores of Lake Guntersville.  Steve and I have seen more bald eagles on this trip than we’ve seen in our entire lives, I believe.  Wonderful sightings!  With lots of time to think, I started mentally making a list of some of the pros and cons we’ve experienced so far on our adventure:

PROS:

Beautiful nature visible all around us – both on the water and in the landscapes.

The sounds of birds and wildlife nearby and in the distance.

Photo opportunities everywhere – ample flora and fawna.

Crisp, cool Fall temperatures with low humidity.

CONS:

Regularly walking through spider webs that invariably thread right across the face or into the mouth.

Finding live spiders on literally every single surface or line (aka rope) of the boat at exactly the time you need to touch that surface or line.

The varying degrees of “cleanliness” (or lack of) always found in public restroom/laundry facilities.

Frequently encountering strong, mysterious odors in and around marinas.

On peaceful woodland walks, invariably coming upon surprise dumpster enclaves or park sewage treatment areas, with accompanying aromas.

While gingerly exploring the shore of a lily-pad strewn cove, being scared out of your wits by the loud squawking of a huge, startled heron, flapping its gigantic wings just yards away from you in the reeds.  We’ve learned on several different occasions that herons get quite audibly upset with human intrusion into their territory.  It’s very obvious that they’re supposed to be there – humans are not!

Also on 09/30/20, we met Connie and Wally Conway, onboard “Pearl” another Ocean Alexander like Legacy, only newer.  (Pearl is a 2006 model, versus Legacy’s 1999.)  Connie and Wally are from the Birmingham, AL, area and have temporarily moved onboard their boat to travel the TN River while waiting for November to start the Great Loop from Demopolis, AL, on the Tombigbee Waterway, just like us!  Their intent was to leave Goose Pond marina for Green Turtle Bay (the opposite direction from which we’d just come), but Pearl had other ideas when her transmission alarm would not stop alarming.  After spending several hours on the phone with various parts manufacturers and repair people with no success, the Conways determined it was too late to leave on their trip that day.  So they tied-up on the dock finger right next to Legacy to wait until they could get the mechanical assistance they needed.  Since both of our boats were made by the same manufacturer, Steve had hoped to be able to help, but this problem was over all of our heads.

On 10/02/20, Wally spoke directly with the famous “Diesel Don” who helped him to determine and rectify the transmission alarm problem.  Pearl was back in operation to leave (again) on Saturday morning, 10/03/20.  In celebration, Connie and Wally invited us onboard Pearl for our very first “docktails” experience!  Docktails is when two or more looping couples gather together either on the dock or on one of the boats to share adult beverages, hors d’oeuvres, and swap boating stories.  We shared a bunch of laughs and learned a lot about each other.  We know we’ll see Connie and Wally again soon, as they will be sharing our same looping schedule.

Position: N 34° 34.798, W 86° 04.763

Distance traveled:  20.0 NM

Total distance traveled: 312.6 NM

Time underway: 3 HRS 12 MIN

Total time underway: 41 HRS 8 MIN

Total marina nights: 21

Total nights at anchor: 4

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  4

Day 16 – 17

We got up early on Wednesday morning, 09/23/20, in hopes of beating Tropical Depression Beta to our area, and get to Alred Marina in Guntersville, AL, before she did. We had another glorious morning in which to travel from Ditto Landing, but could already see the menacing clouds on the western horizon.

The harbor master instructed us to tie up anywhere we wanted on F dock, where they house their transients. At first the wall didn’t look hospitable, but once we got closer we saw the 50 amp power outlets we need to power our boat. They just looked a bit different than those at previous marinas. As we were tying up, one of the slip-holders on F dock advised us we might want to pull our boat further down on the dock, where it would be better sheltered from rocking during incoming rain storms, which we really appreciated. He and Steve line-walked the boat down, rather than restarting the engines again. Shortly after that, the rains started coming down as we headed for Alred Marina’s courtesy vehicle to make a lunch and provisions run into the town of Guntersville, which we found to be a pretty little place with its hills and lake inlets everywhere. We found the Walmart right off and then a delicious Mexican restaurant called Los Arcos for a late lunch. We stayed onboard that night for dinner and Bosch episodes, followed by Cheers, which we’re watching again for old time’s sake, while the rains continued.

On Thursday morning, 09/24/20, we’d planned to sleep-in since we were stuck in the rain anyway, but neither one of us were successful. So we got up and Steve replaced the sump pump for the shower in the forward head, with me assisting as I updated our blog. Tonight I’m making us a quiche for dinner onboard, while I continue the never-ending laundry.

Position tonight: N 34° 23.747, W 86° 16.771

Distance traveled:  22.2 NM

Total distance traveled: 292.6 NM

Time underway: 3 HRS 29 MIN

Total time underway: 37 HRS 23 MIN

Total marina nights: 13

Total nights at anchor: 4

Locks today: 1

Locks Total:  4

Day 14 – 15

On Monday morning, 09/21/20, in gorgeous though windy weather, we left Joe Wheeler State Park marina for Ditto Landing marina, in Huntsville, AL. We both noted how the scenery along the TN River was becoming more hilly and scenic as we approached the mountains on the southern end of the Cumberland Plateau, south of Huntsville.

We arrived Ditto Landing easily and with no problems, once we understood where the harbor master wanted us to tie up our boat on the outside of a finger. Two other Looper boats traveling together had followed us up river to Ditto Landing, Premium Pleasure and Scholarship, and they tied up to fingers farther inside the marina than us. We finally decided our boat’s placement must’ve been based on Legacy drawing a deeper draft than the other boats, and the marina got more shallow toward the back. We did wind up positioned right beside the marina restrooms, so that was a plus.

Our plan was to spend only one night at Ditto Landing on our journey upriver to Alred Marina in Guntersville, AL, to stay well ahead of the rains coming our way from Tropical Depression Beta. However, early on Tuesday morning, 09/22/20, I woke up with a pounding headache and body aches. I had noted some minor sinus issues several days earlier, but wasn’t too concerned until then. I feared a sinus infection. I informed Steve of my physical condition, which sunk our plans to leave that day, since I would have to find yet another urgent care in Huntsville to prescribe me some antibiotics. (Steve declared then and there that my new hobby had become visiting various urgent care centers as we travel!) I didn’t find the situation all that funny, especially when we found out Ditto Landing marina provided no courtesy vehicle for its transient boaters. I had to get medical attention, so I downloaded the Uber application onto my cell phone and arranged for a pick-up at Ditto Landing marina and drop-off at CarePlus in Huntsville. With all the Covid rules in place (of course I was required to wear a mask inside the Uber vehicle), I was a little concerned the driver might not like the whole idea of escorting me to an urgent care, but he seemed okay with it, thankfully. After a bit of trouble finding the marina, my driver was a man named David, who was very chatty and informed me that he was retired from Lake Huron in Michigan down to Huntsville, AL, for the warmer climate, and used his job at Uber to supplement his retirement income. I did not feel like conversation, but I got it anyway! He was an excellent driver and got me where I needed to go quickly. It’s a challenge going places in a completely new area, but even more so when you don’t have your own vehicle. The driver asked me several questions about roads in Huntsville and I had to explain I knew less about the area than he did! After waiting almost two hours, I was finally seen by the nurse practitioner at the clinic. She agreed that my symptoms did sound like a sinus infection, that I had fluid in one of my ears and swollen lymph nodes in my neck, so I received yet another shot of steroids in the hip and a prescription for 14 days’ worth of antibiotics. The NP told me there was a Walgreen’s “right across the street” from their clinic, so I planned to walk over there before I summoned my Uber pick-up to return me to the marina. Once I got outside, I realized the Walgreen’s was on the other side of a busy 4-lane highway, and was also almost 3 city blocks down! There I was, feeling like crap, hoofing it across 4 lanes in my boat shoes, praying I didn’t trip and do a face-plant right in the middle of oncoming traffic. Once I was safely to the other side, I realized there was absolutely no sidewalk beside the highway, so unless I wanted to walk right in the road, I was forced to traverse multiple parking lots, curbs, and grassy ditches to reach Walgreen’s. Having avoided a mid-highway fall, I then feared being eaten alive by a swarm of seed ticks! All’s well that ends well, and Walgreens had my prescription ready after only about 15 minutes. I then used my Uber phone app to call for my return ride. This time, Jose picked me up in his white Toyota Corolla. His online reviews stated he was an “excellent conversationalist”, which wasn’t really a plus, because I didn’t feel like more small talk. Amusingly, Jose never said more than, “Hi, are you Kristin?” and “Goodbye, have a nice day,” during the entire drive. Admittedly, I didn’t attempt to engage any conversation, but I decided the reviewer who had deemed Jose an excellent conversationalist was obviously being sarcastic! The entire excursion took almost 4 hours and cost me $50 in ride fees. Steve said that was still better than trying to keep our own vehicle and shuttle it around with us all over the southeastern US, but the jury’s still out on that one for me. After my steroid booster shot and first dose of antibiotics, I was already feeling better, but it was too late to leave Ditto Landing that day, so we spent another night.

Ditto Landing

Position tonight: N 34° 34.581, W 86° 33.601

Distance traveled:  49.4 NM

Total distance traveled: 270.4 NM

Time underway: 5 HRS 59 MIN

Total time underway: 33 HRS 54 MIN

Total marina nights: 11

Total nights at anchor: 4

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  3

Day 11 – 13

We got a nice surprise when we arrived at the transient docks at Joe Wheeler State Park marina. There waiting for us were Dean and Janice Conley on Blue Barnacle! We knew they would be there but weren’t certain they would still be by the time of our arrival.

Dean and Janice came out to catch our lines as we pulled into our slip at Joe Wheeler. It felt good to be back, even though we were now in the transient area of the marina, rather than in our familiar slip down on Dock 700. Steve had already texted with Pat Erwin, one of our former Dock 700 neighbors, to let him know we were coming in. Pat invited us down to the end of Dock 700 for an impromptu gathering later that evening, to which we invited Dean and Janice to join us. It was great to see some of the old gang and catch up with them. Shirley and Stan Stephens have their boat for sale, as they’ve recently moved into a brand new dirt home in the area, while Julie and Toby Nicholls are making great strides renovating their boat, Restless T. Pat and his wife Brenda are still living aboard their boat, My Girl, and enjoying it. We had also hoped to see Dan and Phyllis Montgomery, on Patriot’s Dream II, but missed them this time. The weather had decided to turn dry and chilly that evening, so Steve and I had to dig out our long pants and jackets for our dock visit!

On Saturday evening, 09/19/20, we were entertained by a local outdoor wedding being held on the water behind the state park lodge, which gave us transient boaters a birds-eye view of the ceremony. Dean and Janice watched from Blue Barnacle’s pilot house and we watched from our flybridge. It was a typical, small town Alabama wedding, complete with a rebel yell shouted by the guests as the groom kissed his bride. After the reception dinner held inside the lodge, the guests all returned to the outside stage and dance floor to dance the night away. As our boats were right there, we got to listen to the loud and wide variety of musical strains played by the DJ, which was interesting at best, but ended commendably at 9:00 pm that night, which was just about our bed time. During a spectacular weather day on Sunday, 09/20/20, we walked around the park and took care of boat chores. The marina at Joe Wheeler has no courtesy car, so we were afoot during this stop. During our visit, we experienced some minor waking, but nothing like that at Aqua. However, that evening, Steve and I were settling in for dinner aboard and to watch our nightly episodes of Bosch on Amazon Prime, when Legacy was hit by a tremendous wake that rocked us heavily. A huge bottle of some very important liquid was knocked off the galley counter by the force of the wake, but fortunately did not break! As it was almost dark and we already had the drapes pulled, Steve looked out one of the front windows to see the culprit causing the wake was actually right there in the transient area with us, just one slip over. A 30-foot Bayliner was being “captained” from above, but in a very poor and erratic fashion. As the single-handed boat made multiple failed attempts to back into a slip, roaring in and out and causing continued waking, we soon realized the captain was most likely boating under the influence, which was alarming to say the least. Steve had been about to step out and ask the guy to calm his wake, but changed his mind once he realized the boater’s inebriated state. Fortunately, the Bayliner finally made it into its slip, things calmed down and the captain disappeared below decks. We noted he had arrived after the marina office had closed, so would have to wait until morning to pay for his night of rest and electricity in his slip. Oddly enough, but not surprisingly, the guy had completely vacated his slip early that morning before the marina office had even opened, which meant he enjoyed a free night. We pictured him drunkenly marauding and pillaging the TN River, going from marina to marina in that same fashion, enjoying a low-cost trip! We each said a prayer that he didn’t hurt anyone during his questionable journey.

Joe Wheeler

Position tonight: N 34° 48.714, W 87° 19.907

Distance traveled:  17.4 NM

Total distance traveled: 221 NM

Time underway: 3 HRS 33 MIN

Total time underway: 26 HRS 55 MIN

Total marina nights: 10

Total nights at anchor: 3

Locks today: 2

Locks Total:  3

Day 9 – 10

On Wednesday morning, 09/16/20, we left Aqua Yacht Harbor for Florence, AL. We’d hoped to get out in front of Tropical Storm Sally, but wound up encountering some outer rain bands from her anyway. Nothing bad, just not the beautiful conditions we’ve grown used to traveling in. We both prefer to helm the boat from up in the flybridge, but the intermittent rains had us running up and down between the flybridge and the salon helm for most of the trip. The wind whipped up the waters a bit, so that up and down trip got a little exciting at times. At one point, as I was sliding open the salon door, I got a good spray of river water right in the face! I had even pulled out our rain-suits to dawn when we got to Florence, in case we found ourselves docking in the rain. NOT my idea of enjoyable boating, but it does happen. We lucked-out and the rain stopped by 3 pm, when we reached the marina in Florence. Per the harbor master’s instruction, we tied up on the transient wall in the exact same place we’d tied on our last visit to Florence, with Mike and Brenda Wehrle.

The best thing about our new location in Florence was NO MORE ROCKING! So nice to have a stable living environment again for awhile. We used the Florence marina courtesy van to drive for dinner at our downtown Florence favorite, Ricatoni’s, then took the van again on 09/17/20, for a provisioning run to Walmart, Publix, and a haircut for Steve at Great Clips. This van was a bit cleaner than the ones at Green Turtle Bay, but had a nasty habit of just dying as we were driving it, even right in the middle of the road! Fortunately, it would restart, but Steve always had to completely stop and put it into park to restart, which I’m sure annoyed the drivers behind us. We enjoyed a nice lunch at the marina restaurant, Stanfield’s River Bottom Grille, which was back open again after having been closed during our last visit, due to an employee testing positive for Covid.

On Thursday morning, 09/18/20, we followed the harbor master’s recommendation and enjoyed a tasty breakfast at BBB (Big Bad Breakfast) back in downtown Florence, where slowly but surely the area seems to be coming back to life after the Covid hit, which was heartening to see!

We then returned to the marina to ready Legacy to head out for Joe Wheeler State Park Marina, which would require traversing not one, but two locks. Fortunately the weather was again cool and sunny for this trip. Gilligan is beginning to feel more and more at ease with her locking duties, thankfully. After another beautifully peaceful trip, we arrived at the transient docks at Joe Wheeler State Park about 3 pm that afternoon.

Day 9 – 10

Florence Harbor

Position tonight: N 34° 47.165, W 87° 40.417

Distance traveled:  38 NM

Total distance traveled: 203.6 NM

Time underway: 4 HRS 42 MIN

Total time underway: 23 HRS 50 MIN

Total marina nights: 7

Total nights at anchor: 3

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  1

Day 7 – 8

Naturally, after a looooong, dreary weekend of rain, Monday morning, 09/14/20, dawned dry and sunny just in time for my brother to leave Legacy for his drive back home. He headed west for Arkansas, while I headed northeast in the rental car we’d picked up in Corinth, MS, earlier in the weekend. Another late model Nissan Altima, which I liked. I made a run to Costco in Brentwood, TN, to pick up my new glasses, but before that I stopped in at my friend Judy Snow’s house in Franklin, TN, for a delicious lunch she prepared especially for me. The weather was perfect to dine out on her screened-in back porch and we had a nice visit to catch up. Steve Linn stayed back on Legacy while the service guys from Aqua installed our new washer/dryer. Initially we’d thought the old unit had been replaced by the original owners back in 2014 or so, but Steve said that when the old unit was removed, they discovered it was the original unit from 1999, when the boat was actually built. No wonder it was starting to make strange noises and leak!

On Tuesday, 09/15/20, we used Aqua’s courtesy vehicle to return my rental car back to Enterprise in Corinth. Something we discovered with this car was that it has a degree of self-driving ability. Its cruising function not only provided speed control, it also provided steering! This was novel to both of us, as we’d never driven a car with this feature. We did discover, however, that we were not allowed to remove both hands from the steering wheel while in cruise mode without being loudly admonished by an annoying beeping sound. One of the odd things about this car was that it would intermittently turn off self-steering and then suddenly turn it back on again by itself. So you wouldn’t want to risk driving with no hands, even without the loud warning beep. It was almost like the car was saying “Psych!” every now and then. What a trickster… When we returned back at Legacy, I tried out the new washer/dryer, which I LOVE. One of the rules we’d made when moving onto this boat was to bring only clothing that was made with wash and wear fabrics, so no ironing or dry-cleaning would ever by required. Well…. the first mate followed that rule, but the captain did not, and ended up with cotton shirts and shorts that do not come out of the dryer wrinkle-free. UGH. So, guess who gets to iron on the boat after all! We found a tiny ironing board onboard, and I bought a tiny, travel-sized steam iron from Walmart.

While I ironed, Steve figured out what was causing our persistent tiny fly problem in the master head. He cleaned out a clogged sump pump underneath the floor and our “drain fly” problem was eradicated. After his successful plumbing adventure, he put on his chef’s hat and prepared a huge crock-pot full of delicious red beans and rice for dinner. YUM!

Position: N 34° 59.481, W 88° 14.830

Total Marina Nights: 5

Total Nights at Anchor: 3

Day 5 – 6

On Saturday morning, I took some bedding up to the laundry facilities next to Aqua Grille, which felt like a 5-mile hike, especially with the day’s high heat and humidity. While waiting for the dryer to finish, I received a text from my brother, Steve, that he’d just arrived at Aqua’s main entrance on his first visit over to see our boat. Steve lives in Cabot, AR, which is about a 4-hour drive frp, Aqua Yacht Harbor in Mississippi. I walked up to the entrance to meet him so I could show him exactly where our boat was tied, rather than try to explain it to him on the phone. We walked his bags for 5 miles from the parking lot to Legacy. (Okay, it wasn’t really 5 miles, but it sure felt like it! One thing this new lifestyle affords is plenty of opportunities to walk and walk.) My brother was duly impressed with our tiny home, which he calls a “floating RV”. The captain showed him all around the boat, including down inside the engine room. Once the tour was over, we walked back over to Aqua Grille for lunch. We had just barely gotten back to the boat before the bottom fell out of some torrential rain clouds. One particularly intense storm caused the boat to really rock, which had us grabbing a hold inside the boat to keep from falling down! My brother said, “Hey, I thought you said this boat has stabilizers!” Ha! I explained to him that the stabilizing fins only work while the boat is underway, not while it’s stationery at the dock, unfortunately. Ordinarily, when we have visitors on the boat, we’d like to have fair weather so we can take the boat out onto the water. But sadly the rain set in and did not let up until late Sunday afternoon. We made the best of it, hunkering down inside the boat and only venturing out for dinner at Freddy T’s, one of Pickwick’s landmark eateries. I had the v-berth all made up as guest quarters for my brother’s accommodation and instructed him on the operations of his own private, guest head. The rain continued, but the wind turned and started coming straight out of the east, which pushed the boat right up against the transient wall. That stopped the rocking, but replaced it with the constant, loud lapping of waves up against Legacy’s hull all night long – UGH! I worried my poor brother would not sleep a wink with all that racket, but wonderfully, the next morning, he said he’d slept well! Hooray! Steve Linn fixed us a nice breakfast spread on Sunday morning, which we finished before we proceeded to spend most of Sunday inside the boat again because the rain never stopped. FINALLY, around 4 pm on Sunday, the rain ceased and we actually began to see some spots of blue sky and rays of sunshine. That was all we needed – it was time to throw off the lines and take Legacy out onto Pickwick Lake, so my brother could actually enjoy a little time on the water.

Position: N 34° 59.481, W 88° 14.830

Total marina nights: 3

Total nights at anchor: 3