So much for cruising under the radar!

Guntersville, Alabama to Ten Mile Springs, Tenneseee

Who knew after sitting still for 11 days, there would be so many last-minute things to do? We left Guntersville marina at 12:30 after the holiday weekend. The waters were beautiful and flat. Gone was the constant chop from the weekend that had us needing to get off the boat in the marina from time to time. It was a beautiful day, mid 80’s and for that Remy was very happy. We are hopeful the mid 90’s cruising days are a thing of the past, though it looks like some low 90’s may be creeping into Tennessee next week. We cruised the 20 miles upriver to Goose Pond Marina in Scottsboro, Alabama. We were met with a resort nestled back off the river almost a mile. There are a lot of large vessels here and we met a few of the five boats that just completed the loop. We are 84 river miles from Chattanooga. Another marina in the area, has not reopened after a devastating fire last year that killed 8 people and destroyed 35 boats.  A solemn reminder that you always must be aware and have a safety plan, no matter what you are doing.

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We left Goose Pond later than we intended, 8:30, knowing we had a long cruise ahead to just west of Chattanooga. Our cruise would be 53 miles with one lock and the temperature would be rising. We encountered our second railroad lift bridge, although it cleared 34 feet with it down, so we did not need to wait for it to open. Now or Never will clear at 22′ without lowering antennas or removing any electronics from the radar arch. Just as we were passing under, we heard the whistle of the train! In the command center above, the lift operator was visible and returned a wave from the Now or Never Crew.

The Nickajack lock was easy. No waiting no issues, just how we like it. We were lifted 41 feet into Nickajack lake. The granite cliffs were back in full force as we head deeper into the mountainous region. We stopped at Hales Bar Marina. It’s right on the river with docks on both sides of this huge brick building that protrudes into the river. On the approach, there are several barges in the center of the river. We were told to veer right on the approach. Upon further investigation, we learned there is a submerged railroad bridge that runs underwater, and the barges keep you from hitting it. The big building is the old Hales Bar hydroelectric dam powerhouse, a private entity at the time. It was completed in 1913 and in 1939 the TVA took control of the dam. The TVA worked two decades in trying to fix a leakage problem that had plagued Hales Bar since its construction. The TVA determined it would be too expensive to expand the dam into a navigational lock and decided to replace the dam with the Nickajack lock and dam 6 miles downstream.

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During the construction of the Hales Bar dam, there were hundreds of deaths to workers and others. Because of the complex and violent history, the paranormal community believes that the dam is a prime location for haunting. The dam has been featured on dozens of paranormal tv shows and teams have traveled from afar to study the anecdotal accounts of extraordinary incidents.

It now anchors the marina with docks on both sides and houses the Dam Whisky and Moonshine Distillery (was supposed to be open by the end of summer, but they aren’t close). It appears to be a great place for a Halloween fun house as it has fallen into disrepair and looks abandoned.

We have been blessed with beautiful sunsets. So stunning as we head into the mountains. Hales Bar sunset was one of the best!

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We motored a third day in a row and ended in downtown Chattanooga. There are no words to describe the beauty of this river. For thirty miles through the mountains the views were stunning, a constant winding of the river, never knowing that around the next bin would be even greater beauty. Words and pictures do not do it justice. You all must take a boat up the Tennessee River, this is God’s Country!  We met three large boats on this day, we typically have been the only large boat on the rivers this whole trip. We see a slew of fishermen and the occasional pontoon, but outside of any metro areas, no pleasure craft or traveling cruisers.

We love the Ohio River and have called it home for thirty years and see the beauty in it but being on the upper Tennessee, no contest. We were also blessed with cooler temperatures and a light breeze, keeping the whole crew comfortable and happy. These slow, cool mornings, Remy likes to lay in the gunwales for the first hour or two that we motor.

We arrived in Chattanooga early as it was a short day on the water, the current was running fast, and the wind had kicked up. There were already two boats on the lay along, one on the down river end and a 32’ tug smack dab in the middle. We would need to go to the up river end and pull in with a bridge pillar just up from where we needed to be. Everything was going against an easy docking situation, though the captain pulled it off with skill and some luck. He eased it in so Tasha could jump off the side and get a line or two in this case wrapped before the current and wind took us back into the tug. We deployed all the fenders and 5 lines to shore to ensure we wouldn’t get away. It was a good docking in need of a celebration.

As our norm, David got Remy off the boat, and Tasha went off the side by sitting down on the deck and easing off the dock below – it was a good 4 – 4.5 feet. And then, there was the “Oh, Shit” moment when the cell phone came up out of Tasha’s pocket, into the air, bounced off the concrete dock and flipped into the water. For a split-second Tasha could see her red phone and then with the speed of the current and the weight in water it was gone. As it was going down, Tasha spined and hit the dock on her knee’s, the concrete gouging her knee and the then blood. Gone, gone, gone. The phone was gone. She didn’t know to scream out in pain for her knee or agony that her phone was gone. Reminding us of days gone bye with kids with skinned knee’s and teary eyes.

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Instead of celebrating our successful docking in less than favorable conditions, we wallowed in our misfortune of losing a phone by hitting a local brewery for hops and dinner, followed by a walk over the river on the people bridge, and ice cream.

We were in Chattanooga about an hour walking through a downtown park, when a newscaster asked us if we wanted to comment on the presidents new mandates for covid? We indicated we didn’t know what they were as we don’t watch the news. He briefly explained it, put a cellphone camera in David’s face, and David was part of the lead story at 11:00 News 12 Now!

It was a beautiful night on the river and our neighbor boat thought so too. Seems like this big 80’+ boat has been docked at the waterfront all summer – gossip says it’s a bunch of doctors from Knoxville who like to come here and party. And they did – lights, music, video, and tata’s on the front of the boat – just a mere 40 yards behind us!

The next day we headed into town for a consolation breakfast at Maple Street Biscuit Company. Our friends Janet, and Pat who did the loop three years ago, indicated this was a must stop in Chattanooga, it did not disappoint. David had biscuits and gravy extreme, biscuits and gravy topped with a sausage patty and egg over easy on top. Tasha went for the squawking goat, chicken biscuit with goat cheese and pepper jelly – YUM-O!

We chose to move on after one day in Chattanooga as the Moon River festival was happening this weekend, 40 bands, and tons of river traffic. All the downtown docks are lay along, exposed to the river, without any no wake zones. We were not if favor of the wakes rocking and beating up our boat over the weekend with increased boat traffic. We plan return to the same spot on our return cruise and investigate Chattanooga more thoroughly.

We moved on up with a short run and experienced our first subpar marina, Harbor Lights Marina in Soddy Daisy, TN. We should have known with the first phone conversation this was not a good place for us. Let’s just say they were NOT customer friendly. Among a slew of of subpar amenities/service, our power didn’t work and it was blamed on our boat, (we’ll bet our boat it was on their end). They didn’t even come out to the dock to check it. We were tired, it was very cool out (we didn’t have to have a/c), and we ended up staying (probably should not have) for a reduced price as there really was not any other alternative, and there was a restaurant on site (no theirs!) and it was OPEN! We went and had a nice dinner with very friendly servers!

We decided to get up early and head out no later than 7. This would be our 5^th travel day in a row and a long one, about 65 miles and one lock. We are now again on Eastern time. We have been in the central time zone most of the summer. The last couple of days have been confusing with switching back. Our state room clock is on central time so we knew we would have to rise at 5:30 according to it. Well, we forgot, it’s September and its pitch dark at 6:30 in the western part of the eastern time zone. We slept a little longer and got up to see just a little fog rolling along the river and blessed with a beautiful sunrise.

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It was cool and later we were very cold (that’s hard to say after the heat we’ve had all summer). We were on our way at 8 eastern and the sun was up.

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Less than 25 minutes into our voyage, the sky collapsed, and we were embedded by dense fog, fog where we could barely see the bow of the boat. Our electronics freaked out a bit and in a split second we both saw a dock and land just off the starboard side. We slowed to a crawl, and I mean crawl and got our bearings with both of us on the bridge looking and listening.

David activated our automatic fog horn, turned the navigation lights on, and got the electronics showing the right direction. And wow, just off our bow a bass boat, 2 guys with rooster tail coming right at us, luckily they swerved at the last minute as there was nothing we could do. It was cold,

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Tasha grabbed her bow chair, blanket, and went and sat on the front of the bow to have eyes 20 feet closer to the front and ears further away from the diesel hum. We put on our headsets; David reluctant to do so as he told Tasha she could just point. We were glad we did but Tasha was reminded once, maybe twice that it was time to look and listen. He was reminded it was his insistence we purchase them for the trip! We encountered several more bass boats, an abandoned boat but none near as close as the first. After about an hour slow, on the edge of your seat cruising in the dense fog, it began to lift, and life was back to normal. Whew! How quickly the elements change.

We came up on a tow boat, about 10 miles from the only lock of the day, we decided we should possibly speed up to get through the lock prior to him. So lucky we did as the lock master got us right in and up. He stopped to chat a bit and when David inquired as to how long the tow boat might have held us up the lock master indicated 5 – 6 hours – again – so lucky.  That would have made it dark when we got to our next port, cruising in the dark is something we try to avoid at all costs. We were already two hours behind our planned time and still had 20 miles to run to our next marina. The lock master also indicated the tow boat had to lay up in the fog and he was 8 hours behind schedule already.

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The gates opened and we were in Watts Bar Lake. I know we say it all the time, but the beauty! The clear, blue, crisp water. The lush green rolling hills. The cool beginning with then scent of fall air. All so beautiful. We look at the money on the shoreline. We know we have been blessed and live a good life. And we really hope we can find a place for ourselves to live on this trip though it’s bewildering where all this money comes from. We later ran into a local realtor and she indicated that the housing prices and housing boom are being driven by those coming from New York and California who easily bid 15-20% more than asking price every single time and all cash. They are astonished how far their dollar goes in the Tennessee Valley. We’re saddend that we just might now be able to compete.

We ended in Ten Mile, Tennessee! We are again in God’s country, somewhere Tennessee, near nothing but the beauty of this country. Life is good. Blue Springs Marina was a great place, back in a large cove. The transient dock was near the gas dock and restaurant and was a great place to meet people and take in the Saturday evening activity. An added plus, David could get MeTV and his Svengoolie show.

We are making our way to Fort Loudon Marina, Lenoir City, TN. Here we will stay a few days to plan the rest of our Tennessee River trip, the Little Tennessee River and Lake Tellico and perhaps Knoxville before we turn around and head back the river already traveled. We also will take full advantage of the courtesy car to head to a town to purchase a new telephone. We are not sure who is more excited? Tasha for getting a phone again or David for not having to share his phone! Some of our Hales Bar and Chattanooga photos didn’t get backed up in time and are on the bottom of the Tennessee River, we will retake some of those shots on our return trip.

It is good back being on the move again, lots to see and our river time is dwindling. When we started the loop in mid-June, all we could thing was we have soooo much time to explore the rivers, and here we are, less than two months shy of hitting the Gulf. 

Cheers! D, T & R