Oct. 9-14, 2017 From the Cumberland River to the Tennessee via Kentucky.
Oct. 9: Left Commodore Yacht Club, Nashville having spent a very enjoyable long weekend visiting relatives. We also had fun evenings at the YC’s “party room” visiting with fellow Loopers, especially our friends Brian and Linda aboard Vahevala. Hope to catch up with them again about a month from now. We were told Alan Jackson had a home nearby Nashville on the Cumberland River. We decided this property fit the bill – this house was rather large (there was more to it on the other side), had attached guest quarters along with detached smaller guest homes, an air field for a few planes, horse barn with large pastures, etc, etc. Going by a barge making facility. It would have been fun to see one slide into the water. The cliffs of the Cumberland. Only one lock to deal with today. We are constantly amazed at how the barges just fit into the locks with only a few inches to spare on each side. Had the river to ourselves for most of the day. Hot day – 87 degrees!Returned to Clarksville for the night – enjoyed an odd partial sunsetSo when we went to bed, this is what our red track looked like, you can see we are retracing our steps from our side trip to Nashville (and again, boat icon is on land because our chart needs updating). But sometimes things go bump in the night….The Furuno Nav Station alarm went off for a few seconds. By the time Bob got up to check on things, the alarm was off – but our track had gone haywire! Looks like little Clarky scribbled on the screen. We were under a tin roof at the marina and maybe our tracking sensor got lost?? Anyway, our trip odometer had advanced 16 miles while we were tied nicely to the dock. Yet another mystery! Oct. 10: So long Clarksville, we’ll meet you at the station!Opposite weather today. Sunlight between rain squalls made for interesting lighting. Several white egrets grace the shoreline.Not sure why this patch of sand was so attractive to these pelicans ….when there were plenty of other sand patches nearby. I took this same picture about a week ago, but this time after a few days of rain from Nate, the sand bar around it is now underwater. We traveled 95 miles today and docked at Green Turtle Bay in Grand Rivers, Kentucky. Never thought of Kentucky as a place to go boating! Fall decorations abounded throughout the marina. Met up with some Loopers we hadn’t seen since we were in Joliet, Ill about a month ago. Oct. 11: The weather has been like a yo-yo. So hot for the past few days and then cold and gloomy. We wondered what was inside this “borg.” Just south of Green Turtle Bay there is a small canal connecting Barkley Lake to Kentucky Lake. These two lakes boast the largest surface area of man made lakes east of the Rockies. We are now on the Tennessee River and will stay on it for 450+ miles as we make our way toward Chattanooga. (Eventually we will back track about 200 miles of this River to get back onto the Loop). Along the way we have seen many cozy coves between cliffs and sandy beaches for anchorages. Temps were only in the 50s today along with gusty winds. Our anchorage for the night was called Standing Rock Creek. We finally caught up to C’est le Bon, friends Terry and Hal. We last saw them in Milwaukee Sept 1. Since then, they flew home to Houston for 2 weeks. When they got to Chicago they had their mast shipped to Mobile, Alabama. Meanwhile we had gone home for nearly 2 weeks, so it worked out for us to meet up again. During the night we were inundated with ugly bugs (looked somewhat like large brown mosquitos). In the morning (Oct 12) we discovered they left blobs of sticky poop on just about every surface of the boat. After we docked at marina for the night, it took about 3 hours to scrape off the gooey sticky mess. Bob was not a happy camper. The dock master at Pebble Isle Marina looked at the mess and said in his charming southern drawl “You’ve got enough tar there to build a road.” (or two!). A house with a bridge to nowhere, just before heading into Pebble Isle Marina. Oct. 13: Stayed 2 nights in Pebble Isle Marina. Per Billy (dock master) this boat went around the world but was later abandoned in the marina. The owner had passed away and eventually the marina took it over, painted it and repurposed it as a sign. Looks like a sailing submarine!The night before we ate in the Grey Heron Grill where Billy made the best ribs ever. Every morning he makes a few dozen or so cinnamon buns for the boaters. Nice perk for docking here!He uses the yellow golf cart to deliver the buns to boaters on the outer docks.
Creepy creatures in the water at the marina!!! Per Google, these are colonies of freshwater bryozoan Pectinatella magnifica. (Magnifica? Really?). They somehow filter particles of glick from the water for their food, so in a way, they are actually helpful in cleaning up the water. That being said, the water around here was pea soup ugly. Once I learned they were harmless, I launched the paddle board to explore the back bay. I happened upon two eagles and was trying to get a better picture (this is rather blurry – sorry!) when I went aground! (Water was too brown to see the bottom). In my effort not to fall face forward into the yucky water I did step off the paddle board and my right foot sank into a foot of mud. (All I could think about was those stupid TV westerns we grew up with where invariably somebody gets stuck in quicksand and drowns!). Took some doing to get my foot and sandal out of the muck. But, I didn’t drop my phone! And yes, I took a shower immediately upon returning to the boat. New Loopers had arrived. This boater apparently likes Halloween!Oct. 14: Leaving Pebble Isle the channel goes between two barely submerged bridge supports for a road from the 1940s when the area was flooded to create Kentucky Lake. Going around the bend and back into the Tennessee. The temps bounced back and we enjoyed a lovely travel day in the 80s. Going by one of the many TVA plants, looks like a space station for Alpha Centuri.Lighthouse on a cliff. Interesting home!Cute little cypress tree on our way into an anchorage. We are getting used to these incredibly narrow inlets to the anchorages. The water in this anchorage (Lick Creek) looked cleaner so I went out for an uneventful paddle board ride. From a distance it looks like there is plenty of room for several boats. But actually we were surrounded by all these sticks – they either mark fishing traps of some sort or dead heads. Fortunately we had the place to ourselves. Quiet night with a bit of an afterglow of the sunset.
Islandia Grabo's Blog 
Great shots!
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Thanks!
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