We had planned to go to Hales Bar Marina for tonight because we wanted to be tied up to a dock during the winds they are predicting. We left Island Cove by 8 AM heading for a lock through in the Chicamauga Lock.
Wayne realized, just as we were getting ready to enter the lock, that the engine was overheating. We decided to go on down to Chattanooga...watching the temp carefully...and we were able to get to the Bluff docks downtown.
Erwin Marine, the group that manages all the downtown docks, has started using an online service, Dockwa, to make reservations. I tried to complete the registration on my Android and could get to the "make this happen" button...but the button wouldn't work. OK. I got the iPad out and tried on it. Still had problems completing the reservation. No need to worry, really. If you dock on one of their docks they will see you and send a rep down to check it out. That's exactly what happened. Bryan showed up and, with him there, the iPad worked fine. We had docked near the "safe" exit from the Bluff docks (the other exit takes you up a dark passage that is often home to the homeless.) Turns out the door we would need to use was damaged in their flooding earlier this year (18 ft. above normal!) and wasn't usable. We decided to go down to the dock closer to the Erwin Marine office.
So. Tied up, we walked Maggie up to the Big River Grille and had a good burger meal before Wayne started tackling the issue of overheated engine. He needed to take up much of the salon floor to check it out so Maggie and I packed up and headed up to a table and chairs we'd seen on our walk.
The spot Maggie and I landed in was totally deserted when we got there. I spread out some paints, sketches...tied Maggie up to a table leg...and started relaxing into some art. This is how the area looked:
A couple of minutes later a bus dropped off a group of 2nd and 3rd grade kids from Huntsville, AL!
The kids were really well behaved and many had a turn petting Maggie...or, better yet, says Maggie...letting her lick the food smell from their hands after lunch!
Maggie and I stayed to see the group off...and then I worked on a small painting of a dish Willa made, asparagus with red bud blooms sprinkled atop:
Finally Maggie and I walked back to the boat to see what was going on with Wayne. He was just wrapping up and putting down the floor when we arrived. He'd checked all the possibles and came up with one small pebble in the water line....also made sure there were no air bubbles. Plans are to leave tomorrow morning and go as far as we want to before (probably) anchoring for the night.
