We had a “bluebird day” today traveling up Wheeler Lake to an anchorage at the Flint River, mile 339. Flint River was listed in our old Tennessee River Guide, circa 1998, and isn’t noted in Active Captain at all. All this to say, we were hoping it was still a viable anchorage for the night because it would be within a couple of hours of Guntersville Lock next morning.
We followed instructions in Fred Myers’ book, staying in the center of the Flint channel until we were in front of the first little island. We attempted to anchor just in front and starboard of the island…but ended up backing up some and basically anchoring on starboard side of the channel. Turns out, we could have anchored in the middle of the channel and no one would have known. We didn’t see a soul all night. In fact, it was a little eerie. ;-)
Next morning when we pulled up the anchor it was caked with good ole Tennessee mud. We were in no danger of moving during that anchorage!
Thursday, October 8, 2015 - Jones Creek at mile 388
As we left, we passed this cornfield...It was a neat anchorage!
We left at the crack of dawn this morning and were back on the main Tennessee channel by 7AM. We saw some fantastic clouds this morning!
And the trip to the lock had other beautiful venues...
We had ten miles to get up to the Guntersville Lock from our anchorage and the closer we got, the harder the current ran against us. When we rounded the corner to the lock and talked with the lock master he said a tow was approaching the lock from the upper side…and it would be 3.5 hours before we could lock through. Groan!!...
We tried to find a spot to anchor up close to the lock (the lock master wanted us “in sight, so we’d be in line.”) We gave up on that because of rock bottom and fast current and got permission to tied up to the long auxillary lock wall instead.
We got to the lock at 8:30…and left around 11:30.
While there, though, we got to see “old friends” from the trip this time, Bama Dream with Jesse and Linda. They finished their loop, too, and are headed, slowly, up to Knoxville for a visit before they go back home to Guntersville, AL.
The rest of our day was pretty uneventful. We went on to an anchorage we’d used on the way down in 2014…Jones Creek. Beautiful spot!
Only thing is…I’d forgotten about those bugs that come in at dusk and cling to the boat…then are gone in the morning. The rub is that they leave a bit of “residue”….
Friday, October 9, 2015 - Williams Island anchorage at 454.6
We left Jones Creek at around 7:45AM and when we got to Nickajack Lock, shortly after noon, we were pretty quickly upstream bound. Quite a difference from yesterday! ;-)
A pretty uneventful day…some beautiful scenery in the “grand canyon” before Chattanooga…
and lots and lots of “go-fast” boats!
We made it all the way to Williams Island anchorage at 454.6 before anchoring for the night. Nice spot…
but it took us several tries to find mud instead of rock in this current.
While sitting here, we saw a “one-of-a-kind” sight…a homemade ferry!
Whew! We’ve been going faster than I can type! Tomorrow we have “permission” to travel through the Chattanooga waterfront while a regatta is in progress. Three miles with us going at no wake speed. Then Chickamauga Lock. From there, we’re going up as far as we can stand to travel and still get pizza delivery. ;-) Blue Water Marina at 504.4 is about as far as we can imagine…and Papa Johns delivers! ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment