Left our anchorage at 6:30 AM central this morning...no fog! Nickajack Lock was waiting for us when we got there and the majority of the trip today was spent on tranquil waters.
Let us talk now about the last part of our trip...the last hour before we docked. Suddenly the winds picked up big time...like gusts of 17mph and sustained of 12. They must have been behind us because we were flying upstream at a lower rpm than we've been running on this trip. Our intent was to go through Chicamauga Lock today, arriving there at around 3:30 PM eastern. So much for plans! We called to check on conditions and see whether we could get through and were told that it would be 6 hours before we could lock through because Bear Cat (a tow known well by boaters in the Knoxville area) was taking 6 barges through, one at a time.
That being a no-go we had only one choice and that was to stay on the docks at Chattanooga. We called ahead and got an answering machine. Left a number and name...and haven't heard anything from them yet. We are tied up near the pedestrian bridge downtown Chattanooga. The gates leading from the dock to land are locked on our side...and I presume on the other side. Pizza delivery is, of course, on our mind...but I think we can still do that by slipping the pizza under the locked door. ;-) Hopefully the marina rep will call us sometime this afternoon and make it even easier. I could actually take a walk if they come before dark!!
Took a picture today of a steam plant between our anchorage and Nickajack Lock. Then I played with the Paper Camera app and came up with this... See the sea monster in the water? ;-)
This is the original photo...
Things got even weirder as we went further up the river. It looked like we were headed into a big, open mouth!
Hey! What's a gal to do on a boat going 8 mph for days, and days, and days? We'd better get home soon. Not sure where this will lead....
