Cuba Landing Marina to Clifton Marina

Date             October 16, 2011

Day               110

Departure       Cuba Landing Marina, Waverly, TN 8:10 am
Arrival           Clifton Marina, Clifton, Tn   1:50 pm 

Miles                43.0  

Cumulative   2627.6

Last night was the first night we had both the salon and stateroom heaters on all night.  It was a bit chilly!  This morning we really didn't have fog, it was more like smoke on the water!  This picture was taken fairly early when we got up to take the dogs out.

As the sun come up and warmed the air, the "smoke"dissipated and we were able to get under way.  

Some of the homes along the Tennessee River are rather unique.  You can't see the house in the middle of the picture too well (with the red roof) but it was round and was about four stories tall.  Click on the picture to enlarge for a better view.

This is Lady Finger Bluff, a limestone bluff capped with gnarled cedar and hardwood trees.  Legend has it that in pioneer days, a lady chose to leap to her death from this bluff rather than be caught by attacking Indians.

Notice the tall blue poles.  As the river rises, the docks can float up these poles.  It is amazing to think that the river can come anywhere near the top of these poles; that is an awful lot of water!

Pebble Isle Marina to Cuba Landing Marina

Date             October 15, 2011

Day               109

Departure      Pebble Isle Marina, New Johnsonville, TN 8:55am
Arrival           Cuba Landing Marina, Waverly, TN 11:35 am 

Miles                20.0  

Cumulative   2584.6

After a leisurely morning, we got underway a little later than usual since we didn't have a long day planned.  The morning was clear and crisp, you can tell fall is on its way.  The pictures below show how the river has cut into steep hills and exposed folds of yellow rock tinged with orange.  This is the first evidence of what geologists call the Highland Rim, a large elevated and somewhat circular area that once covered most of central Tennessee.  Most of the center, being of softer stone, has eroded.   Only the harder rock remains; here we are passing through the western edge of the rim.

Being Saturday, we noticed more fishermen on the river than usual.  They can usually be seen along the edges of the river.  With their trolling motors they don't make a sound!

We arrived at our destination before noon and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon doing nothing in particular!  Later in the day, Last Chance crewed by Martin and Alison Ubbink arrived; we had last seen them in Nashville.

Still at Pebble Isle Marina

Date             October 14, 2011

Day               108

Departure      No travel today
Arrival           Pebble Isle Marina, New Johnsonville, TN

Miles                 0.0  

Cumulative   2564.6

A wonderful benefit of staying at this marina is that they provide FREE coffee AND cinnamon rolls every weekday morning.  Today is Friday, a weekday, so we took advantage of their offer.  When we got to the restaurant, we found they had also made a test batch of caramel pecan rolls and gave us a sample along with their regular cinnamon rolls.  Both were wonderful, warm and fresh! They also offer a courtesy car, so we put our name on the list to use the car from 2 to 4 pm.  In the meantime, we walked to the nearby Johnsonville Historic Park.  It includes the site of Old Johnsonville, Civil War fortifications trails and two cemeteries.  When the Kentucky Dam was built, Old Johnsonville was lost due to the flooding of the Tennessee River and the creation of Kentucky Lake.  After lunch we took the courtesy car to Wal-Mart to pick up a few items.  When we returned, one of the looper boats that is still here, Salt 'n Sand, invited us to happy hour on their boat with the folks from My Way (a gold looper).  We enjoyed good conversation and munchies, then went to dinner at the marina restaurant, with Rich and Carol from Salt 'n Sand.
Tomorrow we will continue on our way, up Kentucky Lake/Tennessee River; not sure where we will stop for the night.

Willow's favorite place to be - in the sun!

This boat sits on land at Pebble Isle Marina.  It was built by a man as his 'dream boat'.  He spent some time sailing it and unfortunately he passed away.  His wife inherited it, but abandoned it at the marina.  The marina staff has placed it at the entrance to their marina and have plans to restore the exterior and keep it in his memory.

A view of the Tennesse River from the Old Johnsonville Historic Park, high on a hill

Paris Landing State Park Marina to Pebble Isle Marina

Date             October 13, 2011

Day               107

Departure      Paris Landing State Park Marina, Buchanan, TN 10:10 am
Arrival           Pebble Isle Marina, New Johnsonville, TN 1:35 pm 

Miles                31.2    

Cumulative   2564.6

Today we slept in a little bit, since the weather was supposed to be rainy and we were going to stay here another day anyway.  We had breakfast and by 9:30 or so the sky started to clear.  We decided to head out and take advantage of the clearing weather; the next stop was only about 30 miles away.  During our travels, the sky was partly cloudy and we experienced only a slight sprinkle.  We arrived at our destination, got settled and the rain came down in buckets for about 10 minutes then stopped and the rest of the afternoon was dry and pleasant.  By the end of the day, there were 8 looper boats at the transient dock, most of which will be also traveling to the AGLCA Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park.

This is all that remains of the old L and N Railroad Bridge.  Past the bridge is an abandoned building...

that was used for shipping grain on the Tennessee before the Kentucky Dam was built.  The story goes that the building was built so well that attempts to destroy it failed.  So officials decided to leave it!

Homes along the Tennessee River

Industrial buildings

Clay cliff along the entrance to Pebble Isle Marina

Sunset at Pebble Isle Marina

Beautiful full moon tonight reflecting on the water.  Our 4th on this journey!

Kentuck Dam Marina to Paris Landing State Park Marina

Date             October 12, 2011

Day               106

Departure      Kentucky Dam Marina, Gilbertsville, KY  9:25 am
Arrival           Paris Landing State Park Marina, Buchanan, TN 2:35 pm 

Miles                43.0    

Cumulative   2533.4

Up at 6:30, no fog!  We had breakfast, fed and walked the dogs and as we were getting ready to get underway the fog began to appear.  So we went back inside, sat down and enjoyed some more coffee.  For the next couple of hours, the fog lifted and came back a number of times.  Finally, around 9:15 am, it looked like it was lifting for good, so we cast off our lines and headed out.  Our choice of marinas for tonight is Kenlake State Park Marina (short travel day) or Paris Landing State Park Marina (longer travel day).  Rain is being forecasted for tomorrow, so we decided to make it a longer travel day and continue on to Paris Landing State Park.  Along the way, another boat went by us and we ended up following them right into the marina.  It was a gold looper (Tourist, they have completed the loop once).  Shortly after we settled in, another boat arrived, and then a second gold looper (Tumbleweed).  We were all happy to have arrived before the rain began.
A man who keeps his boat here stopped by.  He saw "Mystic, CT" on the back of our boat and said that he had visited Mystic this summer.  He had enjoyed the Mystic Seaport and the restoration of the Charles W. Morgan.  We chatted for a time and then he offered us some crappie (fish) he had just caught.  He said the best way to cook it was to coat it with some cracker crumbs and flour and fry it, delicious!  We took him up on his offer, Lynda cooked it as he suggested.  He was right, we enjoyed this way of cooking more than our first attempt at cooking this fish the other night.  
If the rain continues into tomorrow, we will stay here a 2nd night, otherwise, we will move on tomorrow. 

Good-bye to Kentucky Dam Marina

Beautiful white clay cliffs on the banks of Kentucky Lake

Arriving at Paris Landing Marina.

Coast Guard boats at the entrance to the marina.  Looks like they might be replacing buoys on the lake soon!

This is a water level gauge.  A local man told me that this spring the water rose to the 71 foot mark.  The water was up to the building that you can see behind the white car that is directly behind the gauge.  Right now, the water level is about four feet below the "Summer Pool" cross piece.

Still at Kentucky Dam Marina

Date             October 11, 2011

Day               105

Departure      No travel today
Arrival           Kentucky Dam Marina, Gilbertsville, KY 

Miles                 0.0    

Cumulative   2490.4

Even though we didn't travel today, what a busy day!  Up early, waked the dogs and made a grocery list.  Took the courtesy car into Paducah (25 miles) to restock on groceries, beer and wine and hit Walmart to get some oil for the next boat oil change.  Kentucky Dam Marina is in a dry county so there is no liquor available here! 
We returned sometime after lunch, put everything away, made a banana bread with the bananas that were VERY ripe, then time for dinner.  Whew, I'm exhausted, I think it's time to hit the road, I mean water.  That is much more relaxing!
Tomorrow we will start our journey up the Tennessee River.

Bumpis Mills, TN to Kentucky Dam, KY

Date             October 10, 2011

Day               104

Departure      Bumpis Mills Marina-Bumpis Mills, TN 7:45 am
Arrival           Kentucky Dam Marina, Gilbertsville, KY 1:50 pm

Miles                48.0    

Cumulative   2490.4


Up at 6:30 am and this time, NO fog!  We cast off our lines and got underway at 7:45 am.  Nothing exciting to report today, just some pictures of the beautiful scenery.

The erosion on this island was caused by years of high water and the recent flooding.  It is a wonder this tree is even still standing.  At some time in the not too distant future, I'm sure the whole island will be obliterated from the floods.

The calm, quiet and beautiful Cumberland River/Lake Barkley

We have left the Cumberland River and are traveling the canal between Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake.  Kentucky Lake is in the distance beyond the bridge.

Kentucky Dam on the left, the lock on the right.  This dam is 8,422 feet and it's the longest of the nine main dams on the Tennessee River.

We will be staying here for the next two nights.  We need to do some laundry and provisioning.  This marina offers a courtesy car so we will take advantage of that tomorrow!