To the Tennessee Smoky Mountains!

Ten Mile to Lenoir City to Tellico Lake, TN

And here we thought all the excitement was in Chattanooga! Our cruise to Fort Loudon proved to be very eventful, the type of events we would like to avoid, and it added several hours to our 50 miles, 1 lock trip. We woke to another very foggy day, we stayed put for several hours not wanting to duplicate the prior days foggy travel. We took the opportunity to purchase fuel at $2.99/gallon, the least expensive since getting it from the truck in Jeffersonville, IN, our homeport.

This leg of the Tennessee River is very narrow in comparison to our home waters of the Ohio River. Motoring along at 9 mph, a large aluminum houseboat appeared on our portside (very close) out of nowhere.

The houseboat overtook us without any communication and then slowed so that we followed it close about 40 miles to our only lock of the day. We are getting used to just pulling into the locks and not having to wait, not so here. We waited about an hour. As we waited, we (especially the astute captain) had a feeling the houseboat captain did not have much experience, and this might get a bit crazy. Two wave runners, a run about, and a pontoon joined us to lockup. The houseboat entered first, the run about sped ahead of us, and then the wave runners and pontoon followed. We kept our eye on the houseboat and it was not pretty. There was a man and a woman on this double decker flat bottom aluminum lake style 70+ foot houseboat, he was on the flybridge, she was on the swim platform yelling (there was no way they could hear each other even with the largest set of lungs – but we could!) as we went into the lock – another clear sign this may not be pretty.

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It is hard to describe the multiple positions the boat took in the lock and the number of times they hit the chamber walls. The little boat the raced ahead of us took a near hit several times and were squirming, the wave runners and pontoon tried to help but the boat was all over the place knocking them around. At one point, we moved completely out of the chamber to give them room and to prevent us from being hit. But the woman aboard never wavered, there she stood on the swim platform with hook in hand and line on hook. It was apparent she had never been in a lock before and did not know what to do. She did not move; she did not try to do anything. She just hollered at him. At one point she did drop her hook and line in the water.

She was not prepared to retrieve it from the water and a lady crew member from the pontoon jumped on board. She saved the line and pole and single handedly got them tied to the wall by running through the boat from bow to stern numerous times. It was a 90-minute show of watching them struggle. We started off laughing, and then onto cringing, and then we felt bad for them. They just needed more crew on their boat and experience behind the wheel. I am not sure why people don’t better prepare themselves for boating. The lockmaster informed us that they would like us to leave the lock first, as we gingerly crept beside them to vacate the lock, we then turned once Now or Never was through and they were sideways again having cast off their bow line first.

Arriving at our marina several hours later than planned, it was closed. We had called going into the lock and no one answered letting them know we would be late and to please call and let us know where to go. We never heard back. The marina was immediately on the right descending bank as we exited the lock. It was Sunday evening just after 6 and the weekend parade of everyone returning was in full force, in addition to a fisherman in the mouth of the marina who just would not move (he was in our way at least 5 different times!)

This is a large marina with long narrow fairways. We went to the fuel dock first, no one was there, we headed back to the valet dock, the water very skinny and our depth alarm kept sounding. The guy on the valet dock was less than helpful. We backed out of that fairway and started down another to hear a guy call us on the radio. He was watching us and knew we were clueless. He guided us to the back fairway going by the very active restaurant and multiple boats in the fairway. After running down each fairway to no avail, we were led back to a fairway with a tricky 45-degree angled dock with a stud pole 5 feet in the water at one end and a boat at the other. The captain pivoted the boat 135 degrees letting the bow creep over the dock and another boat while the aft swing back into the spot avoiding the stud pole / yard arm in the middle of the water. Seemed like he had done it a hundred times. Whew!  

After a long, hot, exhausting, frustrating day, the captain nailed our docking as many had shown up to watch. So thankful to be at a dock tied up with no issues.

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It was our 6^th day in a row moving. We were tired. We decided (including Remy) that we would try never to make that many runs together in the future. It just wears you out being on the move every day and we need the whole crew, happy, alert, and rested. We made it an early night. Boating is hard! We know – rough life!

The following day we were on a mission to replace Tasha’s cell phone that is somewhere in the Chattanooga area. We waited until we were at the Fort Loudon Marina, as they had a courtesy car and Verizon was a just a couple of miles away. We then looked to see if there was an Apple Store nearby and to our luck, it was on the west side of Knoxville, like us, 19 miles away. We had credit card points we could convert to Apple gift cards to take away the sting of a new phone. Kind of wrong. Let’s just say our credit card company sucks, it took us 6 phone calls, help from a friend, and over three hours to redeem our rewards. By then, the courtesy van was helping someone else, and we had to wait for its’ return. By the time we returned with phone in hand, the day was shot.

The big kicker – the same credit card we dealt with for hours was refused the next day saying it had been compromised! They canceled our card and said they would send us a new one! Yes, we have others, but we had many automatic payments on this one, so spent the following day, changing all our automatic payments. We are certain we have missed a few!! Ugh!

We managed a few boat chores, had a few drinks, ate well as always, and after four nights at Fort Loudon, headed up the Little Tennessee River to Tellico Marina. Tellico Lake is peaceful and beautiful. It was a 20-mile run, the first 10 – 15 miles mirrored a lot of the Tennessee shoreline.

Beautiful, big houses aligning the shore. But these homes were new. The Lake just took off in recent decades and has become a sought-after residential area.

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Tellico Lake was created in 1979 by the TVA upon the completion of the Tellico Dam. The dam impounds the Little Tennessee River and the little Tellico River. It is approximately 16,000 acres in surface area and 357 miles of shoreline. The lake / river is navigable 33 miles from the off Tennessee River to the first dam Chillhowee Dam (we traversed within a stone’s throw of the NC border) and provides a stunning view of the Smoky Mountains.

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Fifteen miles into our 20-mile cruise, the mountains were more prevalent and the Smokies were seen clearer in the distance. The shoreline changed and the mega-houses were gone. There was some industry on the river too! Several distribution centers and a couple of places that caught our attention – The Sea Ray Factory and the Master Craft Factory. Tasha’s Dad was a Sea Ray guy – owning five in all and we were fortunate enough to spend time with him on the Great Lakes on his Sea Ray’s.

We passed Sequoya Landing Marina on the way to Tellico Marina – spotted a great outside dock restaurant we will have to frequent during our visit.

We were instructed to dock beside the restaurant at Tellico Marina. Being lunch time, there were several wave runners and a small vintage boat docked where we were to go. The patio was full. Pulling off some tight turn maneuvers while we waited for them to leave, the patrons erupted into a big cheer – little did the captain know it was the appearance of 1^st Dog – Remy – that had them all cheering. She came out of the aft deck and was walking the gunwales to see what was going on and of course she smelled food! A few shared greetings with the captain later for his ease of handling our boat in tight quarters, but clearly, he was not the center of attention.

We quickly learned that while the marina was dog friendly, the restaurant was not. We had to disembark with Remy and immediately take her up the ramp, there was to be no socializing. This pup does not understand that kind of behavior and and chose to hang in the gunwales, watching over the deck, during lunch and dinner crowds. Many came to greet Remy including the wait staff.

It was a 13-mile run from the marina to Chillhowee Dam. We had talked with fellow cruisers at Ft. Loudon Marina about the trip. They offered information on depths, anchorages, and a dinghy dock to walk Remy. With the uncertainty of the weather, the shallow waters, and a 14-year-old pup, we have been choosing marinas over anchorages. We dropped the dinghy in the water, packed a lunch, and headed the 13 miles to the dam in late morning. The closer we got to the dam, the closer we got to the Smokies, the cooler the air and water.

There were a couple of bends in the river whereas we came around them and a wall of cold air hit us, taking our breathe away. The deep blue colors of the water, the green trees with a hint of fall coloring, and the gray smokey color of the mountains was breathtaking.

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And then the roll and thunder of Harley’s, many Harleys. Seems the dam and the glorious back drop aligns itself with US 129 and the route known as the Tail of the Dragon. The Tail is considered one of the most exciting drives in America. Cutting through mountains in Deals Gap at the Tennessee/North Carolina border. It is an 11 mile stretch of road with 383 curves and only 2 intersections. We passed one of the Harley shops where many congregate and take a break while traversing the road.

Two dams beyond where we were, the Cheoah Dam was featured in the 1993 movie, The Fugitive, where Harrison Ford (Dr. Richard Kimble) jumped from the 225’ dam into a swirling cauldron of water to escape law enforcement. It is along the tail of the dragon too. At the Chillhowee Dam, we stopped, ate lunch in our dinghy, and talked with some guys on wave runners who had cruised 50 miles to the end of navigable waters. The water is very clear and about 20 degrees cooler than down river from where we came. Cool mountain air and water felt good and a big change from baking all summer at 95!

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We have more exploring by dinghy we want to do on Tellico including visiting Ft. Loudon which is a stone’s throw from our marina. We’ll spend a few days tied to the restaurant before we will begin our 450-mile trek back down the Tennessee River.

Cheers! D, T & R