Catching Up

Monday, April 29, 2019 - Sugar Bay Anchorage to Pebble Isle Marina, mm 96

We traveled 63 miles today from 7:15AM to 3 PM.  The weather was generally pleasant (coats in the morning, shorts in the afternoon).  Not much boat or tow traffic…nice day!Maggie and I took a walk, first thing. We were both ready to hit the dirt again!  Pebble Isle is a nice stop on this part of the river.  Fuel was $2.99 with Boat US discount and there’s a restaurant on site.  I’ll post some pictures tomorrow when we have better reception…

Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - Pebble Isle Marina to Indian Creek Anchorage, mm 168

Left the marina this morning a little after 7…after Mags and I took a little walk. We set out to get as far as we could today, fearing the current will get so strong going up to Pickwick Lock that it will take us a long time.  Our first choice for anchorage was at mm 155 behind an island.  We got there before 3 and decided to go for Indian Creek.  We got here at 5.  Made for a long day on the water, but I think we’ll sleep better knowing we have only 38 miles to go before we get to Pickwick.  The weather today was very pleasant.  Cool-ish in the morning and even in the early afternoon depending on direction of the wind.  We’ll see what time we get through the lock and then decide where to anchor for tomorrow night.  On Thursday we’ll get to Florence Harbor and spend a night or two so we can do “boat chores” (laundry, groceries, etc.)  Zippo on the connectivity here, so it will be a while longer before this gets published. [tight grin}

Wednesday, May 1, 2019 -  Indian Creek to Panther Creek,  mm 218

We left early, as usual, anxious on this day to see how long it would take to get to the Pickwick Lock with the current against us. We got to it around noon and, after a short wait while they brought another pleasure craft down, were out of the lock and settled in at our Panther Creek anchorage.  This was a beautiful cove on the right descending bank of Pickwick Lake.  The only problem we had with it was ZERO signal on the phones.  OK. Lesson learned. You can have a lovely setting, surrounded by a nature preserve (read: no roads, no power poles)...you just may not be able to contact the outside world.

A pretty rough rainstorm hit with a lot of wind.  Despite being jerked in all four directions, the anchor held tight.  It turned out to be a very pleasant evening.

Thursday, May 2, 2019 - Panther Creek to Florence Harbor, mm 256

View from our anchorage this morning:

We had a nice day of travel to Florence Harbor and got there in time to have lunch from the River Bottom Grill.  We decided to stay 2 nights at Florence so we could run around a little with the courtesy car. We dropped off laundry at a wash and fold place and got groceries. The chores done...we looked forward to Friday being a day "off."

When we pulled into our slip we found ourselves next to A Frayed Knot, an Albin Express trawler that we've seen before at Ft. Loudon Marina. We re-acquainted ourselves with Bob and Elaine Stevenson who were getting ready to leave for places down river.  As Bob started out of the slip, though, the throttle stuck at a high rpm and he shot out and over to the dock on the other side of the aisle, slamming into a pontoon boat.  Fortunately, neither boat was really hurt...but they had to stay another night to work out a solution to the problem, which they did.

As we traveled up river this morning the water was calm...

Friday, May 3, 2019 - Florence Harbor

We were sipping our first cup of coffee that morning when Wayne's sister, Linda, called to tell us that Wayne's mother had died early that morning. We immediately made plans to leave the boat at Florence Harbor and rented a car to drive to Athens, TN, that day.  We were there by 3PM, in time to be in on the final plans for coming events.   

Wayne, Maggie, and I drove home that evening and were there for the weekend.  On Monday we drove down for receiving of friends, 5-7.  Our son, David met us down there and then went home with us that night.  The next day we picked up Maggie from the Dog Nanny who'd kept her Monday night and went back to Athens for the funeral at 2 PM.  After going to the cemetery we said goodbye to most of the family and friends that had come and went to Linda's house for a shared meal.  Dave took off after the burial so he could get back to Wake Forest by midnight.

Mrs. Prichard, or Mamaw, as we called her, lived a full life (100 years old in March) and passed away peacefully.  She was an amazing woman, raising two children alone and working until she was 95 (when she retired from Walmart). The receiving of friends brought in quite a crowd!  She was much loved and will be missed...but we all know she's at rest now.

Wednesday, May 8, 2019  - Florence Harbor

After the dinner last night we loaded up and drove down to Chattanooga to spend the night. This morning we loaded up and got to Florence by 10:30AM.  Stocked up on a few perishables, filled up with water, and we're ready to finish our trip home. We think we'll be back within 2 weeks.  Tomorrow is calling for high winds and storms in the afternoon so we'll get out early and see how far we can get.  More to come....