Month: March 2022

This is a selection of photos taken by Susan during our trip from Decatur to Knoville.

I left Knoxville Tuesday.  A few hours into the trip downstream I was stopped by a law enforcement officer.  He was curious about the Ontario licence number.  I turned off the motor, and was drifting downstream while outside chatting with him when I went aground on a rocky bar.  Not badly, but when I backed off I damaged my prop.

Today I had a short haul at a yard on the Little Tennessee River to install the spare prop and renew anodes.   All good now.

In hindsight I should have called a towing service rather than trying to get myself off.  But that’s not my instinct.  I really need to work on that, or get a different boat. 

On a related note, the charts on my Garmin are shit on this area.  Navionics is better, but still showed 10 feet where I was hung up.  I’ll make more of an effort to stay in the marked channel going down to Paducah.

Tonight I’m anchored just above Fort Loudon Lock.  Had takeout from a local Calhoun’s restaurant.  Tomorrow I’ll continue my leisurely cruise downriver.  Snow and very cold is forecast for Saturday, but generally the weather has been pleasant.

I’ve been thinking about elevations and the trip to Chicago.  I’m in the top pool on the Tennessee River, about 810 feet above sea level.  Chicago is at about 510 feet.  From here to there I descend on the Tennessee and Ohio, then go upstream on the Mississippi and the Illinois Rivers.  I’m not sure I have a strong preference on going upstream vs downstream.  Upstream is slower, but more engaging and interesting.

I’ve also been refining my schedule.  I think that after my next set of guests depart from Kentucky Lake in early April I’ll head straight for Chicago, if conditions allow. 

I haven’t been taking pictures, but will post a few of Susan’s.  I like it around here.

That was pleasant. Susan joined me on Sunday afternoon in Decatur AL as planned, and we got underway immediately. I had suggested that she fly out of Knoxville, about 440 miles upstream, and she had a flight booked for Saturday, today. I realized early on that this was pretty ambitious, particularly with a head current that was up to 3 mph in spots.

We ended up arriving here Friday afternoon, with lots of time for her to get COVID tested and for us to explore Knoxville a bit.

The trip up was lovely. We had the river to ourselves most of the time, and the weather was gorgeous all week, sunny and calm, and warmer later in the week. We traveled dawn to dusk, and only stopped briefly in Guntersville and Chattenuga for provisions.

From here I’m heading down the Tennessee to meet Samantha and Sarah in Land Between the Lakes. We have a date there in three weeks, and it’s about 630 miles. It’ll be a very leisurely cruise, with time for stops and diversions.

But first I have to do some repairs. The fridge stopped working earlier this week, and I think my inverter is dying. So I’ll likely try to get that sorted before leaving here. And I have some old friends to catch up with.

Susan took a gazillion pictures, so I’ll ask for her best and post here later.